Mistress: At What Price? (13 page)

T
HE
following day started out as the day from hell and grew worse with every passing hour. Mariel heard the wind pick up soon after dawn, seething through the casuarinas over the road. From her bedroom window she could see that the sky had turned a dull brown, with raised dust obscuring the rising sun.

Dane left soon after. She waited until she heard his car start, then went downstairs. She tried to eat, but even the thought of putting anything in her stomach made her feel ill. The onset of morning sickness? she wondered.

The radio's weather bulletin was dire. Forty-five degrees, with gale force winds. Hills residents were being advised to ensure their bushfire action plans were in place: to leave now, or stay and be prepared to fight if a fire broke out. It was shaping up to be a day reminiscent of Black Saturday, that horrific day Victoria had burned.

Mid-morning the phone rang. ‘Ah, Mariel,' the agitated voice said when she picked up. ‘Daniel Huntington here. Is Dane about?'

‘He's not here, Daniel. Have you tried his office or his mobile?'

‘He's not answering either of those numbers.'

The tone of his voice worried Mariel as she rubbed absently at her empty tummy. ‘Are you all right? Is there something I can help you with?'

‘It's blowing like the devil up here. I don't like the looks of it, Mariel. Bloody arsonists about. One spark…'

She closed her eyes and wished she didn't have to offer, but… ‘Why don't you come down here for the day?'

His blunt, ‘I'm not leaving the house,' worried her more.

‘It's only a house, Daniel. Material things can be replaced. You're what matters.'

‘This is Dane's house, and I'm not leaving it to burn down.'

Dane's house?
What did he mean by that? ‘There's no fire there now, is there?' Holding the phone in one hand, she clicked on the Internet to see if there were any reports.

‘No. But I was just outside, and damned if I can't smell smoke.' There was a shuffling sound on the line, then a thud.

Mariel pressed the phone closer. ‘Are you there, Daniel?'

‘I'm here. Just trying to shut…the door. It's blowing like the devil. In these conditions if a fire catches hold, we're done for.'

Mariel chewed on her lip in an agony of indecision. He was in his seventies and alone, and in the danger zone on a major bushfire alert day. He sounded out of breath and out of sorts. She couldn't leave him there. She could
not
.

‘Listen, Daniel. I'm going to drive up there now and pick you up.'

‘No, girlie, I'm not leaving.'

‘Okay,' she said, keeping her voice low and soothing. ‘I'll come, and we'll talk when I get there.'

Another silence, then a sigh that sounded like relief. ‘You're a good woman, Mariel. I'll put the kettle on.'

Mariel disconnected. Great. A joyride to the hills to spend the day from hell with an old man who was as stubborn as his son!

And that old man was her baby's grandfather.

If that wasn't a good enough reason, she didn't know what was.

She tried Dane's phones before she left, to let him know her plans, but the office was still unattended and his mobile was switched off. She knew he had an early breakfast meeting. No point in bothering him now. She'd call him again when she got there and let him know what was going on.

Fifteen minutes later she was on the road.

 

With a sharp expletive, Dane slammed his foot on the brake. Two elderly women skirted the bonnet, glaring at him as they crossed the driveway outside his office. ‘Sorry, ladies.' He smiled an apology. At least he thought his lips moved. They felt a little numb. The oldies kept right on glaring.

‘If you'd had as little shut-eye as I have over the past couple of nights you'd be sleep-walking, too,' he muttered.

He waited till they'd taken their sweet time, then zoomed into his personal parking space, killed the engine and let his head roll back on the headrest. His seven-thirty a.m. meeting with a new client had finished early, which now gave him time to check in at the office before heading out again for another meeting and to upgrade a system east of the city.

Not far from the freeway, he thought. His conscience pricked at him. Inconvenient thing, conscience. But he'd drive out to see his father afterwards, just to check he was okay on this hellish day. Wouldn't take long.

Justin's car was nowhere to be seen, and their shared PA was on leave for another week, so the office blinds were shut against the heat, the rooms relatively cool and dim when he entered. He sank into the plush chair behind his desk, checked the office phone and mobile for messages. He returned three calls, left a message in answer to another.

That done, he stuck his feet on his desk and closed his eyes. But he couldn't find the relief he sought.
Mariel.
Her name rippled across his mind like cool, clean water. He should have made time for her, but somehow he just hadn't been able to deal with it. Pain crawled up his chest and into his throat. Worse, he'd let her down when she most needed him.

‘Jeez, man, you look like crap.'

His eyes jerked open at the familiar voice. Justin, wearing a fresh white business shirt and pressed trousers, frowned at him from the doorway. He screwed them shut again. ‘Go away, Jus.'

‘No can do. I'm your business partner, mate.'

Dane could feel his disapproval clear across the room. When he didn't leave, Dane opened his eyes. ‘What?'

‘Don't tell me you just tried to woo a new client in that sorry excuse for a T-shirt.'

‘Okay, I won't tell you.'

‘What's with the excess facial fuzz? And the hair—isn't it about time for a trim? A little professional—'

‘If I need someone to nag me I'll get a wife,' he
snarled. He picked up a rubber band, stretched it till it broke and snapped against his fingers. He welcomed its sting.

Justin walked right into the room, rested one hip on the corner of Dane's desk. ‘Does Mariel realise what she's let herself in for?'

‘If she doesn't like the arrangement she's free to leave. In fact I'm expecting the kiss-off any time now. I'll be sure to let you know when it happens, so you won't worry about her.' He snatched up another rubber band, aimed it at the trophy on top of his filing cabinet and fired. ‘Probably be the best decision she ever made.'

‘Blimey, Dane.'

Dane glanced at his friend, then had to turn away from the accusation he read in his eyes. ‘You know me. Commitment was never my strong suit.'

‘A blind fool can see that you love her. She only has to walk into the room and that steel in your eyes melts. What the hell happened?'

A baby happened.

Nerves jittered. His heart tightened. ‘Fact is, I…' he began, but his vocal cords wouldn't work properly. ‘Fact is, we…' He swallowed over the lump in his throat.

Suddenly everything fell into place. This baby was an innocent in all this. Dane knew how it was to grow up without a father's love, without any parental affection. He'd learned from it, was stronger because of it. But did he want the same for his own child? Hell, no. He'd been given a chance. A real chance. And he'd been given it with Mariel. His best friend.

The woman he loved more than anything or anyone.

Was he just going to let the only genuine woman
who had ever entered his life, the only woman who could blow away the storm clouds he saw in his eyes every time he looked in a mirror, walk away? Could he let the child they'd created together grow up without knowing its father? Without a father's love?

Not if he could help it. He'd just been handed the greatest challenge of his life and he wasn't backing down.

He jack-knifed out of his chair, snapping open his mobile while he walked to the door, barely aware of Justin staring at him as if he'd just lost his mind. Maybe he had lost it for a moment, but now he had it back.

‘Mate. Friend. You're just what I needed.' With a headflick, he motioned Jus out. ‘Excuse me, I need to make a very important call.' Maybe the most important call of his life.

The instant Justin stepped out, Dane slammed the door shut behind him while he punched in his home number. No answer. He slapped a thigh as impatience simmered through him. Now he knew what he had to do he couldn't wait to get on with it. He tried Mariel's mobile. No answer; his call was directed to her voicemail.

Clenching his fist, he paced to the desk and spoke into the phone. ‘Mariel, I've been a bloody idiot. Call me when you get this. I need to see you. ASAP.' Something this important had to be said face to face. He checked his watch. Damn. ‘On second thought, don't, I've got a meeting coming up. I'll phone you when it's finished.' He closed his eyes.
I love you, Queen Bee.

 

Mariel clenched her hands around the steering wheel, struggling to keep the car in a straight line. The thermometer indicated that it was forty-two degrees
outside. Even the air-conditioner failed to cool the interior as hot wind snuck in through the cracks and a hazy sun glared through the windscreen. A branch skidded across the road in front of her. Her mouth was dry, but she dared not let her tensed fingers stray from the wheel to reach for her bottled water.

Finally she parked outside Daniel's house. And stepped out into hell on earth.

A relentless January sun had baked the sky bone-white and sucked the earth dry. She stood a few seconds, her pulse stepping up as she stared in rising horror at the shimmering dust haze shrouding the usually beautiful landscape.

A tinderbox.
One spark…

‘Oh, my God,' she murmured. But the wind, a terrifying banshee of blistering heat, whipped the words from her mouth with the same fury as it ripped through trees and sent debris flying through the air like missiles.

She reached the front door, but no one answered her frantic knocks so she ran to the back. Dane's father was lying in the full sun with the hose in his hand, water spraying on the muddy earth beside him. ‘Daniel!' she heard herself scream, and dropped to her knees beside him. ‘What are you doing out here?'

‘Don't want the house to burn. Mariel?' He peered up at her with pale watery eyes.

‘There's no fire, Daniel,' she soothed, but her pulse was hammering in her throat. ‘Come on.' She tried to tug him up, but he wasn't going anywhere on his own. She levered herself beneath one shoulder and dragged him a few metres into the shade. The effort left her dazed and breathless, but she unscrewed the top on her water and held the bottle to his lips. ‘Here, drink.'

He gulped a couple of mouthfuls, then lay back. She poured the rest of the water onto a wad of tissues she found in her bag and wiped his face, then felt for his pulse. It galloped beneath her fingers. She pulled her mobile from her bag and rang for an ambulance. Then she phoned Dane. Damn him, why wasn't his bloody phone on? She left a message to inform him about his father, then hauled herself up, swaying a little as spots danced before her eyes.

‘I'll be back in a moment,' she told Daniel, dry-mouthed, then ran inside and found a towel, soaked it in water and rushed back outside.

‘You're a good woman for Dane,' he mumbled while she laid the towel across his body. ‘Dane's all I have. Should've been a better…father…' He frowned. ‘Head hurts.'

‘It's going to be okay,' she told him, closing her eyes. But she didn't feel a hundred percent herself, and that queasy feeling was back. ‘Help's coming.'

Finally she heard the wail of the siren over the screaming wind. Dragging herself up, she staggered to the driveway to usher the ambulance around the back.

The paramedics jumped out and checked Daniel over. ‘Mild heat exhaustion,' the older man said. ‘Lucky we got here when we did. Is he your granddad?'

‘No. My…partner's father.'

‘So you don't live here?'

She shook her head. ‘He lives alone. I came by to check on him.'

‘Lucky break. We'll take him in for observation, get some fluids into him, but it looks like he's going to be okay.'

The younger guy glanced at her. A small frown
creased his brow, concern in his light blue eyes. ‘You okay? Here. Drink this.' He handed her a bottle of water.

‘Thanks.' She drank deeply, swiped the sweat off her neck, her face, took a deep steadying breath. She shifted her stance to relieve the dull ache in her abdomen. ‘I'll be okay in a minute.' She watched, sliding sweaty palms together while they loaded Daniel into the nearby ambulance.

Dane, where are you?

‘Hey,' said a deep voice near her ear. ‘I think you should ride along with us and let me check you over, too.'

‘I'm fine.' It was like trying to breathe in an oven. Spots danced in front of her eyes. Firm hands helped her up. He passed her handbag to her. ‘You want to call your partner? Let him know what's going on?'

She nodded. ‘I'll leave a message.'

An hour later she stood looking out at the dust-ravaged panorama from the fourth-floor hospital window while Daniel slept. He was staying in overnight and going to be okay, but he couldn't go back home. He needed rest and care and monitoring over the next few days. And she was going to ask Dane if his father could go home with him. No, she wasn't going to ask. She was going to demand. There were plenty of spare rooms. If necessary he could have her room.

And if Dane refused she'd go home with Daniel herself, if only to show Dane what an idiot he was. What both men were, when it came to that. It was so important for them to re-establish some kind of a relationship. He was going to be her child's grandfather, and somehow it had fallen on her shoulders to take the first steps towards making a family unit, even if that ‘unit' was likely to be spread in three different locations across the city.