Ben nudged her gently and Izzy rolled in under his shoulder.
‘I love your arms,’ she said as she stroked his bicep. ‘I’ve never known anyone with such strength in them.’
Her feather touch was electric. He tightened his grip around her shoulder and she craned to meet his eyes.
‘Shame about the legs,’ he quipped.
‘I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna love them too.’
He leant towards her and looked into her stormy grey-blue eyes. She edged up his shoulder, stroking his beard as they sought each other’s mouths.
The kiss was long, deep. Izzy ran her fingers through his hair, pushing the back of his head to bring him even closer.
He was hard, his need urgent. He traced her face with his fingers, his hands ran down her shoulders, along her waist and around the full curve of her hip. Then he scooped her onto his lap.
She pulled up her peasant skirt, and straddled him, never breaking her gaze. She held his shoulders and began to ride his hardness with slow, sinuous moves, pleasuring herself against him. He felt the sweat bead on his face as she caught her lower lip in her teeth.
Ben pulled off her white blouse and unhooked her bra. Her breasts were large and firm – so, so soft. He brushed her perfect nipple with a fingertip. Then he took her breasts and gently kneaded in time with his quickening breath. She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, letting her nipples graze his chest. She seemed to be right on the brink.
Suddenly, they were pulling, tearing at their remaining clothes. And there she was. Naked, kneeling on the couch right next to him.
He saw that Izzy was also taking him in, and if she was shocked by his thin legs she was not showing it. He ran both hands down to feel her alabaster belly. Then to the glistening ginger fuzz beckoning him further. The tiny fair hairs stood alert on her arms shining in the lamplight against her skin – skin like cream he could just lick and lick. Ben reached for the warmth of her, the wetness. Izzy shivered.
‘Let’s lie down.’ She placed a cushion under his head, then knelt on the floor and took him in her hand, firmly.
‘Do you want me?’ she whispered. He could only look at her imploringly. She slithered across him and her lips found his again. As she slid onto his pulsing shaft, he took hold of her buttocks. She rose fell, rose fell.
He could hardly see her face for the amber hair cascading, damp on his chest. Just as he called out in release, so did she – a high, sad note, then a few small whimpers.
Ben wasn’t sure what time it was when they woke.
He made his way back from the bathroom to find Izzy leaning on the kitchen counter.
‘I think the Chinese delivers,’ she said.
‘Perfect.’ He stopped to kiss her while she tapped at her phone’s keypad.
‘Hope you didn’t unpack into that other room,’ she said. ‘We’ve got three whole nights of this.’
CHAPTER 23
‘Lachlan,’ called Nina. ‘Got a sec?’
‘Sure,’ said Lachlan, flinching at the sound of her voice. He came out of the office.
‘Let’s walk,’ she said over her shoulder, as she pushed open the front door.
‘What’s up?’ he asked, following her down the verandah’s timber stairs. Panic rose in his throat. She was all he had left.
Nina didn’t answer. He watched her walk down the cracked pathway to the gate, her slim form clad in white shortie overalls.
‘Where are we going?’ he asked.
‘I need to talk with you about moving out some time soon.’ She pushed open the garden gate and led him across the yard past the shearers’ quarters.
‘Lachlan, you know things have changed. And let’s face it, you and Heath are never going to get on, really.’
‘But, Nina …’
She held up her hand. ‘Please, this is difficult enough for me to say, let me finish. I need you to hear this. I really appreciate everything you have done in helping me out, the books, the cooking …’
Lachlan looked at the newly-fixed guttering on the shearers’ quarters, the piles of freshly chopped timber stacked outside. She really didn’t know the half of what he had done. He’d worked his arse off trying to please her. Now he was being dumped, again. Like mother, like daughter. He clenched his jaw trying to calm down enough to think.
‘We always knew it wouldn’t be permanent,’ she said.
‘What, so you want to get rid of me now I’ve done all this work?’
Nina looked at him. ‘This is really hard. I hope you understand. Everything you’ve done at The Springs has been fantastic and I’m so grateful, but it’s time for you to get back to your own life.’
‘But I’m as good as the only family you have left. If I go, it’s the last connection you have with your father. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?’
She teetered across the cattle grid to the open paddock beyond towards the line of young trees that Heath had planted. Lachlan looked across at the open sky, the heat softened by the gathering afternoon clouds.
‘I know, Lachlan. But if you stay things will just get worse. I’m the meat in the sandwich,’ she continued.
He hurried to catch up with her.
‘Is he making you choose between us?’ He was angry now. ‘It’s always Heath this, Heath that. Christ, I deserve some credit too. I made a stupid mistake with the damn cattle. Now I’m being shafted. All I did was try to help you. You can’t run this place yourself and get any painting done. I’ve made that happen for you … for you. You’ve really got a hide!’
Nina looked a little startled. Lachlan immediately regretted his outburst but things were going from bad to worse. There was nothing solid left. Why did he ever gamble that money? But it had seemed such a sure bet. And they were still hassling Steph. He’d had another call from her this morning. He gazed at the fragile stems of the new saplings and shivered.
‘Look, I’m sorry I snapped, Nina, but this hurts. What if I stay in town – at the caravan park – and just come out to do the books and everything a couple of days a week?’ He knew it sounded pathetic.
But Nina’s eyes were resolved. ‘Lachlan, please don’t make this harder for me. I can’t have you here helping. It’s over. Let’s say three weeks to finalise everything and then say goodbye.’ She picked a young gum leaf and rubbed it between her fingers. Its pungent scent turned his stomach.
‘Why now? Has someone said something?’ asked Lachlan.
‘If you mean Izzy, yes I know, and that’s part of it. And Heath is right behind this decision.’
He stopped as Nina walked on.
Heath. He had really underestimated him. All that government money. And now they were talking fucking wedding bells. And he was right not to trust that little slut, Izzy. A lone magpie landed, warbling on a fence post. It seemed like an omen now. One for sorrow, his mother would have said. This, by rights, should have been her land. And then his.
There was no-one for miles around, just Nina standing small in the vast landscape.
Summoned, there was no other word for it. Heath had been summoned to Paramour.
He smiled to himself as he pulled up at the top of the sweeping gravel drive, narrowly missing the livelier of Hilary’s yappy dogs. Why did he agree to come here? For Nina. Mostly. She had made a huge effort and he wanted to show her that he, too, was willing to do whatever it took. But there were other reasons why he had accepted Hilary’s invitation to visit Paramour for a ‘chat’. He was intrigued. What on earth could she want to discuss with him? And there was something else. As much as he hated to admit it, Heath enjoyed sparring with Nina’s mother.
He opened the car door as the second terrier joined the fray. They trotted after him as he walked up the drive, grimacing as he always did at the pristine lawns that had soaked up an unforgivable amount of hers and Kurrabar’s water allocation.
Heath passed the ornamental pond and climbed the marble steps to ring the bell. No answer. He didn’t have time for this, he thought, as he m
ade his way down the stairs and around to the back of the house. He headed past the gazebo towards the verandah.
More lawn. The green carpet stretched out to the white post and rail fence. It was divided by a bed of agapanthus, its centrepiece the sundial he had made for Deborah years ago. He shook his head as he took in the willow trees on the banks of the river beyond.
‘Heath? Over here!’
He looked around. It was Hilary. He could hear her but not see her.
A spray of water over his shoes. ‘Over here!’
She was in the pool. He groaned. How like Hilary to use that monstrous waste of a precious resource as a meeting room, he thought, as he walked towards the blue and white Grecian tiles. And so typically ballsy.
‘Good morning. Hot, isn’t it? Had breakfast?’ asked Hilary. She was wearing a black one-piece, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She was at the shallow end of the pool framed by two palm trees. She leant back on the edge of the pool, her legs floating out in front of her.
‘Yes, I have. But thanks.’
‘Bring your swimmers?’ she asked, head on the side, eyes squinting into the morning sun.
‘Funnily enough, no. I’m actually pretty busy, so if you don’t mind …’
‘Sure. Grab yourself some coffee before we get down to business,’ she said, motioning to a pot and cups on a nearby table. ‘And tell me. How does it feel to be Wandalla’s man of the moment? Business booming?’
She sounded genuinely interested.
‘Bloody brilliant actually,’ replied Heath as he turned and poured himself a cup. ‘It’s great that people are opening their eyes to new ideas. That’s what the money has really done – helped them understand what’s at stake.’ He stirred some sugar in his coffee and turned back to face the pool. ‘I can’t tell you what it’s like to finally be listened to.’ He paused. ‘Hilary? Hilary?’
She emerged at the other end of the pool doing a slow breast-stroke.
She hadn’t heard a word.
‘So, how about you tell me why you asked me here?’ said Heath as Hilary, now in a fluffy white robe, drank her coffee across from him at the table. ‘Not to congratulate me and talk wedding plans, I’m guessing.’
‘Mmmm. Congratulations are in order. We should celebrate. Croissant?’ she asked, offering him a plate.
‘No, thanks. But I’ll have another coffee. It’s fantastic.’
‘Naturally.’
He raised his eyebrows and poured.
Hilary continued: ‘Well, the truth is, I want your advice.’
‘You want advice? From me?’ smiled Heath, shaking his head. Nina will love this.
‘Yes,’ said Hilary. ‘Is that so hard to believe?’
‘Frankly, yes.’
‘Perhaps, now that you’ve cracked the big league, it might pay for you to take some of your own advice and open your mind a little.’
‘Touché!’ he replied.
Hilary smiled, and for a brief second he saw Nina’s face in hers. Better not tell Nina that.
‘The thing is,’ said Hilary, ‘I’ve been very successful in business as you know. And I can attribute most of that success to that brilliant husband of mine.’
Heath nodded. ‘Phillip was a good bloke, Hilary.’
‘Yes, he was. And he also had a knack of backing the right horse at the right time.’ She put her cup down and faced Heath, hands on her knees. ‘The one thing he knew was how to sniff the winds of change, and, frankly, I now see that Paramour has to change. I have to change.’
Heath stared at her. ‘I’m not sure I follow …’
Hilary sighed and looked beyond Heath over to the cotton fields. ‘I’m middle-aged, Heath. What happens when I get up in the morning? I look out my window and the cotton is growing, or being planted or harvested. I see my bank accounts ticking over, plenty of money coming in as usual. But I’m no idiot. I know what cotton does to the land. And lately I’m wondering why I’ve kept going with it for so long. It’s not the money. It’s not because of any loyalty to Phillip – he was looking at getting out years before his death. I think it’s really because I haven’t been sure what else I could do with myself.’
‘So, are you saying …’
‘What I’m saying is that when you get to my age you start considering what is really important,’ she said, looking back at him. ‘That stupid Settlers’ Ball also got me thinking.’
‘It wasn’t stupid, Hilary.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Let me finish. It made me realise I’ve benefited a lot from this land and I’ve put back very little. I need a change and if I ever want the grandchildren to feel at home, I need to give them some more interesting areas to muck about in than rows of cotton. A healthier river and some more trees might be a start. I’m not saying I want to give up business altogether – I’ll always have my finger in some venture. But yes, I want to get out of cotton.’
Heath wondered if this was really happening.
‘It’s leaching the river, as you say.’ Hilary was on a roll. ‘It’s just the nature of the business. I admit that over the years Paramour has probably – no definitely – sucked up more water than it should have. Including water meant for Kurrabar.’
Finally, after all these years, an admission. And Hilary seemed so genuine.
‘Big move. So, where do I come in?’ he asked.
‘Well, I was impressed with the Minister’s support for your project. Money talks. If the bigwigs are throwing cash at you, you must have some idea of what you’re doing,’ she said.
‘Gee, thanks,’ Heath said, smiling.
‘Ha!’ She flashed him a smile back. ‘Mac’s coming round to your way of thinking and Peg Myers is having a lot of success on Flodden Field with the changes you’ve made. Don’t get a swollen head but I think you may just be ahead of the pack on this one. Credit where it’s due. I want you to show me how I can rehabilitate the river on Paramour’s side. See if we can’t bring it back to some semblance of what it was.’
‘Geez. That’s a lot of work. Exciting and worthwhile but a big project all the same,’ said Heath.
Hilary shrugged. ‘Well, I’ll need something to do with my spare time besides riding. And swimming. Let me just clarify that the pool stays. My concern for water wastage only runs so deep.’
Heath shook his head, smiling.
‘Well?’ said Hilary. ‘What do you think?’
‘I’m … speechless – but pleased.’
‘Thank god for small mercies,’ said Hilary, gathering up the coffee cups. ‘Now, I haven’t got all day. Perhaps you’d better start working out what needs doing first.’
‘First? First I think comes this.’
Heath walked to the edge of the pool and dived in fully clothed.
He stood up, waist deep, his shirt dripping.
‘You bloody beauty, Hilary!’
CHAPTER 24
The familiar sulphurous aroma of The Springs’ bore water filled Ben with nostalgia as he floated, his eyes soaking in the perfect blue of the late spring sky.
He flipped over to watch Izzy sitting next to him in the lower bowl of Durham House’s stone fountain. The water came to her bended knees. She was blowing up the Stetson hat they’d won at the Show to use for a pillow.
‘You’ve just become part of a very long tradition,’ he told her. ‘When we were kids, we used to do exactly the same with Nina when she was here in the holidays – join all the hoses from the bore, fill up the lower bowl and wallow around like hippos. And back in his day, Nina’s father did the same thing. Probably Lachlan’s mother, too, in her generation.’
‘Don’t mention that name!’ Izzy splashed him.
‘Nina says he’ll be gone in less than a week and we won’t have to see the dickhead again,’ replied Ben. ‘Anyway, my point is that this is a kind of a baptism into our way of life and I hope you’re appreciating it.’
‘It’s gorgeous,’ said Izzy, adjusting her lime green bikini top.
‘Why do you have y
our togs on?’ asked Ben. ‘Get them off. No-one can see you.’
‘Nina and Heath are just over there in the house. And He Who Shall Not Be Named will be back from town any time now.’
‘Aw, go on. Look, I’ll be first.’ He reached for the waist of his board shorts and she launched at him.
‘Stop it! You’ll put the cattle off their feed!’
They wrestled for a moment, throwing diamond drops into the sunlight, then subsided, giggling into each other’s arms.
Ben felt a profound sense of peace and happiness descend on him. Even in the best days with Olivia, he had never felt like this. Probably because they hadn’t been out here together all that often, in his heart’s country. ‘I don’t know which of the gods of fate sent you my way, Izz, but I’m going to build it an altar and worship it every day.’
‘Cupid, that’s right,’ said Izzy suddenly. She looked up at the statue of the messenger of love, poised above them in the fountain’s upper bowl. ‘I forgot to tell you – I went to this weird fortune-teller girl at the Show and she mentioned Cupid. I wonder if she meant this?’
‘That chubby dude is Cupid alright. Did she say he’d strike me in the heart and I’d be yours forever?’ said Ben.
‘No, hold on, what was it?’ Izzy sat motionless, concentrating. ‘That’s right, she said Cupid held a golden future for me – or something like that.’
They floated face up for a quiet moment, holding hands, Izzy’s long red hair fanning out around her. There was no sound except for the gentle lapping of the water on their bodies and the odd buzz from a dragonfly. The spring sunshine warmed their faces. What must they look like from above, Ben wondered, idly. Two white figures, together, yet lost in their own thoughts. He noticed how the upper bowl of the fountain threw a shadow in the water filling the lower bowl. A circle within a circle.
He felt a thrill of shock pass through him.
The Shifting Light Page 24
