Hell. What kind of fool left an inexperienced woman to struggle with a truck and a horse float on her own? What had he been thinking? He should never have let Kate attempt this on her own.
Noah’s surefooted horse didn’t falter as he entered the water. He caught sight of Kate’s white face peering out at him from the truck’s window and his heart filled his throat. To his annoyance, he was forced to slow down, to weave his way through the noisy herd.
She wound down her window. ‘Hello, there.’
‘Don’t worry!’ he yelled over the bellowing cattle. ‘It’s OK! I’ll get you out of there.’
He’d freed bogged trucks any number of times. It would be harder today without a second vehicle to tow the truck out, but there was a jack in the toolbox, and he should be able to get a few rocks under the back tyres.
‘Noah.’ Kate’s door opened and she leaned out. Her slender legs were splattered with mud all the way up to her cute khaki shorts. ‘I’m sorry,’ she called.
‘No need to apologise. Sit tight. I’ll have you out of there in a jiffy.’ He circled another bullock and was able to get closer. From his height on the horse, Kate looked small, fragile, and he was hit by a fierce urge to protect her.
‘I think I’ve fixed the wheels,’ she said.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll get the jack.’
‘I’ve already jacked up the truck.’
His jaw dropped. ‘You’ve…what?’ He stared at her and realised she was actually covered in mud, even had a streak on her nose.
His daughter peeped impishly over Kate’s shoulder. ‘Hi, Daddy!’
‘Hey there, sweetheart.’
Neither Kate nor Liv looked the slightest bit terrified.
‘The truck was stuck on two big rocks and the wheels kept spinning, so I found the jack,’ Kate said with just a hint of pride in her voice. ‘It’s that big red thing in the back.’
‘That’s right.’
‘It weighed a ton, but I found the manual—’
‘The manual?’
‘Yes. I can usually work out how to do things if I can follow written instructions.’
He gave a helpless shake of his head. ‘OK, go on.’
‘Once I lifted the truck, I wedged rocks under the wheels where the mud was soft. It seemed to work and I was about to get us going again. But I’d taken so long the cattle were already here.’
He couldn’t believe a slip of a girl had done such a mammoth job. Brains and beauty—and guts!
She brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and left another mud streak on her cheek. ‘I was worried the noise of the truck in the water might frighten the cattle, so I thought I’d better wait.’
Noah cast a quick eye over the mob. The bulk of it was coming down the slope now. Soon the creek water and bottom would be churning. ‘I don’t think you’d have spooked this lot, but you’d better not sit here and let the wheels sink down again. See if you can take the truck forward now.’
Without a murmur, Kate pulled the door shut and turned on the motor. She flashed him a ‘wish-me-luck’ grin, and Noah held his breath as the truck inched slowly forward and the horse trailer wobbled behind it.
‘That’s great. You can accelerate a little harder,’ he shouted. ‘Just take it out at a nice, steady pace.’
The truck went forward smoothly, spraying water, while he walked his horse beside her.
At the top of the far bank, they stopped. Kate and Olivia climbed out of the truck and Noah dismounted, looping his horse’s reins over one arm.
He had to ask. ‘Are you sure you were actually bogged?’
Kate’s smile of triumph clouded. ‘Don’t you believe me?’
‘Well—I just—find it hard to believe you could handle a truck jack and know what to do.’
Flinging her arm dramatically, she pointed back to the river. ‘Do you really think I spent hours struggling in the middle of that muddy water just for fun?’
‘I’m sorry, Kate. It’s just that it’s so damned hard to extract a bogged truck, even when it has four-wheel drive.’
‘I know it’s damned hard!’ For several seconds she glared at him.
‘I apologise,’ he said again. ‘I’m just stunned. Amazed, I guess.’
She let out a small huff, and then suddenly she was grinning and her eyes were shining with pride. ‘I did it, Noah. I coped.’ She turned to Olivia, and slipped an arm around his daughter’s skinny shoulders. ‘And I didn’t get too upset, did I, Liv?’
‘You only sweared three times,’ agreed Liv, smiling broadly. ‘And we only ate two bars of chocolate.’
Noah couldn’t think what to say without waxing lyrical and embarrassing Kate. She was an amazing girl. He gave her his broadest grin. ‘Well done, Kate.’
She turned a pretty shade of pink and he was tempted—terribly tempted—to drop a quick kiss on her mud-streaked cheek.
Actually, her lips were free of mud—and they were pink and inviting and—
‘Hey, Noah!’ Steve called.
He turned and saw the mob’s leaders already out of the creek bed and on their way up the bank. Not a good moment to be standing about like a thickhead, thinking about kissing Kate.
Noah insisted on cooking dinner that evening.
‘You’ve established gender equity on this camp,’ he told Kate. ‘And you’ve already done more than your share of hard work today.’
Kate wasn’t about to argue with that, and she grabbed the chance to have first shower. The water in the canvas bucket had been warmed by the sun, and when she unscrewed the nozzle she discovered how especially satisfying it was to become clean again after being so very, very dirty.
She changed into a pale green scoop-necked T-shirt and fresh jeans, and she tried, with the help of the tiny mirror in her compact, to check on her appearance. No sign of sunburn, so that was good. She did her best with her hair, towelling it dry and then brushing it in the last of the sun’s warmth.
By the time she’d finished, their dinner was simmering on the campfire, and the tent she and Liv slept in was already set up.
Noah was unloading the swags—the bedrolls that he and Steve would sleep in out in the open. He saw her and grinned. ‘I bet you feel better now.’
‘Much cleaner, thank you.’ Kate felt more than merely cleaner; she felt brilliant. She’d conquered the creek today, she’d enjoyed a lovely warm shower, and now she was basking in the radiance of Noah’s smile… Little wonder she was filled with a wonderful sense of wellbeing.
As dusk crept through the bush, taking the sting out of the day and casting soft shadows, she sat on a shelf of rock overlooking the creek and plaited Liv’s hair into a fine French braid. They talked girl-talk about hairstyles and clothes, while flocks of bright green budgerigars flashed past, chattering to each other before they disappeared into tree hollows along the creek.
A short distance away, in the makeshift paddock, the cattle had settled down and were grazing quietly, watched by the keen-eyed dogs.
Noah had cooked a stew of beef, carrots and potatoes, along with onions, dried beans and tinned tomatoes. It was surprisingly tasty, and they ate it on the creek bank beside their flickering fire while a full moon rode high above the river gums and turned the water to liquid silver.
Young Steve amused them with tales of his adventures as an apprenticed stockman in the Northern Territory. Everyone laughed and helped themselves to seconds from the cooking pot and Steve, looking up from beneath a fringe of sandyblond hair, shyly asked Kate to tell them all about England.
‘All about England?’ she repeated with a startled chuckle. ‘Goodness. Let me see.’
She was hunting for something to equal Steve’s humorous recounts of Outback adventures when Olivia, full of self-importance, announced loudly, ‘Kate’s got a boyfriend in England. That’s why she can’t have Daddy as her boyfriend. She told me.’
Kate’s cheeks were suddenly as hot as the campfire’s flames. Even though Noah was sitting on the other side of
the fire, she hadn’t missed the sudden flare in his eyes.
‘No one here wants to hear about my boyfriend, Liv.’
Steve was grinning at her. ‘You might as well tell us. What’s his name?’
‘Derek. Derek Jenkins.’ She felt ill just saying his name. She hadn’t realised how very quickly her opinion of him had deteriorated. And she felt terrible about lying, but it was better to keep up the charade of a boyfriend than to confess the humiliating truth to this trio.
‘What does this Derek guy do?’ prompted Steve.
Oh, man. They weren’t going to make this easy, were they? ‘He’s in finance. He works for a bank.’
Olivia looked impressed. ‘Does that mean he has lots of money?’
‘Liv,’ Noah warned. ‘That’s not a polite question.’
‘Derek looks after other people’s money,’ Kate explained for Liv’s benefit.
She could feel Noah’s gaze, from the other side of the fire, fixed on her intently.
‘Derek should be able to give you sound financial advice,’ he said in a quiet, faintly amused drawl.
‘Perhaps.’
Desperately, she tried to think of a way to change the subject, but Noah showed no mercy. ‘Have you consulted Derek about your new business interests?’
‘Not yet.’ Tension rose inside her, like steam in a pressure cooker. She jumped to her feet. ‘How about I wash up now? It’s only fair. You did all the cooking, Noah.’
Perhaps he was as relieved to change the subject as she was, for he rose quickly. ‘I’ll help you with the hot water.’
With his customary economy of movement, he hooked a long piece of wire through the handle of a billy can of water and lifted it away from the edge of the fire.
He had already fixed a light above the washing-up dish—a purple plastic bowl set on a folding table over by the truck. Moths fluttered desperately about their heads as he poured the hot water. ‘You should add cold water to cool this down,’ he said, pointing to a bucket ready on the ground beside them.
Still tense from lying about Derek, Kate was in no mood for a lecture on how to wash dishes. ‘I like really hot water,’ she snapped. ‘It cuts the grease.’
He gave a brief shrug and turned back to the campfire, and Kate plonked her right hand into the water.
It was scalding.
‘Ouch!’ She couldn’t help flinching and whipping her hand out again.
Noah was beside her in a flash. Without a word, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her sideways and plunged her fingers into the bucket of cold water on the ground. Her breasts were pressed against his hard thigh, but she was too grateful for the cool water on her skin to worry.
‘Keep your hand in here,’ he said, pushing her fingers lower. ‘I should have warned you. This isn’t like hot water from a tap. Smouldering campfires can radiate a lot of heat.’
Under the circumstances it was ridiculous that his touch should send tremors up Kate’s arm. Eventually, he lifted her hand out of the water and he held it in both his hands, frowning as he turned it over gently and examined her reddened fingertips.
Her hand looked so small and pale against the darkness and largeness of his.
He asked, ‘Does your skin sting?’
‘Not much. The cold water helped.’
His serious grey eyes searched her face and then, even more gently, he touched the tip of his forefinger to the tip of hers. ‘How’s that?’
‘Fine.’
He did the same to the next finger. ‘How about now?’
‘It’s OK,’ she whispered breathlessly. ‘Thank you.’
For a moment there, she wondered if Noah was actually flirting, if he was going to kiss her fingers, and she almost closed her eyes in anticipation. She imagined his lips lingering on her fingers, kissing the palm of her hand and running kisses up her arm, like the hero of an old-fashioned romance.
She was in danger of hyperventilating when Noah released her hand and a moth flew into her face.
Shaken, feeling exceedingly silly, she curled her fingers against her stomach. Why, oh why, was she so painfully susceptible to this man’s attractiveness?
What had happened to her common sense? Last time she’d made a fool of herself over Noah, it had taken her years to recover. And now, she’d received another painful lesson from Derek. Her ego couldn’t withstand another round of humiliation.
As she lifted the cold water, added it to the hot and began the washing up, she told herself it was pointless to expect anything but friendship from Noah. She might as well wish for the moon. Romance was the last thing on his mind.
The poor man was still getting over his divorce, and he had a daughter to worry about.
As soon as these cattle were safely delivered, he would thank Kate for her help, then expect her to retire gracefully and discreetly out of his life. On the first plane back to England.
* * *
Close to midnight, Noah stalked the perimeter of the electric fence, checking that all was well with the mob. The cattle seemed peaceful enough, which was more than he could say for himself.
‘Troubled’ was the word that sprang to mind.
He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans and tipped his head back so he could see the full moon almost directly overhead. If Liv was with him now, instead of tucked up safely in the tent with Kate, he’d point out the man in the moon. That silvery old guy looked as if he was grinning tonight, no doubt having a ripe old chuckle over Noah’s predicament.
He kicked at a tuft of grass, and a grazing bullock lifted its head in quiet annoyance. He sighed, walked on, tussling with his problem.
Kate.
Yeah… Kate was his problem.
Her idea that the two of them could work together as partners was all very well in theory, but the reality was something else. Living with Kate and working with her, day in day out, was totally impractical—as untenable as Alan Davidson’s hare-brained joke about a marriage of convenience.
Twice now, Noah had almost kissed her—no, three times, counting that first time back in the study at Radnor.
In fact, while he was supposed to be concentrating on getting his cattle safely to Roma, not kissing Kate had become his number one priority.
Why was he finding it so damned difficult to keep his distance?
Anyone could see she had deep feelings for this Derek chap. She’d gone all quiet and sad when Liv had brought up his name tonight, as if she really missed him.
The crazy thing was that when Kate had looked like that—staring wistfully into the fire—all Noah had been able to think about was how much he wanted her. And that made no sense at all. He had no room for another woman in his life now. He didn’t need another woman.
What he needed, more than anything, was time. Time to adjust to losing Angus. Time with Liv, to learn to be the father she needed. Time to do everything else that was needed to save Radnor.
Flirting with Kate Brodie was not an option. And anyway, even if she had been free, what had he to offer her? He was still smarting from the battle scars left by his marriage.
He reached the end of the fence line, turned towards the creek and let out an uneasy sigh. Was there light at the end of the tunnel? Would he ever feel really happy again? Every time he thought about Angus he felt a slug of loneliness. And whenever he thought about the high-conflict zone that had been his married life he cringed.
He’d done his level best to shield Liv from the worst of the open hostility, and now he wanted a clean slate for both of them—uninterrupted time to be with his daughter, the two of them healing together, sharing happy times and a peaceful life in the Outback.
Rekindling nostalgia for one unforgettable kiss that had happened way back in his dim, distant past was a waste of head space. Anyway, Kate had a boyfriend. What else had he expected—that she was still carrying a torch for him after all this time? Dream on.
Time for a reality check. Kate Brodie might present all kinds of tempting and pretty distract
ions. And she might be hard working, gutsy and uncomplaining. She might be fabulous with Liv.
But she was most definitely not available.
And, for that matter, neither was he.
His life was already as complicated as a television soapopera. The last thing he wanted, needed, or desired was the distraction of another woman.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IF KATE DISCOUNTED the fact that Noah always seemed to be frowning at her, the next few days were smooth sailing. She was starting to settle in to her new lifestyle. She felt confident driving the truck now. She could build a campfire quickly, and she knew how to check that it was properly out before they moved on.
She had cooked corned beef with white-onion sauce, which was apparently a favourite with men in the bush, and she’d been rewarded with high praise.
‘You should enter this recipe in the Jindabilla Show,’ Steve had told her.
Noah had simply smiled and asked for a second helping.
Liv seemed to enjoy their sessions with the schoolbooks. Remembering her own childhood struggles with multiplication and division, Kate tried to make the lessons fun, which wasn’t a huge challenge when there were leaves or gum nuts or small stones on hand as teacher’s aids.
Although Noah was remote and cool with Kate, he seemed happy with the cattle’s progress. He studied the map of the stock routes carefully, calculating the distance between bores and working out the best routes, then ringing ahead to warn station owners that they’d be passing through.
Steve filled in important gaps in Noah’s scant conversation. He told Kate that the cattle walked about ten kilometres a day.
‘But you can’t let them go more than three days without a drink.’
‘Don’t they need water every day?’ Kate asked, surprised.
Steve shook his head. ‘Noah makes sure they’re watered at least every second day. And he tries to find water that’s fenced off, so the mob can be contained.’
He told her that the big danger was getting Radnor cattle mixed with the cattle from the properties they passed through. If there was a mix up, they would have to stop and muster out any cattle that didn’t have the Radnor brand—a time-consuming delay they could do without.
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