“What can we do for you, Nathan?” Tom asked.
“I wanted to apologize for my outburst this afternoon.” He kept his gaze on Libby and tried not to notice she looked like she’d just stepped out of a warm bath. Her hair was loose with damp ringlets clinging to her neck and falling softly on her face. A healthy, pink glow covered her cheeks, and his blood heated when he realized she wasn’t wearing anything under the sloppy T-shirt except cotton boxer shorts. He looked up, realizing she had put her book down and was now watching him. Her lips parted, but no words came from her mouth. His pulse raced into overdrive.
“I’m sorry, Libby. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, and there’s no excuse.” Nathan shifted his gaze to look at Tom rather than the scantily clad woman, willing his body not to betray him. “I assumed you wouldn’t be ready even though you have the shearers booked in. I’ve been trying to call them, but all I get is their answering service, so I don’t know what their plans are, and it’s made me a little bit edgy with this bad weather predicted.”
“No harm done,” Tom reassured. “I’m sure they have you down in the book. They always do, so stop stressing over it. Can I offer you a glass of wine or a coffee?”
“Sure, if Libby doesn’t mind, a wine would be great.” He took a seat on the top step in front of Libby’s chair as Tom went inside to get the offered drink.
“Why should I mind?” she asked gently, her gaze on his face.
“I haven’t given you the warmest welcome,” Nathan admitted.
“Nothing in my life has been that easy, so one snotty neighbor isn’t going to be the end of me.”
Nathan was saved from replying when the boys came out of the house.
“Mum, can we have the day off tomorrow?” Josh asked, speaking fast. “We can help the shearers, there’s heaps we can do.”
“I think not, but you can all pitch in once your homework is done.” She held up her hand as they moaned aloud. “And if we get through this crutching session, if we get it finished and if you guys pull your weight, we’ll go into town to the barn dance in a couple of weeks.”
Josh gawked at her until Winton whispered in his ear, and they both stumbled down the stairs to run away to the shed, giggling like a pair of schoolgirls.
Nathan shook his head at their retreating backs and turned to take the glass of wine Tom brought out to him to find Libby staring at him again. He smiled at her, but she averted her gaze and picked up her book again, giving it her full attention and leaving him with an unusual empty hole in his stomach.
“So, how is the stock looking now that you have them in?”
“I was just going to go over the last few years’ shearing records with Libby to try and figure out the best course for the farm.” Tom held up a notebook before passing it to Libby. She placed it on the table between them without opening it.
“We can go over it later.”
Nathan downed his wine as the conversation stilled and stood up. Feeling uncomfortable, he placed his empty glass on the table.
“Thanks for the wine, Tom. Night, Libby.” He aimed a glance her way.
“Night,” she mumbled, not meeting his gaze.
He cursed himself again, this time for being so stupid as to try and right this morning’s wrong. She obviously didn’t care for his apologies, and he really couldn’t blame her. It worried him that he even cared what she thought. Damn it, thought Nathan as he drove home. She was starting to rattle him and get under his skin. The way she interacted with her kids and Winton, the way she cared for Tom...if she weren’t a city chick, he would give his feelings more than a passing thought. Just because she stirred his blood and made his body take notice was no reason to get more involved than just being neighborly. A cold shower would fix him and bring him back to his senses. Heaven forbid he make the same mistakes he had made in the past.
“I can’t take this anymore, Nathan. Living in the sticks is dragging me down.” Eliza crossed her arms and stamped her foot.
“I told you it was isolated out here when you wanted to move out,” Nathan said, running a hand through his hair. A sick feeling was settling in his gut, and he knew it was all but over when he saw her suitcase beside the kitchen table when he’d walked in. “Look, let’s talk about this. I don’t want to lose you, Eliza. I love you.” He reached out his hand and tried to catch her fingers, but she stepped back. “There has to be a way to make this work. Why don’t we plan a week to see your folks once the shearing is done? That will be something to look forward to, won’t it?”
“How long will that be?” She looked at him with her lips set in a tight line.
“Three or four weeks at the most.”
“No, I want to go now.” She pouted her lips and turned, showing him her back, straight and determined.
“I can’t go now; you know that. The shearers are booked, and we need to do the crutching, or we’ll end up with fly strike.”
“If you loved me, you’d put me before your smelly sheep, Nathan.”
“Things have to work on a schedule out here, Eliza. I can’t just up and go whenever I want to. Farming’s like that.”
“Well. That says it all, doesn’t it? Your farm comes before your future wife.” She picked her purse up from the table and took out her mobile phone. “Rodney said he would give me a lift back to the city. I’m going. You can send the rest of my stuff later.”
“Are you serious? You’re going back to town with that sleazy tractor salesman?”
“Yes, I am. You won’t give me what I want, and this place has lost its appeal. I’m a city girl at heart, Nathan, and I’m afraid I can’t change that. It’s the way I am. Good-bye.” She picked up her suitcase and walked down the stairs and out of the yard.
Nathan stood, shocked and gutted. He hadn’t even realized Eliza was unhappy. She’d never said a word until now. He heard a car pull into the driveway, a door slam, and then she was gone.
***
“This here is the record of the shearing. See how many sheep this place was running even five years ago?” Tom asked before Libby could sneak off to bed. “If we could get a couple of hands, we could bring it up to those numbers again.”
She flipped through the pages of the book, thinking as she read the figures. Over the last ten years, they had gone from running 8,000 sheep, to what they brought in today. There would be a mere 1,300 if they were lucky.
“Want to tell me how we could go about it?” she asked, her gaze on his weather-beaten face.
He sat back in his chair and ran through what he thought was a good plan. She would have to speak to Aaron, but he had said they had money for certain expenses. Libby had some money put away as well, and if she had to, she would use it to get the farm viable again. She wasn’t going to walk away without putting up a bloody good fight.
“What do you think?”
“I like it. We should do up a plan on paper and see. I mean, after we sort out what we have and what we have to get rid of, we can approach Aaron and talk to a...what do you call them, stock agent?”
“Yeah, you’ll probably meet Jonas at the dance. He’s the local agent around here,” Tom explained. “He’ll be there with everyone else in town. It’s one of the best places to do business, believe it or not. We might even find a couple of helpers too. We can at least put out the word we’re hiring anyway.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Libby mused over the possibilities of restocking the station. “What about the cattle? How are we placed with them?”
“We could use some new blood, to tell you the honest truth. I don’t much like the old bulls we have, and if you really want to improve the beef you have, you should try what Nathan is doing.”
Libby sat up in her seat. She bristled again at the thought of the man calling her cow’s mongrels, and to think she let him sit and drink wine on her steps without choking him for his ignorant behavior. “What is he doing?”
“His cows are Drought Master, same as most of yours, but he’s crossing
them with Brahmin bulls. They say the meat is better, and there’s more of it for no extra work. I think he’s onto something. They’re being dubbed a super breed by those in the know.”
“What would we have to do though?” Libby frowned and leaned forward, eager to hear everything.
“Get rid of the old bulls you have and replace them with a least a couple of good Brahmins. They’re expensive, no doubt about it, but you can get a decent price for the steers and bulls you have. You don’t stand to lose anything by trying, Libby.”
“Can we deal with the sheep first and then talk about it some more?” she asked. One thing at a time, or she would lose the plot. She had so much to learn and doubted it she could take it all in at once.
“Sure. Now I’m going to take this old body to bed.” Tom ruffled Holly’s hair as he passed her. “I’ll wake you up to feed those young’uns in the morning.”
“Night, Tom. Thanks for today.”
They watched him head to his quarters before Libby stood up and pulled Holly to her feet. “Bed for you, baby,” she said, walking her inside.
CHAPTER SIX
Libby fell into a troubled sleep. The last thing she’d wanted was to have Nathan in her face before she went to bed. It was bad enough she fantasized about him during the day, but going to bed tonight was going to be difficult with visions of him haunting her dreams. Twisting and restless, she became tangled in the sheets as she fought for sleep.
She walked into the community hall and searched the room for a familiar face. Her gaze found Nathan’s, and plucking up courage, she walked slowly across the room toward him. Nathan pulled her forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close to his chest, her head tucked neatly under his chin as he kissed the top of her hair. Libby breathed a sigh of relief she had found him, and her arm went around his broad back as she turned and watched the band warm up for another dance.
“Shall we?” he asked, leading her onto the floor. The smell of lamp oil and hay filled her head as he put his hand around her back, resting it just a little above her butt. He twined his fingers through her other hand and pulled her closer still as the music surrounded them. Libby tried to block out the voices of the dancers and stay in the moment with the man whose body made hers heat uncontrollably.
She had eyes and ears only for Nathan. Her heart raced as he whispered sexy suggestions in her ear, making her cheeks heat up and her mouth go dry. Looking up, she saw the fire smoldering in his eyes and tried to look away, but felt compelled to keep her gaze on his.
“I think we both need to go outside for some air, don’t you?” He guided her with one hand on her back and the other gripping her fingers tightly. They escaped out of the hall via the kitchen door, brushing past those who would waylay them to talk. The cold air hit her warm face, the realization of what she was heading for clear in her mind now that they were outside. She shook herself, thinking she was making a mistake but unable to stop herself going with him. The chemistry was definitely there between them, and it reared its ugly head every time they were within spitting distance of each other.
They strolled around the back of the hall toward the stockyards. The static croaking of rocket frogs broke the quiet of the night as they stepped over twigs and dry, cracking leaves. The only light to guide them was the full moon, which shone its silvery beams down on the old stock pens. Nathan pulled her to a stop by the first gate, pushing her back into the corner post. He ran his fingers softly along her jaw line, cupping her head in his hands as he gently took her lips with his mouth, nibbling at first, then hot and forceful. She tried to keep up with him. Her breath came hot and fast, the lust rising from her like a volcano erupting after a long, silent sleep threatening to flow over without any sense of control.
She slipped her hands behind his head, pulling him closer and tightening her fingers at the nape of his neck. Impatient and demanding, she slid her hands to the front, slipping them down to undo his shirt and roam over his warm, muscled chest. She toyed with the smattering of hair running down his throat to his lower torso. His taut nipples excited her as she tweaked them between her fingers, rubbing them gently while they hardened under her touch.
The groan that escaped him made the blood rush faster to her groin. The heat built up inside her as he trailed his lips down her jaw to her neck, nuzzling his way back up to her ear. She gasped as he licked her lobe, his teeth pulling on it gently, the feeling shooting straight to her center, making her tremble with anticipation. He pulled the silk shirt from her jeans, and she felt his work-roughened hands push up her bra, freeing her breasts into the night air. The shock of Nathan’s hot mouth on her cold nipples had her groaning with pleasure as he flicked them with his tongue, sending sensations racing through her body. The thrill as he left one breast for the other—causing a rapid cooling before heating them up again—was almost more than she could bear. Libby could feel her long-overdue orgasm building before he moved his attention and fingers to the zip on her jeans. He popped the button and pulled it down while gently pressing under her panties and into her hot flesh. She could feel herself exploding just as his fingers started to move inside her. It’d been so long since a man had touched her. She held onto him tightly as her body writhed in ecstasy against his hand.
When her pulse slowed, she reached to cup his chin, her mouth puckering up to a...starched, cold pillow slip? Libby’s eyes flew open. “A dream...” No way. This sucks. She rolled over and untangled herself from the rumpled sheets. Funny, she felt like she’d had an orgasm. Maybe she had. The release relaxed her somehow. She stood and walked over to the full-length mirror beside her wardrobe, pulling her sleeping shirt over her head. Her gaze roamed over her soft breasts, and as she turned, she clasped her bum cheeks and lifted them, remembering when they had sat that high by themselves. Letting go, she sighed. It was funny how the droopy bits didn’t bother you until you started thinking about sex with someone new, although it was a small price to pay for the lives of her children and not one she would ever like to change. Cupping a hand under her stomach, Libby gave fleeting thought to another child growing inside her, a child of hers and Nathan’s. Pfft. As if that would ever happen. He wants my farm not my body.
Pushing the dream from her mind, she lifted her hands over her head and twirled in front of the mirror, looking at her body from different angles. She was getting a healthy-looking glow now that she was working outside so much. She liked it. Her body would tone up soon enough, especially with the work she was doing. Unfortunately, the boobs would stay droopy and no doubt get more so with age. Shrugging off the reality facing her in the mirror, she headed for a cool shower.
***
Walking through the house to the kitchen, Libby could hear the bleating of hungry lambs coming from the direction of the stables.
Humming to herself, Libby made two cups of coffee and took them outside. “Morning, you two.” She smiled at the sight of her baby playing mother to the orphaned lambs.
“Hi, Mum,” Holly gushed. “They’re so hungry. They nearly knocked me over when I came in the door.”
“I bet they did,” Libby replied. “I have a coffee for you, Tom, when you’re ready.”
“Thanks. I’m sure this young lady has it all under control.” He stood and accepted the mug from her. He leaned on the fence by Libby, watching as Holly fed the remaining three lambs.
“I promised Holly she could ride Puddin’ today if that was okay with you, Libby. You don’t have any plans that need me, do you?”
“No, that’s fine, Tom. I was thinking of going over those figures on the stock and trying to make sense of it all before I had some me time in the garden.”
“The boys want to go out and scout around for any stray sheep.” He took a sip from his mug before continuing. “I’ve told them if it’s okay with you, they can go.”
“No worries.” The figures in the stock record books were starting to get under her skin, so she left Tom and Holly to their lesson and headed back inside to si
t at the old office desk. She proceeded to pull out the ledger he’d had given her last night when Nathan had shown up. Pushing back the annoyance she felt at that man’s high-handedness, Libby tried to concentrate on the figures again without letting him intrude into her task.
Basic business skills, she had. It was the whole stock-running she didn’t quite understand, but with Tom’s help, she was learning. She ran over the last five years’ figures, and wrote herself out a chart so she could understand it better in her own way.
It seemed that every year, less and less sheep were being shorn at shearing time and fewer lambs were being sold. He had informed her the bulk of the sheep were too old and needed to be replaced, and he’d shown her the figures to back that up. The station hadn’t had any new rams in ages, and it was getting to the stage the herd was unviable. He wanted to cull out the old ewes and old rams and start again. They would know by the end of crutching how the numbers stood. Then Libby would have some figures to talk to Aaron about.
She took a look at the cattle file as well and decided to make herself a chart for them too, since Tom had mentioned it to her. She may as well get prepared and learn something. There were only about 900 all listed in the book as at last year’s drenching date. About half of those were cows. The rest were steers and old bulls. She divided them into the right categories and filled in her chart.
Getting interested, she fired up her computer. She Googled Brahmans and when a list of sites came up, she hit on the first one. There were some pretty impressive bulls on line, especially if you were a cow. Most were up for auction, so she couldn’t get an idea of prices but was sure Tom would know how much they would have to pay.
She heard Tom come into the house a couple of hours later.
“Down here in the office,” she called.
“Just going into town to get my lotto tickets.” Tom cast a gaze over her charts. “Want anything?”
“No thanks, Tom. This will keep me busy for a while.”
“Holly wants to come for a ride. Is that okay?”
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