“Sure; if it’s no trouble.” Libby turned to look up at him.
“No, no trouble at all,” Tom said. “See ya soon.”
It would appear they weren’t the only ones this move was benefiting. Tom has found himself a little sidekick. Smiling, Libby went back to her charts and computer.
She lifted her head when she heard a vehicle come down the drive. Time tended to fly when one was enjoying oneself. And she was. She was really getting into the whole “sorting out the breeding” idea. She wanted to have better stock if they could afford it because, at the end of the day, it was to their benefit. The whole idea was to make a profit and keep the farm.
She heard the gate and then the bang of the back door screen. Loud footsteps sounded in the kitchen, and she jumped up, her heart thudding.
That’s not Tom.
She bolted out of her chair, her breath caught in her throat. Creeping out of the office, Libby slid along the wall down the hallway on bare feet, pausing at the door to the kitchen. Sneaking a quick look around the opening, she came face-to-face with Nathan. She let out a small scream before she could stop herself, then the humiliation started to rise as she glared at him.
He stood by the table, his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, inwardly sighing with relief.
“Is that any way to greet a neighbor, sweetheart?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you offer me a cup of coffee or something?”
“You’re kidding, right,” she shot back. “Every time we see each other, you have a go at me. You have the nerve to creep in here and scare the crap out of me, and now you’re asking for coffee?”
He pulled a chair out from the table and turned it backward before straddling it. It was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere. She moved over to put on the kettle.
Her body reacted uncomfortably to him being so close to her after her dream last night. Prickles of desire attacked her nipples, and she squeezed her legs together as she leaned back against the sink, her arms crossed over her breasts as if that would keep her feelings from him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just being neighborly.”
“Really, why don’t I believe that?” Libby asked with a raise of her eyebrows.
“Untrusting soul, aren’t you?” His gaze followed her as she grabbed cups while the kettle boiled.
“Well, you haven’t exactly given me anything neighborly to go on. You can hardly blame me.” Libby poured the hot water into the cups, and after adding milk, she held one out to him.
“I thought I would catch up with Tom, if you must know.” He reached for the coffee mug and stirred in two generous spoons of sugar from the bowl in the center of the table.
“Why?”
He raised his own eyebrows at her.
Libby shook her head. Now she was starting to get antsy. The guy blows hot and cold, bossy and then apologetic. Now he thinks he can just waltz into my house without being invited, order coffee, and doesn’t want to tell me why he’s here. She wasn’t going to give an inch after the way he’d treated her the last few weeks. Damned if she would, no matter how much Tom tried to make excuses for him. Life throws out curveballs to everyone now and then. I should know. Learn to deal with it, Nathan.
She cocked her head at him.
“McNallys are selling some young Brahman bulls. I wondered if he would be interested,” Nathan said finally. “It’s something we discussed a couple of times.”
“You could have easily told me.”
“Sweetheart, you are a city import. You know nothing about cattle.” A sneer was starting to form on his face.
“I’m learning, and this is my farm,” she replied in an even voice. Standing opposite to him was hard when he looked as good as he did, sneer or not. “Tom was going to speak to Jonas at the dance anyway.”
“That old rogue.” Nathan laughed. “Those two go aways back, but you’ll still get a better deal with McNallys.”
“I’ll let him know you called.” She put her cup in the sink and stood there, hoping he’d take it as a signal to leave. “You’ve said your piece, and I’ve given you coffee. Now I’d like to get back to my office.”
“Fiery, aren’t we, sweetheart.” He rose and walked over to her, leaning against the kitchen bench, his arm touching hers. “Tell me why you really moved here, sweetheart.”
“Because it was left to me. That’s why,” she retorted.
“So was a sizeable amount of money. Why didn’t you just take that and spare yourself and us all the grief of having a city-dweller thinking they can take on the outback and make a go of it?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, standing straight.
“Did you even bother to read the will Aaron gave you?”
“No, but that’s none of your business anyway. Aaron never mentioned any money.”
“Really, I find that hard to believe.” He shook his head. “Even I read the damned will, and I know for a fact there’s more than enough money in the bank for the likes of you. You could have taken it and lived the life for a while instead of coming out here.’
“What right do you have to read something like that?” she asked baffled he knew more about the will than she did.
“Your grandmother was my godmother, and she left something for me, so I have a copy. One of the nicest women you could ever hope to meet, and let me tell you, sweetheart, you don’t even come close. You might think you look like her, and you do to a certain degree, but that is where the similarity ends. She was one in a million, and nothing was too much trouble. You, on the other hand, are too much trouble.”
“Stop right there, pal.” Libby placed one hand on her hip as she pointed her finger at him. “You know nothing about me, so don’t you dare presume to put me into the troubled, little woman slot. This is my farm, left to me by my family, and I’ll keep it regardless of what you say.”
“How, pray tell?” he mocked her.
“There’s such a thing as the Internet these days, you know. Surely you’ve heard of it. It’s not like you’re living in the dark ages out here.”
“Oh, so you’re telling me you just Google everything you need to know, and hey, presto, everything is taken care of. Now that’s interesting.” He scoffed, slapping his hand down on the bench. “It takes more than a damned computer to run a farm. It takes backbreaking work, day in, day out. Something I doubt you’re capable of. You should just take your money and call it quits before you make a proper balls-up of everything. Then whoever takes over won’t have so much of a mess to clean up when you leave.”
“I’m not leaving, Nathan. Get used to it.” She stood her ground as he railed against her.
“I wish you would reconsider. Surely a couple of hundred thousand in cold, hard cash will be enough to make you feel better about walking away. Think of what you could give your kids with that.”
“My kids don’t need money. They need a stable home and people who care about them. We have that here, thank you very much.” Her voice rose with her ire. “I might be new at this, but I am learning, and I will get all this up and running with Tom’s help.”
“And that’s another thing.” Nathan was warming to the argument. “Tom has been on this farm since he was a young man. Don’t you think it is time you cut him a break? The poor guy should be looking at retiring, and you have him working harder than ever. Do you really want to put him into an early grave?”
Libby raised her hand to slap Nathan, but he saw it coming and grabbed her wrists, pinning her against the kitchen bench.
“I’ve never hit a woman yet, but you can only push a guy so far.”
Libby saw the moment his eyes darkened with wanting and closed her own, willing herself to take it easy and not devour him like she wanted. She nibbled at his bottom lip, and he groaned while leaning into her. He slid his hands around her butt, pulling her closer with the movement. Libby rolled her hips over his, and feeling his erection pressing aga
inst his jeans, her self-esteem rocketed. She parted her lips, allowing their tongues to explore.
Libby slid her hands down to the front of Nathan’s jeans but with a groan, he stepped back from her and cursed. She leaned back against the bench, her breathing ragged and her fingers pushed against her mouth.
Nathan grabbed his hat and jammed it hard on his head. Nodding to her, he made to leave. Stopping on the bottom step, he turned back.
“Save a dance for me, sweetheart.” He winked at her and walked away.
Libby walked over and leaned against the doorjamb until he drove off. Her heart was thudding, and that familiar heat was rushing through her body as last night’s dream hit her hard. She’d had to restrain herself from running her fingers through his hair and dragging the shirt from his back as he’d held her tight against him. The thought of undoing the button on his jeans and slipping her fingers under the elastic band of the jocks she imagined him wearing had her weak at the knees and hyperventilating. She cursed him for allowing her to get warmed up for sex and letting her down without a word of apology. How was she going to cope with this? She craved him like the air she breathed. Every day brought her wanting him more. Why? The guy was a typical asshole, and what he’d just done proved it to her even more. He’d made no advances toward her that she could have misinterpreted as the beginning of a relationship, apart from kissing her, which hardly spoke volumes. Had it been so long since she had felt the love a man, even a gentle word or touch, she was locking onto the first available male figure who laid a hand on her? Ridiculous, when he made no bones about the fact he wanted the farm, not her. So why was she having fantasies about him? Why were women always drawn to the bad guys? Frustrated and desperate for release, Libby sank to the floor and dropped her head to her knees before wrapping her arms around herself protectively.
CHAPTER SEVEN
She was still there dreaming of his naked body intertwined with hers ten minutes later when Tom and Holly arrived back home. She shook herself and went back in to make Tom a cuppa. She needed an extra-strong one to kick herself out of this sexual haze. Either that, or she was headed back to the shower.
“Was that Nathan we just passed?” Tom asked as he came up the path.
“Yes,” she replied, willing her face not to glow.
“And? Was there something special he wanted?”
“Yes.” Libby filled the kettle to make him a cup of tea. “He wanted to let you know the McNally’s had some bulls you might be interested in.”
“Really?”
“Apparently, you two talked about it once before, and he thought it was his neighborly duty to come and inform you they were for sale.”
Tom waited until he had his cup in his hand. He sipped at his drink while he thought about what Nathan had said. “We should go and have a look, Libby.”
“I agree. But what I don’t understand is why Nathan was telling us this if he wants me to go back to the city?”
“Maybe he’s just trying to be nice. He did apologize the other night for coming on a bit strong.” Tom glanced at Libby as she paced the kitchen.
“Somehow, I don’t see him in that light. One minute he’s trying to goad me into going back to the city with all his snide remarks, and then he plays Mr. Nice Guy. You know him better than anyone. Is he always like this or is he putting it all on for me?”
“Libby, I’ve told you why he dislikes city people, women especially. I don’t think you should take this personally, you know.” He put his mug down and tapped his fingers on the table as she waited for answers.
“I can’t help it. He frustrates the hell out of me. Do you honestly think he’s being nice to me because he cares about what I’m doing, or is it something else?” Libby asked, hope starting to rise in her heart.
“Dunno. Maybe the stock will go with the farm, and it would be in his best interests for you to have something good going if you are going to fold.” Tom shrugged.
“That sneaky, conniving bastard.” She fumed as her hope shriveled a sudden death. “I knew it couldn’t be because he was just being Mr. Nice Guy. Ooohhh, I could kill him. And he had the nerve to ask me to save him a dance.”
Tom threw back his head and laughed. He was wiping the tears from his eyes when Holly came in and called to him.
“Tom, the lambs are crying again,” she said, looking at him pocketing his handkerchief. “What’s wrong with him, Mum?”
“Nothing, honey. Just a joke.”
“Oh, okay. Come on, Tom. You have to mix the formula.” Holly pulled him from the chair. “Want to help, Mum?”
“Thanks, baby, but I might go and work off some energy in the garden, and then I need to go back to the office to finish some stuff.”
Libby pulled weeds with a vengeance for half an hour until she managed to calm her body and mind. Then she went to the office and pulled the file containing the will Aaron had given her. She hadn’t thought of reading it, believing he had given her all the pertinent facts. It had just been one of those pieces of paper she’d put straight in the file.
Reading the will, Libby came to understand more about her grandmother than she had previously known. She had bequeathed money and belongings to many of the people Libby had heard Tom talk of. She had left Nathan a small amount of cash and her husband’s saddle, probably for sentimental reasons. When she came to the part which concerned her, she was shocked. Nathan was right. She was wealthy beyond her dreams, and Aaron hadn’t told her. Why? It made no sense, and she would certainly talk to him about it, but at the end of the day, it made no difference why she was here on the farm. This was her life now and that of her family.
***
The shearers arrived early on Tuesday. Libby had baked up a storm on Monday since Tom had warned her they ate a lot, and she was responsible for feeding them. There were two guys and a girl who did the classing, as Tom explained to her when he introduced them.
Once the kids were on the bus, Libby was out in the yards, helping Tom get the sheep sorted. They had already separated the ewes from their offspring late yesterday, and the noise from the hungry lambs was deafening. Libby tried to ignore them while she herded the sheep into the pens ready for the shearers to grab while they worked automatically. She had learned a lot since they’d first arrived at the farm, far more than she would have believed. Libby followed the process through. When they had been crutched, the wool from around their butts cleaned off, she saw them sent down another chute, which led to the holding pens under the shed, and she was running between the pens keeping them locked away from their screaming lambs. She had cringed when Tom explained to her how to dock the tails and ring the male lambs but with so much happening now, she was immune to their cries and the smell of fear on their short, white wool.
Molly, the wool classer, kept Tom busy as he swept the clippings away from the shearer before he pulled another animal from the pen. He threw it on a large, slatted table for her to sort through and bag into Own bin or Bale, as they were called. Even the small amount of wool they ended up with was money for the station, and it was a job that had to be done to keep the sheep free from fly strike.
Tom worked with the dogs to put the rams into a separate paddock from the ewes that were reunited with their lambs.
When the kids got back from school, they rushed through their homework and came out to help in the shearing shed. Tom told Josh to let Bella go and work with the older dogs for the rest of the afternoon so she could learn from them.
Libby left them finishing up for the day to shower and prepare dinner for everyone. The shearers would stay in the quarters with Tom and Winton, but Libby wanted them to eat in the house. It was easier for her, and she wanted to make them feel welcome.
Three clean shearers and her family all came in a short time later, laughing and joking with each other. Libby quickly sat them around the large kitchen table and passed them plates. Next, came the chicken hotpot and roast vegetables. Libby added a large pot of coffee, and juice was passed around too.
Everyone was in good spirits. The work was going well, and they hoped to be finished tomorrow night.
“That was superb.” Molly sat back in her chair. “Sorry, Tom but you aren’t cooking for us again.” She laughed. “Not with Libby here.”
“Hey, that doesn’t worry me.” Tom chuckled. “I’m getting spoiled too and loving it.”
“I have chocolate cake for dessert, if anyone is still hungry,” Libby offered.
“Can I have a slice of that, sweetheart?” said a voice from outside the kitchen door. Nathan stepped into the kitchen where they could see him. He took his hat from his head and looked at Libby. She hadn’t heard him come up the driveway.
“Nat, my man,” Molly squealed. She jumped from the table and wrapped her arms around him. She clapped him on the back pushed him to the table, and into the chair beside her. “Looking forward to coming over to you next, Nathan.”
“Looking forward to having you too.” He glanced around the table. “Sorry to barge in on you, Libby, but Dan, here, wasn’t answering his phone, and I hoped he was here. I just needed to know if he was coming to my place next.”
“Sorry, Nathan, I thought I had called you back, mate. Really sorry, and yes, we should be finished here tomorrow night, so we can say we will be at your place Wednesday morning. Can’t do ourselves out of one of Libby’s meals,” he said. “Is that all right with you, Libby?”
“You guys are more than welcome, I promise you.” She smiled at him.
“What about me?” Nathan asked. “Do you mind if I catch up with the crew before I go back home?”
“Sure, no problem.” She put a plate in front of Nathan and the cake in the middle of the table. “Help yourselves. I have things to do and will see you all in the morning.”
With that, Libby left the kitchen and walked calmly down to the office where she shut the door and sank into the chair.
What the bloody hell made me do that? Now he would be thinking he had scared her off. She wasn’t going to give him the upper hand this time, but he had a way of getting under her skin and rattling her. Now she had to wait for them all to leave before cleaning the kitchen and heading to bed.
Taming the Outback Page 8