Ok I am not sure about this story but the idea came to me this morning and I thought I would see what I could come up with. This story takes place 10 years after Kate comes home from Africa.
Chapter One
Kate looked out from her porch, as the sun set over the hill she smiled as her daughter Lily ran around chasing their puppy Harry around the garden that they had planted together. Lily looked so much like him, her eyes sparkled the same way that his had whenever she smiled, it broke her heart to think that she wouldn't grow up with him in her life. Her father had died a little over two years earlier as a result of a stupid car crash. He had been her rock upon her return from Africa, allowing her to vent all of her frustrations on him, and also letting her cry on his shoulder which she did more than once. It had taken her two years before she had realized how blind she had been towards him and allowed herself to take a chance again on love. The day that they had gotten married she had never thought she would ever be that happy again. Little did she know she would feel the same happiness again a little over a year later when she had given birth to their beautiful daughter, he had picked the name Lily after his mother. The lived blissfully in their farm house that they had worked at converting, while she had remained working at Drovers and he at Kilarney both admitting that although they would like to have their own farm they enjoyed working with their friends just as much. They had lived like that in love with each other and in life, and then the dark day that she always tried to forget but couldn't happened. They had been on their way home from Fisher after having a dinner out, something they didn't get very much but when Jodi had volunteered to babysit they couldn't pass her up on the offer. As they drove home in the darkness holding onto one anothers hands, and speaking every now and then but otherwise sitting in companionable silence. They were just coming close to Drovers when a Brombie had ran infront of their car, he had swerved to miss it, but the mud on the road from the rain earlier had caused the car to swerve and as he lost control of the vehicle they crashed into one of the large trees that lined the road. She could remember looking over at him as the car smoked and steamed, screaming as she saw him hunched over the steering wheel, blood coming from his forehead. She had eventually unknownst to her now, managed to get out of her seat and pull his body from the car just as it burst into flames. She remembers sitting with his body in her lap, reassuring him that he would be fine and screaming for help, he opened his eyes as she looked down at him, the same sparkle that was in Lily's eyes were in his. He smiled up at her and mouthed the words I love you, before closing his eyes again. She could almost feel his spirit leaving his body as she sat there crying. The past two years had been the hardest thing she had to live through, going through the motions of his funeral and greaving had been awful. Explaining to her young daughter that her father was not going to return home was the worst. Thankfully she had her friends, whom she now considered family around her to support her. Jodi had been her rock through the whole experience. She was just now starting to feel herself again, she and Lily had gotten into a routine together and whenever his name was mentioned now she smiled instead of immediately bursting into tears. She broke her train of thought as her daughter climbed the stairs and into her lap,
"Mummy what are you thinking about?" She asked as she stared up at her mother with a smile,
"Oh I am just thinking, did you have fun chasing Harry?" Kate replied as she placed a kiss on top of her daughters brunette curls.
"Well he can run faster than me, but I did have fun, are you thinking about Daddy?" Lily said as she snuggled into Kate's arms. "Because that is ok you know, because I think of him lots too."
"I was, thats good that you think of him lots, I am sure he misses you tonnes." Kate smiled as Lily and she looked out at the sunset,
"I know that he does, but not as much as he misses you Mummy." Lily whispered as she looked up at her with those eyes, the eyes that she would know anywheres, after all Riley's eyes sparkled like that everytime he looked at her.
Chapter Two
The next morning as Kate and Lily drove into the yard at Drovers she smiled as Lily squealed in delight as she saw her cousins Sarah and Emma playing by the barn. As they got out of their ute Lily ran over to join them,
"Where is everyone?" Kate called as she walked behind Lily,
"They are still in drinking their coffee, silly parents." Sarah replied as she took Lily's hand and they ran towards their play area. Kate smiled as she watched the three girls run off and she started walking up towards the house. Alot had changed over the years, Alex and Stevie had moved into Kilarney and had become the proud parents of three girls, Hannah who was 8 and the spitting image of Stevie and also had the attitude to match, Sarah who was 6 was quieter than her sister, but still knew how to get into mischif, the baby was Emma who had just turned 4 and was the apple of Alex's eye. They always teased him that he had no sons, but he always replied that he had always wanted to live with a bunch of girls anyways. Tess and Nick had returned from Argentina the year that she and Riley had gotten married, they had moved into the main house at Drovers, they brought with them their daughter Clare who was now 11 and had the quietness of her father, and their son Henry who was 8 and had the spirit of his mother. Jodi and Matt had come home the year that Lily was born, it had finally been deemed safe enough for them to come out of hiding, they along with Tess and Nick had renovated the house at Drovers to make two seperate living quarters and had moved in, they were chasing around 3 year old Laura, who had Matt's brown hair and Jodi's curls, along with Jodi's temper quite constantly keeping her parents on their toes. Meg and Terry had returned home a few years ago, finally building their own home. Terry had returned to working at Kilarney, and Meg had taken on the position of full-time granny, taking care of the younger children and making sure the older ones got to school.
Kate laughed as she could hear the others discussing and arguing some utter important matter as she walked up the steps towards the kitchen that Tess and Jodi shared. The others immediately stopped talking as soon as she entered, looking away from her and trying not to make eye contact.
"What?? Do I have the plague or something, I mean if you want I can go out and you can continue talking about me." She said with a grin and looked around at the others, "Come on it can't be anything that big, now spill."
"Oh its nothing really, we were just talking about a letter that I got in the mail this morning." Tess said as she took a sip of coffee and Nick handed Kate a cup of coffee.
"Oh really?? What is there big news or something??" Kate replied as she sat down and looked over at Jodi who was sitting with Laura in her lap, "Come on Jodes spill it!!"
"Oh for heaven sakes you are all a bunch of wimps!" Stevie moaned as she looked over at Kate, "Tess has had a letter from Dave. He is coming here to visit." The others all turned finally and looked at her for her reaction,
"Well that is to be expected, I mean he probably wants to come see us all, after all it has been a while." Kate replied,
"He said that he wants to come home, he is tired of travelling, and I think that since losing his wife he has found it hard." Tess said, "I mean it has been almost 4 years since she died but I imagine that he finds it hard being away from home."
"I can imagine he does, I know I would." Kate said as she took a sip of coffee, "Oh well it will be good to see him anyways."
"Yes, now come on slow pokes we need to get to work." Stevie cried as she stood up, "Those fences aren't going to fix themselves."
Chapter 3
The next few weeks passed by in a blur for Kate, with the start of the school year she had seen her little girl go off on her own for the first time, thankfully Sarah had been starting too, so she had Stevie's shoulder to lean on as she watched her baby climb those steps towards her independence.
"Thank god you came with me, I don't think I could have done that alone. I always thought in the beginning that Riley and I would stand together to watch her off to school." Kate said as they drove back towards Drovers. Stevie reached over and squeezed her hand,
"I can only imagine how tough this must be on you, but it is a good thing in a way, a start to a new chapter almost. I mean time flies by Kate and you have to take time to live in the here and now, or else it will fly by you. Look at Rose, I missed the first 15 years, and now she is getting married herself." Stevie said with a small smile.
"Your right ofcourse, and seeing her walk up those stairs today has made me realize it more than ever. It is time to start moving on, Riley wouldn't have wanted me to sit around and wallow. In fact I am pretty sure he would have come and kicked me in the butt by now." Kate said with a laugh,
"Don't laugh I can picture him doing it." Stevie replied,
"Me too, me too." Kate sighed.
Kate sat down in her rocking chair on her verenda, she had finally gotten Lily to sleep. She had been so wound today, it had been prince and princess day at school. Plus with the arrival of a new pony at Drover's she had been like she had eaten 10 pounds of candy. She took a sip of the tea that Moira had given her, some herbal thinga magiggy supposedly to calm her nerves. The sun was setting and the air was so calm, it was evenings like this she loved, the quiet that surrounded the area was what attracted her and Riley to it. As she took another sip she could hear the rumblings of a car coming up the drive, as the headlights beamed onto the house she could see a black suv park in front of the house. A tall figure got out the door and she immediately knew who it was, she would know him anywheres.
It had taken him a while to get up the nerve to come see her, it had been over ten years since he had been in Gungellan last, and he knew from his correspondence with Alex, Pat and Tess that a lot had changed. Not that a lot hadn't changed with him, after finishing in Kenya he had been offered a teaching job in London. After hearing that Kate had gotten married he had nothing to draw him back here, so he accepted the job and headed out. He had been in London a year when he first met Jane, he had to admit that he was first attracted to her by the sheer resemblence she held to Kate. But as they continued to date he felt for the first time in a long time his heart start to bond with someone new, after a year they were married in a small chapel in Ireland. They spent two and a half blissful years together, before she had gotten the news. He could remember that day like it was yesterday, he came home from work and found her sitting at the kitchen table white as a ghost. As she told him the news all he can remember hearing were the words cancer, terminal and six months. They sat there, he with his head in her lap as she started to sob. He had decided then and there to make the most of the next six months, they travelled to Paris and Italy, spending romantic evenings walking hand and hand through the cobblestone streets, all the while she was getting sicker and sicker and trying to make it seem like she wasn't. Seeing her like this and being unable to do anything had broken him. She died on a Wednesday, they had returned the previous Sunday from their trip. She was buried on a friday, Alex and Pat had flown in for the funeral. By the following Wednesday he was alone again. That had been over four years ago, he had thrown himself into his work coming home every evening to an empty house. He had made some friends but no matter what he still felt empty. Two years ago when he got the news that Riley had died, he had had the urge to rush home and comfort her. To pull her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to be ok, be he knew from experience that she didn't need that. So instead he sent her a sympathy card which more that likely just heaped up on a table somewheres. Then a month ago he woke up one morning and felt tired, tired of living along in a country he felt no urge to stay in, and tired of being away from the only place he felt home. He had written to Tess about coming home, and got in touch with the local vet to see about any work. So with belongings in hand he got on the plane at Heathrow and didn't look back. Now standing in her door yard and seeing her silhouette in the light of the window behind her, he let out a sigh, he knew now he was home.