Real Men Don't Break Hearts(38)

And then he saw Ally near the front, and he skidded to a halt, his heart jumping. Flanked by her sister and grandmother, she stood stock-still, staring at the destruction, looking slight and slender in her blue leggings and loose sweater. His first instinct was to run over and sweep her into his arms. It hurt physically not to do it. But instead he forced in a few deep breaths, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and made himself saunter up to her.

“Ally,” he said quietly when he was just behind her. He paused, giving her time to swing round and recognize him. Under her mussed-up curls, her face was white as she stared at him with dazed eyes. “I came as soon as I heard. Are you all right?”

She swallowed before muttering, “Yes, I was upstairs when it happened.”

Thank Christ for that. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Deep down, the awareness that this was the first time they were meeting since their breakup sliced him. This was all wrong. He wished he could wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be all right. But he couldn’t, because she didn’t want that mushy stuff from him. He was only good for one thing.

“That’s lucky.” He gave her a wooden nod.

“Incredibly lucky.” Jess put her arm around Ally, supporting her, taking his place. She looked up at him. “Ally pulled the boys out of the wreckage. She thought the car might catch on fire from the leaking fuel.”

For the first time he registered the faint smell of petrol hanging in the air and the police holding back the crowd from the building. The bright red Ford V8 had gone straight through the front of the shop and had come to rest deep inside. Shattered glass and debris marked its path. A flickering internal light cast a dim pall over what was left of the store—nothing more than smashed goods, mangled wood, dangling wires. The sight of all Ally’s hard work so brutally demolished made him sick to his stomach.

“Those morons…” The muscles in his forearms bunched. If the two teenagers hadn’t already been carted off to the hospital he would have struggled not to confront them.

“I’m glad they weren’t too injured.” Ally bit her lower lip. “But the shop took a bit of a battering.”

“A bit?” Beside Ally, her grandmother gave a faint moan. “It’s ruined.”

Ally squeezed her grandmother’s arm. “Don’t worry, Nana, the stock is insured.” Ally glanced at Nate, her expression growing more troubled even as she tried to reassure her grandmother. “I—I don’t know about the building, though. It’s a wreck…”

“Insured as well,” Nate said. “It will all be repaired.”

Ally’s grandmother coughed. “But that’ll take ages.” She wheezed a bit before she stopped and pressed a hand to her chest.

Ally leaned forward. “Nana? Are you okay?”

The old lady coughed again, pointing to her chest, but it was Jess who spoke up. “It’s her asthma. It sometimes plays up when she’s under stress. We’d better get her home.”

Ally’s face grew even whiter, her distress palpable to Nate as he sensed what was going through her head. Even though the car crash was a freak accident, Ally felt responsible for her grandmother’s anguish. She’d taken over running the store, she’d made drastic changes against her nana’s wishes, she’d made the hard decisions, and now she had nothing to show for it. The sight of her tight shoulders made Nate clench his jaw. Ally needed support as much as her grandmother, but the way things were between them, he couldn’t do anything but stand by and watch.

One of the rescue team approached them. “Excuse me, miss. Are you the tenant of the upstairs apartment?” Ally nodded. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to go back in until we’ve assessed the structural damage.”

“Oh.” Ally bit her lip again.

“You’ll stay with me,” Jess said quickly.

“The engineer should be down in the morning.” The man moved off again.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” Jess said to her grandmother. “You’re shivering, and you need your medication.”

Ally faltered and fell back behind her sister and grandmother. She stared at the ruins of her shop. “Poor Brandon,” she murmured. “All his vases, gone. He’ll be devastated.”

Over Ally’s head Jess cast an imploring look at Nate. He blinked in surprise. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she wanted his help. Did Ally’s sister suddenly approve of him? Still puzzled, he stepped forward.

“Ally, go home with Jess. You’re in shock, and you need to get some rest. I’ll be down here tomorrow to sort through the insurance, and I’ll help you any way I can.”

She blinked as if she hadn’t heard him, but then she nodded and turned away to follow Jess and her grandmother. He waited for her to glance back at him, but she didn’t. When she’d disappeared through the crowd, he gave himself a hard shake and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Looks like quite a mess, doesn’t it.”

He peeled open his eyes to find Duncan Grey standing beside him with Oscar in tow. “Yeah,” he said, managing to sound almost normal. “That’s my building.”

“Oh!” Duncan’s eyebrows shot up as he let out a soft whistle. “Then I’m doubly glad that Oscar wasn’t involved.”

“What do you mean?” Nate glanced at Oscar, who looked his usual bored, slack-jawed self.

“Those two teenagers who crashed the car? They’re Oscar’s friends. Couple of drop kicks. Oscar might have been in that car tonight if it wasn’t for his curfew.”

“You know those guys?” Nate shook his head at the teenager. “You don’t know how lucky you are.”

The adolescent shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”

Oscar’s apparent indifference didn’t fool Nate. He could detect the quiver in the boy’s chin, the wide set of his eyes. The boy wasn’t a fool. He knew he’d had a lucky escape, and all thanks to the stepdad he pretended to despise.

Duncan waited until the teenager had slouched off. “I want to thank you for what you’ve done for him,” he said to Nate.

“What? Made him mow lawns, weed garden beds, and paint an old lady’s house?”

“It shows him there are consequences to his actions, and it’s not just the stupid old stepdad coming down on him. Plus, it tires the bejesus out of him so he’s less likely to get into mischief.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help.”

“Are you done here?”

Nate glanced around. Things seemed to be winding down. The police had roped off the area, and the onlookers were slowly dispersing. “I guess I am for tonight.”

“Why don’t you come round to my place for a drink? My wife would love to meet you.”

Nate hesitated only a second before nodding. Why not? Duncan Grey was a decent man, and if Nate was going to stay in Burronga it would be good to have him for a friend. If he was going to stay in Burronga? Why had he thought of it like that? Hadn’t he committed to building his new life here? He had a growing business, an investment, hell, even a temporary pet. Everything he wanted. Except the one thing that mattered.





Chapter Fifteen

Under the gentle sun, Mr. Cummings’s spring garden was the perfect setting for his farewell party. Dressed in a close-fitting silk dress, Ally stood next to Jess, her high heels slowly sinking into the lawn, wishing she hadn’t come. But she couldn’t have refused Mr. Cummings’s invitation. He’d been so decent about the back rent she owed him and so grateful when she’d delivered the final check that she had no option but to attend his garden party.

Half of Burronga had turned up to say good-bye to Mr. Cummings before he moved to Queensland. Including Nate. When Ally spotted Nate arriving and greeting Mr. Cummings, the cold chills racing up and down her back hadn’t boded well for the rest of the afternoon. In his fawn trousers and navy sports jacket with his dark hair slicked back and jaw freshly shaven, Nate looked assured, attractive, and rather remote. The day after the car crash he’d assisted her with the insurance and the police reports. He’d been very helpful, but his manner had been completely detached. She knew it was only to be expected, that she didn’t deserve any better, but still it stung.

Now, she looked on surreptitiously as Nate chatted to people, noting his ease. The old Nate would have scoffed at the idea of attending a garden party, but now he looked like he’d always belonged in this milieu. As he turned from one guest to another, his gaze wandered toward her across the wide expanse of lawn and she tensed at the prospect of talking to him. But all she got was a brief nod of acknowledgement, as if they were just casual acquaintances, before he allowed his attention to be claimed by someone else.

She sagged, feeling deflated. Then, becoming aware of Jess eyeing her, she forced her shoulders back. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” she said.

Jess merely raised her eyebrows in reply.

“Who knows?” Ally continued. “I might register for a course right away.”

“Oh, surely you’ll want to think about it for a few weeks first.”

Ally was tired of thinking, of feeling. She itched to do something. And driving into Canberra tomorrow morning to attend the ANU open day was doing something definite. In the past she’d toyed with the idea of going to university, but circumstances had gotten in the way. Not this time. This time circumstances seemed to be pushing her in this direction.