Leath's Legacy

by Anne Ashby

  Kirk’s gaze focused on the wide expanse of land cleared by Leath and her friends. “She loved her garden.” Hopefully she never knew what it had become. “She was always working in it, from daylight to dark it sometimes seemed. We used to fight over who’d get to whiz about on her lawnmower. It never seemed like work at the time, but I’m glad to think we might have been some help to her. She didn’t care if we missed great chunks of the lawn.” He laughed. “I guess she mowed it all again after we’d gone home.”

  Kirk jumped up, an inkling of an idea forming. He knew how to repay her care of Fiona. “That mower is in the barn. I wonder if it still goes.”

  Leath rose too, a bewildered look on her face. He cringed inside. She’s probably wondering how I know exactly where it is. He didn’t want her to remember him searching her property. Didn’t want her to remember a time when this rapport didn’t exist.

  He walked out onto the straggly grass, knowing she’d follow him. “Your new lawn will need regular mowing, or it’ll end up looking like this. With a ride-on mower you’d have a much better chance at returning all this”—his sweeping arm encompassed the whole front of the section—“back into lawn.”

  On his way toward the barn he stopped. Wryly he turned, “I’ll see if I can get it going. If you’d like me to?”

  A variety of expressions crossed her face. He smiled as he imagined the accompanying thoughts.

  His abrupt attitude change confused her, but this was an ideal favour. Even if she didn’t want to be beholden to him, she was struggling to find a reason to refuse his offer. Making life easier seemed to balance delicately with her uncertainty of his rational.

  He couldn’t blame her for doubting his motives. “I’d like to repay you for what—”

  “I don’t want repayment.” Her brows were low over stormy eyes. “I didn’t help Fiona for any obscure expectation of repayment.”

  “I know you didn’t.” He hastened to appease her annoyance. “But here’s something I can do for you. I’m just being neighbourly,” he wheedled. “No underlying motives, I swear.”

  His smile conveyed something positive, for after a moment she nodded, although he noticed the unease didn’t quite leave her eyes.

  “Come on.” He set off for the barn. “Let’s drag it out in the sun, and I’ll see what I can do with it.”

  Her reluctance drained away as they dragged and heaved the ride-on mower from the barn, its stubborn wheels leaving deepening gouges in the dirt. He noticed an uncertain smile hovering at her lips as she walked around the red machine.

  “It looks ready for the funeral home to me.”

  Tempted to agree with her, Kirk refused to give up without a little effort. “You never know, it was a great workhorse. It used to never miss a beat. I reckon its worth a bit of a play.”

  “Do you really think you might get it going?”

  Kirk’s masculine pride reared at the doubt in her voice. He’d get the damned thing going, even if it took him all week. “Probably not,” he gave himself an out, just in case. “But I’ll have a look.”

  Her gaze following his every move seemed to enlarge his fingers and cause him to fumble. He cleared his throat. “This is going to take a while. Why don’t you go back to whatever you were doing?”

  He waited, hoping she’d go away so his breathing could return to an acceptable pace.

  ****

  With an uncertain smile Leath turned away, glancing back over her shoulder as she entered the unit she’d been painting. Kirk Buchanan was helping her!

  He might say he owed her for helping Fiona, but Leath bit her lip. Was there some other reason? Some underhand reason? She dropped her head into her hands.

  She was scared—dead scared what that man out there could do to her.

  Dropping her hands she held them in front of her. They were trembling. She shook them and poked them out again. The tremble was still there. She gave the wall she’d been working on a swift kick, grimacing as pain danced all the way up to her hip.

  Painting the mural now was impossible. She paced around the small room, almost tripping as her shoe caught under one of the drop cloths. How could she be creative in this mood?

  Another round of the room and she dared peep out the window. Not a very sensible idea.

  Her pulse hiked up a hundred percent, and she felt like a contestant in a Weetbix cereal-eating contest. Doing a blue cod impression as she tried to manufacture some moisture in her mouth, her gaze attached itself to Kirk’s rear end, tantalisingly pointed in her direction.

  When she managed to stop rubbernecking, she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. What the hell is the matter with me? Her fists clenched and she thumped them on her knees. Where had all her common sense gone?

  Kirk Buchanan had done everything in his power to deny their ownership of this property. She couldn’t trust him. She mustn’t trust him. He hadn’t changed. Being obliged to her because of Fiona meant nothing.

  So what if he’d given her a hug? That’s all it had been. A hug. Not an embrace. Not an expression of deep emotion. Just a hug. Just a lousy hug without any basis to turn her into a jabbering idiot.

  She didn’t even like the man. Jumping to her feet, she stormed to the door and stared across to where he was tinkering with the mower. He wasn’t even attractive. Look, she asked herself, what’s even slightly attractive about him?

  He gave a smile and waved. Her whole body turned to slush. Dragging herself inside before he witnessed her melting all over the floor, Leath swore repeatedly under her breath.

  He was attractive all right, far too attractive for her peace of mind.

  ****

  With a pile of messy parts in his hands, Kirk’s call later summoned Leath from a unit where she’d been ironing curtains.

  “I’ll be back later,” he said as he dumped his handful in the tray of the truck.

  Somewhat deflated, Leath stared after the departing vehicle. Tense and jittery for over an hour because he was close by, now he was gone Leath felt what little verve she had drain away. The lawnmower sat where they’d dragged it, but numerous bits now lay on a tarpaulin beside it.

  When would he be back? She knew he would come. And it would be today. She wasn’t capable of pushing the mower back into the barn alone, and he’d never leave it lying about overnight. How she was so certain, she didn’t know.

  The question was whether she felt in control of herself enough to get back to painting her Roman villa?

  Yep! Her hands were rock steady, her breathing normal. No heart palpitations or other unexplainable physical abnormalities.

  Yeah right! Who was she trying to kid? Apparently Peter hadn’t killed her ability to appreciate another man. There was nothing unexplained about her reaction to Kirk Buchanan. She lusted after him.

  Similar to the day she’d watched him in town, something had stirred feelings she thought long dead. Something unfamiliar and definitely unwanted. Something she had no control over. But this time there was no wife to impede the crazy pictures flashing through her mind.

  Chapter Ten

  Leath told herself she wasn’t listening for the sound of a vehicle, but when it came, she tossed her paintbrush aside and ran to the door. Her stomach tightened as the red farm truck rolled past her and ground to a stop in front of the barn.

  She refused to acknowledge her disappointment Kirk wasn’t alone. With her crazy, mixed-up state of mind, it was just as well he’d brought company.

  Kirk introduced two boys as they piled out of the vehicle. “These are my nephews, Daniel and Tristan. They’re having a day off school today, so I thought they could give me a hand.”

  Leath smiled as she solemnly shook each boy’s hand. Hardly recognisable as the kids she’d seen during the night, evidence of their fear had vanished and been replaced with bright smiles. “Does that mean I don’t need to help?” Her smile grew into a grin as she caught Kirk’s pointed wink.

  “With these two budding mechanics?” He
nudged the older boy with his elbow. “We’ll have it going in no time. Right guys?”

  “Right, Unc,” they chorused.

  Watching the trio approach the dilapidated mower and all its strewn pieces with gusto, Leath chuckled. Her amused scepticism soon subsided when she realised the older boy, Daniel, who appeared about twelve, displayed mechanical understanding beyond his age.

  Kirk noticed her surprise. “Two...three heads are better than one. This one”—he cuffed Daniel lightly across the head—“he takes after his dad. If we don’t have any joy today, Cade can give it a whirl sometime. My brother can fix anything. Right guys?”

  “Right.”

  “But—”

  Kirk glanced up from kneeling beside the mower. “No buts. This is the least we can do.”

  Leath lost control of her eyes. They locked with the sparkling blue pair opposite and wouldn’t respond to her silent screams to escape.

  The pneumatic drill vibrating in her chest spurted blood erratically through her veins. Mesmerised, she watched his eyes change, darken. When they slowly dipped and slid downward—

  “Grandma’s teaching Olivia to sew.”

  Two pairs of mortified eyes deflected their gaze elsewhere at the boy’s interruption. Leath tried to steady her escalated breathing and hoped Kirk, now diligently poking at the mower’s innards, wasn’t aware of her agitated state. With a weak smile she turned to the boy at her side.

  Leath bit her lip. Please let the disgust in Tristan’s voice reflect his grandmother’s pastime, not an understanding of the sexual tension in hers and Kirk’s behaviour.

  “We had to get away before our turn.” Tristan’s continued conversation suggested the former. Leath’s tense shoulders relaxed.

  Reassured by the boys’ friendliness, Leath drew closer into the circle around the mower, avoiding getting too near to Kirk. “So it wasn’t an urge to help get my lawnmower going that brought you down here at all?”

  “Nah. We got away from Grandma,” the boy giggled. Warmed by the child’s honesty, Leath grinned at the pleasure of his one-upmanship on his grandmother.

  “And to help Unc, too, Tris,” Daniel chastised. His gaze slid from looking at the oily clump of something mechanical in his hand to Leath.

  Kirk’s head dipped still further to hide his smile from the boys.

  “Oh, well.” Leath dropped her lower lip.

  A small hand crept into hers. The dark eyes looking up at her seemed huge in Tristan’s serious face. “Grandma said Mummy might have died if you hadn’t helped her last night.”

  A lump blocked Leath’s throat. The tinkering of tools against mower stopped. Not sure how to respond, she glanced at Kirk. His awkward shrug didn’t help.

  Impulsively Leath bent down and hugged the little boy. “I’m sure your daddy and uncle would have managed just fine.”

  The boy shook his head. “Grandma said it was you. She said we were so lucky you were here.” Tears showed in his eyes, but valiantly Tristan blinked them away. “If you didn’t live here my mummy would be dead now.”

  The break in the boy’s voice drew tears to Leath’s eyes. When the little arms clasped around her waist, Leath enclosed him to her and held him tight.

  “We’ve got to take you home for tea.” Daniel’s face twisted as he manfully contained his emotions. “Grandma said it’s the least we can do to say thank you.”

  Leath managed a wobbly smile when Daniel turned back to the mower, picking up an unknown tool and prodding into the mower’s engine. “Grandma’s cooking a special tea for you, and I’m going to fix this mower.”

  “I want to help you, too.” Tristan pulled away and lifted his gaze to her face. “What can I do?”

  Leath thought quickly. Tristan wasn’t going to be much use helping with the mower. “You could help me do some painting, if you wanted.”

  Kirk’s head shot up. She interpreted his quick head shake but smiled down at the eager face beside her anyway. “I have to paint some Roman pillars. Do you think you could help me with those?”

  From behind the boy’s back, Kirk urgently shook his head. Even Daniel’s face showed a horrified expression.

  Taking Tristan’s hand she smiled. “Come on, I’ll show you. I’m sure you’ll be a big help.”

  Over her shoulder Kirk was cringing and shaking his head.

  “Leath?”

  She stopped.

  “Would you come and have dinner with us? I was intending to invite you a little more graciously, but...” He smiled at Tristan. “Mum would like to meet you properly and express her thanks.”

  There wasn’t any reason to refuse, and a lot of reasons to accept. The biggest one was waiting for her reply. She swallowed. “Thank you. That’s very kind of your mother.”

  “Great.” He dug into his trouser pocket for a cellphone. “I’ll just confirm with her.”

  “Tell her not to go to any trouble.”

  She turned away from his grin, afraid how her body might react if she kept staring at him.

  Her current mural needed a lot of filling in, and she had no hesitation giving the young boy a paintbrush. Despite his uncle’s concern, Tristan worked carefully and diligently painting within the lines of what would ultimately be the marble foundations of her Roman villa.

  Chatting with him as they worked, Leath was soon hearing about Greene Valley and its occupants. Tempted to prompt Tristan to talk about his uncle, Leath managed to withstand this urge.

  Leath enjoyed the company, and the constant chatter. Grinning down at her workmate, she realised how alone she’d always been up here. Even the odd times Robby was with her, they tended to work on different tasks.

  “This is fun.” She climbed off the ladder and pointed to another panel he could start on. “I don’t usually have anyone to talk to while I’m up here. Do you think your grandma might let you come down and help me at the weekend?”

  She spun her head away at his reaction. A grin almost split his face in half, and his chest puffed out so much she wondered it didn’t burst.

  “Let’s ask her tonight, shall we?”

  Tristan’s eyes bulged as if he couldn’t believe she meant to follow through with her offer.

  “If your grandparents or uncle can’t drive you, I could come and pick you up.”

  “That’ll be so cool.”

  Leath couldn’t doubt the boy’s excitement but suddenly realised she should have spoken to the adults first. She swore under her breath. If they didn’t agree, she’d have disappointed her young helper.

  “Uncle Kirk often goes to Auckland for the weekend, but my Grandma might drive me down. Or I can walk across the paddocks.” He didn’t appear in any doubt he’d be allowed to come. Leath just hoped this would be the case. “Granddad’s not supposed to drive anymore.”

  Half-way up the ladder Leath paused. “Oh?” Dare she question this? “How come? Is your Granddad sick?”

  Tristan didn’t even glance up. “Nah. He forgets things sometimes. Dad said its best he doesn’t drive cos he forgets the rules.”

  Dropping her paint pot on a step Leath stopped climbing. Forgets things? Did Kirk’s father have dementia? Surely he wasn’t old? Her heart dropped. Could he be suffering from Alzheimer’s? Not having any personal experience with that dreaded disease, her chest still tightened at the thought of the heartache it caused. She hoped she was wrong.

  Watching the boy with his tongue half out the side of his mouth as he concentrated, Leath sent a short prayer into the heavens. She hoped whatever reason his grandfather could no longer drive would not adversely affect this lovely child.

  At least two hours after they’d started work together, Leath and Tristan heard some loud, intermittent chokes and rushed outside in time to see black smoke still hanging in the air behind the mower.

  Tristan laughed as he ran toward the barn, Leath very close behind. “Have you done it? Is it going?” he called.

  “No, it’s not going,” Daniel snapped, with a duh-look toward his u
ncle.

  Kirk poked something else. “Try it again, Danny.”

  More black smoke billowed out the exhaust. Leath wrenched Tristan away from its cloud as the hope on the mechanics’ faces changed to satisfied grins. The spluttering noise continued, choking occasionally but not dying. Hugely significant to the two, they shared high fives across the top of the mower.

  “You did it, you did it.”

  Tristan’s excitement was contagious. Leath felt like joining him as he jumped up and down beside her. Unheard laughter, drowned out by the roar of the motor, rolled around the group.

  Bug-eyed, she watched Daniel shift the mower into gear and away he streaked across the grass at about one kilometre per hour, his brother running alongside, cheering him on.

  When he paused to make another adjustment, Leath’s mouth dropped open as grass clippings sprayed out the side. Clasping her hands to her chest in awe, she watched Daniel begin to mow her lawns.

  “How...I can’t believe...I...” she spluttered, not knowing how to thank the unfathomable man standing beside her rubbing his oily hands on a rag. To date he’d been so standoffish, so arrogant. She shook her head. And yet he was here helping her.

  “What else can I do for you?”

  Her insides fluttered as the warmth of his voice was echoed in his smile.

  Leath couldn’t think straight. And it wasn’t his hooded glance up and down her body robbing words from her brain, or causing a faint tingling all the way down to her toes. Quite what it was, she didn’t know, but it couldn’t be him. She hadn’t given him control over her.

  “Ah...umm...” Think, woman. Think!

  His smile had vanished, but the knowing little twist at the corner of his mouth stiffened her back. Her chin jutted out. Just because he’d fixed her mower, he needn’t think himself superior. He needn’t think he could laugh at her.

  “You’ve got a lot of stuff in here”—he waved his arm at the barn behind him—“that could be thrown out.”

  Leath frowned. Did he have to be so calm, so controlled? She tagged behind him into the dimness of the barn.

  He looked at her without anger or annoyance—with quite different emotions obvious in his gaze.