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‘That would be good, thank you. I’ll turn the stove off and put some boots on. I’ll meet you down there.’

Cy shrugged. ‘No rush. Have your lunch. I’ll be down there for an hour or so.’

He turned on his heel and left her standing by the door.

He’d worked with some difficult ringers and cattlemen over the years, but Miss Horticulturist had made her dislike obvious from her first words.

Cy shrugged as he headed across to the shed. Hopefully, the three months would go quickly.

Chapter 10

Darwin Harbourside Apartments - Monday

Dru

Dru’s worry had been replaced by anger. Last night, Connor had been home for dinner for a change. After Ruby had gone to bed, Dru delayed clearing the table, determined to speak to him. The problem was she had no idea how to broach the subject which was making her sick with worry.

Should she just ask him outright? Simply ask, “Hey are you having an affair, Connor?”

Or should she say, “Oh by the way, darling, I’ve noticed you don’t seem to love me anymore and don’t want to spend time with me. Do we have a problem?”

They certainly did have a problem and she was just going to say what was on her mind. Mum had always taught them that honest communication was the key to relationships. Mother and daughters, sisters, and husbands and wives. But Dru’s experience had made her wary of telling anyone—even Connor, at times—what she was feeling or thinking. Sure she’d mellowed since they’d got together, and she truly loved her husband, but she’d had a traumatic few years before she’d met and fallen in love with Connor.

But the past was just that. It was past and it was over and now done with. Connor knew all about Zayed. Hell, he’d even met him when they’d been investigating the diamond theft when they’d first met.

Dru’s lips tilted slightly in a bitter smile. Where had that Dru gone? That kick-arse engineer who wasn’t afraid to take anyone on. She’d softened, and until Connor had turned from her, she’d been happy in her gentler role as wife and mother.

So, she sat there waiting quietly at the dining room table, and she could sense that Connor was waiting for her to get up and clear away. She didn’t mind doing it because he’d always come into the kitchen and help load the dishwasher and make a cup of coffee after dinner, but she realised he hadn’t even done that for a few weeks.

It was now or never. She opened her mouth ready to say, “Connor, I’ve been worried about you the last few weeks. Is everything all right?”

Before the words came out, he stood suddenly and pushed his chair in. ‘Excuse me, Dru. I have some work to do. I don’t want a coffee tonight.’ Her husband walked up the hallway and his study door closed quietly. That was the sum total of the words that he had spoken to her since they sat down to eat dinner, she’d been so focused on trying to think of how to phrase her concerns that she hadn’t noticed that he hadn’t spoken at all.

Dru lifted her hands and covered her face, tears wetting her fingers as she finally gave in to the emotion that had been building for weeks. When her tears were spent, she stood, putting a hand to her back, the nagging ache that had been there all day hadn’t gone away.

With a sigh, she reached for their plates and noticed that Connor had barely touched his meal. Anger began to build again; he even left half of his dinner, so he could leave the table early and not have to speak to her.

That was it. He’d pushed enough.

Going into the kitchen, she filled the kettle and banged cupboard doors and clattered cutlery in the sink, but there was not a sound from the study.

Tomorrow she was going to find out what was going on once and for all. If he was having an affair, he could damn well pack his bags and get out.

Dru barely slept that night and was awake when Connor crept out of bed just before dawn. She lay there in the dark as the shower came on in their ensuite. A few minutes later when he walked into the bedroom, he was fully dressed. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, and when Connor quietly opened the bedroom door, it barely made a snick as he closed it slowly on his way out. Dru lay there, waiting to hear the kettle go on, but there was silence. Perhaps he’d gone into the study.

She climbed out of bed and slipped her gown over her shoulders and opened the door. The apartment was in darkness. Taken aback, Dru flipped the hallway light on and glanced into Ruby’s room. She was still sound asleep.

The kitchen was in darkness, and she turned the light on to see a note propped against the fruit bowl.

I left early. I didn’t want to wake you. Have a good day. Connor

Well, that was progress at least; a few words written on a piece of paper, wishing her a good day.

Have a good day! I’ll show you a good day, Connor Kirk.

Dru’s anger simmered until it reached boiling point and as she crashed around in the kitchen, she realised all she was doing was waking Ruby early.

She made a cup of coffee and slid open the doors to the deck. The harbour was bathed in mist and the smoky horizon glowed a pale orange from the burning off of the savannah to the south-west.