by Mandy Magro
Ronny groaned as he nodded. ‘Tell me about it. I really need the work and Ivy and her aunts seem like they’d be nice people to work for. It would only be for a couple of months, until the renovations are completed, so it’s not like I’m taking on something where I’ll be around Ivy forever.’ He shrugged. ‘And I don’t want to piss Shirley off either, seeing as I asked her about work in the first place. It’s going to make me seem like I’m a bullshit artist, and I really don’t want the girls from the CWA thinking that of me, especially when they were like family to Lottie, not to mention the fact Shirley’s your girlfriend.’
Larry shook a finger towards him and exhaled heavily. ‘It’s bloody difficult being in a small town, where everyone knows everyone’s business – well, they like to think they do – and because of that everyone has strong opinions of what a person is like based on mostly hearsay. So if ya make yourself out to be someone you’re not right off the bat, no matter what your reasoning, it’s gonna be a bloody hard uphill battle to prove otherwise.’ Larry took another mouthful of his pie. ‘I reckon you’re just going to have to bite the bullet and take the job on, otherwise you’re probably going to draw more attention to yourself and get a shitty reputation. And believe me when I say that ya don’t want to get on the wrong side of Shirley – she’s a top sheila and I love her to bits, but boy oh boy, she’s not one to take kindly to people who bullshit her, and she won’t be backwards in letting ya know that either.’
Grinning at Larry’s strained expression, Ronny felt a surprising flood of relief. Having someone he trusted with his life telling him to do what he’d been feeling in his gut the past few hours was just the shove he needed. ‘I’ll give Ivy a call tonight and let her know I’ll do the job. That’s if she still wants me to, after the way I was with her on the phone.’
Larry shoved the last of his pie into his mouth then wiped around his lips with a paper serviette. ‘Ya know what, I reckon that conversation is best kept for when ya see her tomorrow. Ya only told her this morning that ya weren’t really ready to take work on, it’s a bit of a fast turnaround to call her back now and say otherwise. Just tell her ya slept on the idea and decided you’d like to help them out, and you’re looking forward to doing a job ya love.’
‘You know what, Larry, I reckon you’re right.’
Larry gave him a toothy grin. ‘I’m always right, although Shirley likes to tell me otherwise.’
‘You should’ve learnt by now that the woman is always right.’ Ronny laughed as he opened his can of Coke. ‘Speaking of Shirley, how was your date night?’
Larry beamed from ear to ear. ‘Oh, mate, it was bloody tops. The best damn date I’ve ever been on. That woman is one in a million, I tell ya. I’m one lucky bloke to have her in my life.’
Although genuinely pleased for Larry, Ronny couldn’t help but feel a little envious of his mate’s happy relationship. He wanted to find someone to spend time with too, maybe even find a one-in-a-million kind of love – though he knew that was not an easy feat. He ignored his own despondency and instead beamed broadly.
‘That’s what I like to hear. Did you end up getting that deep-fried ice cream you were on about?’
‘Oh, I went one step further and pulled out all the stops.’
Ronny winced playfully. ‘Do I need to know what that one step further was?’
‘Oh come on, it was nothing like that, ya dirty bugger. I do have a bit of class.’ Larry blew on his fingernails and then pretended to shine them on the Hawaiian shirt Shirley had given him. ‘After dinner I took her to the movies and we snuggled up in the back row and ate choc-top ice creams, and I stole a few kisses from her too.’
‘Like I said, you’re an old romantic at heart.’
‘Yeah, I gotta admit Shirl’s brought that side outta me – I felt like I was seventeen again, but don’t let anyone know, otherwise my hard-as-nails reputation will be completely ruined.’ He gave Ronny a wink.
‘After keeping my big dirty secret safe all these years, your closet romanticism is definitely safe with me, Smithy. I owe you one, mate.’
‘And what big secret might that be, Mr Sinclair?’ A woman’s voice interrupted their conversation and as he held his breath, Ronny turned to see Amy Mayberry’s breasts trying to escape from her top, her chest at his eye level as she leant on his chair.
Shit, how much of their conversation had she heard? His heart took off at a gallop as he looked up into Amy’s wide eyes. ‘Hi, Amy … um, well.’ He felt like he was speaking through cotton wool, his mouth had gone so dry from panic.
Larry saved him. ‘Now if he told ya his big secret then it wouldn’t be one, would it?’ He grinned teasingly at Amy as he spooned four sugars into his cup. ‘And on top of that is the important fact that he’d have to kill ya if he told ya.’
‘Oh my God, that makes me need to know even more!’ Amy smiled seductively as she put her butt on the armrest of Ronny’s chair and then slid her arm around his shoulder, her denim skirt riding so far up her thighs barely anything was left to the imagination. Ronny had a strong urge to pull the fabric back down to give the woman some dignity. ‘Oh, come on now, boys, I love secrets and they’re certainly safe with me.’ She ran her fingers across her chest in the shape of an X. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die, and all that.’
Ronny doubted Amy could keep anything secret so he tried a diversionary tactic, desperate to get the focus off what she’d heard. ‘So, Amy, you should pop in for a cuppa sometime, seeing we’re neighbours now.’
It seemed to work as Amy gave him a smile that would turn most blokes to mush. ‘Ooh, I’d love to, Ronny … thanks for the invite. I might take you up on it this weekend if you’re going to be around.’
‘Oh, shit, I’m over at Ivy’s this weekend, fulfilling my duty as her slave, so maybe take a raincheck and you can call over the following weekend, or something.’ He shrugged. ‘Whenever suits you really. I’m pretty much always there.’
‘Other than this weekend, that is.’ A sour look fleetingly crossed Amy’s petite features before she recovered and gave him a dazzling smile. ‘But that will be lovely for you, I suppose, going to slave for Ivy … in a boring kinda way. She will certainly have plenty of handyman jobs for you seeing as she can’t find a man who will love her enough to do it for her.’ She laughed cruelly. ‘I kinda feel sorry for you having to slave for her an entire weekend. I couldn’t think of anything worse.’ She sighed then shrugged. ‘But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, hey.’
Ronny bit his tongue, annoyed with Amy for speaking about Ivy that way. Ivy Tucker was the most loveable woman he’d ever met. But he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. ‘I signed up for the gig, so I suppose so.’ He wiped the last of his sausage roll from his fingers. ‘And to be honest, I’m actually looking forward to checking the place out. Healing Hills sounds like heaven on earth to a horse lover like me, and I really like Ivy and her aunts.’
‘But you barely know them.’
‘I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character.’
‘Fair enough, different strokes for different folks, I suppose.’ Amy ruffled his short hair, completely oblivious to his change of mood. ‘I’ll take a raincheck, handsome, and call over when I get a night off.’
Ronny fought to stay friendly, Amy’s blatant dislike of Ivy getting deep beneath his skin. He’d cottoned on to the fact there was bad blood between the two at the fundraiser, but he didn’t go for bitchiness, and Amy was being a bitch. He was having a hard time stopping himself from telling her so.
‘Okay, Amy, sounds good. Whenever suits you.’ His voice was expressionless. He regretted asking her over but he couldn’t go back on his invitation now. He mentally slapped himself as he tried to at least remain pleasant; she and her parents were his neighbours and he didn’t want any bad blood with them from being nasty to Amy.
Thankfully, Amy seemed completely unaware of his true feelings. She gave him a wink. ‘I’ll hold you to that invitation, Mr Sincla
ir.’
A slightly uncomfortable silence fell and Amy graced Ronny with a come-get-me smile.
‘So, come on then, are you going to tell me what this big secret is?’
Ronny groaned inwardly. His tactic hadn’t worked at all. ‘Oh all right then, you’ve twisted my arm, I’ll let you in on the secret, but as long as you promise to keep those lips of yours sealed.’
Larry kicked Ronny’s shin under the table and Ronny fought not to shout in pain. He threw Larry a sideways glance. Larry gave him a stern but discreet look and then avoided Amy’s gaze by pretending to be completely captivated by the froth on his cappuccino.
Amy clapped her hands together as she wriggled off the armrest and planted her butt on Ronny’s lap. ‘Well, come on then, tell me, tell me – I’m dying here.’
Ronny whispered into Amy’s ear so Larry couldn’t hear him.
Amy’s mouth dropped to the floor and her hand flew to her chest. ‘Oh my God, really?’
Ronny nodded, his face serious. ‘Yup, no word of a lie.’
Amy shook her head in absolute disbelief. ‘Well, fuck me dead; I never would have guessed it. And trust me when I say this, it makes you a whole lot sexier in my eyes, because you’re more of a challenge.’
‘Really?’ Ronny sat back in his chair. ‘Well, there you bloody well go.’
Amy’s phone chimed in her bag and she plunged her hand into it in her haste to answer. ‘Hello. Yes, okay, no problems. Oh shit, really? What an absolute arsehole. Men, hey? Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.’ She paused for a moment, shaking her head as if in total disbelief. ‘Oh honey-bunny, that sucks, big time. I’ll be there in five and we can go get ourselves some retail therapy.’
She tossed the phone back in her bag. ‘Gotta run, girly problems.’ She leapt off Ronny’s lap and, just like the first time they’d met, landed a kiss fair on his lips. ‘Catch you at your place sometime soon you handsome man.’
Ronny ached to wipe his lips. ‘Okey dokey.’
Larry and Ronny watched her dash off down the footpath, the atmosphere between them heavy.
As soon as she was safely out of hearing range, Larry smacked his palm down on the table. ‘What the fuck did ya just do, Ronny? I mean, I know it’s your life and all, but really? Amy Mayberry, of all people? We’ve spent years keeping your past –’
Ronny held up his hands. ‘Hold your horses, Larry. As if I’d tell her about that.’ He had never seen Larry so burred up. He had to put him out of his misery to stop the bloke from busting an artery. ‘I told her I’m a virgin.’
Larry’s anxiety melted away as he burst into uncontrollable laughter. He kept trying to speak but found it impossible because he was hooting so hard.
Ronny laughed with him. Once half composed again, he said, ‘Am I forgiven now, Lazza?’
Larry finally took a breath, his eyes wet with mirthful tears. ‘My bloody oath ya are, but I’m warning ya – the whole town is now going to think you’re a virgin.’
Ronny shrugged. ‘Don’t care really, it’s better than them knowing the truth.’
‘Fair point,’ Larry said before sculling the last of his cappuccino. ‘Anyhow, times a-ticking so we better get cracking if we want to get the horses shod and the weeds cleaned out of the dam before sundown.’
***
Stepping from the hardware store, her arms ladened with bags filled with decking oil and every nail and screw imaginable, Ivy froze as she caught sight of Amy and Ronny canoodling like lovers on a chair out the front of the bakery. A cry stuck in the back of her throat and envy engulfed her as she watched Ronny lean in and whisper something in Amy’s ear, then Amy’s face lit up like it was the most amazing thing she’d ever heard – the drama queen. Ivy felt her heart wrench. Larry sat at the table too, and seemed a little embarrassed by Ronny and Amy’s open show of affection, and she couldn’t blame him.
Not wanting to be spotted, she tiptoed to the side of the footpath and stood behind a manicured shrub just tall enough to conceal her, wincing as one of the twigs grazed her arm. She ignored the droplets of blood, unable to take her eyes from the pair. They looked so damn happy it infuriated her – life just wasn’t playing fair. And obviously her initial thoughts had been correct – the two were together. The real reason Ronny hadn’t called yesterday was right there in front of her – Amy I’ll-get-whatever-bloke-I-want Mayberry. Ivy’s heart sank as she imagined the two of them ravishing each other in every position possible, before the realisation that Ronny was the same as every other bloke she’d ever come across overwhelmed her. How could her instincts have been so wrong about him? He’d seemed so different. If she were to be completely honest, she’d held a glimmer of hope that the hot new bloke in town might be a true gentleman, a guy who wanted something more than a fling, her knight in shining armour, seeing as the rest of the blokes in Bluegrass Bend were either already taken, players, commitment phobic or – as she’d very recently learnt – gay.
After watching as Amy planted a kiss firmly on Ronny’s lips and strutted away, Ivy returned to her ute. She’d planned on grabbing one of the bakery’s pies for lunch, but there was no way in hell she was going over there now. Like wet fingers upon a candle flame, any fantasies she’d harboured about Ronny Sinclair – and there had been plenty of them since she’d first laid eyes upon him at the bank – had been extinguished by what she’d just witnessed. As much as she hated to admit it, she was attracted to the bloke, and she felt, somewhere deep inside, like she’d already known him for a lifetime, as though they were somehow already connected. It was a foreign feeling, but she liked it, a lot. As much as she wanted to deny it to herself, she was excited to see if things might eventually develop between them. And now he’d gone and ruined it for her. Forever.
She shook her head, disappointed in herself. She clearly wasn’t thinking straight, lusting after a man she knew nothing about. This connection she’d been feeling with him was just her imagination playing tricks on her. Desperation to be in love, she thought. The same as it had been with Malcolm. Damn her emotions and her romantic fantasies – she should have learnt by now they never came to fruition. Part of her wanted to storm over there and tell Ronny he was being a dickhead, giving his heart to a woman like Amy, but another part of her, a very big part, knew it was none of her business what Ronny Sinclair did – or what Amy Mayberry did, for that matter. They were both adults, and if they wanted each other, then so be it. Maybe it was a blessing he wouldn’t be taking the renovation job on.
Revving her ute to life, she pulled out into a gap in the traffic, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she drove past the bakery and towards Healing Hills.
CHAPTER
12
Brilliant hues of orange and red poured out over the horizon like a pot of spilled molten lava. The spectacular sunrise danced on Ronny’s windscreen, making it difficult for him to see the road. He leant forwards in his seat, adjusting his hat and then his sunglasses. After the kangaroo episode the other day, he was being extra cautious to not run into one.
The azure sky overhead showed no sign of rain, and he was glad – it would make his day a whole lot easier. He’d made sure to pack all the essential tools to get a renovation job on the roll – his cordless drill, pry bars, circular saw, electric planer and mitre saw, as well as his well-stocked toolbox. Thank God for Lottie keeping all his tools of the trade safely stored wrapped in sheets; everything was still in perfect working condition albeit a little outdated. But he didn’t care how old his stuff was, as long as something worked he didn’t believe in replacing it to get the new you-beaut model. He was a firm believer in being thankful for what you had, especially after experiencing what it was like to have nothing but the basics in prison.
Thinking Healing Hills might be a nice place to sit and strum some tunes on his lunch break, he’d brought his guitar, which was now sitting beside him on the front seat, strapped in safely with the seatbelt. He hadn’t really had much of a chance to play since arriving a
t Sundown Farm, other than a few times while watching the sunset on the back verandah, and he hoped Ivy wouldn’t mind the fact he’d brought it along. Although why should she, being the amazing musician she was? He hoped she’d agree to play some tunes with him; perhaps it would ease the tension between them, not to mention his own nerves.
He drove without haste down Bluegrass Bend’s main street, appreciating that they had all they needed for day-to-day living. With its narrow streets, cosy cottages, independently owned shops, and beautifully manicured gardens, the town really was the epitome of chocolate-box charm. He loved it here.
He waved to the few people already out and about on the footpaths – some getting their morning papers from the newsagency or grabbing brekkie from the bakery, but the majority were out for their daily walks with beloved pooches. Not that he knew any of them by name – and only a handful of them by face. The calm pace of the lifestyle here made him forever grateful he called this wonderful place home – he wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
Pulling into one of the many empty parking spaces, Ronny grabbed his wallet from the dash and made a beeline for the bakery. It might be nice to break the ice by turning up with a peace offering for brekkie. He didn’t know if Ivy drank coffee, but he was going to get a vanilla latte for himself and take a punt by getting her one too, along with a couple of the bakery’s cherry danishes.
Ten minutes later he was headed out of town and towards Healing Hills, the landscape a collage of apple, cherry, blueberry, peach and chestnut farms, open fields with horses, sheep and cattle, rolling hills that dropped into rocky mountainsides and blissful nothingness. His mouth watered as the scent of the danishes made him think of biting into them, but he wanted to wait and eat with Ivy, although he was going to make a start on his coffee. Humming Gary Allan’s ‘It Ain’t the Whiskey’, Ronny flicked down the sun visor and then turned the song up as he hit the hundred zone and accelerated. A buzz of excitement washed over him. Although he wasn’t getting paid for the next couple of days, it felt good to be going to work as a carpenter for the very first time in almost nine years – even if it meant he was going to be near a woman who made his heart go like the clappers. He held high hopes he was going to be able to handle the effect Ivy had on him. Self-control was a quality he’d learnt to master in prison thanks to meditation, and he was hoping he’d also be able to master it in Ivy’s company, too, because there was no way they’d ever have a future together, no matter how much he craved it. The only way they could ever be together would be if he told her who he actually was, and that was never going to happen. He doubted the feelings he had for her would be reciprocated anyway – Ivy didn’t seem the least bit interested in him. And besides, he truly believed she deserved someone better than him, a man with a squeaky-clean past and a bright future, a man who didn’t have to hide things from her.
