The Great Gift (Contemporary Romance - Urban Life)

by WRIGHT, MISTY

  Alyssa went to shake his hand. "I'll agree with your demands if you tell me about yourself," she said.

  Kent lifted his muddy arms as if he was finally surrendering. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

  "Why do you carry the rope clipped to your belt?" she asked.

  "Is that all you want to know?" He looked seriously puzzled. "I thought you were going to start a horrific interrogation."

  Alyssa saw her chance and took it. "I want to know why your family is about to lose The Oasis and to whom," she said.

  "You are a nosy person, Miss Fitzgerald." Kent brushed mud onto the end of her nose as his smile widened.

  "I sure am," she said.

  "I'll spill the beans as long as you kiss me first."

  Alyssa shook her head suspiciously. She had to keep herself in check. She was close to finding all about this country bloke and what made him tick. She couldn't afford to make a mistake. She felt like an undercover cop as she fixed her eyes on his.

  "You play a good game of poker," said Kent.

  "I have been known to," she said.

  Kent slipped back into the water and stood waist deep. "Come in, I won't bite."

  "I feel safer back here," said Alyssa.

  "Okay, but you forced me into it. Roy has five hundred head of cattle." He interrupted his story and looked deep into Alyssa's eyes. "I've got a great idea: how about we get dressed and then we can talk." He swam to the edge of the dam and stormed up the muddy bank in full view.

  Alyssa lost her breath as she watched the naked man wrap the towel around his small waist and head for the house. She followed him there.

  Kent was already clean by the time Alyssa closed in on the crude, but effective outside shower. Two wine barrels had been placed in a tree above head height. With a twist of the wooden plug on one of the barrel's sides, clean water flowed.

  She scrunched her nose. "Where's the shower curtain?"

  Kent glared at her. "If you want a shower, this is it."

  "I'll use the inside one," said Alyssa.

  He grabbed her by the arm.

  "Let me go," she snapped.

  He pulled her close and tightened his grip.

  "You're hurting me, Kent."

  Alyssa felt his breath brushing her cheeks. She could tell he was angry at having to tell his story. He was indeed a private person and she had no right to expect him to say anything about his life. She felt disappointed from pushing the point.

  Kent relaxed his grip. Alyssa stepped back, glad to have space between them.

  "Oh, no you don't, city girl; nothing ever gets away from me," said Kent, smirking. "You tease." She was completely confused at the signals he was giving.

  Kent pulled her close again, but this time she leaned into the pull and both headed for the mud. She heard a squelch and Kent groaned as his back hit the ground. Alyssa had come down hard on his chest. She lay on top of the man for several seconds. They stared at each other, and he blushed at her reddening face. Instead of pushing her off like a rag doll, he wrapped his arms around her. She felt imprisoned. Her brain was yelling to lash out and slap his smiling face, but her heart had another idea.

  Her heart won and she stopped struggling. She brought her hands forward and folded her arms on his muscular chest.

  "Is this where I apologize for being huffy and running off?"

  "That's a good start," she whispered.

  "I'm at your mercy," said Kent. "You have me a shackled prisoner."

  "A big strong man like you? Don't make me laugh," Alyssa said.

  "Look, I can't move." He attempted to wriggle.

  "You could throw me off with a wave of your arm," she said.

  "Yes, I confess I could easily throw you off," said Kent.

  "Try."

  "I don't want to show off," he said. "I'm not that kind of man."

  Alyssa chuckled and snuggled in closer. His skin was hard from his bulging, taut muscles. She sighed and closed her eyes. She felt at home, snuggling close to a man with too many secrets, in the middle of nowhere. For the first time in her life, she felt safe in a man's arms. Her vow to Kaite surfaced in her mind. She frowned at the thought. Why had she vowed such a childish thing? She tried to block out the words by cuddling the man harder.

  "Are you comfortable?" he asked.

  Alyssa nodded and hid her grin.

  "Your skin feels cool. Are you cold?"

  "No," she said.

  "If that's true, then you must be thinking something."

  She lifted her head off Kent's chest. "I was thinking about all your secrets."

  "I'll confess," said Kent, "that I don't like torture."

  "Start talking, big boy." Alyssa winked and then smirked at his pouting lip.

  "I carry the rope on my belt because I'm a rodeo champion," he said.

  She arched her back and her eyes widened at the confession. She hadn't seen that answer coming.

  "Henry is my opposition," said Kent. "He's never beaten me, and his father hates my family because of it. A few years ago, I approached my father and said that I'd throw the next annual championship just so they might like each other. He refused the offer. We had a conversation and we agreed if Roy Davey can't come to accept that his son would always be second, then too bad." He let a smirk slip.

  "What's the look for?"

  "Father said the Daveys had to suck it up."

  "The annual championships, when are they?"

  "It's the bush bash in the nearest town from here. It's fast approaching."

  "If that's the case, shouldn't you be practicing?"

  "I don't need to practice. If I find a stray cow or I see a fence post or a city girl, I use my rope."

  "City girl?"

  Kent smirked. "Only the pretty ones."

  "How many pretty ones have you seen?"

  "Only one," he said.

  Alyssa looked hurt.

  Kent patted her bare arms. "Only you."

  She gave him an innocent schoolgirl's look. "Thanks for the compliment."

  "It was no trouble to say. Like I've said before, you're easy on the eyes."

  "I feel bad that your father and Henry's father won't talk," said Alyssa.

  "I can't change that fact," said Kent.

  "I'm on your father's side," said Alyssa.

  "He'll like that," said Kent.

  "Sounds like you have a humble family."

  "The good book says we should be," he said.

  "Are you religious folk, too?"

  Kent's smile fell. "The only problem in my life is the girl I once liked."

  "Your ex-flame," cut in Alyssa.

  "Yes."

  She immediately felt pangs of jealousy over the girl she had never met.

  "She's Henry's sister," said Kent. "She lives twenty kilometers from The Oasis."

  "She's not Julie?"

  "No, Julie is my brother's wife, though she's all right." He grinned and received a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Not as pretty as you, though," he added.

  Alyssa faked a grin. "Tell me about The Oasis."

  "The bank and the government want our land. They have always wanted our land, ever since they gave it to my family for free. When they discovered their mistake and realized how fertile the land was, they wanted it back. My great-grandfather refused. He didn't make things easy for us by telling them there was gold in the ground. The land is perfect for cows, but nothing else."

  "How did he obtain the land for free?"

  Kent ignored her question. "We have to get going. My dad is expecting us."

  Alyssa couldn't decide whether she felt disappointed or not, seeing how he hadn't answered her question. It was his choice whether or not to answer, and she respected his decision. She smirked and change tactics.

  "Why don't you write to the government and the bank and firmly tell them 'no, you can't have the land'?"

  "We've done all that. They said we owe them fifty thousand dollars in back taxes. Pay up or get out."

  "Bo
rrow from the bank. Give them what they want and they'll leave you alone."

  "We tried that when they said we owed them three thousand dollars. The money was borrowed, but the next year they said we owed them ten thousand. They won't stop until we're off the land. The government is doing the same to Roy's farm."

  "I'm sorry for prying," said Alyssa.

  "That's okay. Unless you know how to come up with fifty thousand bucks in two weeks, we're off this land and headed to, I don't know where."

  Alyssa almost choked at hearing the words. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Come on, I've work to do." In a military voice, she said, "On your feet, Mr. Kent Stanton."

  "What's wrong? You've jumped up like our Jack Russell pups."

  "Come on. We have to get to The Oasis. I have to talk to your father."

  "You can't wait to meet my family, can you?"

  "Kent, don't take my news the wrong way, but I work for the tax office and maybe I can help."

  "My father's a proud man. No offense, but he won't take any form of help, especially from a woman."

  "He's going to have to, whether he likes it or not," said Alyssa.

  "If you could help, that would be a godsend. Come on, it's time to head for home."

  "I have to get clean first and go to the lady's room," whispered Alyssa. She stood and walked off towards the house. She stopped and faced Kent, who had wrapped his dirty towel about his waist.

  "Where's the ladies toilet?" she called.

  "It's around back, near the woodshed. Be careful of the spiders."

  Alyssa waved and walked around the corner of the house. She glanced at the motorbike and chuckled. It was almost a pile of mud. She rounded the woodshed and found a small, one-meter square wooden structure.

  "The bush toilet," she mumbled. "It's almost as bad as the bush shower." She opened the door and viewed the room. "Kent called it an outhouse. I call it a broken-down cabinet." She chuckled. "A tiny box and a door that had a nail for a doorknob. At least there are four walls and a door." She screwed up her nose at the angle of the door. "I doubt this place has ever been cleaned."

  Alyssa entered and studied the wooden seat. "I can't see any spiders," she mumbled. Feeling something slide across her water-soaked sneakers, she looked down. Her eyes popped. She didn't know whether to scream or cry. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

  *

  Kent's frantic voice rose above the low throb of the plane's twin engines as they were warmed. His tone was that of a person who was petrified to the max. "Alyssa, Alyssa, before you enter the outhouse there's something I forgot to mention, something important," he called out.

  She could hear his heavy footsteps approaching. He was running like a racehorse as it rounded the last bend of the Melbourne Cup.

  Kent called again, more urgent as he took a shortcut by clambering over the woodpile. Alyssa could plainly hear the panic in his voice.

  She was tapping her foot on the ground as she waited for him to arrive. He sprinted up to the outhouse, rope in hand. He stopped and studied the scene. He dropped the rope and looked puzzled. The rough makeshift toilet was empty. His eyes darted back and forth. Alyssa watched him scratch his head and start to walk around. He looked over and saw her watching him.

  "Excuse me," she said, stepping calmly towards him.

  Kent stood facing the city chick. His eyes were as wide as golf balls. His face was pale and he was trembling from head to toe.

  "You look like you've seen a ghost," said Alyssa, chuckling. "Have you lost something that's about two meters long and slithers across the ground?"

  Kent's shoulders dropped and his face flushed. "Yes."

  She thrust the python at him and chuckled. "I believe this might be the living creature you had confined in the box with the holes."

  "I forgot to let you know about Charlie. When you were asleep, I brought him inside the house. He goes almost everywhere with me. I thought you might be scared if I mentioned the snake. Sorry."

  "I love snakes, especially pythons. My flatmate owned a female one," said Alyssa.

  "Flatmate?"

  "Could it be that you're slightly jealous?" teased Alyssa.

  "Maybe a little," admitted Kent.

  "Her name is Kaite."

  Kent smirked and took possession of the snake.

  "How on earth did Charlie escape from the house?" asked Alyssa.

  "Henry's pup must have scared him. Charlie knows his way around here. He must have found a crack in the floor. I looked for him while you were asleep, but couldn't find him. I was hoping he'd show up before you both met."

  Alyssa took the snake back and held him up like a trophy. "He's a beautiful specimen. Where did you find him?"

  "When my family bought this place six months ago, we discovered him coiled up in the laundry. He just hung around. Probably curious about what all the noise was. By the time my brother and I had the place looking okay, he was like one of the family. I couldn't leave him, so I adopted the snake and named him Charlie."

  "Kent, do you have any more secrets?"

  "A few." He grinned, picked up the length of rope and clipped it back onto his belt.

  "You are handy with the rope. I'm impressed. The way you wound it up with such speed and professionalism," Alyssa said.

  "Sure am. I'm not a rodeo champ by accident."

  Alyssa grinned and handed over Charlie.

  'Kent, starting now, I'm going to derive a plan to make you confess every one of your secrets. You're about to tell all,' she thought. "How handy are you with that rope?" she said aloud.

  "Would you like a demonstration?"

  "Sure."

  Kent unbuckled the rope and pointed to a fence post. He let the rope unravel and swung it in circles around his head. At the precise moment he let the noose go and closed his eyes. The large noose flew through the air and landed over the fence post.

  "Not bad for a stationary object," she said, taunting him into more action. Kent chuckled, wound up the rope again and clipped it to his belt.

  "Don't move," he said. Alyssa watched him walk over to the motorbike. He kick-started it with ease and came roaring back at speed. Kent completed a few doughnuts in the dirt, then stood on the seat as the bike roared toward the fence post. One foot worked the throttle of the bike while the other foot was firmly planted into the seat. He gave Alyssa a wink, unclipped the rope, and with one swift rotation around his head, he sent the rope sailing through the air and over the fence post. He jumped off the bike and landed feet first in the mud, as sure-footed as a cat.

  "Now that's impressive," said Alyssa as she clapped. "You should enter your tricks into the rodeos." Kent packed the bike away and was grinning as he caught up to her.

  "I don't have to enter my tricks. They call and expect me to turn up. Come on, that's enough fun, it's time to go," he said.

  *

  The plane rose steadily in the dying wind and leveled off at forty-two meters. "Soon you'll see the full view of The Oasis," said Kent.

  A shiver shot through Alyssa's body. Was it possible she was falling in love with Kent? She was tempted to give into her heart and wrap her arms around him, but first she had to find out what made him tick. She couldn't totally love someone who had any secrets.

  "You didn't answer my question when I mentioned the rodeos," she said.

  "I didn't think it was a question," said Kent.

  "Lighten up. It's not healthy to keep too many things to yourself."

  "You sound like my sister-in-law."

  "Maybe she's trying to tell you something," said Alyssa.

  "Maybe."

  The plane banked left as it changed direction. Alyssa dug her hands into the seat to stop herself from leaning heavily on Kent. She waited patiently for the plane to level out.

  "It could be why you're still single," she said.

  "Maybe," said Kent.

  Alyssa's probing was like trying to dig a deep hole with a kid's plastic hand shovel: slow and tediou
s. "You're clamming up again."

  Kent shrugged and fell silent. She looked away and watched the desert landscape slowly change. The few trees that dotted the area below the plane looked as though they had died years earlier. She focused on a herd of kangaroos basking in the sun. Then she spotted a herd of cows eating near a small dam that was full of clean rainwater. She had counted twenty- seven cows before they slipped from view.

  Windmills slowing in the dying wind dotted the landscape. They snaked in an endless line before them. Each had been anchored to the side of a dam a kilometer apart.

  'Strange,' Alyssa thought. 'I wonder if there's an underground river feeding the dams.' Alyssa shielded her eyes with her hand and looked toward the horizon. She followed the line of dams as far as she could, then traced the line back the way they had come.

  Alyssa smirked at knowing the desert's secret. She glanced at Kent and wondered if he knew about the underground river.

  "I've got a question," said Alyssa. She watched Kent's chest rise and fall as if he was glad of the break in the silence.

  "I'll try to answer your question to the best of my ability." He was grinning as he gave the plane's instruments one long look, then appeared to give her his undivided attention. "You sure are the most beautiful sight out here," he whispered.

  Alyssa wasn't prepared for that statement. Her cheeks reddened. "How did you get an education?"

  Kent's grin widened. "That's easy to answer. I thought you were going to ask something hard."

  Alyssa rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  "In flying school, I was at the top of my class."

  "I was taught about that school when I was twelve, but I wasn't totally convinced that a school system over the radio was a good thing," said Alyssa.

  "It might not be, but out in the middle of Australia, there was no other way of learning."

  "What about school friends?" she asked.

  His smile faded. "Friends were the only thing lacking. The teachers and the voices of the other kids were great. We had to send photos of ourselves to each other so we could have a visual idea who the voice belonged to."

  "It would be hard to fall in love out here in the middle of nowhere," Alyssa hinted. She sat watching him from the corner of her eye, waiting to see his reaction.