Ch10

THE sound of a plane coming in woke Lara from her midafternoon nap. Ric, she thought, her heart kicking with instant apprehension. Had he changed his mind and come after all? But surely he would have let Patrick know of his intention. And he couldn’t have got here this fast…could he?

He’d been in London three nights ago.

And he’d written, ‘As you wish.’

Reason fought off the rush of frantic worry. No one could land, anyway. The airstrip wasn’t firm enough after all the rain they’d had. Only a helicopter could make a safe landing and this was not the sound of a helicopter. But the pilot was flying very low.

Someone in trouble?

She was up and running.

People were yelling, ‘It’s coming down.’

Outside the homestead, it seemed everyone was running, knowing instinctively that help might be needed. They all saw it happen and could do nothing to stop it. The landing gear ploughed into the soggy ground. The nose of the plane went down. The tail flipped.

The shock of the crash stopped Lara in her tracks. Waves of nausea rolled through her. Frightened of fainting, she managed to stumble to a bench seat under one of the pepper trees and lowered her head to below her knees, trying to fight off the dizziness. Evelyn found her there and hauled her back to the kitchen, sitting her down at the table and making her a cup of tea.

‘It wasn’t Johnny’s Cessna, was it?’ Lara pleaded.

‘No. None of our neighbours either. Looked like a charter,’ Evelyn answered bruskly. ‘Someone lost, most likely, and not even having the sense to call us on the radio about the condition of the airstrip.’

‘Maybe they couldn’t. Or were too low on fuel to go anywhere else.’

‘That’s not for you to worry about. It’s men’s work down there.’ Evelyn gave her a knowing look. ‘You have to be looking after yourself, Miss Lara. I’ve seen too many pregnant women not to recognise the signs.’

Another shock.

‘If you want to keep it to yourself, that’s fine, but you might as well know you’re not fooling me. Now drink up your tea and off to bed with you. That plane crash won’t be any business of yours.’

Lara felt too weak to argue. She did as she was told, grateful to slip into bed and not have to involve herself with the horror at the airstrip.

Yet in the end it was her business.

Patrick came into her room, drew a chair up beside her bed and regarded her with a gravity that had her nerves twitching in alarm. Had Evelyn told him of her pregnancy? Should she confess it now? Or did he have bad news about the plane crash?

It couldn’t have been Ric…could it? Why would he charter a plane when he could use Johnny’s? Her mind whirled in a frenzy of stress as she waited for Patrick to speak.

‘Lara…your husband was in that plane.’

Gary?

The shock of it rendered her speechless. Her stomach churned as fear swept past the shock. Gary had come for her. He’d found out she was at Gundamurra, chartered a plane and…everything within her shrank from having to confront him. Yet there was nowhere to hide now. He knew…

‘He was not strapped into a seat,’ Patrick went on. ‘There was nothing we could do for him.’

What did he mean…there was nothing they could do for him? It was Gary who had the power, who’d do whatever was needed to get his own way.

‘He’s dead, Lara.’

Dead?

Gary…dead?

Powerless to do…anything at all?

‘He died before we could get to him. The impact of the crash…’

Dead…

Gone…

He could never touch her again…never direct any part of her life again…or her baby’s…it was as though God was having mercy on her by taking him away.

I’ll be a good mother, she silently promised, her hand moving protectively to the slight mound that held the new life inside. If she achieved nothing else with this second chance to be free of fear, she would ensure her child would know only love from her, regardless of who the father was.

‘The pilot and a third man—a private investigator—have multiple injuries,’ Patrick said, letting her know Gary had come with a backup man.

No doubt if conditions had been favourable, she would have been abducted back to Sydney, put into one of the Chappel medical clinics, classed as a mental breakdown needing psychiatric attention, and once it was discovered she was pregnant…but that couldn’t happen now.

‘A rescue helicopter will be arriving soon to fly them to Bourke for treatment. Gary’s body will also be going. I have to ask…’ Patrick heaved a sigh and quietly added, ‘…do you want to see him, Lara?’

She shook her head.

‘I thought…you might want to be sure.’

She swallowed hard and forced herself to ask, ‘Is there any doubt?’

‘He carried identification and the private investigator confirmed it. There’s no cause for doubt. The police in Bourke can contact his father.’

‘Then I don’t need…to see him.’

‘Only if you want to.’

‘No.’ Instant and decisive. Better to think of him as completely gone than to have some awful last image of him stamped on her mind.

Patrick nodded and rose to his feet. ‘I’ll have Evelyn sit with you. If there’s anything you need or want, just tell her.’

‘Thank you.’

She closed her eyes.

The hunt was over.

Ric was not in danger anymore.

Set free.

She had to set him free, too.

Raising the possibility of fatherhood would not be fair. Even if the child was his, the responsibility was all hers. It would be terribly wrong to hang a lifelong commitment on him when he would have chosen differently. He’d done so much to give her freedom. To lean on him any more…to take his freedom from him…

If this baby was the result of a lie…

Better that Ric didn’t know.

A lie was the worst possible foundation for a lifelong relationship.

And she wanted her baby to know only love.