Captivated By The Single Dad. Barbara Hannay

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СКАЧАТЬ much as her old dream had.

      On Sunday morning, Gray rose just as the screeching corellas took off from the trees along the creek bank, and he crossed the frosty grass to the shed where the puppet theatre stood in all its rainbow-walled, red-curtained glory.

      He grinned when he saw it. It looked so bright and cheerful and, even if he did say so himself, very professional. Almost as good as the puppet theatre he and Holly had taken the children to see in New York.

      His kids were going to love it.

      All thanks to Holly, of course…

      Without her, he wouldn’t have known such things existed. And without Holly he wouldn’t have enjoyed the final decorating tasks nearly as much. She was so easy-going and comfortable to be with.

      Gray totally understood why his kids loved school when Holly was around to help make it fun.

      How would they cope when she left?

      Soon, he would have to seek her help in posting an ad for a replacement nanny, and then he’d also need her input when he vetted the applicants.

      Right now, Gray couldn’t think of a more unpalatable task, couldn’t imagine another woman filling Holly O’Mara’s shoes.

      A movie director couldn’t have created a more pleasing scene than Anna and Josh’s discovery of the puppet theatre. They bounced into the kitchen for breakfast, spied the theatre positioned just outside the flyscreen door, and reacted just as Holly had hoped they would—with dancing and squealing and their eyes almost popping out of their heads with excitement.

      ‘And it isn’t even our birthday,’ Josh exclaimed in grinning disbelief as he and Anna took turns to pull the cord that drew the splendid red curtains open and shut.

      Anna was beaming, too. ‘I can’t believe we have a theatre and our puppies. Wow, Daddy, this is so cool.’

      Together, the children squeezed inside the ‘back door’ and examined the stage. When they plied Gray and Holly with questions, they were stunned to learn that their dad had actually made this glorious construction with his own hands.

      Holly smiled at Gray, taking in the quiet satisfaction in his eyes.

      ‘They’ll remember this day for the rest of their lives,’ she told him quietly.

      He merely nodded, but this time when he smiled back at her, she had to look down. The crackling something in the air was suddenly too much.

      After breakfast, the children jumped straight into presenting their premiere puppet show on the veranda, and of course Holly, Gray and Janet were the audience, very happy to sit on a row of chairs, with the basket of puppies at their feet.

      ‘The puppies have to watch, too,’ Anna had insisted.

      Naturally, the show was received with thunderous applause, and afterwards the children rushed straight off to plan their next performance.

      ‘We’ll soon be calling them Shake and Speare,’ Janet muttered good-humouredly, before she returned to the kitchen to make a batch of scones for morning tea.

      Holly might have followed Janet if Gray hadn’t detained her with his hand on her arm. She jumped at his touch as if he’d burned her, and then she felt seriously foolish.

      ‘Would you like to come for a drive with me?’ he asked.

      ‘A drive?’ She needed a moment to catch her breath. ‘I’m sure we won’t be able to prise Anna and Josh away from their puppets.’

      The tanned skin around his blue eyes crinkled. ‘I wasn’t planning to invite the children. I’m sure they’d rather stay here, and they’ll be fine with Janet.’

      ‘But—’ Holly’s heart gave a strange thump. ‘Are you sure Janet doesn’t have other plans?’

      ‘I’m certain of it, Holly. I’ve already spoken to her, and she’d love to spend a day with the twins. In fact, she’s already started on a picnic lunch for us.’

      ‘Oh? I…I see.’

      ‘You’ve earned a day off, and I thought you might like to see the gorge.’

      It was kind of Gray to take the trouble to entertain her. ‘Thank you.’ Holly’s voice was a shade too proper and polite. ‘I’d love to see the gorge. I’ll explain to Anna and Josh—’

      He held up a hand. ‘I can do the explaining while you get ready. You’ll need sunscreen and a hat and sturdy shoes.’

      She was being bulldozed—steamrollered—but for once she didn’t mind.

      In her room, as she grabbed her shady hat from its hook on the back of her dresser, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She was, as usual, in a boring old T-shirt and jeans, with her hair tied back and a new crop of freckles on her nose.

      If she was in New York, she was quite sure that if a new man invited her out for the day she would go to a great deal of trouble, hunting through her wardrobe for the perfect outfit, ringing her friends for fashion advice, going for a manicure, a pedicure, a leg wax.

      It was strange to think that she was now going to spend an entire day alone with a man who was not Brandon, and yet she didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to worry about how she looked. It was rather comforting to know she didn’t have to try too hard with Gray Kidman.

      After teaming with him on the puppet theatre, they’d reached a comfortable working relationship and she could save her dating charms for the new man she was bound to meet once she was back home again in the fall. The sizzle she felt around Gray Kidman was nothing more than hormones—and she supposed she should be grateful to know they were still in working order.

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      AS GRAY drove away from the homestead with a cloud of dust pluming behind his vehicle, Holly was reacquainted with how very isolated Jabiru Creek Station really was.

      They’d only just passed the last outbuilding before they were once again following a faint dirt track across endless plains that stretched and stretched to the distant horizon. She saw nothing but cloudless blue skies, red dirt and dusty faded grass, with occasional mobs of silvery hump-backed cattle sheltering in the scant shade of straggly white-trunked trees.

      ‘It must be fabulous to tear across this country on horseback,’ she said, partly because she meant it, and partly because she wanted to say something positive about the monotonous scenery.

      Gray turned to her, clearly surprised. ‘Do you ride?’

      ‘I haven’t for ages.’

      ‘But you know how to.’

      ‘Sure. There was a time when horse-riding was my favourite sport.’

      His eyebrows shot high. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

      ‘I came here to be your children’s nanny. СКАЧАТЬ