by Cathryn Hein
Em turned back to find Josh leaning on the spade, watching her. His brow was speckled with sweat, his stubble lazy-weekend long.
‘You all right?’
‘Just thinking how sexy you look when you’re sweaty.’
‘Liar. You weren’t looking at me, you were looking at the hill.’ He sobered. ‘Is it Digby still?’
She swung her toe at a half-decayed cypress cone. ‘A bit.’
‘He’ll be all right, Em.’
‘I worry about him.’
‘I know, but the only thing that’ll help him is time.’ He smiled gently. ‘And maybe another woman.’
Em smiled back. ‘Perhaps we could set him up with Jas now she’s free.’
He laughed. ‘Too much of a handful for Dig I’d have thought.’
Em wasn’t so sure about that. Jasmine seemed to have lost her bouncy edge since ditching Mike for good, but Jas was never one to stay down. Plus it might only be with her that Jasmine was subdued. As with all of Em’s closest relationships, Felicity had left a scar on theirs too. They’d come back though. Em would make sure of it. Friendships like theirs were too special to lose.
By the time Josh had finished digging, a large mound of rich soil and pale, partially rotted cypress chips had grown beside the hole. Muffy snuffled through it, sniffing out mice and stinky dead things to roll in. Em helped Josh fetch fresh soil from the back of the garden to fill the space, Josh glowering at the wheelbarrow as it protested under the load.
The tree was well past seedling stage and had cost Em more than was comfortable, but the need to complete the avenue overrode any protest over the price. So much had happened since the lightning strike that it was as if the hill’s circle of life had been broken and now, more than ever, Em felt it her duty to repair it properly.
For the future’s sake. For contentment.
For her life ahead with Josh.
She stood back and leaned against Josh’s chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he settled his chin on her shoulder to admire the new planting. Alongside its brothers, the cypress appeared small and skinny, but its trunk was straight and sturdy, its needles bright and healthy. In time, the gap would fill and Rocking Horse Hill would be whole once more.
It felt whole now.
‘Look,’ said Josh, pointing towards the road paddock.
Em watched, frowning, and then laughed. For as long as Em could remember, there’d been a gap between the paddock’s gate and the fence’s strainer post. Wide enough for Muffy to pass through but nothing larger, Em had paid it little attention. But where a dog could fit, a sneaky donkey’s head could also weave.
Like a mediaeval criminal in stocks, Kicki had his head jammed between the space, eyes half-closed in concentration, rubbery little mouth working furiously at the latch. Cutie stood close by his shoulder, fluffy ears twirling as she nudged him on.
‘He won’t do it,’ said Em, as Kicki attempted yet again to align the latch’s metal eye over its hook.
‘You think? That’s one determined donkey.’
‘That’s one very naughty donkey, you mean.’
‘He just wants to show his girlfriend a good time.’ Josh nuzzled her neck. ‘Bit like me.’
Em turned in Josh’s arms and draped her own around his neck, breathing in the delicious scents of soil and pine and hard-working man. Smiling, he bent and kissed her, only to pull away seconds later. ‘Brace yourself. We’re about to have company.’
Em closed her eyes and groaned. ‘He hasn’t?’
‘He has.’ Josh kissed her forehead. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll fix it for you.’
‘And then?’
He regarded her with confusion. ‘I’ll fix the wheelbarrow?’
‘What happened to showing your girlfriend a good time?’
Josh locked his intense molasses gaze on hers. ‘I’m already having it.’
And as a donkey bunted her backside Em realised that, at last, so was she.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Em’s and Josh’s story and the setting of Rocking Horse Hill which is based on a much-loved crater very near my home town of Mount Gambier. If you'd like to catch up with my other stories, on the following pages are blurbs for my other four novels, The Falls, Heartland, Heart of the Valley and Promises.
If you'd like to find out more about me and my books, please visit my website. You can also keep up with new releases and gain access to exclusive content, news and giveaways by signing up for my occasional newsletter.
Happy reading!
Cathryn
MICHAEL JOSEPH
Published by the Penguin Group
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2014
Text copyright © Cathryn Hein 2014
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover design by Marley Berger © Penguin Group (Australia)
Text design by Samantha Jayaweera © Penguin Group (Australia)
Cover photographs: Background by Getty/Brooke Whatnall;
Woman/Horse by Martin Pohner - imagebroker/Corbis
penguin.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74348-399-2
THE BEGINNING
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