by Karly Lane
‘So what? You want a medal for that too?’
‘Okay. You keep being a miserable arsehole, I’ve got better things to do than waste my time here.’ Linc left the room, barely containing the urge to hit the wall.
One day Griff was going to push him too far. Most of his visits home in the past had been relatively short and he’d managed to keep a rein on his temper, mainly out of the knowledge that it would break his mother’s heart if her two boys fought. This time, however, he was home a lot longer and his temper was a hell of a lot more volatile lately. Turning the other cheek and cutting his younger sibling some slack was not going to be as easy when he’d have to do it for weeks on end. Nope, the time was definitely drawing near when he and Griffin would need to take a little drive and sort things out once and for all.
Cash pulled into the petrol station on her way back from a daytrip into Griffith. She’d put aside most of today in order to stock up on groceries, get a haircut and pick up some supplies for the salon. She hadn’t seen a real shop in weeks. Although she missed the convenience of big retailers and having a multitude of outlets on her doorstep, just getting into the regional town of Griffith had been enough to brighten up her day. However, after the first few hours Cash had found herself strangely craving the peace and quiet of the little farmhouse. Even Griffith’s laidback hustle and bustle felt a little too busy for her. It was something she wasn’t about to tell Savannah, though, or she’d never live it down.
She listened to the pump ticking over as it filled her thirsty tank and let her eyes roam the quiet street before her. The main road through town was wide and straight. The shady park across the street beckoned invitingly to the few tourists who’d pulled over in their caravans, and the sound of birds and insects provided a gentle backdrop to the sleepy little town. Old houses and shops, which had long since closed, lined one side of the main street. There was still a quiet charm to the little town, despite the fact there were very few services available. Lavinia had told Cash that the greatest concern for the town was that there were fewer and fewer families staying here. The primary school numbers had been dropping significantly over the last few years, and without a surge of young families with children, it was at risk of closing.
The pump clicked off and Cash took out the nozzle, hanging it up before reaching for the petrol cap she’d placed on the roof of the car.
A vehicle pulled up on the other side of the bowser and Cash muttered a curse as she dropped the petrol cap and watched it roll under her car.
‘Looking for this?’ a deep voice enquired from beside where she was kneeling on the ground.
Cash glanced up, seeing the crooked smile on Linc Callahan’s face as he held up the petrol cap.
‘Yes. Thanks,’ she added, getting to her feet and dusting off her knees.
‘Back from a bit of retail therapy?’ he asked, and Cash frowned, wondering how he could have known where she’d been.
He nodded towards the back seat of her car where a heap of plastic bags sat.
‘Salon supplies,’ she told him as she finally managed to tighten the cap into position.
‘How’s things in the world of beauty?’ he asked casually, leaning an arm on her roof.
‘Fine,’ she answered, tilting her head to consider him carefully. ‘You’re one of those men who thinks beauticians are a waste of money, aren’t you?’
‘No,’ he said, sounding surprised. ‘I guess I always picture them as pampering rich women who have nothing better to do. Seems a bit of an extravagance.’
‘Maybe in some places, but usually it’s ordinary women who come in to de-stress from their lives.’
‘So you really enjoy the job?’
‘Yeah, I do. It’s a great feeling to know you’ve made someone feel better after they walk out of your salon. Everyone deserves to feel more confident and better within themselves.’
‘It’s not all a bit too … I don’t know … self-absorbed?’
It wasn’t an unusual attitude, but thankfully it was becoming rarer. In the city, a fairly large proportion of her clientele were male. But there were still some places where men were sceptical of the beauty industry. ‘It’s not only waxing and pampering. We get lots of people coming in with skin problems. They’re probably the most rewarding clients. Some people live all their lives with bad skin or facial hair that robs them of their confidence. Helping them gives them their confidence back and the freedom to go out and enjoy life again. It’s not defending the country, but it’s what I do,’ she said with a shrug.
She saw him frown and straighten at her comment. ‘I wasn’t trying to put you down,’ he said, and she got the feeling he was bothered by the thought.
‘Well, I can see how it pales in significance compared to what you do. Then again, I guess most jobs would.’
He opened his mouth to reply but a loud crash and bang cut through the quiet as a woman across the road dropped the metal lid of a garbage bin. Cash’s gasp caught in her throat as she found herself bodily slammed into the side of her car, with Linc plastered against her, shielding her … from what, she had no idea. It happened so quickly she didn’t have time to protest, but within seconds he was pushing away from her and scanning the street.
Cash felt her heart still pounding in her ears. What the hell just happened? Hesitantly she straightened her T-shirt and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, keeping a wary eye on the man who was now standing, shoulders hunched and hands shoved into his pockets, staring down at the cement beneath his feet.
‘Sorry about that,’ he muttered. ‘Instinct.’
‘Instinct?’ she repeated faintly. ‘You often instinctively throw yourself at strange women out of the blue?’
‘I just heard …’ He stopped abruptly. ‘Look, I’m sorry.’ He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. ‘Sometimes noises like that catch me off guard. Are you okay?’ he asked, looking at her directly for the first time.
‘I’m fine. Are you?’
She saw his concern hastily slip away and he dropped his gaze once more. ‘I’m fine. I better let you go.’
‘Yeah,’ she said, making to move towards the service station to pay for her petrol.
‘Cash, wait,’ he said, stopping her. ‘Look, I’m about to head up to the pub before I go home, come up for a drink?’
‘I should probably get home …’
‘Come on, just one? I don’t want you goin’ off thinking I’m some weirdo.’
Cash quirked an eyebrow at that but smiled. ‘We couldn’t have that, could we.’ She was relieved that the earlier awkwardness seemed to have vanished. ‘Okay, I’ll stay for a quickie,’ she said, before adding quickly, ‘a quick drink.’ Linc chuckled as he inserted the nozzle into his tank. ‘I’ll meet you up there in a sex … I mean sec,’ he added with a wink.
‘In your dreams,’ she muttered, although for some reason it may have sounded more wishful than disdainful.
The double-storey pub curved around the corner of the street and upstairs boasted a huge wrap-around verandah. A few years earlier the only pub in Rankins Springs had closed, but then it had become the centrepiece of a massive event when a couple of enterprising young men got two celebrity radio hosts to launch the reopening after a group of local families joined together to buy it. Looking around at the almost deserted street, it was hard to imagine the crowds of thousands the event had drawn, but Cash wished she’d been here to see it.
‘What can I get you?’ a friendly-faced bartender asked as Cash took a seat at the bar.
‘A lemon squash, thanks,’ she said and looked around the hotel.
‘Here you go, love,’ he said a few moments later, placing the tall glass of pale lemon drink before her.
‘You can add a beer to that too thanks, Mal,’ Linc said, coming up behind her.
‘Hey, Linc! I heard you were back. How’s things?’ Mal beamed, reaching across the bar to shake Linc’s hand firmly.
‘Yeah, good. Only been home a few days.’
‘Back for the big shindig?’
‘Yeah. Things are getting pretty hectic.’
‘I can imagine. Still, it’s good business for us. We’re booked out with your sister’s bigwig guests, and I hear they’re even running a bus into Goolgowi and Griffith for accommodation. Sounds like one hell of a party.’
‘You know Hadley. She never does things by halves.’
‘Found the pub okay, I see,’ Linc said after Mal turned away to get his beer.
Cash grinned at that; even she couldn’t possibly get lost here. ‘Lucky I had Google Maps on my phone,’ she told him.
‘How’s your old man? Haven’t seen him for a while,’ Mal asked as he took Linc’s money and hitched a foot up on something on the other side of the bar, settling in for a yarn.
Linc sent a quick apologetic glance across at her. If his constant stream of questions were any indication, Mal was delighted to see Linc. Or it could be that the man just liked a good chinwag and they were the first customers he’d seen all day. Either way, Cash didn’t have to worry about anymore awkward chat with Lincoln—she couldn’t have gotten a word in sideways if she’d tried.
Over the course of the next ten minutes or so, more people came in and joined the conversation. It didn’t take long to realise just how well thought of Linc was in his home town. He was like a mini celebrity, albeit a reluctant one, holding court with a small crowd of bright-eyed fans—they genuinely loved him. She knew he’d received some kind of medal, she wasn’t sure of the details. Griffin had mentioned it briefly and she hadn’t thought to ask more about it, but clearly it was a big deal.
The incident at the car earlier played through her mind. He’d called it instinct. It made sense, she supposed—as a soldier he’d have learned to respond instinctively to danger. It may have only been a harmless garbage lid dropping, but in another place and time that sound could have been a gunshot or a landmine going off. Who knew what kind of havoc that would play with a person’s nerves. It spoke volumes about the guy that when he’d sensed danger he’d thrown himself in front of her instead of taking cover himself.
He seemed to know everyone in the pub pretty well, but there was something about the way he held his body—his shoulders were stiff and his hand seemed to be clenched around his beer glass—that gave Cash the impression he was not at all comfortable.
She finished the last of her drink and slid from her bar stool, lightly touching Linc’s arm and ignoring the hardness of the bicep beneath her fingers.
‘I’m sorry to cut in, but I need to get going … Did you want to get that thing out of my car before I leave?’ she asked, holding his confused gaze for a moment before leaning closer. ‘You know the thing your mother wanted you to take home …’
After a moment the confusion dulled and was replaced by a flash of relief and Cash knew she was correct in suspecting Linc was not enjoying the swarm of attention he was getting. ‘Oh, yeah. That … Sorry Mal, everyone, I have to get going. Great to catch up,’ he added, standing and backing away from the bar.
‘You’re back for a good while, so we’ll catch up again,’ Mal said with a wave farewell as they walked out the front door.
‘There isn’t actually a thing … is there?’ he said, breaking the quiet as they walked towards their cars.
‘No.’ She smiled.
‘Just checking. Thanks.’
‘I had a feeling you were looking for an escape.’
‘Yeah. Big time. Sorry about that. So much for going for a quiet drink.’
‘That’s okay. Your friends miss you.’
‘I don’t get home all that often, and I haven’t been in there for a couple of years.’
‘Well, they all seem to think a lot of you.’
‘Yeah. I don’t know … I’ve known them all my life.’
‘It’s more than that. They’re proud of you. You’re like the homegrown hero.’
She saw his mouth turn down slightly at that and a small twitch in his cheek gave her pause. ‘I’m not making fun of it. I think it’s awesome how much your town loves you.’
‘It’s weird. It happened years ago and they still all want to talk about it. That’s why I stopped going out when I came home. I never know what to say to people … I’m just me, you know, and they expect me to be something, I don’t know, special.’
‘I don’t think you have to be anything other than yourself,’ she said, watching him as he fiddled with the keyring he held in his fingers.
‘Yeah, well … it’s a bit hard when everyone thinks your one thing and you’re not.’
Cash wasn’t sure what to say to that. The guy was a hero. He’d won a medal. He’d risked his life fighting for his country. That wasn’t your everyday average bloke. But she really didn’t know him well enough to argue the point and so she let it go. ‘Well, thanks for the drink. I guess I’ll see you around.’
‘Thanks for what you did back there … seriously, I’m grateful,’ he said.
Her eyes roamed across the taut face before her. He was so … intense. And then she made the mistake of locking eyes. His gaze pulled at something deep inside and it scared her. This wasn’t just attraction. It wasn’t even knee-shaking lust. It was something primal—a need for … something. It was the something that terrified her. She wasn’t sure she was brave enough to find out what it was.
He moved forward the slightest bit, barely half a step. Cash froze. Her breath caught momentarily before resuming normal function, only he was so close that each time her chest expanded they almost touched, and the warm, clean male smell that filled her senses only made her breath quicken again. There was no way he was going to believe he didn’t affect her. He didn’t move, he just stood there, watching her, waiting for her to make the first move, and damned if she didn’t want to.
Swallowing hard over a suddenly dry throat, Cash eased away, and with only the tiniest of spaces between them, she felt commonsense begin to return. She tried to ignore the loud protest of regret as she fumbled for her car keys and unlocked her door.
‘I have to go,’ she said, forcing herself to calm down and act like the normal, rational adult she wanted to be.
‘See you around, Cash,’ he said, and his gravelly voice sent unexpected goosebumps along her arms.
As she drove away she felt the bands of attraction loosen, and she was able to breathe again. She hadn’t been expecting a reaction like that, and it only reinforced her earlier thoughts that the man was off limits. She’d been down that track before—her commonsense sideswiped by lust. Men like that only ended up breaking your heart. Well, not this time. Nope, she was going to stay well away from Lincoln Callahan.
Linc parked the car in the shed and dropped his head back against the headrest as he thought back over the incident at the service station, letting out a long, slow breath. He clenched his hands around the steering wheel while the memory replayed.
Of all the times for him to have a reaction. He’d felt like an absolute moron afterwards. He was just lucky he hadn’t copped a smack across the face. While in his head he’d been back in the thick of it, doing what he was trained to do, civilians going about their daily business were hardly likely to understand why they were getting jumped on.
It wasn’t so much the noise that had made him react, it was the unexpected noise. When you were in a firefight, it was loud. That went with the territory. But when you heard an unusual crack or bang or pop it was only ever a prelude to something bad—a bomb or a gunshot … getting messed up or, worse, getting dead. It was hard to turn off the instinct that reacted to danger when you got home. After a while, it didn’t happen so often, but now and again it liked to sneak up on you, to remind you.
He resisted the urge to groan out loud. He could only imagine what a screw-up Cash must think he was. When he was done feeling sorry for himself, he realised she’d been pretty cool about the whole thing, considering. His spirits momentarily lifted, before an annoying little voice in the back of his head reminded him
that making a play for his brother’s girl probably outweighed anything bad she could possibly be thinking about him.
As far as days went, this one was turning out to be pretty bloody shit.
Eleven
Cash wasn’t sure what to expect when she first met Hadley Callahan—she’d seen her on the news of course, but she’d never really paid that much attention to her—not that she’d ever admit that out loud around here. But it was true—she never paid much attention to the actual person reporting the news; she just watched the story, often with a sad shake of her head and an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
However, the woman who appeared in the salon was nothing like she might have imagined. She was tiny for starters. She wasn’t sure why but she’d thought someone risking her life in one war-torn country after another would be bigger … tougher, somehow. Hadley Callahan was neither of those things to look at. She was stunning. Thick blonde hair fell in bouncy curls around her face and down to her shoulders. Her amber-coloured eyes were studying Cash curiously, with a lingering amusement that made Cash wonder what the woman had heard about her.
‘You must be Cash,’ Hadley said, sticking out her hand in a brisk businesslike gesture.
‘I am. And you’d have to be the famous bride-to-be.’
‘That would be me, yes,’ she said dryly but flashed Cash a smile. ‘I think everyone’s waiting for me to announce it’s called off again, though.’
‘Oh well, it’s good to keep them all guessing,’ Cash shrugged, leading the way into the small sitting room that was used for consultations. ‘Can I get you something to drink? Tea, coffee, water?’
‘No, thanks. I’ve just come from morning tea with Mum and the aunties. I had to leave before they fed me anything else. I don’t know how they think I’m going to fit into my wedding dress if they keep up all that food.’
‘They certainly do like to cook,’ Cash agreed. She sat down across from Hadley and picked up her notebook to start making arrangements for the wedding day makeup schedule. ‘So how many bridesmaids are you having?’