Catier's strike

by Corrie, Jane

  To Sarah's discomfort, she accompanied her on her way out. She liked Kathy, but this was one time she wished her elsewhere, and she couldn't help miserably wondering why fate seemed to have it in for her.

  `Look, I'm dying for a coffee,' said Kathy. `Have you got time to have one with me? There's a small café across the road here that I usually patronise when I'm in this area. I don't like to put the old people to the trouble of making me anything.'

  If there was anything that Sarah did not want it was to stay in Kathy's company, but considering that it was she who had come to her rescue the day before, and Sarah was of the opinion that if she hadn't she would still be stuck back at the homestead, she consented to join her, and as they walked towards the café it did occur to Sarah that she might hear whether Sean had left for Darwin, in which case she could come out of hiding.

  `I was a little surprised to see you,' Kathy told her, as they settled at a table. 'I had an idea you'd be taking a few days off,' and at Sarah's sharp glance at her, she added, 'I don't know where I got that idea—probably thought you'd earned it, I suppose,' she added with a grin. 'What's it like being back in harness again?' she asked lightly.

  For a split second it went through Sarah's mind to lie, but something told her that it would mean more lies following about what case she had been working on, etc, and she was too tired of subterfuge to want to go through all that, so she settled for the truth. 'Well, as a matter of fact,

  you were right. I am taking a few days off,' she admitted reluctantly.

  `Oh, splendid!' Kathy said, 'and I've got nothing on for the rest of the day. First, you must come back with me, I've got a lovely tongue salad already prepared in the fridge, so it's no trouble, and we can laze in the garden after lunch. That's if you've nothing else on?' she enquired anxiously. `I was dreading going back home with Luke out all day. It always catches me after I've spent a week or so in company, until I get back into routine.'

  There was definitely a touch of Sean in the way his sister was arranging things, Sarah thought dispiritedly, and her heart ached for him. Perhaps it was the fact that he had actually been at Kathy's house the previous evening that settled it for her, and she allowed herself to be talked into going back with Kathy. What did it matter anyway, she asked herself, certain now that he had gone back. After this, she would not see Kathy again. It would be part of her life that would remain a closed chapter. It had to be, if she was to go on living with any expectation of happiness.

  As soon as they arrived at Kathy's house, Sarah was told to make herself comfortable in the large luxurious lounge while Kathy made a phone call. `I'm not sure what time Luke's coming back,' she explained. 'Sometimes he has to take a client out to dinner, and it's easier for me to phone him, he's so busy.'

  Sarah picked up a magazine while she waited for Kathy to return, but soon her eyes wandered

  round the well furnished lounge. They would have had coffee in here after dinner, she thought, and she wondered which chair Sean had taken.

  Her breath caught in a ragged sob, and for one blind unreasoning moment she considered telling Kathy everything, but her pride held her back. Kathy would give her the same good advice that she had given herself—to keep her distance, and that she had done the right thing in turning Sean's offer down.

  Kathy had seemed a long time on the phone, but when she returned, she told Sarah she had slipped through to the kitchen and got their lunch ready after she had made the call, and all they had to do was enjoy it.

  It certainly looked appetising, with crisp lettuce hearts and the accompanying ingredients, but such was Sarah's misery that she found it hard to do it justice. It had been a mistake to come here, she told herself, as she made an effort to reply to Kathy's bright observations in the same vein.

  Having decided that she shouldn't have come, all Sarah wanted was an excuse to leave as soon after lunch as possible without upsetting Kathy, and as they reached the coffee stage, back in the lounge, the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside the house gave Sarah a feeling that perhaps help was at hand. It was obviously a friend of Kathy's who had decided to pay her a visit, and would give her an excuse to leave. She could always remember something she had meant to do. It wasn't as if she had arranged to meet Kathy.

  When Kathy slipped out to meet the caller,

  Sarah began to think up various plausible reasons as to why she should take her leave. It would just be a matter of calling for a taxi, and keeping up polite conversation with Kathy and her friend until it arrived.

  In the event, no such plausible excuses were required, at least not on that subject, for when the door was suddenly flung open she found herself facing an irate Sean, who closed the door behind him with a firm snap that lent ominous undertones to the action.

  `Just what the devil are you playing at?' he demanded angrily. 'I realise it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, but you might have had the decency to tell me that you didn't intend going through with it, instead of taking the coward's way out!'

  Sarah, slowly recovering from the shock of seeing him, took a deep breath. Of all the nerve—what chance had she had of putting her point of view forward? 'Because you didn't give me the chance,' she retorted, now as angry as he was.

  Sean's eyes narrowed, and he folded his arms across his chest. 'Okay, so now I'm giving you the chance—and don't give me that stuff about being a career woman, because it just won't wear,' he warned her.

  There was nothing like having the floor taken from under you, Sarah thought bitterly, for that had been her mainstay, that she was a career woman and intended to remain one. 'Look,' she said wearily, 'right from the start you accused me of first ruining Don's life, and if that wasn't enough, of deliberately setting out to ruin others.

  I'm pretty certain where you got those impressions from, but never once did you give me the benefit of the doubt. And now—' she swallowed, pushing down the temptation to scream at him, 'you have the nerve to wonder why I'm refusing to have an affair with you, and if you think I'm throwing away everything I've worked for, for all these years, then, as I've told you before, you've got the wrong number!'

  Sean's blue eyes widened as the impact of her words hit him. 'Just where did you get the idea that I played fast and loose in the petticoat line?' he demanded harshly.

  Sarah looked into his blazing eyes. 'From a colleague of mine,' she retorted coldly.

  `It wasn't Charles Ashley, by any chance, was it?' Sean asked silkily. 'He's already got the beaut of a black eye for past services, and if it was, I'll take great pleasure in closing the other eye!'

  Sarah felt a twinge of sympathy for Charles at this point. 'As a matter of fact, it was a woman,' she told him, and that was as much as she was prepared to say.

  `And you believed her?' Sean demanded.

  `As you believed Charles,' she reminded him angrily.

  Sean's blue eyes had an amused glint in them as he looked at her. 'Touché,' he said softly. Tor your information, I've got a padre calling at the homestead a week from today. I can see now that I wasn't exactly explicit as to my intentions. I got the impression that you were as aware as I was that there could only be one ending where we were concerned. Even if it meant kidnapping you

  all over again, but I couldn't make a move until that report came out, you were so mad at me you might have let the cat out of the bag without realising it.'

  `You quite deliberately gave me that information, didn't you?' Sarah accused him roundly, not ready yet to forgive him.

  Sean grinned wickedly at her. 'Can you tell me how I could have kept you near me, if I hadn't?' he queried softly. 'I told you that Don had fallen for you like a ton of bricks, didn't I? Well, the truth was that it was myself that I was talking about. I knew you were my woman as soon as I set eyes on you.' His fine mouth twisted wryly. 'I should have known that Ashley was after you himself. As it was, all I could think of was that Don had fallen into the same trap, and the idea of your being engaged to another man, even though it was my
cousin, was totally unthinkable, but I couldn't let you go. I guess I've got Kathy to thank for putting me into the picture where Don was concerned, so I won't,' he told her grandly, `hold your unwarranted suspicions of my intentions where you're concerned against you. I have no wish for an affair with you, or to have a common law wife,' his eyes met hers. 'This is for keeps. I've got you now, and I'm keeping you.'

  He moved forward purposefully to take her in his arms, and Sarah, with her eyes on his tall straight figure, still attired in his city suit, had time to wonder how she could have mistaken his obvious sincerity, and gave a thankful thought for Kathy, for she knew that it had been Sean that she had rung and not her husband.

  With Sean's strong arms around her, she gave up all pretence of holding out on him. Within a week they were to be married, and she still couldn't believe it. 'What will happen when you go back to work?' she demanded, when he gave her a breathing space.

  `You come with me,' he said huskily, nuzzling her cheek. 'What do you think I trained you for back at the camp? Besides, I don't trust you. You have a nasty habit of running out on me. I want you where I can see you all the time,' and he endorsed this sentiment with a devastating kiss.

  A little while later, Sarah had recovered sufficiently enough to tease him a little. 'And I was so looking forward to being the features editor on the women's page,' she murmured naughtily.

  `The only magazine you're going to feature in will be Mother and Baby,' Sean assured her in no uncertain manner!

  In the midst of the pink haze around her, Sarah suddenly thought of Lin, and his confident prophecy that she would be back. 'Well, at least Lin will be pleased to hear that I'm an honest woman,' she sighed dreamily.

  Sean's expressive brows raised in query at this. `He thought I'd stolen something from you,' she explained.

  He held her closer. 'Well, you did, didn't you?' he said softly, then with his lips on hers, whispered, 'Thief!'