She nodded as she gathered the reins in her left hand and faced Cisco. He grasped her bent right leg and hoisted her upwards. She left the ground. Then, suddenly her right leg straightened and body stiffened. He let go of her knee and took a step back as she slid to the ground.
She carefully turned, chin angled. ‘I think I’d better walk.’
Her grim hold on the hem of her shorts told him all he needed to know. She was worried that when she was riding her shorts wouldn’t cover her scar.
‘Ella … it’s okay.’ He kept his voice low as he lifted the front of his shirt to expose his own scar. ‘I have one too, remember.’
She didn’t glance at him but stared over his shoulder as if in another time and place.
He touched her arm. Her skin felt cold beneath his fingertips. ‘You can ride on my left if that makes you feel more comfortable?’
Still, she didn’t respond. With Charles’s letter she’d been open and communicative. Now, she had withdrawn into a place where she was inaccessible.
If he couldn’t reach her with words there was another way that he could. He closed the distance between them, placed a hand on her waist and cupped the back of her head with his other hand. For a moment she didn’t respond and then she looked at him. Her eyes were so large and so bleak, without thought he pressed a kiss on her forehead. When she leaned into him, his lips trailed along her temple. Wherever she’d been, she was coming back to him.
When her arms slid around his neck and she turned her face up to his, he realised the enormity of his error. What had started out as a way to offer reassurance had turned into another assault upon his senses. He hadn’t had enough time to reinstate his boundaries.
Even as the thought formed he had to move away, Ella’s hold around his neck tightened. Her eyes met his. No longer dull, gold glowed amongst the brown as she gazed at him with a steadfast intensity. Her message was clear. Comfort wasn’t what she wanted. Then there were no more thoughts, only urgency and need as he dipped his head and covered her mouth with his.
Nothing could have prepared him for kissing Ella. Her sweetness and warmth moved him in ways that went beyond the physical. She filled the lonely and dark void within him with laughter and warmth. Emotions he’d banished and refused to acknowledge flared into life. Being with Ella made him feel complete in a way he’d never felt with Trish.
He deepened the kiss, feeling every brush of her bare skin and every press of her wet curves. Her hands slid into his hair as if she too couldn’t get close enough. His hands found the satin smooth dip of her lower back. A lifetime of having her soft and responsive in his arms would be too short.
Breathing ragged, they drew apart. She smiled before she lowered her arms from around his neck. He forced himself not to keep hold of her as she eased herself away.
Her fingers sought his and their unsteadiness matched the jackhammer pounding in his chest. ‘Let’s try that leg-up again.’
He only nodded. Her strength and courage made speaking impossible. This time when she bent her leg and he hoisted her upwards, she settled onto the gelding’s back. Shoulders squared, she made no move to tug her shorts over her scar.
Before he could turn away, she touched his jaw and bent to brush her mouth across his. ‘Thank you.’
Then she straightened and collected Cisco’s reins as though their kiss hadn’t just severed every bond of friendship that had existed between them.
CHAPTER
12
‘There’s something different about you,’ Bethany said as she examined Ella across the small table in the Windmill Café.
‘It’s just my hair.’
Bethany didn’t say anything, just looked at Ella over the top of her coffee mug.
‘You know I’m starting to feel like it’s Edna watching me.’
‘Sorry. You just look different … and it’s a good different.’
Ella broke off a piece of shortbread. ‘Thanks … I think.’
Loud laughter sounded to their left where a group of teenagers congregated over milkshakes. Otherwise the café was only half full as the Saturday sport and market rush had subsided. More importantly, Edna wasn’t at her usual table or even in town. She’d gone to Dubbo with Mrs Knox on an emergency mission. Mrs Knox’s daughter Harriet had moved in with her new boyfriend of two months. The boyfriend apparently had a hipster man bun, which had sent conservative Mrs Knox into even more of a flap.
Bethany touched her phone screen and showed Ella a list of places she’d checked off as being an unsuitable, or compromised, venue to hold her mother’s party. The list was almost the length of the screen. ‘I don’t know what alphabet letter we’re up to but it would have to be plan Z.’
Ella smiled to ease the despondency in Bethany’s words. ‘All we need is one plan and if it’s our twenty-sixth it doesn’t matter. We will find somewhere, even if we have to commandeer Denham’s man cave. It’s probably the only place big enough.’
‘Denham’s shed … now there’s an idea. I had thought of the shearing shed on Mac’s farm but it would need a lot of work, plus it isn’t big enough.’ She looked back at her phone screen. ‘If you think this is long you should see the guest list.’
‘I can only imagine. It’s not an exaggeration to say Edna knows everyone in town.’
‘The other thing we have to work out is how we get Mum there without her suspecting a thing.’
Ella broke off more of her shortbread. ‘This might seem like mission impossible but we’ll find a way.’
‘I hope so and soon as time’s running out.’ Bethany’s phone vibrated as a text came through. She read the message before sitting her mobile beside her coffee mug. ‘Dad says hi and to call in anytime you’re driving past.’
‘I will. It’s been a while.’
‘Before I forget, Mum also said to tell you that Caroline’s sheep has gone missing again.’
‘Did she know we were meeting up after work?’
Bethany’s brow furrowed. ‘No. Maybe she said if I see you.’
‘Knowing your mother, she said when. Is there any way she could know what we’re planning?’
Bethany shook her blonde head. ‘When I looked into venues I told a little white lie saying I was sussing out engagement party places.’
Bethany’s phone vibrated again as another text came in. ‘That’s strange … it’s Mac’s dad. He wants us to meet him at the old schoolhouse when we’re done.’
‘Clive Barton wants to see us?’
When she’d treated one of his cows for grass tetany, he’d used more grunts than words.
‘He never wants to see anybody.’ Bethany gazed around the café and then looked out the large window that faced the main street. ‘Call me paranoid but my mother mustn’t be the only one with a sneaky spy network. Mac doesn’t even know where I am.’
Ella too looked out the window. ‘Clive probably just saw us walk in together.’
‘Maybe. Since he’s let the boys have more responsibility in running the farm and has become involved in the museum project, he’s always in town.’
Ella finished her coffee. ‘I’ll meet you at the schoolhouse. I’ll have a quick look around for Missy.’
As she settled into the driver’s seat she slid the cover off the sun visor mirror. Did she really look different?
The reflection that stared back at her looked the same as how she’d looked before her river meeting with Saul. But Bethany was right. She did seem different. No longer did sadness cloud her gaze, instead her eyes sparkled. As for her mouth, even when she was sure she wasn’t smiling, like now, the corners of her lips tilted.
Just as well Edna was out of town. She’d not rest until she’d discovered the reason behind Ella’s new lightness. Not only was such a reason off limits, her kiss with Saul wasn’t for public consumption, so too were the reasons why she didn’t always look this way. She slid the mirror cover shut and started the four-wheel drive engine. Not all of her demons had been appeased by Charles’s l
etter. A part of her life remained vulnerable to any inquisition from Edna.
Ella took the road that would lead to the park nestled beside the local sportsground. If she hadn’t glimpsed the need in Saul’s eyes in her kitchen, she’d never have had the courage to go after what she wanted. It was the raw emotion that had darkened his gaze after their kiss that had given her the strength to ride home with, for the first time, her scar visible to the world. Despite all he’d been through, Saul had been willing to take a risk and to lower his guard. He’d allowed her in.
As for their kiss, if she’d needed any further proof Charles hadn’t been the right man for her, she’d found it. There was no comparison between the potency of her reaction to Saul and her lukewarm response to Charles. She’d go weeks without travelling to London to see him. Already she was craving Saul’s touch and it hadn’t been three days. It also mattered more than it should that he shared the intensity of the attraction between them.
She sighed as she stopped to wave as an elderly man walked his cattle dog across the road. Mr Ross and Lacey were frequent visitors to the vet clinic as Lacey had canine diabetes.
But as heady as her and Saul’s kiss had been, it was a one-off. Her reasons for only wanting friendship might no longer exist but nothing had changed in Saul’s world. He’d been supportive and understanding when she’d needed a friend. His touch and kiss might also have revealed his emotions when he’d held her close, but by the end of their ride home his profile had again settled into familiar remote lines.
While her hormones lamented his retreat, her head knew it was a natural reaction. The scars left by his failed marriage and the loss of his son were yet to heal. She had some things herself to process, one of which was Charles’s cheating. Instead of listening to her intuition, she’d placed her faith in a man she should have seen through. She had to work out how that had happened, so she’d never make the same mistake. As much as she wanted to feel the strength of Saul’s arms around her, they needed to rewind their connection back to an uncomplicated and platonic friendship.
She took a left turn. As she drove, she scanned the roadside for a sheep wearing a green collar, but all she could see was Mrs Smith’s tabby cat as he walked along the footpath, his tail in the air. Monty had also been a patient when a bite on his back from a scuffle with a neighbouring cat had turned into an abscess.
When she’d reached the colourful play equipment of the park and had driven around the white-picket fence of the sportsground, there was still no sign of Missy. Keeping a close eye out for the sheep, she continued on to the bluestone schoolhouse on the outskirts of town.
When she arrived, Bethany’s white sedan was parked outside along with what she assumed to be Clive’s dusty Hilux. Not sure of what she would be walking into, she tucked her pink work shirt into her jeans. Clive was notoriously difficult but the word around town was that he had mellowed since finally getting hearing aids and spending his days now tinkering on trucks and windmills in his shed.
She walked into the cool of the bluestone schoolhouse. Her boots rang on the wooden floorboards and echoed in the hallway where once hundreds of little feet would have trodden.
‘Ella,’ Bethany’s voice sounded, ‘in here.’
She walked into what had been a classroom to see Bethany and Clive standing by the front window.
Bethany smiled. ‘Clive found the missing sheep. Missy was wandering along the lane outside the lolly shop.’
‘Too bad she has a home, I was looking forward to having lamb chops for dinner,’ Clive said, tone gruff.
Only half sure that he was joking, Ella’s eyes must have narrowed because he scowled at her. ‘I don’t eat people’s pets.’
Ella held his gaze. ‘Just as well. Where’s Missy now?’
‘Back home. Edna gave me Caroline’s number.’
Bethany arched a fine brow. ‘Yes, it’s no surprise Clive has my mother on speed dial.’
Ella’s lips twitched at both Bethany’s expression and dry tone. She wasn’t sure Bethany’s soon-to-be father-in-law was used to people taking him to task.
Clive and Edna had been embroiled in a family feud for years until they’d decided to become co-conspirators and bring Bethany and Mac together. Their meddling had almost cost Bethany and Mac their relationship.
Bethany glanced at Ella. ‘Which is just as well as Clive here has volunteered …’ Clive grunted. ‘To keep tabs on my mother and let us know if she’s onto us. Which is the least he can do after all the grief he and Mum caused.’
Clive’s glower deepened.
‘But …’ By now Bethany was smiling. ‘He also has come up with the answer we’ve been looking for, so all is forgiven.’
Ella gave up trying to hide her own smile. Clive looked as if he was about to be dragged off to Dubbo on a two-day shopping spree. ‘I can’t wait to hear this.’
Bethany glanced at Clive. ‘I’ll let you explain.’
Clive folded his arms. ‘There’s a spare room here that could be set up for Edna’s party the night of the museum opening. For once your mother isn’t involved in any of the organising.’
‘Clive,’ Ella said, meeting Bethany’s excited grey gaze. ‘You’re a genius. Edna will think she’s coming for the opening and meanwhile the whole town will be here to celebrate her birthday, too.’
‘He is.’ Bethany moved forwards to kiss his weathered cheek. ‘Thank you.’
For once a smile thawed the hardness in his eyes.
Bethany turned to Ella. ‘Let’s check the room out to see what we’ll need.’
She nodded. ‘Thanks, Clive. It really is a brilliant idea.’
He gave her his version of a smile.
She went to follow Bethany when he spoke again. ‘I met that new neighbour of yours.’
She slowly turned. ‘Did you?’
‘He says he grew up in Australia?’
‘I think Denham said it was around Tamworth.’
‘Well, let’s hope he starts talking like he’s from there again. I couldn’t catch half of what he said with that accent of his.’ Clive unfolded his arms. ‘Just as well he’s as strong as he looks. Finn will be after him for the next rugby season.’
Finn was Mac’s twin brother and he took his rugby very seriously. ‘I’m sure he will be.’
Then, before Clive could see any colour in her cheeks, she turned to leave. She knew just how strong Saul was. He’d hoisted her onto Cisco’s back as though she weighed little more than Nutmeg. She also knew just how good it felt to be anchored against those hard-packed muscles of his.
Bethany gave her a quick look as she entered the middle room of the schoolhouse.
‘This is perfect,’ she said, walking away to inspect the space and to give her face time to cool.
‘It is.’ Bethany snapped some pictures on her phone before giving Ella a high five. ‘Mission impossible just became mission possible.’
‘Now we just have to keep all of this a secret from a person who always knows what’s happening.’
Bethany nodded as her phone rang. ‘Hi, Mum,’ she said with a wide-eyed look at Ella. ‘Where am I? I’m with Ella. I passed on the message about Caroline’s sheep but she’s been found and has been returned. How bad is the man bun?’
Bethany was right. She did know how her mother thought and was able to steer the conversation away from any incriminating topics. She’d had many years of practice diverting her mother’s attention.
Ella took some photos of the room’s layout for Sue who would be helping to decorate before giving Bethany a wave goodbye and heading outside. Bethany had earlier mentioned she had an after-lunch meeting with a local cake maker who could be trusted to keep the party hush hush.
Once inside her four-wheel drive, she didn’t move to start the engine. Instead she searched for her phone in her tote bag.
For the first time since the hay bale challenge she and Saul hadn’t texted each other for an entire week. She’d been trying to give him the space that his si
lence suggested he needed. But tomorrow Violet would be coming to see Libby’s room and Saul would be joining her and Violet for Sunday lunch. Apart from the fact she was missing him, it would be wise to clear the air. Violet didn’t need to be in the middle of any awkwardness.
She sent a carefully worded text.
Hope you had a good week. Still right for lunch?
She reread the text, hoping it set a friendly tone and established that she had no regrets over their kiss, even if she couldn’t stop reliving the moment when his mouth had claimed hers.
She clipped on her seatbelt when a reply whooshed in.
Week good thanks. Made a quick trip to visit Rosie. See you and Violet tomorrow.
She frowned as she typed. In the bush neighbours looked out for each other. She and Saul were also friends and yet he hadn’t asked her to take care of his farm or told her he was going to Sydney.
Next trip I’ll be happy to feed animals and check water for you.
Thanks. Denham had it covered.
She sent a thumbs up and stared at her phone even though she didn’t expect an answer. Unease filtered through her, followed by a tide of uncertainty. Even after what had happened at the river and Saul’s need to retreat, she had hoped that their friendship would have counted for something. If she’d been going away she would have felt comfortable asking him to feed Cinnamon and Nutmeg and to check that the timer turned the veranda light on each night. Duke also liked her and would have enjoyed hanging out at her place.
She started the ignition. The contentment that had cocooned her since Wednesday fell away. She’d misread her relationship with Charles; could she now be misreading the strength of the connection she thought she shared with Saul? Or did his silence and need for space signal that even friendship was no longer on the table?
‘Thanks for looking after the troops and for having Duke to stay,’ Saul said to Denham, lifting his shoulder to hold his mobile in place while he closed the laneway double gates.
The Boundary Fence (A Woodlea Novel, #7) Page 18
