Outback Dreams (23 page)

Ruby looked at the curtains. ‘Oh, well.' She smiled but it was clearly forced. ‘I guess we never agreed to exclusivity or anything.'

‘
No
,' Monty all but shouted, ‘that's not true. When I asked you out, I didn't just mean for a night. I hoped that it would turn into something long-term. I really like you and… I'm sorry Ruby. I know I should have told you when it happened, but I just couldn't. I'm so sorry.'

She sniffed. ‘So am I. I feel silly coming here, making you a meal, thinking that you were interested in me.'

He reached across the table to take her hand but she pulled it back.

‘Please don't feel like that,' he said. ‘I'm the idiot. I've liked you since the moment I saw you, and what do I go and do? Completely stuff it up.'

Silence reigned for a few long moments and Monty, encouraged by the fact she hadn't got up and fled, said, ‘Have I stuffed it up? Will you give me a second chance?'

Ruby shook her head. ‘I can't. I left a messy relationship at the end of last year and came home looking for a fresh start. I've only just felt ready to date again, but if I'm going to even contemplate a relationship, I need to feel like that person is one hundred per cent committed. You may think we can move on from this, but I need more. I deserve it.'

The disappointment he thought he'd feel at her rebuttal didn't come. All he could do was nod his head and offer another futile apology. ‘You do. And I'm sorry I was just another loser that hurt you.'

‘That's a little dramatic,' she said. ‘Look. We had a few good dates and it didn't work out, but I hope we can still be friends.'

A different kind of relief flooded him. ‘Really? I'd like that. I'm—'

She cut him off, lifting her hand. ‘Don't you dare say sorry again, there's only so much a girl can take.'

He laughed. ‘Okay, point taken.'

Although they tried to move on and continue normal conversation, the meal ended in relative silence and Monty found himself relieved when Ruby got up to leave.

It was over. Over before it had really begun.

He felt wretched—the kind of man he'd never wanted to be— but staring at his beer bottle, he realised it was more due to the way he'd handled the situation and the hurt he'd caused Ruby than to any sense of loss.

Some things just weren't meant to be.

Faith glared at the text message and cursed under her breath. She couldn't believe Simone had cancelled. Now she'd have to go Geraldton to see the caterers alone with Ruby. Monty's love interest had been nothing but helpful since joining the committee, making it difficult for Faith to hold onto her assumptions about her. But how could they be friends when every bit of Faith's heart ached that Ruby was the one Monty wanted?

She sighed at life's unfairness and tossed her phone into her bag on the driver's seat before putting her four-wheel drive into reverse. May as well get it over with. Just as her phone scraped the bottom of her cavernous bag, it started up again. Maybe Ruby couldn't come either. Not glancing at the caller ID, she almost gasped at the male voice on the other end of the line.

‘Hi, Faith.'

Her knees wobbled at the deep, sexy and oh-so-familiar voice. It took a moment for her to collect her emotions and reply.

‘Hi, Monty.' They'd barely spoken lately—he'd been too busy with seeding and Ruby—and now she wondered at the reason for the call. ‘Is something the matter?'

‘Only that I haven't seen my best girl for ages.'

Her heart swelled but she told herself not to read anything into his words. He probably just wanted things back to normal. Whatever normal was.

She forced a laugh. ‘Ruby playing hard to get?'

‘I meant you, silly. I wanted to thank you for ordering those books for me. I've read them all cover to cover.'

‘You're welcome.'

An uneasy silence lingered between them. She wanted to reach down the phone line and pull him to her. It was so obvious he was slowly slipping away, that what they'd done together had caused an irreparable rift, but she couldn't simply forget.

Perhaps I should tell him how I feel
. It couldn't make anything worse than it already was. ‘Monty, I—'

‘Faith! Faith!' A rapping on her window startled her.

She glanced sideways to see her father's face, as red as if he'd just run the circumference of the farm. At first she thought he was angry, but his eyes looked more thoughtful than fuming.

‘I've got to go, Monty. Speak to you soon.' Hoping her father was finally ready to talk, she disconnected, wound down her window and pasted on an encouraging smile. ‘What's up, Dad?'

‘Well, I … I just wanted…' He let out an exasperated sigh and then gestured at the shed in front of her. ‘I need to get your mum's car out, that's what. And you're blocking the way.'

Whatever she'd been expecting, it wasn't that. She raised her eyebrows as she tried to recall the last time anyone had driven her mother's vehicle—an unassuming, faded red Holden wagon. The rego had expired years ago and it probably wouldn't even start.

‘Well? Are you going to sit there all day or are you going to move, so I can get on with mine?'

Faith's eyes prickled with tears at his angry tone, but she didn't want to him to see how much he hurt her. She turned her gaze to the driveway behind her and revved her four-wheel drive. ‘I'm going.'

By the time she arrived in town, she'd almost forgotten why she'd come. All she could think about was how rapidly her life was going down the gurgler. Only as she zoomed past The Ag Store and saw Ruby waiting did she recall her purpose.

Doing a U-turn, Faith pulled the car to the kerb and couldn't help noticing how polished Ruby looked. Was there ever a day she couldn't get her hair and make-up just right? And what was with the flower she always wore in her hair? Today's was a bright red gerbera that perfectly matched her latest-fashion red jeans. The only jeans Faith ever wore were black or blue, but she had to admit, on Ruby, they worked.

‘Thanks for picking me up.' Ruby slid into the car and offered Faith a tentative smile.

Faith tried to return it, hoping Ruby wouldn't notice her red-rimmed eyes or tear-stained cheeks. The last thing she wanted was to discuss her woes with Little Miss Perfect.

Ruby clicked her seatbelt in. ‘Beautiful morning, isn't it?' she said, gesturing out the window to the sunny winter day.

‘Sure is,' Faith managed through clenched teeth. Not wanting to dwell on what might be responsible for Ruby's chirpiness, she slammed her foot onto the accelerator and swerved the car back out onto the main street.

Town was generally quiet at this time of the morning, but it was just her luck that a car happened to be coming in the other direction. She barely noticed it until suddenly a siren whooped and the blue and red lights on its roof flashed.
Police.

Faith's heart started pounding in her chest as she realised she'd been speeding. She immediately slowed the four-wheel drive, but the cop turned around and tailed her nonetheless.
Damnit, could this day get any worse?

‘I think you ought to pull over,' Ruby said as she peered over the passenger seat.

Ya think?
Having vowed to try a little harder with Ruby, Faith swallowed the sarcastic response. ‘I suppose so.' She stopped the car, hoping her pursuer was Sergeant O'Leary, who likely couldn't be bothered with the hassle of writing up a ticket.

No such luck. Looking in the rear-view mirror she saw a tall, dark-haired and commanding presence swaggering towards her.

‘Morning, ladies,' came the cop's clipped British accent as she wound down her window. His badge confirmed him to be the new constable—Drew Noble. ‘Going a bit fast there.'

‘Sorry.'

‘No excuse?' he raised his dark eyebrows.

Faith opened her mouth, preparing to bombard him with excuses, but Ruby leaned across her before she had the chance to reply.

She watched in horrified fascination as her passenger smiled, batted her incredibly long eyelashes and looked up apologetically at the new cop.

‘Sorry, constable, it's probably my fault. Faith and I have a meeting in Geraldton and I slept in this morning, making us late. Faith's usually a very good driver.'

She hadn't known Ruby could be such a convincing liar.

‘Is that so?' He folded his arms, but looked to be battling a smile.

Faith found herself nodding alongside Ruby.

‘I'll need to see your licence.' While Faith dug it out of her purse, he asked, ‘You girls from around here?'

‘Yes,' they replied as one.

He unfolded his arms and studied her licence. After staring long enough to memorise her details, he said, ‘All right then,' and handed it back. ‘Consider this a warning. I see you speeding again, Ms Forrester, not only will I throw the book at you, I'll be watching your every move for as long as I'm in town. There's no room for shenanigans on the road, understand?'

Feeling thoroughly put in her place, Faith nodded and let out a breath of relief as the policeman tipped his head, turned and swaggered back to his vehicle.

‘Geez, he can watch my every move whenever he likes.'

Faith turned to see Ruby fanning her face, which looked like she'd spent a few hours too long in the sun. It was the first time she'd seen this flirtatious side of Ruby, but that wasn't what bothered her.

‘What about Monty?'

Ruby's smile dimmed. ‘What about him?'

Faith raised her eyebrows, her heart stilling in her chest at Ruby's tone. She swallowed but it didn't alleviate her discomfort. Had Monty told her about what they'd done? She decided to play it safe. ‘I thought you guys were seeing each other.'

‘We had a couple of dates,' Ruby replied, ‘but it didn't work out.'

Faith felt as if she'd been holding her breath for weeks and could now breathe. Could she dare to hope Monty's
thing
with Ruby was over? If that were true…

‘I'm so sorry' was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed the lie. She desperately wanted to know why they had split, which one of them had ended things, but they weren't really friends and so it wasn't appropriate to ask.

In the end she said, ‘Monty's a good friend to have.'

‘Apparently.'

But before Faith could ask exactly what Ruby meant by that, the other woman changed the subject.

‘I hope you didn't have a big breakfast. The caterers emailed me the list of what we're going to sample today. We might not have to eat for the next week.'

***

Three hours later, Faith didn't think she'd be able to eat for the rest of the month, let alone the week.

‘That was divine,' Ruby said as Faith leaned over to sign the contract appointing the caterers for the ball.

‘Sure was.' Faith grinned as she handed it back to the owner of the business.

Somehow over the last few hours, they'd settled into easy conversation. With the fun of tasting foods and selecting a menu— they'd decided against a buffet in the end—the tension between them had faded and, Faith had to admit, Ruby wasn't at all like she'd assumed. Although quiet and reserved in most ways, she had a sense of humour much like her own and appeared genuinely enthusiastic about the ball.

They thanked the caterers for a delicious lunch, promised to be in touch, and headed out onto the street. ‘I reckon you stumbled on gold when you found these guys. I can barely walk.' Faith laughed as they started towards the four-wheel drive.

‘I know what you mean.' Ruby rubbed her stomach. ‘I might have to buy a new dress for the big night. Lord knows if I'll fit into the one I planned to wear anymore.'

Faith froze, her keys slapping against her thigh as she halted mid-stride. She'd been so hung up on organising the actual event that the thought of what she'd wear had never even crossed her mind.

‘What's wrong?' Ruby asked.

‘I haven't got a dress yet.' The confession embarrassed her, not only because it showed she wasn't as organised as she wanted everyone to believe but because Ruby likely had a whole wardrobe of suitable possibilities.

Ruby's eyes widened, but she quickly pasted over any shock with a smile. ‘Relax. It's not the end of the world. There's still a few weeks to go. Have you got anything suitable at home?'

Faith all but snorted.

‘Okay, I'll take that as a no. Never mind.' Ruby squeezed Faith's shoulder. ‘There are a few good boutiques in Geraldton, and if there's one thing I do excel at, it's shopping. Come on.'

Before Faith could argue, Ruby was dragging her past the parked four-wheel drive and into the local shopping precinct.

When her mum and Jenni had taken her shopping for a year-twelve ball dress, she'd frustrated them by insisting on wearing a tuxedo. But within moments of stepping into the first boutique, Faith sensed she wasn't going to get away with anything like that this time. In her element amongst the rows of bright-coloured dresses, Ruby scoured the racks like a pro. She looked back and forth—at a dress, then at Faith—plucking seemingly random gowns as she went. Faith became a packhorse, heavily laden until a sales assistant asked if she could put the dresses in a fitting room.

‘Okay, that'll do for a start.' Ruby grinned as she turned Faith towards the fitting rooms.

‘For a start? That'll keep us going for weeks.'

Ruby laughed and Faith found her enthusiasm contagious. She couldn't recall a time she'd gone clothes shopping with a friend. Shopping had just never been her thing, but then again, she'd never had a girlfriend to go with. What would usually be a chore proved to be fun with Ruby there for support and advice.

‘What do you think?' Faith twirled as she stepped out of the change room for the sixth time, now wearing a strapless golden gown that hugged her at the waist and then fell in ruffles to the floor.