"What were you looking at and thinking about?" whispered Kent.
"The cows," said Alyssa trying not to sound too corny.
"I can't see anything from here," Kent said. He pulled gently at her long hair, exposing her neck and ear. Alyssa closed her eyes and concentrated on what he was doing.
Kent nibbled at her ear, then at her neck. She closed her eyes. 'Forget the washing machine of thoughts,' she told herself. If The Oasis was going down, she wanted every moment to count. She swiveled around in his arms and faced the cowboy, then thrust her head upwards.
Alyssa heard the front door open and someone stepped onto the verandah. Both of them looked up. A match was struck and the smell of tobacco filled the air.
"Nice night," said the voice, without looking at the couple in a firm embrace.
"Dad," said Kent. He sounded shocked at being discovered. Alyssa backed away as her eyes widened in horror.
"If you have a moment for the job interview, Miss Fitzgerald, I'd like to conduct it," said Earl. Alyssa stood and straightened her long, thick dressing gown.
"I'm not really dressed for an interview," she said. She flicked her hair behind her ears and gave him a doubtful look.
Earl waved a stubby hand in the air. "It's an informal interview." He stooped and pulled his boots from his feet. Kent laughed. Earl chuckled and Alyssa giggled.
Earl walked over. "I'm not as bad as you think. Call me Earl," he said. His smile fell as they started the interview. "I sure do need an extra pair of hands."
"Your wife told me the whole story," cut in Alyssa, watching for his angry expression, but it never arose.
Earl grunted and exhaled a cloud of smoke into the night sky. "How good are you at riding a motorbike or horse?"
"To be honest, I'm not an expert at either, but I'm a fast learner."
"That's a good start," said Earl. "It'll be Kent's job to teach you. There might be a time where you might need at least some experience at one or the other. In forty-eight hours, the first of many trucks will be here at the house. Within four days, all the cattle will be gone. Two weeks after that, we'll fly out of here for the last time."
Alyssa saw her opportunity. "Maybe there's another way," she said.
"No, there is no other way. The government wants the land and that is what they'll get."
"That doesn't seem fair."
"Lass, life isn't fair. My great-grandfather would turn in his grave if he knew what was about to happen. The government introduced a land tax five years ago to get me off the land. I am a stubborn man, but I'm happy I gave them a run for their money."
"What's so important that they want you out?"
"They reckon there's oil or gold under our feet."
Alyssa's face turned red with anger. "They can't do that!"
"They can. Unless I come up with fifty thousand dollars in the next forty-eight hours, they're coming back with the sheriff to evict us."
"Do you like it here?" asked Alyssa.
"I'd expect that sort of question from a city girl."
She rolled her eyes and repeated the question.
"Love it," chorused Kent and Earl.
"Have you made all the tax deductions you can?"
"I don't accept charity."
"It's not charity," said Alyssa. "It's the law."
"I don't claim deductions. Doesn't seem right."
"For how many years?"
"All my life."
Alyssa brightened. "You've entered my world. I'm a tax agent. Lead me to your account books and let me see what the weather brings."
"No way, my office is off limits to everyone except my family."
Alyssa stamped her foot on the verandah. "You're a stubborn man, all right, Earl Stanton." He glared and then pointed his finger at her.
"Nobody talks to me that way, not even a city girl trying to pass as a bloke for a two week holiday," he said.
"I'm trying to help you save this place," said Alyssa.
"I don't need city folk help. They got me into this mess in the first place. I don't trust your kind. Nobody messes with the books." He turned his back and headed back inside the house.
"As I see it, you have no choice. You either let me help or you'll lose this lovely place," called Alyssa. By the time she had finished talking, Earl had slammed the door shut.
"Do I have the job?" asked Alyssa, looking at Kent.
He nodded and took her by the hand. "Come, I want to show you something."
"I don't have time," she said. "I need to convince your father I can help."
Kent nodded at his mother, who had witnessed the entire scene from the window. She disappeared deep into the house as he led Alyssa by the hand down the verandah steps and off into the darkness. The midnight black sky soon swallowed up the house.
"Kent, what about the cows? Won't we bump into any?"
"No. Years ago, the whole family pitched in and we made a cattle grid that encircles the house and some of the grounds. It's like a moat without water, a fence without posts. The cattle can't get a firm footing so they can't jump it. The grid is made up of 50mm-wide metal slats that have been laid parallel over a ditch about a meter wide."
"That sounds like the perfect natural way to keep cows from straying where you don't want them."
"Exactly," said Kent. "For a city girl, you do catch on quick."
"Where are you taking me? You whisked me away from the house so fast that I have yet to stake my case on how I can help save The Oasis."
"You'll have your chance. Before it gets late, there's a place I want to show you. It's a place where we won't be disturbed by anyone."
As they walked through the dark, Alyssa watched a large wooden two-story shed come into view. In the dull moonlight, its structure looked to be expertly maintained. Kent slid the door open and escorted his guest to the stairs. He picked her up and carried her effortlessly to the top. He lifted the small trapdoor in the floor and carried her to the window. He grabbed what looked like a set of keys hanging from a nail and unlatched the long wooden shutters.
"This is a view worth coming for," said Kent. He opened the wooden storm shutters and stepped out onto a small, narrow balcony. "In daylight hours, you can see 180 degrees of The Oasis from right where you're standing. Then on the other side of the barn, you can see the other side of The Oasis."
Alyssa stepped next to Kent and looked skywards. For several seconds, the night sky took her breath away. "The stars are beautiful," she managed to whisper. "So clear and bright, there's no possible way you could count them all."
"Three thousand one hundred and five, to be exact," said Kent, smiling.
Alyssa's eyebrows angled down as she faced him. "Don't tell me you've counted them."
His grin stretched wider. "No, I'm kidding."
Alyssa giggled, shook her head and studied the stars. "I've never seen a more beautiful sight."
"I have."
"Where? Surely you're kidding again," said Alyssa.
"I'm looking at her."
Alyssa didn't remove her gaze from the view. Her cheeks reddened and her whole body tingled with electricity after hearing his words. How on earth could the love between them germinate into anything more than a feeling? The question replayed again and again inside her mind.
Kent stepped back and held out his hand. "Care to dance?"
"There's no music."
"What if there was?" he said.
"Then I would think that you were forfeiting the bet we made and I'd win by default."
"I'm not concerned over the bet. I had it planned that you'd win." He lifted his hand and pushed a button on the key ring. At first, nothing happened. He gently took Alyssa by the chin and then swiveled her head so they locked eyes. He bowed.
"What are you up to, Kent Stanton?"
Music started to play from a speaker above their heads. It was a soft melody. The tune seemed to hover in the still air. Alyssa found herself slowly slipping into a hypnotic trance. Kent stepped close to his d
ance partner and, without a word, they started a slow waltz on the balcony under the countless stars.
Alyssa felt like she was in heaven. She stopped wondering how everything was going to work between her and Kent. She felt so light on her feet that it was as though she was floating. All the roads she looked down in her mind led to love. She didn't try to hinder the idea. She was waltzing with a man in the middle of Australia, in a barn full of hay, a place where she never expected to find happiness, let alone love. Her eyes glistened with moisture. She wanted the dance to last forever. As far as she was concerned, she was indeed floating on air.
The end of the song came and went, but the two of them didn't notice. They swayed in time to the beating of Alyssa's heart. She lifted her face and gazed into Kent's shiny blue eyes. They were wet, just like hers. He bent his head down and Alyssa stood on her toes. For the first time, their lips lightly touched. She leaned closer making their lips weld together. Electricity arced between them. The spark of love roared into a raging fire. Kent's hand undid her dressing gown. Alyssa felt it fall to her feet. He undid her ponytail and let her hair cascade over her shoulders.
Alyssa wasn't prepared to let their lips part. She kissed her cowboy harder by pushing her body into his. They stopped swaying and embraced the moment. They were locked in a long, hard, passionate romantic kiss.
"Excuse me," said a voice that was so soft the two lovebirds nearly missed the interruption. "Sorry for disturbing the moment."
Kent looked sideways towards the trapdoor. Alyssa gave a whisper of a squeal and stepped towards the edge of the balcony to hide.
"Mother," said Kent. He didn't sound upset or surprised.
"Your father sent me to find you with an urgent message," she said.
"How did you know we'd be here?"
"Where else would my son take a young lady for some privacy?"
"I'm glad Earl didn't come here," whispered Alyssa. She picked up the dressing gown and threw it over her arm.
"Believe me, I had a job and a half trying to convince him to stay in the house and to let me find you."
"Thanks," said Kent.
"So much for a place where we won't be disturbed," mumbled Alyssa, raising her eyebrows.
"Earl said he had no choice but to ask for help," said Margaret.
Margaret Stanton
Margaret Stanton led the way back to the house and showed Alyssa to the study. They stood in the doorway, looking in.
The small room had papers stacked a meter high in fifty different piles. A wooden filing cabinet that had three drawers sat in one corner. The cabinet looked like it hadn't been opened for years. Except for the paper piles, the room looked warm and cozy.
"The office looks like a nice place to sit and reflect," said Alyssa, waving her hand in the air. "Dare I say the whole of The Oasis seemed like a nice place to sit and reflect?"
She pondered her question for several seconds before entering. Maybe that's the trouble with the place. Everyone was too relaxed. The great Australian saying, 'she'll be right, tomorrow is another day,' seemed too frivolous a saying.
She walked to the desk and turned her nose up. "Please tell me the piles of pages are in order by year," said Alyssa.
Earl Stanton stepped away from the window, glared at his wife, and then faced the young woman. "Sure are."
Alyssa let out a massive sigh. "You just saved me six months of work."
The man wore a doubtful expression and his brow had formed deep concerned wrinkles. "I'll have you know that I disagreed with my wife on her idea that I should allow you the privilege of snooping about my paperwork."
"I thought your wife said it was okay," said Alyssa.
"Please, let me finish. She gave me a piece of her mind that helped to convince me to see the light of day. Perhaps you were the miracle I've been praying for."
"I'll do my best," she said.
"I suppose a thank you is in order. If there's anything I can do to help, please feel free to let me know." Earl strolled across the room and stood next to his son.
Alyssa smirked and waved her hands at the door. "Both you and Kent can leave me alone. You have helped me enough."
"Come on, you two," said Margaret. "Let's leave the young lady to her work." She ushered Kent and her husband out of the room and clicked the door shut.
Earl looked at his wife nervously. "You know I don't like anyone poking their nose in my study, let alone in the books," he said.
"Darling, you agreed with me that you don't have much of a choice." She gave her husband a cordial smile and dragged him away from the door. "She'll be right. You wait and see."
Alyssa heard Kent's boots walk off and she smirked behind the closed door. A muffled conversation coming from the dining room forced her to open the door a tad and steal a cursory glance. The hall was clear. She grinned, closed the door to the study and sat in the huge leather chair. She paused for a moment.
"I believe this chair may be a tax deduction," she mumbled, starting a search of the antique mahogany desk for paper and pen.
What she was looking for was in the wooden filing cabinet. Then she searched the room. There were books from floor to ceiling.
"Someone's had fun stacking all these books in alphabetical order," she whispered, running her fingers horizontally across the spine of at least two hundred books. "A place for everything and everything in its rightful place." She grinned and sat back at the desk.
Alyssa worked tirelessly through the night. By 2.00A.M., Kent popped his head in the door.
"Can I get you anything?" he whispered.
She looked up at his friendly face. "Coffee would be lovely." He disappeared and came back with the mug of hot brew. "Thank you, now please leave."
At 3.00A.M., Kent again stuck his head through the open door.
"Coffee?" he whispered tentatively. Alyssa grinned at his schoolboy expression.
"Thank you. That would be nice."
She watched the clock, waiting for Kent's return. To help pass the time she stood, walked to the window and pulled open the heavy gold-crested drapes. Outside, she could barely see the barn where she had had the slow waltz with Kent five hours before. She sighed and wrapped her arms about her waist. The melody of the music still played in her mind. She closed her eyes and started to hum. Her imagination took her back: back to the barn, back to where Kent had asked her to dance. She started to sway, lost in her imagination. She wanted the dance to last forever.
"Do we have a future together?" she heard herself say.
"I hope so."
The reply broke through her fantasy and startled her. Alyssa opened her eyes as she felt an arm being draped around her waist. She stopped humming and twisted around. She looked directly into Kent's eyes. The look made her knees buckle and her heart skipped a beat. She found her breathing had to be accomplished by manual thought. In, out, in, out, then her heart skipped another beat. She took a step back towards the window in a desperate attempt to regain control.
Kent stepped forward.
"Don't," she warned.
"Please, don't stop what you're thinking."
"I don't know what you mean," she said. Alyssa brushed past him on her way back to the desk. Kent grabbed her arm and swept her in close. He kissed her long and passionately. Even if she could, she didn't pull away. She wanted Kent. She wanted him all for herself and suddenly realized she had given into her heart's desires. She smiled as he kissed her, and groped for his shoulders as he lifted her in his arms.
"If you keep this up, I won't want you to leave," she said hurriedly between breaths.
"I don't want to go," he said.
"You have to. I'm not finished going through the books."
Kent planted her feet gently back on the slate floor and looked deep into her eyes. He swiveled her around and rubbed her neck.
"You have magic hands," Alyssa said, as she closed her eyes to focus on his hands touching her skin. He kissed the back of her neck, then her ear.
"Don'
t do that." Her protest was mild at best.
"Why not?"
"I'll force you to stay," said Alyssa.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No," she whispered, "it isn't a bad thing."
"May I stay?"
"Yes, I'd like that," said Alyssa, beaming.
"How's everything looking?"
"Good. I've gone back one year and already have found twelve thousand dollars."
"How?"
"The fuel for the plane was a good place to start. Then there's the depreciation. How long have you had the plane?" she asked.
"Two years."
"What did you use before then?"
"We ran two choppers," said Kent.
"Do you still have the helicopters?"
"Yes."
"Are they in good working condition?"
"Of course, we use them all the time," said Kent.
Alyssa beamed. "Does your father have a sore back?"
"No."
"Does he spend a lot of time sitting at the desk working?" she asked.
"Does it matter?" asked Kent.
"It does if you want to save The Oasis. The comfortable chair might be a tax deduction."
Kent smiled broadly. "My whole family does what they can."
"Forget it. Not worth the hassle." Alyssa planted herself behind the desk. On her left was a stack of papers half a meter high. Kent let out a low whistle.
"Tell me you don't have to ponder through each of those pages," said Kent.
"Sure do." She chuckled at his shocked expression. "It's not as bad as it looks."
"Is there anything I can do?"
She dug her nose out of a fuel bill and grinned. "You're doing as much as you can and for that I thank you."
"I'm not doing anything," said Kent.
The Great Gift (Contemporary Romance - Urban Life) Page 12