6: Home
1110 Words
6: Home
––––––––
BRYCE PACKED EVERYTHING UP and surprised Belle by accepting her offer to drive. It was only four more hours, and they would be at the homestead.
They climbed in.
Belle adjusted the driver’s seat to her small frame, ready to roll. To her disappointment, Bryce climbed into the second cabin just when she was looking forward to spending the time with him.
She viewed him through the rear-view mirror. His long frame was stretched out, and his face was covered with a battered Akubra hat. Like last time, he promptly switched off.
She felt a little abandoned, but this passed once she’d sang along to the radio.
Suddenly, she heard Bryce jerk as if startled. Awake now, he frowned. It seemed it took him a moment to recognise her.
‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘I had a nightmare.’
He rubbed his face and rested his head on his knees.
She offered him a bottle. ‘Water?’
‘Yeah, that’s nice.’
He drained it in one go. Then, apologised for consuming all she had.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to...’
‘It’s okay.’
She watched him slouched in the back seat; she asked, ‘Do you often have bad dreams?’
‘Now and then,’ he said.
Bruce took over driving duty for the second half. She sat in front, glad to share his presence. Every now and again she stole quick glances in his direction when she thought he wasn’t looking. She was wrong.
‘Okay, there’s something on your mind, go ahead, say it,’ he said.
When she still didn’t say a word, he cajoled, ‘Come on, out with it.’
She looked down at her hands before she asked the nagging question, ‘Do I get my old room back? Or, do I share a room with you?’
‘If I want a roommate, I’d have advertised for a backpacker.’
He leant over from the driver’s seat, nuzzled her ear, and whispered, ‘You’ll be my bedmate.’
They listened to country music and sang along the rest of the way. When they reached a fork in the road, he turned right and followed the meandering unsealed road. ‘We’ll be home in an hour.’
She knew they’d reached Cameron Country when they entered a property gate festooned with balloons and streamers. It said, ‘Welcome home, Belle.’
Bryce echoed the sentiment. ‘Welcome home, Pixie.’
Feeling slightly overwhelmed, all she managed to say was, ‘Thanks.’
He had driven for another half hour before the homestead came into view. The sound of the engine alerted the welcoming committee of their arrival. The first to rush out the door was Rajo, jumping excitedly and shouting, ‘Nanna, they’re here.’
‘Just in time for lunch,’ Nanna said, beaming.
Sue and Belle became very close the first time the flame-haired New Yorker came to Cameron Country.
Billy, the youngest of the Cameron siblings, and her husband Raf came out to meet them. They looked very much in love in their matching cowboy and cowgirl outfits.
Rajo came over first. ‘Hi Belle, remember me?’
She patted him on the head affectionately. ‘How can I forget? You’re the most gorgeous eight-year-old ever.’
He hugged her around the waist before running off to his dad. ‘You were away for weeks and weeks.’
Bryce laughed. ‘It was two and a half days. You exaggerate too much.’
After the warm welcome, Sue invited them to share a typical light tropical Queensland midday meal. With the heat, they didn’t care much for hot meals. Instead, they had sandwiches, lots of salad and fresh fruit, and plenty to drink.
‘You must be tired,’ said Sue. ‘Feel free to rest after lunch.’
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I do feel the heat and the humidity. The jet lag hasn’t worn off yet, but I think my body will be on Queensland time in a couple of days.’
‘Try a week,’ said Raf, a fellow American. He fell in love with Billy, the tiny Aussie lass he met when she was on secondment to the New York’s SWAT’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit.
At that time, Raf was a serving police officer with SWAT until an injury forced him out of the specialist unit. Rather than accept a desk job or return to regular policing, he opted for early retirement.
When Belle tried to stifle a yawn, Bryce said, ‘I’ll show you to our room.’
He led her to the one room in the homestead she’d never seen during her previous stay at Cameron Country. He held the door open; the first thing she saw was a colourful hammock in the centre of the room. She stopped in her tracks and asked in disbelief, ‘You don’t expect us to sleep in that every night, do you?’
‘Yes, I do,’ he said in that confident tone. ‘It’s made of cotton and nylon, woven by Mayan families in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico.’
She stood frozen by the door. It was just overwhelming.
How much more of his bizarre lifestyle must I put up with?
He touched her face and said, ‘Give it a fair go, you’d be surprised how much you’ll love it.’
‘If I don’t like it?’
He smiled and said, ‘Well ... I’ll sleep in the hammock, and you can sleep on the floor.’
Tired and cranky, and her brain jet-lagged, she dissolved into tears. To sleep in a hammock once was nice, but every night? She thought it was so unfair.
Far from getting frustrated with her, he scooped her up and placed her in the hammock, and then whipped out a harmonica from his back pocket. He played Waltzing Matilda, the quintessential Australian folk song, in a soft and slow arrangement. Listening to its melody, she felt dreamy. Then, he rocked her gently to sleep.
Without meaning to, she fell into deep slumber. Hours later, she woke up completely refreshed. She remained in the hammock, trying to absorb the lifestyle she must now adapt into.
When Bryce checked in on her, he found her wide awake.
‘How’d you like my bed?’
Admitting defeat, she said, ‘I love it.’
‘Good,’ he said with a twinkle in his eyes, ‘cause I wasn’t going to trade my hammock for you.’
They locked eyes for what seemed like forever, then she said, ‘Where have you been all my life?’
The answer surprised her. ‘Had you met me ten years ago you wouldn’t have liked me ... too selfish. I’m still selfish, but a little less now.’
When nightfall came, as they lay side by side, she apologised for her earlier infantile behaviour. He stared at the ceiling as he stroked her cheek.
‘Nothing to apologise for,’ he said. ‘You haven’t cost me anything. But I’ve cost you all you’ve ever known. You came here to be with me. This is not your land, not your people, not your culture and tradition, not what you’re used to. You left everything to be with me, so the least I can do is be patient. I’ve made you do things you’ve never done, all of them outside your comfort zone because you see, I’m selfish. I’m trying not to be, but I am. This is the life I know, and you were willing to accommodate me.’
He turned to look at her. ‘I’ll help you adjust the best way I can.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you, but I sincerely hope it doesn’t get more bizarre.’
He laughed heartily. That was when she had a sense it had only just begun.
- Writer
