The Cattleman's Ready-Made Family. Michelle Douglas

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      Excellent question. Tess glanced briefly in the rear-view mirror to give Krissie an encouraging smile. ‘He said he had lots of work to do.’

      ‘I bet he had to take time off work to bring Boomer around to play,’ Ty said from the seat beside her. It was his turn in the front. ‘His farm is really big, isn’t it?’

      ‘Six thousand hectares is what he said.’ And Cameron didn’t strike her as the bragging type. He was definitely the state-plain-facts type. ‘Which I think is really, really big.’

      ‘So he probably has loads and loads of work to do.’

      Was that admiration or wistfulness in Ty’s voice? She couldn’t tell.

      A mother would know.

      She gulped. ‘Good thinking, Ty, I expect you’re right.’

      His chest puffed out at her simple praise. Blinking hard, she concentrated on the road in front of her.

      It only took three minutes to drive from their front door to the community hall in Bellaroo Creek’s tiny main street. Across from the hall stood a row of late-Victorian townhouses—tall, straight, eye-catching, but with all their windows boarded up. Whatever businesses had operated from them were long gone. Once upon a time the town had been prosperous. Tess crossed her fingers. Hopefully they could help make the town prosperous again.

      Unhooking her seat belt, she turned to the children. ‘Ready?’ They watched her so carefully. She knew they’d take their every cue from her. The realisation made her swallow. She had to get this just right.

      Krissie leaned forward. ‘Is this party really just for us?’

      ‘It sure is, chickadee. Everyone is dying to meet us. They’re so excited we’ve come to live in Bellaroo Creek.’

      ‘What if they don’t like us?’ she whispered.

      Tess feigned shock. ‘Do you really think they won’t like me?’

      Krissie giggled. ‘Not you, silly.’

      ‘They’ll love you,’ Ty announced.

      She knew what he was really saying was that he loved her and it made her heart swell and her eyes sting. ‘And I absolutely promise that they’ll love the two of you too.’

      They stared at her with their identical brown eyes—eyes the same as Sarah’s. They trusted her so much! She racked her brain to think of a way to make this easier for them.

      ‘You know,’ she started, ‘it can be a bit awkward making new friends at first, and I bet they’re just as worried that we should like them too.’ She could see that thought hadn’t occurred to either child. ‘Sometimes it helps to have something ready to talk about. So…when you’re talking to someone today you might like to ask them what their favourite thing about living in Bellaroo Creek is, or if they have a dog, or if they keep chickens.’

      Both children’s faces cleared immediately.

      ‘Ooh!’ She clapped her hands. ‘I could send you both on a quest to find out what everyone thinks would be the best vegetables to grow in our backyard.’

      Ty squinted up at her. ‘Because that’s important, right?’

      ‘Vital,’ she assured him.

      He grinned. ‘And you could find out how to make Cam’s mum’s cake.’

      She pointed a finger at him. ‘Excellent idea!’ She straightened her shirt. ‘And I’m going to remember to smile nicely at everyone and remember to say please and thank you in all the right places. Ready?’

      The children nodded. They tumbled out of the car and, holding tight to each other’s hands, they entered the hall together.

      Tess blinked. There had to be at least thirty people in here! As well as one seriously long trestle table covered with more sandwiches, pies, quiches, cakes, slices and biscuits than Tess had seen altogether in one place. The sight of all that food, and all those faces, made her head spin. A hush fell over the crowd.

      Thirty people, and yet for one craven moment she’d have given anything to swap ten of them for the familiar reassuring bulk of Cameron Manning. Which was crazy because she didn’t know Cameron well enough for him to be either familiar or reassuring. But so far Bellaroo Creek consisted of their farmhouse, their lemon tree and Cameron.

      All these people will become your community, your friends, too.

      First-day nerves, that was all that this was. Taking a deep breath, Tess beamed about the room. ‘Hi, I’m Tess, and this here is Ty and Krissie. We can’t tell you how happy we are to be in Bellaroo Creek and how much we’re looking forward to meeting everyone.’

      A tall, straight woman detached herself from the crowd. ‘I’m Lorraine Pritchard, and we’re all absolutely delighted that you’ve joined our little community.’

      And just like that the silence was replaced with a hubbub of voices, and the three of them were swept into the heart of the crowd. An older woman—Stacy Bennet, the schoolteacher—whisked Ty and Krissie off to join a small band of children, stopping by the refreshment table to make sure they armed themselves with a fairy cake each first, and thereby winning herself two friends for life.

      ‘The children will be fine with Stacy,’ Lorraine told her kindly.

      Of course they would. The same way they’d been fine with Boomer this morning. It was just…she hated losing sight of them, even for a moment. Telling herself to stop being so silly, she turned back to Lorraine. The older woman took her arm. ‘Come and meet everyone.’

      It’d take her longer than a single afternoon to get everyone’s names straight in her mind, but they were all so friendly and kind with their welcomes and their offers of assistance to help her settle in that in under ten minutes Tess felt wrapped in warmth. The glimmer of light that had taken up residence in her heart the moment her application had been accepted now became a fully floodlit arena.

      She pressed her hands to her chest and blinked hard.

      A group of women surrounded her. One handed her a mug of tea, another handed her a plate piled high with food. They filled her in on what produce was available from the general store and how to set up an account there. They shared their favourite online sites for ordering in school supplies, work boots and make-up. When she asked, they told her the date for the next CWA meeting and promised to meet her there.

      Several men came up to her too. One to tell her he was her man if she ever decided to keep pigs. another to let her know he could help her set up her own home brew if she wanted. Another introduced himself as the soccer coach for the Bellaroo Creek under tens team and told her that both Ty and Krissie were welcome when training started up in another month.

      The entire town, it seemed, welcomed them with arms wide open and friendship in their hearts. Her earlier nerves suddenly seemed ludicrous.

      ‘How are you doing, dear?’ Lorraine said, coming up behind her. ‘I hope we haven’t overwhelmed you?’

      ‘This is…’ Tess swallowed and gestured around the СКАЧАТЬ