The Round Yard

by Alissa Callen

  ‘I’m so sorry.’

  He nodded. Neve hadn’t shown any surprise about his revelation that he’d been adopted. It was common knowledge around town that Meredith hadn’t raised him.

  Neve’s phone rang from inside the black bag she carried. She checked her messages, her heavy hair falling over her bare shoulder as she looked down. In the gloom the glossy strands shimmered like the flicker of winter firelight.

  ‘Ella texted to say the concert’s starting.’

  ‘We’d better head in.’

  ‘We should.’

  For a moment they stared at each other and then as one they turned. He hadn’t imagined her hesitation or his own reluctance to return inside. Both weren’t in the mood for festivities. If he was honest he’d enjoyed talking to Neve. There was something about her quiet strength that calmed and centred him.

  He slowed his pace so that she could walk in front of him. She gave him a small smile before walking through the side entrance. Instead of following, he headed for the front door. Edna was already tracking his movements with the accuracy of a GPS. When he’d arrived, she’d been outside his driver’s side door even before he’d turned off the engine. Just as well Bethany was away collecting her new horse, otherwise he knew whom he’d be sitting with.

  He took his seat between Denham and Hewitt. Just like he knew who’d be sitting near Neve in the row behind him. As he’d left the hall to take his call, he’d heard Edna’s voice organising for the Barton boys to sit with Ella and her. There was no reason to feel protective about whom Neve hung out with, even if Edna’s fingerprints were all over the association. Neve deserved to find someone who could make her smile and who could help her find happiness in her new life. But as her soft laughter was followed by Finn’s chuckle, he couldn’t help shifting in his seat.

  Denham threw him a swift sideways glance. ‘All good?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  The first half of the small-hall concert proved engaging and entertaining, but Tanner couldn’t relax. He joined in with the applause that exploded around him for the young local singer songwriter. Normally, he would have appreciated the storytelling quality of the country songs, but now he only clapped out of politeness. All he wanted to do was turn to see just how close Neve and Finn were sitting.

  After a supper break was announced, between Denham asking him a question, and Hewitt checking he’d still be around on Monday for their ride, when he did turn, the seats were empty. While the audience enjoyed the array of cakes, Tanner divided his time between avoiding Edna and scouring the hall for Neve. But when everyone resumed their seats, he still hadn’t caught a glimpse of Neve’s strawberry-blonde hair. The chair beside Finn remained vacant.

  As the next act, a trio of folk singers, took the stage, Tanner gave in to his impulse to leave. He had a hunch where Neve might be. He left via the front door but turned left so he could access the tennis courts. In the weak moonlight the courts looked empty, but down the far end of the first court he could see a figure sitting on the ground. Before he could check himself, he walked into the court to join her.

  When he sat beside Neve, she didn’t immediately look up. When she did her cheeks were wet. He didn’t say a word, just took her hand in his. Her warm fingers curled into his. The simple, trusting action hit him with the force of a Montana mountain wind. In that moment, self-reliant Neve needed him.

  He squeezed her hand. ‘I know it feels impossible right now, but you will find a sense of peace.’

  ‘I hope so. My emotions and I are not going to have a very friendly relationship if they keep sabotaging me like this.’ Bravado strengthened her muffled words.

  ‘Things will get better … not necessarily easier, just more manageable.’

  ‘That’s what I keep telling myself. It’s just … I thought moving here would make me feel connected to my mother, and my grandmother, and it does … it also makes me unbearably sad.’ Neve reached out to touch the hard court surface. ‘I spent my life caring for my mother, her health wasn’t good, but it never felt like a burden. There was always so much fun, love and laughter. Now the world is just … silent.’

  Her deep sigh that seemed to come from a desperate place inside her moved him more than her husky words. He rubbed his thumb across the smooth skin of the back of her hand. ‘It won’t always be that way.’

  She shivered. ‘That’s what I keep telling myself.’

  He drew her to her feet. The melodic strains of music drifted on the cool night air. When she was standing, he let her hand slip free. He’d already forsaken all common sense by touching her.

  A cold breeze engulfed them. Neve wrapped her arms around her waist but didn’t make any move towards the sheltered hall.

  He dug his hands into the pockets of his wheat-brown chinos to stop himself from acting on the urge to pull her close to warm her. ‘I could take you home, if you’d like?’

  She gazed at him, eyes dark and unreadable. He thought she’d say she was fine to stay, but she nodded. ‘Yes, please.’ She took her phone out of her handbag and he lost sight of her expression. ‘I’ll text Ella to let her know.’

  It was only when Neve clicked in her seatbelt and the fragrance of flowers filled his ute cabin that he realised the enormity of his mistake. In the close confines he couldn’t escape the way she made him feel or the insistent pull of attraction. His hold on the steering wheel tightened. Even with her makeup smudged and sadness dulling her gaze, she took his breath away.

  As the lights from the hall disappeared and darkness cloaked the road, Neve broke the silence. ‘I feel bad that you’re missing the rest of the concert.’

  ‘It’s okay. I wasn’t exactly in a … festival mood.’

  Neve didn’t speak, just turned to look at him.

  After her trusting him with her vulnerability, it seemed natural to explain his earlier phone call. ‘Let’s just say I understand donkeys and ponies much more than I do humans.’

  ‘Luckily for me and the girls you do.’

  ‘If my father shared your view then our call tonight might have been a bit easier.’

  ‘He’s not from the bush?’

  ‘No, and has no interest in what happens beyond the city.’

  ‘I can see why your conversation would have been … difficult.’

  Tanner slowed as he caught movement in the strong beam of his light bar. A grey kangaroo disappeared into the scrub on the right side of the road.

  ‘Life out here couldn’t be more different to that of a Queen’s Counsel, even when retired. When my mother was alive, we at least had something in common. We loved her.’

  Despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t strip the rawness from his words.

  ‘She must have been a wonderful woman.’

  ‘She was.’

  ‘Families can be complex. I never knew my father as he died when I was young, but I did know my grandfather. He refused to talk about what happened in the war, and while nothing was ever said I think that’s why he was so … difficult.’

  Tanner nodded. ‘My grandfather flew missions in France but never made it home, so my father’s always been interested in military aviation. It’s now become an obsession. I’ve taken him to the War Memorial in Canberra and to air shows to help find some common ground, but we still can’t have a civil conversation.’

  ‘I’m sure my grandmother mentioned something about there being a flying school around here during the war. Maybe there could be an old airfield he could visit?’

  ‘Nothing will get my father past the Blue Mountains. He took my decision to not practise law personally and won’t have anything to do with me or the bush. It’s as though I’ve gone across to the dark side.’

  ‘That’s a shame.’ Neve’s voice grew soft. ‘My mother always said time can bring about great change.’

  ‘I hope so and that there’ll be enough time. His health isn’t what it used to be.’

  ‘I’ve only just met you, but Tanner …. any father would be proud to call you
his son.’

  The honesty in Neve’s words unlocked the tight hold he maintained on his emotions.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘There will be a way forward with your father.’ Neve’s smile shone in the dim light. ‘You’re welcome to borrow Bassie and Dell anytime you want to take the bush to him.’

  Tanner chuckled. ‘I don’t think my father, let alone the city, would be ready for those two.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Neve smothered a yawn. ‘When they aren’t escaping or raiding my garden I must admit they are quite adorable.’

  ‘They are.’

  A comfortable silence settled between them. All too soon the front gate of Rosewood appeared in the headlights. Tanner parked close to the garden gate and looked across to the orchard to check on Dell and Bassie. In the pale wash of moonlight, he could only make out Dell standing near the lemon tree.

  ‘What is it?’ Neve moved to the edge of her seat to better look through the windscreen.

  ‘Maybe nothing,’ Tanner said, unclipping his seatbelt. ‘I’ll take a closer look at where Mr Bassie is.’

  Neve joined him as he walked towards the pony paddock. When she tripped on the uneven gravel, he offered her his arm. She hesitated before curling her hand around his biceps to walk beside him. He blanked out the way even her light touch accelerated his heartbeat.

  If their physical closeness also affected Neve, it didn’t show in her even words as she peered around them. ‘Where could he be?’

  ‘Knowing Bassie, it will be somewhere only he would go.’ Even to his own ears his voice sounded too deep.

  When they reached the paddock gate, Neve let go of his arm but didn’t move away. The wind eddied around them causing her long hair to brush the skin at his throat with silken fingers.

  Shoulders rigid, he opened the gate for her to walk through. He’d never thought of himself as being ruled by his hormones, but at that moment all he could think about was the satin softness of Neve’s lips.

  He slowly followed her into the paddock and forced himself to focus on finding Bassie.

  ‘There he is.’ Tanner pointed to where he could make out a blurred, blue shape near the back fence. ‘I have a feeling he’s somehow got himself stuck in his rug.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be surprised. This morning he’d wriggled out of it. I did check on the internet to make sure the straps were the right length and done up properly.’

  ‘Let’s take a look.’

  As he’d suspected, Bassie had his blue rug half off and the straps were tangled around his front legs, hampering all movement.

  Tanner went to his aid. ‘Mr Bassie, what are we going to do with you?’

  Working fast, he set the pony free. Bassie sniffed his shirtsleeve before ambling over to Neve for a quick pat.

  Tanner carried the damaged rug over to the gate. ‘Bassie will be fine without this for a night. I’ll take it home and make some adjustments to ensure it’s Bassie-proof.’

  ‘I hope there’s such a thing.’ Even the darkness couldn’t dull the brilliance of her red-gold hair or the beauty of her smile as she stopped in front of him. ‘Tell me what to do and I can fix it.’

  Tanner firmed his grip on the rug. It was official. He had rocks in his head. He was a heartbeat away from dipping his head and seeking her mouth. All he could smell was the scent of flowers. All he could think about was kissing the woman before him.

  ‘It’s all good,’ he said, jaw locked. ‘I’ve another rug that needs repairing.’

  ‘Okay. Thanks.’

  To his relief, Neve turned to head through the gate. He made sure a body length opened up between them before he too left the pony paddock. After making sure Neve safely navigated the garden path until the sensor lights clicked on, he said a brief goodbye before his self-control deserted him.

  He slid into the driver’s seat and released a tense breath. He wasn’t surprised to see the shake in his fingers as he reached for the keys. Tonight he’d almost crossed a line he shouldn’t even be near.

  It hadn’t only been attraction weakening his resolve. Neve had a way of making him talk. She also made him feel and the combination was dangerous. He couldn’t make the mistake of letting down his guard, especially for a woman who was trying to find her way in an unfamiliar world. He’d already paid the price for allowing a woman to use him when her life had become unsettled. When she’d found her way again, what he’d believed they shared, the promises and plans they’d made, had meant nothing.

  He fired up the ute engine. Come Monday, he’d make sure his relationship with Neve was nothing but professional and at all times remained purely about Dell and Bassie.

  CHAPTER

  6

  ‘I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the festival more.’ Fliss’s serious tone matched the look she flicked Neve as she set the sponge cake she’d brought with her for afternoon tea on the kitchen bench.

  Neve summoned a bright smile. ‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I had a great time.’

  Which was true until her emotions had burst forth like storm water through floodgates. Heat warmed her cheeks. Of all the people to witness her loss of control it had to be Tanner.

  Fliss’s scrutiny didn’t waver. ‘I should have realised how hard it could be for you.’

  This time Neve didn’t have to force a smile. Fliss’s friendship and empathy had wrapped around her from the first day they’d met and continued to warm her.

  ‘It’s fine. Really. I’m glad I went.’

  The crease between Fliss’s brows eased and she lifted the lid on the clear plastic container enclosing the sponge cake. ‘I hope Tanner didn’t leave early because of Edna? He has the patience of a saint, but these past months she’s been unrelenting. There’re only two things that rattle him—Edna’s matchmaking and kids.’

  Neve stilled as she set four plates on a wooden tray and glanced out the kitchen window to where Maya and Kait played in a tent made of a bedsheet. ‘Why doesn’t he like kids?’

  Fliss came to stand beside her to also look at the sisters as they rearranged pink-and-green cushions around a small white table. The wedding glamping talk with Cressy had inspired Neve to make the girls their own pretty outdoor area. Yesterday they’d helped her sew some pink-and-white bunting flags that were now strung between the jacaranda tree and the tent. The cheerful triangles waved in the autumn breeze.

  ‘It’s not that he doesn’t like them. He just isn’t used to babies or little people. You only have to see him with a foal, or even Patch when he was a puppy, to know Tanner will be a great dad.’

  Neve nodded and turned away from the window. The thought of him loving someone enough to have a family ushered in a sense of unease. If Fliss noticed her preoccupation with sorting through the cutlery drawer, she didn’t say anything.

  ‘Phew, it survived.’ Fliss carefully lifted the sponge cake onto a large plate. ‘I wasn’t sure how it would go when I drove over the cattle grid.’

  Neve passed Fliss the cake knife she’d been searching for. ‘It looks delicious.’

  ‘Believe me, it’s taken many attempts at Meredith’s never-fail recipe to get something that doesn’t resemble a door stopper.’

  ‘Even door stoppers taste good with strawberry jam and whipped cream.’

  ‘Try telling that to the magpie that wouldn’t eat my last attempt.’

  Neve smiled as she cut rockmelon into thin wedges for the girls. ‘That’s the magpie’s loss. Bassie and Dell would have eaten it.’

  ‘I’ve no doubt they would have. When’s Tanner coming? I want to see this angelic side of Bassie.’

  ‘Soon.’ Neve picked up the laden afternoon tea tray. ‘We’d better eat before he does arrive. Once he’s here, not even your sponge cake will keep the girls away from him.’

  Neve walked through the door before Fliss could read her face. Fliss couldn’t know that she was as bad as the girls. Once Tanner was here, she too wouldn’t be able to think about anything else. It didn’t matter how man
y times she saw him, each day he affected her just as much as he had the day before.

  When he’d found her on the tennis courts, not once but twice, his empathy and decency had further stripped away another layer of her defences. It was no surprise she’d gone from being tongue-tied to divulging far too much personal information. Her grip on the tray handles tightened. Today was all about damage control. She’d make sure she didn’t appear anything but composed and self-assured.

  For the next fifteen minutes, Neve focused on the happiness in Maya and Kait’s laughter and the melt-in-the-mouth sweetness of Fliss’s cake. Then the rumble of a V8 ute and the rattle of steel sounded. All of Neve’s best intentions dissolved. Powerless to look away, she could only watch as Tanner’s blue ute pulled a silver horse float through the front gate.

  Maya jumped off her cushion. Neve caught the plate resting on the five-year-old’s lap just before her cake fell to the ground. Kait shoved her rockmelon in her mouth until her cheeks bulged. Both girls gave Neve a high-wattage smile before speeding through the garden to welcome Tanner.

  Fliss chuckled. ‘I see what you mean.’

  ‘I don’t even think a baby unicorn would keep them away.’

  ‘It wouldn’t.’

  As Tanner left his ute he gave Maya and Kait his easy smile.

  ‘Pinch me,’ Fliss said, tone awed. ‘Did Tanner just smile a real smile?’

  ‘He’s still not ready for the hug the girls are dying to give him, but he does seem more comfortable now.’

  ‘I think they’ve been as good for him as he’s been for Bassie and Dell.’

  Maya and Kait giggled as Patch jumped out of the ute and bounded over to greet his favourite small humans.

  Fliss cleared her throat as the girls hugged the exuberant border collie. ‘I’m getting teary. If Cath were here she’d be so happy to see her girls surrounded by so much love.’

  Hard hooves clattered as Tanner led Arrow out of the float. Sunlight glistened on the mustang’s golden coat, and as he tossed his head, Neve could sense that his spirit remained untamed. When he thrust his nose into Tanner’s hands demanding attention, Tanner grinned as he ran his palm over the gelding’s glossy neck. It was only a moment of affection, but it was enough.