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His blue eyes glittered. ‘I’m aware of that.’
‘And...and it’s almost Christmas.’ Last night they’d struggled through an unbearably strained meal together. They couldn’t possibly manage something as festive as Christmas.
Ellie was supposed to be spending Christmas Day with her neighbours and good friends, the Andersons, although, if the creek stayed high, as well as the river, that might not be an option.
Of course, her mother had originally wanted her to go home to New South Wales, but Ellie had declined on several grounds. Number one—she wasn’t comfortable around her stepfather, for reasons her mother had turned a deaf ear to. As well as that, up until yesterday, she’d been dealing, ironically, with drought. Her priority had been the state of her cattle—and then clearing things up with Joe.
The Joe factor was well and truly sorted, and sharing Christmas with him would be a disaster. Being divorced and forced to stay together would be a thousand times bigger strain than being married and apart.
‘There’s absolutely no need for you to stay, Joe. I really don’t think it’s a good idea.’
‘It was just a suggestion,’ he said tightly. ‘I was only thinking of your safety.’
‘Thanks. That’s thoughtful.’ Feeling awkward, Ellie fiddled with the handle of her tea mug. ‘You know drought and floods are part and parcel of living in this country.’
With a brief shrug, Joe drained his mug and placed it in the sink. ‘I should head off then, before the river gets any higher.’
‘But you haven’t had breakfast.’
‘As you pointed out, it wouldn’t be wise to wait. It’s been raining all night and the river’s rising every minute. I’ve packed the solicitor’s papers. I’ll drop them in at Bligh’s office.’
‘Right.’ Ellie set her tea mug aside, no longer able to drink it.
Joe’s duffel bag was already packed and zipped, and the swag he’d used for sleeping on the study floor was neatly rolled and strapped. Seemed the Army had turned him into a neat freak.
‘I’ve also fixed Jacko’s cot,’ he said.
‘You must have got up early.’
Without answering, he reached for his duffel bag and swung it over one shoulder. ‘I wasn’t sure where to put the Christmas presents, so I stowed them under the desk in the study. Hope that’s OK?’
‘That...that’s fine, thanks, Joe.’ Ellie wished she didn’t feel quite so downbeat. ‘I hope you haven’t spoiled Jacko with too many presents.’
She winced as she said this. She didn’t really mind how many presents Joe had bought. This was one of his few chances to play the role of a father. She’d been trying for a light-hearted comment and had totally missed the mark.
Now, Joe’s cold, hollow laugh chilled her to the bone.
His face seemed to be carved from stone as he turned to leave. ‘Well, all the best, Ellie.’
‘Hang on. I’ll wake Jacko so you can say goodbye to him, too.’
‘Don’t disturb him.’
‘You’ve got to say goodbye.’ Ellie was close to tears. ‘Actually, we’ll come out to the river crossing with you. We can follow you in the ute. Just in case there’s a problem.’
‘There won’t be a problem.’
To her dismay, her tears were threatening to fall. ‘Joe, humour me. I want to see you safely off this property.’
For the first time, a faint smile glimmered. ‘Of course you do.’
* * *
Ellie parked on a ridge above the concrete causeway that crossed the river and peered through the rain at the frothing, muddy flood rushing below.
She could see the bright blue of Joe’s hire car parked just above the waterline and his dark-coated figure standing on the bank, hands on hips as he studied the river.
‘I think it’s already too high,’ she said glumly to Jacko. The river level was much, much higher than she’d expected. Clearly, the waters from the north had already reached them overnight.
She felt a flurry of panic. Did this mean that Joe would have to stay with them for Christmas after all? How on earth would they cope with the strain?
Even as she wondered this, Joe took off his coat, tossed it back into his vehicle, then began to walk back to the swirling current.
He wasn’t going in there, surely?
‘Joe!’ Ellie yelled, leaping out of the ute. ‘Don’t be mad. You can’t go in there.’
He showed no sign that he’d heard her. No doubt he was as keen to leave her as she was to see him go, but marching into a racing torrent was madness.
Ellie rushed down the track. ‘Joe, stop!’ The river was mud-brown and seething. ‘You can’t go in there,’ she panted as she reached him.
He scowled and shook his head. ‘It’s OK. I just need to check the condition of the crossing and the depth. It’s too risky to drive straight in there, but I can at least test it on foot. I’ll be careful. I think it’s still shallow enough to get the car across.’
‘But look how fast the water’s running. I know you’re keen to get away, but you don’t have to play the tough hero now, Joe.’ Knowing how stubborn he could be, she tried for a joke. ‘I don’t want to have to tell Jacko that his father was a moron who was washed away trying to cross a flooded river.’
Joe’s blue eyes flashed through the sheeting rain. ‘I’ve been trained to stay alive, not to take senseless risks.’ He jerked his head towards the ute. ‘If you’re worried about Jacko, you should get back up there and stay with him.’
Ellie threw up her hands in despair. She’d more or less encouraged, or rather urged, Joe to leave. But as she stood there debating how to stop her ex from risking his neck, she heard her little son calling to her.
‘Go to him,’ ordered Joe.
Utterly wretched, she began to walk back up the slope, turning every step to look over her shoulder as Joe approached the river. By the time she reached the ute, Joe was already in the water and in no time he was up to his knees.
Anxiously, she watched as he carefully felt the ground in front of him with one foot. He edged forward but, despite the obvious care he was taking, a sudden swift surge in the current buffeted him, making him sidestep to regain his balance.
‘Joe!’ she yelled, sticking her head out into the rain. ‘That’s enough! Get out!’
‘Joe, that’s ‘nuff!’ parroted Jacko.
A tree branch hurtled past Joe, almost sweeping him with it.
Turn back. Ellie was urging him, under her breath now, so she didn’t alarm Jacko.
To her relief, Joe must have realised his venture was useless. At last he turned and began to make his way back to the bank.
But Ellie’s relief was short-lived, of course. Sure, she was grateful that Joe hadn’t drowned himself, but she had no idea how they could live together amicably till the river levels dropped. It would take days, possibly weeks, and the strain would be intolerable.
She was so busy worrying about the challenge of sharing Christmas with her ex that she didn’t actually see what happened next.
It seemed that Joe was standing perfectly upright one moment, and then he suddenly toppled sideways and his dark head disappeared beneath the ugly brown water.
* * *
Joe had no warning.
He had a firm footing on the causeway, but with the next step there was no concrete beneath him and he was struggling to regain his balance. Before he could adjust his weight, he slid off the edge.
He felt a sudden jarring scrape against his leg as he was pulled down into the bowels of the dark, angry river.
He couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe.
Scorching pain shot up his calf, and now he discovered that he also couldn’t move. His foot was jammed between the broken section of the concrete causeway and a rock.
Hell. This was it. He’d survived four years of war and now he was going to die here. In front of Ellie and Jacko.
He was a brainless idiot. What had Ellie called him? A moron. She was dead right. No question.
And now... As his lungs strained for air, frantic memories flashed. The first time he’d seen Ellie in the outback café. The first time they’d kissed.
Last night and the chubby, sweet weight of Jacko in his arms.
His signature, acknowledging their divorce.
Don’t freaking panic, man.
This was a major stuff-up, but he’d been trained to think.
He had to forget about the pain in his leg and his dire need for air and he had to work out a plan. Fast.
Clearly, his first priority was to get his head above water, but he was anchored by his trapped leg and the massive force of the rushing river. There was only one possible course of action. He had to brace against the current and use every ounce of his upper body strength, especially his stomach muscles, to pull himself upright.
Almost certainly, he couldn’t have done it without his years in the Army and its daily routine of rugged physical training.
As he fought his way upright, his arm bumped a steel rod sticking out of the concrete. As soon as he grabbed it, he had the leverage to finally lift his head above the surface.
He dragged a great, gasping gulp of air. And immediately he heard Ellie’s cry.
‘Joe! Oh, God, Joe!’
She was in the river, making her way towards him through the seething, perilous water. Her dark hair was plastered to her head, framing her very white, frightened face, and she looked too slender and too fragile and too totally vulnerable.
At any moment, she would be whipped away downstream and Joe knew he wouldn’t have a chance in hell of saving her. In the same moment, he thought of trusting little Jacko strapped in his car seat, needing Ellie.
‘Get back,’ he roared to her. ‘Stay on the bank. I’m OK.’
‘You’re not. Let me help you.’
‘No,’ he bellowed angrily. ‘Get back!’
He, at least, had something to hang on to, which was more than Ellie had. ‘There’s no point in both of us getting into trouble. If you’re washed away, I won’t be able to help you. For God’s sake, Ellie, stay there. Think of Jacko. What happens to him, if neither of us gets out?’
This seemed to get through to her at last. She stood there with the river seething about her ankles, clearly tormented by difficult choices, but at least she’d stopped stubbornly coming towards him.
Joe knew he had to get moving. His foot was still jammed and his only hope was to ignore the pain and to haul his foot out of the trapped boot.
Clenching his teeth, he kept a death grip on the steel rod as he concentrated every sinew in his body into getting his foot free. The force of the river threatened to push him off balance. Slicing pain sheared up his leg as if it was once again sliced by something rough and hard, but somehow, miraculously, his foot was finally out.
Now he just had to stay upright as he fought his way back. He was limping and he stumbled twice, his bare foot slipping on rocks, but he didn’t fall and, as he reached the shallows, Ellie was there beside him.
‘Don’t argue, Joe. Just give me your arm.’
He was happy to let her help him to the bank.
At last...
‘Thanks,’ he said. And then, with difficulty, ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Yeah, well, thank God it’s over.’ Ellie seemed to be suddenly self-conscious. She quickly let go of him and stepped away. Her hair was sleek and straight from the rain and her clothes were plastered to her slender body. And, now that they were safe, Joe probably looked at her for longer than he should have as they stood on the muddy bank, catching their breath.
‘You’re bleeding!’ Ellie cried suddenly, her eyes widening with horror as she pointed to his injured leg.
Joe looked down. Blood was running from beneath his ripped jeans and spreading in bright red rivulets over his bare foot.
‘I think it’s just a cut,’ he said.
‘But we need to attend to it. I hope it won’t need stitches.’
‘I’m sure it’s not urgent. Go to Jacko.’
As if backing up Joe’s suggestion, a tiny voice in the distance screamed, ‘Mama!’ The poor little kid was wailing.
‘He needs you,’ Joe said, shuddering at the imagined scenario of poor Jacko abandoned in the car while both his parents were swept away.
At least Ellie was already on her way to him. ‘You’d better come too,’ she called over her shoulder.
* * *
There was only one option. While Ellie comforted Jacko, Joe found a towel to wrap around his bleeding leg and, after that, they drove their respective vehicles back to the homestead.
‘Nuisance, I know,’ Joe said as he set his luggage on the veranda again. ‘This totally stuffs up your plans.’
Ellie shrugged. She’d morphed from the bravely stubborn warrior woman who’d rescued him from the river back to a tight-faced, wary hostess.
‘We should take a closer look at your leg,’ was all she said.
‘I don’t want to bleed all over the house.’ Joe’s leg was stinging like crazy and he’d already left bloody footprints on the veranda.
‘Let me take a look at it.’ Ellie dropped to her knees beside him, frowning as she carefully parted the torn denim to examine his leg more closely.
