Outback Reunion (Bunyip Bay #6)

Chapter Twenty-seven

‘That is not the way you make a hot dog,’ snapped Muriel, snatching the bun out of his hand. She grabbed the tongs, and removed the frankfurt he’d just placed in the bread and turned it around the other way. ‘ That is the way you make a hot dog.’

Frankly, he didn’t see any difference, but he got the feeling Dante’s grandmother wasn’t going to find anything he did acceptable. But he wasn’t here for her anyway. Gabriela had told him she wasn’t angry and that she’d overreacted, so as long as being in this hot, stuffy food truck made her evening a little easier, that was all that mattered. ‘Noted. I’ll do better with the next one, Muriel.’

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘That’s Mrs Jimenez to you.’

‘Mrs Jimenez.’ He offered his most charming smile and then turned back to the family he was serving, passing their food to them. ‘Two dogs, three buckets of popcorn and three raspberry slushies. Enjoy.’

Just before the show began, Gabriela rescued him from Muriel’s evil eye and delivered him to the Big Top where she gave him a torch and told him to stand by the entrance and usher in and out anyone who required the restrooms during the show.

He joked that he’d always wanted to be a bouncer and then she was gone again.

Aside from when she was in the ring making visual magic in the air and on the ground, he hardly saw Gabriela at all until the last of the audience had disappeared into the night. It had been manic watching the circus through a behind-the-scenes lens, and he was in awe of how much work and energy the performers put in, night after night. Footy training and games were rigorous, but when he was out on the oval, he never thought once about the crowd, whereas Gabriela had to be constantly smiling and interacting with them.

He couldn’t imagine how exhausting that would be, and she’d been doing it her whole life. No wonder she craved normality.

‘You were a godsend tonight,’ she said, coming up to him where he’d been waiting patiently. Loud Mouth was on her shoulder and Luna and the dogs at her side.

‘Big nose. Big nose. Big nose,’ squawked the bird.

‘Why thank you,’ he replied.

This made Luna giggle. ‘Don’t worry, Mark, he says that to me as well.’

‘Say goodnight to Mark, go put your dogs away, and start getting ready for bed,’ Gabriela told her daughter.

Luna crossed her arms and pouted. ‘But I’m not tired.’

Mark tried very hard not to smirk, yet at the same time he wanted Luna to go to bed so he could finally be alone with her mother.

‘Do as you’re told,’ Gabriela said, ‘and I’ll let you watch an episode of Friends before we switch off the lights.’

Luna held up three fingers. ‘How about three?’

‘How about two and you have a deal? Now go.’

‘Okay.’ Luna nodded, then surprised Mark by stepping forward and wrapping her little arms around his waist, or at least as far as they would stretch. ‘Goodnight.’

His heart exploding, he ruffled her hair—‘Goodnight, kiddo’—and was smiling as she disappeared, her canine entourage trotting behind her. His plan might not have been perfectly executed, but he reckoned the part about winning Luna’s affection was going smoothly.

‘Thank you again for helping tonight,’ Gabriela said. ‘I really appreciate it.’

‘It was really fun. Exhausting but fun.’ He took a step towards her, desperate to touch her. ‘I think I might almost have won over Muriel by the end of it. Who knew there was a correct way to put a sausage in a bun?’

As she laughed, he dipped his head and crushed his lips against hers. He couldn’t help it; he’d been wanting to taste her all night. She kissed him back but only for a few seconds before she put her hand on his chest.

‘I need to put Luna to bed and then we should talk. Will you meet me on the beach?’

He nodded.

‘I’ll be there as soon as she goes to sleep, although I can’t guarantee how long that will be.’

He knew the deal. ‘I’ll wait as long as it takes.’

The beach was deserted when he plonked himself onto the soft sand, not far from the path that led almost directly from the oval. The twinkling stars were reflecting like a painting on the shimmery water, lapping gently upon the shore. How could he ever have questioned coming back here?

Melbourne might have the MCG, good coffee and fancy restaurants; Melbourne might have football , but Bunyip Bay had his heart.

As did the woman who would hopefully be here to join him soon.

Yet as he waited, the time ticking loudly on his watch, anxiety crept back into his heart. He didn’t doubt Gabriela’s feelings for him. He knew in his heart that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her, but that didn’t mean convincing her was going to be easy—especially now that the Saads had left.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he heard a noise behind him and turned to see her walking towards him, her feet bare, a pair of thongs dangling in her hands.

‘Sorry I took so long,’ she said with a smile.

‘It’s fine.’ He held out his hand, gently tugging her down beside him. ‘What a day, hey?’

Letting go of his hand, she pulled her knees up to her chest and nodded. ‘Just a few curveballs.’ She turned her head to look at him. ‘Did you mean what you said at the party?’

‘What bit? The bit about wanting you to run away from the circus? The bit about falling in love with you?’

‘All of it,’ she whispered.

‘I meant every single thing I said. I know it seems fast, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.’

‘What about Tahlia?’

‘I thought I loved Tahlia,’ he admitted, ‘and maybe I did, in a way. But not the all-consuming, life or death way I feel about you.’

She made a noise that sounded like a sob. ‘I have a daughter, Mark.’

‘I know. And I love Luna too.’ Nervous, because this was the most important conversation of his life, he plucked a broken shell off the sand and rubbed it between his fingers. ‘I get that you’re a package deal and I want the whole package.’

Gabriela was quiet for a long moment. ‘What did Tahlia want this afternoon?’

‘She wants us to get back together. She said she regrets what she did and she’s willing to move here and start a family.’

‘Wow.’

‘Which is never going to happen,’ he said with conviction.

The wind whipped up around them and although the air still held the warmth of the day, he saw her shiver. ‘Maybe you should consider it.’

‘What?’ Mark laughed. Hadn’t she heard a word he’d just said? Why would he have spent the night helping her at the circus if he wanted to be with Tahlia?

‘She obviously loves you if she came all this way to ask you to take her back. We all make mistakes.’ Gabriela’s eyes dropped to the sand. ‘Maybe you should forgive her. She can give you what you want.’

‘No, she can’t!’ He touched his finger to Gabriela’s chin and forced her to meet his gaze again. ‘Because she’s not you. I was ready to settle down when I met her, but although it might have been the right time, she was the wrong person. You’re the only one for me.’

Tears sprung from her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Mark, but I can’t be.’

‘I know you love me.’

Her face was already soaking wet as she shook her head. ‘I never said I didn’t. I think I loved you from the first moment I met you—but I can’t ignore my responsibilities to Lorenzo and Eve, to the circus. I owe them.’

‘I know this thing with the Saad sisters is stressful for them, but they’ll find other performers, and even if they don’t, you don’t owe anyone anything. You were a child when they took you in. You don’t need to spend the rest of your life paying them back for that.’ Mark took her hand again and rested it in his lap. He never wanted to let go. He had to make her see sense. ‘And the same goes for Luna. I know the circus is her legacy, and she might not be old enough to understand just yet, but do you really think she’d want you to make your life miserable for her?’

She sniffed. ‘I’m not miserable. Not all the time. But if I am, it’s because I deserve to be.’

What? Mark wanted to scream. Dante had really done a number on her self-esteem. ‘That’s ridiculous. You’re—’

‘I killed him, Mark. Dante. It’s my fault he’s dead.’

‘Huh?’ He let go of her hand as ice flooded his body. ‘No. But... you said... you said he slipped and...’

When his voice drifted off, she nodded. ‘He did. But what I didn’t tell you was what he was doing at the time, and what I did after.’

His heart pounded in his ears as he waited, scared of what she was about to tell him.

‘It was late one night after a show. He was drunk and wanted to have sex in the shower. I didn’t. He tried to pull me in with him, and I pushed him away. He wasn’t expecting me to stand up to him and he lost his balance. He slammed his head against the sharp corner of the cabinet. I’d never seen anything like it when he crumpled to the floor. I think I stopped breathing, expecting him to get straight back up and terrified of what he might do, but he didn’t. And I just stood there, staring at him, stunned.’

‘Oh, Gabriela.’ Mark pulled her against him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She was trembling. ‘Dante’s death was not your fault. He brought that on himself by trying to force himself onto you. You pushed him in self-defence. It was an accident.’

‘Yes, but I should have called an ambulance the moment he fell. I could have run for help. But I didn’t. On purpose. Because I wanted him to die, and I thought that the longer I waited, the less likely it was that he’d wake up. I was right.’

Tears were pouring down her cheeks, soaking his t-shirt, and Mark had never hated anyone like he hated Dante. The bastard had got what he deserved but even after he was gone, his ghost still haunted Gabriela.

‘I’m glad he died,’ he told her, ‘because if he hadn’t... one day... it might have been you.’

It was on the news all the time—men murdering women they were supposed to love—and he knew there were so many more stories than were given airtime. One of those scumbags didn’t feel like much of a loss to humanity, but Gabi would be.

She sniffed and lifted her head from his shoulder. ‘One wrong doesn’t make a right. And none of it is Lorenzo and Eve’s fault. I can’t abandon them now when I didn’t have the guts to leave when Dante was still alive. If I had, maybe they’d still have their son.’

He wasn’t certain that was the case—Dante’s parents had raised a monster so they couldn’t be completely faultless—but he could tell that no matter what he said, nothing was going to assuage Gabriela of her guilt and convince her she didn’t owe Dante’s parents.

Not yet anyway.

‘Well, if you and Luna can’t leave, then I guess there’s only one thing for it.’

‘What do you mean?’

He grinned at her. ‘I’ll join the circus.’

Gabriela burst out laughing. ‘You crack me up.’

‘I’m deadly serious.’

Her laughing stopped, her jaw dropping and her eyes widening as she stared at him. ‘You really are insane.’

‘You saw me tonight. I fit right in. And I enjoyed it. I’m a quick learner. I’m not saying I’ll ever be able to walk the highwire or do any of the things the Dangerous Duo do, but the clown might be able to teach me a few tricks and—’

‘One night is very different to living on the road in a space barely bigger than your ute, doing the same thing day in day out, never really being able to take a proper break. I can’t ask you to do that. I won’t.’

‘You’re not asking. I’m offering, because one way or another I want us to be together. I don’t want to waste another minute without you in my life.’

Gabriela smiled at him, but it wasn’t a joyful smile. She cupped his face in her hands. ‘You’re a wonderful man, Mark—the best man—but some things just aren’t meant to be. I won’t allow you to leave this beautiful place, your friends, your family and the farm for me. You’ll only end up resenting me.’

‘I won’t. That’s impossible.’

‘Oh, Mark.’ She sniffed and shook her head. ‘Don’t make this any harder than it already is. It’s been a wonderful week, but we both knew that was all it was ever going to be.’

He could tell by the tone of her voice that arguing would be futile. He’d never felt more defeated. Even with most of his football injuries, he’d known that if he worked hard and put the effort into his recovery, he’d come good. He may not be playing professionally anymore, but surgery and months of physio meant he could still do almost everything else.

How could there be nothing he could do to make them possible? He couldn’t believe that fate had brought her back into his life only to rip her out again.

‘You’re breaking my heart,’ he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers.

‘I’m sorry,’ she sobbed, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks.

‘At least say we can stay in touch. I don’t want to lose contact with you again.’

She was quiet a few long moments, then said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. I should never have slept with you in the first place.’

He didn’t know if she meant that first night in Melbourne or when they’d gone for it at his place on Sunday afternoon, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that this really sounded like it was the end, and he couldn’t let that be the case.

‘I’ll take the camels for you.’

‘What?’

‘They’re more trouble than they’re worth to you right now and we have plenty of room for them on the farm. If the Saad sisters return or you want them back when you’ve got more people again to look after them, then you’ll know where they are.’

And maybe one day she’d have a reason to come find him again. It might be a tenuous link, but it was a link.

‘Will your parents be okay with that?’ she asked.

Mark laughed despite himself. ‘Are you kidding? Mum will love it—she’ll spoil them rotten. Dad will grumble, but I think he secretly likes her rescues just as much as she does.’

‘In that case, thank you. You’re really too good to me.’

He pressed his lips to hers one final time—‘You’re easy to be good to’—and then he walked her back to the lot, making arrangements to collect the camels the following morning.