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‘So that’s why you hate us,’ Taryn breathed. She stopped and swung round, planting her hands on her hips. As she raised her eyes to his face, she swallowed. Hard. It was so dark in the forest by now that the granite-hard face under the mass of dark hair looked positively frightening, causing her heart to skip in sudden panic. If he hated her so much...
‘We were trying to help Charley Henderson,’ she offered in her father’s defence, aware that her voice sounded annoyingly husky. ‘The old man was badly in debt and in very poor health. He needed to be closer to town and hospital care. Now he’ll be able to live comfortably for the rest of his life, with the best of medical care at his fingertips.’
‘Oh, I’m sure your father was acting out of the goodness of his heart when he bought that prime piece of land over our heads,’ O’Malley bit back with scorn. ‘What good is it to you? It’s on the other side of the river, with no access from your property!’
‘There will be. We’re building a bridge across the river.’
‘Of course. Naturally. And I’m sure it will be a state-of-the-art concrete bridge too, not a rickety old thing like the one between your property and ours. Which is likely to wash away, incidentally, if we get any more heavy rain. The river normally fades to a trickle once the hot weather starts, but this year it’s flowing like crazy.’
She jerked a careless shoulder. She knew about the old timber bridge over the river, where it ran between the O’Malleys’ property and theirs, but with the ill feeling between the two families it would hardly matter if it did wash away. It was unlikely that either family would want to use it anyway.
‘Talking of heavy rain... ’ O’Malley glanced up at the sky ’...I’d say that’s just what we’re about to get.’
She glanced up too, and stifled a groan. The sky looked even more threatening now, and she could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. She quickened her steps.
‘You didn’t answer my question,’ O’Malley growled from behind. ‘What do you want with Charley Henderson’s land? Do you intend to run cattle there? Horses? Will you be pulling down Henderson’s old house?’
‘My father will be running cattle there. It’s extremely fertile land on Plane Tree Flats, as you must know...in that wide loop of the river. And no, we won’t be pulling down the old house—if it’s any of your business. The young couple we hired to help us run Fernlea will be living there. They’ve been coming from Leongatha every day, but we want them to live here on the property so they can keep a closer eye on the place when we’re not here. Like Smudge does...your father’s right-hand man, who lives on your property.’
She flicked a glance round to add sweetly, ‘I heard about Smudge from the young couple who work for us, not from your father. Your father hasn’t been particularly neighbourly.’ She paused, then asked idly, ‘Does he dislike us because we made a higher offer for Charley Henderson’s old farm? Or does he have a chip on his shoulder about the Conways too...no matter what we do?’
‘Put it this way,’ O’Malley said, his tone curt. ‘Neither of us cares overmuch for weekend hobby farmers. And now you tell me that the Conways, not content with owning Fernlea and Plane Tree Flats, have bought this pine forest as well!’
‘You’re saying that you O’Malleys wanted the pine forest as well as Plane Tree Flats?’
‘If we’d known the Conways were after it,’ came the grating response, ‘we might have tried to prevent the sale. You’re aware, I hope, that it’s an environmental gem in these parts? The residents around here have enjoyed the use of this forest and the old fruit orchard for years. What do you intend to do with it? Raze it to the ground?’
‘Of course not! We want to keep it just the way it is...that’s precisely why we bought it. Our property overlooks the forest. We had no wish to see it logged one day.’
‘Ah! So you bought it so that your pleasant view wouldn’t be spoiled. Of course...why didn’t I guess? Next you’ll be fencing it all off, with padlocked gates, so that nobody else can get near the forest or the orchard. Right?’
‘Wrong!’ She could feel her cheeks burning. Her father had suggested fencing the forest. To protect it, not to keep the neighbours out. ‘The farmers who live around here will be welcome to keep coming up here,’ she spelt out, ‘so long as they’re careful and don’t light fires or drop cigarettes around.’
‘The farmers around here don’t light fires. They protect against fires. They help to maintain the fire breaks around the forest and they watch out for lightning strikes that might start a fire...or for people who shouldn’t be here. That’s why I left my horse in the orchard and followed you. To see what you were up to. Only to find that you Conways have bought the forest and want to keep it to yourselves!’
‘You can still ride up here,’ she protested in a muffled voice. Each word he uttered flayed a sensitive part of her that she’d never realised existed. It had never particularly bothered her before what people thought of her. But for some odd reason—some stupid reason, in light of his attitude—she cared what this man thought.
Because he was a close neighbour? Was that the only reason she cared? All she knew was that, despite his abrasive manner and the giant chip on his shoulder and his obvious loathing of people with money, she didn’t want him to loathe her.
‘You told me I was trespassing,’ he reminded her. She swallowed. ‘I didn’t know who you were then. You—you could have been a firebug, for all I knew.’
They were in the overgrown orchard by now, weaving their way through the old fruit trees...apples, pears, apricots, quinces... even a giant mulberry tree. She glimpsed Ginger ahead, nose to the ground, munching fallen apples. A whinnying sound snapped her head round. Standing nearby, pawing at the ground, was another horse. A magnificent creature with a shiny black coat and a flowing black mane. He seemed high-strung and nervous...spooked, perhaps, by the thunder.
‘No sudden movements,’ O’Malley hissed at her ear. ‘Caesar’s easily startled. He hates storms. Let’s approach nice and easy... You grab your horse first.’
As she approached Ginger, a flash of lightning lit up the pines. Just as she caught the gelding’s reins in her fingers, an explosive bang shook the earth, causing Ginger to jerk back in fright. But this time she had a tight grip on the reins and was able to control him within seconds, patting him and murmuring soothing words.
‘Hey! Come back here!’
Her head whipped round as O’Malley roared at Caesar and lunged forward. But he was too late. Caesar was bolting off down the hill, black mane flying, deaf to O’Malley’s shouts.
She bit her lip, repressing a giggle. She couldn’t help it. Served him right! Now he’d have to walk back...and to reach his father’s dairy farm from here would be a hike-and-a-half on foot!
A moment later her grin was wiped from her lips as the heavens opened and the rain came bucketing down, soaking her to the skin in seconds. Her hair, streaming with water, clung to her shoulders. Watery drops trickled down her neck and inside the collar of her shirt.
O’Malley, looking just as bedraggled, his wild hair now flattened to his head, hiding his heavy eyebrows, cursed audibly. ‘My father should have got rid of that damned horse years ago. Caesar never listens, never does what you want.’
‘You should be soulmates, then,’ she tossed back, unable to resist having another shot at him for ignoring his father’s wishes. ‘I’m sure your father would agree.’
He glowered at her. ‘My father and I—’ he began, and stopped abruptly. She saw an amazing change come over his face. The irate frown dissolved. The chilly eyes took on a soulfully pleading expression, the gruffness in his voice giving way to a playfully wheedling note.
‘You’re not going to make me walk all the way home in this filthy rain, are you?’
CHAPTER TWO
SHE blinked at him. ‘You can’t mean—’ She glanced from O’Malley to the saddle on Ginger’s back. He had to be joking!
‘After all your talk about being neighbourly,’ he cajoled, as another blinding flash lit the sky, ‘I thought you might offer me a ride back to the old timber bridge...through Fernlea. It would take me hours to walk back the long way...the way I came up.’
Thunder rocketed across the valley. Ginger threw up his head, nearly dragging the reins from Taryn’s clutching fingers. She felt O’Malley’s hand on hers as he snatched the reins from her, steadying the horse with an iron grip.
‘We’d better get out of this forest...fast,’ he gritted,
‘before we’re struck by lightning.’ Water was pouring down his face, beading his eyelashes. ‘Are you going to give me a ride or not?’ He appealed to her with the full force of his glittering gaze. ‘Or do you want me to end up with pneumonia...or drowned?’
His shirt was almost transparent, clinging to his tightly muscled chest and powerful arms like a second skin. She tried not to think about what her own sodden shirt might be revealing.
She really had no choice. How could she leave him stranded up here in a thunderstorm, in pouring rain, a long, muddy walk from his home?
‘Let’s go, then,’ she mumbled, blinking away the drops of water gathering on her own lashes.
‘You mount first,’ he said without ado. Not even a ‘thank you’, she noticed. ‘I’ll climb up behind.’
Behind? She could feel her wet cheeks sizzling as he gave her a hand up, then hauled himself up behind her. Far too close behind...his powerful arms curving around her, cocooning her in the relative shelter of his all-too-male, strongly muscled frame.
She swallowed hard, chewing on her lip, fighting down an almost uncontrollable trembling. What was wrong with her? There was nothing personal about this...he was just using her...saving himself a long tramp home in the rain.
‘You hold the reins...I’ll hold onto you,’ O’Malley shouted over the rain, and she nodded, heat still firing her cheeks.
Neither spoke—other than to shout a command or a soothing word at Ginger—as they steered the big gelding out of the orchard, through the dripping pines to the ploughed fire break skirting the forest. Luckily, the carpet of fallen pine needles had prevented the track turning completely to mud, and before long they were heading downhill, following the steep track they would both have taken coming up. It was very slippery and dangerous now, needing all their concentration.
Several times, as Ginger missed his footing and almost fell, she felt O’Malley’s grip tighten round her waist, his strong hands clamping round her like a vice. She wasn’t sure if it was to save her...or himself. She only knew that her breath quickened each time it happened.
Further down the hill the track branched into two...one following the heavily timbered slopes round—way round—to the O’Malleys’ sprawling dairy farm, the other passing through the Conways’ extensive property, which lay spread out over the hills ahead.
‘There’s no sign of your horse,’ Taryn shouted as they crossed a narrow creek—which, she knew, ran into the river further round. The upper part of an old railway carriage had been dumped in the creekbed to form a bridge.
‘Don’t worry about Caesar.’ O’Malley’s deep voice rolled through her. ‘He’s like a homing pigeon. He’ll be back home by now, under shelter. Lucky devil.’
They were climbing again now, water spraying from Ginger’s hooves as the rain continued to tumble down, though at least it was no longer bucketing down in a solid, deafening sheet. The sky remained low and black, with bright flashes from time to time, and rolling thunder in the distance.
Eventually they reached a gate and came to a halt.
‘I’ll open it,’ O’Malley offered, sliding from Ginger’s rump, taking the warmth and comfort of his arms and solid frame with him. Taryn was aware of a slight chill without his sheltering presence close behind her.
As she guided Ginger through the open gate, O’Malley squinted up at her, as if he half expected her to keep on riding, leaving him to shut the gate after her and tramp the long way back to his home on foot. She muffled a sigh as she pulled up and waited for him. How little he thought of her!
She didn’t glance round at him as he mounted behind her after closing the gate. ‘Go, Ginger!’ she urged, almost before O’Malley was settled on the gelding’s back. Her face was taut. He was never going to think well of her—of a Conway—whatever she did. The sooner she was rid of him the better!
Narrowing her eyes against the rain, she saw the house and outbuildings ahead, partially masked by a row of huge cypresses. She was longing to get out of the soaking rain into clean dry clothes...longing to get back to the privacy and tranquillity of her comfortable country home. But she knew she’d have to take O’Malley to his home first, taking the short cut to his property across the old timber bridge over the river, down the hill below Fernlea.
She needn’t, she decided, take him all the way to his house, which she knew was way up on the crest of the hill. As soon as she was reasonably close, she would drop him off, turn tail, and go. They’d both be glad to see the back of each other!
But would she really be glad, deep down? She chewed on her lip. If only he weren’t so...so infuriatingly, heart-tuggingly attractive. If only her mind wasn’t seething with questions about him. Why had he come back? How long did he intend to stay? Had he changed his mind about dairy farming and decided to come home for good?
If he had, he would be her neighbour. A close neighbour.
Once he came to know her better, would he bury his prejudices and grievances against the Conways? Would his father? Or would they both remain antagonistic...persisting with this pernicious, rather puerile O’Malley-Conway feud?
Neither attempted to make conversation as Ginger ploughed on in the rain, heading towards the old timber bridge over the river now, rather than the sheltering haven of Fernlea. They needed to concentrate on where they were treading, and besides, the rain running into their eyes and mouths made normal conversation difficult.
When they finally came in sight of the oak-lined river, Taryn let out an audible groan.
‘The bridge! What’s happened to it?’
Stupid question. It was obvious that the rain—or rather, the gushing torrent—had swept away the rotting timber supports that had once spanned the river, leaving only a few straggly pieces of wood behind. If the river hadn’t been running so high, or so fiercely, it might have been possible for an athletic man to cross it by leaping from log to log, but at the moment it was impassable!
‘What are you going to do?’ she croaked, deliberately not saying ‘we’. This was O’Malley’s problem, not hers. It would take him hours to tramp back the way he’d come, along the track below the forest...and even longer by road, without a car.
‘If you’ll take me back to your house, Miss Conway,’ O’Malley suggested coolly, ‘I’ll call my father—if you’ll permit me—and ask him to come and pick me up in the ute.’
Her head snapped round. ‘You can’t expect your father to drive all the way here in this weather! It’ll be too hard to see. Too dangerous. He might run off the road.’
For a brief second their eyes met. She caught a faint gleam in the sharp blue. ‘Well...when the rain eases off a bit,’ he compromised. ‘If you won’t mind giving me shelter in the meantime.’
She turned away sharply so that he couldn’t see how appalled she was at the idea of sheltering O’Malley in her home until the rain stopped. That might be hours! It was late afternoon already.
‘I’ll run you home myself,’ she rapped out, ‘in the four-wheel drive. It’s in the garage...this way.’ Jerking at the reins, she prodded Ginger with her knees.
‘No, you won’t.’ O’Malley’s voice rumbled at her ear. ‘The roads will be awash right now...especially the unsealed sections. If it’s too dangerous for my father, it will be too dangerous for you.’
‘I’m much younger than your—’
‘Forget it. Look, let’s just get out of this rain. We’ll fight it out later.’
For the second time that afternoon, she had no choice. He was right. The sooner they were out of this lousy rain the better. She wasn’t even warm any more, despite the humidity in the air. She could feel the dampness chilling her to the bone.
With a shrug, she pointed Ginger in the direction of the stables...an old two-storey barn which had been there, she’d learned from old photographs they’d found in a cupboard, for as long as the house. The building was in need of repair, like everything else, but provided adequate shelter meantime, and the roomy loft above, when done up, would make ideal accommodation for guests or future stable hands.
Once there, she was tempted to stay put. The stables seemed safer, somehow, than the house, and at least they were under cover, out of the rain. She looked hopefully up at the sky, but there was no sign as yet of any lightening in the cloud cover, or any real slackening in the rain.
‘Are we going to make a dash for the house?’ O’Malley said finally. ‘You should get out of those wet clothes. I’ll stay out on the verandah if you don’t want to invite me in.’
You should get out of those wet clothes...
Her eyes leapt to his. What did she expect to see? A leer? Carnal intent? A lecherous glint as his imagination went haywire, evoking images of her removing her sodden shirt and jeans?
All she saw was cool, dispassionate reason. He was right. Again. As usual.
‘Right,’ she mumbled. ‘P-perhaps you’d like some coffee while we’re waiting for the rain to—’ she nearly said ‘stop’, but that might take hours ‘—to ease off,’ she said instead.
‘Thanks. Let’s make a dash, then,’ he rapped, and they both sprinted towards the house, not pausing until they reached the vine-covered verandah.
She hesitated as she thrust her key in the kitchen door. ‘Do you want me to bring your coffee out to you?’ she asked in a stilted voice. How could she invite him inside? Not only was he dripping wet, but her parents would have a fit if they found out she’d invited a virtual stranger into the house while she was down here alone. He might be the son of a neighbour, but he was still a stranger. And being an O’Malley, a hostile stranger.
‘I don’t suppose you’d have a clothes dryer?’ O’Malley enquired hopefully.
Her throat went dry. ‘Why?’ she asked warily, hoping he didn’t mean what she thought he meant. But what else could he mean?
‘Have you? I can’t imagine the Conways not having all mod cons.’
She sucked in a deep, quivering breath. Another sly dig at the Conways! He just couldn’t resist. She glowered up at him. ‘We have...as a matter of fact. But if you think—’
‘What I’d really like,’ O’Malley cut in, spreading his hands as if to say, Look at me...look at the state I’m in, ‘is a shower...if you have a spare one in a back room or outhouse somewhere. These wet clothes feel damned uncomfortable. You could throw my clothes in the dryer and they’d be dry by the time we’d finished our coffee.’
A suffocating sensation threatened to crush her, to squeeze all the air from her lungs. ‘You—you intend to get undressed?’ She stared at him. Trying not to imagine how he’d look if he did. A sight to behold, she traitorously thought, heat flaming through her.
He’s an O’Malley, she thought wildly. He despises you and everything you stand for. He won’t try anything.
Or maybe that was the very reason he would!
‘It would be difficult to dry my wet clothes without undressing first,’ he pointed out reasonably. ‘Naturally, I’d disrobe in private.’ His eyes glinted wickedly, as if he’d read her mind a second ago.
‘I should hope so!’ she hissed, thinning her lips and glaring at him to hide the burning mortification she felt inside. ‘Th-there’s a shower in the washroom...just along the verandah, second door along. You can use that. Wait here and I’ll unlock the door from inside.’
As she kicked off her muddy boots and let herself into the kitchen, he called after her. ‘I’d be grateful if you’d lend me a towel. An old one will do. And maybe...’ amused irony licked through his voice ‘...one of your father’s monogrammed smoking jackets, if that would be less likely to offend your sensibilities.’
She paused, gritting her teeth. She didn’t trust herself to turn round. She knew his eyes would be mocking her, if not openly laughing at her.
‘The chip on your shoulder’s showing again,’ she snapped. ‘Or is it envy? You have a secret longing for a monogrammed smoking jacket? I’ll see what I can find!’ She let the door slam behind her.
A few minutes later she jerked open the outer washroom door. Peeking out, she saw O’Malley patiently waiting on the verandah, lolling against one of the vineclad timber posts.
‘You can come in now.’ Avoiding his eye as he strode towards her, she thrust a bulging sports bag at him. ‘You’ll find a towel and something to wear in here.’ She kept her head down to hide the mischievous glint in her eye.
‘Thanks, ma’am. This is real neighbourly of you.’
Was that another dig? Or an apology of sorts...knowing that his father was less than neighbourly and wouldn’t even speak to them?
