Captivated By The Single Dad. Barbara Hannay

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СКАЧАТЬ swing. It was a favourite afternoon pastime that came a close second to admiring their growing puppies, which now resembled fat little sausages with lovely seal-smooth coats.

      Selections had been made and Josh was the proud pre-owner of the all black male, while Anna had settled on a sweet little blue-speckled female.

      From the kitchen Holly could hear the children’s voices drifting through the window, squealing with delight as they pushed the swing higher.

      Janet, in the kitchen, was browning chicken pieces at the stove.

      ‘Let me help you,’ Holly said. ‘Maybe I can chop something?’

      Janet tried to shoo her away. ‘Your job’s in the school room, lovey. I don’t expect you to help in here.’

      ‘But I’d like to.’ Holly was thinking of all the times she’d chopped ingredients for her mom in the pretty blue and yellow farmhouse kitchen at home. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, this afternoon she was feeling homesick.

      She told herself it had nothing to do with the fact that Gray had made himself scarce all week, ever since Monday night’s conversation.

      ‘Well…’ Janet took a good long look at Holly and apparently made up her mind about something. ‘You could chop carrots and celery if you like. I’m making chicken cacciatore.’ Then she sent Holly an unsettling wink. ‘It’s one of Gray’s favourites.’

      Hmm…Gray again…

      It was surprising the number of times Janet mentioned her boss to Holly. She’d even tried to suggest that Gray was happier now that Holly had come to Jabiru Creek.

      But if Gray was happier, Holly knew it was because his children were here now, and it had nothing to do with her presence. Quite the opposite. Whenever she’d talked to Gray she’d pressed the wrong buttons and upset him. Ever since Monday night he’d been avoiding her and that bothered her more than it should.

      Admittedly, a cattleman needed to rise early and to be away from the house, working on his vast property from dawn until dusk. But each night, after Gray indulged in a quick after-dinner romp with his children, he took off for one of the machinery sheds, claiming he had a problem with a broken tractor.

      Holly told herself that mending tractors was what men of the Outback did in the evenings instead of reading the paper, or watching TV like their city counterparts. Her father loved to tinker in his sheds, and she mightn’t have minded Gray’s absence so much if she hadn’t been almost certain that he was dodging conversation with her.

      Was he worried that she was waiting to pounce on him with more questions?

      Now, at the end of a week of tractor-mending, she wished she knew if she’d said something that had really upset him, or if she was making a mountain out of a molehill. Surely her mind could be put to rest after a simple quick chat?

      As she chopped carrots, she decided she would head out to that machinery shed this evening and offer Gray some kind of olive branch…

      There was no helpful moonlight when Holly cautiously descended the homestead steps at half past eight, after the children were safely tucked in bed. She made her way across the paddock to the shed by the feeble glow of her flashlight.

      A shadow rose from the grass beside her and large wings flapped, making her jump. With a hand pressed to her thumping chest, she thought about turning back, then told herself it was probably an owl and that crossing a paddock at Jabiru Creek was no different from playing hide-and-seek in the barns back home with her brothers.

      Just the same, it felt like ages before she reached the yellow light shining through the doorway of the tall corrugated iron shed.

      The sound of hammering came from inside. Or was that her heart?

      A few more steps brought her through the doorway and inside the shed. She saw rubber tyres of all sizes stacked against a wall. Bits and pieces of rusty machinery. An intact tractor.

      Gray—not in the expected overalls, but in his usual faded jeans and an old navy-blue woollen sweater with the sleeves pushed back and a hole at one elbow—was working at a long wooden bench. He’d stopped hammering now and was planing timber, smoothing down the edges of a very large box-shaped object.

      Intent on his task, Gray turned slightly and Holly saw the strength in his hands and forearms. She could even sense the movement of his shoulder muscles beneath the thick wool of his sweater.

      She turned off her flashlight and put it in her coat pocket. Her palms were sweaty, so she jammed them in her pockets too. Then, feeling like an intruder, she took a deep breath and went three steps deeper into the shed.

      She felt ridiculously nervous. Any minute now Gray would look up and she would have to explain why she was here.

      She tried to remember the opening she’d rehearsed. Something about his tractor. But he wasn’t working on the tractor…

      With her gaze firmly fixed on Gray, she took another step forward—and tripped on a metal pipe, sending it rolling and clattering across the concrete floor.

      Gray’s head snapped up and his blue eyes widened with surprise. ‘Holly.’

      ‘I’m sorry,’ she cried, bending down to rub her smarting ankle.

      ‘Are you okay?’

      ‘Yes, I’m fine.’

      He came hurrying over to her, wiping his dusty hands on an old rag. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

      ‘The pipe’s probably worse off than I am. It’s okay. Really. Just a bump.’

      ‘I hope you don’t end up with a bruise.’ A beat later, he said, ‘What are you doing out here?’ His smile was quickly replaced by a frown. ‘Is something wrong? Is it Anna?’

      ‘No, no. Nothing wrong. A-Anna’s fine.’ Holly’s mouth was suddenly as dry as the sawdust on the floor. She tried to swallow, then remembered that she’d planned to smile to set the right mood. ‘There’s no problem, Gray. The children are sound asleep.’

      ‘That’s good to hear.’ With hands on his hips, he studied her, a puzzled gleam lurking in his bright blue eyes. ‘So, what brings you out here at this time of night? I thought you’d be curled up with your nose in a book.’

      Yes…well…

      Now that he was waiting for her answer, Holly felt more foolish than ever. Gray seemed totally relaxed and not at all put out by her sudden appearance, so how could she suggest there was a problem that needed sorting?

      ‘Have…have you finished the tractor?’ she asked.

      ‘The tractor?’

      ‘I…um…thought you were working on one.’

      ‘Oh, yes. You’ve blown my cover.’ Gray’s eyes twinkled, and then he turned to the bench where he’d been working. ‘I’ve been making something for Anna and Josh, actually. It’s almost done.’

      ‘Oh,’ she said in a very small voice.

      ‘Would СКАЧАТЬ