Jillaroo from Jacaranda, page 11
Grabbing the bar of Imperial Leather soap, he lathered himself up and rinsed off. Then he shampooed his hair into a mound of foam with his two-in-one and squeezed his eyes shut as he rinsed it out. Humming to himself, he tried to focus on the bliss of his shower, but instead found himself fixated on thoughts of Rose joining him, and what he’d do to her right now if she stepped into the steam with him. He’d take his time lathering her up and easing the tension from her shoulders, then he’d help rinse her off and kiss her from head to toe, pausing at all the places in between that made her gasp and moan. He wanted to hear her cry out in ecstasy as she begged him to go harder, faster, deeper. He craved to be at one with her, be as close as two people could ever get. Not only one time, but time and time again. Oh god, how he wanted to wander over to the cottage and see her again, hear her voice, ask about her day, and watch her smile in that way that made his heart pound faster than a wild horse’s hooves. He wanted to learn everything there was to know about her, so he could make her feel as good as she made him feel. He wanted to feel free to feel things about her, to fall further into her.
But he didn’t want to go falling in love with an unattainable woman. That was the very last thing he needed. But damn, she was gorgeous, inside and out, his angel sent from heaven.
Maybe she had come into his life for a damn good reason. And maybe he was going to regret it if he didn’t make a move in the romantic direction.
Get a goddamn grip, Parker.
Gritting his teeth, he reached for the taps and turned the shower off. He yanked the shower curtain back, stepped out and grabbed his towel. After drying off with determined purpose, he wrapped it around his waist and stomped down the hallway. Searching through his drawers, he chose the bright yellow Minion pyjamas his sister had sent him for his birthday. If they didn’t stop him wandering over to Rose’s cottage, looking like a human banana, nothing would.
An hour later, after demolishing a toasted sandwich and washing it down with an ice-cold beer, Ty was stretched out on the lounge, his feet crossed at the ankles, turning the pages of the self-help book his psychiatrist had given him three sessions ago. It was all about opening up and allowing the vulnerability he was so terrified of to heal him. At some point, he knew this theory had to be put to the test, but he was yet to find the courage to do so, or the person he could trust enough to do it with. Which was crazy in itself. He’d spent years with bullets and rockets firing overhead, watching comrades throw themselves on top of live grenades, carrying bleeding brothers-in-arms through live fire, and although they’d at first done it for their country, it had quickly become a life-or-death situation where they were doing it for each other. An infantryman fights for the man next to him, and that man fights for the man next to him, and on it goes – a war where their number one goal is to see their comrades walk through the doors of the airport safe and sound so they can tumble into the arms of loved ones rather than being sent home in a body bag.
And then there was the other side of the coin. So many of the men and women who had made it home had taken their own lives – casualties of war in the safety of their homes. Ty didn’t want to be another name added to the list. Yes, he’d made it home safe, but not sound. He’d pushed through fears most men would never have to, and he’d been awarded for his bravery with medals he pinned to his jacket. Yet here he was, over a year after losing his father, fighting his own war now, a battle within himself to find the peace and serenity most civilians took for granted.
If he found it, he’d never let it go.
Placing the book down on the coffee table, he came to his feet and wandered over to the window where he’d have the best view of the cottage. No lights shone out into the night now. Unless Rose was sitting in darkness, staring at the star-studded sky, she’d be tucked up in her bed. Smiling to himself with the thought of her at peace, he switched off the lamp and wandered up to bed, wishing he would be climbing in beside Rose. He knew, without a doubt, if that were the case, he’d have the soundest sleep he’d had in forever.
* * *
The strident cock-a-doodle-doo of Colonel the rooster stirred Rose from her sleep, where her dreams weren’t making any sense and she was floating in midair. Blinking open heavy eyes to golden shafts of sunlight sneaking between the parted curtains, she briefly pondered the fact that her reality didn’t make much sense right now either. Nevertheless, she was going to do her best to go with it. What other choice did she have?
Sighing, she rolled over and grabbed her mobile phone from where she’d tossed it on the spare side of the bed at some ungodly hour. She knew she shouldn’t listen to the voice message again, but she couldn’t help herself. Just one more time, she told herself, and then she would delete it. Stabbing the icon for messages, she put it on loudspeaker, placing placed the phone on her quickly rising and falling chest.
‘Hi Rose, it’s me, Finley.’
He sounded more than a little tipsy.
‘Sorry to call you so late, but I’m laying here thinking about how much I miss you. I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but I don’t know if I did the right thing by breaking up with you. It’s just … we were fighting so much, and I didn’t want to argue anymore. I was so confused, and after talking with Mum and Dad, they steered me towards us parting ways. They said it would be for the best, but I’m not so sure about that anymore … Anyway, I wanted you to know that I do still love you. Call me, if you like. Or don’t. It’s up to you.’
Rose hung up, buried her head into a pillow and screamed.
He’d had so much to say, and yet there was not one mention of him being sorry for tearing her world in two, or for smashing her heart to smithereens. Just some lame excuse it was his parents’ fault. Talk about passing the buck. Looking back on their relationship he’d done that with her quite a lot too – it had always been her fault when they’d argued, and it would be her saying sorry to reinstall peace between them. Well, there’d be no more of that. This wasn’t her doing. He was a big boy, with his own mind and if he loved her as much as he was saying, he would never have let her go.
Damn him to hell for continuing to take her on an emotional rollercoaster. She was exiting this ride. She should call him back to tell him so. But would he eventually talk her around to going back to him?
Quite possibly.
As much as she wanted to walk away from him, and their battered and bruised relationship, she had spent many years by his side, some of them happily, so it was easier said than done. Her heart said one thing and her head said another. After countless hours of toing and froing in her head, she was tired of trying to referee over which one was right. Her very first night at Wildstone Station and Finley had ruined it – so much for coming here to heal. If his voice message was anything to go by, he wasn’t going to make it easy. Maybe she should just block his number, so he couldn’t ruin another night’s sleep? It didn’t take her long to decide. Grabbing her phone, she did just that. There, now there was no way for him to steer her in any direction. She was free to make her own mind up, in her own time.
Climbing from the bed, she wandered over to her dressing table, looking to where she’d neatly placed her perfumes, make-up, hair stuff and a photo of her big, wonderful family, taken on Christmas Day. She looked at the tall, handsome man beside her in the photo, his smile as warm and wide as the outback sky on Wildstone Station. She hadn’t noticed before how his hand had been resting so protectively upon her shoulder, nor had she stopped to see just how close he had stood to her. A peaceful sensation filled her flustered heart. The world seriously did work in mysterious ways. Could Ty Parker be the answer to her prayers? A special man sent to help her heal? She liked to believe it, and she was going to make damn sure he knew just how grateful she was for his gracious invitation to stay here.
Bringing her gaze to the mirror, she grimaced. With red-rimmed, puffy eyes and crazy bed hair, she was a sight. It had been well after midnight when she’d finally cried herself to sleep, and even then, it had been fitful. Staring at her reflection in the light of day, she made a quiet promise to stop torturing herself. She needed a stiff upper lip if she was going to enjoy this outback adventure. Her time here was an opportunity to start a new chapter of her life, and she envisioned the story she was about to begin to have a very happy ending.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath then slowly exhaled. She could hear her mum’s voice calming her.
Everything will work out exactly as it’s meant to.
When she opened her eyes again, she shook off the negativity of her restless night before heading for a nice hot shower.
Half an hour later, she headed into the kitchen, humming to herself. A fresh loaf of grain bread was in a cane basket, along with sugar, tea, coffee and a packet of sesame crackers, and the pantry was minimally stacked with the essentials. A quick look in the fridge told her Ty had thought of everything – she had a bowl of eggs, bacon, milk, butter, a crisper drawer filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, deli-style cheese and ham, a fresh pack of sausages and some scotch fillet steak. She almost had to pinch herself – what kind of man thought of such things, let alone went out of his way to buy them? Never in a million years would she have believed she’d land herself in a place so picturesque, with a fellow human being who was as thoughtful as she liked to believe herself to be.
Miracles really did happen.
An hour later, satisfied with her poached eggs on toast and a glass of Milo – milk first then the Aussie staple and never stirred in – and dressed in her denim shorts, a long-sleeve Ariat shirt and her trusty old RM Williams ankle boots, Rose found herself wandering out the front door and down the garden path, her heart feeling a little lighter now she had taken back some control. The smells of livestock, manure, hay and sun-baked earth hung heavily in the still air, and she breathed it all in deeply. First stop was to say good morning to Buck and make sure he’d settled into his new bachelor pad. After that, she was going to go with the flow.
Circling the stables, she found her gallant boy on the opposite side of his paddock, his neck stretched over the fence as he and his neighbour, Gretchen, got better acquainted by nuzzling muzzles. His charming characteristics made her so proud to call him hers. Leaving him with his new girlfriend, she wandered on, each step with a little more bounce, as if metaphorically heading in the right direction. Without a cloud in sight, the cobalt sky seemed to stretch on into forever, as did the rolling countryside of Wildstone Station. Ty certainly owned a piece of paradise – what a lucky man he was to call this captivating place home.
A little way up the track, she reached a paddock with a mammoth bull smack-bang in the middle. He turned to her, his beady eyes fierce and his stance staunch as she stopped to admire his physique. He bellowed and she jumped. Her hand over her racing heart, she chuckled to herself. Just like Heath and GG, Ty was one strong man to deal with one-tonne beasts like this big brute, day in, day out.
‘Nice to meet you too, Mr Bull,’ she called out.
The bull snorted and stomped, then dropped his head. Was he about to charge? Feeling safe with the fencing between them, she stood her ground and watched as he came at her like a freight train, jerking to a sliding stop, as if someone had just pulled a handbrake on, stopping just short of the fence. His neck muscles rippled as he flung his head sideways, throwing snot in her direction. A bit of it landed on her boot tip and she grimaced and wiped it onto the grass at her feet.
‘Okay, alright. I get it. You’re big and tough and very scary.’ Smirking, she shook her head as a sharp sting had her slapping a march fly from her thigh. ‘Bloody hell, talk about everything out here being a little tougher.’ She looked back up to see the bull glaring at her. ‘My god, get over yourself, would you?’ She turned and strode away. ‘Males and their damn testosterone,’ she mumbled to herself.
Reaching a thick part of the surrounding bushland, she had just turned around to make her way back – she didn’t want to risk getting lost in such an unforgiving place – when a chime from her back pocket had her reaching for her mobile. ‘Hey, Mum.’
‘Hi, love. Are you settling in okay?’
‘Yeah, not too bad. How’s everything back home?’
‘Yeah, all good on the home front.’ Molly paused. ‘But there’s some gossip going around town and I wanted to be the one to tell you.’
Rose knew all too well what the bush telegraph could be like in a country town. ‘What kind of gossip?’
‘It’s about Finley.’
Rose sucked in a sharp breath. ‘What about him?’
‘Old Marge at the post office just told me he went home from the pub with Madeline Hew last night.’ Molly’s tone was cautious.
Rage filled her. ‘That son of a bitch.’
‘I’m so sorry, love. I thought you should know.’
Rose looked to the sky. ‘He’s a single man, I suppose, but gee whizz, he didn’t waste any time, did he?’
‘At the very least, you know what kind of man he really is, Rose.’
‘Very true.’ Tears threatening, Rose blinked them away. ‘Can you believe he rang in the middle of the night and left a voice message telling me how much he misses me and that he still loves me?’
‘Ha! More like he slept with Madeline and regretted it afterwards.’ Molly breathed a heavy sigh. ‘Please make sure you focus on yourself while you’re there, and don’t let him get under your skin.’
‘I’ve blocked his number, so he can’t contact me now.’
‘That’s my girl,’ Molly said proudly.
‘Thanks for always having my back, Mum.’
‘Of course.’ A strident beep sounded in the background. ‘Oh, sounds like the grocery delivery is here, so I better run.’
‘Okay. Love you, Mum.’
‘Love you too, with all my heart. Make sure you say hi to Ty for me, won’t you?’
‘I will. Bye, Mum.’
‘Bye, love.’
Pushing her phone back into her pocket, Rose took a moment to let the news of what Finley had done really sink in. He was turning out to be an absolute stranger to her, one she didn’t want a bar of. It made her sick to think he’d spent intimate time with Madeline then called her straight afterwards – what kind of person did such a thing?
Not wanting to dwell on it, she decided to find Ty; his company would be a nice distraction from her thoughts. He’d mentioned he was spending the next couple of days in the training yard with a new horse, so she headed off in that general direction.
Spotting Ty from a distance, his towering silhouette dominating her attention, Rose’s downtrodden spirit lifted. She walked up to the roundyard as unobtrusively as she could, rested against the railings and witnessed Ty in his element. His back to her, Ty’s thumbs were hooked into the pockets of his jeans as he observed the lively mare strutting up and down the fence line, a woman on a mission. With four white socks and a blaze down her forehead, the rescued stockhorse was stunning. He turned away a little more and crouched. The horse halted – Ty’s presence was clearly as powerful to this horse as it was to Rose. A few minutes passed. Rose knew exactly what Ty was doing, having watched her mum work her horse-whispering magic over the years. He was allowing the mare to come to him in her own time. And just as Rose had surmised, the mare bobbed her head then sought him out, as if looking for him to take the lead, so she could follow. It was only when the mare was close enough for him to touch her, that Ty made a few more moments before he gradually came to his feet. Then, with the kindest of touches, he reached out and stroked a gentle hand down the mare’s long, sleek neck. Rose couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his tone was soft and soothing. Oh, how she wished it were she he was touching so tenderly.
A sneeze catching her unawares, she tried to muffle it.
Turning in her direction, Ty pushed the brim of his hat up. ‘Oh, hey, Rose.’ His deep voice carried and somehow slipped right into her. ‘I didn’t see you there.’
‘Hey, Ty.’ She offered a wave as he took steps towards her.
Lifting his sunglasses as he neared her, he rested an arm on the top rung of the fence. ‘You have a good sleep?’
‘Uh-huh.’ She wasn’t about to fill him in on Finley. ‘You?’
‘Yeah, not too bad.’
She squirmed beneath his stare. ‘Do I have something on my face?’ Recalling her glass of cold milk and four heaped teaspoons of Milo, she wiped around her lips.
‘Ha, no, sorry.’ He brought his hand to her arm and gave it a friendly tap. ‘It’s just your eyes. I swear, they’ve changed colour overnight.’
The warmth of his touch travelled straight through her – it was no wonder the mare was putty in his gentle hands. ‘Oh, yeah, sometimes they look green and other times blue.’ Heat flushed from her head to her toes and it took her a moment to compose herself. ‘I’m a bit of a weirdo like that.’
He flashed her a sexy smile. ‘That makes two of us.’
Rose always loved a bit of banter. ‘Well, it’s good to know I’m in like-minded company.’
‘That you most certainly are, Miss Jones.’ He looked to the mare, now stock-still at the centre of the roundyard, then back to her. ‘What do you think of our newest recruit?’
Rose loved the way he’d just said ‘our’. ‘I think she’s stunning.’
Holding her gaze, Ty inhaled a breath, pausing briefly as if savouring the moment. ‘I think so too.’
The playful glint in his eyes made Rose silently question what exactly he was referring to, and the idea that it might be her made her stomach cartwheel. ‘Well, I’d best let you get back to it.’ She hoped to god he didn’t pick up on just how much he could affect her. ‘I’m going to head back to the cottage for a cuppa.’
‘Righto, enjoy the rest of your day, and I’ll catch you later.’ Ty touched the brim of his hat before he turned and wandered back towards the horse.
Unable to tear her eyes from his incredible rump, hugged tightly in his Wrangler jeans, Rose ultimately had to force herself to look away. A groan rose as she strolled towards her home away from home. How in the hell was she meant to keep her cool around him, and keep at a safe distance, for four long weeks? She couldn’t deny the carnal undercurrent running between them, but she would fight off the urge to do anything about it. Life was complicated enough.
