Outback Sisters

by Rachael Johns

  ‘Shit.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘I understand your concern and I’m no expert, but Angus didn’t seem depressed to me. He spoke with great passion for the farm, and about you and Olivia. Not everyone’s a social butterfly, but from what you’ve told me about your dad, it sounds like maybe he wasn’t coping with his grief.’

  ‘Angus found him, you know. Hanging from a rope in the shearing shed.’ Logan could barely get the words out. He’d been away at the time—first year of uni—but he had a good enough imagination and that image had never left him. How much worse must it have been for Angus?

  ‘Oh God. That’s something no-one should ever have to see. Did he get counselling?’

  Logan snorted. ‘Angus didn’t have time for stuff like that. He threw himself into farm work and looking after Olivia and Sarah and—’ He shut up before he said too much. Of course Angus would expect he’d eventually share their family history with Simone but it still felt wrong talking about the one thing that Angus himself refused to speak about. Yet how could he explain to Simone that it wasn’t simply losing their dad or Angus’s split with Sarah that made him worry? Angus had lost so much more than a parent and a lover.

  ‘He told me about his fiancée leaving him.’

  Logan couldn’t believe it. ‘He told you about Sarah?’

  Simone nodded. ‘We were talking about how hard it is to date with kids and he told me she left because she didn’t want to raise Olivia. She sounds like a cow.’

  Ah, so he hadn’t quite told her everything. ‘She was young … it was … hard for everyone.’

  ‘You’re right, I shouldn’t judge. Speaking of being young, I can’t thank you enough for spending some time with Grace. She never causes any fuss and I think I’m sometimes guilty of overlooking her.’

  ‘Nah.’ He shook his head as they approached a gate and he had to let go of her hand to open it. ‘You’re a great mum. Grace is great. Even Harriet is great … in a kinda scary way.’

  ‘What on earth did I do to find you?’ Simone asked as she walked through the gate.

  ‘You signed up to Rural Matchmakers with a whole lot of other desperados.’

  She laughed. ‘It’s not nice to talk about yourself in such a way.’

  He merely smiled as he closed the gate behind them and took her hand again.

  ‘Do you really not mind about the girls?’

  He frowned. ‘I’m not sure I understand the question.’

  ‘You’re still young. Don’t you want to have kids of your own?’

  He slowed and turned to her. ‘I’m honestly not sure. You don’t want to have any more?’

  She shrugged. ‘I hadn’t thought about it.’

  He reached out a hand and brushed a strand of flyaway hair behind her ear. She blinked her beautiful green eyes. Maybe this was the time to confess about his eyes. They were talking the big issues after all. Relationship deal breakers. But the winter sun was shining above them and he didn’t want to ruin what was turning out to be a very good day. They were still getting to know each other … they’d barely even kissed. Maybe they wouldn’t even make the distance. If he felt things were getting serious, then he’d tell her.

  ‘You know … you’re not that old. Plenty of women haven’t even started their families at thirty-five.’

  She bit her lower lip and nodded.

  ‘Saying that, kids are great,’ he said, ‘but I’d rather be with someone I love and can have fun with than someone I think will make good babies with me. And you already have two awesome daughters—having kids is a major lucky-dip.’

  She raised one eyebrow and smiled at him. ‘Grace is sweet. Spend enough time with Harriet and you might change your mind.’

  He laughed. ‘I like Harriet. She has spark.’

  ‘That’s one way to put it.’

  He nodded ahead to a cluster of trees on the edge of the usually dry creek bed. The rains hadn’t been bad this year, so there was a rare trickle of water in it. ‘This,’ he exclaimed, leading her over, ‘is one of my favourite spots in the whole world.’

  She smiled as he led her over to some big rocks in the middle of the trees that he and Angus had pretended were a fort when they were kids. He smiled whenever he thought about the battles they’d had here, the war wounds they’d returned home with. Mum often joked about needing to buy bandages and antiseptic cream in bulk.

  ‘Sit,’ he said, pulling her down next to him on one of the rocks. ‘You’ve read the Faraway Tree books, right?’

  She chuckled. ‘Who hasn’t? Dad was an English teacher and he read to Frankie and I since we were babies. Frankie adored Moonface and … what was the name of that blonde fairy?’

  ‘Silky.’

  ‘That’s it. Frankie longed to have blonde, frizzy hair like her.’

  ‘I guess we always want what we can’t have,’ Logan said, ‘but I reckon the colour you and Frankie have is just perfect.’

  ‘Are you blind or something? This hair is the bane of my existence.’

  For a moment every muscle in his body froze. If only she knew, but he couldn’t bring himself to go there yet. It was hard to summon the smile that Simone’s joke required, but he did his best. ‘We used to pretend this was the Enchanted Forest.’

  Unaware of his discomfort, she glanced around. ‘Frankie would have loved that. She was never without a book as a kid.’ Simone was quiet a moment and then turned to look at him, an earnest expression on his face. ‘Hey, do you think we could convince Angus to come to the wedding too? As Frankie’s date?’

  His own woes forgotten, he smothered a snort. ‘Good luck with that. I’d have more luck convincing him to look into this renewable energy project, and you know how I’m going with that.’

  She sighed, leaned over and picked up a leaf, which she proceeded to rip into pieces. ‘I just don’t want Frankie to be by herself. As glad as I am you’re coming with me, I feel bad about leaving her to go solo.’

  ‘She hasn’t been in a relationship for a while then?’

  Simone shook her head. ‘A few years ago she was burned by a guy in Perth—it cut her pretty deep.’

  ‘What happened?’ he asked, then quickly followed with, ‘You don’t have to say. Not my business.’

  ‘She was working at a café and got friendly with one of the local businessmen who came in. They started dating and for a while Frankie was so happy. Then the night they were going to take the next step, he booked a room at a city hotel and arranged to meet her there. He never turned up. She found out later it was because he’d been with his wife … in hospital … while she was having his baby.’

  Logan clenched his free hand into a fist. ‘What a bastard.’

  ‘Yep. Better she found out sooner rather than later, but that experience really fucked her up. She came home to Bunyip Bay, bought the café and threw her heart and soul into that to try to erase the pain. As far as I know—and I would know because she tells me everything—there’s been no-one else since.’

  Logan couldn’t understand why some smart guy hadn’t snapped Frankie up. He’d only met her the two times, but those brief interactions were enough to tell him that if she were emotionally available, anyone would be crazy to pass her by. He racked his brain for a mate who might be happy to accompany a pretty girl to a wedding but came up blank; all his good friends were currently coupled up.

  ‘I’ll ask Angus,’ he said, surprising himself. ‘But no promises.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Simone squeezed his hand again and beamed at him. He smiled back.

  Her face was mere inches from his and they were in the middle of nowhere, with no audience. Perfect opportunity to kiss her. Uncharacteristic nerves tumbled in his gut, but he took a quick breath, leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

  * * *

  ‘Nope. Nope. Nope.’ Frankie sighed, took another sip of her Milo and continued scrolling through the list of potential dates on RuralMatchmakers.com.au. A number of men had sent her virtual flowers and indicated they’d li
ke to connect, but she’d managed to find something unsatisfactory about each and every one: their hair looked creepy or their religious or political views didn’t match hers. One said his favourite movie was Magic Mike and although he had a handsome face and the rest of his profile seemed promising, she just couldn’t get excited about a man who liked watching other men get their gear off.

  She was about to give up and go read on the couch when she heard a key turn in her front door. Every muscle in her body tightened. Simone was the only person who had a spare key and it didn’t take a genius to guess why she’d decided to drop by. Psyching herself up to be a supportive and excited sister, Frankie rolled back her chair, stood and went out to meet her. Fred and George—who’d been sleeping on either side of her computer—roused, leaped off the desk and followed her out of the study.

  She met Simone in the hallway. One look at the expression on her face told Frankie that the excursion to Logan’s farm had been a success.

  ‘Want a drink?’ she asked. A post-mortem of Simone’s day might require something stronger than malted milk.

  ‘Love one.’ Simone smiled as she bent down and scooped up the cats, one in each arm, and cuddled them against her. ‘Hello, cuties. How you doing today?’

  The two felines meowed and struggled to escape.

  ‘It’s like that, is it?’ Simone laughed as she deposited them back on the floor. Fred and George scuttled off to the kitchen and Frankie followed, her thoughts already on the bottle of white wine in her fridge.

  ‘I’m guessing you had a good day?’ she asked as she entered the kitchen and collected the bottle and two glasses.

  Simone nodded, then sank down into a chair at the tiny kitchen table. ‘It was fabulous. But I’m exhausted now.’

  ‘And the girls?’ Frankie asked. ‘Did they have a good day too?’

  ‘Grace had a blast. Logan took her out on the quad bike for over an hour. She was in heaven. Of course Harriet whined and carried on about being there because it meant she missed spending the day with loverboy.’ Simone rolled her eyes. ‘She’s on the phone with him now. I ordered Grace to call me if she takes so much as one step out of the house.’

  Frankie laughed as she plonked a glass of chardonnay down in front of her sister, then leaned back against the bench and took a much-needed gulp of her own. ‘So Logan got along okay with the girls then?’

  ‘Oh yeah, he’s great with them. Especially Grace. At one stage, I thought she was going to spend more time with him than I was.’

  ‘But that wasn’t the case?’

  Simone shook her head. ‘We had a lovely lunch, then he took Grace for a ride, Harriet sulked in front of the TV and I hung out with Angus.’

  ‘The grumpy brother?’

  ‘He wasn’t as bad as all that.’ Simone smiled. ‘In fact, I think you’d like him. He’s tall and well built like Logan, but he has this scruffy mop of dark chocolate hair and a beard. He looks very hot when he’s trying not to smile.’

  Frankie grimaced. She wasn’t a scruffy-beard type of girl. She much preferred Logan’s cropped-hair look. ‘And does he do that a lot? Try not to smile? Sounds like a riot.’

  ‘He was very entertaining actually. But Logan worries about him—thinks he spends too much time on his lonesome. We thought it might be good if we could get him to come to the wedding. As your date.’

  It took a few seconds for this to register and then Frankie almost choked on her wine.

  ‘What? No.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t need a date,’ she lied, thinking of the hours she’d just spent scrolling through profiles in the hope of someone who might fill that particular bill. She didn’t want to be a charity case—she especially didn’t want Logan to think of her that way. To pity her like he obviously pitied his brother. ‘I’m quite comfortable, quite happy on my own. I don’t need a guy in my life to complete me. I have the café, and my friends, and my family, and my cats.’

  On cue, Fred started winding himself around her legs and she put down her glass and snatched him up, relishing the comfort of his warm, furry little body. He started nibbling on her plait.

  Simone held up her hands. ‘I’m not asking you to marry the guy. I was just trying to be helpful. You were the one wondering if Logan had a brother, remember? Forget I mentioned it.’

  Frankie sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I appreciate the thought and … you’re right, it would be nice to have a man in my life who has two legs instead of four. In fact … I’ve just taken a leaf out of your book—or rather your daughters’—and signed up to Rural Matchmakers.’

  ‘You have?’ Simone’s eyes widened and she grinned.

  ‘Yes. I have. Although I doubt I’ll find anyone suitable by the wedding.’

  Simone shrugged. ‘You never know. A lot can happen in two weeks. I can vouch for that.’

  And that brought the conversation back to him. Frankie held Fred a little tighter and forced herself to ask, ‘Things going to work out with Logan then?’

  ‘It’s early days, but I kinda feel like I’ve landed on my feet,’ Simone confessed, twirling her wine glass between her fingers. ‘It’s hard enough to find a nice guy these days, never mind one who also looks like an underwear model and doesn’t mind the fact that I have kids.’

  And is an incredible kisser, added Frankie silently. She snatched the glass of wine off the bench and took a gulp.

  ‘We kissed today,’ Simone confessed and Frankie’s chest tightened.

  ‘Oh?’ she managed, despite the fact she felt like she was having some kind of heart attack.

  Simone nodded, giving nothing away.

  Frankie was torn between wanting to know details and preferring to stay in the dark, but as a supportive sister it was her duty to pry and Simone would worry if she didn’t. ‘And?’ she asked.

  ‘And …’ Simone rubbed her lips together, her brow furrowed slightly as if in contemplation. ‘It was nice.’

  ‘Nice?’ Frankie spluttered. That was not a word she considered adequate where kissing and Logan Knight were concerned. The mere thought of his lips on hers still turned all her internal organs inside out.

  ‘Yes,’ Simone said. ‘Pleasant … easy … I dunno. There was nothing wrong with it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Jason. I kept imagining that he was watching and that thought made me feel a little weird. Which is not a good way to feel when your tongue is down someone else’s throat.’

  ‘No.’ Frankie swallowed, not wanting to think about how well acquainted Simone’s and Logan’s tongues might have gotten that afternoon. That thought made her feel a little weird. But she had no right to feel that way. Trying to detach herself from the scenario, she thought about what she would say if the guy Simone had kissed was somebody different. ‘I can imagine it must be hard putting yourself out there again,’ she said, ‘but Jason has been gone a long time. He was a great guy and I know you miss him terribly, but you’re not cheating on him. I’m sure he’d want you to move on and find happiness again.’

  Simone puffed out a long breath. ‘I know you’re right. It’s just all a bit sudden, but I’d be a fool to let this one slip through my fingers, wouldn’t I?’

  ‘Uh huh.’ Frankie nodded, her jaw clenched tightly as she forced an encouraging smile.

  Simone pushed back her seat and closed the distance between them. Frankie stilled as her sister wrapped her arms around her, cushioning Fred between them. He mewed his discontent and Simone laughed, stepping back for Frankie to release her feline bundle.

  ‘Thank you,’ Simone said as Fred scampered away to join his brother under the table. ‘You are the best sister ever, you know that? I’d go insane if I couldn’t talk this through with you.’

  Frankie forced a smile. The thoughts going through her head right now didn’t make her a very good sister at all. Her only hope was meeting someone else to take her mind off yet another Mr Unavailable. What was wrong with her that on the rare occasion she felt something for a guy, he was always claimed by someone else?


  ‘When are you seeing each other next?’ she asked.

  ‘He’s pretty busy helping Angus on the farm this week and also has some writing deadlines, but he mentioned something about meeting in Geraldton one day for lunch.’

  Geraldton. Thank God. Frankie didn’t think she could handle watching Logan and Simone sit through another romantic lunch right under her nose. ‘Great.’

  ‘We’ve got the hens night next Friday, but if Angus agrees to come to the wedding with you, I was thinking we could go visit them on Saturday or Sunday so you could meet before the big day.’

  ‘Okay.’ It sounded horribly like a blind date but Frankie told herself this was a good thing. Simone had said Angus was good-looking and not as grumpy as all that, so maybe her ridiculous hormones could transfer their affections onto him. Even if he was half as hot as Logan, he’d be better looking than most men. Besides, looks weren’t everything and she had to admit it would be nice not to be the only person with no-one to dance with at the wedding.

  ‘Excellent.’ Simone clapped her hands together in excitement. ‘We always said we wanted to double date. This is our chance.’

  ‘Wouldn’t it be a bit weird, sisters dating brothers?’

  ‘No,’ Simone scoffed. ‘Happens all the time. And anyway, I’m not asking you to marry the guy. Just consider it a good opportunity to meet your future brother-in-law.’

  Chapter Ten

  As Angus lifted the next lamb into the circular crutching cradle, he glanced over at Logan, who had the brand marker ready to clip the animal’s ear. Behind him, the pen of lambs cried out for their mums, who waited on the other side of the yard. The mums would baa back, making the sheep yards rather noisy.

  Unlike the sheep, Logan had been quiet all morning. In fact, he’d been acting a little strange ever since Simone and her kids had come round for lunch on Sunday. Angus guessed that’s what love did to a guy. He remembered falling in love with Sarah and being unable to think about much else, but in hindsight, Sarah wasn’t half as stunning or fun to be around as Simone. He’d been thinking quite a lot about her the last couple of days, but that was likely down to the fact that, apart from his sister, he’d barely been near another woman in years—and certainly hadn’t enjoyed their company the way he had Simone’s.