Breaking The Drought (15 page)

Luke was nowhere to be seen, having disappeared before breakfast, so at least she didn't have to worry about avoiding him. She had barely seen him all week, except at mealtimes, and then, of course, Maggie was there as a buffer between them.

She had watched Luke dote on Maggie this past week. He helped out with as much of the domestic work as Maggie would allow and frequently chided her for doing too much. It was clear to Jenna that Maggie was Luke's first priority. It was stupid but she couldn't help but feel a tiny pang of envy. Nobody — not Simon, her previous lovers, or even her mother — had ever made Jenna the centre of their world.

Jenna decided it was a good time to work on getting Maggie to tell her story. She set her coffee cup on the sink and set off in search of her subject. She wandered around and eventually found Maggie hanging washing on the clothesline in the yard behind the house. ‘Let me help you with that,' Jenna said, picking up a shirt from the basket.

‘Thanks.'

Jenna helped herself to a couple of pegs and clipped the shirt onto the line. She noticed a smile twitching at the corners of Maggie's mouth. ‘What?'

Maggie took out another shirt and pegged it up. ‘It's just that you have an unusual hanging style. I've actually never seen a shirt pegged out like that before.'

Jenna laughed. ‘I use a clothes dryer.'

‘You don't hang out anything?'

Jenna shook her head. ‘I don't wash that much. I have a lot of my clothes dry cleaned.'

Maggie grinned. ‘Maybe you could just hand me the clothes to save me from bending over. I'll do the hanging.'

Jenna laughed again and handed her one of Luke's T-shirts. ‘Thanks for letting me stay this week. I know it's been extra work for you and I really appreciate it.'

‘It's been no trouble. I really mean that. In fact it's been fun having another girl around the house.'

‘I spoke to the hospital this morning and hopefully Brooke will be released tomorrow. If not then she'll be out on Sunday, so we'll be out of your hair by then.'

Maggie stopped pegging for a moment and put both hands on the small of her back. ‘No problem. Let me know if there is anything you need help with before you go.'

‘Actually there is something I've been meaning to ask you. I was wondering if I could interview you for my magazine article.'

‘Oh, Jenna, I don't think so.'

‘I admire you so much and I think you would make a really interesting subject. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather interview.'

Maggie shook her head. ‘I'm flattered, but I'm sure there are more interesting women in Barlow than me.'

‘Promise me you'll think about it?'

‘Okay, I'll think about it, but now I have a favour to ask you.'

‘Sure,' Jenna said with a grin. ‘Just name it.'

‘Luke raced out this morning without breakfast. I know he was heading up to the top paddock this morning to check on a sick ewe. He also had some fencing work to do up that way. I doubt he'll come back for lunch. I've made him some sandwiches and a thermos of tea. Could you take it to him? I'd do it myself but I have an antenatal appointment at the hospital so I need to head off soon.'

Jenna's heart sank. How could she refuse Maggie after all her generosity? ‘I hope I can find him,' she said, hoping that Maggie might give up on the idea.

But Maggie wasn't taking the hint. ‘I'll point you in the right direction. You shouldn't have any problems. You can take the ute if you want, or, if you can ride, you're welcome to saddle up one of the horses. I'll put all the food into a backpack if you're going on horseback.'

Jenna thought about the last time she had ridden a horse. She was 14 and her stepfather had paid for her to attend ‘Pony Camp' in an attempt to win her favour, or possibly to get rid of her for a week. She had taken to riding easily, but the promised pony of her own had never eventuated. She had hardly ridden since.

She thought driving was a safer bet, but the ute was probably a manual. ‘I'll take Brooke's car,' she said. At least the chance of doing something stupid behind the wheel was diminished in an automatic car. It would be uncomfortable enough being alone with Luke without making a total fool of herself as well.

Luke heard Brooke's Volkswagen approaching before he saw it. There was no mistaking it for one of the farm's vehicles; it had a sound that was totally unfamiliar to him. He looked up from the fence he was mending to see Jenna driving towards him. It had to be Jenna, because Maggie would have more sense than to drive a sporty little car like that out here on this goat track.

What was Jenna doing out here? Oh God. Maybe there was something wrong with Maggie. He put down his pliers and started towards the gate where she was headed. As she got closer he broke into a run.

He pulled open the car door the moment she stopped. ‘What's wrong?'

‘Nice sort of a greeting that is,' Jenna said, raising her eyebrows.

‘Jenna! Is Maggie okay? What are you doing out here?'

Jenna's face softened. ‘Relax, Luke,' she said with a smile. ‘Maggie's fine. She sent me to give you some lunch. She would have come herself, but she had an appointment at the hospital.'

Luke blew the air out of his lungs in relief. ‘Yeah, I forgot she was going to Mynyip today. How come you didn't go with her? You could have visited Brooke.'

‘I'm going later with Charlotte. It's not visiting hours yet and they're pretty strict about that sort of thing at the hospital.'

Luke nodded as he eyed the basket of food on the back seat of the car. ‘Gotta admit I'm getting kind of hungry. What's in the hamper?'

‘I don't know. You'll have to check and see.'

Luke was already dragging the wicker basket out of the car. He lifted the folded picnic rug out of the basket and saw an array of sandwiches, biscuits, fruit and a thermos. What was Maggie up to? There was way too much food for just him — and a picnic rug? Since when was that standard issue for a working lunch?

It was almost as if Maggie was deliberately pushing them together, although he couldn't imagine why. Surely she could see that no good could come of that sort of folly?

Jenna was standing patiently, waiting while he rummaged through the contents of the basket.

So much for avoiding her today.

‘There's tonnes of food here. Way more than I can eat. Do you want to stay and share it with me?'

She shook her head. ‘No thanks. I have things to do.'

‘You've got to eat, right?' he said with a smile.

‘Luke, let's not do this,' she said softly.

‘Do what?' he asked, but he knew what she was thinking.

‘Let's not pretend that there's nothing between us. We both feel it, the…'

He waited while she searched for the right word.

‘Chemistry,' she said eventually. ‘We've already agreed that this…feeling between us can't go anywhere. I've got a life back in Melbourne and you — '

‘You're right,' he said, not giving her a chance to finish. He didn't want to hear her assessment of his emotional shortcomings.

‘I'll leave you to it then.'

He looked at the basket brimming with food. There was no way he could carry that back on horseback, not with all the tools he was already carting. ‘I hate to ask this, but would you mind bringing the basket down to the shed just near the main road? I can't carry it on horseback and I don't want to eat here in the blazing sun.'

‘Sure,' she said.

‘I'll meet you there and take what I need. Then you can cart the rest back to the house, if that's okay?'

Jenna nodded and got back into the car as Luke loaded the basket onto the back seat. She took off the moment he closed the door.

As Luke rode towards the shed he made a mental list of all the reasons why he couldn't allow himself to touch her, no matter how strong his desire. Every tender moment they shared just made it harder to accept that she would never be his. Most likely she would be gone within 48 hours and then he could set about the task of wiping her from his memory. How hard could that be? After all, he was an expert at keeping his emotions under wraps.

Jenna found the shed with ease. It was, as Luke had said, just off the main road. She parked in the shade of a clump of cypress pines and waited. It wasn't long before he rode into view.

He pulled the horse up beside her and dismounted, slipping the bridle off Marmalade as soon as his feet touched the ground. The saddle came next and the mare shook herself in obvious pleasure. ‘Go on girl, have yourself some fun,' he said, slapping her rump affectionately.

Jenna got out of the car. ‘Aren't you going to ride her back?'

‘She'll come when I whistle. She's a good girl.'

Jenna pulled the basket out of the car. ‘Where do you want this?' she asked.

‘Here, let me take that,' he said. He reached over and placed his hand on the basket's handle, grazing her hand in the process. A now familiar jolt of electricity coursed through Jenna's body. She pulled her hand away quickly.

‘Sorry,' he mumbled, not looking her in the eye. ‘There's a bench in the shed. I'll just take this in and grab some things out. I'll bring it back to you in a minute.'

Jenna wandered over to sit on a fallen log under the trees while she waited. It was quite pleasant, sitting in the shade, and for a moment she considered taking Luke up on his offer of sharing lunch. But she knew this would not be a good idea. Whenever they were left alone it seemed they ended up either fighting, or falling into each other's arms. Neither of these outcomes held much merit at this stage.

She sighed and reached up to fix her ponytail, which had loosened, probably from all the bouncing around on bumpy roads. Her hair tumbled down around her shoulders as she pulled out the elastic and gave her head a quick shake. As she went to flip her hair back into the band, her finger slipped and the elastic ricocheted off into long grass to the left.

Damn
. It would be nearly impossible to find the tiny elastic in there.

Sudden movement in the grass caught her attention. A long, striped snake was slithering past, only metres from her feet. An involuntary scream escaped her throat. ‘Luke!' she yelled hysterically. ‘Oh my God. Help!'

The snake darted off into the bush at lightning speed as Luke came running from the shed. ‘What's wrong, what's happened?' he asked.

‘Snake,' Jenna said, pointing off into the bush.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and raised his eyebrows. ‘Have you been bitten?'

Jenna shook her head.

Luke began to laugh. ‘No harm done then. A snake won't attack you just for the sake of it. You'd have to step on it, or really annoy it, for one to strike.'

Jenna bit her lip in frustration. How could he laugh when she had been given such a fright? And what if she'd gone to look for her hair band? She could easily have stood on the snake and been bitten. Her heart began to palpitate. ‘Thanks for your concern,' she said, dismayed to hear the waver in her voice.

‘Jenna, I'm sorry. It's just that snakes are no big deal out here. I didn't mean to upset you.' His words were softly spoken, his tone tender, but it didn't change the fact that he'd made fun of her fear.

How could he be so casual about the fact that the ground was possibly teeming with slithering, slimy beasts? Her stomach churned at the thought. ‘It's fine,' she said, folding her arms across her chest in an attempt to disguise the fact that her hands were shaking. ‘Can you just get the basket so I can get back to the house? I have things to do.' She turned on her heel and made for the car. The muscles of her face began to slacken and she found herself unable to coax them back to form a composed appearance. All the pent up feelings of the past few days seemed to rush to the surface at once, and she was unable to stem the flood of tears streaming down her face as she strode towards the Volkswagen. So much for escaping with her dignity in tact.

‘Wait,' he called from behind her.

She fumbled with the car door handle, desperate to escape without further humiliation, but the damn thing wouldn't open. Luke's breath was hot on the back of her neck as he covered her hand with his. He gently peeled her fingers from the handle and turned her to him. ‘Don't go.'

A sob forced its way out as she crumpled into his arms. He took her face in his hands, kissing the tears as they slid down her cheeks. ‘I'm sorry,' he whispered.

Great sobs shuddered from her chest as he pulled her closer and began to stroke her hair. The sensible thing would be to pull away, but her legs had turned to jelly. She rested her cheek on his chest and breathed deeply.

‘Luke,' she said, as he put his hand to the small of her back and pulled her closer. ‘I don't think — '

He pressed his finger to her lips. ‘Shh. It's okay. Just relax.'

For a moment she did as she was told. The tension in her shoulders eased as he held her against his chest. Her shuddering breaths steadied, keeping time with the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat. His hand rested lightly against her neck, his thumb gently caressing her skin.

With their bodies meshed together Luke's desire was obvious. She knew he wouldn't act on it. It wouldn't be the smart thing to do. Their attempt at having a meaningless fling had been a miserable failure, and anything more was impossible according to Luke.

The trouble was their bodies seemed magnetised, physically drawn to each other, in spite of their protesting minds.

‘Luke, we should — '

His mouth covered hers, stopping her words of objection mid-sentence. The kiss was demanding; hard and raw, unlike any other they'd shared. He wanted her, there was no doubting that. Something in him had shifted. His reluctance to engage in a physical relationship had clearly evaporated. Maybe it was her vulnerability that had finally cracked his hard shell of restraint.