The Blind Date Surprise

by Barbara Hannay

  Crikey! What a pair she and Kane were—both lovelorn losers.

  When neither of them replied, Reid gave up and resumed eating, but Annie knew he wouldn’t let the matter drop, even though he diplomatically changed the subject and gave them a report on the condition of the stock at Lacey Downs instead. She knew that Reid was doing his Big Brother act—watching them carefully and waiting for the right moment to question them separately.

  As it turned out, he confronted Annie mid-morning the following day.

  ‘Wow! They look snazzy,’ he said, coming into the washroom when she was in the middle of ironing her pink jeans.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said cautiously.

  He lounged a denim-clad hip against the door frame and she waited for him to follow up with a wisecrack about her new citified taste in fashion.

  ‘I guess you bought them in Brisbane.’

  ‘Yep, under the expert guidance of Mel and Victoria.’

  Shifting his weight to lean a bulky shoulder against the doorjamb, Reid watched her in silence for a moment or two. ‘So how was the break in Brisbane?’

  ‘Great.’

  ‘Was it long enough?’

  Surprised, she stared at him. ‘I—I guess so.’

  ‘You came home in a bit of a hurry, didn’t you?’

  She shrugged.

  ‘And you look like hell, Annie.’

  Oh, help. His grey eyes were regarding her with such obvious concern and he had said this so gently that she almost broke down.

  I feel absolutely awful, Reid. There are so many broken pieces inside me, I’m not sure I’ll ever heal. And it’s getting worse every day.

  ‘Hey, Annie, watch out, you’ll burn a hole in those new jeans.’

  Quickly setting the iron upright, she turned it off at the wall, then hooked the jeans over a coathanger on a cupboard door, and turned to face him once more. She loved both her brothers, but Reid had always been the one she’d turned to when she had really been in trouble. He wasn’t a saint. There were times when he’d teased her mercilessly, but he wasn’t as hot-headed as Kane; he was more sensitive and a terrific listener. Now, however, he was bent on firing questions.

  ‘Kane tells me you’ve been refusing to take phone calls from some guy in Brisbane.’

  She felt her face flame. ‘I can’t talk to him.’

  ‘Why? Who is he?’

  How on earth could she explain? Her poor tormented brain seemed to be tied in knots and everything about her trip to Brisbane felt too painful and complicated. If she tried to explain about Theo, everything would unravel too fast and she’d probably make a hash of it. She might not be able to make Reid understand that Theo was wonderful and kind and not at all to blame for her misery.

  ‘You look terrible, Annie. What’s the matter? What’s this bloke in the smoke done to you?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she said quickly.

  ‘You can at least tell me his name.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, Reid. He’s—he’s just a guy—who—who wants to keep in touch but—’ She hesitated.

  ‘But you want to give him the cold shoulder?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said in a small voice.

  ‘He’s not a stalker, is he?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Is he making a nuisance of himself, Annie?’

  Horrified, she insisted, ‘No, nothing like that.’

  ‘Then why do you look so flattened?’

  ‘I think I overdid things in the city. Too much partying. Don’t worry about me, Reid. I’ll be okay.’

  At first Reid let out an irritated grunt and looked as if he wasn’t going to accept her weak explanation, but then he seemed to have second thoughts.

  With an excessive lack of haste, he relaxed in the doorway again, crossed his arms over his chest and hooked one riding boot in front of the other. ‘Maybe a proper holiday would do you good.’

  Surprised, she managed, ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘How about a total change of scene?’

  It occurred to her then that her brother had probably been leading this conversation in a pre-programmed direction from the start. ‘Did you have somewhere in mind?’

  He shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. ‘I had a long chat with Kane last night.’

  ‘Did he admit that he’s in love with Charity Denham?

  Reid smiled slowly. ‘I dragged it out of him.’

  ‘Good.’ Annie blinked. ‘I can’t blame him. Charity’s very lovely.’

  ‘She’s that all right. Kane’s eating his heart out over her,’ Reid said. ‘So I’ve told him he should get cracking over to England to sort things out.’

  She felt a rush of excitement for Kane. ‘Good for you, Reid. That’s excellent advice and he’ll listen to you. If you say it’s okay, he’ll probably go.’

  ‘And I think you should go with him.’

  She gaped at him, then rolled her eyes. ‘As if Kane would want me tagging along while he sorts out his love life.’

  ‘But you could fly with him to the UK and visit Mum in Scotland.’

  Goodness! Averting her gaze, so Reid couldn’t see her reaction, she noticed a fallen clothes peg on the floor and she quickly bent to pick it up, then dusted a fine layer of red outback dirt from it with her fingers.

  ‘Wouldn’t you like to go?’ Reid asked.

  ‘Y—yes, of course.’ At any other time she would love to go. She’d be there in a shot. She’d missed her mother terribly and longed to see her again.

  But—she knew it didn’t make a jot of sense—but she didn’t think she could bear to travel so far from Theo. Even though she could never be a part of his life, the thought of putting so much distance between them was too painful. Scotland was on the other side of the world. ‘That would leave you here on your own,’ she said.

  ‘Don’t worry about me. I can get another ringer from Starburst station if I need to, and I’ve got a new cook coming over from Richmond in a day or two.’

  ‘What about the book work? I’ve been away and I need to catch up.’

  ‘I’m sure I’ll manage. Those spreadsheets you’ve set up on the computer are great, but if there’s a problem with the books, Sarah Rossiter will lend a hand.’

  Annie waggled the peg at him. ‘You mustn’t take Sarah for granted, Reid. Heading a one-teacher school must keep her busy enough without running to your beck and call.’

  To her surprise, Reid’s face darkened. Icy sparks flashed in his grey eyes and a muscle twitched in his jaw. ‘Don’t ever accuse me of taking Sarah for granted.’

  Jeepers, where had that come from? Since when had Reid become so touchy about Sarah? ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Listen,’ he said, quickly recovering his usual composure. ‘The mustering’s finished and it’ll be the wet season soon, so we shouldn’t be too busy. Kane needs to go now, and you could do with a diversion. I’ll be fine. It’s perfect timing.’

  Reid had it all worked out.

  ‘Can we afford two overseas plane flights? I’m afraid I went ballistic with my credit card in Brisbane.’

  He fired a quick gaze at the jeans she’d just ironed and smiled. ‘We can manage.’

  Dropping the peg back in the appropriate basket, Annie crossed to the washroom window and stared out at the big expanse of sunny blue sky and the stretch of dry, buff-coloured paddock that ran down to the trees lining the creek.

  Common sense told her that it didn’t matter where in the world she was in relation to Theo. She couldn’t communicate with him or see him, so if she was going to be separated from him in the isolated outback she might as well be on the other side of the globe.

  Her terrible task was to try to forget about him. She had to avoid Theo at all costs. If she stayed in Queensland she might weaken.

  Perhaps being on the other side of the world was her wisest option.

  She took a deep breath and then another before she turned back to Reid. ‘Thanks for the offer. I’ll definitely give it some thought.’

  �
�Don’t take too long to make your mind up. Kane’s raring to go.’

  Theo dropped his pen and pushed away from his desk. It was so difficult to work, so hard to focus. The end of year examination papers had started flooding in and he had a mountain of marking to wade through, but all he could think of was Annie.

  Where was she?

  Whenever he tried to ring Southern Cross or her mobile he got an answering machine, but none of his messages were returned. His emails to Annie’s address had been blocked as well, so he couldn’t reach her that way. And yesterday even her friend Melissa had gone silent on him.

  If he could, he would jump on a plane and fly to Townsville, then hire a car and drive himself out to the McKinnons’ cattle property in the Star Valley. And if Annie wasn’t there he wouldn’t leave until he’d found someone who would tell him where she was. But he had all these exam papers waiting to be assessed. Unavoidable deadlines loomed.

  He’d never felt so hellish, so frustrated, so anguished.

  Until now, he’d taken life’s setbacks on the chin. He was a philosopher and he’d trained himself to react to disappointments with a certain sang-froid. But Annie’s disappearance had dealt a blow that no amount of reason or logic could heal.

  He’d told her once that philosophers avoided discussions about romantic love because the emotions involved disrupted more serious occupations.

  Damn right. He was a mess. The famous Theo Grainger equanimity had been shot to pieces.

  The downhill run had started from the moment he’d seen Annie McKinnon in the lobby at the Pinnacle Hotel. That night he’d been so distracted by her animated, lively loveliness that he’d almost walked into a marble pillar.

  And that had been before he’d got to know her.

  Since then he’d been totally distracted and walking into metaphorical pillars every step of the way.

  Vivacious, fun-loving, gutsy, inquisitive, sensuous—Annie McKinnon was a weapon of mass distraction. She’d worked her way under his skin and straight into his heart. And now she was gone. And Theo was so undone he couldn’t think straight.

  If only he’d taken more notice of the way she’d blamed herself for his dismissal. At the time her fears about Claudia had seemed so ludicrous that he couldn’t possibly take them seriously. But Annie had been convinced, and now—

  At the squeak of a door opening behind him, Theo turned to discover Rex Bradley, a fellow lecturer, poking his head into his office.

  ‘Oh, you are here,’ Rex said. ‘I knocked but there was no answer.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Rex. I didn’t hear you.’ He raised a hand and made a quick, beckoning gesture. ‘Come on in.’

  To his surprise his colleague almost skipped into the room.

  ‘You look chipper.’

  ‘I am. I’ve just come from Claudia’s office and I bring glad tidings.’

  ‘You’ve been promoted?’ Theo hoped he would be able to dredge up the necessary enthusiasm.

  ‘Good heavens, man, credit me with some tact. I haven’t come to crow over you with news about myself. No, it’s great news for you, Theo. For all of us, actually. Her Highness has just announced there will be enough funding for your course to continue after all.’

  ‘She’s what?’ Theo felt the blood drain from his face.

  ‘Claudia’s changed her mind. She’s going to renew your contract.’

  ‘That—that’s incredible. Why?’

  ‘Who knows? Our Claudia works in mysterious ways. I can only suppose she’s had an attack of sanity and remembered what a fabulous lecturer you are and that she’d made a stupid mistake with the budget. But I don’t give a hoot for her reasons. The whys and wherefores aren’t half so important as the fact that we’re not going to lose you.’

  ‘No one else has been sacked instead of me, have they?’

  ‘No, Theo. Trust you to worry about others at a time like this.’ Rex paused. ‘Curiously enough, Claudia seems to have found a loophole in the funding cut problem.’

  Theo stared at Rex and felt an icy flood sluice through him from head to toe. Annie had been right. He hadn’t believed it possible, but Claudia’s sudden about-face was so implausible there could be no other explanation.

  ‘Why hasn’t Claudia come to tell me this herself?’ he asked.

  Rex cleared his throat. ‘She made some excuse about a meeting in Sydney and having to rush away to catch a plane. I suspect she might be feeling a bit sheepish about her sudden turnaround. But I promise you, Theo, it’s genuine. She asked me to give you the news.’

  He held out a memo and Theo shoved it on to his desk without even glancing at it. He was too appalled by the realisation that Annie had sacrificed herself for him. She’d seen through Claudia’s game.

  It was all so sickeningly obvious now. Just yesterday Claudia had called by his office to see how he was bearing up, and she’d posed several carefully casual questions about Annie. And, poor, ignorant fool that he was, he’d confessed honestly that Annie had disappeared. And when Claudia had pressed him, he’d admitted that he hadn’t really known why.

  Now it was patently clear that the damned manipulating woman had been jealous of Annie. She’d been playing games with his life, with his personal happiness. And, just as Annie had predicted, within a few days of her disappearance his job had been reinstated.

  ‘You don’t look too happy, Theo.’

  Rex had to be joking. How on earth could he possibly be happy?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE week before Christmas was not the best time for a girl from tropical North Queensland to be visiting Scotland. As Annie walked beside the Lake of Menteith, she tried to imagine this scene in summer when it was bathed in sunshine, bordered by lush, green forests and busy with busloads of tourists and fishermen in boats. Now the shores of this romantic lake in the heart of the Trossachs were white and stark. And so-o-o-o cold.

  Then again, lonely, cold, windswept shores suited Annie’s mood. Out here she could feel as bleak as she liked and no one could bother her with well-meaning questions.

  Fat snowflakes fell, settling on her head and shoulders as she stared out to the little island in the middle of the lake.

  And thought of Theo.

  It happened all the time now. It didn’t matter what she looked at, where she visited or whom she talked to…she thought about Theo and longed for him. He commanded centre stage in her thoughts first thing in the morning, at noon, and into the long, lonely nights.

  Coming to Scotland hadn’t helped at all.

  It was wonderful to see her mother, of course. Lovely to meet her mother’s friends and to get to know the quaint town of Aberfoyle where her mother and her Aunt Flora lived. But Annie hadn’t been able to bring herself to talk to her mother about Theo.

  What was the point? How would it help to talk about him, when what she craved was to see him, to feel his arms around her, to have him with her, in her life. She needed him here beside her.

  She longed to share these new sights with Theo. If only she could slip her arm through his and walk with him over this ground. She longed to talk with him…

  They would talk about everything…

  She could almost hear their voices above the crunching sounds of her boots treading on icy snowflakes…

  They would discuss the fascinating history of Rob Roy and the monks at Inchmahome, an ancient priory that had been built centuries ago on the little island in the middle of this lake. She could take him to see her favourite sights so far—the charm of a cluster of pines beside the wee kirk in Aberfoyle, the breathtaking grandeur of Stirling Castle, or the gorgeous stone bridge over the falls at Killin.

  But without Theo, Scotland’s attractions seemed insignificant and colourless—as stodgy as porridge and as bleak as the leaden skies looming low over the lake.

  It was shameful how weak she was. If he rang again, she was sure she would have to speak to him. She should be disciplining her mind, training herself to forget about him, instead of obsessing about
him night and day. But how could she ever forget Theo? She knew he was the one, the man she’d been searching for all her life. Her soul cried out for him.

  Except…I’ve given him up and I must forget him.

  Oh, help…Time to drive on to check out Loch Katrine.

  As she crossed the icy ground to her parked car, her mobile phone beeped and her heart took off like a duck at the sound of a shotgun. How stupid of her. It wouldn’t be Theo.

  Digging a thickly gloved hand deep in the pocket of her coat, she extracted the phone, but her woollen gloves were so thick she almost pressed the wrong button as she tried to receive the call.

  It was Kane’s number.

  She let out her breath with a whoosh and willed herself to relax.

  ‘Hi, Kane,’ she said, raising her voice above the wind. ‘How are you?’

  ‘I’m terrific,’ he said and she knew immediately that it was true. She could hear his happiness ringing in his voice. ‘Charity and I are getting married.’

  ‘Oh, Kane! Oh, wow! That’s fantastic!’ She let out an excited little squeal. ‘When?’

  ‘In a few weeks’ time. Here in Derbyshire. You and Mum and Aunt Flora will all have to come, of course.’

  ‘Of course we’ll come. We’ll be there with bells on. Oh, Kane, I’m so happy for you. Congratulations. You sound so excited.’

  ‘I’m over the moon, Annie. I can’t believe Charity wants me. You’ve no idea how good this feels.’

  ‘I—I guess not.’

  ‘I’ll get back to you soon with details, dates, venues et cetera.’

  ‘Yes, okay.’

  ‘Oh, I forgot to ask. How’s Scotland?’

  ‘Lovely. I’m driving around the lochs today. How’s Derbyshire?’

  ‘It’s amazing—has a cute factor right off the scale. Hollydean, where Charity lives, is the sort of place we only get to see on Christmas cards.’

  ‘Everything over here is so pretty, isn’t it? Have you rung Reid?’

  ‘Yes, I wanted to tell him first. If it wasn’t for the pair of you urging me over here, I’d probably still be at home moping around Southern Cross like a wounded dog.’