The Farmer's Perfect Match

by Marilyn Forsyth

  With a resigned expression, Adam repeated the words and actions before leading the women into the house, closely followed by Cam, still filming. They passed Neil coming out.

  He pulled at Evie’s arm as she went to follow. ‘What are your thoughts on the girls?’ he asked, smiling and rubbing his hands together.

  She shrugged, not wanting to answer, knowing that when he asked for her opinion he expected only agreement with his own. ‘Too early to say. You’ve spent the last three hours driving them here, what do you think?’

  ‘Meg’s cute. Vivacious. But that Chrissy’s a living doll. Sensational blue eyes. The camera’s going to eat her up. I’d lay odds on our farmer falling for her.’

  ‘Why? Just because she’s good to look at?’ The irony that her boss’s conjecture echoed her own belief about beautiful people wasn’t lost on her, but the inherent chauvinism of his remark got her back up.

  ‘You’re underestimating the power of a beautiful woman.’ Neil sounded smugly confident.

  He might be right but that annoyed her even further. ‘And I think you’re underestimating Adam’s integrity. He’s interested in more than just a pretty face. He’ll be looking below the surface to find out what those two are really like, and base his choice on that, I guarantee it.’

  ‘Hey, down off that high horse, missy. Why so defensive?’

  ‘I’ve got to know him pretty well. And you’ve watched the interviews. There’s a lot more to him than some guy looking for a quick fix to his loneliness. Adam’s a decent man with real values. He won’t be swayed by looks.’

  Neil stopped at the top of the steps and stared at her accusingly. ‘You don’t like her.’

  ‘Who? Chrissy?’ She brushed off his words with a sweep of her hand as she mounted the steps after him. ‘It’s not that.’

  Yes it is, admit it.

  No. She couldn’t admit to that. This was her boss she was talking to and after the other day’s chewing-out from him she had to show her professionalism.

  ‘There’s something about the way she fawned all over him and how she … I don’t know … dismissed the rest of us. I reckon she’s got her own agenda.’

  ‘Yeah, she wants to win.’ He made it sound so matter-of-fact.

  ‘But the premise of Perfect Mate is about finding love. True love. It’s not supposed to be about winning just for the sake of winning.’

  ‘Face facts, Evie. Chrissy flirted with Adam and you didn’t like it. That green-eyed monster’s a bitch, isn’t it?’ He patted her arm indulgently. She had to force herself not to jerk it away.

  ‘I’m above that, Neil,’ she assured him. ‘And you’ll see. People reveal themselves in a lot of different ways. What they wear, how they treat others, even down to how they hold a fork, and there’s something not … genuine about that girl.’

  He flashed her a hugely irritated look. ‘The way I see it, you’re continuing to let feelings interfere with your judgement.’ He spoke with such utter conviction that self-doubt set in almost instantly. ‘Get over it,’ he said, looking back over his shoulder as he headed inside.

  She fumed silently for a moment before following him. The cool of the house was a welcome relief from the heat outside; but as for the heat of her feelings, even the thought of an ice bath wasn’t enough to dowse those. Her incapacity to conceal her feelings annoyed her even more than having Neil point it out to her.

  Sounds of delight jolted her from a brooding reflection on her all-too-extensive shortcomings. She made her way down the light and airy tiled hallway to where Cam stood at the door of the bedroom Meg and Chrissy would be sharing, capturing whatever was happening inside. Intrigued, she peeked over his shoulder.

  Twin beds stood either side of the panel of glass shutters that allowed for any breeze-flow, and on each white pillowcase lay a long-stemmed red rose, with a dozen or so more in a crystal vase on the table between the beds. Adam stood to one side, a single rose in his hand, grinning.

  ‘Aww, my favourite flower.’ Meg’s smile was one of genuine pleasure.

  ‘How sweet are you?’ Chrissy gushed, pushing past the other woman to stretch her tiny frame up and plant another kiss on Adam’s cheek.

  His pleasure at their reaction was clear. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

  Evie’s lips pursed involuntarily. The awful suspicion that Neil’s accusation of jealousy may have hit the nail on the head forced itself into her awareness, and her throat tightened as she struggled to accept it. This was not good. Not good at all. She had no right to any relationship with this man other than the friendship they’d established, so why did she feel … hurt?

  Adam’s gaze shifted to the doorway and he caught her staring at him. He threw her a wink. God, he was so charming.

  ‘Was that aimed at you or me?’ whispered Cam.

  ‘You!’ she snapped back.

  ‘If that’s the case, this game just got a whole lot more interesting.’ Cam’s tone was tongue-in-cheek.

  ‘I’ll leave you ladies to unpack,’ said Adam, striding for the door. ‘Make yourselves at home. Dinner’ll be a couple of hours. We’ll be eating on the beach. Dress code’s casual.’

  Evie headed back to the veranda. She still had tomorrow’s schedule to map out.

  Adam caught her up. ‘That went well … d’you think?’ His country-boy eagerness to please was irresistible.

  Make that almost irresistible. If she hadn’t made up her mind to accept the inevitable. He was unavailable. It was time to face reality and do what she was here to do. To help make this show happen.

  ‘Mmm,’ she agreed, nodding too vigorously. ‘They seem like great girls.’

  ‘They do, they … sure do. I can see all of us are gonna be like one big, happy family for the next few weeks.’ He cast her a sidelong glance, twirling the rose he still held in one hand. ‘Evie, can I …’ He hesitated, as if wanting to ask something, then seemed to think better of it. ‘Never mind. Gotta go get dinner organised.’

  ‘Need any help?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Adam?’

  He turned back eagerly. ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Where did the roses come from?’

  He covered his mouth conspiratorially. ‘I asked Neil to buy them in Broome.’

  ‘Nice touch.’

  His whole face lit up before he sauntered away.

  On returning to her room later, having completed the necessary scheduling, Evie couldn’t have stopped the smile that leaped to her face if she’d tried. There on her pillow lay a single long-stemmed red rose.

  * * *

  The tranquillity of the scene from the veranda—vast sky brilliant with stars, full moon dancing on the water—contrasted totally with the way Adam was feeling. Even the gentle whisper of the sea on the shore below, accompanied by the rhythmic, deep-throated hum of the frogs from the stream, wasn’t achieving its usual hypnotic effect.

  He prided himself on being a gentleman, so he never would have shared with anyone his less-than-flattering assessment of Neil Blake. It didn’t stop him thinking it though. Suffice to say that if there was a snake in this Garden of Eden, that man was it. He’d ruined what had been a sensational evening.

  It started out perfectly, shoals of brightly coloured fish arriving on cue at sunset for a feeding, much to the girls’ delight. Evie included. He chuckled to himself. She hadn’t been able to contain her enthusiasm and Cam had had to retake any number of shots because she kept wading in among them.

  The dinner itself had gone down a treat, with rave reviews from Chrissy and Meg over the seafood barbecue. His concern that conversation may be a bit stilted between the three of them had been laid to rest by the girls’ seeming ease with what he found a totally contrived situation. The mini-microphones and long-range lens of the camera had soon been forgotten as they relaxed and traded stories, getting to know each other.

  Meg’s forthright, fun-loving personality and vibrant laugh had had him in stitches more than once. And Chrissy …
>
  He blew out a deep breath. What to think about her? As if her bright-blue eyes and soft curves weren’t enough to constantly draw his gaze, she was pretty much poured into that hot-pink tank top, and together with those tight short shorts, she was dynamite on legs. Too overtly showy for his taste—understated beauty, like Evie’s, appealed more—but there was no denying Chrissy’s sexual appeal.

  He and Meg shared a similar sense of humour, but what had amazed Adam tonight was how much he and Chrissy seemed to have in common. She loved water sports and camping out, and nominated her favourite movie as Gladiator, his personal favourite. An odd choice for her, given the gore factor, but who was he to judge? You could fit on a pinhead everything he knew about any woman, let alone a girl born and bred in the city.

  She claimed to also adore animals. Now that he really wasn’t too sure about. When he’d introduced Bitzer, the dog had growled deep in his throat then lunged at her. Thankfully he’d still been tied up, so no real harm done. Chrissy’s reaction, hiding behind him and squealing, had not come across as that of an animal lover but, to be fair, she had received a shock. To keep the peace he’d agreed to relegate Bitzer to the shed for the time being.

  He leaned over in the chair to pat the dog at his feet. ‘Sorry, old mate, but you can be moody at times.’

  The reproach in Bitzer’s eyes at being locked up had been replaced by sheer joy when he’d been released to sit out here on the veranda tonight, but knowing he’d have to tie him up again later left a guilty taste in Adam’s mouth. His dog had suffered such a sad existence prior to life here; it didn’t seem fair depriving him of his liberty for one small lapse in behaviour.

  Adam scratched him behind the ears. ‘We’ll have another go at introducing you two tomorrow, mate. First impressions aren’t always right.’

  Take Neil Blake for instance. Came across as an okay kind of bloke on first meeting. Maybe a bit full of himself, a bit patronising in his attitude to Evie. Now? Adam couldn’t stand the man.

  When Blake had finally deemed the night’s footage adequate, at Adam’s insistence the crew had joined them to finish off the food. It hadn’t been easy sitting across from Evie, eyeing her when he thought she wasn’t looking, unable to stop thinking of her when he should’ve been focusing on Meg and Chrissy. He couldn’t help wondering why she seemed so distracted.

  It had been a distasteful awakening to find that the editor’s offer to help carry the trestle tables back to the house had not been made in the spirit of generosity Adam had assumed. They’d made small talk for a few minutes, Blake enquiring about how he was enjoying the shoot, before the man’s agenda became clear. When he’d asked Adam outright whether Evie was being as professional with him as the job required, Adam had been blown away by the guy’s own disregard for professional ethics.

  Why her boss appeared to have it in for Evie, he had no idea. She made no secret of her respect for her mentor, of her gratitude to him for taking her on for this job. What sort of person went behind someone’s back to try and dig up the dirt like that? Not the type of person he had any interest in getting to know better, that was for sure.

  Of course Adam had had no hesitation in defending Evie. He felt totally comfortable with her, she was easy to talk to, and he had no problem with what Blake referred to as her ‘overfamiliarity’. She was doing an excellent job.

  And there it was. Reality check. A wave of regret washed over him. It was her job.

  She liked him, yes, but she liked everyone. Her outgoing personality turned everyone into an instant best friend. And mistaking her professionalism for a genuine interest in him was his fault.

  That electric charge firing between them whenever she came near was nothing more than wishful thinking on his part.

  It didn’t stop him caring about what she thought of him, though. More deeply than he’d have believed possible, given that they’d known each other for barely a week, and that the reason she was here was to help him choose a potential partner from two other women. How nuts was that?

  ‘Should’ve known better, shouldn’t I, eh?’

  ‘What should you have known?’ Evie plonked down in the wingback chair next to him and bent to pat the dog. ‘Hey, Bitzer.’

  Wearing loose cotton pants with an oversize white T-shirt, her dark hair flying loose around her slim shoulders in the slight sea breeze, she looked unimaginably sexy. He inhaled deeply, drawing in the fresh scent of lavender soap that wafted his way.

  Suddenly restless, he stood to lean against the railings, attempting to focus his attention on the reflection of silver moonlight rippling across the waves. ‘Couldn’t sleep, huh? Me either.’

  ‘What should you have known?’ she repeated to his back.

  He turned to face her. ‘That mixing garlic prawns and chilli squid would give me heartburn.’ Giving her a rueful look, he rubbed at his chest.

  She responded with a smile and a shake of her head. ‘Does it every time. When are you going to learn?’

  He gave a helpless shrug.

  For the next few moments she sat silent, her eyes taking in the antics of the army of tiny brown geckoes that scurried across the deck and up and down the walls, but her mind ticking over so loudly he could almost hear it above the drum roll of the waves.

  ‘What’s up?’ he finally asked.

  ‘I don’t want to bore you with shop talk.’ She sounded distant, as if her brain was struggling with a problem she needed to confide.

  ‘Only fair. You’ve done all the listening so far. It’s my turn.’

  She took a long time to respond. ‘This assignment is really important to me. But things aren’t going as well as I hoped.’

  She was looking for a way to tell him he wasn’t right for the show. Was it disappointment or relief he was feeling? ‘It’s me, isn’t it? You can be honest. I’m no good at the interviewing thing, am I?’ He’d had doubts from the beginning about whether he had the goods to deliver in front of a camera.

  ‘It’s not you. You’re … perfect.’ She offered him a small smile, although her eyes were shadowed. ‘It’s me. I—’ She hesitated, regarding him questioningly, weighing up whether to continue. ‘Can you be my sounding board? Without making judgements? I really need to talk this out with someone.’

  He pulled an invisible zipper across his lips.

  ‘I can’t seem to do anything right as far as Neil is concerned.’ She spoke quietly but her voice was passionately intense. ‘And I don’t know what to do about it.’ She stood up. ‘I’m good at what I do. Being criticised is difficult to handle.’ She moved to stand beside him.

  Suddenly intensely self-aware, he felt his body tensing in anticipation of the slightest touch. It would be the end for him if it happened. The vulnerable expression in the green-brown eyes she turned up to his brought out every protective instinct in his body. Made him want to comfort her, hold her against his chest. She was so close. With only the slightest tilt of his head he could so easily brush that beautiful down-turned mouth with his own.

  Afraid he might do exactly that—and make a complete idiot of himself with this woman who’d done nothing to encourage his attentions except be her natural self—he forced himself to turn away. Bracing his hands hard against the railing, and placing a correspondingly iron grip on his overly fertile mind, he somehow managed a rational thought. No need to ask who was causing her the angst.

  ‘Could your boss be under pressure from the station bigwigs for some reason?’ Why he was making excuses for the man, he had no idea.

  She considered the suggestion in silence for a few moments. ‘I can’t see why. The limited footage I’ve been privy to is brilliant. The show can’t be anything but a smash.’

  ‘That’s gotta be good for you.’

  ‘Uh huh,’ she said slowly, then cocked her head, as if inspired by a sudden thought. ‘But something else might be worrying him. There’s talk he and Sophie, his wife, have separated. Maybe that’s why he’s being so irascible?’

  Muc
h as he resented condoning the editor’s treatment of Evie, the connection was logical. ‘It doesn’t excuse him, but it makes sense, I guess.’

  ‘It does, doesn’t it?’ She nodded firmly. ‘So I should stop griping, be professional and get on with it, right?’ She grinned up at him. ‘Thanks for listening.’ She turned to leave.

  ‘That’s it?’ Even knowing it couldn’t lead anywhere, he didn’t want the intimacy of the evening to come to an end. ‘That’s all you wanted to say?’

  ‘That’s it.’

  He couldn’t help feeling puzzled. ‘But we didn’t solve anything.’

  There was a corresponding puzzlement in her narrowed eyes. ‘We didn’t need to. I got what was bothering me off my chest. You listened. That’s all I needed. Thank you.’ She sounded sincerely grateful.

  Trying to decipher girl-speak was confusing; would he ever reach the point where he understood women? ‘Um, sure … any time.’

  ‘And Adam?’ Her lovely face, perfectly framed by long strands of dark hair, turned fetchingly back over her shoulder as she walked away. ‘Don’t worry. We’re here to find you a wife and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.’

  He swallowed around the thickness blocking his throat. She thought he was worried about that?

  Truth be told he was worried, but not for the reasons she believed. He shouldn’t be thinking about Evie the way he was. Wanting to pull her close, to wrap her up tight in his arms, feel the warmth of her arms around him and the soft touch of her lips.

  He closed his eyes against the all-too-vivid picture in his mind. A man like him, so barricaded emotionally inside himself that he couldn’t express his feelings—to anyone—didn’t deserve a woman like her.

  ‘Great! That’s … great,’ he managed in reply.

  The sentiment was not nearly as sincere as he knew it should be.

  CHAPTER

  6

  March 15

  Transcript: Interview with Meg McNicol/Chrissy Wright

  Location: Lounge room

  (Start interview)