Her Outback Rescuer

by Marion Lennox

  Anything just had happened, Amy thought. Anything?

  ‘I’ll talk to the rangers,’ Hugo murmured into her hair as Honey and her party moved on. He was still holding her, but loosely. They both knew the moment was over, that contact needed to cease, but making the final move was hard.

  Do not cling to this man.

  She stepped back and his hands fell free. She felt...desolate.

  ‘Why will you talk to the rangers?’ How much effort did it cost to make her voice sound normal?

  ‘Honey’s talking about a pit cover,’ he told her. ‘This place is beautiful for fences and boarding, but who’s to say a tree can’t blow over and wedge in the crevice? A rough tree trunk would provide any trapped animal a way to get out. I could organise men to do it.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘We have a mine south of here. I can get a team in here tomorrow.’

  But...this wasn’t only about making the crevice safe, she thought, watching his face. It was a warning. He wasn’t sure where to take this. Neither was she, but he was collecting himself faster. He was reminding himself—and he was reminding her—that he was a Thurston.

  This was not a lover to be taken lightly.

  A lover? What was she thinking?

  Maybe she should do some sharp remembering of why she was here. This holiday was all about Rachel. It had to be. So...

  ‘Thank you for the kiss,’ she said as evenly, as resolutely as she could. ‘It was...a good way to vent emotions. But we need to get on. Rachel wants rocks.’

  ‘So she does,’ he said. His face was wary.

  ‘We’re now operating on one pack. That means you get to carry everything.’

  ‘I can do that.’

  ‘Okay, then,’ she said, and deliberately turned away. ‘I guess you’re right,’ she said harshly into the stillness. ‘Carrying a load alone is what we’re both good at. Maybe we need to get on with it.’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THEY worked on methodically and quietly, hardly speaking, collecting every rock sample Rachel had listed, but this wasn’t the silence of the morning. It wasn’t the silence of a man trapped and a woman angry. This was the silence of two people who knew something momentous had happened and who didn’t know where to take it.

  If Amy could, she’d have headed for solitude, where she could give her addled mind time to sort itself out. It needed sorting. She felt as if she’d been hit by an electric charge, fused and then rewired.

  She was so aware of Hugo that her mind couldn’t get past him. It was lucky Rachel’s instructions were simple. Just do the job, she told herself.

  Do not think about Hugo.

  Who was she kidding? Her head wasn’t co-operating. Her head was still filled with sensations she had no hope of controlling. Her body was still filled with the feel of him.

  The strength of this man as he’d hauled her from the crevice... The way he’d caught her and held... The look on his face as he’d watched the joey reunited with its mother...

  He was a warrior with heart. He was...

  Enough! At least he’d put his shirt back on, she thought desperately. A woman would have no hope with it off.

  A woman had little hope as it was.

  She was holding the bag open while he put samples inside. Their fingers touched and there it was again, a jolt of pure longing.

  And he felt it, too. He didn’t have to say. It was in his silence, the way he jerked away when his hands touched hers, the way he kept...not looking at her. This was a two-way deal. Whatever she was feeling, he was feeling, too.

  Finally, thankfully, they headed back to the car. They should talk all the way down the valley, she thought. There was so much to wonder at in this magnificent place. So much to talk about?

  Instead, they walked side by side and things were left unsaid.

  But not unthought. Great big thought bubbles hovered above her head, heavy and grey and so huge she thought Hugo surely must see them.

  If he did, he was making no comment.

  ‘It’s almost time,’ he said brusquely as they reached the car. ‘If we hurry we can reach Uluru before sunset.’

  Of course. They’d agreed to meet Maud and Rachel. How could she have forgotten?

  Hugo had remembered. Maybe he was feeling this...thing...less than she was. Maybe it was just a boy thing—kiss a girl and move on.

  There was another bubble to join the warring mob. She climbed into the car, retreated back into silence and let the bubbles fight it out.

  The bubbles were finally pretty much coming down on the side of sense.

  Even if he was...feeling something, she decided, this guy was a Thurston. She was an ex-ballet dancer, born of a single mum, devoted to her sister and her dog, and even her dog was a mutt. This man was so far out of her league she might as well aim for...

  Well, she wasn’t aiming. She needed to get to Darwin, start her new job, get Rachel settled and get her life back to normal.

  Why didn’t he say something?

  Concentrate on the landscape, she told herself harshly. Surely that shouldn’t be hard.

  The sun was sinking low in the sky and the horizon was tinged with gold and fire. Across the barren desert, Uluru glowed like a coal taken from a vast hot furnace. What was it that Rachel said caused it?

  ‘Pink feldspar crystals.’ She said it out loud, searching to get practicality into the here and now. This place was making her feel bewitched. This man was making her feel bewitched. ‘There’s no such thing as magic,’ she added and maybe she sounded desperate.

  ‘Ah, but what put the feldspar there?’ Hugo said. ‘That’s what’s magic.’

  ‘You should know. You’re the mining magnate.’

  ‘My grandpa was the mining magnate.’

  ‘And you’re not taking after him?’

  ‘I guess.’ The forbidding look descended again.

  ‘There you go, then.’ She hugged her knees and glowered, because suddenly she felt like glowering. ‘Rachel would have been better as your walking companion today than me. She knows all about rocks. She’d be a better fit.’

  ‘I don’t think I need a good...fit,’ he said and she flushed.

  ‘Of course not. Sorry.’

  ‘What happened back there...’

  ‘That was silly as well,’ she said, talking too fast. ‘I’m sorry for that as well.’

  ‘I’m not sorry.’

  How to answer that?

  She couldn’t.

  ‘What will you do in Darwin?’ he asked. He was being polite, she thought. Moving on. Good idea. She should, too.

  ‘I’ll teach.’

  ‘Dancing?’

  ‘Movement. Including dancing.’

  ‘Who to?’

  ‘Teenagers.’ She stared ahead, uncomfortable at the personal interest, but suddenly the glow of Uluru was enough to put discomfort aside. ‘Oh...’

  For suddenly, thankfully, personal stuff had to be put aside. What lay ahead was enough to make anyone gasp.

  The rock was so big that it dwarfed the landscape. As the sun sank, the rock glowed almost as if it was the sun itself. Its colours changed with the changes in the sky, growing brighter by the minute.

  There was a car park off the road where a few people had gathered to watch. Hugo pulled into it and Rachel and Maud bounced forward to meet them.

  ‘We thought you’d miss it.’ Rachel caught her sister’s hand and practically dragged her fo
rward. ‘Come and watch. Oh, Amy...’

  Hugo was left with Maud.

  They’d both seen Uluru sunsets before. Maud’s attention was not on the rock. It was all on Hugo.

  ‘Your shirt’s ripped,’ she said by way of greeting and he thought: here we go.

  He glanced down and his shirt was definitely ripped. One of the joey’s claws had caught it.

  ‘By a wallaby,’ he said.

  ‘You’re looking...’

  ‘Leave it, Grandma.’ He turned deliberately away to watch the sunset. Or he turned to watch two women watch the sunset.

  Or one woman.

  ‘She’s lovely, isn’t she?’ Maud ventured. ‘I know you think she’s lovely.’

  ‘She doesn’t fit in our world,’ he said savagely. ‘We’d destroy her.’

  Maud stilled. Stood back. Surveyed him again with care.

  ‘You’re thinking...’ she breathed.

  ‘I can’t think. You know the goldfish bowl you’ve lived in. That’s why I left. I hate it. To drag a woman into it... She’d end up like...’

  ‘Your mother?’ Maud turned angry, just like that. ‘Give Amy some credit. It was the lifestyle that destroyed your parents. It was their own choice.’

  ‘I don’t want any part of it.’

  ‘But you will take over Thurstons?’

  And suddenly the subject had changed. Matchmaking had become something else. This was something even more important to Maud than Hugo’s love life.

  Decision time. It had to come, he thought grimly. Would he take over Thurstons?

  It was his decision—to stand back and let Thurstons become just another corporate giant, or to keep it as James and Maud had dreamed it should be. An empire with heart. At seventeen he’d run from this decision, but the time for running was past.

  He glanced once more at Amy and the thought was heavy. If I take this path...

  What other path was there?

  No other path was possible.

  ‘Yes,’ he said, heavy with the weight of it. ‘I will.’

  Maud’s face sagged with relief. ‘Your grandfather would be so proud,’ she whispered and hugged him. He held her and he thought: yes, he would.

  His grandfather had asked the same of his father, that he take over the responsibility for thousands of employees, for sums of money so staggering he couldn’t yet get his head around them.

  The responsibility and the media pressure had destroyed his father.

  Maybe his character had been weak. Maybe he’d made a bad choice for a wife, but the brutal truth remained. Money and media attention had destroyed him and his wife, and it had come close to destroying Hugo in the process.

  For him to survive...

  ‘I’ll do it alone,’ he said, and his grandmother looked up at him in dismay.

  ‘That makes it sound horrid,’ she whispered. ‘Like you’re entering prison.’

  He caught himself. It wasn’t for Maud to know just how much he hated this.

  ‘I’m not,’ he said and managed a grin. ‘They say money and power are like drugs. Any minute now I’ll turn into a power-hungry tycoon. Bring on the Armani.’

  ‘You never would,’ she said, relaxing again in his laughter. ‘You’re my Hugo and you’ll never change. Hugo, the solitude thing—it’s time for it to stop. Amy...’

  ‘No,’ he said, and he stopped trying to smile. ‘Enough. I’m taking over the company. You’ve won that battle. Don’t try me too far.’

  ‘But you need a nice girl.’

  ‘They threw out the mould when they made you,’ he said. ‘You’ve stood up to media attention, scandal, heartbreak, and it hasn’t destroyed you. I wish there were two Mauds in the world but there aren’t. So leave off the matchmaking. Let me run your company in peace.’

  * * *

  The sun sank further. The rock blazed for one final moment—and then the sun was gone and Uluru was a great grey ghost, settling into the barren landscape to wait for dawn to bring it to life again.

  Amy turned and was caught by the sight of a couple a little apart from them. The guy was on bended knee, holding a tiny box towards his lady.

  She watched as the girl tugged him up, gathered him into her arms and they clung. A little bunch of watchers burst into spontaneous applause.

  ‘How lovely,’ Rachel said, her eyes misting. ‘How perfect.’ And the look on her face...

  ‘Rachel...’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Rachel said softly. ‘Just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for others. Speaking of which... You and Hugo. Spill.’

  ‘Spill what?’

  ‘You’re looking...’ she surveyed her sister with care ‘...lit from within. He kissed you?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘He did,’ Rachel said jubilantly. ‘You’re the world’s worst liar.’

  ‘So what, then?’ Amy said, trying hard not to sound breathless. ‘It doesn’t mean...’ She stopped. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It definitely doesn’t mean. I’m on this holiday with you, not with Hugo Thurston.’

  ‘But this is nuts,’ Rachel said. ‘Hugo’s not like Ramón, you know that. He’s gorgeous, he’s rich, but what’s most important is that he’s lovely. Maud says he’s barely left her since his grandpa died. He hides dogs for complete strangers. He donates steak. How kind was that? Ames, if I met someone like Hugo, would you tell me to be a martyr and give him up so I could make my sister happy for another couple of days?’

  ‘Rache...’

  ‘Use your head,’ Rachel said. ‘And your heart. That’s all I’m saying.’

  ‘You’re talking nonsense,’ Amy managed. ‘A Thurston and me? In your dreams. I’m sticking with you, and why wouldn’t I? You’re prettier, you’re my sister and you’re a whole lot safer.’

  ‘Safe’s good,’ Rachel agreed. ‘But...’

  ‘No buts. We have our future mapped. Let’s not mess it with distractions.’

  ‘Hugo Thurston is more than a distraction.’

  ‘No,’ Amy said. ‘He isn’t.’

  * * *

  Dinner was hard. Maud chatted and Amy tried to join in. Not very successfully. Hugo was too big, too silent, too there. Rachel faded soon after and excused herself, and Amy did, too.

  ‘I’m achy after today’s climb,’ she told them, and Hugo emerged from his silence.

  ‘That’s right. I’d forgotten you’d retired from dancing because your body’s wearing out.’

  ‘It happens to us all,’ she said, striving for lightness. ‘Good...goodnight.’

  ‘I won’t be here tomorrow,’ he said.

  She fought to keep her face calm, and somehow she responded as if it didn’t matter. It mattered.

  ‘That’s...that’s fine. Rachel and I are happy just being here. Or we could go back to the resort.’

  ‘You’re staying on with me,’ Maud growled. ‘Hugo’s simply decided to take on some of his grandfather’s commitments. The company chopper’s taking him south to the mines.’

  ‘Was that planned?’ Rachel asked Hugo, showing more interest than she’d shown for the whole meal. ‘I thought you and Amy...’

  Cut it out, Rachel, Amy thought furiously. Why start talking now?

  She couldn’t say it out loud, but she glared.

  Rachel was oblivious. She was waiting for an answer.

  ‘Maybe Amy could go with you,’ Maud ventured. ‘I’m sure she’d be interested.’

 
‘No.’ Hugo and Amy spoke together, and their responses almost matched in their vehemence.

  ‘It was just an idea,’ Maud said, placating. ‘I know Rachel needs to rest, but I thought Amy...’

  ‘I need to rest, too,’ Amy said.

  ‘Because your body’s wearing out,’ Hugo said dryly.

  ‘Will you cut it out?’ She glared and he smiled.

  ‘Sorry. Insensitive of me, I know. But worn out body or not, you don’t want to come to the mines. It’d give all sorts of people the wrong idea. Take care of Maud for me.’

  ‘I don’t need taking care of,’ Maud snapped and Hugo grinned.

  ‘Take care of each other, then, all you achy people. I’m leaving before dawn. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but definitely in time to drive us all back to the Ghan.’

  ‘Travel safely,’ Amy muttered, and Rachel started to say something, too, but Amy had had enough of this conversation. The wrong idea? That had been meant to put her in her place.

  This wasn’t her place and she knew it. She practically shoved her sister out of the room.

  * * *

  Rachel relaxed. She enjoyed a little sightseeing but mostly she sat on the veranda and sorted the rock samples Hugo and Amy had brought her. She talked to Maud. Maud happily read, swam, snoozed—and talked back. Buster roamed the grounds, lolled in the sun and decided this was pretty much dog heaven.

  Amy, on the other hand, paced.

  There were things to do. No matter how off balance she was feeling, she intended to make the most of her time here.

  She helped Rachel with her rocks. She drove back to Uluru and did the long walk all the way round. She swam. She played with Buster.

  She couldn’t relax. Inside, she kept right on pacing.

  What was wrong with her?

  Maud and Hugo had given her the best place to stay a girl could imagine. Rachel was happy, which was the whole aim of this journey. Why wouldn’t her mind keep still?

  Because her mind was miles away, with Hugo. With the man who’d kissed her senseless.

  If he kissed her again...

  He wouldn’t. He wasn’t coming back until it was time to return to Alice Springs. After that, she’d see him only in the corporate and society pages of the media.