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‘It was heartbreaking to watch her try to please them … but she never seemed to be able to. It made me so mad. I’d look at her sometimes and there was such confusion written on her face. I know it certainly affected her confidence.’
‘But being a model must make her pretty confident?’
Juliet raised an eyebrow. ‘Looks can be deceiving. But yes, she’s better these days. She has a couple of very good friends. And she has me.’
‘So, there’s just the two of you?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did you say her name was?’
‘Hero.’
Pete paused. ‘Your parents really liked Shakespeare, didn’t they?’
Juliet laughed. ‘Yes.’
‘So she made it through school with that name?’
‘We went to quite a posh school. Unusual names were par for the course.’
Pete nodded.
Juliet continued, ‘Actually, it’s been useful with her chosen career.’
‘Easy to remember.’
‘Hard to forget a Hero!’ Juliet laughed.
‘So why Australia, apart from the fact it was somewhere sunny? Or was that our sole attraction?’
‘My father was Australian. Hero and I both have dual citizenship. We were born here but left young to be educated in England whilst my parents had various postings all over the world. I’ve not been back so I thought it was about time I spent some time out here myself.’
Pete sat up. Juliet followed and touched his arm.
‘Pete? Are you all right?’
‘Would you consider spending some more time out here?’
‘I don’t really know. I’d planned on staying about a year and then seeing—’
‘I mean out here.’ Pete waved an arm to take in the Websters’ land. ‘I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, being a bit remote like this but …’
Juliet shifted position on the rug. ‘What exactly are you saying?’
‘Juliet, will you marry me?’ He paused, and then made to push away. ‘What was I thinking? I should have done all this properly. You’re not just some—’
‘Yes!’
‘What?’
‘Yes!’ Juliet laughed, catching his hand, and holding it up to her face. ‘I will marry you.’
Pete felt his legs give way and flopped back onto the rug from the kneeling position he’d been in. He landed on his backside, and Juliet grinned, moving across the rug and plopping herself down on his lap.
‘You seem surprised.’
‘I am a bit.’
‘At me saying yes, or the fact that you asked me?’
‘Both. I think.’
Her face clouded a little. ‘Do you want to take it back?’
‘No!’ he said, reaching for her, and pulling her close. ‘God, no!’
‘Then what’s the problem?’
‘I just – you deserve a better proposal than in the middle of a paddock on a lumpy old rug.’
Juliet smiled and raised her eyebrows. ‘Actually, I think it’s pretty much perfect.’
Pete recognised the smile and pulled her closer still.
‘Is that so?’
‘Very much so.’
Pete dipped his head, brushing the warm, soft lips of his fiancée as her fingers began working quickly at the buttons on his shirt.
***
‘Here we are,’ Pete announced as they pulled into the long driveway. A sign told them that they had reached ‘Hill Station’.
Hero peered through the dusty windows of the vehicle and looked around. ‘Where’s the hill?’
‘Sorry?’
‘The sign said “Hill Station”, but there’s no … hill.’ She tailed off, suddenly feeling stupid for voicing the question.
Pete smiled at her in the mirror. ‘You’d be amazed at how many people don’t even notice that.’
‘Really?’ Hero asked.
Pete’s eyes flicked back up to the mirror and in that second, he saw everything he needed to. Under that apparently confident exterior was the girl his fiancée adored. For a split second, he saw through the mask, heard the hint of real pleasure in her voice at his compliment. Pete glanced back again but the childlike glint of delight had gone.
‘The name’s kind of a joke. My parents are Jack and Gillian. When they took over the station, it didn’t have a great reputation so they wanted to change the name, do away with the stigma. One night in the pub, some bright spark said something about Jack and Jill going up the hill, and it kind of stuck.’
Hero was peering out through the dusty glass of the window as the evening sun lowered itself behind the horizon, making way for dusk to wind its way over the land.
‘Jack and Gill went up the hill,’ she said softly, smiling.
Juliet cast a glance at her sister and then at Pete. He met her eyes and smiled, with an almost imperceptible nod. She smiled back and released the breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding. The two people she adored most in this world were right here and she hadn’t realised how anxious she had been for their meeting to go well until that moment. But her fiancé’s gesture told her all she needed to know.
Nick Webster watched the visitor exit the 4x4, her movements fluid. She stood for a moment and looked about her as his brother moved to the rear of the vehicle to deal with the luggage. Nick’s grooming of the mare’s coat slowed as he studied their guest. She was certainly taller than her sister and undeniably beautiful. Pete had mentioned something about her being some hotshot in the modelling world. Nick had let the comment roll off. Fame didn’t impress Nick. People impressed him – what they did, not who they were. The brush came to a stop and Nick felt a nudge on his shoulder from the mare.
‘Yeah, yeah. All right,’ he soothed, taking up the motion again, his eyes never leaving the new arrival.
Juliet was showing Hero the land, pointing in various directions. Nick watched the weak remnants of the evening sun catch subtle highlights in the sleek, swinging sheet of hair. They were looking towards the west now, gazing at the low fire of the setting sun. Long, elegant fingers reached up and dropped sunglasses down in front of her eyes, freeing the hair they had secured. As he watched, she reached into the bag swinging off her lower arm and pulled out a mobile phone. Nick’s mouth twitched in a smile.
‘Good luck with getting a signal on that,’ he said under his breath.
Chapter 3 (#u8f0fa498-5fe0-5ae0-9205-5f2c44d4037e)
The two women walked towards the house. Juliet’s words carried gently on the same breeze that ruffled Nick’s shirt and hair and he smiled at the excitement in her voice. From the corner of his eye, he saw his parents emerge from the coolness of the house and step out on the verandah to meet their new guest. His mother hurried towards the two, followed at a more leisurely pace by his father. Pete had now re-joined them after retrieving the luggage from the car. Nick watched as Juliet’s sister pushed her sunglasses back up onto her head and held out her hand. His mother took it, and then swept her into a huge hug. The visitor had her back to Nick, so her reaction to his mother’s normal, effusive display of emotion couldn’t be seen by him but he saw Juliet subtly take her sister’s hand and squeeze it.
Jack was now introduced. He was a man not given to overt shows of emotion, but he shook the young woman’s hand and smiled as she said something. Nick blinked in surprise, watching as his father placed his other hand on top of their linked ones for a moment and, smiling, spoke some more to the new arrival. For Jack, that action was the equivalent of a massive hug.
‘Guess she has a way of making people think she’s something pretty special, eh girl?’
The mare bumped Nick’s shoulder and rubbed her nose up and down, causing him to stagger a little.
‘Oi. I’m not your scratching post,’ he laughed, moving away.
‘Well, that’s all of us, except Joe and Nick. Joe’s still out with his dad at the moment but Nick should be around …’ Gill’s words drifted off as she scanned the surroundings for her youngest son.
‘There he is.’ Gill spotted him. ‘Nick!’ She hollered across the yard.
Nick poked his head around the mare’s neck and saw his mum waving him in energetically. He raised a hand in acknowledgement and gave the mare a final check before leading her back towards the stable block.
Gill was just pouring out the tea as he entered the kitchen. The others were all seated at the worn pine table that made up the heart of the kitchen. Nick walked straight to the sink and began washing his hands.
‘Tea, love?’
‘Please.’
Gill topped off the final mug as she announced Nick’s arrival. ‘And this is Nick, our youngest.’
Nick turned around to find himself looking into vibrant green cat-like eyes. They were the same as Juliet’s but different. Under the blonde bobbing curls, Juliet’s sparkled with mischief, whilst her sister’s, framed by the sheet of dark glossy hair, had an intensity that made him catch his breath.
‘Nick, this is Hero, Juliet’s sister.’
‘Pleased to meet you.’ Her voice was soft, and the accent crisp.
Nick shook her hand and smiled. ‘G’day.’
Hero held his gaze for a moment. There was a flicker of a smile before she dropped her eyes. Nick cast a private glance at Pete whose brief nod in return told him everything was good.
Nick wished he could be as sure as his brother. Something about Hero Scott already bothered him, although she’d only been there five minutes. The last thing his brother, or any of them, needed right now was some diva model swanning around and expecting to be waited on hand and foot. Typical that the first thing she did was check her phone for service, he thought, wondering just how many selfies she had taken in the car.
Nick stole another glance. This woman was certainly different from her sister, with none of the ease and openness that drew people to Juliet. He already thought of Juliet as a sister. But Hero? That act of cool aloofness she had going on already had him rubbed up the wrong way. He’d seen that moment of hesitation before she took his proffered hand as his mum introduced them. He guessed it was pretty unlikely she’d had many dealings with men who worked the land to make their income. More likely she surrounded herself with alphabet celebrities and wealthy hedgefunders, with the occasional titled aristocrat or two, just to mix it up a bit.
After seeing that everyone had a drink and assuring them all that dinner wouldn’t be too long, Gill soon began talking weddings again with the girls. Nick took a seat next to his dad, and kept his gaze purposely diverted from the supermodel.
***
Dawn was breaking as Hero sat in one of the rocking chairs on the large wraparound porch of the house. She’d slept well, surprisingly for her. Not being a great sleeper, she had expected to toss and turn as she usually did, but after a soothing shower and in the homely comfort of the Websters’ guestroom, she could barely remember her head touching the pillow last night. But thanks to jetlag, her body was totally out of sync so after half an hour of lying awake early this morning, thoughts racing, she’d got up, done her teeth and make-up and then pulled on an easy-to-wear maxi dress she’d been given by one of the designers – which one exactly escaped her memory – before walking quietly down the stairs and heading outside. The air was still cool at this time, and it felt fresh and clean. Hero tried to remember the last time she had smelled air like this, and failed. Streaks of orange, purple, and blue mixed in the sky as the sun tentatively poked its head above the horizon. She sat and watched, for once not thinking about the next item on her schedule. Here, she had no schedule. She repeated that thought and smiled. The patter of a dog’s toenails caused her to look up and her smile became wider as the collie, Biscuit, scooted up to her and laid his head in her lap.
‘Good morning to you too!’ she said, her voice even softer than it usually was in deference to the still sleeping household. The collie wriggled, his tail beating faster and faster at the attention.
‘Biscuit, stop bothering the guests.’
‘Oh, he’s really n…’ Hero looked up as she spoke, her hand still stroking the collie’s head as he gazed up at her with adoring, bright blue eyes. She faltered as she realised the request had come from Nick Webster. Something about this man unsettled her and had done since the moment they’d met. The smile he’d given her as they were introduced yesterday was the last she’d seen from him, at least the last in her direction anyway. Then, as now, he had a detachment about him.
Hero cleared her throat. ‘He’s not bothering me at all.’ She tried to smile but suddenly struggled with something she could usually do on cue for camera, feeling self-conscious and awkward. Nick said nothing.
‘I…’ Nervously, she cleared her throat again. ‘I always think it would be nice to have a pet. But I know it wouldn’t be fair to an animal with the amount of travelling I do.’
‘He’s not a pet. He’s a working dog.’
‘Oh. Oh yes, well, of course. I didn’t mean …’ Hero trailed off, suddenly unsure what she meant.
The dog turned and sat down, his body pushed as close to Hero as he could get it, relishing the attention. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nick give a shake of his head.
‘I guess he heard you were a celebrity too. As you can imagine, we don’t tend to get a lot of those around here.’
‘I’m not a celebrity,’ Hero replied.
Nick tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. ‘Sure you’re not. I’m making coffee. Do you want one? Biscuit, come here.’
The dog padded over quickly to his master.
‘I don’t want to put you out.’
Nick shrugged. ‘I’m making coffee anyway. One more is no big deal.’ He turned and walked off down the porch, disappearing into the kitchen.
Hero took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she’d been taught in her Pilates class. It was supposed to help you relax, but right now it wasn’t really helping anything. Nick Webster’s presence seemed far stronger than any relaxation techniques she’d learned. And she had no idea why. Yes, he was tall, and good-looking and that dark shadow of stubble on his jaw this morning did nothing to diminish that fact. In truth, it only enhanced it. But so what? It wasn’t like Hero didn’t mix with good-looking people very often. Her world was practically made up of beautiful people, and none of them had ever caused the tight, fluttery feeling in her stomach before. And certainly, none of them had made her stumble over her words like a teenager before. She took another breath and began to feel her pulse rate slow. His comment about celebrity floated in her head, as did the slight disdain she detected in his voice as he’d said it.
Pushing herself up off the chair, she turned and followed the way he’d gone. As she got to the door, she hesitated. Inside she saw Nick crouched down, grinning as he ruffled the dog’s fur up and down and Biscuit thumped his tail in delight.
Not a pet, huh?
Hero gently rattled the door handle a little more than she needed to, alerting Nick to her presence. He stood quickly, picking up the dog’s empty breakfast bowl as he did, transferring it to the dishwasher.
‘Coffee’s there.’ He pointed to one of the two sunny yellow mugs now sat on the worktop. ‘I didn’t know if you took sugar or not, but it’s there on the side if you do.’
‘No. Thank you.’
