‘Noah, it’s …’ She shook her head. ‘There are no words.’
‘Right?’ He sat a few metres from the edge, his back up against a tree and his legs stretched out in front of him. ‘I come here when I need to recharge.’
‘I can see why.’ She perched on a large boulder near where the ground fell away in a sheer drop. ‘How did you even find it, though? I mean, it’s so out of the way.’
Noah shrugged. ‘It wasn’t long after Gramps died. I just needed time alone and found myself pulled in this direction. When I climbed up here and saw this—’ he gestured at the majestic view that lay in front of them, ‘—it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt … I don’t know, connected to something bigger. My sadness lifted and I just felt at peace.’
She stared at him, dumbstruck. ‘I swear, something like that just happened to me.’
‘Really?’ He smiled softly. ‘There must be something in that.’
‘Like a deeper meaning? Or something spiritual, maybe?’
‘Either? Both? I don’t know, I just always feel like I’m being welcomed home when I come up here.’
She nodded, reminded of the words spoken by the Aboriginal Elder on the day of little Jedda’s Welcome Baby to Country ceremony. ‘It’s like your soul knows this land is where you belong.’
‘Exactly.’ His eyes softened and she smiled back at him, her heart full to bursting.
They understood each other perfectly, and she could scarcely believe how fitting it was that he’d brought her here today, given the decision she’d made and the news she had to share with him.
‘You know,’ he said, his jaw set with something like determination as he picked up a twig, ‘Karlup is a Noongar word that comes from the word “karl”, which means “fireplace” or “hearth”, and the hearth was always considered the heart of the home. So, Karlup as a place name means “heart country”. Beautiful, huh?’
‘Heart country?’ The phrase sounded familiar … and then it dawned on her. ‘As in, the Heart Country B&B? Thatisbeautiful.’
He stared at her a moment longer before turning his attention to the twig, and as he broke off tiny fragments and let them fall to the ground, something inside her shifted, a falling into place of all the pieces that made her who she was, who she wanted to be and how she wanted to live her life. And Noah was right there, experiencing it with her.
She knew he’d never come right out and ask her to stay—he’d done that once already. But it was obvious that his feelings hadn’t changed. He didn’t want her to leave, wanted desperately for her to stay, but he would not sway her decision. She heard the truth in his silence. Saw it in the punishment he inflicted on the stick.
With more clarity than she’d ever experienced, she knew that she loved him.
That she wasinlove with him. Wholly and completely.
He was selfless and unbelievably sweet, and the urge to move closer, to tell him how she felt, almost overpowered her. But first, she had to tell him of her decision.
‘Noah?’
He snapped another portion from the twig and looked up at her. ‘Yeah?’
‘I have some pretty big news to share with you.’
The rhythmic twig-breaking ceased.
Breathe. Just breathe.
‘I’ve withdrawn my expression of interest on the cottage in Townsville, and yesterday, I formally resigned from my job at DHB. A moving company is packing up my belongings as we speak and they’ll be shipped here in the coming days. I’ve decided that I’m staying, Noah. Karlup is officially my home.’
‘What?’ He tossed the twig aside and, launching from his spot on the ground, hauled her into his arms. ‘Why didn’t you say something sooner?’
‘Because I needed every ounce of breath to climb this bloody mountain!’
He grinned and, whooping loudly, spun her around. She laughed, so carefree and happy that she wanted to cry, but then he kissed her and she forgot everything. Focused on nothing but the feel of his lips on hers. His kiss lacked his usual restraint, but she ate it up, giving as much as she took, and when he eventually pulled away, she knew she was ready.
Breathing heavily, he touched his forehead to hers and whispered, ‘It’s like your soul knows this is where you belong.’
She smiled up at him and laid a hand over his heart. He wasn’t wrong—she was right where she needed to be.
‘Noah?’
