Page 17

Indy held in her groan in the long line for food that night.

Her stomach was tight with hunger after a huge day of deep cleaning the stables, which included digging out and replacing the top layer of dirt flooring then adding fresh bedding.

Shu?ing as the queue moved forwards, she stifled a yawn.

All she wanted was a hot dinner and to collapse into her bed.

She was exhausted from tossing and turning last night, only finding sleep in the early hours of the morning.

The reason? That damn near kiss with Carter.

She’d kept replaying it over and over, feeling every inch of humiliation when he’d pulled back as she’d leant in.

How could she have read the situation so wrong?

The stupid dark and all the memories it brought up for her.

A shiver passed over her. She’d have been okay if they hadn’t been hiding in such a confined space.

It’d been so nice to be held, to be comforted by him.

She never should’ve let him. But she’d wanted it. She still wanted it. Again.

She couldn’t let it happen again. Avoidance was key.

Like today: taking on the huge task of the yearly clean-out was all for the purpose of distracting and exhausting herself in the hope that once her head hit the pillow, she’d fall into a dreamless sleep.

She’d managed to avoid Carter by having a late breakfast and not searching for him when she’d walked past the bus—which had been a mission—and the boys hadn’t returned from wherever they’d been when she’d had lunch.

Then she’d quickly headed back out before they could.

Luckily, the muster demonstration tomorrow meant she could avoid Carter again.

She’d be leaving early and getting back right on dusk.

Working so hard today had also kept Indy out of Nova’s sights. News of the footy players’ evening pub trip and hitched ride with Cindy, the mayor’s daughter, meant Nova was in the foulest of moods. Indy was grateful she hadn’t found out about the sheep too.

Scoping out the room, she saw Emery and Mara already sitting at their usual table with bowls of stir-fry in front of them.

Indy’s mouth watered as she breathed in the rich honey, soy and garlic smells.

There were still at least ten big burly blokes in front of her.

Taking their time. Then Nova stepped between the men and Indy, her face drawn even tighter than it had been this morning.

Indy’s stomach dropped to her knees. She’d found out about the sheep.

Shit. But how? They’d been so careful. Oh god, what if Carter had been loose lipped about their almost kiss? Double shit.

‘Indy, I have bad news about Ted.’

She blinked. ‘Ted?’

‘Ted Beckman,’ Nova said, ‘he’s down with a bronchial infection after having the flu. Won’t make it tomorrow. The guy barely had any voice, and he was coughing so hard I swore I could catch his germs through the phone.’

‘Oh, no! The career expo won’t be the same without our professional athlete talk.

’ The schoolkids were going to be devastated.

Every year, they looked forward to listening to Ted speak about all the training, the competition prep and winning gold at the Paralympics.

They all took photos with him and brought things for him to sign.

She wanted to stomp her foot in frustration, but she wasn’t Mara.

‘I know,’ Nova said. ‘But there’s not much we can do about it. There’s no antibiotic or steroid that’s going to cure bronchitis overnight.’

A throat cleared behind her. ‘I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but did you say you need a professional athlete?’

Indy wanted to scream. Of course he’d be standing right behind her. Nova looked over Indy’s shoulder at him, forcing Indy to turn and welcome him into the conversation.

Carter stood with his arms folded across his chest and she forced herself not to stare at the bulging biceps his training singlet was showing off.

She finally got a look at the tattoo covering his shoulder: a lion’s head with an amazing mane, merged with a soldier wearing an old-fashioned helmet; dog tags hung around the lion’s neck.

The shading on the piece was insane. He took a step towards them, and she could smell his pine and sandalwood scent. Shit, she was in trouble.

‘Not specifically,’ Nova said, a frown on her face as she considered him. ‘Our Paralympic swimmer, who normally speaks at the regional career expo, is really unwell so he’s unavailable. Indy’s going there tomorrow to give a mustering demonstration and she was meant to pick him up on the way.’

‘He’s an amputee from contracting a deadly childhood disease,’ Indy said.

She was careful to not look at Carter’s face.

Please remember that you’re not supposed to know about the expo!

‘An inspiration for how he’s turned something horrible into something to be celebrated.

He gives a talk every year about what it takes to be a professional sportsman. ’

‘Well.’ Carter shrugged. ‘You’ve got a lot of professional football players staying on your property right now who could fill in. I’d be happy to. I’ve run a number of school clinics and fundraiser days for families.’

To Indy’s horror, Nova looked thoughtful. Was she actually considering his offer? No! Tomorrow was meant to be the day Indy didn’t have to worry about being so close to him and pretending she hadn’t tried to kiss him. She had to stop this.

‘That’s really nice of you to offer, but you have your camp program. I mean, the expo runs through school hours. I have to leave early and don’t get back till late. I doubt your coach would be okay with you missing a whole day.’

Nova glanced around the room. ‘Could you ask him?’

‘What?’ Indy hissed at Nova. ‘You think this is a good idea?’

Nova ignored her.

‘Yeah, of course.’ Carter made eye contact with someone, presumably Jonathan, and motioned him over.

Please say no, please say no. The kids would love having footballers like Carter there. But no! I can’t risk being that close to him again. The kids, though! She may as well have had an angel on one shoulder and a self-preserving devil on the other.

Jonathan joined them. ‘Carter, Nova and …’

‘Indy,’ Carter supplied.

Indy wanted to stomp on his foot. Luckily, Nova didn’t make any show that she recognised how confident he was with her name.

‘Indy, right.’ Jonathan seemed wary. ‘What’s going on? My players haven’t done anything else to upset the apple cart, have they?’

‘No, no,’ Nova assured him. ‘Carter here is offering his services at the regional careers expo tomorrow since our local sporting hero, Ted Beckman, has had to pull out due to sickness. It might be a good way to get back into the mayor’s good graces after last night’s events.

However, we don’t want to interfere with what you have scheduled for tomorrow. ’

The line in front of them had cleared and Indy waved the people behind them around. Dinner seemed like a fading light, but she was losing her appetite anyway.

Jonathan nodded slowly. ‘After today’s mountain expedition, we were going to keep tomorrow fairly light, with a weights session and study afternoon.’

‘I’d be happy to complete a session tomorrow night or an additional one on Saturday,’ Carter said. Indy wanted to make a gagging noise at how much of a suck-up he was.

‘We can schedule a make-up session,’ Jonathan said to Carter before shifting focus to Nova. ‘We like to give back to local communities and this would help boost our reputation in town. Although we’d like to keep media attention to a minimum, given the dramas we’ve had back in the city.’

‘I can’t see that being too much of an issue,’ Nova said.

‘A local journalist may be there but no one’s travelling from Sydney for an annual rural career expo.

I’m sure the children will post something on social media, but the event would probably be over before anyone got wind of it.

I can ensure the organisers don’t advertise your players’ presence. ’

‘That would be appreciated. I can ask our PR rep to travel from Sydney with the equipment that we normally use, just a stand with a hole in it that the kids can try to pass the ball through. If they make it, they get to keep the ball and we’ll sign it.

Our rep can bring out some caps and drink bottles as giveaways as well.

’ Jonathan looked around the room. ‘I’d feel better if Isaac Stringer and Ray O’Neill could join Carter.

These kinds of events do tend to be a lot for one person. ’

‘I only have one seat in the truck,’ Indy squeaked. She swallowed, trying to regain some composure.

‘One can go with you and the other two can take the Colorado,’ Nova said. ‘We can load the panels for the yards in the back instead of putting them in the truck with the sheep.’

‘That would be easier,’ Indy admitted. ‘And it means I can load them after dinner instead of in the morning.’ What was wrong with her? She should be arguing against this.

‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Nova confirmed with a nod.

‘Looks like it’s settled then,’ Carter said. ‘I’ll ride with you, Indy, and the others can take the ute.’

Indy kept her face neutral. If she said no, then she’d have to explain why. What reason could she give them as to why she didn’t want to be in such close quarters as the truck cab with Carter when she wasn’t supposed to even know him? Her mind was blank. Shit!

‘Are you sure? The ute would be much comfier.’

The corners of his mouth jerked up for an instant so quick it was as though it never happened. ‘I’m young, I’ll cope.’

‘Looks like it’s settled then,’ she echoed.

Jonathan clapped his hands together. ‘Great. I’ll call Lydia.’

He strode off and Carter gave them a smile before walking around them to the now empty buffet table and grabbing a bowl. Nova’s fingers wrapped around Indy’s arm and pulled her further from the table.

‘This is the best idea we’ve ever had,’ she said.

She was glowing with glee. ‘Imagine Barty Granger’s face when he sees the guests that he’s trying to get kicked off our property bringing happiness to the kids and a buzz to the town.

’ She gave a closed-mouth, high-pitched squeal that was very un-Nova.

‘He’s going to be green with envy, especially after the council investigation he instigated. ’

‘Should I keep a camera handy for the moment he discovers where the new professional sportsmen have come from?’ Indy asked, with only half the dryness she intended.

‘No.’ Nova’s giddiness faded. ‘You need to blow them out of the water with the mustering demonstration. It’ll be like an early performance for the show this year.

We’re entering animals in every category we can.

Hell, Janet can get into the baking side of things and you can knock something together for the woodwork.

I want the Windale Mountain Station name to be synonymous with blue ribbons so we can stick it to Barty and whoever he’s roped in at the council to bring us down. ’

Indy was waiting for her boss to give an evil laugh, like something from an Austin Powers movie, but it didn’t come. Instead a steely glint of determination settled itself in Nova’s gaze and that was just as scary.

Indy looked over at Carter. She couldn’t let Nova down— not with the mustering or with that man. She just needed to get through tomorrow, then she’d start having meals in her cabin. Avoidance, avoidance, avoidance.