Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart

by Nicole Flockton

  Ben frowned, looking alarmingly like his late mother whenever she’d been in a bad mood. "All right," he muttered.

  "You were seen." Meg toyed with her glass of wine that evening as they sat eating pizza and watching the evening news.

  "What do you mean?" Chris said.

  "Firenze's on Wednesday?"

  Chris said nothing for a moment. It had been Liz's suggestion that they meet for lunch and he'd gone with some reluctance.

  "So?" Even to his own ears, he sounded defensive.

  "So, Diana wants to ask her to the wedding."

  A smile twitched at the corners of Chris's mouth. "Diana doesn't waste time." He considered the request. What the hell. It would improve his evening to have the company of someone he liked, someone who was not getting married to another person. "I'm sure Liz would love to come."

  Meg set the remains of the pizza down on her plate and changed the channel.

  "What ‘s eating you, Meg?" he asked.

  "Pre-wedding jitters." Meg laughed but her laugh sounded more desperate than humorous.

  Chris finished the last of the pizza and studied the woman who had been a part of his life since first year university. He'd never seen her like this. As he studied her profile, he wondered, for the first time, if he had ever really SEEN her? MegandSarah... was that the problem? Chris realised he had entered into a minefield of female emotions and had to tread carefully.

  "Look Meg, I know she's not Sarah," he began carefully, "but, you're going to London and I've got to start meeting new people. I can't rely on you being there all the time because you won't be and..." he hesitated and lowered his voice so that Ben, intent on some game involving the dinosaur and a truck couldn’t hear, "I also have to get Ben used to the idea of new people in our life." By new people, he meant new women. To be fair, this was a concept he was struggling with.

  She looked up at him, her grey eyes watery. Her mouth trembled and for a horrible moment, he thought she might cry. Instead, she made a pretence of wiping her mouth with the napkin and said, "I know Sarah's not coming back and it's unfair to expect you to mourn her forever."

  He hurried on, anxious to provide a proper explanation. "Liz came around on Monday night to apologise, although what for I have no idea. She couldn't have known about Sarah and the accident. I asked her out to lunch. That's all there was to it, Meg, no more and yes, I think it's a great idea to ask her to the wedding. She hardly knows a soul outside the office."

  He stood up and picked up their plates. "Look, why don't the four of us go out for dinner on Saturday night? I'll book Firenze and it will be my shout. A sort of celebratory dinner for you and Robert. You don't seem to have had much time together since he's been back." And also a chance for you to get to know Liz, he thought.

  "That will be lovely," she said.

  He knew she was lying.

  Chris and Liz were already waiting at the bar when they arrived for the ‘double date’ as Robert had laughingly called it. Elizabeth Fleming wore an elegant, ivory coloured pant suit which showed off her tan to perfection. She and Chris had their heads bent together in conversation over a glass of champagne.

  Chris stood up, greeting Meg with a perfunctory kiss on the cheek and Robert with a firm handshake, as Meg apologised for keeping them waiting.

  "Robert, I believe you already know Elizabeth Fleming," Chris said.

  "Of course. How could I forget that simply splendid job you did with the Hong Kong Bank," Robert enthused as he took Liz's hand.

  She flicked her blonde hair back with the other hand as she asked in her perfect Sloan Ranger accent, "How was dear old London when you left?"

  "Cold and grey," Robert replied.

  Liz's eyes moved from Robert to Meg. "So, you two are getting married. Have you known each other long?"

  "Since uni," Meg said with a smile directed at Robert.

  "It was Chris and Sarah who introduced us," Robert replied, giving Meg's hand a squeeze.

  Liz interlaced her long, red nailed talons under chin and smiled. "So, when's the wedding."

  "Christmas Eve," Robert said. "Shocking timing but it was all I could manage."

  Meg rummaged in her handbag and handed over the heavy, cream envelope with Miss E. Fleming inscribed in calligraphy on the front. "As it happens I have an invitation for you," she said.

  Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "For me? How sweet." She flashed a smile at Chris. “At least I’ll know one person.”

  The meal was exquisite, as indeed it should have been for the cost. French champagne flowed freely and towards the end of the evening they were all quite tipsy.

  "I tell you what," Chris slurred drunkenly as they finished their coffee. "Why don't we go up the shack next weekend?"

  Meg's eyes widened. "The shack? Chris, you haven't been there since—” Since the accident.

  He looked at her with a defiant set to his mouth. "Then it is high time I went. Let's show Liz the mountains. Give her a taste of the real Australia. There is some great riding."

  Elizabeth clapped her hands together. "Do you have horses?"

  "A couple." He frowned. "They’re at Mum and Dad's so I'll have to collect them on the way.” He looked from Meg to Robert. “What do you two say?"

  Robert nodded. "Fine by me. I've no plans for next weekend and it will be good to get some fresh air and a break."

  "Good, then that's settled. Meg knows the ropes. She's been there often enough."

  "You mean you want me to do the shopping," Meg responded with a roll of her eyes.

  "Just the usual. You live close to the market."

  Meg fished around for an excuse, any excuse not to go to the one place she had loved more than any other, but she failed.

  "If you're collecting the horses, why don't you take Liz with you and show her Neerimbah," Robert said.

  "What's Neerimbah?" Liz leaned forward.

  "The family property. Mum and Dad's place."

  "You'll love it Liz," Robert enthused. "Squattocracy at its best."

  "A millstone is what I'd call it," Chris said. He looked around the table and smiled. "Next Saturday it is."

  On the drive home, Meg fought back the stupid, selfish tears. The shack had belonged to Sarah's mother and she had been going up there since she had first met Sarah. She didn't want to spend a weekend watching the blonde harpy winding Chris around her long, painted fingernails.

  As they drew up outside her flat, Robert leaned across to kiss her.

  "Meg." He nuzzled her neck. "Can I stay the night?"

  “Just be patient,” she said with a laugh.

  She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, anxious for the old spark to rekindle. In two short weeks, she would be married to this man. Maybe the weekend at the shack, away from the distractions of their normal lives, would give them a chance to reconnect.

  4

  By the time the sleek blue BMW purred along the country roads towards Neerimbah, Chris had begun to have serious doubts about his rash offer of a weekend at the shack.

  Seated beside him, her fingernails tapping along to the beat of the song playing on the radio, Liz stared out of the window, her mouth cast in a downward droop of disapproval. The tapping irritated him, as did her sulky mood.

  "Oh, is Ben coming?" she had said as Ben bounded up to the car.

  "Of course, he is," Chris had replied, holding the door open for her. "It's Ben's treat as well. He's been asking me for ages when we'll go to the shack."

  Ben regarded Liz from under his fringe. "Will Aunty Meg be there?" he asked.

  "Meg and Robert," Chris had said.

  "Do you ride Ben?" Elizabeth asked in an unnecessarily bright tone as they pulled away from the kerb.

  "Grandpa lets me ride Cisco when I go to the farm." Ben put his arms around Rufus' neck who responded with slobbery, doggy devotion by licking his face.

  Chris turned to Liz. "Cisco is a Shetland pony.”

  The BMW turned in through two magnificent bluestone gatep
osts, one bearing the word "Neerimbah" in brass lettering.

  "Oh, this is gorgeous." Liz brightened, craning her head to look at the avenue of peppermint gums that wound through the lush green pastures where cattle grazed.

  "Dad has one of the best Murray Grey studs in the country," Chris said. "The property's been in the family for five generations."

  "What will you do with it?" Liz asked.

  Chris hesitated and shrugged. "When Dad's had enough, I guess it will be time to give up law and become a farmer. I only have one sister and she's living in Canada."

  They rounded a bend and the first vista of the magnificent double-storied blue-stone mansion came into view.

  Liz gasped. "Oh, Chris, it's beautiful."

  "Not bad. Hell to maintain though. Mum runs it as a bed and breakfast for a bit of extra income."

  Ellen and Bill Kingsley had heard the car and came out on to the verandah as Chris drew up in front of the house.

  As he opened the door for Liz, an undisguised look of surprise crossed his mother's face. He should have warned her.

  Ben erupted from the back of the car with screams of "Gramma. Grandpa."

  "How's my boy?" Bill Kingsley solemnly shook his grandson's hand.

  "Liz, I'd like you to meet my parents, Ellen and Bill. This is Elizabeth Fleming. She's a pommy lawyer but don't hold that against her."

  Ellen smiled as she held out her hand. "How lovely to meet you." She glanced at her son. "When Chris said he was going up to the shack, I assumed it was just with Ben. Do you have time for a cuppa?"

  "We're not staying. Mum, can you show Liz the house while I organise the horses? I'll need to borrow the Range Rover. The Beemer has no tow bar. Dad?"

  His father tore his gaze away from the English girl. "Range Rover," Bill repeated. "Of course. I brought the horses in. They're in the stables."

  As Chris and his father hitched the horse float to the Range Rover, Bill asked, "Where did you find that honey?"

  "At Doug and Marie's. She's not been in the country long and we... I... thought it would be a chance to show her the real Australia."

  Bill looked at his son from under his bushy eyebrows. "Is she ready for the real Australia? The shack's pretty basic and she's dressed for a stroll down Collins Street."

  "It's all right Dad. Meg and Robert will be there to civilise the weekend."

  Bill's face softened. "Why didn't you bring Meg up here? We haven't seen her for ages."

  "You'll see her at the wedding," Chris said.

  "That's right. Not long to go now."

  But who's counting, thought Chris.

  Liz and Ellen came out to the stable yard as the men led the two horses out from the stables.

  "They're lovely," Liz enthused, as she ran an experienced hand over the neck of the grey. "What's her name?"

  "The grey is Misty and the bay is Echo. They were Sarah's horses," Ellen said.

  Realising her gaff, Ellen cast Chris an apologetic glance. He smiled and shrugged. They couldn't go on tip toeing around Sarah's name and Liz didn't seem to have noticed the inadvertent reference to Chris's dead wife.

  Ellen patted Misty’s soft, grey nose. "Sarah was a top eventing competitor. She won quite a few ribbons on this girl."

  "Was she? I've done a bit of eventing," Liz said, shooting a quick smile at Chris.

  "Talk to Meg about it. She and Sarah used to compete at the top level," Ellen said. "Come on, let's get these two loaded or you'll never get to the shack. Meg and Robert will be beat you to it.

  Meg and Robert had arrived at the shack well before Chris. While they waited for the rest of the party, she and Robert sat on the verandah, side by side on a battered and weather-stained sofa.

  She took a sip of tea and drank in the view of blue-grey rolling hills and the thick bush that ran down to the creek that burbled year around in the gully below them. Robert sat beside her, oblivious to the vista that stretched before him, his mobile phone glued to his ear, talking to London or Hong Kong... or somewhere. Meg had tried to persuade him to leave the phone at home to no avail.

  A vehicle purred up the lane and she set her empty mug down and walked around the house to meet the rest of the party. Her heart leaped with pleasure when she saw the horse trailer. Chris had brought the horses. It had been too long since she had been in the saddle.

  Liz unfolded herself gracefully from the front seat as Ben and the dog scrambled out of the back seat. Liz stretched like a cat as she surveyed the simple structure.

  "My God it really is a shack," she said.

  "You were expecting Neerimbah?" Robert came out of the front door, his hands in his pockets. "Now, that is one beautiful property."

  "Neerimbah is amazing," Liz said. "This is," her hand waved, seeking the right word, "rustic."

  "I like it that way," Chris said, unloading Liz's bag from the back of the Rover. "Come in, Liz."

  Liz followed him into the house, her nose twitching, no doubt at the musty smell of a building too long shut up. Robert caught Meg's hand and they followed.

  "There are only two bedrooms so girls in here."

  He threw open the door to the main bedroom, the one with the queen size bed and the sofa bed. The other room contained two sets of bunks.

  He set Liz's bag down on the floor.

  Liz stood in the doorway, with a look of undisguised horror. “You mean we have to share?”

  Meg quickly ushered the English girl into the room, "You take the bed. I’m okay on the sofa bed and I've brought up some clean sheets and towels.” She handed Liz the old, faded sheets and smiled. “You'll have to make up your own bed."

  Liz forced a smile that was not echoed with her eyes. "It will be just like being back at boarding school," she said. "I do hope you don't snore. We had a girl in our dorm who sounded like a steam engine with a whistle." She paused and looked around at the simple furnishings. "I had been expecting something a little more... romantic."

  Engaged in tucking the sheets, Meg said, "Look, Liz, I'll be blunt. You are going to have to take it slowly with Chris. You can hardly expect to be leaping into bed with him just yet. He needs time."

  Liz looked affronted. "Meg, really, I assure you—"

  "Meg, can you give me a hand with the horses?" Chris called from outside, saving Meg from responding.

  "Excuse me,” she said to Liz. “If you want a cuppa, the kettle's on the stove."

  Chris leaned on the horse trailer, looking out over the familiar blue hills. His initial misgivings had intensified. It had been a mistake to have suggested this weekend without first coming to the shack without Sarah. She had loved this place and her spirit seemed to call to him in the breeze that rustled the eucalypts. Too late to renege on the promised weekend. He'd just have to grit his teeth and endure it.

  He let down the ramp of the horse trailer as Meg came out of the house. She slipped into the trailer greeting the horses with soft cooing and a handful of oats.

  "Misty. My beautiful girl. How are you?"

  She rubbed the mare's nose as she undid the restraining lead. No need for words, she knew exactly what to do. They had done it a hundred times.

  Misty backed out of the trailer and allowed herself to be led over to the stockyard beside the shack. Chris followed with Echo. As he approached, Meg swung herself up on to the bare back of the mare. He opened his mouth to shout a warning but closed it again. Meg knew these horses better than anyone other than Sarah.

  He leaned on the railing of the yard and watched Meg put her heels to the horse. Misty sprang into life breaking into an easy canter around the yard. Woman and horse moved in perfect harmony. Meg hadn't bothered with a helmet. She rode bareheaded with her thick curls streaming out behind her and as she rode, she threw her arms wide and let out a cry of pure joy.

  Chris smiled. She looked for all the world like some goddess of ancient times, astride a magical beast. Sarah had never looked like that, never abandoned herself to the sheer delight of being at one with the horse be
neath her and the bush around her.

  Meg turned at the end of the yard and rode more sedately back to where Chris waited with Echo. She slipped off the horse's back, undid the guide rope and let the mare go. Chris let Echo into the yard and pulled the rail across.

  Meg joined him at the fence line and they both leaned on the rail, watching the two horses careen madly around the yard, pleased to be out of the float.

  "They're happy to be home," Meg said.

  "I know how they feel," Chris said.

  "Hi Dad!" Ben sauntered up to join them. He climbed onto the lower rail of the fence so he too, could lean on the top rail, just like the adults. "Watcha doing?"

  "Watching the horses."

  "Can I have a ride?" Ben asked.

  "Perhaps tomorrow morning," Meg said. Chris opened his mouth to protest, but she went on, "He won't have a problem with Misty if I keep her on a tether."

  "Sure." Chris shrugged. He straightened and lifted his son down from the fence. "Enough daydreaming. Come on Ben, let's see what's for lunch."

  As they turned away from the paddock, he placed a hand on Meg's shoulder, forgetting for an instant that she was not Sarah. When she started, he quickly removed his hand and to cover his embarrassment muttered, "I'm in charge of the BBQ tonight don't forget."

  5

  "Well, I know what I'm doing this afternoon!" Robert sat back in his chair and surveyed the remains of lunch, purchased by Meg, fresh from the market that morning. "A good book and a chair in the sun calls me. What about the rest of you?"

  "If you're staying here, the rest of us could go up to the lookout," Chris suggested.

  Meg glanced at Liz, seeing annoyance flash into the other woman's eyes. "I'll pass," she said.

  Chris cast her a sharp, almost pleading glance. "Why don't you and Liz take the horses? I can walk as far as the lookout and then you two can take the horses on for a ride in the bush."

  This time the disappointment and irritation that flashed across Liz's face was undisguised. "You don't ride? I thought that's why you brought the horses up here."