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CHAPTER SEVEN
THE TWO-WAY radio crackled to life in Wazza’s shoulder holster. “Warwick, are you there?” It was Steve. His boss hardly ever called him Warwick.
He let go of the wire strainer, laying it carefully on the ground, before he tilted his chin toward the radio and pushed the button. “Yep, almost finished the second post. What’s up?”
“We…ah…need you back at the lodge, asap.”
“Okay.” Wazza left the silence hanging for a few seconds, giving Steve time to explain this sudden urgency. He trusted his boss implicitly. Steve was solid and reliable and always treated his staff fairly. Wazza often felt more part of the family than a hired hand. Steve was always blunt and to the point. This vague demand wasn’t like him.
Eventually, after continued radio silence, Wazza asked, “Do I have time to finish up first? It’ll only take me another fifteen minutes, tops.” This job had taken him most of the morning. It’d be a shame to leave it now. A few of the posts holding up the fence around Steamers Paddock were leaning at a precarious angle. They needed to have new metal posts rammed in to replace the old ones and new wires strung along their length, otherwise the feisty bush cattle would find the weakness and delight in pushing their way through.
“Ah…no, you should come back straight away. One of us can finish that up this afternoon.” Wazza thought he heard Daniella’s voice in the background, which was unusual. She always left the running of the cattle side of the resort strictly in Steve’s hands.
Wazza was becoming irritated. What could be so important that he had to leave a job half-finished? And why was Steve not telling him what was going on?
“Sure,” he said curtly into the radio. “On my way now.” He loaded his tools up into the rear bed of the ATV. Steamers Paddock was close to the lodge, and so he’d chosen one of the special-built, four-wheel-drive, all-terrain vehicles, taking it across country to get where he needed to go.
This minor hiccup wasn’t going to help his plans to get over to the outstation today. He’d been hoping to finish work a little early and tell Steve he wanted to head into town for a few hours, to catch up with some mates at the pub. But really, he’d go over to see how Kee was coping. She hadn’t taken the news of the delay in fixing her car well yesterday. She’d almost broken down in a hysterical mess. He suspected that the only thing keeping her together was her daughter, staring at her with increasingly wide-eyed worry.
Wazza had talked her down, eventually. Because there was no other choice. She’d looked so forlorn as she’d walked him to his car that he’d nearly handed over the keys and told her to take his car. If he’d owned the vehicle, he might well have gone through with it, but the Land Cruiser belonged to Stormcloud, and there was no way he’d steal from his boss. He was itching to get back there to make sure they were both okay. She’d asked him again yesterday why he was helping them, and he’d given her some rote answer that it was the right thing to do. But he knew there was more to it than that. And by the way she looked at him from beneath lowered eyelashes, she did, too.
His mind lost in thoughts of how else he might help Kee, Wazza came around the last bend of the driveway to find a strange tableau of people waiting for him at the top of the steps to the main entrance of the lodge. Steve and Daniella stood slightly to the left of a larger group, Daniella shading her eyes to watch as he approached. Both looked serious, and an ominous tickle slid down his spine. Skylar and a man who looked vaguely familiar were also there, hovering at the back. What…? It took him a second to recognize the two figures in the center of the huddle, and his heart leapt into his throat. Kee and Benni, Kee holding tight to her daughter’s hand. Benni was wearing the light-blue hat Wazza had given her. What were they doing here? Then he spotted Daisy and Dale flanking them, and his heart fell like a stone all the way to his feet.
Oh, shit.Daisy was home early.
But he’d checked with Dale last night. Casually asked him over dinner how Daisy was enjoying her stay with her family. And Dale had replied with an equally casual wave of his hand that he never really knew what Daisy was up to, but it sounded like she was having fun. Wazza had taken that to mean Daisy wouldn’t be home anytime soon. Shit, he should’ve dug a little deeper. But Skylar and Julie, who’d been sharing the table, burst into peals of laughter at something they were discussing, then Dale asked them what they found so funny, and the moment was lost. Julie was always making people laugh, she had that way about her. She even managed to get her big, serious boyfriend, Aaron, to lighten up sometimes. The two stepsisters were as close as could be, and Dale was equally fond of both of them. As the youngest brother, Dale was often the brunt of their jokes, but he took it all with a cool head and a smile.
Wazza pulled the ATV to stop with a spray of gravel in front of the steps and leaped out. But then he stood mute at the bottom of the stairs, unable to form the words, wondering where in hell to start. It was the accusation in Kee’s eyes finally pushed him to say something.
“I can explain everything. It’s not their fault. It was all my idea. I’m sorry Daisy, I really am,” he babbled until finally coming to a stumbling halt as Daisy glared at him.
“Why don’t we take this inside?” Daniella said smoothly. “Let’s all go to the boardroom, where we can discuss this away from prying eyes.” Wazza knew that she meant out of sight of the guests. With Daniella, the guests always came first, she’d never allow an in-house scandal to be revealed, if she could help it.
He nodded and hung his head, following the group through the large, glass doorway, into the cool great room of the lodge. Wazza felt like a condemned man being led to the gallows. Was Steve going to fire him? Would he lose his job over this? He lifted his chin. None of that mattered. He’d do the same again to keep Kee and Benni safe.
He tried to see over the top of everyone else’s heads to where Kee was walking with her daughter. But Daniella had steered her right to the front, and there was no chance to even say sorry with his eyes. What was she thinking? Did she blame him?
Wazza nodded to Sasha, who was watching them all file past the reception desk with a question hovering on her lips. But Sasha was the epitome of a professional, so she didn’t ask. Sasha was the newest member of the Stormcloud staff, having arrived a little over eight months ago, but she fitted into the team seamlessly. Dark-haired, with dark eyes, she was small and petite, and people often misjudged her on her size. She was a pocket dynamo, ready to take on any challenge. She was attractive, bubbly, but also not afraid to take control of a situation. Alek, Stormcloud’s activities manager, had confided in Wazza that he found her extremely attractive, but he still hadn’t worked up the courage to ask her out yet. The Polish man was the most straitlaced man Wazza had ever met. But Alek liked to think he lived life on the edge. He was the only one in his family to have travelled, and he thought that taking a job in outback Queensland was the most extreme thing anyone could ever do. He and Wazza got on well.
Alek and Julie had taken a small group of guests to the gold mine this morning. They would be back for lunch in around half an hour. So at least they wouldn’t be included in this meeting.
Daisy dropped back and took him by the arm as they turned down the hallway. “It’s okay Wazza, I’m not mad at you.”
He let out a gust of air. He’d always known Daisy was one cool chick, but this just cemented the fact in his mind. “Thank you,” he answered quietly.
“Yes, well, when we arrived home to find a strange woman and her child living in my house, let’s just say I was a little shocked. She wouldn’t tell me why she was there, kept saying that she needed to talk to Wazza, so I decided the best thing was to bring them both here. I don’t want to get you in trouble, but this woman obviously needs help.”
Trust Daisy to understand. And he didn’t blame her for bringing Kee here. He probably would’ve done the same thing. Then he fully digested her words. She’d said when we arrived home. Who did she mean by we? Wazza sought the other guy who’d been standing at the rear of the group. Comprehension suddenly hit. He did recognize him. It was River, Daisy’s brother. She must’ve brought him home with her. Perhaps that was why she was home early.
Bindi glanced at him through the doorway to the kitchen as they passed by. Skylar’s assistant cook stopped what she was doing and gave the group curious stare. Then it was too late to ask Daisy any more questions, because they’d arrived at the boardroom door. Wazza avoided everyone’s stares as he filed in with the rest of them. Everybody pulled up a seat around the large table that took up most of the room. This board room was mainly for the guests’ use; they had plenty of high-flyers staying with them, some of whom couldn’t seem to leave work behind. It was set up like a second office, with a fax machine, printer, and computer monitors arranged on a counter at the back of the room. But it’d also seen many a staff meeting called, as it was the only room big enough to house them all away from the guests’ prying eyes.
Wazza took a seat opposite Kee, placing his hat carefully on the table in front of him. She wouldn’t look at him. Benni did, however, and gave him a tremulous smile. Then she carefully took her hat off and laid it on the table, mimicking Wazza’s actions. She seemed so out of place amongst all these adults, small and lost, but bravely held onto her mother’s hand, Dolly clutched tightly in the other.
As usual, Daniella took the lead once everyone had found their seat.
“Right,” she said, clapping hands for quiet. “First, I hope you all remember River, Daisy’s brother.”
The look some of the staff flicked his way seemed to say, how could they not? River had been involved in the scandalous incident surrounding Karris’ murder. Wazza still wasn’t sure how he felt about the other man. Karri had stopped seeing Wazza to start an affair with River when he and Daisy had first arrived in the area, and before she knew she was pregnant with Wazza’s baby. Wazza would never know what she’d intended to do, because she’d been killed before a choice needed to be made. It was never clear whether she knew she was pregnant or not, either. Would she have chosen Wazza as the father of her baby? He liked to think so. But he could be wrong. She might well have chosen River, his indigenous heritage, a closer match to her own. But would River have accepted someone else’s baby? River would never need to answer that question, but Wazza had his doubts.
