With his elbows resting on the top rung of the post-and-rail fence, he looked out over the sea of broad backs and his thoughts winged straight back to Kate.
Until yesterday, he’d used her boyfriend as his first line of defence—had set Derek up in his mind like an electric fence around her.
Out of reach.
Now that barrier was gone.
It would be so easy to give in. Kate was much more than a highly desirable woman. She was a very easy person to be with—calm and friendly, adaptable and cheerful. A good mate. In fact, she was an incredibly convenient package—hard working, part owner of Radnor and brilliant with Liv.
Only this morning, he’d had a conversation along those lines with Liv at the Jamesons’.
She’d cornered him while Kate had still been sleeping. ‘Daddy, how come Mrs Jameson thinks you’re married to Kate?’
He’d tried to brush the question aside. ‘It was just an honest mistake, sweetheart. Annie assumed we’re your mum and dad.’
Poor Liv, used to the strange workings of the adult mind, had accepted his clumsy explanation. But then she’d said, ‘Would you like to marry Kate?’
He’d been so startled, he’d spluttered, ‘W-would you want me to?’
His daughter had smiled and looked almost coy as she shrugged. ‘Why not? Kate’s lovely.’
Out of the mouths of babes…
Why not? Kate’s lovely…
If only life could be that simple. If only he wasn’t burdened by past mistakes which left him with an uneasy certainty that he would be exploiting Kate if he made any kind of move on her.
If only he had more to offer her than a jaded view of romance and a lonely little daughter.
It didn’t rain during the night, a blessing for which Kate was extremely grateful.
She rose stiffly from the snug depths of her bedroll and saw that Noah was already up, crouched over the fire, toasting bread, heating a tin of baked beans, and boiling the billy for their morning cup of tea.
He smiled, and, even though she was dishevelled and wearing the jeans and T-shirt she’d slept in, there was something in his smile that made her feel womanly and desired.
They ate breakfast, packed up and saddled their horses, and Noah talked about the cattle, the gathering rain clouds and his plan of attack for the day.
It wasn’t until they’d headed off down the stock route, herding the huge mob ahead of them, that Kate had time to think about her sad discovery. Noah wanted her, but he wasn’t going to do anything about it.
She was left to gnaw at that bony thought for the rest of the day.
‘Noah, I can hear dingoes.’
The sound of Kate’s voice brought Noah instantly awake. He sat up and peered into the thick, black pall of the moonless night. A long, mournful howl broke the stillness, followed by the low, tense growls of his cattle dogs.
‘Stay there,’ he ordered them quietly.
Kate emerged out of the shadows, leading her horse. Having slept for the first half of the night, she was now keeping watch. ‘I’m sorry to wake you, but I was worried when I heard the dingoes howling. I didn’t know what to do.’
Already, he was pulling his boots on. ‘No need to apologise. A pack of dingoes can be a real problem. And a dark night like this doesn’t help.’
He flashed his torch towards the mound of saddle bags and located his rifle.
In the torch’s beam, Kate’s face was white, her eyes wide. ‘What are you going to do with that?’
‘Protect our cattle—if I have to. You stay here and keep the swag warm. I’ll take Missy for a quick circuit and see how the land lies.’
Gratefully, Kate sank onto the swag, pulled the bedding around her shoulders for warmth, and watched Noah head off into the night. She was tired and aching. Still.
Exhaustion, aches and pains had been her constant companions since they’d left the Jamesons’, and this last leg of their journey had felt more like slow torture than an exciting adventure. But strangely, the pain and the exhaustion only heightened her sense of achievement—after all, she had to find something to feel good about.
Almost certainly, this would be their last night out on the track. She and Noah were camped at the final bore just outside Roma and, later today, if the cattle met with the approval of the stock inspectors, they would be taken on to the sale yards.
At the end of this day, she would sleep in a motel—no more long hours spent in the saddle, no more nights keeping watch or sleeping on hard ground. Their huge challenge was almost over and, when the cattle were sold, Noah would have the money he needed to pay out Liane.
Apparently, it was then a matter of praying for rain to restore the pasture at Radnor. Once the grass grew back, Noah would restock with young cattle trucked down from the Gulf country in the north.
And Kate’s place in that plan involved an occasional international phone-call and dividends paid annually into her bank account. She was going to be rather well off. In England.
Rah, rah, rah!
Admittedly, over the past few days she and Noah had both been too preoccupied with the cattle and too dog-tired to talk about this in much detail. In the evenings, Kate had been almost too tired to eat.
Now, as she sat huddled in the dark, she heard the dingo again. The howl was eerie and menacing, but it seemed further away this time. Finally, she heard the soft clip of horse’s hooves signalling Noah’s return.
It was so dark that Kate couldn’t see him, but she heard the squeak of leather as he swung out of the saddle. Then silence. She could picture him tethering Missy and then she heard the swish-swish of his long legs striding through the grass, and suddenly his tall figure loomed out of the dark and he was sitting beside her.
Her heart gave its usual pathetic lurch.
‘All good,’ he said. ‘I think there’s only one dingo. It might have been sniffing around the camp for scraps, but it’s heading further away now.’
‘Thanks for checking it out for me.’ Kate stifled a yawn. ‘I hope you can get back to sleep quickly.’
It was her turn to resume the watch. Pushing up with her hands, she began to struggle to her feet, but Noah’s hand closed around her wrist.
‘No need to rush off,’ he said. ‘It’s gone four o’clock, and it’ll be light before long. There’s not much point in going back to sleep.’
Kate might have protested, but she was silenced by the warmth of Noah’s hand, the electrifying touch of his fingers circling her wrist.
‘Sit here for a bit,’ he said. ‘I’ll start up the fire.’
Happy to agree, she held the torch while he selected twigs and branches from the wood pile they’d left beside last night’s fire. He worked quickly, fanning the embers with his hat and then adding kindling. In no time bright-orange flames flared and danced, eating up the darkness.
He set a billy can of water to boil and then came and sat beside her again. ‘It’s going to be crazy and hectic when we get into Roma today,’ he said. ‘So I wanted to tell you something now, Kate.’
In the firelight’s glow, his eyes shimmered, and Kate was very glad she was sitting down.
‘I want you to know how very grateful I am.’
Grateful?
Kate wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say, but she couldn’t stop a sinking feeling of disappointment.
‘Honestly, Kate, I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I’m deeply, deeply in your debt. Not just because you stepped in after Steve was hurt. You’ve been fabulous every step of the way. Right from the start.’
Kate knew this was the prelude to goodbye.
The flickering light accentuated the handsome planes of Noah’s face. She was going to remember how he looked now for the rest of her life. When she was a little old lady in a nursing home, she would still be able to see Noah’s lovely profile in this firelight, the line of his eyebrow, and the small scar on his jaw.
The crazy thing was, he’d become everything to her. Since she was s
eventeen, he’d been the window through which she’d viewed her life.
But all he could offer her was gratitude.
She’d known this was coming. She mustn’t cry. ‘I—I wouldn’t have missed this adventure for anything, Noah.’
He removed his hand and her wrist felt cold. She sensed rather than saw that he was unbuttoning a pocket in his shirt. ‘I’ve a little gift for you. It’s the best I could come up with, given the circumstances. Hold out your hand.’
He pressed something into her palm. A thin pale-green circle; a finely braided bracelet.
‘It’s just something I made while I was on watch tonight.’ There was the hint of a smile in his voice. ‘With all this grass around, I couldn’t resist.’
‘Is this plaited grass? But it’s so beautiful, so neat and fine.’
‘It’s the same kind of plait they use to make stockwhips.’ Noah offered her an awkward, lopsided smile. ‘I guess it’s symbolic, too. We’ve come all this way looking for grass like this. For cattlemen, grass is more valuable than gold or diamonds.’
Kate bit down hard on her lip to stop herself from saying something she’d regret later. She slipped the bracelet over her wrist and pictured herself again as the little old lady in the nursing home. Would she sleep with a dried and crumbling circle of grass under her pillow?
Noah said, ‘Liv and I are going to miss you.’
Here it was. The end. Already he was saying goodbye, and they hadn’t even reached Roma. He expected her to return to England without a backward glance.
Her heart began to pound like blows hitting a punching bag and, when a drop of water fell onto her nose, she thought it was a tear. She swiped at her eyes, and was surprised to find they were dry.
Then, as more drops fell, she heard Noah’s sudden whoop of laughter.
‘Rain! It’s rain!’ He leapt to his feet and let his head fall back, grinning madly as raindrops landed on his face. Throwing his hands high above his head, he executed a jaunty little sidestep. ‘You little beauty!’
His happiness was contagious. In spite of her misery, Kate couldn’t help smiling.
Dawn was glimmering pinkly on the horizon. She could smell the earthy tang of rain hitting the dry dust. Beside her, the dogs began to bark, and Noah kept dancing his crazy little jig of excitement. She had never seen him in such high spirits.
‘It’s been so long!’ he cried, grinning happily as he grabbed her hands, pulled her towards him, and swung her around in an erratic, crazy waltz.
Their knees bumped, and then their hips, and rain spattered Kate’s face. She didn’t care.
‘Don’t you just love the feel of this rain?’ Noah cried. ‘Come here!’
Before she quite knew what was happening, Kate was embraced in a great bear-hug and, without warning, Noah was kissing her.
He tasted as fresh and clean as the falling rain, and he smelled faintly of woodsmoke with a hint of dust, which Kate found quite perfect. Rain splashed their hair, their foreheads and shoulders. She closed her eyes, felt the rasp of his beard against her skin and gladly surrendered to his urgent, seeking lips.
The gap between them disappeared as Noah’s arms closed more tightly around her. He deepened the kiss and a thunderclap of joy burst in Kate’s chest and spread through her body, all the way to her toes.
Perhaps she’d been needlessly anxious. Perhaps she’d misread Noah. Perhaps now, with the coming of rain, everything was going to be all right.
Wrong.
With the coming of rain, the cattle became restless. From behind them a bellow sounded, and then the thudding of hooves, and the kiss was abandoned as Noah and Kate scrambled frantically for their horses.
CHAPTER TEN
WITHIN MINUTES THEY were soaked to the skin. Dust turned to mud as Noah and Kate cantered their horses left and right, herding the restless cattle back into the mob.
They couldn’t afford further delay while they cooked breakfast, so they quickly packed and filled their pockets with dried fruit to sustain them as they continued on, through the rain, into Roma.
Thousands of hooves churned the stock route into a muddy mess, but at last, by mid-afternoon, they arrived.
At last…
All that was left was a final inspection and the stock would be delivered into the holding yards.
Noah assured Kate that he could manage with the help of men from the yards, so she was given the task of finding a motel. Prudently, she booked separate rooms, and they were quite ordinary, but Kate felt as if she’d entered a palace.
Soft carpet cushioned her toes and her huge queen-size bed had crisp, white, freshly laundered sheets. A flick of the remote brought a television screen to life. And—joy of joys—a big, shiny white bath boasted a row of pretty little bottles filled with shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and aromatherapy oils.
Kate filled the tub high, tipped in generous quantities of jasmine-scented oil and lowered herself into the fragrant warmth. She stayed there until her toes turned frilly.
Afterwards she found the last set of semi-clean clothes in her dusty pack and used the motel’s hair drier to style her hair. She grinned at her reflection in the mirror.
Wow! Was that really her? She turned sideways and checked out her butt. No doubt about it; all that horse riding had toned her figure.
Throughout the cattle drive, a wide shady hat had protected her complexion, but there was a fresh crop of freckles on her nose. Nevertheless, her skin had taken on a healthy outdoorsy glow, and her light-auburn locks had never looked so soft and clean and shiny.
She almost gave in to the urge to climb between the lovely white sheets for an afternoon nap, but why waste this improved appearance? Kate had one last night and she needed all the ammunition she could muster. She walked into town to find something flattering to wear to dinner.
They dined in the cosy little restaurant attached to the motel: half a dozen tables, dated decor with shagpile carpet and a fake brick-feature wall, candles in brandy balloons, steak and salad…
The simplest of settings for the simplest of meals… But Kate had already decided that this would be the single most important evening of her life. In the morning, she would either return to Radnor with Noah, or she would go back to England. Tonight, she had make-or-break questions to ask and her entire future happiness hung in the balance.
Noah looked gorgeous in the brand new shirt—white with fine pale-blue stripes—that she’d bought and left in his room as a surprise. And his face lit up with a to-die-for smile when he saw her new dress—a simple chocolate silk sheath that complemented her autumn colouring, and had the added bonus of a low scooped neckline.
He was in a talkative mood, and as they ate they talked endlessly, reliving their journey, reminiscing about Angus, talking about Steve and Liv… And always Noah’s grey gaze was a caressing touch, lingering on Kate’s eyes, her mouth, her arms… her cleavage…
Too soon, way too soon, the meal and the pleasant conversation came to an end. She and Noah were both incredibly tired, although neither of them had admitted it. It was time to retire, to return along the colonnaded walkway lined with potted ferns, to their separate rooms.
The questions about their future, which Kate hadn’t brought up at dinner for fear of spoiling the lovely ambience, boiled inside her. She felt as if she would burst a pressure valve if she didn’t speak soon.
Nervously, she asked, ‘Would you like tea or coffee in my room?’
Noah’s face became instantly wary.
‘I need to talk, Noah. I don’t think I’ll sleep if we leave everything up in the air.’
‘What’s up in the air?’
‘We haven’t really discussed the future.’ Kate slotted her door key into the lock, then shot a direct look back at him. ‘My future.’
Dismay contorted his face. ‘Can’t we sort that out when we get back to Radnor?’
‘No.’ She’d already decided: if Noah wanted her to return to England, she wouldn’t torture herself by ha
nging around in the Outback a second longer than was necessary.
She pushed the door open and went straight inside, as if she expected him to follow. She turned on lamps and the room became less generic and more intimate. A hint of her jasmine bath-oils lingered.
‘Sit anywhere,’ she called over her shoulder as she went through to the small, adjoining bathroom to fill the kettle.
When she returned, she saw that he’d rejected the two small plastic chairs and had made himself at home on the end of her bed. Her legs almost gave way beneath her.
He was leaning back casually, braced by his hands on the bedspread, and his long legs stretched in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His dark hair gleamed in the lamplight, and his crisp new shirt outlined the powerful breadth of his shoulders.
Noah, her gorgeous, gorgeous cattleman.
This morning he’d kissed her in the rain, and she could still feel the warmth of his arms about her, the heady joy of his lips, hungry on hers.
It could happen again now.
Kate was terribly tempted to leap onto the bed. She could have him on his back in five seconds flat. Heat swirled through her as she pictured it. She could already taste Noah, smell him, feel him. Her hands were shaking as she set the kettle on the counter and plugged it in.
The low rumble of the heating jug filled the small room.
Noah cleared his throat. ‘What exactly do you want to discuss?’
Defensively, Kate folded her arms across her chest, ready for a showdown. ‘I would like to know exactly where I stand.’
He watched her with a cautious, slightly puzzled frown.
She swallowed. ‘Are you expecting me to return to England?’
‘You want to go back, don’t you?’
‘Not really.’
In a flash, Noah abandoned his relaxed pose and swung upright, sat stiffly on the edge of the bed. ‘You don’t want to be stuck in the Outback, Kate. You’ve had a bit of an adventure, but now you need to get on with your life.’
Slam. Wrong response. How could he be so clueless? ‘I told you I’ve broken up with Derek.’
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