Jack & Eva, page 2
Happy? How did one determine how goddamned happy a tree kangaroo was?
Her shoulders seemed to drop with relief. “Come on, I’ll make us a cup of tea. I have a hot water flask.” With the same rapid abruptness as her arrival, she rounded him and picked her way out of the rainforest.
Confusion marred his brow. He couldn’t imagine anyone befriending his hostile father—a man who’d never been too far from a drink or using his fists. There had to be an explanation. “Are you a friend of the solicitor who sorted the legal side of the property?”
“Everyone is friends here. Small town and all.” She shot back a huge smile that spread across the entire expanse of her face, and it nearly knocked him backwards. He couldn’t remember the last time a simple smile had radiated so much warmth.
When they arrived back at the house, he needed to rein her in. Do this slowly, not like a herd of galloping horses. But there was no stopping her. First, she went to the ute and threw her gear in the back. Then she reached in from the passenger-side window and grabbed a soft-sided esky and flask. Then she strode purposely up the stairs and called back, “Follow me.”
Follow her? Into his property? Christ, how was he going to get rid of her?
Kicking off her mud-stained boots, she left them at the door and opened the French-styled front doors without a key. Okay, so she’d done this before. She knew which direction to make for the kitchen and must’ve known the house was never locked.
Only a few steps behind, he forgot his earlier hesitation to enter the house; instead, he kept his gaze pinned to the small curve of her back. It wasn’t enough to stop his body from flinching when he passed the wardrobe where his father used to lock him, where there was just enough space for a small boy to be crammed into the stuffy spot.
His breathing raced too fast, and he collapsed onto one of the chairs when he reached the kitchen. Was this one of the horrible memories he had to face? He kneaded his face as he tried to find some calm and stave off the lightheadedness. He’d just arrived, and already the need to leave was growing stronger than his reasons for being there.
The gurgle of water ran out of the tap for a couple of seconds before Eva turned it off. “Are you okay?”
Startled, he looked up into wary hazel-green eyes. He wasn’t okay, but how did one explain how two minutes had taken him back to the seventeen-year-old boy who left this place never knowing the feeling of safety? He swallowed his annoyance at not being able to deal with this alone. It was what he wanted. Maybe to punch a few walls and tear some things down. If he decided to keep the place, he would be tearing it down anyway. What did it matter if he exorcised some demons in the process?
“O … kay,” she drawled when there was no reply. “How about this question: Shall I make your tea white with sugar?”
“Sure.”
She removed tin travel mugs, sugar, teabags, milk and a plastic container out of the small esky. With well-practiced precision, she laid everything out and made his cup of tea using the water from the flask.
His throat was hurting. So many goddamned tears wanted to find their way out that holding them back in front of this trespassing woman was a monumental effort. Soon the sweet aroma of the hot drink rose to meet his nose.
“Hope you like a good choc-chip biscuit. I baked them on the weekend,” she said, sliding the container across the wooden kitchen table.
Whoa! How was it possible that the first food he ate in his old home was the exact favourite treat his mother used to bake for him? The memory of his father throwing a jar of them against the wall invaded his thoughts. The way they shattered into a thousand crumbs had never left him. A shiver tore across his chest.
He swallowed, doing his best not to dispel the few good memories he carried of his mother.
It was time to make a stand. “Er … Eva, thanks for this.” He pointed to the tea and biscuits before asking, “Have you been inside this house before?”
She flippantly waved her hands and busied herself again making her own drink. “A couple of times.”
“Recently?”
“Yeah, recently,” she replied vaguely, not meeting his eyes.
He was still not happy she was trespassing but relieved she thought he was new to town. He didn’t need the small community to recognise him or connect him to the monster who lived here until eight months ago. Which aged-care home his father had been moved to, he didn’t care. With his father removed from the property, it was time to fulfil the promise he’d made to his mother. Even if it was the last thing he wanted to do.
She moved the biscuits closer. The baked, chocolatey smell made his traitorous stomach grumble in protest; he took one and bit into it. As delicious as it was, it scratched against his throat when he tried to swallow. He quickly took a gulp of tea. That’s better, mate. Don’t rush it.
Then Eva started rattling on about tree kangaroos, and nothing made sense. How this patch of rainforest next to his home had become an important spot in the fight against their threatened extinction. How access via his property was crucial if their fight to save the tree kangaroo was to continue. Her melodic voice, while not grating, was jarring something. Maybe it was the musty odour of the house. It hadn’t changed, and the memories steamrolled through his head at an incredible speed. Until he could no longer take it.
“Look, Eva.” The travel mug thumped on the kitchen table; the sound echoed around the room as Eva’s voice silenced for a moment. “Thanks for the cup of tea and biscuit, but I don’t think you understand.” He scraped the chair back and stood. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I might tear it down yet and start afresh. I have my own ideas for a home, and I get you need access through this property for your tree kangaroos, but I’m not sure if I want that.” Was this his final admission that he couldn’t hold onto the promise he made to his mother to keep the property his grandfather had lovingly built?
Gone was the mesmerising smile Eva had shown a few times that day. Alarm stared back at him. “Are you sure? It’s a solid home, about a hundred years old. Why would you want to destroy it?”
Because of all the rotten memories that nearly destroyed me, he wanted to shout back. Instead, he ground his jaw and turned away from the guilt tearing at him. He left her in the kitchen and returned to the living room with the old timber wardrobe. He stood staring at it but not really seeing it. Memories exploded behind his closed eyes like nightmares, trying to pull him back in time. He willed himself not to show any emotions, just in case Eva had followed him.
His father thought that locking him away while he dealt another blow to his mother would scare him. Yes, the dark, confined space had terrified him, but in the end, it’d had the opposite effect too.
Hidden away in the darkness was the only place he could close his mind to his mother’s cries of pain and his father’s harsh voice and imagine a different life. His dream to become a pilot was conceived in that darkness. In his mind, flying became the only place he could ascend above the pain and hurt, and it hadn’t changed one bit. Flying was still the one place he sought solace.
He flinched at the sudden touch of Eva’s hand on his shoulder.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to alarm you, and I apologise for being so blunt.”
Jack turned around slowly, hoping his expression was once again neutral. She knew nothing of his past, so there was nothing to worry about.
“But how about you think on it before knocking this old place down? Spend a couple of months getting a feel for it first.”
His shoulders sagged. Stay for a couple of months? She wasn’t one bit sorry for being blunt. He might’ve taken a year off flying, but he had other business interests to consider. It was time for the big guns to come out. “Eva, I hate to be rude, but you need to leave now? I need to sort through some things.”
She took a few steps back towards the door. “Sure thing.” A small smile pulled at the edge of her lips. “But what are you doing tomorrow? I could use a spare pair of hands, and if you’re on a break, you might enjoy the hike. I want to take some photos at the top of Windin Falls through a lensball. What do you say? It’s a nine-kilometre round trip, but the view is incredible.”
Oh, shit. He smiled effortlessly for the first time in what must have been ages. His face should’ve cracked from the sudden change. He wondered if she could talk underwater too. His smile seemed to have scared her because she took another tentative step back.
“I’ll just collect my things and be gone, okay.”
His smile dropped faster than heavy dew on a frosty morning. Was he giving off negative vibes? Was he his father’s son? “Look, Eva, sure, I’ll come with you to the falls.”
She managed to compose herself again and, with a big Eva smile, said, “Great. How about I pick you up tomorrow morning at about 7 am?”
“I’m staying at The Lodge for a couple more days. The solicitor has almost finalised the settlement and I wanted a few more days to sort myself out before moving in.”
“Oh, okay, that’s even easier. It’s on my way.” With her esky zipped closed, she hugged it to her waist and made for the front door, the flask tucked under her arm. Always on the move, always in a hurry, he followed her out. She slid her muddy work boots back on and didn’t worry about the laces. “See you in the morning, Jack.” As she strode towards her ute, she rattled off a list of things he should take on the hike. He hoped he’d remember them because something about her left no room in his head for compiling information.
When Eva drove away, it created a weird void; it was like she was meant to stay longer. He shook his head and slid his hands into his jean pockets, strangely comforted by the overhanging rainforest surrounding the house.
Some of the tightness inside his chest lifted and drifted away as he stood in the open yard, causing his mouth to twitch at the two strange encounters he’d already experienced with this woman.
Then he remembered his reasons for coming to the house. He sighed but didn’t push himself to inspect the rest of his childhood home. Yes, he needed to work through some things, but that could wait. Now that she’d left him alone, he had a compulsion to be around people.
So, he closed the front door and walked to his car. There was always tomorrow.
CHAPTER 2
Eva drove into the car park of The Lodge and spotted Jack casually leaning against the verandah post in front of his room, looking at his phone. She gave a quick toot but suspected he recognised her vehicle as soon as she drove in. There weren’t too many other vehicles scrambling for attention at seven in the morning.
He picked up a backpack by his feet and headed in her direction, negating the need to park. “Good morning, Jack.” She greeted cheerfully as he climbed into the ute, the familiar scent of pine filling her nostrils.
She’d made an effort to clean the ute last night, and his tall frame quickly filled up the space. Only a half-hearted “good morning” came her way, but she didn’t mind. She understood more about this one person than she did about her own family. Jack’s story had captivated her from the first time his father, Harold, had shared it.
She did a U-turn and drove out of the car park and onto the main road leading to Mt Bartle Frere. Constantly on the lookout for photo opportunities of the natural beauty of the north, this was one place she was familiar with since investing in the colourful What’s Up magazine she published monthly. It catered to tourists and locals who didn’t mind some adventure on their holiday or weekend.
This photo shoot and editorial would also feature in Queensland’s automobile magazine, which she contributed monthly. It all paid the bills and got her into the great outdoors. Plus, it gave her the flexibility to spend time with Dr Karen and her rescued roos.
Barely giving Jack a few minutes of awkward silence, Eva knew she’d have to do the asking and most of the talking. Okay, Jack, here goes.
“So, wasn’t it a stroke of luck you found yourself in the hardware store yesterday? You must’ve known Kenny was going to show up.”
She peeked a quick glance at his stony straight face while waiting for traffic to pass at the Topaz Road turnoff. Recognising Jack from an old school photo Harold kept on his coffee table gave her the shock of her life.
Jack grunted, followed by, “I was told that a raincoat and a pair of gumboots are necessary if you want to live in Malanda, so I got the essentials first up. The reason I was shopping early.”
Eva laughed to cover the sorrow lodged inside her chest. His reference to how wet Malanda could get wasn’t a joke, but Jack was no newcomer to this town. He was a fully grown, confident, put-together man, but he wouldn’t have forgotten the many hours spent in the drizzle on his four-kilometre walk to and from school each day.
“Glad that made you laugh,” he said somewhat sarcastically. Before she could reply with something equally sarcastic, he asked, “What happened to the tree kangaroo you rescued?”
His concern for Kenny surprised her and touched a raw spot inside her chest. “I took him to Dr Karen’s tree rescue park.”
“Is he settling in okay?”
“He is. He doesn’t appear to be too traumatised, so I reckon he’ll be fine. Dr Karen doesn’t release the adults back into the forest, but Kenny might be one she does.”
“Onto my property?” he grumbled under his breath.
She slammed the brakes on, veering off the bitumen and narrowly missing a school bus coming from the other direction. “Sorry about that. You can’t see a damn thing around these corners. One day it’ll be fatal, and then they’ll widen the road.”
“Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that. You could always choose to drive at a snail’s pace,” he said, one hand gripping the dash.
“Hey! I was!” She internally fist-pumped at getting Jack to speak and merged back onto the road. Ignoring his earlier jibe about releasing roos onto his property, she steamrolled straight into her next question. “So, is there anything you want to know about tree kangaroos?” If he showed no interest like most other people, she wanted to know now; she could save herself the trouble and wasted breath from explaining.
“Where did they come from?” he asked, settling back into the seat.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how come nobody knows much about them? You never see or read anything on them, and only because you called it a tree kangaroo did I think to look up at the trees.”
Eva turned onto the rough unsealed road leading to the start of the Windin Falls walking track, and it needed all her concentration for a few moments. Why weren’t they famous? That’s the question everyone asked. She loved this furry animal so much that her life goal was to teach every Australian about the tree kangaroo’s existence.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Jack spluttered. “I didn’t expect to arrive at my property and find it overrun with rescued tree kangaroos and someone waltzing inside my home like they lived there.”
Once she’d navigated a large pothole and a boulder jutting onto the track, Eva’s shoulders sagged. She remembered Harold telling her that Jack would be untrusting and resentful. And Jack spoke the truth. She knew the house very well. She’d helped Harold clean it up and removed his personal effects and any traces of a boy who once lived there. ‘If I take away the reminders, it’ll help him heal,’ Harold had said.
“I apologise too, Jack. The plan was to discuss the roo rescue plan with you when you arrived. We are only a couple of days late, aren’t we?”
Jack harrumphed.
When he didn’t say anything else, she barrelled straight in. “Did you know the Lumholtz tree kangaroo is found nowhere else in the world? Can you believe that?”
“It’s not the first animal unique to an area.” He continued to stare out the front windscreen.
“But it makes it special to our local area. Except everything is going against them, and I don’t want this generation responsible for their extinction.”
Jack sighed, and a quick peek in his direction showed he’d closed his eyes for a moment. Frustrated? Bored? Tired? Gritting her teeth, she braced for his retort.
“Okay, the damn things can stay on the property until I get sorted. But I make no promises about it being some sort of long-term roo resort.”
A bubble of laughter unexpectedly escaped Eva’s mouth. It wasn’t the retort she was expecting. It was beyond anything she expected. His property bordered Dr Karen’s, and to shift her precious roos because a landowner wanted them off their property wasn’t a decision she was prepared to confront yet. So, she turned the volume up on the radio and tapped the steering wheel in time to the song playing, even singing a line or two she knew.
“Why are you so happy?” He asked grumpily.
“Because, Jack, you’ve just made my day.” She veered off the road and onto a cleared patch of grass marked for vehicle parking and stopped. “See, I told you. Good fresh air and already your mind is uncluttering.”
Jack shook his head and opened his door. He probably rolled his eyes too. “I haven’t promised anything, Eva.”
“You don’t have to, Jack. Not yet anyway. Now, let’s get some good photos of this view. It’ll blow you away.”
She pulled on the hand brake and reached behind the seat in the dual cab for her backpack. If she wasn’t mistaken, she was sure she’d just witnessed a small smile tug at the edges of his mouth. He was human, after all.
After learning the sad story of his childhood, it’d been her greatest fear that when Jack returned to reclaim his property, he would be an unfeeling chunk of wood, putting the roos they worked so hard to protect at risk.
Unexpected joy buzzed throughout her body. I think I might’ve got it all wrong.
Eva strode a few steps ahead of him, embarrassingly showing Jack up. A few weeks of laziness and the slight incline left him puffing and his chest aching. A stickler for regularly doing his gym sessions, since deciding to take a year off work and returning to the north, he’d fallen into a despondent hole with little motivation.
He took some long strides and fell in beside her. “How long have you lived up here?” he puffed.
Her shoulders seemed to drop with relief. “Come on, I’ll make us a cup of tea. I have a hot water flask.” With the same rapid abruptness as her arrival, she rounded him and picked her way out of the rainforest.
Confusion marred his brow. He couldn’t imagine anyone befriending his hostile father—a man who’d never been too far from a drink or using his fists. There had to be an explanation. “Are you a friend of the solicitor who sorted the legal side of the property?”
“Everyone is friends here. Small town and all.” She shot back a huge smile that spread across the entire expanse of her face, and it nearly knocked him backwards. He couldn’t remember the last time a simple smile had radiated so much warmth.
When they arrived back at the house, he needed to rein her in. Do this slowly, not like a herd of galloping horses. But there was no stopping her. First, she went to the ute and threw her gear in the back. Then she reached in from the passenger-side window and grabbed a soft-sided esky and flask. Then she strode purposely up the stairs and called back, “Follow me.”
Follow her? Into his property? Christ, how was he going to get rid of her?
Kicking off her mud-stained boots, she left them at the door and opened the French-styled front doors without a key. Okay, so she’d done this before. She knew which direction to make for the kitchen and must’ve known the house was never locked.
Only a few steps behind, he forgot his earlier hesitation to enter the house; instead, he kept his gaze pinned to the small curve of her back. It wasn’t enough to stop his body from flinching when he passed the wardrobe where his father used to lock him, where there was just enough space for a small boy to be crammed into the stuffy spot.
His breathing raced too fast, and he collapsed onto one of the chairs when he reached the kitchen. Was this one of the horrible memories he had to face? He kneaded his face as he tried to find some calm and stave off the lightheadedness. He’d just arrived, and already the need to leave was growing stronger than his reasons for being there.
The gurgle of water ran out of the tap for a couple of seconds before Eva turned it off. “Are you okay?”
Startled, he looked up into wary hazel-green eyes. He wasn’t okay, but how did one explain how two minutes had taken him back to the seventeen-year-old boy who left this place never knowing the feeling of safety? He swallowed his annoyance at not being able to deal with this alone. It was what he wanted. Maybe to punch a few walls and tear some things down. If he decided to keep the place, he would be tearing it down anyway. What did it matter if he exorcised some demons in the process?
“O … kay,” she drawled when there was no reply. “How about this question: Shall I make your tea white with sugar?”
“Sure.”
She removed tin travel mugs, sugar, teabags, milk and a plastic container out of the small esky. With well-practiced precision, she laid everything out and made his cup of tea using the water from the flask.
His throat was hurting. So many goddamned tears wanted to find their way out that holding them back in front of this trespassing woman was a monumental effort. Soon the sweet aroma of the hot drink rose to meet his nose.
“Hope you like a good choc-chip biscuit. I baked them on the weekend,” she said, sliding the container across the wooden kitchen table.
Whoa! How was it possible that the first food he ate in his old home was the exact favourite treat his mother used to bake for him? The memory of his father throwing a jar of them against the wall invaded his thoughts. The way they shattered into a thousand crumbs had never left him. A shiver tore across his chest.
He swallowed, doing his best not to dispel the few good memories he carried of his mother.
It was time to make a stand. “Er … Eva, thanks for this.” He pointed to the tea and biscuits before asking, “Have you been inside this house before?”
She flippantly waved her hands and busied herself again making her own drink. “A couple of times.”
“Recently?”
“Yeah, recently,” she replied vaguely, not meeting his eyes.
He was still not happy she was trespassing but relieved she thought he was new to town. He didn’t need the small community to recognise him or connect him to the monster who lived here until eight months ago. Which aged-care home his father had been moved to, he didn’t care. With his father removed from the property, it was time to fulfil the promise he’d made to his mother. Even if it was the last thing he wanted to do.
She moved the biscuits closer. The baked, chocolatey smell made his traitorous stomach grumble in protest; he took one and bit into it. As delicious as it was, it scratched against his throat when he tried to swallow. He quickly took a gulp of tea. That’s better, mate. Don’t rush it.
Then Eva started rattling on about tree kangaroos, and nothing made sense. How this patch of rainforest next to his home had become an important spot in the fight against their threatened extinction. How access via his property was crucial if their fight to save the tree kangaroo was to continue. Her melodic voice, while not grating, was jarring something. Maybe it was the musty odour of the house. It hadn’t changed, and the memories steamrolled through his head at an incredible speed. Until he could no longer take it.
“Look, Eva.” The travel mug thumped on the kitchen table; the sound echoed around the room as Eva’s voice silenced for a moment. “Thanks for the cup of tea and biscuit, but I don’t think you understand.” He scraped the chair back and stood. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I might tear it down yet and start afresh. I have my own ideas for a home, and I get you need access through this property for your tree kangaroos, but I’m not sure if I want that.” Was this his final admission that he couldn’t hold onto the promise he made to his mother to keep the property his grandfather had lovingly built?
Gone was the mesmerising smile Eva had shown a few times that day. Alarm stared back at him. “Are you sure? It’s a solid home, about a hundred years old. Why would you want to destroy it?”
Because of all the rotten memories that nearly destroyed me, he wanted to shout back. Instead, he ground his jaw and turned away from the guilt tearing at him. He left her in the kitchen and returned to the living room with the old timber wardrobe. He stood staring at it but not really seeing it. Memories exploded behind his closed eyes like nightmares, trying to pull him back in time. He willed himself not to show any emotions, just in case Eva had followed him.
His father thought that locking him away while he dealt another blow to his mother would scare him. Yes, the dark, confined space had terrified him, but in the end, it’d had the opposite effect too.
Hidden away in the darkness was the only place he could close his mind to his mother’s cries of pain and his father’s harsh voice and imagine a different life. His dream to become a pilot was conceived in that darkness. In his mind, flying became the only place he could ascend above the pain and hurt, and it hadn’t changed one bit. Flying was still the one place he sought solace.
He flinched at the sudden touch of Eva’s hand on his shoulder.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to alarm you, and I apologise for being so blunt.”
Jack turned around slowly, hoping his expression was once again neutral. She knew nothing of his past, so there was nothing to worry about.
“But how about you think on it before knocking this old place down? Spend a couple of months getting a feel for it first.”
His shoulders sagged. Stay for a couple of months? She wasn’t one bit sorry for being blunt. He might’ve taken a year off flying, but he had other business interests to consider. It was time for the big guns to come out. “Eva, I hate to be rude, but you need to leave now? I need to sort through some things.”
She took a few steps back towards the door. “Sure thing.” A small smile pulled at the edge of her lips. “But what are you doing tomorrow? I could use a spare pair of hands, and if you’re on a break, you might enjoy the hike. I want to take some photos at the top of Windin Falls through a lensball. What do you say? It’s a nine-kilometre round trip, but the view is incredible.”
Oh, shit. He smiled effortlessly for the first time in what must have been ages. His face should’ve cracked from the sudden change. He wondered if she could talk underwater too. His smile seemed to have scared her because she took another tentative step back.
“I’ll just collect my things and be gone, okay.”
His smile dropped faster than heavy dew on a frosty morning. Was he giving off negative vibes? Was he his father’s son? “Look, Eva, sure, I’ll come with you to the falls.”
She managed to compose herself again and, with a big Eva smile, said, “Great. How about I pick you up tomorrow morning at about 7 am?”
“I’m staying at The Lodge for a couple more days. The solicitor has almost finalised the settlement and I wanted a few more days to sort myself out before moving in.”
“Oh, okay, that’s even easier. It’s on my way.” With her esky zipped closed, she hugged it to her waist and made for the front door, the flask tucked under her arm. Always on the move, always in a hurry, he followed her out. She slid her muddy work boots back on and didn’t worry about the laces. “See you in the morning, Jack.” As she strode towards her ute, she rattled off a list of things he should take on the hike. He hoped he’d remember them because something about her left no room in his head for compiling information.
When Eva drove away, it created a weird void; it was like she was meant to stay longer. He shook his head and slid his hands into his jean pockets, strangely comforted by the overhanging rainforest surrounding the house.
Some of the tightness inside his chest lifted and drifted away as he stood in the open yard, causing his mouth to twitch at the two strange encounters he’d already experienced with this woman.
Then he remembered his reasons for coming to the house. He sighed but didn’t push himself to inspect the rest of his childhood home. Yes, he needed to work through some things, but that could wait. Now that she’d left him alone, he had a compulsion to be around people.
So, he closed the front door and walked to his car. There was always tomorrow.
CHAPTER 2
Eva drove into the car park of The Lodge and spotted Jack casually leaning against the verandah post in front of his room, looking at his phone. She gave a quick toot but suspected he recognised her vehicle as soon as she drove in. There weren’t too many other vehicles scrambling for attention at seven in the morning.
He picked up a backpack by his feet and headed in her direction, negating the need to park. “Good morning, Jack.” She greeted cheerfully as he climbed into the ute, the familiar scent of pine filling her nostrils.
She’d made an effort to clean the ute last night, and his tall frame quickly filled up the space. Only a half-hearted “good morning” came her way, but she didn’t mind. She understood more about this one person than she did about her own family. Jack’s story had captivated her from the first time his father, Harold, had shared it.
She did a U-turn and drove out of the car park and onto the main road leading to Mt Bartle Frere. Constantly on the lookout for photo opportunities of the natural beauty of the north, this was one place she was familiar with since investing in the colourful What’s Up magazine she published monthly. It catered to tourists and locals who didn’t mind some adventure on their holiday or weekend.
This photo shoot and editorial would also feature in Queensland’s automobile magazine, which she contributed monthly. It all paid the bills and got her into the great outdoors. Plus, it gave her the flexibility to spend time with Dr Karen and her rescued roos.
Barely giving Jack a few minutes of awkward silence, Eva knew she’d have to do the asking and most of the talking. Okay, Jack, here goes.
“So, wasn’t it a stroke of luck you found yourself in the hardware store yesterday? You must’ve known Kenny was going to show up.”
She peeked a quick glance at his stony straight face while waiting for traffic to pass at the Topaz Road turnoff. Recognising Jack from an old school photo Harold kept on his coffee table gave her the shock of her life.
Jack grunted, followed by, “I was told that a raincoat and a pair of gumboots are necessary if you want to live in Malanda, so I got the essentials first up. The reason I was shopping early.”
Eva laughed to cover the sorrow lodged inside her chest. His reference to how wet Malanda could get wasn’t a joke, but Jack was no newcomer to this town. He was a fully grown, confident, put-together man, but he wouldn’t have forgotten the many hours spent in the drizzle on his four-kilometre walk to and from school each day.
“Glad that made you laugh,” he said somewhat sarcastically. Before she could reply with something equally sarcastic, he asked, “What happened to the tree kangaroo you rescued?”
His concern for Kenny surprised her and touched a raw spot inside her chest. “I took him to Dr Karen’s tree rescue park.”
“Is he settling in okay?”
“He is. He doesn’t appear to be too traumatised, so I reckon he’ll be fine. Dr Karen doesn’t release the adults back into the forest, but Kenny might be one she does.”
“Onto my property?” he grumbled under his breath.
She slammed the brakes on, veering off the bitumen and narrowly missing a school bus coming from the other direction. “Sorry about that. You can’t see a damn thing around these corners. One day it’ll be fatal, and then they’ll widen the road.”
“Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that. You could always choose to drive at a snail’s pace,” he said, one hand gripping the dash.
“Hey! I was!” She internally fist-pumped at getting Jack to speak and merged back onto the road. Ignoring his earlier jibe about releasing roos onto his property, she steamrolled straight into her next question. “So, is there anything you want to know about tree kangaroos?” If he showed no interest like most other people, she wanted to know now; she could save herself the trouble and wasted breath from explaining.
“Where did they come from?” he asked, settling back into the seat.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how come nobody knows much about them? You never see or read anything on them, and only because you called it a tree kangaroo did I think to look up at the trees.”
Eva turned onto the rough unsealed road leading to the start of the Windin Falls walking track, and it needed all her concentration for a few moments. Why weren’t they famous? That’s the question everyone asked. She loved this furry animal so much that her life goal was to teach every Australian about the tree kangaroo’s existence.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Jack spluttered. “I didn’t expect to arrive at my property and find it overrun with rescued tree kangaroos and someone waltzing inside my home like they lived there.”
Once she’d navigated a large pothole and a boulder jutting onto the track, Eva’s shoulders sagged. She remembered Harold telling her that Jack would be untrusting and resentful. And Jack spoke the truth. She knew the house very well. She’d helped Harold clean it up and removed his personal effects and any traces of a boy who once lived there. ‘If I take away the reminders, it’ll help him heal,’ Harold had said.
“I apologise too, Jack. The plan was to discuss the roo rescue plan with you when you arrived. We are only a couple of days late, aren’t we?”
Jack harrumphed.
When he didn’t say anything else, she barrelled straight in. “Did you know the Lumholtz tree kangaroo is found nowhere else in the world? Can you believe that?”
“It’s not the first animal unique to an area.” He continued to stare out the front windscreen.
“But it makes it special to our local area. Except everything is going against them, and I don’t want this generation responsible for their extinction.”
Jack sighed, and a quick peek in his direction showed he’d closed his eyes for a moment. Frustrated? Bored? Tired? Gritting her teeth, she braced for his retort.
“Okay, the damn things can stay on the property until I get sorted. But I make no promises about it being some sort of long-term roo resort.”
A bubble of laughter unexpectedly escaped Eva’s mouth. It wasn’t the retort she was expecting. It was beyond anything she expected. His property bordered Dr Karen’s, and to shift her precious roos because a landowner wanted them off their property wasn’t a decision she was prepared to confront yet. So, she turned the volume up on the radio and tapped the steering wheel in time to the song playing, even singing a line or two she knew.
“Why are you so happy?” He asked grumpily.
“Because, Jack, you’ve just made my day.” She veered off the road and onto a cleared patch of grass marked for vehicle parking and stopped. “See, I told you. Good fresh air and already your mind is uncluttering.”
Jack shook his head and opened his door. He probably rolled his eyes too. “I haven’t promised anything, Eva.”
“You don’t have to, Jack. Not yet anyway. Now, let’s get some good photos of this view. It’ll blow you away.”
She pulled on the hand brake and reached behind the seat in the dual cab for her backpack. If she wasn’t mistaken, she was sure she’d just witnessed a small smile tug at the edges of his mouth. He was human, after all.
After learning the sad story of his childhood, it’d been her greatest fear that when Jack returned to reclaim his property, he would be an unfeeling chunk of wood, putting the roos they worked so hard to protect at risk.
Unexpected joy buzzed throughout her body. I think I might’ve got it all wrong.
Eva strode a few steps ahead of him, embarrassingly showing Jack up. A few weeks of laziness and the slight incline left him puffing and his chest aching. A stickler for regularly doing his gym sessions, since deciding to take a year off work and returning to the north, he’d fallen into a despondent hole with little motivation.
He took some long strides and fell in beside her. “How long have you lived up here?” he puffed.
