Claiming His Family. Barbara Hannay

he won’t feed.’

      ‘I’ll come with you. We’ll take him to the doctor.’

      ‘No, you don’t understand. It’s too late for you to try to help me now. It’s over, Luke. I’ve had as much as I can take of this place. I’m going home and I’m taking Joey.’

      At the time it hadn’t felt like selfishness. She’d been on her own so much and she’d been so distraught about Joey. She’d been a nervous first-time mother and her baby had cried all the time, but the Flying Doctors hadn’t considered her situation an emergency and her husband never seemed to be around. She’d felt she had no one to turn to.

      Luke had been stunned. Unable to speak, he’d shoved the flowers at her. ‘But I picked these for you.’

      A tremendous heartbroken howl broke from her then as she swiped at his bouquet, making the colourful flowers spill from his hand and tumble down the steps. She’d been hysterical, she realised now, looking back.

      ‘It’s too late for flowers. There’s no point.’

      ‘But you can’t leave.’ The horror in Luke’s eyes had almost made her weaken. ‘I don’t understand.’

      ‘Of course you don’t understand. That’s because you’re never here. All I needed was a little support from you, Luke, but you just make a joke whenever I tell you how worried I am. And you’ve abandoned me here for weeks at a time. You’re always off caring for your cattle. You’ve been gone all week, pulling cows out of bogs. Well, I’m bogged down here, but I’m getting myself out. I’m getting proper care for Joey and I’m not coming back.’

      Nails drove up in the ute at that moment. Clutching Joey tightly, Erin fled down the steps and jumped into the front seat and locked the door.

      There was been a terrible moment when Nails leaned out of the driver’s window. ‘You want to drive the missus into town, Boss?’

      ‘No!’ Erin cried. ‘I don’t want him, Nails. Come on, let’s go.’

      But Luke wasn’t going to let her go without a fight. ‘Hand over the keys, Nails. I’m taking my son to the doctor.’

      Erin actually thought Luke might wrench the door open. ‘You’re too late!’ she cried. ‘Even if you follow me, you can’t make me come back. I won’t stay here.’

      Luke glared at her, his eyes almost black with rage and despair. Jerking her head to the front, she stared ahead of her at the dusty track. ‘Start the ute, Nails.’

      And then Luke gave in suddenly. He threw her bags into the back of the vehicle and they landed with a heavy thump-thump. Completely bewildered, Nails shrugged, then depressed the accelerator and they left.

      She would never forget the harrowing sound of Luke’s angry voice shouting after them…

      ‘Mommy, what’s the matter?’

      Joey was leaning forward, staring at her, and she realised that tears were streaming down her face. She forced a smile. ‘It’s nothing, Joey. I’m okay.’

      ‘Don’t you like Dad’s car?’

      ‘Yes, yes, it’s fine. Your dad’s a very good driver. I’m just a little tired.’ She dug in her pocket for a tissue and wiped her eyes.

      If only she could fast-forward the next twenty-four hours. She wanted to get this meeting and all that it involved behind her, and then she would be free to go off on her own holiday down under, and she would have nothing more to do with Luke Manning till August.

      CHAPTER TWO

      THE hotel Luke had booked for them was the height of luxury, much more upmarket than the hotels he’d been able to afford when he and Erin had been married. Overlooking one of the most scenic bays in Sydney Harbour, it was reminiscent of a grand nineteenth century home and furnished with beautiful antiques, oil paintings and fine tapestries.

      Erin and Joey had a whole suite, with a sitting room, two separate bedrooms, glamorous bathrooms and French windows opening on to balconies with views across the water.

      Joey was round-eyed with delight. ‘Wow!’ he shouted, running to the balcony to admire the busy spectacle of ships and ferries and sailing boats. ‘This place is awesome, Dad.’

      ‘Where are you staying?’ Erin couldn’t help asking Luke.

      ‘Across the hall.’

      There was a sharp edge to the way he said that and she wondered if his mind had followed the same direction as hers—recalling times in the past when they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other, when they couldn’t have borne to be separated by anything as vast as a hallway.

      Don’t be pathetic. Don’t think about that.

      ‘I’m sure you must be tired,’ Luke added.

      ‘Yes, I am a bit. A bath would be wonderful.’

      ‘I’ll leave you to settle in.’ He glanced at his wristwatch. ‘You won’t want the ordeal of going to a restaurant this evening. I can organise room service if you like.’ He spoke politely, but without warmth.

      Erin found this emotionless, distanced Luke disturbing, almost formidable. She lifted her chin. ‘Thank you, but you don’t have to order for us. I’ll take care of our meals.’

      Luke frowned and his jaw clenched momentarily, but then he seemed to deliberately switch his attention to the open doorway of Joey’s room. The little boy had suddenly run out of steam and he lay spread-eagled across the bed with his feet dangling over the edge, showing the soles of his trainers, criss-crossed with deep purple and black treads.

      ‘Looks like Joey won’t last much longer,’ he said.

      ‘He’s fading fast. He’s never flown before, so I’m not sure how he’ll handle the jet lag.’

      Without warning, Luke looked directly at her again, his grey eyes piercing cold. ‘You said in your email that you had ground rules you wanted to discuss with me.’

      ‘Oh…’ To her annoyance she felt her cheeks grow hot. ‘Yes, yes I do.’

      ‘When would suit you?’

      ‘I—er—I suppose it would be best to talk about them soon.’

      ‘I could come back this evening perhaps—if Joey goes to sleep early?’

      The thought of being alone with Luke, without Joey as a buffer, caused a hitch in her breathing, but it was best to get this over and done with. ‘Okay. Give me an hour or so to get settled. Can you come around seven?’

      ‘Right.’

      As soon as Luke left Erin walked into Joey’s room and he rolled on to his back and smiled up at her, his smoky blue eyes shining from beneath sleep-heavy lids. ‘My dad’s the best, isn’t he, Mom?’

      Was she strong enough to face Joey’s rampant enthusiasm? ‘Your dad thinks you’re wonderful,’ she said and she kissed him and sat very still on the edge of his bed, stroking his short, soft hair, aware as she’d been so many times before of the astonishing strength of her love for him.

      Joey was the most important person, the most important anything in her life. Securing his happiness was her primary goal—for that she was risking this trip.

      But letting him go was so scary. Once he got to know his father, he might never love her as completely or as perfectly as he did now. And she had no idea how Luke was going to react. Her one terror was that he might assume he had a right to reclaim his son.

      But she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on that or she would lose the plot completely. She had to take this one step at a time. Most importantly, she had to try to stay calm.

      Forty-five minutes.

      Erin