He finished emptying the box of glasses. ‘Is Violet okay?’
‘She’s still settling in but I think so.’ Ella took a sip of water before ripping the tape off another box. ‘Thanks for visiting her with Duke.’
‘She’s a lovely lady.’
‘She said the same thing about you.’ Ella paused, a white dinner plate in her hand. ‘Has she mentioned anything about her youngest daughter Libby?’
‘She has. I can’t imagine the pain she’s been through.’
‘Me either.’ Ella’s expression remained serious. ‘If it’s still possible to do the hay bale challenge together, I’d like to do a design in memory of Libby to generate some publicity. Somebody somewhere has to know something.’
Saul didn’t hesitate. Helping Violet overrode any reservations about working alongside Ella. ‘Count me in.’
‘Thanks.’ Ella bent down to place the plate into a low cupboard and he lost sight of her expression.
This time when she unwrapped another plate she hugged it to her chest. ‘Saul … I’m sure Denham would have wised you up about Edna. She loves to play matchmaker. I just want to put it on record that I’m happily single. We’re working together to help Violet, that’s all.’
‘Denham did give me the heads up. Believe me when I say you’re safe with me.’ He fisted his left hand so he’d not be tempted to look at his bare ring finger. ‘I’ve also no intention of being anything but single.’
For the first time a genuine smile curved her mouth. ‘Edna won’t want to hear that but I sure do.’ Ella relaxed her tight grip on the plate. ‘Any idea on what we should do for our design? Libby liked art, horses, kelpies, books and Disney movies.’
‘I’ll get my laptop. If you’ve got time, we could decide on something so we can start building asap.’
She nodded as she folded the empty box flat. ‘I’ll let Edna know what’s happening. Cressy will be fine without my help. Denham has almost finished their hay bale caterpillar.’
Saul managed to keep his control in place until he left the kitchen. Then he scraped a hand over his face. To think he’d been dragging his heels getting stuck into his bookwork. Holed up in his office entering numbers into a spreadsheet would be a much better option right now. For any other single male, having Ella Quinlivan in their kitchen, let alone working with her on the hay bale challenge, would be at the top of their hell-yeah list. It was at the bottom of his.
Despite having cleared the air about neither of them looking for a relationship, it would be impossible to be around her and remain unaffected. It would take all of his willpower to ensure that no one, not even Denham, knew how much she’d gotten under his skin. He unplugged his laptop that had been charging while he’d taken a swim. When he returned to the kitchen Ella gave him a sunny smile that started a pounding at his temples.
He placed the laptop on the table, opened the lid and typed in his password before Ella could pay too much attention to his screensaver. Taken at his and Trish’s wedding, it showed them sharing a tender kiss against a backdrop of snow-capped mountain peaks. He didn’t keep the picture because of sentiment. His ex-wife was the first of two mistakes he’d made. He kept the picture as a reminder that he was never making such mistakes again.
Ella finished unpacking another box before pulling up a chair to his left. Thankfully she sat a careful distance away. His testosterone was still obsessed with how sweet she smelt and how gold flecks glowed in the rich brown of her irises.
‘This might be a good place to start,’ he said, as he typed into an internet search engine and the screen filled with clipart outlines of castles.
When Ella didn’t comment he glanced at her. Instead of looking at the screen, she stared at him, her fine brows lifted. To answer her unspoken question he opened the pictures folder and clicked on an image. A little girl with a short dark bob wearing a mauve-and-white princess outfit grinned out at them.
‘Meet my niece Rosie. She loves purple and anything to do with fairytales. I have been known to fit myself into her castle play tent.’
‘Now that I’d like to see.’
He looked back at the computer. The laughter warming Ella’s eyes shouldn’t unlock something within his chest or make him feel relieved that she appeared more at ease in his company.
He pointed to a simple castle picture. ‘This would be easy to build using large hay bales for the foundation and round ones for the turrets.’
‘It would.’ He thought she was going to reach over and type on the keyboard but then her hands clasped together. ‘Can you put in a search for princess goats?’
He groaned. ‘You’re kidding?’
‘Every Disney hay bale castle needs princesses.’
Shaking his head, he typed and images appeared of goats wearing princess hats, pink coats and tiaras. He had to admit the goats did look pretty adorable. Next trip to Sydney he’d have to remember to show Rosie.
‘Violet will love it,’ Ella said, a smile in her voice.
‘So will the media.’
Before Ella could reply, her phone rang from where it sat on the table. She answered, carrying her water glass to the sink while she spoke to the person at the other end.
She ended the call, already halfway towards the door. ‘Sorry, I’m needed at the surgery. Thanks again for doing a joint challenge. I’ll see you early tomorrow so we can get started.’
After giving Duke a quick pat, she was gone, leaving behind an unpacked kitchen and a house that on the surface resembled a home.
Saul stared at the empty doorway. An intense silence pressed in around him, taunting him that he was alone and the reality was this house could never be a home. All hopes for a place to call his own, filled with the love and laughter of a family, had ended the day Trish gave birth to a baby boy.
CHAPTER
5
For once it wasn’t Ella’s internal alarm that woke her but the steady chug of a tractor beyond her bedroom window.
Dragging her hair from her face, she checked the phone on her bedside table. Even though it was Sunday she was still the on-call vet. After confirming she hadn’t missed any calls or texts, she slid out of bed and stretched.
Yesterday her back hadn’t liked her hefting the heavy box of Saul’s saucepans. She’d been so intent on doing something other than stare at how his wet grey T-shirt clung to every toned ridge, she’d ignored the twinge in her lower back. She really did like unpacking, it soothed her need for order, but she’d never before done it with such single-minded focus. Saul rattled her, mentally as well as physically, and she’d need to come up with a better coping strategy than ripping off box tape if she were to survive working with him today.
She put a slice of bread in the toaster before staring out the kitchen window. Thankfully Saul hadn’t extended his high boundary fence all the way to the road, otherwise that would be her view instead of a regular low fence that ended in a small garden gate. Violet had mentioned that the family who lived next door before the equestrian owners had also had small girls, so the gate had been put in to allow the children to play at each other’s houses.
The toast popped but she made no move to place it on her plate. Thanks to Saul’s established garden she couldn’t see much of his house, apart from a silver roofline, but she had no trouble seeing the tractor slashing the paddock that ran between the two farms. She still couldn’t believe he’d arrived at the castle idea so quickly. It really was perfect. She’d been thinking along the lines of a kelpie and a kennel which would have been much more complex. She’d never have picked that not only was Saul in touch with his fairytale side but that his gruff voice could sound as tender as it did when he’d talked about his niece.
She wrapped her arms around her waist. She’d also had her suspicions confirmed that Saul had been married. She hadn’t missed the romantic and beautiful wedding image that he had as his screensaver. Even though he didn’t wear a ring and there were no other pictures anywhere, he must still care deeply about the wom
an in the photo. An emotion she didn’t want to examine made her turn away from the window.
She spread butter and vegemite on her toast. Despite her visit to Saul achieving all that she’d wanted it to, she couldn’t shake a growing sense of unease. His quiet reassurance that she would be safe with him should have her opening a bottle of champagne. She’d finally found a single man with no expectation of anything beyond friendship, but for some strange reason she didn’t feel relieved.
She took a bite of toast before squaring her shoulders and switching on her laptop. Today wasn’t about how out of control her feelings were, it was about helping Violet. She’d check her banner design, have a quick shower and then help Saul, as chances were she’d be called away for a sick or injured animal sometime today.
She brought up the graphic she’d created after dinner last night using a photo of a fresh-faced Libby in a purple shirt that Violet had said would be the best one to use. As no one in town made banners, Ella had texted around to see if anyone was heading to the larger centre of Dubbo. When no one was, she’d found an online design website. After creating a horizontal banner for the castle, as well as a freestanding display, she did a final proofread and then pressed submit. She made sure she ticked the express postage box.
Last night she’d also called Sue, who after years of making Taylor’s dance costumes, was happy to design Cinnamon and Nutmeg their princess hats. Ella could only hope the goats wore their costumes instead of eating them.
Half an hour later, dressed in her usual work gear of jeans, boots and a cotton shirt embroidered with the vet hospital logo, she went to say good morning to the two goats. A magpie warbled in the early morning peace. Bees buzzed as they hovered around the water in the goats’ trough. The tension ebbed from her stiff shoulders. Even when her fractured world had brought nothing but darkness, nature brought her solace.
She snapped a photo for Violet of Cinnamon appearing oblivious to a willie wagtail perched on her back before making her way to the small gate in the bottom of the garden. Silence now replaced the noise of the tractor as Saul walked over the area he’d slashed. When Duke raced towards her, Saul turned and lifted his arm in a casual wave.
She returned the greeting before Duke’s warm weight squirmed against her legs.
‘Good morning to you too,’ she said with a laugh. Duke’s unbridled affection never failed to make her smile.
Together they walked across the paddock to where Saul now ran a string line. She wasn’t the only one who liked to do things properly. Even though he wore a loose royal blue shirt, as she drew near she had trouble looking away from where the cotton pulled tight across his biceps. Just as well Penny hadn’t seen him dripping wet in his T-shirt yesterday as that’s all she’d be talking about at work tomorrow.
Even though his sunglasses and low cap brim hid his expression, the flash of his brief grin was enough to trigger a flurry in her midriff. She returned his smile, striving for calm. She couldn’t forget he’d seen her at her worst at the wedding and she couldn’t now appear anything but composed. ‘You started without me?’
‘Violet’s guinea fowls believe dawn begins three hours early.’
She laughed. ‘I would offer to have them back but Violet said they were happy at your place.’
Saul bent to hammer a peg into the ground. ‘Tell me again why they’re camped out in my garden?’
Even though she’d lost sight of his face she had no trouble hearing the amusement in his words.
‘Because with its lawn and big trees it’s a guinea fowl’s paradise.’ She tickled behind Duke’s ears. ‘You think they should stay, don’t you … they’ll keep the snakes away.’
Saul straightened. ‘Of course he does. Stalking guinea fowls is one of his top-ten things to do.’ Then, as if conscious of all the work they had to do, or simply done with small talk, he nodded at the string line. ‘This is the width of one large hay bale so now it will just be how high and wide we want the castle to be.’
‘Big for impact but as we’ve only got today not so big it’s a herculean task to build.’
Saul paced out a large space.
Ella stood silent, wishing she had something to do other than watch him. Saul moved with a lithe grace and economy of movement that when paired with his perceptiveness explained why he’d done so well on the American pro-rodeo circuit. He’d be able to sense what a bull was going to do and then have the physical attributes to handle whatever the bull threw at him.
‘To here?’ he asked over his shoulder.
‘Yes.’
He hammered in another peg. Restless, she collected the roll of string and ran it over to the new peg.
‘Okay.’ Saul assessed the allocated space. ‘We’ll need about seventeen large bales, twelve round bales and about twenty-five small bales.’
Ella blinked. She might have letters from an honours degree after her name but there was no way she’d have been able to do such mathematical calculations in her head. She would be flat out remembering the dimensions of the hay bales let alone how many would fit into the space.
‘Did you just work that all out or did you know from the design you mocked up and texted to me last night?’
‘My younger brother’s a number nerd.’
Ella stared at him. ‘And you aren’t.’
‘I left school when our father died to help Mum.’
‘That would have been an incredibly tough time.’ When Saul only nodded, she asked, ‘Your number-whizz brother, is he Rosie’s father?’
‘He is. There was only the two of us and we’re now the only ones left.’ Saul took a penknife out of his pocket and cut the string. ‘How about you?’
Ella swallowed. She was glad Saul’s attention was on tying the string ends. Besides Violet, she’d never mentioned her brother to even her close Woodlea friends. It had just been easier to not talk about her past and a way to guarantee that she’d always stay in control. But now it somehow felt fitting to mention Aiden. Saul wouldn’t be the kind to ask questions.
‘I had a younger brother too. As for my parents … my mother’s ageing disgracefully on the Gold Coast while my father has a second family in Adelaide.’
Saul faced her. ‘I’m sorry about your brother. Your family has also been through a lot.’
She was thankful that sunglasses hid his eyes, as the sympathy in his tone was enough to stir her grief. ‘It was a long time ago now. Mum’s happy living life to the full and Dad … he’s busy raising four teenagers.’
She didn’t add that her mother was too preoccupied with her friends to take any interest in what she was doing or that she only spoke to her father twice a year. Neither of her parents had known how serious she and Charles had been and why she’d left England when she’d planned to use her ancestry visa to stay long-term.
‘Nathan only has one five-year-old so I can imagine how busy your father is.’
As if Saul shared her thoughts that now would be an appropriate time to talk about something less personal, he glanced at the tractor. ‘If you like, you can use my farm ute for the smaller bales. I’ll bring the larger ones down with the tractor.’
‘Sounds like a plan. I’ll get as much done as I can in case I get called in to work.’ She paused. ‘Actually … do we have enough hay? I’ve only got about ten small bales.’
‘We do.’ Saul turned towards the tractor and she fell into step beside him. ‘My hay shed’s full. I’ll also have enough to cover this week of feeding while the castle’s on display.’
When they reached the tractor, Ella went to keep walking. It wasn’t far to the small gate that would give her access to Saul’s garden.
‘I’ll give you a lift.’ Saul climbed the tractor steps to open the door. ‘There’s something to be said for tractor air-conditioning.’
Ella hesitated but when Duke bounded up the steps and turned to look back as if to say hurry up, she followed. It would be rude to refuse. After she’d settled into the smaller tractor seat, the affectionat
e Australian shepherd rested his head on her knee.
Saul didn’t glance at her from the main tractor seat as he fired up the engine.
She concentrated on patting Duke and not on the way sitting so close to Saul put her senses on high alert. All she could breathe in was his fresh woody scent that reminded her of strolling by the river after a shower of rain. All she could focus on was the width of his shoulders and the way his well-shaped hands rested on the steering wheel.
She forced herself to look out the dusty windscreen. She may as well have walked. The air-conditioning did little to strip the heat from her warm face.
Neither spoke while the tractor made its slow way through the gate and along the track to the hay shed. Once at the open-sided steel building, Saul went to turn off the ignition when his phone rang. The engine still running, he reached for his mobile in his shirt pocket.
‘Saul Armstrong speaking.’
Ella didn’t need to recognise the loud voice coming from the phone to know the caller was Edna. The way Saul put his sunglasses on his hat and rubbed at his forehead said it all.
‘Hi, Edna. Yes, she is. I’ll put you on speaker.’
Edna’s greeting filled the tractor cabin. ‘Good morning, Ella. How fortunate to find you with Saul.’
Ella didn’t dare look at Saul as he held the phone between them. ‘I’m guessing it will save you a call.’
‘It will. I’ve a busy day.’
Saul spoke before Edna could continue. ‘Edna, how did you get my number?’
‘I’ve always had it.’
‘Have you now.’
‘Yes. You were so kind as to buy raffle tickets your first trip to town.’
Ella covered her mouth with her hand to mask her smile as Saul looked at the roof and slowly shook his head. He would have written his phone number on the tickets.
‘What can we do for you, Edna?’ he said, his tone curt.
‘Well, now that you’ve asked … I’m after a huge favour.’
Saul’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is this to do with the hay bale challenge?’
The Boundary Fence (A Woodlea Novel, #7) Page 7
