‘He’s such a nice boy,’ Blanche went on. ‘He brought me some real coffee.’
‘Mum, you’re supposed to be used to bush living. You know, the island shack?’
‘That’s different. Dave’s made sure I have as much luxury there as he can provide. He even lets me take my beloved Delonghi.’
A coffee machine on Balveno Island? Blanche had to be kidding. But no, it seemed not.
‘Hunters come from miles around when they smell freshly ground coffee and baking on the breeze.’
Blanche’s expression was delighted and Jaime could imagine the scene perfectly. Her mother surrounded by adoring men, dolling out coffee and sponge cake.
Her mother’s tone changed. ‘It’s your father’s anniversary today.’
As if Jaime was likely to forget.
‘I thought you might like to spend the day with us?’
Jaime was trying hard to be nice to Dave and her bossy mother, but she just couldn’t manage it today. She’d be better going out with Stirling, to take her mind off her grief.
‘But don’t worry if you want to go out and have some fun.’ Her mother twiddled a corner of the doona.
‘You’re sure you’ll be okay?’ Jaime desperately didn’t want to hang around, but if it meant Blanche would be sad …
‘I’ll be fine. Dave’s going to take me fishing. Stirling told him where to go for some more nice rainbow trout like what you caught yesterday.’
Gripped by sudden compassion, Jaime patted her mother’s hand. ‘Dad would love you doing that. I’m sure he’ll be looking down from heaven to make sure you get a few bites.’
Her mother gave her a twisted smile. ‘Yes, I guess he will.’ Then she raised her chin and sniffed. ‘Anyway, sweetness, you’d best get moving. It’s ten-thirty. You only have half an hour to make yourself presentable for Stirling.’
Half an hour! Jaime bolted out of bed, flipping over the plate of toast her mother had placed on the duvet. She had to wash her hair, dry it, use her straightener. Put on make-up. And she needed something half reasonable to wear.
She frantically rooted through her suitcase. Oh God … Stirling was taking her to meet his family and she had nothing to wear!
‘Jaime, love, settle down,’ Blanche said as she gathered up the toast. ‘Surely he’ll wait a few minutes if you’re running a teensy bit late. Plus,’ she gave a knowing smirk, ‘it doesn’t pay to be too eager. Men like the thrill of the chase.’
Jaime turned and glared at her mother. A woman who made orange macramé owls was giving her advice on men? Seriously?
At exactly 10.59 am Jaime entered the kitchen. Both Dave and Blanche stared at her, but it was the man lounging in the kitchen doorway, stroking Dodge, whose opinion she really cared about.
Stirling slowly stood to his full height and took in the figure-hugging dress before his eyes travelled slowly – and deliciously – down her tanned legs to the light summer sandals gracing her feet. His appreciative gaze then retraced its path, finishing at the jangling long earrings that dangled from her ears.
Jaime flicked a stray lock back over her shoulder, which she knew would draw attention to the way her long hair fell in waves of soft curls. In a last-minute change of plan, the straightener had doubled as a curling iron. The previous thirty minutes had been frantic, but looking at Stirling’s face, she knew it had been worth it.
Dave was the first to speak as it appeared Stirling had been struck dumb. ‘Jaime, love, you look nice.’
‘Nice?’ said Stirling in a deep, sensual voice. ‘She looks stunning.’
‘Do I need anything other than my sunnies and wallet?’ she asked, glancing down at her date’s boots and comparing them to her dainty sandals. She’d thought he’d said lunch was a barbecue.
Stirling must have seen her concern. ‘Your sandals are fine. I always wear Ariats. My feet wouldn’t know what hit them if I wore anything else.’
Ariats? Aha. The boots.
‘Ummm,’ he added, sounding slightly unsure, ‘did I mention an overnight bag?’
‘What?’ said Blanche. ‘You’re not thinking of staying away for the night?’
‘Mother!’
‘I was just asking.’ Blanche had the grace to blush. ‘You know, so I know whether to … ummm … leave the door unlocked.’
They all turned to look at the glass door, which probably hadn’t been moved in over a century.
‘Perhaps just leave the door where it is, Mrs Bennett,’ Stirling said. ‘And I promise I’ll have Jaime back first thing.’
Was that with or without her virtue intact? Jaime was definitely hoping the latter.
‘I told you yesterday to call me Blanche,’ her mother said with a smile.
Stirling’s answering grin could have melted chocolate on ice. ‘Blanche it is then.’ He turned back to Jaime. ‘I have to pick up Valerie’s ute in the morning when the garage opens, so I figured it’d be easier to stay down in Lake Grace rather than come back up here tonight, then go down again in the morning.’
Things were getting better and better.
‘We can stay at the pub. Bluey and Jean’ll have a spare room.’ There was a pregnant pause and a raised eyebrow from Jaime’s mother before he hurriedly added, ‘Or two.’
Jaime felt little bubbles of excitement in her tummy followed by shivers of anticipation. Was Stirling McEvoy suggesting a romantic evening for just the two of them?
‘There’s also the usual Boxing Day cricket stoush in the pub grounds today – Lake Grace versus Burrindal. It’s the young blokes’ version of the match at the MCG.’
Well, maybe not just the two of them. But at least they wouldn’t have Blanche and Dave staring over their shoulders. No farm work to be done either. Not even a cat to be fed.
Damn, the cat.
Jaime gave her mother a hopeful glance. ‘Mum, could you feed Dodge tonight? I’ll grab the food for you. You just have to put it in his dish then pat him while he eats.’
‘I’ll do it,’ said Dave, and Jaime gave him a grateful nod.
Blanche was standing in the centre of the kitchen looking disappointed. ‘But I thought we could have a family tea this evening. You know, seeing what day it is.’
Jaime moved into the pantry so she didn’t have to see how sad her mother looked. ‘We can do that another night, Mum,’ she called back over her shoulder. ‘It’s my fault the ute needed fixing in the first place, so it’s the least I can do not to make Stirling drive back tonight and then all the way down the mountain again tomorrow.’
The absolute least, she thought, shivering with anticipation as she grabbed a can of Dine. That was her mother and the cat taken care of. Was there anything else? Oh my God, her underwear! Thanks to her outfit, she was wearing suck-it-in undies to smooth out the bumps. She needed to don some sexy lingerie … and pack a bag.
The tension charging the air in Ryan’s LandCruiser was electric. Jaime couldn’t stop thinking about the sizzling kiss she’d shared with Stirling yesterday. If its heat was any indication, making love to this man would be incredible. Then again, she may have read this trip to Lake Grace all wrong, and he might not be kidnapping her for a romantic and sexy night away. This could just be a friendly family day out, followed by a cricket match, single rooms and lonesome beds. And she was good with that too. Yeah, she was …
Ha! Who was she kidding? She wanted Stirling McEvoy more than anything in her life right now. She wanted him to kiss her body all over and make sweet, luscious love to her until she begged for mercy.
She snuck a glance at her driver. His brow was doing its sinking thing, his jaw set into a hard line. Those lips were pursed as though he was concentrating on more than the road. Was he feeling as nervous as she was? Or was he now thinking this was a really bad idea?
She had to say something. Anything would do.
‘Why are the hills blue?’
‘What?’ Stirling glanced across at her, frowning.
Jaime pointed out the window at the passing
scrub. ‘Those gum trees out there are green and grey, the ground is dirt-brown. Whereas from down there,’ and she pointed in the general direction of Lake Grace, ‘the mountains appear blue. Why is that?’
Stirling was silent for a few moments, and then gave a laugh. ‘Apparently it’s got something to do with eucalypt droplets from the trees combining with dust particles and water vapour. The refracted rays of light are majorly blue.’
‘Well, I never knew that.’
‘Neither did I until I watched some television show on bushfires.’
‘So it wasn’t a stupid question? I thought you were laughing at me.’
‘Not silly at all. But you are funny girl, Jaime Hanrahan.’
‘Funny as in weird?’
‘Nope. Funny as in a smart, beautiful and intriguing individual.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously.’
And with that, he brought the LandCruiser to a stop at the side of the road.
‘What’s happened? What are you doing?’ asked Jaime.
Stirling didn’t answer.
He got out of the vehicle and came around to Jaime’s side, opened the door, leant in and, gently taking hold of her chin, kissed her with an intensity that made her toes curl with longing.
His passion was intoxicating and confirmed beyond any doubt that this man wanted her really, really bad. And boy, oh boy, was that feeling was reciprocated.
When Stirling finally released her, Jaime’s senses were scrambled and her brain had fled south of her panty line. Her heart was hammering and she could still feel the press of his dreamy mouth on hers.
‘Wow, you sure kiss pretty good,’ she mumbled.
He grinned and leant in for more, but she planted two fingers on his mouth and said, ‘Wait,’ then flicked her hand and added, ‘Move away.’
He arched a brow but obeyed, leaning against the door jamb. Waiting.
Jaime undid her seatbelt and got out of the car. With a slow and seductive grin, she moved into Stirling’s now open arms. She ran her fingers up that gloriously broad and very male chest, finishing somewhere near the open neck of his shirt. She wanted to dive inside the folds of cotton and get up close and personal with all that delicious skin. Seeing that wasn’t an option right here, she plastered her body against his, tipped her mouth up towards his lips and said, ‘Now kiss away, maestro.’
So he did.
Chapter 17
It was past midday before Jaime and Stirling finally drove by the signs saying WELCOME TO LAKE GRACE. A PEACEFUL HAVEN. How this place and its surrounds could be called peaceful, Jaime wasn’t sure. Her life had been anything but since she’d stepped off the bus at Bluey’s hotel three weeks earlier. Then again, she wasn’t sure about a lot of things at the minute thanks to the man sitting beside her. Her mind was like a soggy pea pie.
She snuck a look at Stirling. He appeared as unruffled as ever. Well, maybe not quite as unruffled. His face was set in its usual impassive expression but that muscle at the edge of his mouth was doing a two-step, like it was trying to encourage the rest of his face to follow. And his fingers were happily drumming the steering wheel in tune with some country singer on the radio.
He glanced across at her and caught her looking at him. Shot her the most beatific grin before concentrating on the road again as they approached a roundabout. She had never, in the three weeks she’d been here, seen the man smile like that. Correction. She had never seen any man smile like that. Ever.
‘My parents live on the other side of town,’ Stirling said. ‘They couldn’t stand the idea of suburban living after the station, so they bought a place on a few acres just outside Lake Grace.’
‘Uh-huh.’
She needed to pull herself together. How was she going to make intelligent conversation with Stirling’s folks if she couldn’t get her head out of Stirling’s pants? Focus, Hanrahan. Stop acting like a lovesick fool.
To get her thoughts out of the gutter, Jaime concentrated on the houses they were flying past. Their plots were so big, the chocolate-brown brick houses looked small by comparison. Stirling called this suburbia?
‘I know it’s not quite Melbourne, but the townsfolk seem to like it well enough,’ he said.
‘And you don’t?’
‘I prefer wide open spaces myself.’
Well, she could’ve guessed that. Her father had been the same. He’d seemed to become more solid, more confident, when he was outside doing the things he enjoyed.
‘Here we are,’ said Stirling as he indicated to turn into a driveway on their right.
Jaime looked around, trying to distract herself from the nerves gurgling in her belly. The long straight drive was lined with deciduous trees, and she could just see a large white weather board house nestled against a stand of gum trees that had to be twenty metres tall. An established property then.
‘How long have your parents lived here?’ she asked.
Stirling’s brow wrinkled as he thought. ‘Mmmm … they moved not long before Tiff and I broke up, which would be about three years ago. So maybe three and half years?’
She missed the answer as she’d got stuck on the middle part of the sentence. Stirling and Tiffany. The nerves in her belly turned into scratchy things with claws. Suddenly she cared about his previous love life.
‘Were you together long?’ She just had to know.
‘About two years or so. There’s Mum. She must have been waiting for us.’
A tall woman wearing navy pants and a floral top was walking down the drive towards them. She waved her arm towards a paddock opposite the drive, and Jaime noticed the circular entry at the side of the house had been roped off.
As they came abreast of her, she stuck her head into the ute and kissed her son on the cheek, then turned her attention to his passenger.
‘Hello. You must be Jaime. I’m Marion. How nice of you to come for lunch.’
‘It was lovely of you to invite me. Thank you.’
‘Why’s the drive roped off?’ said Stirling, glaring at the barrier.
‘It’s your father. He decided to dig up the roundabout three weeks ago.’
‘I told you,’ Stirling said, ‘he’s bored out of his brain. What happened to the Men’s Shed thing?’
‘They went off on a fishing trip to end the year – apparently it was the only way they were going to survive Christmas with their wives. Unfortunately for us, your father hates fishing, otherwise they could’ve taken him too and I’d still have a driveway.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Park over there beside your sister’s ute. She’s trying to get Bert to start the barbecue, but unfortunately the Boxing Day cricket’s on the TV.’
‘Lucky I’m here then, otherwise we wouldn’t be getting fed until lunchtime tomorrow.’ Stirling rolled his eyes too.
Like mother, like son. Jaime tried to hide her smile.
‘And Dad?’ Stirling asked.
‘Teaching the girls how to crack a whip. I’m sure one of them’s going to lose an eye. He got some videos to teach himself some fancier cracks and he’s been practising these last couple of weeks.’ She let out a large sigh. ‘That’s why he didn’t finish the driveway.’
She smiled, and Jaime noticed her lovely eyes – bright periwinkle-blue under a frame of stylishly cut white hair. ‘I suppose it doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of paddocks to park in. Anyway, Jaime, welcome to Sherwood.’
Robin? Marion? Sherwood?
‘Seriously?’ Jaime said.
Marion grinned. ‘Seriously.’
Stirling excused himself to help Bert with the barbecue, promising to introduce Jaime to his father when Robin appeared. Apparently the stock whip training session was taking place in a paddock somewhere. In the meantime, Stirling’s sister, Amy, sat Jaime down under the shady verandah and peppered her with questions.
‘I love Melbourne,’ said Amy. ‘The shopping is to die for.’
Having seen the state of Lake Grace’s main street, Jaime had to agree. She couldn’
t imagine not being able to shop somewhere like Chadstone Shopping Centre with its multitude of divine stores. But then, hadn’t she just managed exactly that for almost three whole weeks?
‘Bert and I get down to the city at least twice a year,’ Amy went on. ‘We live here in town, so Mum looks after the girls and we head off and shack up in some nice hotel. Go see a show or a band. It’s simply heaven. Stirling and Tiff used to come –’ Amy slapped a hand over her mouth. ‘Oh dear, there’s me letting my mouth run away by itself.’
‘That’s okay,’ Jaime said. This might be her chance to get the lowdown on Stirling’s old girlfriend. Amy seemed a straight-up girl so she made a snap decision to just come out and ask. ‘So this Tiffany, what was she like?’
‘Nothing like you, that’s for sure.’
Jaime wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Amy didn’t know her from the next blonde who might amble into Stirling’s life.
‘And there goes my mouth again.’ Amy rolled her eyes. Must be a family trait, Jaime thought. ‘What I meant to say was, she’s very different to you.’
‘Really? In what way?’
Amy paused. ‘Well, let’s just say she thinks about herself first and foremost. Stirling said you’re helping Auntie Valerie out by looking after the house? Tiff wouldn’t have done that. It would’ve interrupted her festive season social life too much.’
Jaime shrugged. ‘I’m no martyr. I needed a job.’
‘Tiffany still wouldn’t have done it.’
‘She didn’t like being on the station?’
‘Oh, she liked it alright. A nice big house, my handsome brother. It was the lack of parties she hated. She went off to university to become a vet and left Stirling high and dry. They stayed together for a while, did the long-distance thing, then it was suddenly over. Tiff had been cheating on him. Just quietly, I think she thought he’d sit around up here and wait for her to get the city and the parties out of her system and come home. I mean, there’s not much female talent at The Gap. You turning up might stir things up.’
Rose River Page 12
