Island of escape (15 page)

`What about tomorrow?' she flared. 'Isn't that free too? I didn't say I'd go picnicking with you. I want to go to North East River.'

`And I happen to want to take you to the beach,' he retorted.

She stared at him and felt her resolve weaken. She felt herself drowning in the green of his eyes—and that was positively not permissible.

`Is it union rules I should do what you say?' she heard herself ask ridiculously, and he gave her a brief laugh.

`In this case—yes.'

She didn't see either Steve or Charlie the rest of the day. For want of something better to do, she went into

the kitchen and did some baking. She made a cake that was a favourite with Uncle Bill—a very unusual cake that contained, incredible though it sounded, a tin of tomato soup and half a glass of sherry. She iced it with cream cheese and decorated it with cherries, then wondered what in heaven's name she was going to do with it. She could not in a million years serve it up to the shearers ! She knew what they'd do with it! Inconsequentially, she thought of Leanne, at Koolong now, no doubt, and probably enjoying the social life, and the freedom from work. How bored she'd have been this week at Warrianda! But Ellis hadn't been bored—she'd been far too busy.

It wasn't till some hours later, when she'd eaten alone in the empty house, that she began to feel a little neglected, and determinedly she found her writing pad and began to write to Jake.

She wrote a whole two pages—her hand simply ran away with her—and then discovered she was listening. For what? For them to come home. For—for that maddening, incomprehensible man Steve Gascoyne to come home. Deep in her heart, however she tried to hide the knowledge from herself, she knew that she longed to have him knock at her door, burst in on her, say outrageous things, infuriate her.

Take her in his arms.

Ellis forced herself back to her letter ...

On Sunday, she discovered that Steve's statement that he was taking her to the beach was no empty threat, and that she hadn't a hope of getting her own way. She was upstairs making her bed when he came into the room and she straightened up and looked at him, feeling a wave of colour sweep over her face.

`When you've finished in here, Ellis,' he told her coolly, 'you can go downstairs and get a picnic to-

gether. I'll be ready to leave when you are.'

His eyes challenged her, but somehow she didn't feel like indulging in an argument with him in the bedroom, so she said a weak and reluctant, 'Very well,' and turned her back on him. She told herself she'd get the picnic together, but she wouldn't go out with him. She was going to North East River with Charlie

In the kitchen, she had packed up cold meat, salad vegetables, and bread and butter, and was filling a thermos with tea when he appeared and asked her, `Right?'

`Yes. Your picnic's ready,' she said agreeably, 'but I'm not coming with you. I'm going with Charl
ie.
I want to see Martin.'

`Then that's too bad,' he drawled. 'Charlie left half an hour ago. You'll have to make do with me.'

Ellis felt a pulse begin to beat in her temples. She felt really enraged, and half her anger was directed at Charl
ie.
He knew she wanted to go with him, yet he'd driven off without checking whether she was coming or not. Leanne was right—he did whatever Steve wanted, regardless of her or of his wife or of anyone. She said heatedly, 'I won't have to make do with you, Mr Gascoyne. I don't need to go anywhere. I can entertain myself here perfectly well—like I did yesterday. Besides, you—you promised you wouldn't pester me,' she finished uncertainly.

`Oh, I'm not forgetting you're the shearers' cook,' he said ironically. 'But a picnic with the boss is just one of the perks the cook can expect on weekends—if she's fetching enough. I'll leave you alone, but I don't fancy going out by myself. I used to take my aunt for a drive to the beach on Sundays,' he added after a brief pause. He sounded suddenly sombre. 'She liked to sit in the

car knitting or doing crossword puzzles while I took a swim.'

Ellis looked at him suspiciously through her lashes. There was a hint of softness on his face that she'd never seen before and she turned away from it quickly, unwilling to admit to herself that he might be human after all. He caught her by the arm.

`You'd better come, Ellis,' he said briefly. 'Get your swimmers and I'll see you out at the car. And don't worry—we'll stick to a basic boss–employee relationship, if that's the way you want it.'

She grimaced at his back as he went through the door. It looked as if she had to go, she told herself. And anyhow, she would enjoy a swim—and she didn't fancy another day on her own. She'd take her one-piece costume, though—not her bikini.

She had the picnic basket all ready, then at the last minute she got down the cake tin. She'd take the cake she'd baked yesterday. Why not? She pictured Steve being just a little bit intrigued by the soft warm colour and the subtle flavouring. Yet why should she care if he was intrigued or not? she asked herself crossly.

The beach he took her to was not the one she had been to before, but it was just as empty. There was not a soul in sight, and she didn't move as Steve prepared to get out of the car. –

`What's the matter?' he asked, raising one eyebrow. She licked her top lip nervously. 'It's—it's so deserted.'

`What's wrong with that? Don't I remember you saying you liked quiet places—that night you told me about your fiancé on Flinders? Remember?'

Of course she remembered, and she felt mortified.

`At all events,' he went on reasonably, 'most of the

beaches round here are unfrequented. That's why I

brought you along with me—to make sure I had some company.'

Ellis said no more. She climbed out of the car, then stood looking about her for a moment. It was all so beautiful—white, white sands, great rocks covered in red and yellow and orange lichen, water like the palest aquamarine. The rocks glittered like jewels in the sun and presently she discovered there were great prisms of quartz in them that reflected the sun's light. Back from the curve of the beach there were tea-tree groves and dark pines, and the granite mountains made a magnificent backdrop.

Steve took the picnic basket, and a few minutes later, in the shelter of a group of huge rounded rocks, Ellis changed into her swimsuit. It was black and backless, with narrow straps and a deeply plunging neckline. Its simplicity was broken only by a scattering of eyelets of varying sizes arranged to form a pattern from the V across her diaphragm and stomach and finishing above her left thigh. Her skin showed whitely against the black, and she looked up at the blueness of the sunny sky. She tanned quickly and comfortably when she had a chance, and by the end of today she'd have lost that unsunned look.

Steve was in very brief Vandyke brown trunks, and Ellis caught her breath. He wasn't looking in her direction and she studied him swiftly. His body was muscular and bronzed, his shoulders broad, his hips narrow, and he looked dark against the white of the sand and the clear pallor of the languorous sea. He turned and saw her at last, his eyes skimming over her figure. She didn't feel self-conscious in this cover-up, but the memory of ,last time they had been on the beach together sent the colour surging into her face.

`Are you coming into the water?' he asked rather

tersely. 'Or are you one of those water sprites who's strictly ornamental?'

For answer, Ellis ran past him into the sea, and did a quick porpoise dive.

THEY stayed in the water till they were both growing hungry, then came out to eat. Steve had brought a portable ice box that held a few cans of beer and lemonade, and they kept the thermos for later by mutual consent. At the end of the meal, Ellis produced the tin containing her cake, and he watched her take the lid off, then commented, 'Looks like a birthday cake. Don't tell me you're twenty-one today.'

`No, it's nothing special,' she said, feeling a little, foolish.

`I don't eat cake,' he said as she cut into it, and she paused, feeling a sense of fury, till he added nonchalantly, 'Still, I'll try it.'

By then she didn't much care what his comment was. He'd spoiled her little moment of triumph, yet what had she expected?

`Nice,' he said, when he'd bitten into the slice she handed him.

`Thank you,' she said coldly.

`But no good for the shearers,' he commented next. `They'd probably give it to their dogs.'

`You—you don't know how to pay a compliment, do you?' she stuttered, and he looked at her in mocking surprise.

`In my recollection, shearers' cooks aren't particularly interested in comments—they're only interested in their pay cheques

Ellis, who had a sweet tooth and had been looking forward to her slice of cake, put it down almost untouched, her enthusiasm gone. She longed to tell him he was boorish, but instead she choked out, 'I don't wonder Leanne can't live with you.'

He raised his eyebrows. 'What do you mean by that?'

`You're—you're inhuman ! You don't care for anyone's feelings.'

`What in God's name are we discussing?' he asked. `I thought we were talking about pay cheques—and cake.'

`My cake,' she retorted, and he looked at her, his green eyes cool. She could feel her breast heaving and was annoyed with herself for getting so worked up about nothing.

`Women always want to bring personalities into a conversation,' he remarked, and leaned forward to cut another slice of cake.

`I'm not bringing personalities into anything,' she said furiously.

`You mentioned Leanne.'

`Yes,' she snapped, completely losing all sense of logic. 'And I don't blame her for wanting to get out of Warrianda. If she has any sense she—she'll never come back ! '

Steve finished his cake without a word, then stretched out on his back on the sand, his hands behind his head. Ellis cast him one look, then began to cram everything back into the basket.

`If we're talking about Leanne,' he said lazily after a moment, looking at her from between his half-shut lids, 'then it's my opinion a woman should be prepared to go where her man goes. That way, he can be reasonably sure she loves him as much as what he stands for. If Leanne won't stick to Charlie here, you're right. He might as well be rid of her.'

`Charlie mightn't agree with you about that,' she retorted. She was trying to calm down and, to tell the truth, she didn't know why she had this desire to quarrel with him, but she had. She was feeling very antagonistic, and the way he lay there, supine, indolent, maddened her. 'While she's here,' she continued, `Leanne has only half of him.'

Steve turned his head towards her sharply, his eyes glinting green between lids half closed against the sun. The dark hair on his chest glistened, and she turned her eyes away from it and knew he was watching her as he said lazily, Now what the hell do you mean by that?'

`He—he's loyal to you, not to her,' she said quickly. `He does what you want, not what she wants. He—he listens to you all the time.' She was sitting back on her heels, her hands clasped together on her thighs, and she could see them trembling as he kept his head turned slightly and watched her.

`Look, I don't want to quarrel with you about other people's marital problems,' he said, suddenly rolling over on to his stomach and propping his chin on one hand. 'But you really ought to do a little straight thinking, Ellis, if Charlie and Leanne are on your mind. My brother's learning how to manage sheep while he's here with me, and in my opinion if you make your money out of wool then that's a wise thing to do. I made an offer to take him on and he took it up of his own free will. Colin wasn't keen to have him at Koolong
he'd been there after he left school, then he decided sheep farming wasn't for him and he got out and did nothing in particular in Melbourne. That's why Colin won't be bothered with him. But Charlie's at liberty to get his know-how wherever he can. How you connect

his choosing Warrianda with lack of loyalty to his wife I just don't know.'

`You're—you're not helping their marriage,' she said after a moment. It was the first she had heard of Charlie's background, and though she was half convinced by what Steve had told her, she didn't want to be.

'Leanne's not helping the marriage,' he retorted. He lowered his head and rested his cheek on his forearm. `You women are all the same—threatening to walk out if you don't get your own way. Your cousin Jan walked out on me because she thought I'd fly up to Melbourne and beg her to come back to me, and promise we'd live wherever she wanted, which wasn't here. Leanne's trying the same tactics on Charlie—and it remains to be seen what success she has. I hope none. No man who values his self-respect can allow a woman to run him—she has her territory, he has his—and it's bad news when one of them gets greedy and tries to take over.' He stopped, and Ellis found her thoughts were back with what he'd said about Jan. That had really jolted her. Jan hadn't broken with Steve because she'd fallen madly in love with Paul after all. She'd sent back her ring imagining Steve would give in, allow her to have what she wanted—and that was Koolong, of course. Martin had said so. Was Jan regretting her hastiness now? Ellis wondered. Certainly she wasn't yet engaged to Paul—