Breakaway Creek. Heather Garside

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СКАЧАТЬ she hadn't experienced before. The stock and station agent had given the brothers a character reference and there was a family connection.

      'If I stay, I'll pull my weight, but I'm not going to be your slave. Does your brother live here too?'

      'Yeah. He used to live in the cottage, but when Miranda left we decided he might as well move back in. He's got a girlfriend in town though, so he stays there a bit.'

      'Okay. I'll stay for a few days. Thanks. And I'd love to see something of the property.'

      'Of course.' He flashed that quick grin which transformed his face. 'I suppose you want to see kangaroos and koalas, that sort of thing.'

      His mildly patronising tone made Shelley's neck prickle. She tilted her chin and looked him in the eye.

      'I don't expect to see koalas. I know there aren't many left around here.'

      He shook his head.

      'True. We have a few roos, though.'

      'I've seen the odd kangaroo or two. I did grow up in Rockhampton, remember.'

      'I'm glad to hear it. So I suppose you know all about horses and cattle, too?'

      She knew he was taking the micky out of her.

      'Not much about cattle, no. But I learned to ride as a kid - I went to Pony Club for a few years.'

      His grin widened.

      'Sounds like you'll fit right in, Shelley.'

      Chapter Two

      Half an hour later Shelley was bumping up a dirt track in the passenger seat of a Toyota Land Cruiser while Luke drove. She'd changed out of her good clothes after Luke had shown her into a spare bedroom. It was a functional space with two single beds, an old-fashioned wardrobe and not much else. She hoped her old denim shorts, joggers and a short-sleeved polo shirt were suitable attire for a working girl.

      The track took them past a dilapidated house of greyed weatherboards.

      'There's the old house.' Luke took his hand from the steering wheel and waved it vaguely in that direction. 'It's a bit of a wreck now.'

      The branches of a giant bottle tree hung over the house and creepers sprawled on the neglected, tumbledown fence. Broken windows gaped like unseeing eyes, caught in a memory of better times.

      Shelley stared at it, imagining it as it had been a century earlier, perhaps with a horse and buggy standing outside and a group of children in pinafores and short trousers playing in the yard.

      'I don't suppose there's anything inside? Any old papers, or such like?'

      His brow furrowed.

      'We'll have a look later. Mitch and I used to play there when we were kids. There used to be some stuff in the roof space. It's probably still there, if the mice and rats haven't got to it.'

      'That sounds interesting. I can take myself if you're too busy.'

      'Better not.' He glanced sideways at her. 'The place is pretty rickety. I don't want you falling through the floor.'

      'Whatever you think.' Noticing one of her shoelaces had come undone, she propped her foot on the dash to re-tie it. Something made her look up and her face flamed as she followed his gaze. Her shorts had ridden up, exposing a lot of bare thigh. She dropped her leg hastily, smoothed down her shorts and brought her knees together to sit so primly her grandmother would have been proud. 'Hey, aren't you supposed to be watching the road?'

      He corrected a slight wobble in the steering and grinned.

      'Sorry. You make it hard sometimes.'

      She made a derisive noise in her throat. 'I thought we were supposed to be related.'

      'Oh yeah, thirty-second cousins or something.' His voice had a husky catch to it. 'That's if we're related at all. We haven't worked out who Alexander was yet.'

      'I'm not so sure I should be staying, now.' It was a miracle her voice sounded cool when he had her thoughts so agitated. He shook his head.

      'I was kidding. I'm not looking for anything, Shelley. Officially, I'm still married. Although she has been gone a while.'

      A breathless, involuntary laugh escaped her throat.

      'When I heard about the job here, I pictured a pair of desperate and dateless hillbillies. Then I met you and that notion didn't fit. Now you're making me think again.'

      He shook his head, a wry smile twisting his mouth as he changed the Toyota's gears.

      'Desperate and dateless, that's me.'

      Heart thudding, she turned to stare out the window, realising it was sensible to end this conversation right now. The suggestive undertones were too disturbing for comfort, considering she'd met this man only a couple of hours before. A man who, as he'd just reminded her, was still legally married.

      Before the silence became too uncomfortable, Luke drew the Toyota up to a set of stockyards.

      'Here we are,' he announced. He got out of the vehicle and waited for Shelley to join him. 'These are the calves we've just weaned from their mothers.'

      Shelley joined him at the stockyard rails, peering through them at the mob of sleek red animals that fled to the far side of the yard at their approach. Dust floated over them, thick with the acrid stink of cow manure. She looked down at her clothes and grimaced. She'd need a shower after this.

      'They're still a bit touchy, but they'll settle down over the next few days.'

      'How many are there?' It was a relief to have a safe, unromantic topic like cattle to discuss.

      'We counted two hundred and twenty-six. The hay's in that shed over there.' He gestured at a corrugated-iron building a hundred metres away. 'I'll bring it over with the tractor. Can you let me through the gate when I get here? Make sure none of the weaners get out.'

      He pointed to several round hay feeders.

      'I'll drop the bales of hay into those.'

      Surely that wouldn't be too hard, Shelley thought. Except when she opened the gate, which obviously swung inwards, she would have to walk into the yard with the cattle. They weren't very big, but still...

      Luke must have noticed her apprehensive glance. His face softened.

      'You can get in there. They won't hurt you - they're more scared of you than you are of them.'

      She waited beside the gate while he walked over to the shed. The tractor started with a roar and soon came trundling towards her, a huge round bale of hay speared high on the front forks. The noise made the calves retreat to the far side of the yard. This was easy, she thought. Shelley unlatched the chain and swung the gate wide as he drove through, then held it closed as he eased the machine close to the nearest feeder and tilted the forks downwards, dropping the bale of hay neatly into it. When he drove out of the yard, Shelley chained the gate behind him and waited for him to return with the next bale.

      When СКАЧАТЬ