by Joan Kilby
“Deal.” His kindness and strength flowed through his palm and into her, seducing her into letting down her guard. She hoped she hadn’t made a big mistake. If she didn’t have anger and resentment to hide behind, she was opening herself up to being truly vulnerable.
* * *
ADAM UNLOCKED THE door to the guest cottage and flicked on the light. He wanted to make sure the place was ready for Hayley before she moved in. His nose wrinkled at the musty smell, so he pushed the door wide and held it open with a chair. In the sitting room an old magazine lay on the coffee table. He glanced at the date—two months before the bushfires.
He carried the magazine to the recycling bin in the laundry room, then went back to the kitchen. The sink needed to be scrubbed and the floor could use a good cleaning. Two coffee cups sat in the sink, one with lipstick stains on the rim. Why hadn’t Diane cleaned the cottage after her guests left?
The fridge held only a single bottle of boutique beer. Five empties sat in the cardboard six-pack on the floor. Continuing his exploration, he peered into the cupboards. Plenty of dishes and pots and pans but not much in the way of staples. Would Hayley be offended if he stocked the fridge and pantry? He’d like to help her out. Maybe her situation wasn’t any of his business but she was struggling and he was her neighbor.
Even though she’d said he wasn’t responsible for the fires, he did feel guilty that he hadn’t suffered any damage while her property and horses—her whole life, in effect—had been wiped out. Worst of all, she’d lost her husband. He would have been devastated if Diane had been killed, even though their marriage was over. How much worse for Hayley, who clearly loved her husband?
Adam wandered down the hall to the main bedroom. The bed had been slept in and not remade, the covers crumpled and pulled back. He quickly stripped the sheets and tossed them into the hall to take up to the house to wash. Then he remade the bed with fresh linen.
It would be nice having another adult around to talk to. Okay, not just another adult; an attractive woman—albeit a different type than he was used to. Hayley intrigued him. She was a puzzle and a challenge rolled into one. What would it take to break through that hard shell? On the rare occasions when she smiled the effect was dazzling.
He moved on to the bathroom en suite and was pulling used towels off the rack when he saw a glint of gold on the edge of the bathtub, partially hidden by the shower curtain.
It was a gold Rolex watch worth thousands of dollars. Strange that whoever lost this hadn’t come looking for it. He turned it over and found an inscription. Holding it up to the light, he read the fine italic script.
For Leif, my sexy mountain man, from your red-hot mama.... The date was Christmas of the previous year.
Leif. The name gave him a jolt. What had Hayley’s late husband been doing in the bathroom of this cottage? Hayley mentioned they’d come to one of Diane’s parties. Maybe they’d stayed overnight rather than driving home after drinking. He thought back to the two cups in the sink, one with lipstick stains.
Hayley didn’t wear lipstick. Maybe she did to a party. Or maybe...
Adam sank onto the edge of the bathtub. Diane had been seeing someone. He’d assumed the man was a friend from Melbourne. But what if he wasn’t? What if Diane had been having an affair with Hayley’s husband? A sick wave washed over him as the pieces fell into place. Now it made sense that she just had to buy a house in Hope Mountain. And not any house but one right next door to her lover.
Leif wasn’t a common name. The odds of there being two men in this neck of the woods called that were slim. As for the watch, Diane spent money like water and wouldn’t think twice about buying her lover an expensive gift.
Did Hayley know? He hated to even think about that. She seemed so innocent. Not naive, but somehow unspoiled. Natural, in a way Diane could never be.
The sweep hand was still ticking off the seconds. The gold casing was as shiny as new, smooth and cool beneath the pad of his thumb.
What if he had it all wrong? Maybe Hayley had given Leif the watch. She was poor now but they may have been well-off before the fires. If that was the case then Adam should give it back to Hayley.
But if she didn’t know anything about the watch, being presented with a gift to her husband from his mistress would cause Hayley a lot of pain. Should he even tell her about it? What was the right thing to do?
Adam’s mind was spinning and then another thought hit him. If Hayley knew her husband had slept with another woman in this very guest cottage she wouldn’t want to stay here. Already he felt as if he was enticing a wild deer out of the blackened forest, offering sustenance so she wouldn’t perish. That was probably a false impression on his part. He suspected she was tougher than he was in many ways. But knowing about the watch might even put her off treating Summer.
Damn Diane for going after another woman’s husband, a woman she’d invited into her home and been friendly with. He was angry but not surprised. Diane had her good points but she was also rich, bored and selfish. But what was wrong with Leif that he would cheat on Hayley? She had more character in her dirty fingernail than Diane had in her entire spa-pampered body.
Adam fished in his pocket for his phone and punched in Diane’s number. The call went to voice mail. He swore again. He left a message for her to call him back as soon as possible.
He rose and pocketed the watch. Until he had some facts he wouldn’t speak to Hayley about it. He didn’t want to upset her or screw up Summer’s therapy over what might turn out to be nothing.
But as he finished cleaning the cottage, dark emotions stirred up by the watch churned to the surface. Even though he hadn’t been in love with Diane for a long time, it was still humiliating that she’d had an affair. And not with another architect or a lawyer or a businessman but with her sexy mountain man. Leif had been a rugged individual, at home in these woods in a way Adam couldn’t begin to compete with.
Her sexy mountain man. Had Hayley seen Leif that way, too? Of course she would have because Leif had been her man. Another spurt of anger rushed through him. How could Diane and Leif have done that to Hayley?
As Adam finished cleaning the cottage he tried to put the whole problem from his mind. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Hayley and how he had no right to keep secrets from her. He also had an unexpectedly strong urge to protect her from more pain, which was a bit strange. She was only his neighbor, after all. And his daughter’s therapist. Yes, he found her attractive and he enjoyed a little harmless flirting, but there were too many roadblocks to them becoming more than friends to even think in those terms.
He grabbed the dirty laundry basket and shut the door on the cottage, the watch a heavy weight in his pocket. The whole situation was becoming way too messed up and complicated.
* * *
“GEE UP!” HAYLEY SLAPPED Blaze on the rump. The pregnant mare trotted through the gate into Adam’s paddock, where Asha, Bo, Sergeant and Major already had their heads down, tails whisking as they eagerly tore into the succulent young grass.
She’d ridden Sergeant and led the others in a string along the road and up the driveway, avoiding the still-muddy bush track. Then Adam had driven her back to pick up her truck and the rest of her things.
He’d gone inside while she’d tended to her horses, supposedly just to get the key to the cottage, but that was half an hour ago. Didn’t matter. She’d been busy scrubbing and filling the old bathtub used as a water trough. Then she’d positioned the salt lick below the broad eaves of the barn where it wouldn’t melt away in the rain.
Now she sank onto the lush grass outside the paddock and watched her horses crop the juicy green stems with brisk swipes of their tongues. The steady chomp of the grinding molars was a sweeter sound than a songbird in spring. Her horses were being nourished. Blaze, her fat round belly gleaming in the sun, would have a safe and comfortable place
to have her baby.
Thanks to Adam, she and her horses had been transported almost magically into a land of luxury and plenty. The barn was full of hay and sacks of oats and grain. Her horses could live on that for months. As soon as she could afford it, she’d pay Adam back. Until then she wouldn’t be lying awake at night wondering if she would have to sell any of her horses, and which she would choose if it came to that. Knowing she and her animals were safe felt as if a huge weight had rolled off her shoulders.
Shane bounded through the grass to flop at her feet, panting, after his exploration of the yard and the buildings. Hayley scratched the black-and-white fur behind his ears. “Pretty swish, eh, Shane? We’re living high on the hog now.”
Why would Adam want to leave such a beautiful environment and live in the city? He had a big house, a guest cottage, a barn with a hayloft, a tack room and a box stall as well as shelter for the other horses. There was a lunge ring, a tool shed and a three-car garage. As reluctant as she’d been to accept his offer, now that she was here, she couldn’t stop grinning.
The screen door on the kitchen banged and Adam strode across the grass, a set of keys dangling from his fingers. “Sorry I took so long. I got a call from work. Seems they can’t quite do without me after all.”
Hayley jumped to her feet and brushed bits of grass off her jeans. “No worries.”
“I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.” He led her across the lawn to the cottage set back among the trees. “It’s small but comfortable.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great.” She quelled the urge to skip and instead walked sedately at his side.
“Dad!” Summer came running out of the house, her long coppery hair flying out behind her. “Why didn’t you tell me the horses were here?”
“You were plugged in to that mp3 player, as usual.” Adam stopped to let his daughter catch up to them.
Hayley smiled at Summer. The girl was different today, excited and happy. “Are you ready to do some horse therapy?”
“Will I be riding?” she asked eagerly.
“That’s not part of the treatment, but you can ride another time. I’m going to look at the cottage. How about we meet at the lunge ring in, say, half an hour?”
“Okay. But first, what are the horses’ names?”
“The gray one is Asha, the pregnant chestnut is Blaze, the big palomino is Bo and the two gold-brown horses are Sergeant and Major,” Haley said. “They’re brothers.”
“How do you tell Sergeant and Major apart?” Summer asked. “They look like identical twins from here.”
“Sergeant is taller and heavier and a darker red-gold color,” Hayley explained. “Major has four white socks instead of three and is a lighter gold.”
“Cool.”
The girl ran off.
“That’s the most excited I’ve seen her in weeks.” Adam turned back to Hayley, his dark eyes filled with warmth. “You’re doing her good already.”
His deep brown eyes framed by thick arching brows were magnetic. Her gaze clung to his a good two seconds longer than was seemly. Combined with the approval in his voice and words, he was hard to resist.
But resist she must. She was basically his employee—they could be friends at best. “It’s not me, it’s the horses. I, uh, I’d better put my stuff inside so I can meet Summer.”
She strode to her truck, full of saddles and other tack, plus her clothes and miscellaneous items. She dragged out the first box that came to hand.
Adam swung out her duffel bag and led the way up the flagstone path to the cottage. He opened the door and stood back to allow her to enter. “There’s no laundry, but you can use the washer and dryer in the house. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Hey, don’t apologize. This is awesome. And it beats going into town to the Laundromat.”
“If you need anything at all, just ask. I want you to be comfortable here.”
Hayley walked into the living room and set the box on the coffee table. Then she turned in a slow circle, taking in the comfortable furniture, the fireplace, fresh flowers on the dining table and the kitchen fitted out with new appliances.
And windows, lots and lots of windows, through which the warm afternoon light streamed, coloring everything with a golden glow. Gratitude expanded in her chest, filling her to aching point. Maybe she was doing Adam a favor, but he was doing her a far bigger one. He’d given her a home.
“Is it okay?” Adam dropped her duffel bag inside the doorway.
“It’s just fine.” She didn’t dare look at him for fear of betraying how close to tears she was and acknowledging how desperate she’d been. She could have survived in the garage even without electricity. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was a roof over her head. But her straitened circumstances meant that sooner or later she would probably have had to sell her horses. And then what would she have done? Who would she be without her horses? She didn’t even want to think about that.
“I’ll let you get settled,” Adam said, retreating to the porch.
Hayley came to the door. It occurred to her that Diane might not appreciate Hayley living in her guest cottage. The other woman was unfailingly polite, but their acquaintance had always felt strained for some reason. “Diane won’t mind me being here?”
“I’m sure she won’t. She actually may not be coming back except to pack her things. She’s talking about moving to Sydney. Since the fires she’s not so keen on the area.”
“Outsiders usually do want to leave after something catastrophic. Those of us who grew up here can’t bear the thought of living anywhere else.”
“You’ve lost so much. Your home, your husband...” He searched her face. “You never think about getting out?”
Occasionally, yes, in the night, when she was alone and lonely and the wind whistled through the cracks between the walls and the roof. Then she would fantasize about giving up the struggle and the hardship and going to live in the suburbs of Melbourne in a normal house with a normal job and a regular paycheck.
The lure of security called to her when she felt weak. When she didn’t think she had another ounce of strength left to heal anyone. Molly had asked her once, Who’s healing you? She didn’t need healing. She was resilient. She soldiered on. And sure enough, even after a bad night, come morning she would gaze out over the mountainside and the valley below and feel her heart swell with a feeling of home and belonging. She would wither anywhere else.
“No, I never think seriously about leaving. No matter how bad things are I know they will eventually get better. I’ve got a job and now a proper roof over my head, thanks to you. Even if it’s only temporary it’s a huge help. Spring is here, the grass is growing, birds are nesting. Every day I’m a tiny step closer to getting my house rebuilt and the dude ranch started.”
“What about the horse therapy?”
She hesitated. “I didn’t tell you. The funding ran out sooner than I expected. It’s a shame but I never thought I’d be doing it long-term.”
“That’s too bad. Everyone says you’re so good at therapy.”
“I loved it. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how people and horses respond to each other, to see them go from hurt and closed off to opening up and feeling strong.” She sighed and glanced away.
There was no point pining after what was lost, though. Turning back, she said firmly, “The dude ranch is the real goal. Leif and I had our hearts set on it.” To be completely accurate, Leif had come up with the idea but she loved it, too. A couple needed common goals for a strong marriage. Fulfilling their dream was a way to keep Leif’s memory alive.
“I hope you get what you’re after.” Adam stepped off the porch onto the paving stone pathway. “I’ll let you unpack.”
“I’ll finish later. Summer’s waiting for me. Could you tell her I’ll be out in a few minut
es?”
Adam nodded and left, then walked over to the paddock where Summer was perched on the fence, mooning over the horses.
Hayley went back inside, unable to resist quickly exploring the rest of the cottage. The bedroom had a king-size bed with a patchwork comforter, a chair by the window, a dresser and a closet. The bathroom gleamed with cream tiles and gold fixtures. She couldn’t wait to take a proper shower and fill the cabinet with her toiletries instead of having them crowded around the sink where she washed dishes.
The kitchen was compact but complete, with all the basic appliances. She opened the fridge to make sure the freezer worked. Had to have her ice cream—
She pressed a hand to her chest. The fridge was stocked to the brim with fresh food. Milk, eggs, cheese, butter, jam, salad makings, fruit. In the freezer was meat and, oh, my God, ice cream bars.
Hayley blinked hard. Damn Adam Banks. He was too nice. How could she keep her distance when he was so welcoming and generous? She didn’t want to hate him. But neither did she want to owe him. She’d been here less than a day and already she was deeply in his debt simply for the way he’d made her feel safe and secure again. It wasn’t about money; it was about having a home. To him it was only a guest cottage, but to Hayley it was a palace. It reminded her of how much she’d lost and how desperately she wanted her own house again, and a sense of permanence.
She drew in a breath and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. Then she went to the front door and pulled on her boots. There was one way she could repay him. She would give his daughter back to him, whole and healthy.
CHAPTER FIVE
ADAM TOUCHED SUMMER’S shoulder as he joined her at the fence. “Hey, sweetheart. I wonder which one you’ll be working with.”
“I don’t know. I hope it’s Asha.”
“I hope not. She’s trouble. Hayley even has problems controlling her.”
“That’s because she was hurt in the fires. She’s traumatized.”
