Outback Reunion (Bunyip Bay #6)

Chapter Twenty-nine

On Sunday morning, Gabi rose at the crack of dawn, brushed her teeth, scooped her hair up into a high, practical ponytail, put on her high-vis work clothes and boots, then gently shook Luna’s shoulder, and injected a chirpiness she didn’t feel into her voice. ‘Time to get up, Missy. It’s pull-down day.’

Luna groaned and rolled into Basset, who was snoring peacefully beside her. ‘I’m too tired.’

Well, that was a turn-up for the books—Gabi couldn’t remember another time when her daughter had admitted fatigue, but the last week had been particularly busy. Beach days, daily performances, a near-drowning and more socialising than they usually did in a year. Bunyip Bay was supposed to have been a relaxing almost-holiday, but things hadn’t exactly turned out according to plan. Mark certainly hadn’t been in the plan, but life had a way of making its own arrangements.

She blinked, tears threatening as she recalled their heartbreaking conversation on the beach and the awkward goodbye when he’d come to collect the camels. They couldn’t talk properly with Luna and everyone else around, and maybe that had been for the best. No amount of talking could change things, but just because it was for the best, didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell.

‘Weetbix is on the table,’ she said, shaking her head of Mark as she grabbed Basset off the bed and shoved him out the door. ‘Get up, get dressed and eat your breakfast. If you’re not out in ten minutes, I’m sending your great-grandmother in.’

Not listening to any more of her daughter’s complaints—they all had to do things they didn’t want to sometimes—she stepped out onto the lot, which was already a hive of activity even though the sun had barely risen.

Here we go again.

The temporary fence that circled the lot had already been taken down last night. During the second half of the show, the tent boys had got to work dismantling everything they could: the fence, the foyer tent and everything in it, leaving the Big Top, all the equipment, the ring, the flooring, and everything else for today. The guys would do all the heavy lifting from the king poles to seating; the women and older men would take care of the lighter tasks, and Luna, as usual, was on rubbish collection duty.

That’s if she ever dragged herself out of bed.

This was the non-glamorous life of the circus. Let’s face it, almost everything was non-glamorous from the inside, but the good thing was they’d done this so many times that they all worked on autopilot, everyone eager to pack up and get on the road.

Pull-down took most of the day—especially when they’d had a night-time show rather than a matinee the day before—then everyone would pack up their caravans and either hit the sack early, ready to leave first thing the next morning, or get a head start to their next destination. Today, Gabi was even more keen than usual for the latter. The sooner they got out of Bunyip Bay and away from the memories of Mark, the better.

The men were dismantling the seating, carrying the beams and stringers out to the waiting trucks, Luna—finally awake—was picking up rubbish at a snail’s pace ready for them to roll up the mat, and Gabi, Eve and Muriel had just finished packing up the curtains when Mark appeared through the opening in the tent.

Luna shrieked in excitement, dropping her black plastic bag on the ground, rubbish spilling out as she ran to him. ‘What are you doing here? Did you bring Rookie?’

‘Yes, what are you doing here?’ Gabi asked, hurrying over. Her heart and body were of course overjoyed to see him—her hormones dancing low in her belly—but her head knew that seeing each other again would only make things harder.

The smile he’d offered Luna fell as he met Gabi’s gaze. ‘I need to talk to you. In private.’

‘Mark, I can’t. We’re very busy.’ She could feel Eve’s and Muriel’s eyes boring into her back as they watched in disapproval. Eve was all for Gabi having a bit of fun, but not when it disrupted work.

He was not deterred. ‘I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me, and I think you’d rather we didn’t have an audience for what I’m about to say.’

The tone of his voice and the darkness in his eyes lifted the hairs on the back of her neck. What was going on? ‘I can give you five minutes,’ she told him, ‘but that’s it.’

‘Can I come too?’ asked Luna.

‘No,’ he and Gabi said at the same time.

Neither of them said a word until they were outside the tent that would soon be rolled up and packed away. Tomorrow there’d be no evidence that they were ever here; she wished she could say the same for the imprints she and Mark had left on each other’s hearts.

‘You’re just making this harder for both of us than it already is,’ she whispered, aware that Lorenzo, Desmond, the technicians, the tent boys and the Dangerous Duo had all stopped work to watch them. ‘Nothing you can say is going to change my mind.’

‘Did you lie to me about the paternity test?’

She almost stumbled at his words. ‘What?’ Anger poured through her at the accusation. ‘Why the hell would I do that?’

‘Can I see it then?’

‘What’s this about?’ she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

In reply, he pulled a photo out of his pocket and held it in front of her face.

Gabi frowned as she examined the picture of a bride, two bridesmaids in gold dresses and a little girl who looked almost identical to Luna. ‘Who is that?’ she gasped.

‘My mum’s sister—my Aunty Karen—as a child.’

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

‘Maybe we should go into your caravan to talk about this,’ he suggested, touching her elbow lightly.

Somehow, she managed to nod and allowed him to lead her there. By the time they stepped inside she was hyperventilating. Besides the bowl that Gabi had left Luna’s breakfast in—empty except for a few clumps of soggy Weetbix—everything else was packed up and secured, but even if it hadn’t been, Gabi didn’t have the wherewithal to offer Mark a drink.

‘Why did you bring that photo here?’ she demanded.

‘Don’t you think my aunt looks like Luna?’

Gabi swallowed—right now she didn’t know what to think. Was this some kind of trick? ‘They have the same hair colour, sure, but lots of people have red hair. And they’re about the same age in the photo so—’

‘It’s not just her hair. I thought Luna looked familiar when I first saw her but didn’t know why and I didn’t know she was your daughter, so I didn’t think too much of it. But look.’ He lifted his chin and tapped it. ‘We have the same chin, and nose, and her eyes are just like my mum’s.’

Oh God. She swayed. Now that he’d pointed it out, Gabi couldn’t unsee it. There was nothing of Dante in her daughter and definite glimpses of Mark. He reacted quickly to stop her falling, his arms coming around her as he ushered her over to the bed so she could sit before her legs gave way.

She took the photo from him and stared at it. ‘But I don’t understand. Dante said she was his. He did a test.’

‘Do you still have the test?’ he asked.

‘It’ll be in here somewhere,’ she said, passing the photo back to him and going over to a kitchen drawer. ‘All our important information is here.’

Gabi felt Mark’s eyes on her as she pulled out the drawer and started rifling through it. She flicked through their birth certificates, health insurance, some bank statements and then found Luna’s child health book. ‘Maybe he put it in here.’

‘Did you ever actually see the test results?’ he asked, when she’d flicked through the blue book with no success.

She bit her lip and tried to think back to those first few months. Did she? Everything was such a blur; she’d been so anxious and fatigued trying to learn how to be a mum while still performing, but surely, she wouldn’t have just taken his word?

‘I don’t remember,’ she admitted, a knot forming in her stomach.

Mark let out a long sigh. ‘Do you know what blood type Luna is?’

‘Um... I think it’s... uh, A?’

‘You think ?’

‘Actually, maybe it’s B.’ Her head didn’t seem to be working.

He nodded towards the health book still in her hands. ‘Would it be in there?’

Of course. She opened it again and found the right page. ‘She’s AB.’

‘And do you know what Dante’s was?’

‘He was O,’ Gabi said, remembering from the hospital paperwork last year.

Mark froze a moment, then pulled out his phone. ‘I’m pretty sure that means Dante can’t be Luna’s father.’ He swiped it unlocked and started tapping. ‘Human biology was my favourite subject at school—after sport—and if I recall correctly, there’s no way an O parent can produce an AB child.’

She held her breath while he scanned the results.

‘Yep. I’m right.’ He looked up at her, his eyes widening. ‘I’m a B. Guessing you’re an A?’

She nodded, shivers racing up and down her spine, goosebumps dimpling her skin. ‘What does this mean?’

‘It means Dante conned you. My guess is there never was a paternity test,’ Mark said coolly.

Tears sprung to her eyes. She felt so stupid, but she’d never for one minute considered that he might deceive her about something as big as this. ‘I don’t get it. Why would he lie? What was in it for him?’

Mark scoffed as he paced back and forth in the tiny space, his face red and his fists clenched. ‘You! You were in it for him. Don’t you realise how amazing you are? How fucking perfect? He wanted to keep you all for himself and he probably realised that if you knew Luna wasn’t his, he wouldn’t have had any power over you. He used your daughter— our daughter—to trap you here!’

Gabi didn’t blame him for yelling. They’d missed out on years together, years where they could have been a family and given Luna siblings. All because of Dante. She thought she’d hated him when he was alive, but nothing compared to how she felt now.

How would Mark ever forgive her?

‘I think I’m going to throw up.’

While she rushed to the bathroom to do exactly that, she heard the tap go on. Seconds later, he was behind her, rubbing her back as she spewed all her emotions into the toilet. How could this be happening? It didn’t make any sense. And what on earth were they going to do about it?

Oh God. What an awful, horrible, fucked-up mess.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed, taking the glass, knowing as she took a sip that the words weren’t even half good enough.

‘You’ve got nothing to apologise for.’ He took the glass back, put it to the side, then pulled her against his chest, holding her tightly and pressing his lips to her hair.

‘Aren’t you angry?’ Lord knew she was angry, or at least she would be when she’d recovered from the shock.

‘I’m fucking furious! But not with you. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, but I was so shocked. So confused.’

‘I don’t blame you. I knew Dante wasn’t perfect, but I never imagined he’d do something like this.’

Mark scoffed. ‘The man’s lucky he’s already dead, because if he wasn’t I’d kill him myself.’

Gabi looked up at him—‘Lucky I already took care of that’—but her poor attempt at a joke fell flat. There was nothing funny about any of this.

‘You know this changes things, right? This proves you don’t owe Eve and Lorenzo anything. Luna isn’t their flesh and blood; she’s ours. The circus isn’t her legacy; my farm is. And she has real grandparents here in Bunyip Bay who will love the hell out of her.’

Her pulse raced, Mark’s words sparking panic. This was going to break Eve and Lorenzo. They wouldn’t cope with losing Luna as well as their son.

‘I need you to slow down,’ she said, pulling away from him, unable to think straight while in his arms.

‘I’ll get a paternity test—a real one. I promise.’

The thought hadn’t crossed her mind until then. ‘Yes, that’s probably a good idea. It’s not that I don’t trust you but—’

‘It’s okay,’ he reassured her. ‘It’s important to do this properly. For everyone concerned. We don’t want there to be any confusion ever again. The sooner we get the results, the sooner we can tell Luna. And maybe we can see about getting that bastard’s name taken off her birth certificate.’

But Gabi barely registered this last bit.

Tell Luna? Although she understood Mark’s impatience to become part of their daughter’s life—to make up for all the time they’d lost—she was just a little girl. This would confuse the hell out of her, and Gabi had to protect her. She couldn’t allow her own feelings for Mark to overshadow that. ‘We can’t tell her,’ she said softly.

His head reared back. ‘What?’

‘Luna’s still grieving the man she thinks was her dad. She was devastated when Dante died, and I don’t think she could cope with finding out he wasn’t her real father. She’s too young to understand. This might break her.’

Mark was quiet for a long time, his expression grave as he digested what she’d said.

Finally, he nodded. ‘I understand. Of course, you’re right. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.’

‘Thank you.’ She squeezed his hand.

He lifted it and held it against his chest. ‘We don’t need to tell Luna who I am—not yet—but I want to be in her life, somehow. Even if you don’t want me in yours.’

‘I do,’ she whispered. The knowledge that her little girl hadn’t been fathered by a monster made her chest swell with joy. Now that she knew the truth, it would be so easy to give in to her heart’s desire, to walk out onto the almost packed-up lot and tell Eve and Lorenzo that she quit, but for Luna’s sake they needed to take things slowly. ‘I want that more than anything. But we’re going to have to take this one step at a time. Us having a relationship now means even more but there’s also much more at stake if we stuff it up.’

‘We won’t stuff it up!’

She smiled at him, happy tears spilling down her cheeks.

He let out a deep sigh, finally smiling too as he wiped her tears. ‘But you’re right. We need to do this right, for Luna. I can be patient and hopefully one day soon the time will be right to tell her the truth.’

She nodded. He deserved that and so did Luna. ‘It will be.’

‘Until then, I’ll visit you both as much as I can on the road and you’re welcome to come here for a holiday or whenever you want a weekend away from the circus. And don’t tell me you can’t afford it because I can. There’s nothing I’d rather spend my money on than you and our daughter. Whatever she needs, whatever you need, just ask.’

‘I will. I love you, Mark.’

He put his hands on either side of her face and grinned down at her. ‘I love you too, Gabriela.’