Outback Angel

by Margaret Way

  In an exquisitely gentle gesture that surprised the both of them he reached out to tilt up her chin, her skin petals to his touch. “And what if you can’t bear to leave me?”

  “I have to return.” It came out in a sigh. God, how she wanted to stay.

  “So we’re just having an affair?” He looked deeply into her dark eyes, as he fought against the overwhelming urge to gather her into his arms.

  “Are we? There’s been no sex.” A bittersweet little smile touched her lips.

  “I thought that was your idea.” His tone was half mocking, half quizzical, but he was watching her very intently.

  “I want you to treat me differently to every other woman you’ve ever known in your life,” she burst out so emotively she had to turn her head away to regain her composure. “And speaking of girlfriends…” After a moment she swung back, her voice even again. “Dinah Campbell has arrived. I’ve never known a woman who piloted her own plane.”

  “Dinah’s had a licence since she was eighteen,” he said, jamming his hands into his jeans’ pockets just in case he reached for her again. Damn, he could scarcely keep his hands off her. “The Piper was her father’s twenty-first birthday present to her.”

  “Which makes it remarkably easy to pop in and out,” she pointed out dryly.

  “Light aircraft is a way of life out here, Angelica. Not a luxury, a necessity.”

  “You don’t have to say a word more. I just find it fascinating.”

  “And how did you find Dinah?”

  She automatically braced. “Like an aristocrat out of those old British movies, ordering the servants about.”

  “In other words, a bit of a snob?”

  “Exactly. I will say she’s very attractive. You’ve told me she’s very competent, as well—no doubt as a bed mate—what interests me is, apart from the fact you probably played naked as little children, what attracted you to her?”

  “Jealous?” His hands came free to trap her. He caught a long coil of hair and wound it around his wrist.

  “Not yet. Mind you I could be.” She tugged back a little, but he didn’t let go. “So, what went wrong?”

  “You mean, between Dinah and me?” He flicked his wrist over, drawing her closer.

  “Stop stalling, McCord. I’ll get around to questioning you about your other affairs later. For now, just the imperious Dinah.”

  “I don’t like the way she treats people, either, which echoes your concerns.”

  “Outback aristocrat and all that?”

  “Dinah would be a snob anywhere,” he said wryly, and let the length of her curly hair go, watching it bounce back. “Outback people are generally very down to earth.”

  “Perhaps I’ll find she’s down to earth when I get to know her better. I certainly wouldn’t like to jeopardise your relationship with her.”

  “We’re friends. I don’t want to make love to her. Is that plain enough?”

  “But you do know what she’s like in bed? Average. Good. Sensational?”

  He shifted to lean back against the fence, elegant even in a slouch. “Mind your own business, Angel Face.”

  Her brow lifted. “Understand it is my business. We’re already involved. To some degree anyway. I’ll try again. What about marriage to Dinah? Have you ever thought about it? It would be a union of two Outback dynasties, after all.”

  “Except I want you.”

  “Why? Do you think you could tell me?” Now she stared near pleadingly into his golden mesmeric eyes.

  Why didn’t he? He had a deep underlying wish to do so but always there was the emotional hurdle. “Well, you’re not exactly ugly,” he evaded, taking the easy way out. “Not stupid, either. You’re amazingly sexy. I can’t get you out of my head.”

  “Or into your bed,” she pointed out quietly.

  “Isn’t this some kind of foreplay?” There was challenge in his tone. Didn’t she make the world come alive for him?

  “It worked for Anne Boleyn.” She smiled.

  “Ah, but wasn’t she the one who lost her head?”

  “Admittedly she had her problems.” She glanced at her watch. “Well, stimulating as this conversation is, I must tear myself away. I promised Stacy I’d return for lunch.”

  “Then I’ll walk you to the car,” he said in a gallant manner. “Have you everything settled for the weekend?”

  “Everything but the weather. There’s nothing for you to worry about. We’re all going to have a marvellous day. I can’t wait to see you play polo. I expect you’re absolutely super?”

  “I can’t lie.” His answer was droll. He opened the door for her. “Have you ever been in a steady relationship, Angel?”

  She was sensitive to the gravity behind their habitual banter. “What’s steady?” she asked. “More than a week?”

  “When are you going to be serious? Or is it too much to expect?”

  “You should t-talk!” She almost stuttered at his arrogance. “The two of us need to work on some issues.”

  His smile was beautiful, maddening unsettling. “Okay.”

  “Look, I’m normal.” She drew a breath. “I’m twenty-five until my next birthday. I’ve had a couple of fairly steady relationships.”

  “Do you want to get married?”

  “Of course I do.” She stared at him, baffled.

  “What, years from now? You, the career girl with your beautiful face in magazines and on TV? Hell, they could even want you for the movies. When exactly do you plan to marry? The near future? Or is it career first?”

  “Oh go to hell!” She’d give her career away for him any-day. Taut as a wire, she rushed past him to get into the vehicle, only their bodies were so irresistibly bent to each other, her breasts crushed against his chest. She swung into the driver’s seat, hot-cheeked, aroused nipples straining against her T-shirt. “I hope to marry just as soon as I can,” she said, working herself into a minifury, “but you can bet your life it won’t be to anyone as insufferable as you!”

  Her remark led to one blazing, retaliatory kiss through the window. It was passion perfectly balanced with punishment.

  “Know what, Angel?” His golden eyes mocked. “You might find it hard to get insufferable old me out of your system.”

  The hell was she’d come to that conclusion herself. Angelica drove off in a flurry of red dust, anger and a crazy rapture roaring through her head.

  Damn that man, McCord!

  CHAPTER NINE

  BY THE Friday before the polo final and the gala ball, Dinah Campbell was still with them. In fact, as Stacy put it, she’d as good as moved in. She had brought all necessary luggage with her—including her evening dress and possibly a tiara. As she pointed out in the time-honoured tradition of Coori she had come for a prolonged stay. Coori boasted many bedrooms from the old days when relatives and friends who made the long journey stayed for some time, so there was no difficulty accommodating her. She was, however, visibly put out when she discovered that Angelica occupied the very best guest suite, the one she considered her suite. Obviously she truly believed, if no one else did, that she was going to marry Jake.

  “She’s not happy!” Gillian conveyed to Angelica, then relaxed into a fit of the giggles. “What about you move out?”

  “But, Gilly, I think she expects me to.”

  “She’s a stuck-up cow!” Gilly returned irreverently.

  What was heart-warming was to see Gillian in particular come out of her shell so far as her interaction with Dinah was concerned. Even Stacy, who wasn’t given to tart remarks, had come out with a surprising few after being on the receiving end of Dinah’s curiously loaded comments. It was almost a form of heckling, Angel thought, fired up by protectiveness. Basically Dinah was a bitch. That was until Jake walked into the house. Then a great transformation took place. Dinah turned herself into the woman every man wants. She set out to charm him. She became all warmth and caring, eager to share station concerns, indicating she was the ideal choice for a wife.

&n
bsp; At the dinner table, always beautifully turned out, she rose effortlessly to sparkling conversation, prompting him to tell stories of the many, many days, months, years they had spent together, all the while hanging on his every word.

  Then, when Jake was out of the house she reverted to strutting her stuff, expelling oddly cutting little comments and upsetting Clary with questions as how the house was run, as if it were only a matter of time before Clary would be dumped and she would reign as mistress of a grand station. Sometimes Angelica had to place herself bodily between Clary and Dinah in case Clary, who had a fiery Irish temper, had armed herself with a sheaf of kitchen knives.

  As for Angelica herself! She had to contend with endless interruptions and interventions as Dinah, to Angelica’s intense irritation, gave herself the role of supervisor and interrogator. “Two heads are better than one!” she would say with a grating false laugh, coming to stare over Angelica’s shoulder at some plan Angelica and Clary had stitched up until Angelica put her palms down firmly over the paper.

  “Of course I could have done this and saved Jake a lot of money, but he was a little bit worried I might tire myself out. You’re such a big strong woman.” At this point she stared fixedly at Angelica’s bosom as though it were massive.

  Dinah, in fact, became so annoying Angelica and Jake had a brief exchange of words before he left the homestead on the Friday morning. “Look, she’s your ex-girlfriend and she’s really bugging me,” Angelica cried, catching him as he ran down the front steps. “I have so much to do and she’s a nuisance.”

  Jake, who was actually fed up with Dinah himself and worried about one of his prize beasts, rounded on the indignant Angelica. “Kill her,” he said, golden eyes flashing.

  “You’re saying you’re agreeable?”

  “I’m saying I’m too damned busy to listen to this, Angel,” he answered brusquely. “You’re a smart girl. There’s nothing wrong with your tongue, either. Tell her off.”

  “Oh, right! The only person off the hook is you,” she said tartly. “God, what a difference when you hove into sight. Okay I’ll handle it,” she called loudly as he gave her a backhanded wave and moved off with great purpose and energy. “Next time you can get somebody else in.”

  It all came to a head around noon, as the sky turned blue-black. Great thunder-heads streaming tails behind them like comets were building up in the sky. Angelica, hot and bothered, returned to the house from her inspection of the marquees already set up around the polo ground worried sick rain would ruin everything. They had all worked so hard, including the station hands Jake put at her disposal. Their number included Charlie who had kept them all laughing and Gillian especially happy.

  Now this! Even if it didn’t rain they could experience a wild windstorm or a dust storm that could bring the marquees down, tip over all the tables and chairs and rip the bunting to shreds. She didn’t like Jake out in this, either, although she knew perfectly well he had lived with these extraordinary climatic conditions all his life.

  She had only set foot in the entrance hall when a distant crack of thunder rolled around the hill country and little Kylee descended on her with a yelp. “It’s all right, sweetheart.” Angelica bent to the child, hugging her, thinking she was frightened of the thunder when Dinah suddenly appeared looking positively dragon-like.

  “That child again!” she fumed. “I told her not to run around the house—so many valuable things…the Chinese porcelains alone—but she doesn’t take the slightest notice. She behaves very badly. There’s no way I would allow her or any other willful child in the house. She simply doesn’t know what it is to be careful. Small wonder!”

  “Do you mind, Dinah?” Angelica interrupted the tirade. “She’s frightened of the thunder.”

  Kylee looked up at Angelica, small face wearing a frown. “No, I’m not, Miss. I’m frightened of her. But you’re here now.”

  “Oh, yes, Mary Poppins!” Dinah took a crack at Angelica. “Surely you realise there’s really something very negligent about all this,” she pointed out, not unreasonably had she used a different tone. But there she stood, the next mistress of Coori, guarding her future possessions. That was how she saw it in her own mind at least. “And if you don’t mind my saying so—” as though anyone could stop her “—you shouldn’t have put this tree here,” she told Angelica as if she had no sense at all. “It’s the wrong place entirely. It obstructs the traffic. One would have thought you’d know better.”

  “’Cause we like it,” Kylee suddenly yelled in a voice extraordinarily shrill for one so tiny. “You can’t touch it, lady. I’ll tell Mr. Jake on yuh.”

  “Is that child actually speaking to me?” Dinah hissed her disbelief.

  “It would appear so.” Angel refrained from laughing because Kylee had been rude.

  “Apologise to Miss Campbell, Kylee.”

  “No I ain’t,” said Kylee with almost adult disgust.

  This time Angelica was forced to smother a laugh. “Well, no one can say I didn’t try. Perhaps you can leave Kylee alone, Dinah,” she suggested. “I’ll keep an eye on her.” She used Dinah’s name when Dinah made a point of never using hers.

  “Surely it’s her mother’s job?” Dinah’s rasping tones were threaded with disapproval. “Whatever is she doing in the Great Hall? It must be clean by now?”

  “She’s paintin’,” Kylee spoke up, pressing her heated face against Angelica’s hand. “Don’t want you there!”

  Angelica bent down to the child, who apparently, for all Jake’s concerns, feared no one. “You’re being very rude, you know, Kylee,” she chided softly.

  “Sorry, Miss.”

  “Am I missing something here?” Dinah looked as though Kylee’s words had set off an alarm.

  “Just keep out of the Great Hall, Dinah, if you don’t mind,” Angelica asked. Leah was putting the finishing touches to her mural, which was so exactly what Angelica wanted and she didn’t want Leah upset in any way.

  “Since when have you been giving orders?” Dinah looked at Angelica with a twisted smile. “I’m a close friend of the family. Who exactly are you, when it’s all said and done.”

  “She’s Miss,” Kylee yelled, clutching at Angelica like two sisters sticking together. “Go away, lady.”

  “This has gone quite far enough,” Dinah cried promptly. “That child is truly out of hand.”

  Her expression was so outraged Angelica found herself losing her cool.

  “God, Dinah, when was the last time you were nice to her? It might come as a surprise but it’s not your job to chastise Kylee.”

  “Indeed it is, thank you very much. It’ll be the day when some little aboriginal mite dares shout at me. It’s not done.”

  “Say sorry, Kylee,” Angelica prompted once more, “it is rude to shout at people.” Kylee really hadn’t been too respectful.

  “I’m hot,” Kylee said instead. “Can I go for a swim?”

  “Watch out, she’ll probably want to go in the homestead pool,” Dinah said in her most sarcastic tone.

  “That’s an idea.” Angelica swung the child up into her arms. “You’re not the only one, Kylee, who feels like cooling off.”

  By four o’clock Angelica was convinced they were in for torrential rain. She’d already had the men move all the tables and chairs they’d so carefully set up into the shelter of the two large marquees. Everyone had agreed there seemed to be a wetness in the air, which meant a chance of rain. Storm-clouds now covered the great vault of the sky entirely.

  She and Clary were left standing on the verandah staring up at the heavens that periodically flashed bursts of light like someone was running from one heavenly room to the other, throwing switches. “This is going to ruin everything,” Angelica groaned, easing her T-shirt from her damp midriff.

  “Try not to worry, love.” Clary, equally worried, did her best to comfort her. “It might come to nothing. I’ve seen it happen too many times before.”

  “But what if the wind gets
up?” Angelica said.

  “The marquees will be all right, love. It’s not as though we’re expecting a cyclone.”

  “What about a dust storm?” Angelica fretted. She had never seen one but she had seen pictures of Outback dust storms and they were horrendous!

  “Look, love, whatever happens, happens.” Clary, who had seen it all, flood drought, dust storms, the lot, spoke philosophically.

  “I know. It’s just that we’ve all worked so hard, Clary. Stacy and Gilly have really pulled their weight, too.”

  “They’ve done well,” Clary agreed, surprised and pleased at the way they’d all worked together. “You’ve made it so much fun for them. They haven’t had a lot of fun.”

  “Not with a family friend like Dinah Campbell around.” Angelica leaned closer to Clary to whisper, “Where is she now, for goodness’ sake?”

  “Gone after Mr. Jake, my darling,” Clary told her dryly. “That’s what she does. Go after Mr. Jake.”

  “Do you reckon she might get him?” Angelica asked. God, what a dismal thought.

  “Reckon you might if you want the job,” Clary shocked her by saying. “It isn’t exactly what you’re used to out here. You’re on your way to being a celebrity all right.”

  “Don’t you think I’d fit in?” Angelica, who had no desire to be a celebrity, turned to Clary with a very serious expression on her face.

  Clary threw back her head and laughed. “Listen, love, you fitted in from day one. You’ve been good for us all. Like a cure. I see the way Mr. Jake lights up when you’re coming. I hear the way he calls you Angel.”

  “That doesn’t mean he won’t forget me when I’m gone.”

  “It could be up to you, love,” Clary mused. “You’re the one with the city career. Mr. Jake can’t leave here. This is his heritage. He’ll never abandon it.”

  “I couldn’t think of him elsewhere,” Angelica answered simply. “He’s not only the most committed, he has to be the best-looking cattleman on earth.”

  “You’re not kiddin’!” Clary laughed with almost motherly pride. “Now I’ve got things to do. You can’t keep fretting about this storm. It’s either going to come to nothing or all hell will break loose.”