‘There they are over at the horse stables,’ said Rodney. ‘I’d know that ute of Sandy’s anywhere with all those flamin’ aerials giving a finger to all and sundry. They must’ve made it here pretty early to get the stables. Might need the shelter too,’ he said, looking up at the heavy sky.
Rodney directed his ute to the left of the main recreation reserve pavilion. Bella looked around for the stables, grateful they would have four walls for shelter, warmth and privacy. The ute pulled up in front of a long and simple corrugated-iron roof held up by upright steel poles; under the roof were basic steel-railed pens with gates fronting the gravel track that ran along in front.
‘Here we are.’ Rodney turned off his ute.
‘This is the stables?’ said Bella, unable to keep the incredulity from her voice.
‘Yep,’ said Rodney looking perplexed. ‘What’d you expect? The Hilton?’
‘Nope,’ replied Bella, as she baled out of the ute behind Will. ‘In Victoria, Rodney, stables generally mean four closed walls and a neat little half-and-half door. I guess the dawn dash is a bit more laidback and public in Queensland.’
‘You reckon?’ said a puzzled Rodney, not sure if the piss was being taken out of him or not. He glanced at a smiling Bella and decided he might be safe to go on. ‘Anyways, the loos are over there, the bar’s over there and . . .’ He looked pointedly at Will and winked, ‘. . . the girls are everywhere. I’m going to find the station blokes. Catch you later.’ He walked off in the direction of the bar.
The twin stacks on Macca’s ute made a deep growl as they halted behind Rodney’s four-wheel drive. Jumping from the driver’s seat, the black-hatted, big-framed Macca strode around the front of the vehicle and made it to the passenger door before Patty had a chance to jump down. Thrusting out his big hands, he grabbed her under the arms and knees and carried her from the ute.
‘Here we are, darlin’. Welcome to your new home. Shall I carry you over the threshold?’ Macca made his way through the steel gate and into the little pen, where he proceeded to dump his ‘bride’ on a pile of old hay left by the previous inhabitant.
Obviously they hadn’t wasted any time on their ride to Gundolin; Bella could practically see chemistry zinging above their heads. She’d never thought of these two getting together before. She probably should have, though – they complemented each other perfectly.
‘When you two have finished horsing around you might like to come with us to hit the bar?’ said Will, already primed with two rums downed on the trip from Ainsley. Grabbing Bella’s hand he walked off towards the main pavilion, pulling her with him.
Bella’s smile quickly disappeared as she tried to extract her hand from his grasp, but he held on – real tight. In fact he hauled her in close, hard up against his side, his arm coming up around her shoulders, pinning her there. She felt his breath on her face and then his seductive lips were moving the sweet rum-laden air near her ear. He half-whispered, ‘You are one mean little mountain woman. Poor old Rodney didn’t know if you were yanking his chain or not. But I tell you what, hold on tight, cowgirl. You and I are going to find some Bundy, a band and a rodeo, and . . .’
Bella tried to pull away. Will nipped her ear, stilling her before he went on, ‘The trip here beside you was akin to grievous bodily harm. Get ready for a wild time, Isabella Vermaelon!’
‘What do you mean, a bet’s a bet?’ Will asked incredulously, a couple of hours later as they lay looking for satellites among the stars overhead. It had bucketed down with rain earlier and then the sky had cleared, giving them an unobscured view of the diamond-filled night sky.
‘I’ve made a bet with your sister and I’m not going to lose. There’s a lot at stake,’ said Bella.
Knowing his sister, Will was sure the high stakes could be anything from a cattle station to a damned Cadbury chocolate bar. ‘So what’s the bet exactly?’
‘You don’t want to know the details, but it means I can’t sleep with you for at least six weeks.’
Inwardly Bella cursed. Her mind flicked back to the event that caused the wager to be made in the first place.
‘Pat Me Tuffet, you can’t sleep with every bloke you find attractive!’ yelled a worried Bella, as Patty blearily staggered in the door one Saturday morning a few weeks before, after spending the night in a passing stock-buyer’s swag.
‘Who says I can’t?’
‘I do!’
‘Since when have you become my mother?’ asked an unruffled Patty, as she stifled a yawn and stretched her arms to the ceiling like a satisfied cat. ‘Anyway, last time I saw you, you were dirty dancing with that government bloke working in tick control.’
‘I wasn’t dirty dancing – and I left him at the party. I don’t sleep with blokes I don’t know.’
‘Yeah, since when?’ asked Patty with a smirk. ‘What about that truckie—’
‘I was drunk!’
‘My point exactly. I too am usually drunk at station parties and I can’t help it if lonely, hunky men succumb to my charms. How can I say no?’
Bella stood and considered Patty. She was worried about her friend. She didn’t want her to become known as the Ainsley Station bike. How could she get Patty to say no? There was really only one way.
‘Let’s have a bet.’
Patty quirked an eyebrow, looking interested. ‘What sort of bet?’
‘No sleeping with anyone until six weeks after you meet them.’
‘Mmm . . . tricky . . . And the stakes?’
‘A slab of rum.’
‘Nup, not good enough. Those stock agents are hot.’ Patty turned and walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Bella could see her through the door, spread-eagled, eyes closed.
Bella sighed. ‘A slab of rum . . . and fifty bucks.’
Patty struggled to a half-sit and smiled.
‘Done.’
It had sounded good at the time. And it was all for Patty’s benefit, but Bella wasn’t going to tell that to her best friend’s brother.
‘She won’t know, Bella,’ said Will in a low, inviting voice.
‘Of course she’ll flaming well know! She only has to look at my face and she could tell you the story of my last twenty-four hours.’ Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but it was close to the truth. She and Patty knew each other better than two sisters ever would.
‘All right . . . all right,’ said Will, disappointed that a wild night between the sheets, or swag in this case, had disappeared.
‘Look,’ said Bella, grabbing his arm. ‘A satellite. It’s humping along, east to west.’
‘Don’t talk about humping anymore,’ said Will with a mock grumpy face.
Bella gave the satellite one last look before lifting her upper body to lean on her elbow and rest her head in her hand. Looking down into Will’s face, she put out a tentative finger to trace the strong, square jawline. They’d spent most of the night laughing, flirting, talking. And she’d never had anyone focus on her words, her thoughts and ideas like this man. Most blokes her age were focused on themselves. But not Will O’Hara. His interest in what counted to her was absolute.
His eyes crinkled with laughter. He tried one last time. ‘Don’t you females always reserve the right to change your mind?’
Bella smiled and shook her head.
Will sighed. ‘Well, I reckon I’ll just work on getting you into my swag and leave it at that for now. If I can’t have the cup full, I’ll have to settle for half.’
‘Huh?’
Will’s body shook as laughter rumbled through him. He sat up and downed the remains of the can of Bundy rum sitting at his side. ‘If I can’t bonk you senseless, I’ll just have to cuddle you instead. Want another drink, cowgirl?’
Bella nodded and watched as he jumped to his feet and strode his tightly muscled Wrangler-covered butt towards the bar.
‘Bella!’ Wrenching her eyes from the view of Will’s backside, Bella looked towards the bull-riding ring where the rodeo was in full swing.<
br />
Patty’s arms were waving in the air, trying to get her attention.
‘Want to dance?’ Patty yelled from her place at the top of the viewing stands. Bella could see Macca beside her, head bent in a solid conversation with Rodney and his mate Sandy.
‘It’s Sara Storer!’ Patty yelled again, trying to be heard over the loudspeaker calling the bull ride.
All Bella heard was the word ‘Storer’, but it was enough for her to tune into the music coming from the stage.
‘Cry don’t cry
Better things are in store and I just can’t explain it yet
High up high
Oh I see you both dancing through tumbleweeds’
Sara Storer in Gundolin – Bella whooped with joy, punching the air as she jumped to her feet.
‘C’mon, let’s go dance through tumbleweeds!’ she yelled to Patty.
At that moment Will arrived back clutching two cans of Bundy-and-coke. Grabbing one from his hand, she spluttered, ‘Sara Storer. Here. Gundolin. Gotta go dance. You go to Macca,’ and she pushed him in her cousin’s direction.
Patty pulled up beside them and snatched the other rum from Will’s grasp, leaving him empty-handed. ‘Thanks, bro. Didn’t know you cared.’ Grabbing Bella’s hand, she took off at a run, heading towards the music, both girls dancing as they went.
Will heard shrieking, as they spilt the full cans down their shirts. He closed his eyes imagining that black, sticky liquid dripping through Bella’s full cleavage. He could still hear their high whoops of delight as he made his way back to the bar.
Now he really needed a rum.
It wasn’t until the sun was reflecting her first yellow-orange glow in the sky that Bella found herself stumbling back towards the stables with Will. Patty and Macca had long since disappeared. As they reached the pair of utes, Bella could see Patty’s swag still sitting up beside her own, whereas Macca’s had disappeared.
So much for Pat Me Tuffet keeping her side of the bet! But then again, Bella couldn’t be sure . . .
Will hauled his swag down from the ute tray and grabbed Bella by the hand.
‘But—’
‘I know, I know . . . a bet’s a bet, but there’s nothing to say I can’t just cuddle you.’ Will pulled both swag and Bella into a pen under the stables’ skillion roof.
‘Are you sure you can keep your hands to yourself?’
‘No, I’m not sure, but I can try.’ He dumped the swag on the ground, unsnapped the ockey strap holding it together and gave the roll a kick so it unravelled itself.
Bella looked at the long, skinny length of canvas.
‘Are two of us going to fit in there?’
‘You betcha, cowgirl.’ Will dragged his cobalt-blue stockman’s shirt over his head.
Bella just managed to stifle a gasp at the sight of his naked chest. Reddish-gold sun-kissed hair curled and then ran in a straight line down before fanning out and disappearing below his R.M. Williams belt buckle. Thinking of the bush girl’s yardstick ‘the bigger the buckle the smaller the equipment’, she saw that Will’s buckle was a nice average size.
She shook her head.
A bet’s a bet, she reminded herself, and dragged her eyes away from the muscular chest in front of her. Flustered and embarrassed, she watched as he kicked off his boots, stripped off his Wranglers and slid into the blankets inside the swag.
‘You coming in or am I coming back out to get you?’ Will’s wicked grin flashed.
Bella turned and slowly removed her bra from under her shirt, feeding it out through her shirt-sleeve. Boots and jeans followed, unintentionally giving Will a good view of her bum. Bella turned around to see a look of agony on his face. ‘Will, are you okay?’ She dropped to the swag beside him. ‘What have you done? Are you hurt?’ Her breasts swung full and free inside her shirt as she leaned over to touch his face with concern.
‘No . . . no, not hurt . . . I just . . . um . . . bit my tongue.’
Bella wasn’t convinced. ‘Maybe I should just roll my own swag out for a while, hey?’ She moved to get back up.
‘No!’ said Will as he grabbed her hand. ‘It’ll be fine, Bella, jump in. We’ll just cuddle. That’s it. I promise.’
‘Well . . . okay. If you’re sure.’ Bella knew if an O’Hara made a promise it was one set in gold. ‘But one wrong move and I’m out of here.’
Leaving her shirt and undies on, Bella squeezed her way into the swag beside him, sliding her body down past his long, nearly naked length, her nerve-ends tingling at his touch. She thought she heard him groan once or twice, but other than stealing a kiss − his warm, firm lips on her mouth nearly proving to be her undoing – he settled her into the crook of his shoulder and just cuddled her in tight.
As Bella felt weariness spread through her limbs, her mind rewound back over the night. She’d had the best time. Will was wonderful. He made her feel witty, appreciated, desired. A bloke so totally in sync with her own beliefs and ideals, she felt as though she’d found a new best friend.
He’d shared his plans for the family property, ideas on how he wanted his future to pan out. Then he’d listened to her thoughts – aspirations for her job, love of the land and family. Teasing one minute, serious the next, here was a man who engaged both her body and mind. Passionate without being too intense, gentle but by no means a wimp. Strong, but not overbearing. And him being older had ceased to matter hours ago.
For now she was just happy and content to be held securely in his arms. She snuggled in closer and felt a kiss lightly brush across her hair. Closing her eyes she let the night’s rum and the warmth of Will’s body send her to sleep.
Will lay quietly and felt the golden head in his arms become heavy with sleep. He smiled to himself as soft snores came from the girl at his side. Gently he adjusted Bella’s body so it tucked into his more comfortably, making sure the blankets covered her so she stayed warm.
Sleep was a long time coming. He lay watching the sunrise as he gently twirled a blonde ringlet around his finger and wondered at his luck at having such a gorgeous creature in his arms.
Chapter 8
‘I’m on my way, Siobhan,’ Bella called into the microphone, silently cursing. She hung the mike back on the side of the radio, which was attached to the front carryall of her four-wheel motorbike.
It had been a couple of weeks since the boys had left.
A couple of very long weeks, and Bella could see the next few months before they were due to head home, dragging like a reluctant child. Siobhan was on Bella’s back to clean the guest quarters, a crowd of VIPs having recently been and gone.
Bella missed Will. She hadn’t expected that. He’d awakened in her feelings that left her confused, scared even. Life had been so free and easy up till now. She didn’t need or want this complication.
Or did she? Will made her feel so good about herself, attractive, interesting. And when he focused on her, Bella felt like she was the only person in the world. He seemed to really care, about her, about the things she believed were important – family, friends and country life.
Patty was struggling too, dragging her feet out of bed where a few weeks before she had been bounding out before the alarm. Macca was to blame for that.
Bloody Will and Macca.
They’d also brought to Ainsley Station in northern outback Queensland the sweet calls and smells of the southern mountains and home. Station life out here had lost its shine, and Bella knew her uncertainty about what to do next in life was resolved. They were going home. And Bella couldn’t wait.
But now, she needed to move her butt.
She slung her gardening tools onto the back of the motorbike, pulled on her helmet and set off in the direction of the stockmen’s quarters.
The sky was bright; the warm wind whistled around the collar of her long-sleeve chambray shirt and the sun kissed her cheeks as she rode. The day was improving rapidly. You couldn’t stay disgruntled on such a beautiful, Queensland morning.
She
felt her mobile phone vibrate in her back pocket. Surprised, she reached around with one hand to retrieve it while using her other hand to bring the bike to a halt. She hauled off her helmet and could hear her mother’s voice even before she got the phone to her ear.
‘Bella? Are you there? Hello?’
‘Yes, Mum. I’m here. Sorry I missed your call on Sunday night. How are you?’ she said to the woman who was the anchor in her young life.
‘Good, thank you, darling. I wasn’t sure I would get you.’ The relief of reaching her daughter was obvious in Francine Vermaelon’s voice. ‘And you?’
‘Yeah, I’m good. We just had a visit from cousin Macca and Patty’s brother Will. We had a good time.’ Bella just managed to keep her voice level. ‘Why didn’t you tell me they were up this way?’
‘I don’t know. Must have just slipped my mind.’
‘They’ve gone now. They should be just about home.’
‘Oh good,’ said Francine. ‘Rhonda will be so pleased to see that rascal back again. He didn’t lead you or Patty into any trouble, did he?’ Her laugh tinkled down the phone.
‘No, Mummy dear, he was as good as gold.’ As good as tarnished gold anyway. Quickly Bella changed the subject.
‘How are Justin, Melanie and the kids?’
‘Good, sweetheart. Mel’s five months’ gone now. She’s already counting down to her due date.’
‘What about Beccy and Joel?’ asked Bella.
‘Beccy just won Champion Rider for her age group at the gymkhana on Sunday, and Joel’s decided he wants to be a dairy farmer because you get to go home to have lunch with your family.’ Her mother laughed again.
Bella giggled. Joel was a card, a steady, placid little boy who loved helping his dad and Bella’s brother Justin on the farm. Beccy, on the other hand, was a dare devil. Anything that moved quickly and she was on it, in it or doing it. Bella reincarnated, said Francine, although Bella didn’t see herself like that at all.
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