Little Girl Lost by Janet Gover Page A

range of children’s toys and things. I know you can get it all off the internet, but people sometimes leave it too late. So I thought, as the only general store in town, we should carry some kids’ toys and small gifts. After all, people are always buying things for kids. And children get pocket money too. They need to be able to do something with it.’
    Sarah’s heart gave an unexpected little skip. ‘When are you expecting the delivery?’
    ‘This afternoon. Now, first thing we need to do is sort through the rest of the non-food items. I think they should all be kept in one section. The corner by the back door would be about right.’
    Sarah nodded, her thoughts elsewhere. Right now, on the road north of the Creek, Pete was driving his big blue and white truck towards them. His strong hands would be on the wheel and he might be singing. He did that sometimes when he worked, although she doubted he was aware of it. She’d heard him singing softly as he unloaded boxes from his truck. He probably did it when he drove as well. He wasn’t the world’s greatest singer, but he had a pleasant voice. She’d happily listen to him any time, although that probably didn’t have a lot to do with his voice. It was just because she liked being around him and was rather drawn to the idea of sitting beside him, listening to his songs as they travelled through the outback.
    ‘Sarah? Did you hear? I said we may need to put up some new shelves in that corner to make the stock easier to get to.’
    ‘Yeah. Sure, Dad. Have you got the necessary bits and pieces?’
    If there were shelves to be built, she would be the one doing it. She had come home to take over those tasks that were now too much for her dad to handle. She braced herself to argue with him if he insisted on doing it himself. At the same time, she braced herself for the heartache if he stood back and handed control to her. That would be an acknowledgement of how ill he really was, and that was going to be just as hard to take.
    ‘I do,’ Ken said. ‘There’s a complete set of prefab shelving in the garage that will work fine here. I’ll mind the store while you go and get them.’
    Pete stretched his arms and flexed his fingers against the steering wheel. The road ahead seemed longer than it normally did and he was having trouble concentrating. That was not a good thing when you were driving a road train. He flicked his stereo on, seeking music he could sing along to. But turned it off again after a few minutes.
    He was never going to drink that much beer again. Ever. He was a professional driver and seldom drank more than a single beer. But last night …
    It had all started over dinner. Linda had pretty much moved in to live with him now. She’d cooked a nice dinner and there’d been plenty of beer in the fridge waiting for him. It was probably her idea of domestic bliss. After dinner, she’d kissed him long and hard. Her invitation and desire were clear, but he’d turned away. He’d had no desire for sex with Linda since she’d told him the news. She knew how he was feeling and he’d seen the hurt on her face. There had been something else there too. Fear, perhaps. She was afraid he would turn away from her and the child. He’d felt a little hurt by that. Surely she knew him well enough to know he would never desert a child. If she didn’t, that said a lot about any future they might have together.
    After that, he’d taken more beer from the fridge and gone outside to sit alone in the darkness and drink. He had drunk far too much of that beer and ended up falling asleep on a squatters chair on the veranda of his small rented house. When the first rays of the sun had hit him squarely in the face, he’d staggered inside to grab a couple more hours of sleep on the sofa before heading off to work before Linda woke. He was ashamed of his behaviour. It wasn’t right and it wasn’t the sort of person he was. It was time he got himself together and dealt