by Jennie Jones
Rachel Weston. It had almost the same ring to it in her head and in her heart as Rachel Meade. She’d always be Rachel. It was the only name she’d ever truly associated the real person with. But her surname was, perhaps, debatable. In the future.
‘So have you made a decision?’ he asked. ‘I’ve given you a whole minute.’
She had a future. It was more bewildering than anything that had happened to her. ‘I’ve made my decision.’
‘And how am I going to feel? How do you feel?’
‘I don’t know yet. I’m running with this …’ Running again. But in an entirely different direction this time.
‘Christ.’ He planted his feet more firmly on the floor. ‘Go.’
‘I do like your pale green bathroom and that big shower. And your kitchen is nicer than mine.’
‘I think this is a good start.’ Some relief entered his eyes, although they darted to each of hers, waiting for more.
Her smile broadened so fast it hurt her cheeks. ‘If I take any chance at all,’ she told him, still smiling her way through all that bewilderment. ‘It would be with you or for you. Nobody else.’ There’d never be a someone else for her. It would always be Luke. ‘I love you. I’d like to move in with you. And I want to be a part of however far we go.’
He gathered her to his chest and held on hard, almost squashing the breath out of her. ‘I know you’re going through so much. But you’ve got my hand and my heart. And as far as I’m concerned, we’re going the whole way together. Whichever way that is.’
She took a moment to relish the sound and the feel of his love, knowing she would never forget this moment; standing with him in the cop shop that would always be his second home.
All of the police stations he’d be sent to would always be his second home. She’d get fed up with him never being around for birthdays and holidays and maybe even anniversaries because he’d been called out. But they’d work through it. It wouldn’t be anywhere near as hard as not having a place to stay.
‘This is so great,’ he said into her hair.
So great it almost hurt. It felt like her heart was bursting.
‘I’ve had everybody asking me about us,’ he said. ‘But I kept it official and told them they weren’t to make you talk about anything you didn’t want to talk about. Including us.’
A laugh of pleasure shook her. People were gossiping about her and she loved it. A first. Another first. How many more to come? ‘You can tell them now.’
‘Well that means this is real,’ he said, relief in his voice. ‘Jimmy!’ he called over her shoulder. ‘You can stop trying to eavesdrop now. We’re an item!’
‘Magic! Can I post it on our new Twitter account?’
‘No!’ Rachel said at the same time Luke said, ‘Go for it. “Mt Maria cop declares love is well and truly alive in the golden rangelands.”’ He turned, rested his backside on his desk with Rachel still in his arms, and picked up the mic from the station radio. ‘Mt Maria base to Kilo-Mike 103.’
‘What are you doing?’ Rachel asked.
‘Go ahead Mt Maria base. What is it, Luke?’ Donna asked.
‘What’s up?’ Will chimed in.
‘It worked. Now quit pestering me.’
That got a big laugh from Will and a whoop-whoop cry from Donna.
Luke grinned as he put the mic down, ending the call.
He pulled her between his thighs, holding her eyes with his, and Rachel stifled the joy inside her, as expectation, exhilaration and newfound happiness crowded her chest, and shattered her already bursting heart in the most pleasurable way.
‘We’ve got some getting to know each other stuff to work out,’ he said. ‘But I think I know how we can kickstart it.’
He gave her his cop-in-charge-of-all-situations expression and Rachel rose up to wipe it off his face with a kiss.
‘This part is going to be good,’ he murmured.
She could hardly believe she’d been given this man, this opportunity, this happiness. ‘I’m so lucky,’ she said, as wonder filled her.
‘Not as lucky as me.’ He pulled her closer and she lifted her arms to hook him around his neck, relaxing into him.
‘Tell me you love me,’ he said in a persuasive voice.
She looked into his dark brown eyes, full of entreaty, full of so many feelings she couldn’t discern all of them. They’d be together, working things out while they were here and living in the station master’s house. They’d sit on the big back verandah as the sun set and the wildlife bounded. Or maybe she’d do that alone most nights when he was out on a call. But she’d love every single second of her life with him.
‘Say it,’ he said. ‘You love me. It’s an order,’ he added.
She smiled back. ‘Will you post it on Twitter?’
‘No. Promise.’
‘I don’t trust you yet.’
‘I think you do, and that’s why I’m so damned relieved. So what’s your answer? Do you love me? Heaps. Big time. Whatever.’
‘Whatever,’ she told him. ‘I love you like I’ve been swallowed whole by love, and it’s spread all through me, and I want to give it back.’
His smile started slow. ‘You took the words out of my mouth.’
‘I’ve got the rest of the day off now,’ she said.
‘That’s a coincidence. So have I.’
‘So shall we go for a beer? Or a burger?’
‘No,’ he said, his hand stroking her back. ‘Let’s go straight back to our place and start getting to know each other.’
Her smile widened. ‘Copy that, Senior Sergeant Weston.’ Our place had a great ring to it. Our place. Our place in the golden rangelands. Our place in town.
‘I love you like you’re the only place I want to be,’ she said. ‘Wherever we go, you’re the place I want to stay.’
‘Over and out, Miss Meade,’ he said huskily, a second before he put his mouth on hers and the world around them was silenced as their future sang in her head like a love song.
Acknowledgements
I can’t thank the team at Harlequin enough for the support and dedication. Kate Cuthbert, as always—my thanks and my regard. Sue Brockhoff and all at Harlequin Australia HQ in Sydney—thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Praise goes to my wonderful team of authors who read my work before Harlequin see it. Juanita Kees, Lily Malone, Catherine Evans—thank you so much.
Enormous thanks to Kylie Mason for yet again giving one of my books her editing expertise, and for being so perceptive and caring, enabling me to pull out the best of the characters and the storyline.
I also want to send a huge and heartfelt thank you to Senior Sergeant Heath Soutar, OIC at Laverton Police, Western Australia, for his generous time in answering my many questions about running an outback police station, which was a bonus for me and the story. I learned about the dedication and the essence of a good police officer by talking directly to Senior Sergeant Soutar.
Thanks are also due to family friend Vicky and her female coworker who were my initial contacts in the police force and who assisted by letting me know what sort of questions I should be asking in the first place, so little was my knowledge of police and how they do things. Thank you, ladies.
My admiration of those good officers everywhere, but in particular for those officers working in rural and remote areas of Australia, is overwhelming.
My town of Mt Maria and all characters and scenarios within are fictional but there are traces of reality within the descriptions of the area, the services provided and the outback atmosphere. Any errors in police procedure are mine and I have taken some licence for fictional purposes.
This story also touches on the subject of emotional and physical abuse. I do not take or use domestic violence elements in this book lightly but I have injected romance and some humour in the story so that my heroine can at last be free of her past, and find her forever place. Without an injection of humour here and there in our lives, the world would be too sad a p
lace. I have written this book for those who like the prospect of a happier future. For those who enjoy seeing a character overcome the distress of their past and walk towards a much nicer sunset than they had expected.
May the sunsets of your future be nice ones.
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First Published 2016
First Australian Paperback Edition 2016
ISBN 9781489220721
A Place to Stay
© 2016 by Jennie Jones
Australian Copyright 2016
New Zealand Copyright 2016
Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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