âIâd appreciate it if you didnât mention the fight to Mother. Lord only knows how sheâs kept that sweet innocence. Joel had a few drinks, and some guy at the Koomera pub made him furious.â
âWhat did this guy say? Any idea?â
âNo.â Siggy looked down at her weathered hands with their blunt nails. âI asked, but he wasnât interested in telling me.â
âMaybe the guy made a pass at him. Asked him if he wanted to move in.â Bemused, Nicole attempted black humor. âIt had to be something really untoward to start a fight. I hear they donât want Joel at the pub anymore, and Mickâs pretty easygoing.â
âNothing to it!â Siggy said. âTheyâll let him back in soon.â She didnât sound confident.
âJoel canât do this.â Nicole looked directly into herauntâs eyes. âI wonât have it. Had he been an ordinary employee, heâd have been told to pack up and leave. Granddad was very proud of the stationâs good name.â
âSure. Thatâs what got Heath off the hook. The Cavanagh name.â
Nicole reached out and gripped her auntâs wrist.
âOuch, that hurts! For a featherweight, youâre strong.â Siggy sounded very hard done by.
âIâm not releasing you until you tell me exactly what you mean by that.â
âDonât take any notice of me.â Siggyâs shoulders drooped. âThe older I get the more garbage I spout. Iâm a bit like you, Nikki. The way we lost your mother and that prize dope, David, pushed me over the edge. Poor old Heath had nothing to do with it. He was miles away.â
âOnly one person could vouch for that and heâs dead.â
âThat was the manâs third accident on his motor-bike. He was no Evel Knievel. Away from Eden he drank heavily. He once came back from Darwin wearing a big silver hoop earring in one ear and a really weird headband made out of crocodile skin. Alan liked it so much he actually sent for one. But the man didnât lie about your father. Actually, Iâm very proud of you for giving your father refuge. The way you strode off from our first meeting last week had Mother and I really worried. We thought you were determined to throw him out. Maybe by yourself.â
âNo one could throw him out the way he looks,â Nicole said, her expression bleak. âI think he should be hospitalized.â
âWould you want to die in a hospital when you could die at home?â
âI guess not.â Nicole sighed deeply.
âJust thought Iâd ask.â
âI donât know what it is, but youâve always had a crazy soft spot for Heath.â Nicole sought her auntâs eyes.
Siggy flashed a wry grin. âIf I did, it was a big mistake. People were having it off all around me. I missed all the action.â
âOh, Siggy,â Nicole breathed, âwhat lives weâve led! It might come to hospital for Heath all the same. I canât believe the change in him. The way he used to look, the way he looks now.â
âHe was the handsomest man Iâd ever seen,â Siggy reflected. âSo macho. Those eyes of his would have lured any woman into his bed. No wonder Corrinne went temporarily insane. That was your father in those days.â
âWere you in love with him?â
âAs if I would tell you,â Siggy said, brushing the question off.
âHe was never very kind to you.â
âWell, who cares! That in itself doesnât mean a great deal.â Siggyâs thin cheeks grew flushed. âThings being what they were, Heath was married to my sister. I kept my wild fantasies to myself.â
âAbsolutely wise, considering you were married to Uncle Alan. By the same token, I have the unsettling feeling youâre not telling the truth.â
Siggy started to haul herself up. âBless you, you should have been a
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