Say You'll Be Mine

by R. J. Groves

  ‘Jannette, you remember Shannon, right?’ Robbie said.

  Shannon tried to ignore the weight in his chest at the thought that she might not remember him. He’d only spent the better half of his childhood on this very farm with them.

  ‘Of course,’ she said, then quickly added, ‘I mean, yeah, I thought it must have been you. You got big.’ His eyebrow shot up, and her cheeks flushed, her eyes growing wide. A smile tugged at his lips as she fumbled to correct herself. ‘Tall. You got tall.’ She waved a still-gloved hand upwards to indicate his height, then turned her focus on Robbie. ‘He’s taller, right?’

  She wasn’t lying. He’d been tall as a teenager, but he’d kept growing for some time after finishing school. Now, at six foot four, he towered above most people he came across. Even with the heels on her ruined boots, he still had at least a foot on her.

  ‘Ah, sure. I guess,’ Robbie said, squinting at his sister before turning to check on the calf.

  She glanced back at Shannon, a lock of her hair falling over her face. She looked flustered and lifted a hand to brush the hair away before realising she still had the gloves on. Instead, she dropped her arms back to her side and blew a puff of air upwards, shifting the lock out of her eyes briefly before it fell back in place.

  He couldn’t help but laugh and tried to ignore what her adorableness did to him. She may be a woman now, but she was still his best friend’s little sister.

  ‘Let me,’ he found himself saying as he reached a hand towards her.

  She stilled, but she didn’t pull away. He gathered the hair with one finger and tucked it back behind her ear, his thumb brushing against her cheek as he did. He felt the tingle start at his fingertips and spread up his arm like a flame, her baby blues darkening with something he couldn’t quite discern. Her lips parted as another puff of air escaped, and his jeans tightened. Bloody hell.

  ‘You look good, Jenny,’ he said, lowering his hand to help her remove the gloves. She dropped her gaze, her cheeks darkening further. ‘What’s it been, ten, fifteen years?’

  ‘Seventeen,’ she said quickly. She flicked her eyes up towards him as he rolled one glove off her delicate hand and started working on the other. ‘I mean, not that I—’ She exhaled. ‘I was just remembering earlier how long it’s been since I left and, well, I’m pretty sure you left a few years before then, right?’

  He tilted his head to the side as he freed her other hand from the glove. He noticed the poorly cut nails on the tips of her fingers and fought a smile. Not only had she been willing to get down and dirty, she’d even clipped her manicured nails for the cause. She must have noticed him looking, because she folded her fingers under as though trying to hide them.

  ‘I didn’t have a choice. Robbie made me cut them.’ She folded her arms over her chest, then dropped them to her sides when she must have realised her shirt was also destroyed. Her nose crinkled.

  ‘Stop being awkward, kid,’ Robbie said over his shoulder.

  Jannette flushed again, dropping her gaze. Before he could stop himself, Shannon nudged her chin upwards and stared into her eyes. ‘They match your baby blues.’ Her cheeks darkened again, and he lowered his hand, the heat spreading through him at the contact. ‘Good job on the delivery,’ he added, putting some well-needed distance between them. ‘That baby might not have made it if you hadn’t helped.’

  She blinked a few times, and her eyes went wide. ‘How long were you here?’

  ‘Long enough.’

  She squinted. ‘How much did you see?’

  He couldn’t resist his lips curving high and shot her a wink. ‘Enough.’

  Her eyes turned fiery and she turned on her brother, who was back to focussing on the conversation. ‘He was there the whole time, wasn’t he?’

  ‘Most of it, yeah,’ Robbie said. ‘From about when you found the first leg.’

  Her mouth dropped open and she popped her hands on her hips. ‘And you let me keep going?’

  ‘Yep.’

  Shannon laughed, and Jannette shook her head. ‘You two,’ she said, waving a finger between him and Robbie, ‘are unbelievable.’

  Chapter 2

  Jannette couldn’t believe it. Shannon had witnessed most of the birth and she hadn’t even known he was there. Sure, her back had been towards the door of the shed and her eyes had been closed so she could concentrate, but what was he doing that whole time? And why wouldn’t Robbie ask them to swap out? She was sure Shannon probably had at least some experience birthing breech calves—any experience was significantly more than hers. Or, at least, what she’d had before that day. A part of her reminded herself that she had just helped that little calf come into the world and a little surge of pride swept through her. Her—Jannette Tanner, seamstress and businesswoman. Or rather, former seamstress and businesswoman.

  The heaviness settled in her chest as she thought of the shop she’d had to close. Sure, her heart hadn’t been fully in it for a while, but closing the shop had had a lot more to do with the break-in—among other things—than she’d told her employees and friends, Andie and Harley. She just hadn’t known how to say it aloud to anyone else. She still didn’t.

  Jannette wrapped her arms across her stomach as she walked back to the main house to clean up. Her shirt—still damp and sticky—clung to her body, and she was desperate to have a hot shower. She felt the now-familiar ache she had whenever she thought of the plans she’d made. She’d been ready to hand over the reins of the general running of the shop to the girls and focus more on the rest of her life. Sure, she’d planned on still owning and overseeing the shop, just being less involved. She’d narrowed the emptiness she’d been feeling down to the fact that she was ready for the next stage of her life—kids. And without a man in sight to help with that, she’d planned to do it off her own bat.

  She’d got as far as the final discussion before proceeding with preparation for IVF when the break-in had happened. Then, just to top it all off, Robbie had called to ask her to come help at the farm. Of course, by the time he’d asked her to come, he’d already had the injuries for a few weeks, but with a busy period coming up—by which she now realised he meant birthing season—he needed the extra help.

  As much as she wanted a baby, the logical, responsible part of her knew that it wasn’t the right time. Still, it didn’t stop the big question from pestering her.

  Would it ever be the right time?

  And while she was still waiting to hear anything more about who the suspects for the break-in were, something just didn’t sit right with her. She couldn’t explain it, and she’d never voiced it, but something just felt off about the whole thing. And it scared her, to put it simply. She couldn’t leave Andie and Harley to keep working the shop while she was out of town if there was even the slightest chance that the break-in meant more than it looked like on the surface.

  Suddenly feeling the exhaustion of the afternoon, she took the steps up to the porch tiredly, losing balance as one heel poked through one of the rotted steps. She let out a shriek and stuck a hand out to grab on to something—anything—to stop her fall. A strong, steady arm caught her and held her while she pried her shoe out of the wood.

  ‘You okay?’

  Shannon’s voice sent a ripple through her body that she was, quite frankly, not pleased about. How was it that he could make her feel like that silly teenage girl again? She hadn’t expected that jolt of electricity that had pulsed through her body when he’d tucked her hair behind her ear. An action so gentle, so innocent, practical—he had, after all, only done it because she couldn’t—and yet it had started a fire in her belly that she was doing her damned best to quench. The last thing she needed now was to start having feelings for her childhood crush. And besides, when Robbie was better, she’d be going back to her life in Perth and would hopefully figure out her next step. And if the past seventeen years were anything to go off, who knew if she’d ever see Shannon again after that.

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ she said, sh
ifting out of his arm once she’d regained her balance.

  ‘Yeah, have to watch out for that step, kid,’ Robbie said, waddling past them and into the house.

  Grumbling, she made a reach for her luggage that was still sitting at the top of the steps and instead stumbled into it when the border collie—Sparky, as she’d now discovered his name was—skidded past her legs. She watched as the luggage teetered over and rolled down the steps, opening in the process and spreading her clothes everywhere. Exhausted and frustrated, she flopped herself down on the top step and stared at her belongings.

  When had things started falling apart?

  It wasn’t until Shannon had lowered himself onto the top step next to her and pulled her into his side that she realised she’d started crying.

  ‘Aww, Jenny.’

  The drawl in the way he spoke, the way he showed he cared even though she’d only been back a short time, and the stupid, stupid butterflies in her belly as he held her close only made her cry harder. He pulled her even closer, pressing her face against his chest, a broad hand cradling the back of her head. Between sobs, she breathed him in—a mixture of soap and sweat and something that was uniquely him. It was oddly pleasant. She told herself to get a grip. This wasn’t her—someone who fell apart at the seams. The Jannette Tanner she’d been for the past fourteen years was strong, independent, and rarely cried over anything. She’d accepted the fact she was better off alone and doing things off her own bat long ago. Just because there’d been a little hitch in her plan didn’t mean she was no longer any of those things.

  ‘It’s really not that bad,’ Shannon said.

  Wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, she pulled away, trying her best to compose herself. ‘Sorry,’ she said, avoiding Shannon’s gaze. ‘I don’t know what came over me. I’m not usually like this. I think I’m just tired.’

  ‘Hey, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.’ She brought her gaze slowly up to meet his, his green eyes sincere and with a hint of amusement. His brow creased, the amusement disappearing, and he looked away. ‘You’ve had a lot going on lately.’ Her eyes widened as she stared at him. How could he possibly know anything she’d been going through? When he glanced back at her, he must have realised something was amiss. ‘Robbie told me about your shop being broken into,’ he said. ‘I can only imagine how it might have made you feel. It must have been bad to make you close up.’

  His expression was so honest, so genuine that she couldn’t help but relax around him. Well, as much as the butterflies would let her. ‘Thank you.’

  She wasn’t sure why she’d thanked him, or if it was even the right thing to say, but she didn’t know what else to say. If she told him her reason for closing the shop wasn’t so simple, she’d have to tell him more. And she wasn’t sure she could trust herself not to divulge her whole private life if he asked her with that country drawl and looked at her like that. But he must have been better at reading her than she thought, because he gave her shoulder a squeeze and focused back on her scattered belongings.

  ‘I’m guessing that’s not all, but you don’t have to tell me anything.’ He nodded towards her luggage. ‘I bet if that happened to me after the day you’ve had, I’d probably cry too.’

  She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped, and when he looked back at her again, that hint of amusement was back in his eyes. ‘I highly doubt that,’ she teased. ‘You don’t look like a crier.’

  His lips curved high on one side, and she noticed that dimple that had once set her heart aflutter. Now it did unspeakable things to her. She imagined Shannon doing unspeakable things to her, and fought away the vision it formed. That was not what she was here for, and those were certainly not the kind of thoughts she needed if she was to be spending any amount of time with this man over the next few weeks. She ignored the pulsing at her core, the tingling his touch sent through every cell of her body, and fought to put her absurd thoughts and feelings under lock and key. It had taken some time after he’d left when she was just fifteen for her to sort out her feelings for him then. Now she would be the one leaving, and she didn’t need the restless nights and the pathetic physical reactions distracting her when she returned to her normal life—or what was left of it. Especially with how much more intense the feelings seemed to be now.

  ‘Crier, no,’ he said, breaking her out of her reverie. ‘But I have been known to shed an occasional tear if the moment called for it.’

  ‘And how often would that be?’ she said, mentally stomping on the butterflies.

  ‘Not very.’

  She couldn’t help but laugh with him, his hand sliding off her shoulder to rub a circle over her back. She could feel the heat of his hand through her satin shirt, the roughness of his calloused fingertips catching on the fine fabric. The sensation sent a delicious shiver down her spine. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and her breath caught in her throat, her lips involuntarily parting in anticipation, despite having resolved to put it all behind her. God, if her mind and her body could get on the same page, she might have a lot less to worry about. She saw the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, then he lifted his gaze to meet hers, his eyes considerably darker than they had been before. There was no amusement there now, and certainly no hint of teasing either. She felt the look shoot to her core, and her body responded as his fingertips pressed against the small of her back.

  They jerked apart as the door swung open behind them and Robbie stood in the doorway. Jannette busied herself with prying off her ruined boots, and the hand that he’d had on her back only moments before now stroked the stubble on his chin as he stared at some point ahead of them, his brow creased. Jannette wondered what was running through his head—was he thinking the same thoughts as her? Or was he grateful for the interruption? A part of her was relieved Robbie had opened the door when he had, but another, more demanding part of her couldn’t help but feel the disappointment.

  ‘Everything okay out here?’ Robbie asked.

  It might just be her overstimulated mind talking, but Jannette imagined his tone was halfway between I-hope-I’m-not-interrupting-anything and I-better-not-be-interrupting-anything. She tried not to audibly sigh as she slipped off her second boot and hazarded a glance towards Shannon again. His expression that had seemed so open before was now clouded and unreadable. Well. Perhaps it was for the best that they’d been interrupted. If something had happened—if they’d kissed like she’d thought they might—then surely that would only make the next few weeks awkward. Right?

  ‘Just admiring the view,’ Shannon said, his country accent thick. He dropped his gaze to Jannette’s luggage, still spread out before them. ‘Why don’t you go clean up, Jenny, and I’ll pick all this up.’ It wasn’t really a question.

  She opened her mouth to protest, but her brother spoke before she could in a tone that brooked no argument.

  ‘I think that would be a good idea.’

  ***

  Shannon was in trouble.

  He hadn’t felt that kind of attraction in a very long time. The way she’d looked at him with those baby blues, the way his body had responded to having her in his arms, the subtle scent of her shampoo as he’d held her close. The way she’d pulled herself together and acted stronger than she’d obviously felt.

  Shannon had absolutely no doubt in his mind that Jannette was a strong woman, but he knew everyone seemed to go through a difficult stage at some point in their lives. From what Robbie had told him over the years, she’d gone and studied her degree and followed it up with opening her own bridal shop. It hadn’t surprised him in the slightest. He’d always known Jannette had been fond of pretty things, and she’d always been fascinated by any of the local weddings.

  Bridgetown wasn’t very big, with a population of fewer than three thousand, and so whenever someone was getting married in town, everyone seemed to know about it. He remembered that, when they were all younger, he and Robbie had been roped into escorting her into town on more than one
occasion. She’d always dressed up as though she was attending the full wedding herself, then she’d watch the ceremony from the sidelines. Robbie had always been annoyed that they’d had to take her to her silly things, but Shannon had always been careful to neither agree nor disagree. Even then, he’d enjoyed being on the sidelines watching her. But she’d been his best friend’s little sister, and there’d always been a kind of unspoken rule about that.

  He closed the door of the shack he’d called home for the last ten-or-so years and settled himself down at the timber outdoor setting with Sparky at his feet. He looked out at the sunset view he had of Tanner Station and took a sip of his tea. Since he’d moved back to the area and started working on the farm, he and Robbie had come up with an arrangement that Shannon would live in the shack a few hundred metres from the main house. He supposed it must have been built for some reason—probably a workers’ shack or something—but he also knew that Robbie and Jannette’s parents had lived in it for some time until they’d started having kids and the space became too small. Then they’d moved to the main house, swapping places with Robbie and Jannette’s grandparents. They were all still kids when their grandmother had passed, and their grandfather had gone not long after.

  The shack had been empty for a long time afterwards, only being used if the Tanner family had someone staying with them for more than a night or so. Shannon remembered a time when he and his sister, Sylvie, had stayed for a while. He tried to push those memories from his mind. The part of his childhood where he wasn’t spending time with the Tanners was filled with memories he’d tried hard to forget.

  Shannon and Sylvie were close in age, with only fourteen months between them, but by the time he was three his mother had choofed off to another country somewhere with some other bloke. His dad had been a mixture of both heartbroken and angry, no doubt for good reason. His old man had never had a full-time job—or a secure one, for that matter. He’d only ever done odd jobs for people and had somehow managed to fill up his days between working, drinking and fighting. Then, when Shannon was twelve, his dad had had a bit too much to drink and picked a fight with the wrong guy. He’d died in the gutter in a town where no one knew him, and Shannon and Sylvie were shipped off to their dad’s brother’s place in Bridgetown.