The expression on Jamie’s face when the boab tree came into sight made Grace fiercely glad she’d brought him here. With their strange bulbous trunks, boab trees were icons of the Kimberley—ancient and awe-inspiring. They never failed to fill her with wonder.
‘Extraordinary,’ he breathed.
‘Apparently some of them are over a thousand years old.’ Dark eyes turned to her, making the breath jam in her throat. ‘This one is a relative youngster at a mere three hundred.’ She managed a shrug. ‘Or so I’m told.’
She tethered the horses to a small gum tree and led Jamie to a large rock where they could sit and gaze at the boab and just…breathe. She handed him a water bottle before unwrapping a parcel of Anzac biscuits. ‘Fresh-baked this morning.’
They munched them in a strangely companionable silence that she gave thanks for. Some instinct told her Jamie sorely need this—the change of pace, the lack of stress. She wanted to keep her distance, but a good tour guide would give him what he needed. She set her shoulders. She could give it to him and keep her distance.
‘Thanks, Grace.’
Oh! ‘You don’t have to thank me. I—’
‘I’m grateful to Tom for sending me here, to Fitz for finding me a place to stay, and to you for showing me something wonderful—for wanting to make my time here fun, even given our past.’
The expression in his eyes made her still. ‘You’re welcome.’ She was only doing her job.
‘You’re right.’ He nodded. ‘I’ve cut myself off from nature. That needs to change when I return to the real world.’
Where was his real world these days?
‘Sydney,’ he said as if he’d heard her silent question. He was quiet for a long moment. ‘The thing is—’ he dragged in a breath ‘—my ex-wife is getting remarried.’
He’d been married? An unexpected pain sliced through her chest. She did her best to keep her voice even. ‘So you’ve come out here to…’ She searched wildly for something appropriate to say, because lick your wounds sounded far too personal and she hated the images it conjured. ‘Reflect and readjust?’
He shot her a wry glance. ‘Something like that.’ He glared out at the horizon. ‘Dana and I have friends in common.’
Friends who’d attend the wedding?
He grimaced. ‘And I’ve grown weary of their well-meaning tact and concern. I know they feel torn—on the one hand they’re happy for her, but that makes them feel disloyal to me. It seemed a good time to get out of town for a week or two to save us all the…discomfit.’
Her heart clenched. He must’ve loved this woman enormously. The realisation left a bitter taste in her mouth, though she didn’t know why. What Jamie did with his life was nothing to her.
She glanced across, an ache throbbing to life. ‘If you want, Jamie, we can ride every day.’ It wasn’t much but maybe it’d help.
‘I’d like that.’
She glared up at the sky. Is that what he was doing out here—trying to mend a broken heart?
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