She gazed up at him. He smiled and waited patiently for her to take the shirt.
Oh.He made her want to cry harder. Why was he always coming to her rescue?
She accepted his offering and wiped her eyes on one of the sleeves, his scent ingrained in the soft cotton fabric. Then, trying to ignore the fact that he was now bare-chested, she said, ‘That’s two shirts I owe you.’
He held out his hand. ‘Come and sit with me and I’ll let you buy me a replacement.’
Putting her hand in his, she accepted his help to climb from the car then handed him his shirt. After slipping it back on, he led her into the front yard, past the jacaranda tree—which had, since she’d arrived in town, bloomed and dropped its flowers, carpeting the grass with stunning purple petals—and over to the garden bench at the side of the property.
They sat and, at first, just enjoyed the quiet serenity of the garden. She stared at her hands, which lay in her lap, but could sense him looking at her. Eventually, she felt compelled to fill the silence.
‘I suppose I should talk about it, huh?’
‘Only if you want to,’ he said, completely without judgement or expectation.
And, she knew, she justknew, that if all she wanted to do was sit here for the next three hours and not utter a single word, then he’d be okay with that. He’d stay by her side the entire time, not judging. And, god, if that didn’t make her want to pour her heart out to him!
Without another thought, she started speaking.
‘I found out recently that Mum changed our last name after Dad died. She’d taken his when they married but reverted back to her own once he was gone and changed mine to match. She never told me she’d done it, let alone why, and now that she’s gone, I’ll never know.’
‘Damn, Beth, that’s … heavy.’
‘Yeah. And that’s only the half of it.’
She told him about how she’d tried to obtain a copy of her birth certificate only to discover that she hadn’t been born in South Australia as Rosie had led her to believe. ‘And the only reason I discovered these lies was because I received an inheritance from my father’s aunt. She left me everything, and I feel so guilty because I hadn’t even known she’d existed.’
She shoved her hands under her thighs and willed herself not to start crying again. ‘I can’t help wondering whether my mother didn’t tell me about my great aunt on purpose. Because if she lied about my name and where I was born, it’s not really that hard to believe she’d keep me from my family, too. And if she did, I don’t think I could ever forgive her. But she’s dead and I don’t want to hate her, Noah. I don’t want to hate my mum.’
She choked out the last words as tears streamed down her face, but Noah was on his feet and pulling her into his arms before she had a moment to think. She went willingly but held herself stiffly as sobs racked her body. Noah rocked her and stroked her hair. He offered no empty words, he simply held her. And before long, she melted against him, his chest warm against her cheek. In that moment, she didn’t feel so alone.
Pulling back slightly, she wiped at the patch of tears she’d left behind and grimaced. ‘Make that three shirts.’
He caught her chin with his finger. ‘Technically, this only counts as one.’
The vivid blue of his eyes stole her breath. Or maybe the stroking of his thumb on her cheek was to blame. Whatever the cause, she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, felt his heartbeat thump under her fingers and wished the moment would last forever. And still his thumb stroked her skin.
‘How long have you been dealing with this on your own?’
The huskiness in his voice had her opening her eyes, and she found him staring down at her, his gaze questioning yet determined.
‘I’ve learned it bit by bit, but the truth started unravelling when I found out about the inheritance. Just over two months ago now.’
Noah worked his jaw. ‘Did you learn something today? Is that why you were crying in your car?’
She sniffed, not wanting to recall the details of her conversation with Flo, but Noah had a knack for drawing the truth out of her.
‘I found out that my dad grew up here. In Karlup. And I had no idea.’
His thumb finally stilled. ‘Your dad … what was his name?’
She furrowed her brow. ‘Bryce Campbell.’
His eyes fell closed and he took a step back. ‘Holy shit.’
Panic quickly undid all of his efforts to relax her. ‘What?’ she whispered, every muscle in her body clenched tight.
He hesitated. Then, meeting her gaze head-on, he pulled her back to the bench.
