Morgan's Law (9 page)

‘They can't stop you,' Adam said with a smile.

‘You just said that bit of land was Burrapine.'

‘On here it is, but this is an old drawing—it still marks out the highway, and it hasn't been a highway for the last sixty years or more. The Morgans went through a rough patch, maybe forty years or so ago and they sold off a chunk of their land. That tree isn't on Morgan land any more.'

Hope flared in her. ‘Who does it belong to?'

His smile stretched wider. ‘Me.'

Sarah gave a sigh of relief and smiled back at him, pleased at the prospect of finally making progress.

‘But I wouldn't get too excited—that's a lot of land to go searching for just one tree . . . It may not even be there any more.'

Sarah's elation subsided slightly. ‘I have to at least try to find it.'

She saw Adam's doubtful expression soften. ‘I guess we could take a drive out there tomorrow and see what we find.'

‘Tomorrow? But you said you were going away tomorrow.'

‘How else was I going to get you to let me upstairs?' he said with a grin that was in no way repentant.

Sarah wasn't sure what to say to that. She'd never met a man like Adam Buchanan before and she was well and truly out of her element.

Seven

The next morning Sarah was up with the railway workers, keen to get an early start. She'd spent a sleepless night tossing and turning as she thought of what she might find the next day.

Adam had given her directions to his place and she drove there with the BMW's top down. The fresh, clean air cleared her sleep-deprived mind. The signpost hanging on the gate made Sarah smile; it was the opposite of the imposing gates of Burrapine, yet the simple, understated sign seemed to reflect Adam Buchanan to a tee.

He was waiting for her when she arrived, leaning against the bullbar of his four-wheel-drive ute outside the main house. The homestead wasn't as big as the Morgan house, but it was big enough, and tidy. It looked like a working property first and foremost, where function took precedence over appearances.

Adam lifted a hand in welcome as she pulled up and turned off the engine. Dressed in faded jeans and a long-sleeved checked shirt, he somehow managed to turn the mundane into something . . . sexy. Her gaze went to his thick forearms, lightly dusted with dark hair, and up to his face, shaded by a stockman's hat that was dusty and sweat-stained, yet somehow only added to the man's appeal. Quickly she berated herself for such frivolous thoughts. Hadn't she recently learned the hard way that men weren't worth the hassle?

The two tan kelpies in the back of the ute barked and leapt from the tray as she got out of the car and walked towards him. A loud whistle stilled the dogs' noise and they dropped to the ground, watching her intently but no longer barking.

‘You haven't lost your touch completely. Dogs still fall at your feet.'

‘Yeah, I know . . . It's women I still haven't managed to train yet.'

‘Good luck with that.'

She eyed the animals warily. These were not the fluffy little accessories that seemed to be all the rage in cities nowadays. These were lean, tough-looking working dogs. She'd caught a glimpse of them at work the day she'd got the car bogged. Streaks of brown, circling the herd in the distance with confidence and control.

‘You want a cuppa before we head off?'

‘No thanks, I'm fine.'

‘All right then, let's get started.'

They drove away from the homestead and out into the property itself, following nothing more than cattle tracks as they made their way further into thick bush. Sarah willed herself to stay calm. She didn't like being taken out of her comfort zone and the thought of not knowing where she was didn't sit easy with her. In the city she could always find her way around, but out here there were no signposts, nothing she could get her bearings from. ‘Are you sure you know where you're going?'

‘What's the matter, city girl, you scared?'

‘You can't even get mobile coverage out here, how do you handle that? It would drive me insane.' She rubbed her arms absently.

‘Would you relax! You'd have more to worry about walking the streets of London than wandering around out here.'

Sarah gave him a doubtful glance. ‘There are no deadly animals in the city.'

He gave a small humph. ‘Depends on your perspective if you ask me.'

Adam slowed the ute to a crawl and said, ‘This is the general place on the map, but it was pretty vague. You could be looking at an area of anywhere from one to ten square kilometres. It would help to know what we were looking for.'

Sarah silently agreed—this seemed ridiculous. Unless there was a sign hammered on the damn thing, how on earth were they supposed to figure out what tree they were searching for?

‘Maybe it's obvious once you see it,' she said hopefully.

‘So what would a wishing tree look like, exactly?' She had to give him credit; he was trying to be serious.

‘Well, I don't know. You've lived here all your life— haven't you ever come across something a little odd?'

‘Not until the day you tried to run over my cattle,' he muttered, just low enough for her to hear.

The vehicle's speed was down to not much faster than a walk as Adam negotiated the rough terrain. ‘We'll have to go on foot to get a decent look at the trees closer to the water,' he said eventually, applying the brakes.

Sliding out of the ute, Sarah searched the bush around her hopefully. They walked for about half an hour before Sarah stopped to wipe her forehead with her sleeve. Shooing irritably at the flies as they tried to land on her face, she looked at Adam in frustration. ‘This is a really stupid idea. How on earth are we supposed to know where to start looking?'

‘I believe I did point this out last night.'

‘Well, why did you agree to bring me out here then?'

‘I'm a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. Why would I pass up a chance to get an attractive woman the whole town's talking about all to myself for a few hours?'

Sarah stopped in her tracks and stared at Adam's back. Sensing she'd stopped following him, he turned around and sent her a crooked grin. ‘Relax, your virtue's safe with me.'

‘Somehow I don't think it's my virtue I should be worried about,' she mumbled irritably.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then that easygoing grin of his returned, making her breathing change tempo. It didn't help that he had crinkle lines around his eyes which only made him look more attractive, as though he'd lived life.

He was nothing like Giles, nothing at all like him. Where Giles was clean and smooth and groomed to within an inch of his life, Adam was rugged and leathery, tanned from the sun rather than a salon tanning machine. His jaw was clean-shaven, but she knew by the end of the day there'd be a dark shadow there. He smelled of leather and horses and maybe a slight whiff of petrol; there was none of the expensive European cologne that Giles preferred, which cost more than the average person's weekly wage. Nope, if she'd been trying to find someone who was the complete opposite of her ex, then she couldn't have done better; but of course, she wasn't looking. That would be just . . .

‘You okay?'

‘I'm fine,' she said, turning away to distract herself.

‘Come on,' he said. ‘I brought smoko, so let's head back to the ute and have a cuppa.'

Releasing a shaky breath Sarah followed him back to the ute and watched as he lifted out a basket and thermos.

‘Were you a boy scout or something?'

‘Nah, it's just common sense out here. You bring everything you think you might need and then a few extras.'

They sat on a nearby fallen log, after Adam had made a quick inspection to make sure nothing was living inside, and he poured coffee into a tin cup, handing it to her.

After a few sips of the steaming brew, which wasn't too bad, despite being from a thermos, Sarah stared out at the surrounding bush. ‘I'd really like to know what was so important about this damn tree.'

‘If it was close to the river, it could be near an old swimming hole. Maybe it just reminded her of being a kid.'

‘Do you know where any swimming holes are?'

‘Not down this way—we used to swim further upstream, closer to the original homestead. If there was one, it's probably grown over by now—no one's been down this way in a long time.'

‘Anyway why wouldn't she say the “old waterhole”? Why be so specific about a tree?'

‘Maybe it's where she met her first boyfriend. Women are supposed to get sentimental over that kind of stuff, aren't they?'

‘What, happily-ever-afters?' She hadn't meant it to come out sounding quite so sardonic; apparently her recent disappointment was still very raw.

‘Big-city career women don't believe in happily ever after?'

Sarah gave a rueful grin. ‘I'm sure some of them do.'

‘But not this one?'

Did she? She used to, but that was something all little girls believed in. She actually couldn't even remember the last time she'd stopped to think about romance as an adult. Her job had always been the focus of her life; she already had her happy-ever-after in that regard. Did she really need a man to make her life complete? So far they'd only managed to complicate things and tread on her confidence in the process. ‘I guess there's always hope.'

He was watching her thoughtfully and his silent observation made her feel like something under the microscope.

‘So what does your family think about all this?' he asked, swirling the contents of his cup idly.

‘Not a lot.' At his raised eyebrow, she gave a reluctant sigh and wondered how to explain her dysfunctional family to someone who seemed so grounded. ‘There was really only my mum, Gran and me growing up. My mother and Gran weren't close, so Mum thinks coming out here is crazy.' She sent him a quick glance and sighed. ‘Yes, I know she's probably right.'

‘I didn't say you were crazy,' he said with a smile.

They sat and listened to the birdlife around them for a moment and Sarah thought she might be safe from further questions, but it didn't last.

‘So what about your father?'

Under normal circumstances, Sarah couldn't have imagined answering these questions—she loathed talking about her personal life, but here in this peaceful place it didn't feel so strange, or maybe it was just the company. ‘My real father died when I was a baby. I never knew him. Mum married Frederick when I was about eight. He's always treated me as though I was family, but he was a confirmed bachelor when he met Mum, so it was a steep learning curve for the poor guy.'

‘You were obviously close to your gran. She must have been a very special lady.'

Sarah looked over at him; his soft words induced an ache in her throat. ‘She was.'

A silence fell between them, but it was a comforting silence.

‘So you run this place?' she asked eventually.

Adam took off his hat and ran a hand through his short hair before answering. ‘Yep. Dad passed away a few years ago, so I took over.'

‘Did you always want to do this?'

‘Yeah. It's in my blood. My grandfather bought this place . . . Well, actually he bought the original plot which ended at that last boundary fence we passed on the way here. This bit was added later. He built it up from nothing, which was a huge feat back then. I guess I want to follow in his footsteps.'

‘It's beautiful out here. I've never been this far inland before, I really like it.'

‘Maybe it's in your blood too.'

She frowned. ‘I just don't understand why she never spoke about it.'

‘You know, grandparents were young once too. They made mistakes, like us.'

‘I just wish she'd told me about it. I feel as though I grew up with a stranger.'

‘Maybe she'd been silent so long it was too difficult to talk about.'

‘But why send me back here now? If she'd always intended me to find out who she was, why keep it a secret all this time?'

Adam shrugged. ‘Maybe she knew you were the only person she could trust to make sure her last wish was carried out.'

Well, that was certainly true—her mother wouldn't have bothered doing it and there was no one else. ‘Maybe.'

Tossing his coffee dregs on the ground, Adam dropped his cup back into the basket and stretched his long legs out before him. ‘So, what now?'

‘We could wander around here for days. I'm thinking I might go and have another visit with the Morgans, see if they know anything that might narrow it down a bit.' She sighed. ‘I was hoping I could do this without involving them.'

‘It must be weird to suddenly discover you have relatives.'

‘It has been a little daunting.' Sarah gave a small grimace. ‘It doesn't help that at least one of them thinks I'm some kind of con artist.'

‘Don't let Trent bother you. He's always been a bit of a hothead.'

‘I don't blame him really—it was just as much of a surprise to them as it was to me. I'm actually surprised Albert took it so well.'

‘Albert's not a bad bloke—for a Morgan,' Adam added with a grin.

‘So what have you got against them?'

‘Nothing really. My granddad's never gotten on well with them—goes back a long way apparently,' he shrugged.

‘I have a feeling your granddad's not the only one in the district that doesn't get along with them. And if Trent's any indication of the rest of them, I can see why!' She stood up. ‘I think we should get back, don't you?'