Storms Over Blackpeak

by Holly Ford

‘That would be—’ Just in time, she remembered her promise to Luke. ‘That would be great, but I’d better not. I should really spend some time with … Mum,’ she finished lamely.

  He nodded. ‘It’s got a pretty high reserve. I don’t think it’s going anywhere in a hurry. We can check it out when you get back.’

  ‘Check what out?’ Luke sat down next to Ella.

  Ash slid the laptop across the table to him.

  ‘Wow,’ said Luke. The edge to his voice, though very slight, wasn’t lost on Ella.

  ‘Ash is going to help me find a car,’ she explained, soothingly.

  ‘Great.’

  Ash’s eyes slid to the window. ‘Looks like Cally could use a hand out there.’ He pushed back his chair.

  ‘An old Land Cruiser like Rob Caterham drives,’ Luke said, as soon as Ash had closed the door behind him. ‘Seriously. That’s what you want to buy?’

  Ugh, was that what was bothering him? How childish. ‘It’s got nothing to do with Rob,’ Ella sighed. ‘I like the look of them, that’s all. They’re fun.’ God knew she couldn’t have a lot of that on her budget.

  ‘Jesus, Ella, can’t you at least go for something with airbags? And power steering? There are a whole lot better things you could—’

  ‘It’s my car,’ Ella cut in. ‘For me to drive. Okay?’

  ‘Why didn’t you ask me to help you look?’

  ‘You?’ She tried not to laugh. ‘What do you know about four-wheel-drives?’

  ‘I know a bit. I used to drive one, actually.’

  ‘Let me guess. A Range Rover?’

  Luke narrowed his eyes at her. ‘It’s a four-wheel-drive.’

  ‘It is.’ Turning to face him, she slid her hands over his shoulders. ‘Look, when I’ve got six figures to spend, you’ll be the first person I call, I promise. Until then’ — she grinned — ‘I’m pretty sure Ash is the man I need to talk to.’

  The door opened, admitting Cally and a blast of icy air. As she held the door, she was followed in first by the cat, then Ash with what appeared to be an ambitious load of firewood.

  ‘Gosh, I like your jacket.’ Releasing Luke, Ella eyed the cut of Cally’s oilskin. She wouldn’t mind one of those herself.

  ‘Thanks.’ Unbuttoning it, Cally ran her hands through her wayward hair. She was slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed with the cold and her big eyes shining. Seeing them all staring at her, she dropped her gaze to the floor, shrugging her jacket off and retreating back to the porch to hang it up.

  ‘Right.’ Lizzie breezed in through the opposite door. ‘Who’d like a drink, then? I think the sitting room’s just about warmed up now if we all want to go through there.’

  Ella shivered as the porch door was flung open again. Closing it behind him, Carr nodded at Luke. ‘What time are you leaving tomorrow?’ he demanded.

  She was impressed at how little Luke blinked. ‘I thought we’d head off about mid-morning,’ he replied.

  ‘Put your car in the garage,’ Carr ordered. ‘There’ll be a big frost tonight.’

  Sure enough, Ella opened the curtains the next morning to find that the world had turned white. Every leaf, every blade of grass in the lawn was crisp and furred. The sun was just hitting the tops of the gum trees, turning the icy filigree of the leaves to gold. Above them, the frozen hills glittered.

  She hurried back to the bed. ‘Hey.’ Ella stroked Luke’s forehead. ‘Come on, wake up.’

  His eyes opened slowly, finding hers. God, she loved it when he looked at her like that, his green eyes soft with sleep, all his defences down. ‘What is it?’ Luke reached up to touch her hair. ‘Is something wrong?’

  ‘Not a bit,’ Ella said. ‘But if you want me to keep my promise, you’re going to have to get up.’

  ‘Your promise to do what?’ He pushed the covers back, stretched his shoulders, then yawned. ‘Christ, it’s freezing in here. Are you wearing my jersey?’

  ‘You snooze, you lose.’ Hugging his grey sweater closer to her body, she raised her eyebrows at him. ‘I promised I wouldn’t run off and leave you here by yourself. So come on — we’re going for a walk.’

  With a groan, Luke sat up and pulled on his jeans. Ella handed him back his sweater.

  ‘Can’t we at least stop for coffee?’ he protested, as she dragged him through the kitchen.

  ‘I don’t want to miss the light.’

  Having retrieved her camera bag from the car, Ella led the way across the white lawn and through the orchard, stopping to shoot a few frames of a single, frost-covered persimmon clinging stubbornly to its leafless tree. Taking Luke’s hand, she climbed the fence at the end of the orchard and headed up through the bitter cold beneath the gum trees in search of the sun. Luke followed her wordlessly.

  Pools of gold light were spreading over the hillside above the homestead, the sunlight catching the crystals of ice that clung to every blade of tussock. Away to the west, a small mist hung above the Windscleugh River, and below, far away, the bare willows that marked its lower reaches looked as though they had been wound in white candy floss.

  Finding a patch of sun, Luke hugged his arms to his chest and stood gazing out at the view. Ella watched him through the lens. Above his butter-soft polo neck, his face was still rough with sleep, his jaw unshaven and his spiky hair tousled, the light bringing out the extraordinary green of his eyes as he squinted into it, lowering his long, dark, sleepy lashes. Heart swelling, she shot off a few frames, then stopped, uncertain of what she was seeing in his expression.

  ‘You look very thoughtful,’ she said, lowering the camera.

  ‘Do I?’ he teased. ‘How unlike me.’

  ‘Quite,’ she smiled. ‘What are you thinking about?’

  ‘Oh …’ Luke rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘I don’t know … Nothing, really.’

  ‘Hey.’ Smile fading, Ella watched his face. ‘Don’t do that,’ she said gently. ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’

  ‘I just …’ He sighed. ‘I miss you, that’s all. When you go away. I miss you.’

  She nodded. She missed him, too. She missed him a lot, but … ‘It won’t be like this forever,’ she told him.

  Luke met her eyes. ‘You mean one day you won’t have your dream job?’

  Well, no, but … ‘My dream job,’ she reminded herself, ‘is to be Damian Priest. Not his assistant.’

  A corner of Luke’s beautiful mouth turned down. ‘That should lighten your schedule,’ he said.

  There was a silence.

  Oh, God. What was this? Ella felt suddenly ill. ‘What are you saying?’ she asked him.

  Luke’s face softened. He shook his head. ‘Nothing.’ Pulling her to him, he wrapped his arms around her, pressing his cheek against her hair. ‘Ella.’ He kissed her neck. ‘Nothing.’

  Ella clung to him.

  Luke stroked her hair. ‘We’ll work it out.’

  She winced. They needed to be ‘worked out’? She’d thought they were fine. In fact, she’d thought they were better than fine. Had she totally misjudged this?

  Pulling back, Luke looked into her face. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here and go home. Okay?’ He held her tightly again. ‘These hills are so fucking lonely.’

  Funnily enough, Ella reflected, three days later, Luke’s house in Christchurch did feel a lot like home. She looked around the living room. It was surprisingly modest — for him — but there was something about the place she loved. Was it just the fact that, for once, neither of them was living out of a suitcase?

  The kitchen window rattled lightly as Luke’s car pulled into the drive. Oh good, he was home early. She knew he couldn’t clear his diary at three days’ notice, but still, she hated that he had to work on five of her precious eight days off. As the automatic door rolled up and the Aston began to reverberate in the garage, Ella heard another, lesser engine outside. It sounded like a delivery truck.

  Luke, looking very pleased with himself, stuck his head around the door. ‘There’s something here for y
ou,’ he told her.

  For her? ‘What is it?’

  ‘Come and see.’

  Unravelling herself from the sofa, Ella followed him outside. Oh my God: she clamped her hand to her mouth. There, in the driveway, was a classic Land Cruiser. It looked as though it had just rolled off the production line, its flawless red and white paintwork gleaming in the sun.

  ‘Two owners, fully restored, a hundred and sixty thousand ks,’ Luke said. ‘With a six-month dealer warranty.’

  ‘It’s amazing.’ Ella circled it in awe. She had never seen one even remotely that good. ‘Where did you—? How did you—?’ She shook her head.

  ‘You want to take it for a drive?’

  Ella opened the door. The cab was mint, too. She ran her hand over the upholstery. It was just perfect. It was …

  With a thud, Ella’s brain caught up with her heart. It was all wrong, that’s what it was. This was her first car. She was supposed to buy it herself. That was the point. She didn’t want Luke — or Lizzie, or anyone — to just give it to her. It was supposed to be something she earned with her own money.

  Reluctantly, she turned to face Luke. ‘It’s … it’s wonderful.’ She frowned. ‘But you — you can’t just … you shouldn’t have …’

  ‘I didn’t,’ he said drily. He handed her a piece of paper. ‘If you decide to buy it, there’s the price.’

  Ella looked down at a dealer’s purchase agreement. ‘But’ — she frowned harder — ‘that can’t be right. It has to cost more than that.’

  Luke’s green eyes glittered with triumph. ‘I may not know very much about four-wheel-drives,’ he said, ‘but I know how to cut a deal.’

  ‘There’s something else I have to tell you,’ Luke remembered, later that night.

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Ella revolved in his arms.

  ‘I’ve cleared my diary on Friday. I don’t have to go in.’

  ‘Really?’ Great! Maybe they could take the Land Cruiser out to the beach.

  ‘I thought’ — he stroked her face — ‘we could get away for a couple of nights.’

  Oh. Her heart sank a little. The last thing she needed was another hotel. Still, it was about time they did something Luke wanted to do. She could play with her car another day.

  ‘I know this little place a couple of hours up the coast …’

  ‘Of course you do.’ Ella rolled her eyes. She could only imagine how many girls he must have taken there. She hoped there wasn’t a guest book.

  ‘A place,’ Luke continued firmly, with a look of rebuke, ‘I used to go to as a kid. It’s my uncle’s bach, actually. I haven’t been there for years. You’d like it, I think. It’s special.’ He sighed wryly. ‘There are lots of sticks and stones to take photographs of.’

  ‘Sounds perfect,’ Ella said. ‘What else is there to do?’

  ‘Not a lot,’ he admitted. ‘No phones, no TV. We can go for a walk. Or …’ His voice fell suggestively.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘We can sit by the fire’ — Luke’s eyes slid down, following the course of his hand as it made its way down to the point of her hip — ‘and enjoy the view.’

  ‘So,’ she teased him, ‘it’s a lot like Glencairn Station, then?’

  ‘With one important difference.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘There’s nobody else in it.’ He watched her face, looking suddenly serious. ‘What do you think?’

  She kissed him. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Good.’ Luke grinned. ‘Oh, did I mention you can only get there by four-wheel-drive?’ His grin broadened at the expression on Ella’s face. ‘I thought we might take your car.’

  In the shower on Thursday morning, Ella was already planning what clothes to take on Luke’s mystery tour. Off-road chic — what did that look like, exactly? Maybe she should buy an oilskin … She smiled at herself. She hadn’t felt this excited about going anywhere other than home in a long time.

  She came out of the bathroom to find her phone was ringing. Thinking it might be Luke, Ella made a dive for it. Oh no. She bit her lip at the sight of Damian’s name on the screen. With a sinking heart, she picked up the call.

  ‘You’re back,’ she guessed.

  ‘Ella, hey.’ Damian’s gravelly East Coast American voice met her ear. ‘Yeah, listen, a job’s come up.’

  Of course it had. Why couldn’t he just say he’d got bored?

  ‘I need you today.’

  Today? Jesus. ‘Where?’ she asked, with a silent prayer that it might be somewhere local. Melbourne or Sydney, even — she could still get back from there by Friday evening, at least.

  ‘Santiago,’ said Damian, breezily.

  Chile?

  ‘Time have us on the afternoon flight out of Auckland,’ Damian went on. ‘Can you get there?’

  Desperately, Ella tried to think of a way to say no.

  ‘Hey, I know it’s short notice.’ His voice softened. ‘You probably have plans. You want me to get someone else?’

  No! ‘No,’ she said quickly. If Damian found a freelancer he liked better, she might never get the work back. She couldn’t risk her job for a weekend away. Ella closed her eyes. She’d seen how important this weekend was to Luke. If she did go with Damian, what was she risking then?

  ‘Ella? You there?’

  But she couldn’t — she shouldn’t — chance her career for a guy. And especially not when the guy was Luke, who, let’s face it — Ella cast her mind back to how unhappy he’d looked on Sunday morning at Glencairn — was quite likely to disappear in a puff of smoke at any moment.

  ‘I’m here,’ she told Damian.

  ‘So, you can make it?’

  ‘Sure.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ll meet you in the lounge.’

  Having ended the call, Ella sank her head into her hands. She felt almost certain she’d done the right thing. But as she looked up, the sight of her new car keys on the bedside table brought a lump to her throat. She didn’t want to go to bloody Santiago. She wanted to stay here, with Luke. At the thought of his face last night, she put her head back in her hands.

  He’d planned the perfect weekend for her. How the hell was she going to tell him?

  Chapter NINE

  Perched beside Carr in the cab, Lizzie watched the sheep run out of the snowy folds of the hills to meet the tractor. Judging by their eagerness, she thought this might have to rank as the best meal she had ever served.

  As Carr brought the tractor’s slow crawl to a halt at the top of the block, she looked out at the view. Across the valley, she could see Ash and Cally feeding out to a mob of ewes on a lower block with the second tractor. From its erratic progress, she guessed Ash was teaching Cally to drive.

  She cast a glance across at Carr as he worked the gears. It hadn’t exactly been easy dragging herself out of his bed in the dark that morning, but she was glad she’d made herself do it. It had been magical being out there at dawn, the sun rising behind them over fresh snow, the tips of the mountains ahead glowing pink and gold and the valleys below blue and crisp with the sub-zero cold. Even Carr had felt the need to start the day in a jacket — though he had, she noted, since taken it off and was driving bare-armed as usual, the sleeves of his jersey pushed over his elbows.

  ‘You want to drive for a bit?’ he asked, turning back downhill.

  ‘No, thanks.’ Lizzie looked out at the deceptively smooth snow. God — and Carr — knew what obstacles lurked under there. ‘I think I’ll leave that to you.’

  By the time they got back to the homestead the sun was high and she was starving.

  ‘Coffee?’ Carr suggested, eyeing the clock.

  ‘How about I make us some breakfast?’ Lizzie opened the fridge door hopefully. ‘Is there any bacon left?’

  ‘Plenty.’ Busy filling the coffee pot, he looked over his shoulder. ‘Gwynnie’s still going strong.’

  ‘Bless the poor old girl,’ Lizzie sighed, locating the packet. Counting rashers, she frowned. ‘Actually, there isn’t that
much of her in here, though.’ Certainly not with Ash on his way.

  ‘There’s more in the back fridge.’

  Passing the pantry, she spied the evidence of Ash’s first breakfast. She’d better defrost some more bread as well. Lizzie lifted the lid of the chest freezer on what was apparently an EU-sized stockpile of mince. She had better show Cally some things to do with all that. She thought hard. Maybe they’d try a lasagne.

  The porch door opened, laughter drifting through it.

  ‘I’m making bacon and eggs,’ Lizzie called, ‘if you two want some.’

  Ash stuck his head around the door. ‘Yes, please.’

  ‘Cally? How about you?’ Closing the freezer, Lizzie walked out to see Cally standing there in work-socks and jeans, her wet gumboots in her hand and several bits of hay caught up in her hair. Her unmade-up cheeks were stung pink by the cold and her eyes were bright.

  ‘Thanks,’ Cally beamed, putting down her boots and hanging her coat on the peg. ‘I’m starving.’

  An hour later, curled up by the range with her book, Lizzie was just reflecting that lovely as it had been to be outside, it was also very nice to be in, when Ash arrived back downstairs, a rather odd look on his face.

  ‘Do you know where Dad is?’

  She nodded. ‘He’s upstairs having a shower.’

  Ash let out his breath, giving the kitchen window a very Fergusson-like glare.

  ‘Is something wrong?’

  ‘No,’ he snapped. Giving himself a little shake, he recovered his manners. ‘No, it’s just … a friend of mine wants to come and stay for a while, that’s all.’

  ‘That’s nice,’ she suggested. ‘Where’s he from?’

  The door opened.

  ‘You ready to go?’ Cally walked in, sweeping her lengthening hair up into a ponytail and smiling at Ash.

  Ash stared at her, his brow furrowing, as if he was trying to remember who she was.

  ‘Aren’t we …?’ Cally faltered, her own forehead creasing. ‘I thought … I thought we were taking Windy out …’