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‘But from the moment you told me about this child, I have known that I need to be in his or her life. That, no matter what I would have wished, this is now my responsibility. Whether chosen or not, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m here, at your side, and always will be.’

She knew he was trying to make her feel better, by showing her that he was different from her dad. But every word he chose landed like a stone inside her, because she felt the reality of their circumstances. He was trapped. Trapped by a baby he’d never wanted, and a wife he was marrying out of duty alone.

‘Here, this is for you,’ he said, almost as an afterthought, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring box. She stared at it, the reality of his proposal somehow cutting through her like a blade.

Her fingers trembled a little when she took it from him, swallowing as she cracked it open. The ring was a teardrop diamond, set in white gold. It was beautiful and classic, and she could hardly imagine wearing it, especially not out on the station.

‘It’s…beautiful,’ she said, glancing up at him. ‘When did you…’

‘I ordered it from a Sydney jeweller. Axe picked it up. I thought it would suit you.’

She stared back at the ring. He was right: it was perfect, and she loved it. Of all the rings in the world, it was exactly the one she would have chosen. Her eyes lifted to his briefly, then tore away again when her heart lurched dangerously off kilter. She stared at the ring instead, hating the tears that were threatening to cloud her eyes.

‘Are you going to wear it?’

‘Right, of course.’ Her voice was clogged, and she frowned as she slid the ring on her finger. She didn’t let him do it; she couldn’t. That would have felt too real, and she had to remind herself, at every opportunity, that this was just a marriage of circumstance. She’d fallen pregnant, and he was doing whatever he could to claim their baby. That was all the ring meant.

But in the back of her mind, in the silly, fanciful part of her brain still operated by the little girl who’d read fairy tales and hoped for everything, the ring was the beginning of a fairy tale—a fairy tale grown-up Sarah knew would never—could never—eventuate.

She fell into a contemplative silence, her eyes dropping to the ring every few seconds, her mind at sixes and sevens as she tried to make sense of everything.

‘We’re here.’

His announcement cut through her thoughts, so she blinked first at Tate, then beyond him, to the street. Her gaze landed on a very expensive-looking bridal shop, and her heart stammered hard inside her chest. For some reason, just staring at the gowns draped over elegant mannequins made her want to give in to the sob that had been building in her chest. But she didn’t. Instead, Sarah held the photo of their baby tightly between her fingers, making an unspoken promise that everything she did from now on would be with their child in mind. Tate was right: this was their duty, and nothing else really mattered.

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE SUN WAS low in the sky as Tate brought the plane back down over the airstrip. Lights that Sarah hadn’t noticed earlier that day formed two glowing lines between which he landed, red dust clouding the plane as it slowed quickly.

They hadn’t talked on the trip back. Tate had been flying, but Sarah had been away with the fairies. She might as well have been out on the clouds, completely untethered from earth and reality, as anywhere else.

Trying on bridal gowns had been both surreal and sad. Worse than sad. It had plunged her back into a state of grief and sorrow, as she’d gone through the motions of a day that should have been shared with her mother. A mother she still missed so very much.

In the end, she’d chosen the dress the shopkeeper had raved about, telling Sarah that it flattered her petite figure and pale complexion. She could barely picture the thing now, and she didn’t care to look at it again.

She was exhausted.

The day had been an emotional roller coaster, leaving her feeling pulled in a thousand directions. And when Tate moved to the stairs and opened them, so she could leave the plane, he was waiting at the bottom, standing with his legs spread wide, watching her progress, so her emotions went all zippy again.

‘You hungry?’

Some very delicate cupcakes had been served for them in the bridal shop, but other than that, Sarah hadn’t eaten all day. She nodded once. ‘But I’ll just have an egg on toast or something, when we get back to the house. You don’t need to worry about me.’

The words were clipped and dismissive, a sign of how much she wanted to be alone. To process the day, the future, this life they were both living. Trapped in, she reminded herself. At least, that was how Tate viewed it. Uncertainty ran through her. She tried not to think of the vision that kept hovering on the periphery of her mind, of the future she’d always dreamed of. She tried not to think of the proposal Tate had made, and how much it didn’t mean to him.

‘You’re wrong, Sarah. That’s exactly what I need to do. Worry about you, and care for you. You’re the mother of my child,’ he reminded her.

Maybe, in different circumstances, that might have warmed her heart, but she knew enough of Tate’s traumatic childhood, the rejection he’d known, to understand that everything he said to her was about righting a wrong he’d suffered from all his life. It had nothing to do with her.

And so what?

What did she expect?

They were an ill-conceived one-night stand that happened to have resulted in a baby. Hardly some kind of great romantic fantasy. And she didn’t want that, anyway—marriage, yes. One day. To a man she loved, but that wasn’t Tate. She couldn’t let the situation confuse her on that score.

‘Give me ten minutes to stow the plane, then we’ll head to the house.’ He reached into his pocket and pressed a button so his ute lights flashed orange. ‘You can wait in the truck if you’d like.’

She walked towards it without a word, frowning. Only, she didn’t open the door, nor sit inside. Instead, she turned slowly, almost as if reluctantly, her back pressed to his car, as she watched him meticulously go through whatever he needed to do to make sure the plane was stored securely.