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‘Yes.’

‘Oh, Kane. She’s a lovely girl. Her father died about the time I met Panos. It was such a tragedy.’

‘Tragedy?’ He couldn’t help himself.

‘Her father committed suicide and the family was left with nothing but debt.’

‘So how did Panos end up with the farm?’

‘He bought it to help them out. One of the sisters was away at university, and the other one was about to finish school. That young Dru was such a wild one.’ She shook her head. ‘Their mother had a bit of a breakdown when Peter died, and Panos bailed them out financially.’ She reached over and took his hand. ‘All families have their hard times.’

Kane grunted an acknowledgement.

‘Are you feeling better now that you’ve left the Army behind you?’

‘Better? Me? I’m fine.’ Apart from the flashbacks. ‘It’s you we have to take care of.’ He took the opportunity that presented itself. ‘Mum? Why are you here on your own? Where’s Panos?’

His mother’s hand gripped his and she turned her head away, but not before he caught the flash of tears in her eyes.

‘We made some bad investments. You know, the GFC and all that.’

‘And?’ Kane held his tongue. His mother and Panos had married the first year he had been overseas on his first tour, which was well after the economic turmoil of the GFC.

She lifted her chin and this time she held his gaze steadily. ‘We had to sell our house at Cullen Bay to pay some debts that had accumulated.’

‘Your house.’

‘Our house. Panos is my husband. We owned this place so it made much more sense to move here rather than buy a smaller place in Darwin.’

‘So you’re not here by yourself?’

‘He stays in his electoral office in the city during the week and comes home weekends.’

Kane looked around innocently. ‘So where is he? It’s Saturday.’

‘He had . . . he had . . . a meeting today, so he’ll probably come tomorrow.’

‘Good.’ Kane’s voice was clipped because he knew exactly what sort of meeting was on in Darwin today – it had been on the front page of the Darwin Sun this morning. There was a big winter meeting at the racecourse and Panos would be there with bells on. He bit back the anger that stuck in his throat. Mum was in this dump, and her husband had left her here alone – as sick as she was? His mother always had been perceptive and she turned to him, reading his thoughts.

‘He calls to check on me every day, so I’m fine.’ Her hands were icy as she held his hand. ‘You worry too much.’

He’d be calling Panos as soon as he got out of here and giving him a piece of his mind.

*

Despite the pregnancy bump in front of her, Gina all but floated back to the suite, gliding on the memory of the massage. After they had argued, David had picked up the hotel phone and enquired about a booking for her. She’d scrubbed at her eyes; if he could get an appointment, he could damn well look after the kids. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him at the moment. Luckily the day spa had been able to take her straight away.

‘Mummy is going have some time out while we have an ice-cream. And then how about a swim?’ David had held her gaze when the two children rushed across to him and wrapped their arms around his legs. Gina’s mood softened marginally though the fear still gripped her stomach like a vice. David tickled Andrew and he giggled, running away back into the television room. ‘Then we’ll come back here and you can have a nap, okay?’ He ruffled Binny’s hair and she scarpered back into the living room behind her brother. Gina held David’s gaze and put her hands on her stomach as the baby landed a good kick to one of her ribs.

‘We’ll talk later, I promise.’ His voice was gentle but firm.

‘All right. I’m sorry for yelling.’

The massage had been just what she’d needed and calm had stolen over her as the long, firm strokes of the masseur had loosened the muscles in her shoulders, arms and legs. Gina laughed as the woman had held up the special pillow so she could lie on her stomach. As she’d lain there with her eyes closed, some of her worry had dissipated. She had to trust David, but she was still angry that he hadn’t told her earlier what was going on. The last thing she wanted was to be protected from reality. She’d had enough of being treated as a fragile female by her father – and her brothers – as she’d grown up, the only daughter in a boisterous Italian household.

The massage was followed by a facial, and it was obvious that the staff didn’t get many pregnant clients through the day spa as the technician adjusted the chair and Gina tipped slowly backward.

She clutched the sides of the chair when her head tipped back lower than her feet and a wave of vertigo hit her. ‘Can you sit me up a bit higher please? Not good for the blood flow.’ She placed one hand on her eyes and took a deep breath, placing the other hand on her stomach.