Outback Thunder (18 page)

"Her, Jonas.
Her name is Lilly and I kept her. I could never part with our baby."

"But you
could keep her from me. You selfish little bitch!" His stomach had tied
itself in knots and his breathing was ragged.

"You can call
me anything you like but at least I didn't shirk my responsibilities. You can't
make the rules Jonas and expect me to read your fucking mind when you change
them. Get your shit together. I'm taking you home then I'm going back to where
I belong."

She stormed past
him and threw open the door.

"Oh and by
the way, I thought since you car was taking up our spot in the shed, I should
get a chance to drive it." She walked out giving him no choice but to
follow or be left behind.

****

"You can't
leave, Zoe. We need to talk about this. God, I have a niece whom I only just
heard of. Can't you at least tell me why you did it?"

"You know
why, Bran. You wouldn't have been able to keep it from Jonas no matter how hard
you tried. I'm sorry, really I am but I had to do it that way. I couldn't have
Jonas rocking up being 'Mr. High and Mighty' just because I got pregnant. We
both wanted different things and we would have ended up hating each other. You
know that as well as I do." She threw her clothes into the suitcase.
"I refuse to bring up a child like that, Bran. I have a life in London. A
business and a gorgeous kid who was hoping I'd be home for Christmas. I'm sorry
but I need to go. I never intended to stay longer than it was necessary to sort
out my part of the business."

Zoe did the zip up
on her case and hefted it off the bed. "Can you take me to the airport
please or do I have to call a cab."

"Sure, let me
get my keys. Are you going to say goodbye to Jonas?"

"I'm pretty
sure we said all there was to say. He can do whatever he wants to with my
shares, I don't need them. I would ask that you pass the board this letter
though."

He took the
envelope she held out and quickly read it.

"Zoe bird,
don't do that."

"Seriously,
Bran I don't care, I don't need the money. I only came back because it was
home. Now I have dealt with the emotions I wouldn't let surface at the funeral,
I'm happy to leave. I'll sign them over to you rather than let him sell them
off though. Pretty sure that's allowed. I'll see what he does and if it doesn't
work out, I'll see what my lawyer says. I'm pretty sure he can deal with it so
there is a mutual agreement." She walked out of her bedroom trying to
ignore the pain gripping her chest. She just wanted to move on and get back to
her life with her daughter.

Brandon put her
bag in the back of his truck and looked around before getting into the driver's
seat.

"Don't go
there brother, it's all over." Zoe hoped with half her heart that he would
try and stop her from leaving, the other half had already moved on without him.

On the long trip
to the airport Brandon learned all about his niece and his sister’s business.
"You can come and visit for Christmas you know. Still plenty of time to
get organized and book a flight. It'll be snowing and I know Lilly would love
to meet you."

"I might just
do it. When will she be home from boarding school?"

"December twelfth,
which is not that far away. Please say you'll come, Bran. We can have a lovely
white Christmas together."

"Let me talk
to Pete and see if I can get away. I'd love to come over. "

***

When her plane
touched down, Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. She had convinced herself there
was no way Jonas would ever forgive her for deceiving him and she understood
that. It was a cruel thing to do. Even if he had no wish to be a father he
should have been informed.

She pushed her way
through customs out to the waiting area and into the arms of her best friend.

"So I take it
things didn't go too well then?" Lori said helping her to push the baggage
trolley out to the car park.

"No, they
most certainly did not. But I'm home now so I can breathe again and get back to
normal." She stowed her bags in the back of the car and walked around to
the passenger seat. When she had her seat belt on she smiled at Lori.
"Guess who might be here for Christmas?"

"Not
Jonas?"

"As if. No,
Brandon. He wants to meet Lilly. He was kind of pissed at me for not letting
him in on the secret which I can understand. I made the offer and I think he
will be here as soon as he can get away. He and Lilly have a lot to catch up
on. It should be fun."

"That's
wonderful. It will be nice for you to finally have some family in the know.
Want to spill the beans on Jonas and what happened?" Lori kept her eyes on
the traffic and waited for Zoe to talk.

"I tried to
tell him a couple of times and it just didn't work out. Silly fool had a
chopper accident and when I found him he decided I should marry him." Zoe
shook her head and looked out of the window at the traffic rushing by.

"Just a
minute, there is more to this than you're telling, girl, but I'll settle for
the short version for now. Keep going."

"Well it
turns out he wasn't cheating on me at all, go figure. Just a misunderstanding
that got out of control. Anyway, he thought we had cleared the air and wanted
to know why I didn't feel right marrying him. That's when I told him about
Lilly." Zoe gave a bitter laugh. "He snapped so I took him home from
the hospital and left."

"Didn't he
object?"

"He didn't
even know I was going. He's nursing a bruised ego and he locked himself in his
room. I managed to get a flight out straight away so I took it." She
breathed a sigh of relief, convincing herself that things had worked out for
the better. "How have you been coping?"

"No problems
here, everything runs like clockwork as per usual. I spoke to Lilly last week,
she's looking forward to Christmas. It's nice to have you back."

***

The smell of
holly, pine needles and Christmas cooking filled the night air. Zoe was making
mulled wine and trying to clean up the house while Lilly was busily wrapping
last minute presents for her uncle.

Brandon was
getting a taxi from the airport to the house and Zoe was expecting him any
minute. She was relieved her brother would finally get to meet his niece and
she squealed with delight when the doorbell rang.

Lilly beat her to
the door and opened it just as she walked into the hallway. Standing outside
was her brother. Tears filled her eyes and she walked up to him her arms
outstretched.

"It is so
good to see you, Bran. Come in out of the cold." She stood back to let him
enter.

"Good to see
you too, sis." He looked at her and then the color flashed up his cheeks
and he coughed. "Um, look I'm not sure how to tell you this but I brought
a friend."

Jonas stepped into
the hallway behind him.

Zoe knew that the
blood had drain from her face and her breath hitched in her throat.

"No."
Her fingers covered her mouth and the stars spun in her eyes. Lilly grabbed
hold of her skirt and pressed into her.

 "Mummy, are
you okay?"

"Your Mum
will be fine, honey. She's just had a bit of a shock." Jonas stepped
forward and grabbed Zoe by the shoulders. He pulled her close, his hand rubbing
her back while she struggled to regulate her breathing.

****

He looked over
Zoe's shoulder at his daughter. "Why don't you go and take your Uncle
Brandon in and tell him where to put his bag and we'll be with you in a
minute."

He nodded to
Brandon and watched him follow her down the hallway.

"Just
breathe, honey."

She smelled of
spice and happiness and every good memory he held of her. He squeezed her close
and dropped kisses on her soft blonde hair.

Pulling back from
him, Zoe took a deep breath. "Why?"

"Why what?
You need to be bit more specific than that?"

"Why are you
here, Jonas?"

"It's
Christmas and when Brandon said he was coming over I thought it would be a good
time to meet my daughter and talk to you about our future. I had planned on
coming anyway once I had a few things sorted out at home. It so happened this
trip coincided nicely with Christmas."

"We don't
have a future, Jonas." She wiped the tears from her eyes and he chose to
ignore the hurt he saw in them.

"I beg to
differ, Zoe. Look, we both stuffed up okay. We were kids and made mistakes. I
can live with it if you can."

"I'm sorry,
but I don't believe you. I don't need you throwing this back at me when you're
in a pissy mood." She pulled out of his arms and took a few steps away
from him, leaning against the wall, her hands wrapped around her waist
protectively.

"Look. We
need to talk. We made a child together and there is the chance of a future if
we can both let go of our past. I don't mean to forget everything we had, but
to move on, leaving our mistakes behind us. And I promise I'll never throw it
back in your face honey " He put his hands in his suit pockets and shook
his head at her. "I didn't try to stop you leaving for good reason. I
don't believe in doing anything rash without making sure first. You know me,
you should understand that. I approached the board and they approved of you
putting your shares in Brandon's name. You never would have lost them in the
first place, Zoe." He looked at her shrugging his shoulders and made the
admission he had been holding back. "It was a feeble attempt of mine to
get you home where I thought you belonged. I never would have done it if I'd
known about Lilly."

"You sneaky
bastard. I knew there was more to it than Bran was telling me. So help me, I'll
kill him when I get my hands on him."

"My fault
entirely. I put him up to it. I needed you to come home because I was having a
hell of a job living without you. I knew you would come if he called. I wanted
you to remember what we had and we couldn't do that if I came here. I figured
my chances were better on home soil."

"Oh Jonas,
you are so wrong. I would have come if you had asked me."

"Shit, and to
think that we've wasted all this time being stubborn and missing out on being a
family. I guess the chopper crash was all about us then, don't you think?"

"I can hear
Mum saying 'everything happens for a reason,' so yeah, I guess we should go
with that." She leaned into his face and ran her tongue over his bottom
lip, grinning at the reaction she got.

"You are such
a tease, Zoe."

"You know you
love that about me. You always did Jonas so stop trying to play tough
guy." She straightened his tie and looked into his eyes. "There are
things we need to discuss before we go any further. I've my own successful
company too. I can't just walk away and leave it. Plans will have to be
made."

"I understand
that. I think you might find that your friend Lori would be more than capable
and willing to take it on full time.”

"You take way
too much for granted ,Jonas. This is my business and I’ll be the one to sort it
out if we go back to Australia. Understand?"

"Yes,
ma'am."

He smiled at the
light sparkling in her eyes. "You know you don't mean that."

"Probably
not. But still, I want to have some say in what happens. This is going to be a
partnership, not a one-sided relationship." Zoe ran her shocking red
fingernail down his cheek and cupped his chin. "That is if we are going to
have a relationship."

Jonas put his hand
in his pocket and brought out a jeweler's box. "You know we are meant to
be together, Zoe. We've both known it all along. We just had to grow up."

 He dropped to one
knee and took her hand. "Zoe Walters, will you do me the honor of becoming
my wife and lifetime partner?"

"Yes."

Jonas stood, took
a solitaire diamond ring from the box and placed it on her ring finger. Pulling
her close he kissed her deeply.

Zoe looked into
his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Jonas."

"Me too, but
it’s behind us now, okay? I want to meet my daughter. Let's go tell her and
Brandon the good news. I'm sure he is standing at the door waiting to see
what's going on. He wants you and Lilly home, Zoe. That's why it was so easy to
talk him into letting me come too."

Zoe laughed and
took his hand, leading him into the lounge where the rest of her family waited.