When she turned to check where Brad was, he grabbed her shoulder to prevent them colliding as he leaned around her to settle a dish on the table.
‘That was close.’ His voice was throaty, almost a whisper.
She looked up into the deep pools of his eyes, and the distant sound of the grandfather clock ticked over the slowest twenty seconds of her life.
‘Brad.’
‘Yes.’
His breath feathered her cheek, and her windpipe shrank. She licked her lips and they parted moments before he stepped back.
‘Dinner is up in a sec.’ He turned, leaving her heart plodding along in a slow drug-induced beat.
After settling her wine glass on the table, she sat down, and gathered what was left of her wits, which wasn’t much. Although they needed to air their concerns, she shouldn't have agreed to come here for dinner. It was an invitation for more torment, more emotional pain, something she thought she could overcome. It was obvious her feelings for him were stuck in concrete.
Brad carried two dishes and placed them in the centre of the table. ‘I’ll grab the other plates.’
When he returned, he placed a dinner plate with sliced lamb on it in front of her. ‘Help yourself.’ He slipped onto the seat at the head of the table.
She piled her plate with the baked potato and pumpkin and added a few greens before dousing her meal with gravy. Why was it she was the only one aware of something between them? That near up close and personal, the thing that happened moments ago, didn’t seem to make a blip on his emotional radar. It was as though it never happened.
‘You know some people would say this is the way to my heart.’
‘I said this was friends-only bases.’
Samantha placed her fork down, took a sip of wine and looked directly at him. ‘I thought we felt the same way about each other. You even admitted your feelings to me on the coast.’
He seemed hesitant to talk but after a few moments he said, ‘I know I said we’d talk. I’m finding it difficult.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘What? You’re finding it difficult to talk?’
‘Unusual for me, but it’s true. There is a reason I didn’t call.’ His intense eyes, hooded by dark eyebrows, steadied over her.
‘Yes. You told me your phone was destroyed.’
‘That I did. When I left you that morning…I was driving down the freeway and I had an accident.’
Samantha placed a cupped hand over her mouth. Her forehead creased with concern.
‘Yes. And?’
‘Sam, I’m not the same person anymore. I’m not the man you met.’
She screwed up her face. ‘What happened?’
‘I had a head-on car accident. The other car swerved to the wrong side of the road. I couldn’t avoid the impact. It happened so fast. I was transported to the Royal North Shore Hospital, to the emergency department. My lower spine was injured and I had a punctured lung and several broken bones with lacerations over my back and chest.’
‘You had a car accident?’
‘Yes. I told you my mobile was destroyed.’
'Are you saying you would have called me?'
‘I had your number up on my blue tooth screen ready to hit connect moments before I was hit.’
‘That day, hours after you left me?’ Her voice quivered with disbelief.
‘I wanted to find out where you lived and your last name. Remember you didn’t give it to me? I recall you saying you lived on a property out west. But that’s all you said. I did retrieve some numbers from old bills, but your number hadn’t been used therefore it was untraceable.’
She gave a slow disbelieving shake of her head. ‘I’m so sorry about your accident. That means…we seemed to have a good time together and we got on well.’
He nodded, picked up his wine glass and drank a few mouthfuls. ‘We did. But as I said the accident changed everything.’
She leaned to one side, checked him over. ‘You appear okay now.’
‘I’m not a hundred percent. I never will be. It’s taken a year to get to how I am today.’
Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. ‘Whatever it is, don’t you think you should work through it? We could work through it.’
‘I’ve told you why.’
‘And still I’m left in the dark. You haven’t told me how you’ve changed...hang on a minute... you can still...you know.’
He chuckled and her insides warmed at the deep masculine sound.
‘Yes, I can still have sex, if that’s what you mean.’
‘So why? Why don’t you want to work through it? Pick up where we left off.’
‘It’s not as simple as that.’
‘How have you changed?’ Samantha pronged the last of her roast into her mouth, and washed it down with a gulp of wine.
‘I don’t want the same things anymore.’
‘You mean to say...’ A warm flush crept across her cheeks.
‘No. It isn’t like that.’
She knew what he meant, what he was saying. Since the accident he didn’t want her. She drew in a slow breath. ‘Do you need a hand to clean up?’
‘No thanks. There’s not much to do.’
‘Well then.’ She stood. ‘Thank you for a nice meal. I think I should go.’
‘Sam.’ His chair scraped over the floorboards as he pushed to his feet.
‘No need to show me out. I know where the door is.’ She made a straight path for the front door and looked back over her shoulder. ‘By the way, you didn’t have to cook a meal for me to tell me it was an accident that prevented you from contacting me.’
Chapter Seven
Samantha stormed to her car and scrambled in. After firing up the engine she gave it a few revs and spun the wheels on a turn, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. Out on the main road, she swerved to the shoulder of the road, came to a bumpy standstill and dropped her forehead on the steering wheel. She stayed like that for what seemed like ages before lifting her head, brushing at annoying tears.
He’d been injured badly. Had he been alone in hospital all that time? What did he mean by, ‘I’m not the man you met?’ He certainly was different to the man she’d met that day. The man he was today was secretive, mysterious. He was hiding details of not only his car accident but something much deeper remained hidden in the dark shadows of his eyes.
She thought their relationship might have blossomed from their brief encounter and although it wasn’t on purpose that he didn’t call her, it was obvious friendship was the only thing on his mind, and that’s all he was going to get. He was now a burr in her life and she’d had enough of dancing around in the paddocks, stopping here and there to pluck out a burr. If this meant what a woman had to go through to have any sort of relationship with a man, she didn’t want any part of it. Her insides were a mess.
***
‘First day of the hols. Yay for me.’ Christopher bounced into the kitchen. ‘What’s on my to-do list today?’
Samantha turned with a smile set to her lips. ‘Cameron said you can ride out with him. Round up a few strays. There’s been talk about cattle going missing, so we have to keep an eye out.’
‘What, rustlers?’
‘It’s not something to get excited about Chris. It’s serious.’
‘I’ve never seen a cattle rustler.’
Cameron walked into the room. ‘You don’t want to either. They pack a mean punch.’
‘They look like anyone else, except they steal cattle Chris.’
‘They still pack a mean punch. Detectives from New South Wales and Victoria have joined with Queensland to work together on standardising their enforcement policies. Apparently it’s a specialist field. The rustlers need to know the industry, how to work cattle and they also need to know how to communicate with the people in the industry.’
‘It could be anyone living in the area.’ Samantha looked at Cameron.
‘Basically. The thieves are getting wiser when they move stock. They re-brand th
em and re-identify them even when they have electronic tags.’
‘It makes it tough for the honest worker,’ Christopher added.
‘It only takes a few hours for them to move stock across the border into Queensland making them harder to trace. It’s a nightmare.’
‘Are we carrying rifles today?’
‘I am. Not sure about you.’ Cameron gave Samantha a sceptical look. ‘What do you think Sam?’
‘One rifle will be fine. It’s not that bad at present. But if things do get worse, we’ll need all the manpower we can get.’
‘There’s been a few occurrences now,’ Cameron said.
‘I’ve only heard of one recently.’
‘It’s a bigger problem than anyone realises. Not all thefts are recorded and not everyone knows they’re losing cattle.’
‘We need to keep a close eye on them.’
‘And I don’t know that? They’re herding stock across the border into Queensland,’ Cameron said.
‘Are we moving some of the cattle up to the top paddocks?’ Christopher asked.
‘The first pipeline’s in and it feeds the lower paddocks. It’s been running for a while now. We’ll check it out. Perhaps put a few hundred head down there, keep the rest up near the high end of the ridge. Rotate them as best as we can.’
Christopher nodded, seemingly enthused by the workload ahead and added, ‘I do know how to shoot, Sam.’
‘I know you do Chris, but for now one rifle is enough.’ Samantha didn’t want an accident to happen, although he was right about being a good shot. Her father had taught him well. After his departure, Cameron took over the job.
‘Mike’s saddling up your horse this time to make sure it’s on right,’ Cameron remarked.
‘What d’ you mean? I had it on right last time.’
‘How come the goddamn thing slipped off and you got a broken arm in the process?’
‘I hit a branch on a tree, and fell off.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’
‘Come on you two, it’s over and done with. Just be careful Chris.’
Christopher’s eyes brightened once again. ‘I’m ready to go when you are Cam.’
After breakfast, a knock sounded on the front door.
‘Who’s that?’
‘It’s most probably Brad.’
‘What’s he doing here today?’ Samantha’s insides took a dive. She didn’t want to set eyes on him, not after what had happened last night. She made a dash toward the back of the house, and piled some washing into the machine.
Deep masculine voices drifted through the house and she stilled, listening carefully.
‘How’d the hot date go last night?’
‘I thought Sam would have told you all about it.’
‘She didn’t say a word.’
‘It wasn’t a hot date. It was to give her a break from you guys.’
Cameron chuckled. ‘You think we’re too much to handle?’
‘I think being a young woman, looking after three grown men would be draining.’
Annoyed, she tossed more clothes into the washing machine and switched it on to drown out their chatter.
***
On fading light, Samantha glanced at the clock. It was almost six and her brothers hadn’t returned. She walked out toward the stables hoping to speak to Mike, only to discover he wasn’t about. Turning on the heel of her boot she listened. It seemed unusually quiet and it worried her. Where was everyone?
After saddling Raven, and making her way toward the mountains, she sensed that something was wrong. She rode for at least half an hour and hadn’t spotted anyone. Her concerns rose. A few cattle in a nearby paddock looked up as she passed by, but they took no further interest and continued to graze.
She guided Raven to the highest part of the ridge, which usually gave a good view out over the property, although the rocky outcrops and dense shrub blocked the paddocks toward the Falls. With dusk hanging in the atmosphere, an eerie quietness hovered over the land.
A movement caught the corner of her eye, and she stood upright in the stirrups, trying to get a better look. To the left of the track that led up toward the Falls, dark images flickered over the boulders.
Through the developing twilight she counted at least five men on horseback. Guiding Raven down the incline to get a closer look, she moved between the shrubs and trees to remain camouflaged, and slowed to a stop. Samantha dismounted, tethered Raven to a nearby tree and gave him a pat. ‘You stay here. Be quiet.’ She stepped quietly toward the gathering of men. A clearer picture moved into view. They were young men, nothing like the older men she expected and they didn’t resemble any of the workers employed at Raven Falls.
The blood in her body pounded through her veins when she spotted rifles in their hands. It appeared they meant business, and now when she needed her rifle it sat in the locked cabinet back at the house.
Without protection, she backed away almost holding her breath. A loud crack, followed by a rustling sound forced her to swing back only to spot the men heading in her direction.
Her nerves escalated and she bolted. With trembling fingers, she untethered Raven and hoisted herself up onto the saddle to head back to the house. The sooner she felt the warm wood and steel of the rifle in her hands the safer she’d be.
Raven kicked up into a gallop the moment she reached the ridge but instead of heading along the top edge she galloped down the opposite side, hoping to keep some distance from the men pursuing. She wondered if they knew the property as well as she did.
The thumping of Raven’s hoofs against the dry soil, and the rumbling underground from behind forced her to check her wake. They were closing in, and one of the men pulled out his rifle. Oh God no. Where were her brothers?
She directed Raven further downwards toward another lower track. A shot echoed through the atmosphere, ringing in her ears. She swung back; they hadn’t gained any ground and she continued at that pace until the sight of the house moved into view.
Coming to a standstill, she left Raven and bolted to the cabinet in the house to where they stored the rifles, grabbed the one she’d always called her own, checked the cartridge and unclipped the safety catch.
When she returned outdoors, she yelled, ‘Mike. Mike. Rustlers. I’m heading back out.’
Mike ran toward her. ‘You be careful. Where’s your brothers?’
‘That’s the problem. I don’t know.’
‘I’ll send Adam and some of the boys out to back you up. Where are they the rustlers?’
‘I spotted them to the right of the main track that leads toward the Falls. About a quarter of the way out.’ Samantha didn’t wait for any more talk. Her brothers were out there and there were strangers on the property, uninvited strangers that were apparently up to no good.
Checking her wake numerous times as well as her surrounds, she rode down the rise to where she originally spotted the men. To her right, three horsemen were heading away from her. She raised her rifle, and fired two shots into the air before giving chase. They took off, but she remained on their tail, firing a second round of warning shots, ensuring that they knew she meant business and that she wasn’t about to give up.
They disappeared through a fence that had two missing panels. It was probably the exit they were going to use to herd the cattle through. Satisfied that they were gone, she turned back, hoping her brothers were okay.
Making a slow trek back to the top of the ridge, a cloud of dust kicked up from the ground below. She recognised the rider heading away from the Falls and fast. It was Stephen. She’d know his Akubra anywhere. If she called out, the sound would dissipate into the air. She directed Raven down the ridge until she reached flat ground and gained a steady gallop until she was within earshot.
‘Wait up.’
He slowed and she neared him. ‘What’s happened?’
‘It’s Christopher. We haven’t seen him all afternoon.’
‘What? You were supposed to keep an eye on him.’
‘It’s a bit hard when you gotta keep an eye on all the bloody cattle.’
‘Why didn’t someone call back at the house and tell me earlier?’
‘Cam said it would be best to find Christopher first to save you the unnecessary worry.’
She gave her head a shake and let out a huff. ‘Where are they?’
‘Cam’s near the falls. Brad took the right trail around back. I’ve searched along the ridge and some of the lower paddocks.’
‘So where is Christopher?’
‘If I knew that we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Take it easy, there’s not much light left.’
‘I know. I just chased three men off the property.’
‘Where?’
‘To the left of the Falls. There are two more but I didn’t see them when I returned. I gather they’re still out there.’
‘Be careful Sam.’
‘I will. I have this.’ She tapped her rifle beside her leg.
She pulled on the reins and patted Raven softly on the crest of his neck. ‘Come on boy.’ What had Christopher gone and done this time? Her nerves stretched to the max.
Samantha headed toward the Falls and slowed when she reached the edge of the mountain, to head around the track that ran toward the back of the Falls. A few moments later, the uneven terrain and fading light prevented her from venturing much farther.
‘Christopher!’ She backtracked and a sound more distinct than the usual rustling through the dry grass caught her attention. She directed Raven away from the track.
Two horses were tethered to a tree and an outline of Brad filtered into view.
‘Brad.’
‘Sam, we’re over here.’
Samantha dismounted and made her way around the prickly scrub. The moment she set eyes on Christopher, she ran toward him and dropped to the ground, her knees jarring to a stop on the dry soil beside him.
‘What happened? What happened?’ His face was a bluish red colour. One eye was swollen and resembled a small slit.
Raven Falls: Australian Rural Romantic Suspense Page 11
