Standing Strong (33 page)

It seemed to take an age before Lucy was standing in front of him. They hugged in their usual awkward way, though Damien noticed they both hung on a little tighter and harder than before.

‘Wow. Well hi, good to see you,' he stammered, a little shocked and lost for words.

‘Surprise,' Lucy said, raising her hands and offering a tight smile.

‘Not quite like the last time you were here,' he said with a shrug, indicating the building site with his head.

‘No. God. It's awful. I didn't realise, didn't know what to expect.'

The words came out in a rush and then Damien watched, stunned, as she gulped for breath and two lines of tears began rushing down her face. He stood, frozen to the spot, as Auntie Ethel gathered his sister to her soft, ample chest and held her. Thank God for Ethel.

‘God, I don't know what's wrong with me,' Lucy said a few moments later, wiping her eyes with tissues she'd dragged out of her pocket.

‘It's a shock, I guess,' Damien said with a shrug. Though why it would be that much of a shock was a little beyond him. Did she think he'd lied when he'd told her their family home had burned down? If she found this upsetting, she was damned lucky she hadn't been here to see the smouldering remains. Now
that
had been shocking and heartbreaking. She'd left home years ago, so none of her stuff was gobbled up by the flames. Damien checked himself. He was being too hard on her. He'd been there on the ground, seen the progression, and he'd seen plenty of fires in his day. Sure, not many houses, but still, it must have helped him cope. Lucy hadn't had any of that exposure.

‘Yeah, shit happens,' he said with another shrug. Shit, he hadn't meant to say the words out loud and sound like he didn't care. He did, very much, but what was done was done. Time to move on.
Christ,
he thought with a jolt,
I sound just like Mum: cold and unfeeling
. The look on Lucy's face told him she'd just had the same thought.

‘You must be Squish,' Lucy said, bending down and making a fuss of the Jack Russell.

‘Sure is. And this is Sam and Jemima,' he said, pointing to the bird and kangaroo who had just appeared.

‘Golly, quite the menagerie,' Lucy said, clutching her chest and letting out a little nervous laugh.

‘Don't worry, he's a friendly emu, aren't you, Sam?'

Bob and Cara rushed up to Lucy and gave her a cursory sniff before running off to carry on with their play fighting.

‘And I see those guys are still lunatics,' she said, nodding after them.

‘Sure are. Though they were amazing during the fire. Hey, you're never going to guess what else is here,' he said, changing the subject.

‘What?'

‘We also now have two horses.' He grinned.

‘No, surely not.' Lucy put on a big show of clutching her chest and pretending she was about to fall over.

‘It's true.'

‘You've gone soft,' she said, grinning and poking Damien in the chest.

‘Yes I have, and I'm proud of it,' Damien said, smiling back. ‘Esperance takes care of all creatures great and small, sis.'

‘What's their story? Can they be ridden?'

Damien opened his mouth to answer, but Lucy was no longer there. She was on her way to where the yards had always been, practically skipping, almost running.

Damien shared a grin with Ethel as they followed, much more slowly. When they caught up, Lucy was standing with both horses in front of her, whispering soothingly to them. She stepped back and took in a 360-degree view of her surroundings.

‘The shelters and runs look amazing,' she said.

‘Yeah. The working bee was fantastic, all because of Auntie Ethel, I reckon.'

‘Lovely of you to say, but not true,' Ethel said.

‘So, what are you doing here, anyway?' Damien asked as they slowly made their way back to the caravan.

‘Just felt the right thing to do. With all that's going on with Mum, I kind of thought you might like some more moral support,' she said a little shyly. ‘Especially since you don't have Jacqueline. I'm so sorry about that.'

‘Yeah, well, me too. But thanks. And it really is nice to see you,' he said, reaching out and putting an arm across her shoulder. He'd have pulled her into a hug if they had that sort of relationship.

‘Hey, Luce?' he said, stopping. She stopped too. He put his arms around his sister and embraced her, shocked by his actions as she seemed to be. He'd changed, he was changing. ‘Thanks so much for being here. It means a lot.' Tears stung his eyes.

‘You're welcome,' she whispered into his neck, giving it a kiss, before she extracted herself from his clutches.

As they walked on in thoughtful silence, Damien felt his heart soar a little. If he'd known losing everything would change his relationship with Lucy like this, he might have thought to light a match himself. If it weren't totally immoral and illegal, that is.

‘This is nice,' Lucy said, looking around as they ushered her into the van first.

‘It's home for now. A little on the small side, but comfortable enough. Though you should have heard the din the rain made.'

‘Oh, kittens!' Lucy said, rushing to them.

Seeing her cuddling them made Damien think how odd it was that he was the one doing the animal rescue venture. Lucy had been a staunch animal lover from day one: she'd been bringing home baby animals and feeding them with an eye dropper for as long as he could remember. He wondered if she'd have stayed and fulfilled their dad's dream instead of him, if things had been different.

A sudden thought gripped him. Would Lucy be interested in joining him in this venture if the farm didn't have to get sold? Or maybe setting up with him somewhere else? Could it be a viable enough business to support both of them? But she was settled in London and this place wouldn't hold enough excitement for her. The mother issue complicated matters too … But the thought stayed with him like an itch he couldn't quite scratch.

‘It really is good to see you, Luce,' Damien said again as he delivered mugs to the table. He'd said words to this effect many times to his sister when she'd visited over the years, but he'd never quite meant them like he did now. He always followed up with something a little cruel, like, ‘So how long are you gracing us with your presence?' But this time he was too scared to hear the answer. Damien liked the feeling that reinforcements had arrived. Lucy was much smarter than he was, and so much better at standing up to their mother – well, he'd always thought so, anyway.

‘What's this?' Lucy asked, pointing at the brochure.

‘That's the choice of colours for the house cladding. I have to choose and let Stan know by five. The circled ones can come straightaway, so I want one of those. What do you guys think?'

‘That one,' Lucy said at once, pointing to the buttery yellow one.

‘Auntie Ethel, which one do you like?' Damien and Lucy asked at the same time.

‘Looks good to me. Nice and bright and cheery.'

‘And fresh. And different to what we had before,' Lucy said.

‘Okay. Done. And here I was thinking I'd never make a decision. Hey, you wouldn't by any chance be able to come with me to Lincoln tomorrow – both of you – to help choose carpet and tiles, and bits and pieces for the house? Since you're so good at this. I've been putting it off.'

‘Okay. You'll come too, won't you Auntie Ethel?' Lucy said.

‘No thanks, but I will happily take care of the kittens for you.'

‘Oh, I hadn't thought of them,' Damien said. ‘Thanks very much.'

As they sipped on their coffees, slipping into silence as they stroked the kittens and Squish, Damien felt a little guilty at thinking how things were easier without his mother's presence. He could see how much more at ease Lucy was out of Tina's gaze. He too was definitely less on edge. He felt terrible for thinking ill of his mother, but he couldn't help being observant. It was what it was, there was no denying it. As much as Tina wanted to pretend she wasn't the problem, what Damien was seeing said otherwise.

‘So, have you spoken to Mum again? Does she know you're here?'

‘Yes. We spoke late yesterday. I had a few hours in the airport in Adelaide, but she couldn't make it to see me, said she had something else on. It was a bit weird, actually. She was quite cagey. Normally she'll tell you exactly what she's doing with all the detail under the sun.'

‘Maybe she's giving you the silent treatment like she seems to be giving me. I rang and left a message and haven't heard back from her. But no, hang on, you spoke to her. So it must be only me getting the silent treatment. That'd be right. So how was she?'

‘Weird. There seemed to be something not quite right about her.'

‘Well, she's going through a lot. Maybe she's getting a bit depressed or she's freaking out about how she's going to cope financially, or something.'

‘No, she didn't sound upset – which you'd expect her to, with all that's going on – she was just the opposite. She was actually upbeat. Cheery even.'

‘Maybe she'd been drinking.'

‘I don't think so,' Lucy said thoughtfully, shaking her head. ‘She definitely wasn't slurring her words.'

‘So what do you think's going on? Is it something we need to worry about?' Damien sent a prayer skywards that he wouldn't be required to intervene.

‘I know this is probably ridiculous, but she sounded just like when she first got together with Geoff.'

‘Well, I'm happy she's finally left the prick, except, of course, for the potential financial headaches it's causing. Maybe she's feeling relieved and becoming a little giddy with it all, as Grandma would have said. She's finally free.'

Lucy had an odd expression on her face, like she'd put two and two together and didn't like what she'd come up with, or didn't believe it, or something. And then it slowly dawned on him.
Like when she first got together with Geoff
, Lucy had said.
No
.

‘What, you think she's met someone? A man? Already? No way. She left Geoff, like, thirty seconds ago.'

‘Well, you know how she hates being on her own. Geoff was the first to take any interest after Dad, and she latched onto him like a piranha.'

‘I still can't believe she couldn't see what we could.'

‘Perhaps she did, but kept her eye on the prize of not being alone. Or perhaps she thought she could change him.'

‘Hopefully she wouldn't be stupid enough to get involved with someone else while everything is such a mess. Or if she does, he's rich and will take care of her.'

‘Maybe she'd just been to see her lawyer and found a loophole in her finances with Geoff. That would be good.'

‘So, when's she coming back?'

‘She was cagey about that as well. Said something about maybe getting a ride back, but seemed to be waiting to hear from someone.'

‘I guess we'll find out soon enough.' Damien cursed the feeling that swept through him: that he didn't want his mother there in his orbit, making him feel tense, and especially ruining the good vibe he had going on with his sister.

‘Hey, do you remember the number for the girl who brought the horses out – what was her name, Alice?' Lucy asked.

‘Why? You're welcome to ride them. You don't need her permission – they've been surrendered. Well, kind of. There was no need to take her number. She handed them over, there'd be no need for me to call her. She has my number for when she wants to visit or take them back.' Damien knew he was going on and sounding very defensive, but he was a little annoyed with himself for not getting her details.

‘It's not about the horses,' Lucy said quietly. Damien noticed she shared a quick look with their auntie Ethel, who had remained strangely quiet for ages. If they weren't all sitting at the tiny caravan table he'd have forgotten she was even there.

‘What? What's going on?'

‘Lucy wants to speak to her – since she's been through some, er,
awkwardness
at Geoff's hands.'

‘Oh.'

‘Yeah. I feel terrible. If I'd made people listen, believe me, all those years ago, maybe she wouldn't have had to go through it. God knows who else he's leered over or touched up along the way.'

‘Luce, I'm so sorry I …'

‘Damien, you have nothing to be sorry about. You weren't to know.'

‘But if I'd been more observant …'
Been a better brother, an approachable one, someone you could have confided in
.

‘Let it go. Seriously. So she worked at the supermarket? Anything else you know about her and her mum?'

‘No. Auntie Ethel? You'd know better than me.'

‘I've got my feelers out. With luck they won't have left town yet. Bill might know where they are or be able to ask around,' Ethel added thoughtfully, as if to herself.

‘Why would you get the police involved? That's taking it a bit far, isn't it? She indicated it wasn't something she was going to pursue. Maybe she just wants to forget it. I don't think he actually touched her.'

‘Sorry, what? Police? Don't be ridiculous,' Ethel said quickly. Too quickly to Damien's mind. ‘Not
that
Bill,' she added, even more hastily. Was there another Bill? Damien was pretty sure he didn't know one.

‘Speaking of cagey, what are you up to? What's going on?'

‘Nothing.'

‘Auntie Ethel?'

‘Seriously, Damien, leave it.'

The tone, which he rarely heard from Auntie Ethel, stopped him in his tracks. He had the strange feeling that Lucy had not flown halfway across the world merely to provide him with moral support, but he said nothing. There was definitely something going on that didn't involve him and that he didn't need to know about. Women's business, most likely. Fine, whatever, he had enough on his mind anyway.