by Cathryn Hein
‘Yeah, right. Desperate tart last night, flasher this morning. Believe me, it’s bad.’
‘First up, I found your proposal last night flattering, and if it wasn’t for the fact that you were one,’ he held up a finger, ‘hammered, and two,’ he held up a second finger, ‘in the same house as your mother, I might’ve taken you up on your offer. As for this morning, I’m a bloke. I’m not about to knock back a flash from a cute redhead.’ He grinned broadly. ‘A true redhead, too.’
Teagan slapped her hands over her ears. ‘No more, please. Can’t you see I’m dying here?’
Lucas gave her thigh a reassuring squeeze. ‘That’s just your hangover talking. Give it half an hour and it’ll be fine.’
Forty minutes later, thanks to a dose of painkiller, an even stronger dose of vitamin B and a meal of greasy food, Teagan might have been feeling slightly less hung-over, but the misery of her humiliation remained.
She stood at the ute, waiting for Lucas to finish locking up. The rusted horse float they’d used to cart Merlin to Astonville was still attached, ready for return to Vanessa’s shed. Merlin was at the gate of his new paddock, bleating grouchily at them, his dirty coat blushed peach in the rising light.
‘Oh, shut up. You’re lucky you aren’t dog food already.’ Although given Lucas’s explanation of the ram’s exploits last night, he still might be. Merlin had disgraced himself even more than Teagan, which was saying something. Pity there was no one to help her into exile, too.
She admired Lucas’s broad silhouette as he made his way to the ute, wondering yet again how such a good person could reside in the sort of body that would normally encase an arrogant personality. Except he had no arrogance at all, simply an easygoing manner and kindness.
None of which she deserved.
She squashed her face into her palms. Every memory of last night was clear now; donning her bikini, parading in front of Lucas, teasing him to come and join her in the pool. Going off by herself to paddle drunkenly around until he’d finally appeared. Instead of joining her, he’d crouched at the pool’s lip and suggested that it might be a good time for her to go to bed. Like a cheap street-walker she’d blinked her wet lashes and traced a finger over her cleavage before responding with a husky, ‘Only if you’ll join me.’
As any sane man would have done, he’d said no. Except that wasn’t enough of a hint for Teagan. No, she had to attempt to drag him fully-clothed into the pool. When that had failed, she’d pouted and swum to the steps where she’d seductively – or so she’d thought at the time but in hindsight was more a drunken lurch – climbed out, hips wriggling like an entire worm farm had taken residence up her bum.
To Lucas’s credit, he’d kept his cool and helped her to her room, after which things got hazy. She had a vague recollection of him searching her drawers for a top, and thrusting it at her, which would account for why she was wearing a daggy singlet to bed and not her nightie. As for who removed her bikini, she had no idea, although the heat in her cheeks had her believing it was Lucas.
A warm hand rested on her shoulder. ‘You okay?’
‘No.’
‘Teagan, look at me.’
She dropped her hands.
He cupped her face. ‘You have nothing to be embarrassed about, I promise.’ He held her gaze for a moment, and she had the heart-stopping feeling he wanted to kiss her. She couldn’t let that happen. Despite scrubbing her teeth both at Falls Farm in the shower and again after breakfast at Astonville using the spare toothbrush Lucas had given her, she was convinced her breath stank worse than Blanche’s. A halitosis kiss would only make the day even worse.
The kiss never eventuated. Instead, Lucas ruffled her hair the way a brother would and strode around to the driver’s door. ‘Come on. The sooner we get Nick’s work done the sooner we can get you home for a rest.’
At least that answered one question: the near-kiss thing was all in her imagination. He wasn’t attracted to her and who could blame him? She was a mess, inside and out. Whatever existed between them was friendship and nothing more.
Nick greeted her with surprise. ‘Bugger. I had a bet running with Stace that you wouldn’t show.’ He peered at her closely and grinned. ‘Was it worth it?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘You don’t look so hot yourself,’ said Lucas.
‘Yeah, shit night.’ He threw a pissed-off look towards the main house. ‘Stace was rat-faced. Came home and put on an old DVD from her hen’s night. Spent the next two hours doing karaoke to ‘Dancing Queen’. I love her but the woman can’t sing to save herself. Ended up with her squawking at one end of the house and Olly screaming at the other. When I mentioned something about being a responsible mother she flew at me then burst into tears.’ He scratched his head, perplexed. ‘Thought it was a reasonable question myself.’
‘The joys of marriage and fatherhood, hey?’
‘You wait until it’s your turn and see how much fun it is. Anyway, we’d better get started. I’ve two lessons booked this morning.’ He gave Lucas a hopeful look. ‘I don’t suppose you can help?’
‘It’s what I’m here for.’
‘Thanks, Lucas. You’re a mate.’ Nick nodded at Teagan. ‘I’m not sure how much good she’ll be.’ He held up a finger. ‘No machinery and definitely no quad bike.’
An easy undertaking. Teagan couldn’t guarantee she was up to managing a pooper-scooper let alone the quad bike.
The sun rose fast, beating down on Teagan’s head and making her sweat. A good thing, Lucas promised. It’d help rid her body of the alcohol faster. By ten her headache had returned in all its pounding glory, but thanks to Lucas they were well underway. Nick had disappeared to give his lesson, leaving the two of them to work alone. If it weren’t for her humiliation, it would almost be companionable.
They were done by eleven. Teagan was dead on her feet and reeking like a stale bar, while Lucas remained unfairly handsome and smelling of manliness and deodorant. Though technically she had an hour left to fill, Nick ordered her home, thanking Lucas for his help and promising to shout him a beer later.
Lucas was quiet and preoccupied as they followed Belgravia’s long drive to the road. At the junction he braked but made no move to turn. He sat for a moment before angling to face Teagan. ‘Do you want to hang out at Astonville for a while?’
‘Probably not a great idea.’ She looked at her hands. ‘I need to get back to the farm and apologise to Ness and Mum for embarrassing them.’
‘They were too busy dealing with Callum to be embarrassed.’
She stared for a bit longer at her bitten-down nails and scratch-covered hands. It was nice of him to ask but he didn’t really want her there. She stank, was a walking fiasco, and in the ragged edges of her mind, the black slick that had been dormant since her talk with Penny was once again beginning its nasty slither.
Because it knew, as she’d known from the moment he’d meshed his fingers with hers on the bus, and it was preparing to make it all worse.
She was falling for Lucas. And the broken heart that would inevitably follow was going to ruin her.
He smiled, his teeth white, his eyes warm and generous. ‘I’ll make you ham-and-cheese toasties.’
She swallowed, forcing the grit from her throat. ‘Thanks, but I just need bed.’ And a good long cry over her clapped-out, miserable life.
His contemplative regard kept her studying her hands until he finally let out a sigh, flicked on the indicator and turned out onto the road.
Vanessa padded out into the kitchen and blearily switched on the espresso machine. She stood with her hands on the counter, staring blankly across the dining room. Besides the usual creaks and moans, the house was quiet. Past the timber venetian blinds she caught glimpses of yet another fine day.
Fine for some. Not for others.
When the coffee machine was up to speed she set about making herself a double latte. Even that simple task felt like a Herculean effort. The clock read eleven, revealing she
’d managed seven hours of sleep, but she felt as if she’d had two.
What was meant to be a night of fun and fundraising had descended into farce. Half the Falls Farm bus crew were plastered. The only sober ones were Lucas, who was keeping an eye on an uncharacteristically giggly Teagan, Nick, who was baby-minding, Dom, who, competitive whether over women or trivia contests, had kept sober, and Callum, who had to drive his Maserati home. The rest – Teagan, Bunny, Mark, Penny, Stacey, Peter and Tony – were raucous wrecks.
They’d arrived at the farm, ready to party on. Vanessa had fetched nibblies, bottles of red and white wine and glasses for everyone, and they’d milled on the verandah, enjoying the night air and an old seventies music compilation.
It was all highly convivial until Callum decided to leave. Feeling silly after a couple of glasses of wine, Vanessa had been conned into dancing to ‘Kung-Fu Fighting’ with Peter and Stacey. To her shock, Dom had joined them and the four had begun tittering like teenagers as they tried to outdo one another in karate moves. Unimpressed, Callum had declared he had an important meeting in the city in the morning and needed to go.
Vanessa had escorted him to his car, thanking him for a lovely evening and his excellent trivia knowledge. He’d started the Maserati and pressed the button to lower the roof. Handel’s Zadok the Priest poured from the speakers, which Vanessa would have found laughable for its kingly association and pretension had Callum not been so serious. He was standing with the door ajar, casually posed with his hand on the window edge, one leg in the car, one leg on the ground, halfway through asking her out for dinner when, just as the choir began its magnificent crescendo, an equally magnificent deep bleat had sounded.
Vanessa had had just enough time to whirl out the way when Merlin charged. He hit the Maserati door with an almighty crunch, slamming it against Callum’s leg and tipping him backwards into an ungainly sprawl over the seats. Within seconds, Merlin was backing up for another go and only Vanessa’s quick grab of a horn had prevented more damage to Callum or his precious car.
Chaos had then ensued. Callum was bellowing in pain. Penny, Bunny, Mark and Peter were clattering down the stairs to see what had happened. Despite Vanessa’s appeal for help, Dom and Lucas were momentarily distracted by Teagan wandering out onto the verandah wearing her brief white bikini. Thanks to Merlin, who was fighting back, Vanessa was hamstrung and could only watch helplessly as Bunny – extremely drunk but the only one present with any medical experience – took a vague look at Callum’s leg before patting the poor man on the head and comforting him with a, ‘There, there, it’s only a broken fetlock. Just think, if you were a horse I’d have to get the humane killer out.’ Mark then began wrenching at his hair, in a complete state over the potential loss of his number two batsman for at least six weeks, probably more. Only Penny had enough sobriety and sense to run for an ice bucket and a towel.
Finally, Dom and Lucas decided to pay attention, first extracting Callum from his car – which only made the suffering, humiliated man fume more, and then bellow even louder in rage when he spied the Maserati’s crumpled door – before rescuing Vanessa and locking a fighting, bellyaching Merlin in his yard. Dom had then offered his minibus to take Callum to Nepean Hospital, rather than wait for an ambulance.
Vanessa, Dom, and a furious, panting, pain-addled Callum proceeded to spend three hours waiting in emergency along with a bunch of punchy drunks and other Friday night bedlam. The break turned out to be quite severe and would require surgery, forcing Callum, to his deep indignation, to be admitted. Having dismissed Andrejus when a long wait seemed unavoidable, Dom organised a taxi home for himself and Vanessa. The trip cost a ridiculous amount of money, but Vanessa was too tired to care, and Dom was more than happy to pay after witnessing the ignoble end to his rival’s triumphant evening. He’d dropped her at the farm, leaving her with a tender goodbye kiss on the forehead and the promise that everything would be all right.
By then everyone was in bed, except for Lucas, who was stretched uncomfortably on the leather couch, snoring softly. After throwing a blanket over him, Vanessa wrote a quick note and tucked it under his keys on the coffee table, after which she collapsed gratefully into her own bed and fell into an exhausted but disturbed sleep.
Morning had found her feeling no less anxious.
Sipping as she went, Vanessa carried her latte outside. As glimpsed, the day was beautifully spring bright and nature-scented. Bees were springing from dandelion flower to dandelion flower. Saffy was on her back, paws curled, eyes closed in delight as she exposed her pale belly to the sun. Betty was chomping on a shiny red capsicum, her sweet cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk’s, and from the surrounding scrub birds carolled and chimed.
It would have been idyllic if not for Callum’s Maserati squatting like a menacing crow in the middle of the yard. No one had bothered to raise its roof and now a couple of birds were perched inside, preening themselves and no doubt inflicting more damage. For a fleeting second, Vanessa considered remedying the problem and found she couldn’t be bothered.
Bunny was slumped, red-eyed, on one of the verandah chairs. Penny was in another, feeding slices of kiwifruit to a very smug-looking Wilma. Everyone else appeared to have disappeared home.
‘That,’ she said, letting the screen door bang behind her, ‘was a most unfortunate evening.’
‘Not for some,’ said Bunny. ‘I think your niece got lucky with our sweet Lucas. She was practically begging for it in the pool. Kept giving Cherub ideas, but I fobbed him off by saying you’d banned me from having sex in your house. I was too drunk anyway.’
Vanessa kicked a spare chair away from the too-harsh sunlight and into the shade before sinking down. ‘Please don’t tell me they had sex in the pool.’
‘I think they took it to Teagan’s room. Last I heard Lucas was dragging her off to bed. Lucky cow.’
‘I doubt they had sex. Teagan wasn’t in any state and Lucas isn’t the type to take advantage. Anyway, he was asleep on the couch when I came in.’
‘Bugger. That girl really needs to get herself laid.’
Penny suddenly rose, Wilma clutched tightly to her chest. ‘I think I might visit Claudia and Mouse.’
Bunny winced. ‘Sorry. I keep forgetting she’s your daughter.’
Penny merely gave a tired wave and walked off. Vanessa followed her progress, noting the slow trudge and slumped shoulders. Penny had been so good last night, enjoying herself with Dom. Now, it seemed the poor darling was back to normal.
‘So how’s Merlin’s latest victim?’
‘Not good. He’ll need surgery.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I should head to the hospital.’
‘Leave him. He’ll be all right.’
Vanessa opened her eyes and regarded the Maserati, wincing at the large, ram’s-head-sized dent that marred its sleek lines. ‘I’m not so sure about that. I suspect there’s going to be a bit of fallout from last night, and it’s not going to be pleasant.’
The last person Lucas expected to see driving into Astonville was his father. Nor was he in the right frame of mind to deal with Dom. The mood that had descended after Teagan’s refusal of his invitation to hang out still lingered. Even the physical effort of spending the afternoon hammering steel in the sweltering heat of the forge hadn’t purged it.
Last night in the club she’d been funny and sexy, slipping him shy, hopeful looks that had made his heart turn over and his blood thicken. All he’d wanted was the night to end so he could take her home and spend the rest of it exploring. Learning what turned her on, what made her gasp and shudder. He’d wanted to kiss her freckles, mouth, eyelids and more.
He’d wanted to trap the happy girl and keep her safe.
Instead, stupidly, he’d let her go too far. Now she was miserable with hangover and mortification, and couldn’t meet his eye no matter how many reassurances Lucas gave that everything was fine. And it was his own fucking fault.
He stepped out onto the drive, slowly wiping his hands on a r
ag, and positioned himself with his legs apart while the Mercedes purred to a standstill.
‘Lucas.’
‘Dom.’
Lucas continued to rub his hands, waiting while Dom took in his surroundings. Finally his father looked at him.
‘We have a problem.’
‘We?’
‘It’s Vanessa.’
Lucas stopped his rubbing, a warning buzz vibrating through his skin. ‘What about Vanessa?’
Dom pointed towards the side paddock where Merlin was grazing. ‘Albright’s demanding Merlin be destroyed as a dangerous animal. He’s also making noises about suing over his broken ankle. There’s also the damage to his Maserati, but that’s the least of our problems.’
‘So what’s this got to do with me?’
‘I need you to keep the ram hidden. For some reason Vanessa loves it. Bunny’s going to talk to her council contact about the by-laws. I’ve instructed my solicitor to follow up as well.’ Dom ran his hand through his blond hair. ‘I’m not sure how we’re going to handle his injury. It’ll depend on Vanessa’s public-liability insurance.’
‘How’s she taking it?’
‘Shaken, upset. Albright’s solicitor threatened her with all sorts of bullshit.’ Suddenly Dom dug fingers into his brow. ‘This is my doing.’
Lucas blinked in surprise. ‘How?’
‘Albright got it into his head that Vanessa liked him.’
‘She thinks he’s a fuckwit. Anyway, everyone knows you and her have a thing going.’
‘Albright didn’t. He’s only here on the weekends and doesn’t socialise much when he is. You know what she’s like. Makes you feel like you’re the centre of the universe. Now he’s realised. Last night made a fool of him in more ways than one and he wants someone to pay.’ Dom’s expression turned stony, his voice dangerous. ‘Albright can go at me the hardest he likes, but if that bastard thinks I’ll stand back and let him harm a hair on her head, he’s got another thing coming.’
‘You really like her,’ said Lucas, unable to hide his astonishment.