by Gina Kincade
Nicola gasped. “Oh, God. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. We all know what a rascal he can be.”
“We?”
“Me and the rest of our family.”
“How do you deal with him? The man is stubborn, arrogant, and condescending. And his obvious dislike of foreigners borders on bizarre. Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe he can’t stand me for some reason.”
“No, he’s like that with everyone.”
“Oh, that makes me feel better.”
“He’s out here all by himself, off the grid. He has no one to rein him in.”
“Well, maybe he should stay off the grid so he doesn’t scare people away with his rude behavior.”
“He wasn’t always like this. This is his way of dealing with…a horrible disappointment that happened years ago. Afterward, he retreated here to heal himself. He never ventured back into civilization.”
Nicola smirked. “Don’t tell me. Some woman broke his heart? So now, every female he meets has to pay for the sins of the one who did him wrong?”
“You guessed it. Men are supposed to be tough, but sometimes, I think they take things harder than women. Leif, well…it’s hard to understand him until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. I know it sounds corny.”
“Unfortunately, as he pointedly reminded me, I won’t be walking anywhere on this ankle.”
“Maybe these will help.” Olivia opened the small closet in the room, and then pulled out a pair of wooden crutches. “Good. They’re still here from when I broke my toe a few years ago. Leif keeps everything.”
Nicola slid one crutch under each arm, testing the feel. “You broke your toe?”
“Yes. I dropped an anvil on it.”
“Ouch. I bet that hurt like hell.”
“Bloody well did! I don’t wish that type of pain on my worst enemy. I can laugh about it now, but back then I cried like a baby. You don’t realize how much weight you put on your feet. The whole ordeal made me want to lose twenty pounds!”
For a moment, Nicola relaxed and laughed with her. Then, the sudden barking of dogs set her on edge again.
“What’s all that racket?” Olivia asked, moving toward the large window in the room. She gasped. “For heaven’s sake!”
Nicola glanced over the woman’s shoulder to see Leif and McSeever wrestling on the ground, trading punches. Bonnie and Clyde were running in circles around the pair. “They’re fighting!” she said.
“That’s not like Leif. My brother doesn’t fight.”
Nicola hobbled down the hall, making good use of the crutches. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me McSeever was here. The nerve of him!”
She made it out the front door without busting her ass. She reached the tangled mass of arms and legs just as Leif was about to throw another punch. “Stop!” she yelled. “Stop it, right now!”
Thank goodness, Olivia was a brawny woman, who succeeded in pulling the men off each other. “Why in God’s name are you two fighting?” Olivia demanded.
The gladiators were out of breath. Chests heaving. Fists still clenched in midair. McSeever was the worst for wear, with a busted lip and faint signs of bruising already beneath his left eye.
He snarled in Leif’s direction. “I came for my customer.”
Leif growled. “I said you’re not getting her. Now, get off my property!”
Nicola limped closer to the battered tour guide. “You came back for me?” she asked.
“He left you!” Leif yelled.
McSeever ignored him. “Yes, I came back for you,” he told Nicola. “Get your things. I’m taking you back to the resort. You don’t have to tolerate this turd any longer.”
Leif moved to strike him, but Nicola held up one of her crutches to stop him. This was what she’d wanted. Since she arrived here, she’d thought of nothing else but crawling back into her bed at the modest resort. She’d wanted this nightmare to be over. But she couldn’t turn back time. And Leif’s words about McSeever kept ringing in her ears.
“Why did you leave me here?” she asked McSeever. “Why didn’t you stay with me?”
“I had customers to attend to.”
“And wallets to bleed?”
“Now, wait a minute—”
“No need to explain yourself. I’ll be staying here with Leif.”
His narrowed eyes flitted over her. “On a first-name basis, are ya? I see, now. You’ve found yourself a lover boy.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped.
His words dripped with disgust. “You two deserve each other.”
“I know what I don’t deserve—you!” She swung around on her crutches and hobbled back toward the house.
She heard footsteps stalking behind her. “You made the right decision,” Leif said as he reached her side.
“I chose the lesser of two evils,” she said, not bothering to slow down.
“Evil? I try to help you, and this is how you repay me? With insults?”
“As soon as I get better, I’m outta here. Back to the States.”
“Fine with me!”
“Fine!”
The good doctor was entirely too bossy and pushy for her. She tried as gracefully as she could to amble away on her crutches. It wasn’t her most dignified exit, but she’d be damned if she’d endure his presence another moment.
Bonnie and Clyde ran after her, nipping at her heels. “Go away!” she ordered. The faster she moved, the more they dogged her. Leif said they were harmless, but the beasts made her nervous!
By the time she made it back to the house, she was out of breath and desperate to sit down. One of the dingoes bounded in front of her, almost tripping her. She stumbled, but thankfully regained her balance. In the process, one of her crutches flailed in the air, nearly striking the dog. It leapt out of the way, snagging her backpack on a nearby chair with its massive paw.
“Nooo!” Nicola screeched.
Her heart slammed against her ribcage as she watched her backpack crash to the floor. The stainless steel object hit the ground with a thud, and then rolled out onto its side. The lid popped open, revealing the contents inside. She gasped in horror as a heap of ashen particles of dust flew out, showering the floor in a gray mist.
Leif trotted up behind her. “What the hell is that?”
Her heart sank. “My late husband’s ashes.”
CHAPTER SIX
Leif stared in disbelief as Nicola sank to the hardwood floor and began scooping up the ashes. She was a widow? His emotions boomeranged from shame to surprise. The way she was desperately sweeping the dusty remnants made his heart wrench with pity for her. Maybe she wasn’t the calloused, spoiled tourist he’d first imagined. On the other hand, she was carrying a dead person around with her. He hated to think there were actual human remains scattered on his floor.
Clyde sniffed at the messy floor, obviously intrigued by the powdery substance. Leif gently nudged him away. “On with ya,” he said. The dog trotted away.
“I can’t believe this,” Nicola sniffed. “This is all your dog’s fault.”
“You must have left your bag unzipped.”
“You let these wild animals roam the house.”
“Not usually, but they were curious, following you. I don’t know why, but they must like you.”
“Well, at least someone likes me!”
Olivia rushed into the room. “Leif, what the devil were you and McSeever fighting abou—whoa! What happened?” Her jaw dropped as she eyeballed the mess on the floor.
“That beast is what happened!” Nicola yelled.
Leif blew out a frustrated breath. “It was an accident.”
“What am I supposed to do now? My late husband’s ashes were in there!”
“Why are you carting ashes around in the first place?”
“Daniel, my deceased husband, told me if anything happened to him, I should scatter his ashes in the Great Barrier Reef.”
“The
Reef? Why?”
“I don’t know!” She glared at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “That was his wish. That’s the only reason I came to this godforsaken country. I was trying to fulfill his request. And now…”
She burst into tears, totally shattering his resolve. Without thinking, Leif dropped to his knees and gathered her in his arms. This was a side of her that he wasn’t used to seeing. The ear-bashing, tongue-lashing American had transformed into a vulnerable woman deserving of compassion.
He cradled her against his body, not sure how to soothe her. What in the bloody hell did he say in a situation like this? Maybe there was nothing to say. Maybe she just needed the reassurance of another human. The comfort of a sympathetic ear. The tender touch of a man.
As he hugged her to his chest, it occurred to him she might not be such a horrible person after all. Beneath her quirks and annoying demands, she was only flesh and bone. And how good her flesh felt next to his! Even when he’d carried her into the house earlier, he’d felt her softness, smelled the faint floral scent of perfume lingering on her neck. Yeah, she was female all right—all female. Under different circumstances they might even…No. He batted the thought away. He wouldn’t feel attraction for her. He couldn’t get carried away simply because of some spilled ashes. She wasn’t his type anyway. There was no use acting on his attraction when nothing would come of it.
“Don’t cry,” Olivia cooed, as she knelt beside Nicola. “Everything’s going to be all right.”
Nicola swiped the tears from her eyes. “Everything is ruined. I’m injured. Daniel’s ashes are spilled. This was a wasted trip.”
“Nonsense. You still have plenty of time to fulfill Daniel’s last wish.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I just told my tour guide to get lost.”
“Who needs McSeever when you have Dr. Connors? My brother knows this country better than any guide. He can take you to the Great Barrier Reef.”
Nicola gazed up at him, her eyes liquid pools of dark chocolate. “You would do that for me?” she asked him. “You’d help me, even though you don’t like me?”
Leif resisted the urge to wipe a tear rolling down her cheek. Her look was filled with so much trust and faith—the total opposite from the suspicious glances she’d cast his way earlier. She needed his help. She was practically begging for it. The question was, was he willing to give it?
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next two days felt more like work than a vacation. Nicola had been tasked with a variety of chores that kept her working from virtually sunup to sundown. Not only did Leif have wild animals in his clinic and animal sanctuary, he also had domesticated animals that needed taking care of. Since her wrists and ankle were still healing, she was assigned tasks with the lowest amount of physical activity. But they were also the most monotonous. She wasn't domestically inclined by any stretch of the imagination, but she thought she did a decent job of feeding the pigs in Leif’s pigpen, cleaning the fresh trout, and sorting and washing fruits and vegetables.
Since they were so remote, there was no supermarket they could pop into. Everything had to be picked, plucked, or pulled from nature and then cleaned and cooked from scratch. Anything tugged up out of the dirt was immediately washed and cooked. Washing wasn't a simple matter. Due to the extreme desert-like conditions and remote environment, it was simply easier to draw water from Leif’s nearby well.
This probably worked fine when it was just him and his animals, but Nicola imagined no female could ever live here on a long-term basis. Sometimes, there were things a girl just needed the convenience of having without roughing it.
To his credit, he did make brekkie each morning for her and Olivia. Brekkie was the Australian way of saying breakfast. She was getting used to the Australian dishes. Trout with eggs was her favorite.
Other than that, Leif had kept his distance from her since the debacle with Daniel's ashes. She watched him work, chopping wood, skinning rabbits, mending the fence around the pigpen, and moving bales of hay for Sarah to eat.
She tried her damnedest to ignore him, but her eyes constantly sought him out. She found ways to look at him without him noticing. She even got eggs from the chicken coop twice a day just to catch a glimpse of him walking across the compound. Even the sight of him with his back to her, his shirt stretching across his broad muscles made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It was stupid. She had no business thinking about him that way, especially when he couldn't give two hoots about her.
He spoke only when necessary, and even then, it was usually to bark and order at her or frowned disapprovingly. Whenever she made any attempts to talk to him, he merely grumbled in response. It was as if he regretted agreeing to take her to The Reef, as he called it. Part of her stubborn pride wanted to tell him to go to hell. But the other half was desperate to fulfill Daniel’s final wish. And why shouldn’t she? She was already here. She may as well make it count. If not for Olivia hanging around, she would have gone nuts. She liked the talkative woman a lot more than she liked her brother.
Olivia joined her in the kitchen, picking up a towel to dry a plate Nicola had just washed. “I think it's admirable that you are spreading your husband's ashes,” she said. “You must have loved him tremendously to do this.”
Nicola swallowed. “I…I…” She had so many mixed emotions when it came to Daniel. Toward the end of their marriage, she’d fallen out of love with him. They’d argued the day he boarded the plane. She’d said hateful things. Things she regretted now. Part of her felt guilty that he’d died—as if she’d somehow tempted the fates. After a while, she’d become numb to everything but work. She knew she should’ve come here sooner. She simply hadn’t had the strength. The thought of scattering his ashes was like attending his funeral all over again. It was too much to bear.
“He was a good husband to me. A good friend and confidant.”
“Yeah, there's a lot to be said for marriage. Leif almost got married once, but it didn't work out.”
Nicola's interest was piqued. She wondered what kind of woman could have stolen the doctor’s heart, and then obviously broken it. “What happened?”
“You'll have to ask him. All he said was that they were incompatible.”
“How long were they engaged?”
“Almost two years. That's part of the reason why he said they were incompatible. If you ask me, any woman who stays engaged for longer than two years without making wedding plans, obviously has something else going on.”
Nicola handed her another plate. “I don’t know if I agree with that. In case you hadn’t noticed, your brother is hard to get along with.”
Olivia laughed. “Like I said, he's not a bad guy. He used to work in the States. Made lots of money. Lived a very successful life. But after everything happened with the breakup, he’s never been the same.”
The blast of a car horn sounded, nearly making Nicola’s heart jump from her chest. She grabbed her crutches and hobbled toward the front door. By the time she flung it open, Leif was already helping the driver of a Subaru wagon unload a bunch of boxes and other items from the back of the vehicle. This must be the supply truck Leif told her about.
Relief surged through her veins. Maybe this meant they could finally leave. He'd already told her that when the supply truck came they could get a ride to the Great Barrier Reef. She had serious doubts they could make it to their destination in anything other than a four-wheel drive vehicle, but she decided to ask later. She waited patiently while the men spent the next thirty minutes unloading the vehicle.
Finally, Leif looked up and noticed her standing at the door. Their eyes met, and he nodded. He said something to the other man, but he was too far away for her to hear it. Her heart raced as Leif strode toward her. His walk was confident, like a man who always got what he wanted. Maybe if she were here under different circumstances, he might show her some of that confidence.
“Our ride is here,” he told her. “You ready?”
Sh
e glanced at the Subaru. “We’re driving to The Reef in that thing? The odds of us making it don’t look too good to me.”
“You let me worry about how we’re getting there.”
“We’re leaving right now? Don’t you need to pack or something?”
“Do I look like I need to pack anything? I figured you knew by now I’m pretty low maintenance.”
“I didn’t expect you to just up and leave at the spur of the moment.”
His heated gaze slid from her face to her cleavage to her legs, and then back to her face again. “If I didn't know better I would think you're trying to find a reason to stay here with me. Is that what's going on, Ms. Mills? You're not ready to leave just yet?”
Her insides burned with embarrassment. He couldn’t possibly have read her mind. “Of course, I'm ready to leave,” she insisted. “No one in their right mind would want to stay around and suffer through all of these demeaning chores.”
The half-grin that spread across his face only irritated her more. “Well then, unless you have a list of questions you're hiding behind your back, I suggest you get your backpack so we can get going.”
She turned on her heel and hobbled away. She'd become pretty adept at using her crutches in the past few days, but she still felt self-conscious around him. She wondered if he was watching her walk away. Could he tell she’d gone commando beneath her shorts? She'd been wearing them for the past few days. She couldn't abide wearing the same pair of underwear more than two days in a row. She was roughing it, but that was just too damn rough!
Luckily, Leif had loaned her one of his shirts. The worn cotton was ridiculously oversized on her but she’d knotted it at the waist and rolled up the long sleeves. That did the trick just fine. She quickly moved to the front room where she retrieved her backpack from a shelf high on one of his bookcases. She hadn’t wanted to take the chance that Clyde or Bonnie would come in and think it was a toy again.
When she turned around, she nearly bumped into Leif, who’d apparently been following closely without her knowing.
