Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise.
Prologue
"I have outlived that care that curries public favour or dreads the public frown...let the hand of law strike me down if it will, but I ask that my story be heard and considered"
Ned Kelly– bushranger
I glared at Dallas Winston from my spot across the bar from were he was sitting. He would look up at me every few minutes from his conversation with a leggy blonde, Bastard always tries to make me madder.
Ollie looked up at me from where he was sitting at the bar, colouring.
"Mama, why you looking mad?" he looked up at me with big blue eyes
"Not mad love" I picked up his empty glass and placed it in the tub with the rest of the dirty glasses.
"Why is Dally holding that lady?" another innocent question
"Because…" oh crap the blonde was sitting in Dallas's lap now, my four year old wanted to know why.
"Because that lady, you see her there Ollie?" my little sister had slid onto the stool next to Oliver. He nodded, his shaggy blonde hair falling in his eyes
"She's real scared, and Dally's just calming her down". Ollie looked from me to my sister before accepting this
"Like when I have a night mare?"
"Just like that bub" I smiled at them, good save by Evie. Throwing my dishrag over my shoulder and wiping my hands on my apron, I picked my son up off the stool, getting him out of there before Dallas did anything that couldn't be passed off as 'comforting' the girl.
There's an old cot out the back of the bar used for Ollie. I laying him down, he snuggled down into the covers. Evie followed behind me, carrying his colouring book and crayons, placing them on the small table.
"Night Auntie Evie" he yawned, stretching his arms above his head "Night Mama"
"Night Ollie" Evie grabbed her apron off a hook on the wall, tying it around her waist before walking back into the smoky noise of Jay's Diner.
"Night baby boy" I kissed his head, sitting down in the seat next to his cot.
His eye lids began to droop, and he began to squirm deeper under the covers, pulling his teddy tighter in his arms and putting his thumb in his mouth
"Hey I'm not too late to say good night?" Dallas's booming voice filled the small room
"Dally!" Ollie was up and on his feet in the bed, his teddy falling to the floor
"Obviously not, I nearly had him down Dal" I shot at him, picking the teddy off the ground and holding it to my chest. He was always doing this, coming in when the kid was nearly asleep, ruining all the hard work I had laid down getting the kid in bed in the first place
"That's great" He had Ollie in his arms now, spinning him around "You didn't think that I wouldn't come say 'night?" he asked. Raising his eyebrows at me
"Nope, I knew you'd come" Ollie pushed his hair out of his eyes, the way he did it was an exact copy of the way Dally pushed his own blonde hair out of his eyes.
"Good kid" he pulled the chair out and sat down with one arm, his other arm placing Ollie on the cot. Ollie crawled back under the covers, a big grin plastered on his face
"Well, I may as well get back to work then" I scowled at Dallas, letting my face soften to a smile to kiss my son's forehead again "night Ollie"
"G'night Mama" he smiled again, he liked it when Dallas sat with him until he was asleep.
The room was in full swing when I got back to behind the bar, Evie was chatting to a couple of boys sitting at the end of the bar.
"Jessie, can you get that table?" a table packet with rowdy boys was signalling for drinks. When they were all happily chugging back beers, Dallas was leaning in the door way behind the bar
"Winston" I pushed past him, sticking my head into the room to check Ollie was fast asleep
"What's your problem Carter?" he followed me as I moved past him, grabbing a plastic tub to clear a now vacated table.
When I didn't respond to him, he took the tub from my hands, placing it on the table before holding my shoulders so I couldn't walk away. The spot on the wall just above his left shoulder got very interesting all of a sudden.
"What's your problem Carter?" his index finger was on my cheek, moving my face so I had to look at him.
"You can't just do that Dal" I snapped. Forcing my way out of his arms, taking back the tub
"Do what?" he was looking confused, his normally ice blue eyes burning with anger
"Come marching in there when I've just put Ollie to bed." I turned to face him, hands on my hips "you cant just spend a week in jail and then come marching back in here like every things okay" it clicked to him now, I could see the cogs in his mind turning as he pieced together why I was so angry
"It's not okay?" his big hands covered mine on my hips. Normally I would have broken by now, given in to him, only to have him do the same thing in a few weeks time.
"No it's not Dal." I turned away from him picking up the last glass and placing it in the tub "Webb came back this week. The one time I need you Dal and you're not here" I picked up the tub, carrying it back to the kitchen on the other side of the bar. Dallas was hot on my heels, when I stopped to set down the tub, he pushed up the sleeves of my dress, having caught site of the bruise left there.
"I should just kill that bastard" his voice was cold. This was the Dallas I could deal with. The Dallas that read to my son freaked me out a little
"And where would that leave us?" I frowned as he ran his fingers clumsily along my arm
"A lot fucking happier"
"Charming Dal"
Webb was Ollie's biological father, my ex, although we chose not to acknowledge him in my life, He'd moved away when I got pregnant, I didn't know where because I didn't want to know. I wasn't sad that he'd left me. It just saved me from having to leave town when he found out about the baby. People were shocked that I gave my life away at fifteen to have an illegitimate baby when I could have gotten rid of it. I couldn't get rid of it though. The kid was half mine after all, and when Webb left town, Ollie was all mine.
"He still in town?" he looked down at me, and for the millionth time, I wished I wasn't so short.
"Nope" I wasn't going into it with Dallas now, he'd find out eventually, because Evie knew, and Evie would tell Steve who would tell Dallas, who would come back and start a fight with me about it
So I did what I always did when Dallas had that uncomfortable look on his face where he knew that we'd have to have a grown-up conversation about something; I walked away.
A/N: so, this is the prologue, I re-did it, because it bugged me and I didn't like how I made Dallas act, and I understand that the original (if you read it) was a little confusing. It confused me when I read it again. So I hope it's a little better, because I certainly think it is. I changed it because it gave me the shits. So let me know what you think yeah. This is just the prologue. I should have Chapter one up soon.
I know that Jay's was a diner in the book, but where I live, just about every place you go to eat has a bar. Hell, even the bakery in town has a liquor licence- no kidding, so I chucked a bar in. though in story land, the bar bits only open at night. Just so ya know.
*I'm Australian, and I think that I've taken out any thing that's too Aussie, but if there's anything you don't understand, give me a yell
X Ash
