Appointment At The Altar

But how could she insist that Kevin drive her back tonight? The other stockmen would have to come too, as they only had the one truck, and they would all miss the party. They had few enough social occasions to look forward to, Lucy knew. It wouldn’t be fair to them.

She had promised Hal. It wouldn’t be fair to him not to go.

‘I don’t know what to do, Kevin,’ she said helplessly. ‘I’d love to stay, honestly I would, but I did say that I would go back tonight. If I’d known…’

It was at that moment that Guy came strolling up, as pristine as ever. It looked as if he had hardly broken a sweat on that horse in the crushing heat. Lucy eyed him with deep resentment. He could at least have had the decency to fall off. At least then he would look dirty and normal like everyone else.

As it was, she was convinced with no justification whatsoever that the mess she had found herself in was somehow his fault.

‘Satisfied, Cinders?’ he asked with a glinting smile.

Lucy gritted her teeth. ‘Yes,’ she said tersely.

‘You were good,’ said Kevin. ‘You going in for anything else?’

Guy shook his head. ‘I’m challenged out,’ he said with an amused glance at Lucy. ‘I thought I’d head back to Wirrindago now. Hal could do with a bit of support. For a man who can move a thousand head of cattle around without a blink, he seems unnerved by the thought of two children. But I can’t say I blame him!’

‘Maybe Guy would give you a lift back, Lucy,’ said Kevin, and Guy lifted an eyebrow at Lucy in surprise.

‘Aren’t you staying for the ball, Cinders?’

‘It’s not a ball.’ Kevin was bemused. ‘It’s just a party.’

Lucy was too disappointed to explain. She knew he was only trying to help, but he hadn’t even tried to persuade her to stay, and now he was going to offload her on to Guy Dangerfield, of all people!

‘I told Hal I’d be back tonight,’ she admitted to Guy, almost choking on the words. ‘I didn’t realise that everyone else would be staying.’

‘I’m sure Hal would understand if you wanted to go to the party,’ said Guy, who appeared to be able to read her expression without difficulty. ‘It’s not like you’ll really be reduced to rags if you’re here after midnight! I’ll tell him what’s happened, and Kevin can bring you back with the others tomorrow morning.’

‘It’s all right, thank you,’ said Lucy, frigidly polite. She had no intention of enjoying a romantic evening courtesy of Guy, even if she had been sure that Kevin would think to take her down to the creek in the starlight. He certainly didn’t seem to be making any effort to persuade her to stay, she thought glumly. Perhaps he didn’t like her as much as she had hoped?

‘I made a promise,’ she said, ‘and I’ll keep it.’

‘Good girl.’ Guy nodded approvingly. ‘I can’t say I’d mind having some company on the way back,’ he added. ‘It’s a long drive on your own. The pumpkin’s ready whenever you are, Cinders.’

Lucy cast a last longing look at the woolshed. Tonight it would be throbbing with music and laughter, and the old wooden floor would reverberate with dancing feet. The smell of beer would mingle with the smoke from the barbecue, and the light would spill out through the great doors into the vast, silent outback night. It would be the kind of party she had always dreamed of.

And she wouldn’t be there. Kevin would be dancing with a nice Australian girl who could talk horses with him, and she would be stuck with the only Englishman for hundreds of miles around. She could have wept with disappointment, but she had given her word to Hal and there was nothing she could do about it now.

She sighed. ‘I’m ready now,’ she said.

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS a silent drive at first. To Lucy’s relief, Guy didn’t try to make conversation. If she hadn’t already decided that he was unbearably arrogant and conceited, she might have thought that he was being sensitive about her disappointment. He didn’t tease her about not going to the ball, as she had half expected that he would, but let her stare miserably out of the window and think about Kevin and all the other girls he might be dancing with in the woolshed that night.

With a sigh, she took off her hat and ran her fingers through her flattened hair so that it fell, blonde and dishevelled now, to her shoulders. Glancing at Guy under her lashes, she saw that he was watching her with an unreadable expression and, for some reason, she found herself blushing.

‘You know, you could have stayed,’ he said. ‘Hal would have understood.’

‘I know, but I’d given him my word.’ Aware that she was being self-indulgent, Lucy made an effort to pull herself together. None of this was actually Guy’s fault, she realised, and he was her employer’s cousin. It might be a little late to start being polite, but she could always try. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not being much company,’ she said and mustered a smile. ‘I’m not usually this miserable.’

‘I know,’ said Guy. ‘I’ve been struck by what an extraordinarily happy person you are. Most girls your age would grumble about being stuck in an isolated homestead all day with nothing to do but cook and clean for a bunch of taciturn men and nowhere to go in the evenings, but you seem to love it.’

‘I do love it.’ Lucy was surprised that he thought that there was anything odd about it. ‘It’s all so romantic! Exactly how I always imagined the outback to be! I can’t believe how lucky I am to be here.’

‘It’s just that you give the impression of being a girl who likes to have fun,’ he said, his eyes on the dirt track that ran arrow straight through the red dust to the horizon. ‘I could see how disappointed you were not to be able to go to the party tonight.’

Lucy eyed him uncertainly, not quite sure how to take him when he wasn’t making fun of her. ‘I do love a party, but I don’t mind the isolation.’

She didn’t mind anything as long as Kevin was there. If he’d been beside her instead of Guy, she wouldn’t have given two hoots about the party. As it was, she couldn’t help wondering who he was with and what he was doing.

‘Maybe living so quietly makes you appreciate social events more,’ she said. ‘I’m glad I didn’t have to make all the men come back with me. They don’t get to go out much, and they’ll have a great time. It won’t matter to them if I’m there or not.’

Guy cast her a glance, evidently not in the least fooled by her bright smile. ‘Kevin isn’t going to get together with anyone else tonight, if that’s what’s worrying you,’ he said.

‘How can you know?’ Lucy abandoned the pretence that she wasn’t worried.

‘Hey, Prince Charming never settles for anyone less than Cinderella, right?’

Lucy wasn’t reassured. ‘There might be someone more suitable there.’ She turned the hat wistfully in her hands. ‘I wish I wasn’t so English,’ she confessed in a low voice.

‘Come on,’ said Guy as the truck juddered over a rough patch in the track. ‘Kevin may not be the most talkative guy in the world, but he’s a man, and you’re a very pretty girl, as I’m sure you must know. He’s not going to be interested in suitable when he’s got you.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ she said, chewing anxiously at the side of her thumb. ‘It’s hard to tell with Kevin,’ she went on in a burst of confidence, even though part of her was marvelling that she was actually talking to Guy—Guy, of all people!—like this.

It must be something about being shut up together in the front seat of the truck, she decided. The cab made for an oddly intimate environment, especially when you were driving across the outback and there was nothing to distract you and no one else around for miles and miles and miles. There wasn’t much else to do but talk.

‘I just don’t know what he feels about me.’ She sighed.

‘It’s hard to tell with someone like Kevin, I agree,’ said Guy. ‘Not like you.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re obviously not a believer in keeping your feelings to yourself,’ he said with a touch of irony. ‘It’s not very British of you, but I kind of like it.’

Lucy flushed. ‘I’m in love with Kevin,’ she said, and her glance held more than a hint of defiance. ‘Why should I try and deny it?’

‘No reason,’ said Guy mildly.

‘My sister thinks you ought to keep everything bottled up inside,’ she went on, a little deflated by his lack of response. ‘But if you love someone, why not say it? Why should you be ashamed of your feelings?’

‘You shouldn’t,’ he said, ‘but sometimes it’s worth keeping them to yourself until you’re absolutely sure that is how you feel.’

‘You sound like Meredith.’ Lucy hunched a shoulder. ‘I am sure how I feel about Kevin. Why shouldn’t I be?’

Guy shrugged. ‘You don’t need to justify yourself to me,’ he pointed out. ‘Kevin seems a nice enough bloke, even if he hasn’t got much to say for himself. I just wonder how much fun you’ll have with him. I mean, what do you talk about when you’re together?’

Lucy didn’t want to admit that she was rarely alone with Kevin. The Wirrindago homestead might be isolated in the middle of a million acres but there was surprisingly little privacy. The stockmen worked together, ate in the homestead together and then retired to their communal quarters. It was hard to find an opportunity to slip off on your own, or rather with someone else, but if anything, that had only made Lucy yearn for Kevin even more.

She had fallen in love with him on her first evening at Wirrindago. He had walked on to the veranda, a dream come true in his checked shirt and boots and rugged male attraction, and Lucy had been lost. He was perfect, her dream of living forever in the outback with him was perfect, and she didn’t want Guy Dangerfield casting doubt on it.

‘When you’re really in love, nothing else matters,’ she said loftily. ‘It’s not about making conversation. It’s about being together and loving each other.’

‘If you say so,’ said Guy, clearly unconvinced. ‘It can be a lonely life in the outback, though.’

‘Not if I’m with Kevin.’ Lucy was uncomfortably aware that she was making her relationship with Kevin seem rather more established than it was, but it was a point of principle more than anything else. ‘You dreamed about being a rodeo rider,’ she said. ‘Well, this is my dream.’

She shook back her hair defiantly, and Guy sent her a sideways glance.

‘I grew out of that particular fantasy,’ he pointed out. ‘About…oooh…eighteen years ago.’

‘And have you never had a fantasy since?’

As soon as the words were out, Lucy wished that she had phrased it differently. She saw the corner of Guy’s mouth twitch, and she felt a flush creeping up her cheeks at the unwitting suggestiveness of her question. ‘You know what I mean,’ she snapped. ‘A dream. You’re not going to tell me that you don’t dream any more, are you?’

‘No.’

Lucy half turned in her seat, suddenly curious. Guy might give the impression of being very open and friendly, but behind that lazily good-humoured expression it was hard to know what he really felt about anything. ‘So what do you dream about now, if it’s not rodeo riding?’ she asked.

Guy’s smile gleamed. ‘I don’t think I know you well enough to tell you that, Lucy,’ he said. ‘I’m with your sister on that one, I have to admit. Some fantasies are best kept to oneself!’

Lucy gripped her tongue between her teeth as she smeared chocolate icing over the top of the cake. Ostensibly it was for afternoon smoko, but really she had made it for Kevin. Chocolate cake was his favourite, so she made it as often as she could.

She was feeling very happy today. Kevin had actually said that he had missed her at the party after the rodeo, and Lucy hugged the memory of his laconic comment to her as if it had been the most passionate declaration of love. A man like Kevin wasn’t going to rush into anything, she reminded herself frequently, so admitting that he had missed her was a big step.

It was a start, anyway.

Even better, Guy Dangerfield was leaving at last. His mother was having a double hip replacement, he had explained, and he needed to fly back to London the next day so that he could be around to help her after the operation.

Lucy would be relieved to see him go. It wasn’t that he had been about the place that much. If anything, she had seen less of him since that drive back from the rodeo, but she had been uncomfortably aware of him at meals, when his smile kept snagging at the edge of her vision, and his voice with its undercurrent of laughter was somehow impossible to ignore, even if he was talking at the other end of the table.

She wished she hadn’t told him quite so much about herself, although Guy had never mentioned their conversation again. At odd times, Lucy would find herself thinking about how he had looked on that drive, and remembering things that she hadn’t even been aware of noticing at the time.

Like his hands, strong and square on the steering wheel, or the line of his jaw. Like the texture of his skin, his throat brown above the white collar. Like the curl of his mouth and the gleam of his smile.

And then she would remember how easily he had swung on to that horse and a strange feeling would uncurl in the pit of her stomach.

It all made her feel very unsettled. Lucy tried reminding herself how irritating he had been, and the annoying way he would insist on calling her Cinderella, and she told herself she was glad that he didn’t come into the kitchen to chat any more, but she couldn’t help feeling just a little piqued when he just waved a greeting on his way past and left her alone.

Wondering why she should care at all just made her more unsettled. It was a very good thing that Guy was going, she decided as she put the finishing touches to the cake. Tomorrow she would be able to relax at last, without the constant distraction of Guy’s presence, and maybe there would be a chance to spend more time with Kevin.

Not that there was any time to spend on building a quality relationship at the moment. Hal’s sister had brought her children, Emma and Mickey, to stay before flying out to join her husband on a two-month business tour, and they were having a hard time adjusting.

Lucy felt sorry for them. She knew what it was like to be homesick, having been sent to boarding school at seven, but she had had her big sister, Meredith, to look after her. Emma, at nine, didn’t seem nearly as practical as Meredith, or as devoted to looking after her younger brother, so Lucy was doing her best to keep them entertained in between making sure there were meals on the table three times a day.

Right now, the two of them were on the front veranda, playing some computer game, but she would go and suggest they play a game of cards or something as soon as she had cleared up the kitchen.

Brushing cocoa from her jeans, she glanced at the kitchen clock. Hal should be back soon. He had driven into Whyman’s Creek earlier that morning and she had given him a whole list of ingredients to pick up from the store.

Lucy put the cake to one side and regarded the mess she had made with a sigh. She was an exuberant cook and she had never got the hang of washing up as she went along. She always put off the moment of tidying up as long as she could.

‘Uncle Hal’s here!’

Emma’s cry from the front veranda made Lucy brighten at the perfect excuse to avoid tackling the mess for a while. Wiping her hands on a tea towel, she hurried along the corridor to help Hal unload.

The front door stood open, but a screen door kept out the insects. It fell into place with a clatter after Lucy exited and made for the steps leading down to where Hal had parked the truck. She saw his tall figure first, and then noticed with surprise that he had brought someone with him. He hadn’t said anything about a visitor when he left that morning.

Lucy’s blue gaze was on its way back to Hal when it stopped and returned to the stranger in a ludicrous double take. Surely not? It couldn’t be…?

But it was. Her sister, so dearly familiar and yet so utterly unexpected out here that for a long, long moment, Lucy could only stare.

Meredith?

Meredith looked up at her. ‘Hi, Lucy,’ she said.

It was her! Lucy’s heart swelled with astonished delight. She hadn’t realised how much she had missed her no-nonsense sister until now. Hurrying down the steps, she swept Meredith into a hug.

‘I can’t believe it’s really you!’ she cried excitedly. ‘It’s so good to see you!’ Then she pulled back to look into her sister’s face. ‘But what on earth are you doing here?’

‘Your sister?’ Guy’s brows rose. He had been out all day and had only just come back to discover that Hal had brought an unexpected visitor back from Whyman’s Creek. ‘Has she come out to visit you?’

‘Not exactly.’ Lucy was distracted as she turned the potatoes in the hot fat.

They needed more cold meat for lunchtime sandwiches, so she had planned to roast another huge joint tonight and now she was glad. She could cook roast beef in her sleep these days, and she had too much on her mind to concentrate on anything more complicated.

‘She wants me to go home with her,’ she told Guy. ‘A friend of ours has been in an accident. He’s in a coma, and they think that my voice might help him to come round.’

Guy sat on the kitchen table and regarded Lucy’s downcast face thoughtfully. ‘That’s bad news.’

Lucy sighed, too miserable even to resent Guy’s presence. ‘I know.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘I think I’m going to have to go,’ she said. ‘It would mean breaking my contract—you know how insistent Hal was that I was here to look after Emma and Mickey—but Meredith’s talking to him now and we’re hoping that he’ll agree to her taking my place while I go back to London and see Richard.’

Guy frowned slightly. ‘Will it really make such a difference if you’re there?’

‘Meredith seems to think that it will.’ Lucy put the potatoes back into the oven and straightened, smoothing some stray hairs from her forehead with the back of her arm. ‘To be honest, I don’t want to go, but I owe Meredith a lot and if this is what she wants, then I’ll do what I can. I spoke to Richard’s mother on the phone, too. She sounded desperate, as if they’ve pinned all their hopes on me going back. How can I refuse when it means so much to them?’

Guy hesitated. ‘What about Kevin?’

‘He’ll wait for me, I hope,’ she said, her eyes sliding away from his. ‘Even if Hal doesn’t agree to keep the job open for me if Meredith stays, then I’ll get back to the outback somehow. I’m not going to just give up on my dream.’

But Hal had agreed, Meredith told her, when she came into the kitchen a little later and was introduced to Guy.

‘Now we just need to get you to Darwin,’ she told Lucy.

‘I can help you there,’ said Guy. ‘As it happens, your timing couldn’t be better.’ He told Meredith about his mother’s hip operation. ‘I need to be there,’ he said, ‘not that Ma will appreciate it! She’ll probably just tell me that I’m in the way, but I’ve chartered a plane to pick me up from the airstrip here tomorrow morning anyway. The pilot will fly me directly to Darwin, and I can pick up the London flight there. Lucy might as well come with me.’

Lucy had been listening to him with growing dismay, but Meredith’s face lightened. ‘That would be great,’ she said gratefully. ‘It means she can get home much sooner.’

‘I’m sure we can find a local flight,’ Lucy cut across her. ‘We don’t need to put Guy to any trouble.’

‘It’s no trouble,’ said Guy. ‘There’s room for another person on the plane and, as I’ve chartered it, it won’t cost any extra.’ He glanced at Lucy’s mutinous face. ‘Of course, the alternative is for Hal to drive you into Whyman’s Creek,’ he said mildly. ‘There’s a local flight to Darwin and you might be able to get a seat on it, but as Hal’s just got back from town today, he’d probably be glad not to have to drive you in again tomorrow morning.’

This was so patently true that Lucy was left with nothing to say, as Guy was no doubt perfectly aware. She could hardly insist on Hal going to all the effort of driving her into town on the off chance she would get a seat on the next flight when it had taken all Meredith’s persuasive powers to get him to agree to her leaving at all.

Raging inwardly at the workings of fate, Lucy threw her things into her rucksack the next morning. She had so been looking forward to Guy going, and to spending some time alone with Kevin—well, without Guy’s smile lurking distractingly in the background, anyway—and now here she was, leaving with him instead of waving him off with a bright smile. Spending an hour and a half alone with him on the drive back from the rodeo had been bad enough. How was she going to manage going all the way to Darwin?

They were even going to be on the same plane to London, she had discovered to her dismay. While she had been saying goodbye to Kevin, Guy had been on the phone, arranging her ticket.

‘Meredith said she would do that,’ Lucy protested when she found out, but Guy only shrugged.

‘Meredith was exhausted last night,’ he pointed out. ‘It seemed the important thing was to get you on to the first plane so I got my PA to book you on the same flight.’

At least she would only have to put up with him until they got to Darwin, Lucy consoled herself. Guy was a first class traveller if ever she saw one, and she was most definitely a budget traveller. Once they got to Darwin, he would be so coddled by special lounges and fast track service that with any luck she wouldn’t see him again after that.

But there was another shock at Darwin itself. ‘You’ve booked me in first class?’ Lucy’s voice rose to a squeak of appalled dismay.

‘It’s a long flight,’ said Guy. ‘You might as well be comfortable.’

‘Meredith told me that Richard’s parents wanted to buy my ticket home, but I’m quite sure they didn’t intend me to come first class!’ Lucy was aghast. ‘I know Richard’s father is a successful businessman, but he’s not so successful he can afford to hand out first class plane tickets.’

‘In that case, it’s lucky that I am,’ said Guy, putting a firm hand under her elbow and piloting her towards the first class check-in desk. ‘Richard’s parents can pay for your ticket back to Australia, and you can travel as economically as you like then.’

Lucy dug in her heels as she realised what he was saying and rather belatedly wrenched her arm out of his warm grasp. ‘You bought my ticket to London?’

‘I can’t take any credit for it. My PA did all the work.’

‘But I can’t let you pay for me. I hardly know you!’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that,’ said Guy, repossessing her elbow and propelling her firmly forwards. ‘We’ve been living in the same house for the past week. You know that I like marmalade on my toast and I know that you’re not at your best in the mornings. I know how you feel about Kevin, and you know that I once wanted to be a rodeo star. Very few people know that about me, Cinders,’ he said with a gleaming smile. ‘We can’t be strangers when you know my embarrassing secret!’

‘But it’s so expensive!’ said Lucy, hanging back.

‘Lucy, I’m a rich man,’ he said patiently. ‘It won’t even be a blip in my bank account.’

And somehow Lucy found herself handing over her passport as Guy checked them both in. The bookings had been made electronically, and in no time at all she was on the plane, with none of the shuffling queues she was used to, and ensconced in a luxurious seat by the window. There was no denying that the whole process of boarding was a lot less stressful in first class.

‘Wow,’ she said, pushing her seat back and playing with all the buttons, forgetting for a moment that she was cross with Guy. ‘I’ve never been in the pointy end of a plane before. This is great!’

Guy watched her indulgently. ‘I’ve never seen anyone get so much pleasure out of an airline seat,’ he said, and Lucy flushed and stopped fiddling immediately. She was obviously being very un-cool.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve ever been at the back of the plane.’ she grumbled.

‘No,’ he said. ‘Never. I had a very privileged upbringing.’