Page 39

Indy sat at dinner that evening, staring out the window across the room in a strange, dream-like state, her plate forgotten.

She’d already devoured the steak and mashed potato, as well as maybe half the vegies.

She was lazily twirling her fork between the fingers of one hand as the other propped her head up.

The sky outside was washed with an orange glow, the kind that gave the day one more burst of light before the night claimed it.

She loved this time, imagining the day was begging and pleading with the coming darkness to stay away, disliking it as much as Indy did.

Only she found comfort in the moon. But it wasn’t the moon playing on her mind right now.

It was the grass, the sunshine and the man she’d been kissing while lying in them. It was o?cial. Best afternoon ever.

Her arm slipped from the table when a sharp jab to her ribs made her sit up straighter.

Emery leant in. ‘Why is that guy trying to evaporate you with the world’s ugliest death stare?’

Indy looked around to find Ray glaring at her with a filthy look. She quickly turned back to her friend. ‘Wow.’

‘I’ll say.’ Emery giggled. ‘What’d you do? Shit in his cereal this morning?’

‘Ha ha,’ she retorted dryly. ‘I turned him down this afternoon.’

‘What? He asked you out?’

‘Yep. Caught me while I was walking Ranger and Boots to the front paddock and offered to buy me a drink on my next day off. When I said no, he offered to take me on a picnic. When I said I wasn’t dating, he told me that we had a connection and asked again, but he knew what my answer would be. I thought he took it okay.’

Emery’s eyes grew round. ‘Indy, you always read these things wrong. I’ve watched you break so many hearts and you don’t even realise it.’

‘Name one.’

‘Zander. I saw him in town when I was there a couple of days ago and he asked about you. I think he’s been pining.’

Indy rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, please. You’re so dramatic; I bet Zander didn’t even remember my name. No man is going to be heartbroken over me. I’m not the memorable type. Especially to that guy, Ray. I thought he was more likely to have another crack, not turn the resentment on.’

‘Maybe he’s dwelling on it.’ Emery gave a half-shrug and snuck another look at Ray.

Indy speared a carrot and chewed it slowly. She itched to turn her gaze in Carter’s direction, knew where he was even if she hadn’t looked at him since he walked in. But she didn’t want to give Jonathan more ammo to attack her with—behind her back of course.

‘He’s not a bad-looking guy,’ Emery said. ‘Or at least he would be, if he smiled. I do remember him from the creek. Did you know he was interested in you?’

Indy’s expression must’ve given away her mystification at the whole scenario, because Emery laughed again.

‘See? Completely oblivious to the effect you have on men.’

Indy was halfway through another eye roll when she caught sight of the time. She looked around for Nova, Mara and the others, but no one was there. ‘Shit! We’re meant to be down at the staff meeting.’

They hurriedly scraped their dishes and loaded them in the trolley before legging it out the door and down the gully track.

‘Nice of you to join us, ladies,’ Nova growled once they’d made it through the door.

‘Sorry, Nova,’ Emery said, grabbing a seat on a stool.

Indy took the one next to her. ‘Yeah, sorry. We didn’t see you guys leave.’

Janet and Theresa were sharing one couch while Mara lounged on the other. Nova was pacing along the pool table, one arm across her stomach and the other tapping her lips. Then she stopped and clapped her hands.

‘Right, the auditor from the council’s due tomorrow and I’ve had confirmation from Louisa that he’s definitely coming. He wants an early start and will arrive at seven thirty.’

‘The middle of breakfast,’ Janet noted with a grimace. ‘We would’ve preferred to have had time to clear all the dishes and scraps away.’

‘I think it’s on purpose. He wants to see how we run mealtimes and, no doubt, he’ll have a big focus on our kitchen facilities. Have you got all the temperature, cleaning and service log books up to date?’

‘Of course,’ Theresa said with a drawn-out harrumph.

‘Nova, we have the kitchen very much under control.’ Janet was much calmer than Theresa but there was a hint of a don’t-mess-with-us attitude in her words.

‘I checked over the books after lunch and if they were any more up to date, they’d tell the future.

There’re no red flags in there. And there’s not an inch of that kitchen that hasn’t been scrubbed vigorously in the last twenty-four hours.

We’re not going to be letting the team down. ’

Nova’s shoulders sagged and her arm dropped to her side.

‘Thank you, Theresa and Janet. I know I don’t have to worry about the kitchen.

In fact, thank you, everyone. The property’s the best it’s ever looked.

I’m just so worried that this auditor already has his mind made up about us thanks to Barty, so it doesn’t matter what we do, we’ll fail and lose the training camps.

They’re a big part of the financial component of keeping this place going so comfortably and, frankly, I like them.

We’ve gotten wonderful reviews from all the clubs that have come through.

I like being able to share this place with them and provide them with a safe space away from media attention and everything else going on for them. ’

Emery shot a glare at Indy.

‘He can’t say something is missing when it’s not,’ Indy said, distracting herself from the guilt blossoming in her stomach. ‘We’ll take photos, time and date stamp them, then appeal it.’

‘Yeah, and Indy can tell him where to stick his fake report,’ Mara added.

Indy nodded to her. ‘Exactly.’

‘No one is going to be anything less than polite to this man.’ Nova eyed Indy and Mara. ‘I mean it. No name calling, directness, being blunt, swearing, yelling, telling him how it is or rude gestures behind his back. We need to impart professionalism and respect and make him feel welcomed.’

‘I wouldn’t do it behind his back,’ Indy pointed out. ‘But I get it. I’ll be on my absolute best behaviour, just like always.’

‘Good. This day needs to run smoothly, and if anyone does anything to stuff it up, you’ll be on cleaning troughs, mucking out stables and maintaining the grey water system for the next six months.’

Indy shuddered. She hated those jobs even more than she hated Emery’s glare. Relax , she mouthed to her friend when Nova paced away from them.

‘So, he’ll check the kitchen out first?’ Janet prompted Nova.

‘Right, and then I’ll take him for a tour around the guest rooms, the field, the equipment shed and all the other places he’ll want to see.

We’ll probably take the side-by-side because it will be quicker.

If that goes well, he’ll want to look over our records, which I’ve also kept updated and will do another check over tonight.

I imagine that will take a couple of hours, but he should be gone by lunch.

Of course, I’ll offer for him to stay and eat with us, but I’m hoping he’ll decline.

Regardless, you’ll all be sitting at the staff table and will make polite small talk with him.

No bagging out Barty or regulations, and Mara, if I see you shovelling in food like you’ve never eaten before, I’ll send you out to eat with the dogs.

’ Nova tried to smile more patiently. ‘You’ve been here long enough to know that you’ll never go hungry again. ’

Indy softened. She remembered all too well how it felt to be hungry—like a whipped hound was in your empty stomach, trying to eat you from the inside out.

Nova had pretended not to notice when she’d slipped extra food into her pockets to store in her cupboard but one day, the cupboard in her cabin had been stocked up with all her favourite snacks and Nova had given her a special wink when she’d tried to ask about it.

She knew. She got it. She’d broken down Indy’s impenetrable wall a little more that day.

More questions were asked, but not all were answered because they simply didn’t know.

Nova hadn’t been audited or questioned like this before, but they were ready for it.

Indy wiggled in her seat with both the anticipation of the day ahead of them and the guest she was expecting tonight.

She just wanted a decent night’s sleep and seeing Carter was a surefire way of having that. Once they got around to sleeping.

‘Let’s call it there,’ Nova finally said. ‘Get an early night and be our best selves tomorrow.’

‘We’ve got this, Nova,’ Indy told her as they headed for the door. ‘Have a little faith.’

Their boss wore a wry smile. ‘Beers for everyone tomorrow night if this goes well. The good stuff.’

‘Works for us.’ Indy grinned and let Emery drag her out the door ahead of the others.

‘You need to stay away from Carter tomorrow,’ Emery hissed after they’d cleared the steps and set off for their cabins. ‘Don’t look at him, don’t speak to him, just steer clear. You can’t give off any romance vibes at all. The auditor is sure to notice.’

‘I’m almost insulted that you think I don’t know that,’ Indy retorted, keeping her snort of disapproval silent. ‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’

‘Maybe we should head out to check on the stock after breakfast instead of before it.’

‘Works for me. I don’t really want to be around when that man’s here anyway.’

‘Then I can give you a really big pep talk before lunch,’ Emery said as they reached her place. ‘Though we’ll probably have to take Mara with us.’

Indy nodded as Emery climbed the steps to her front door. ‘It’d probably be a weight off Nova’s mind knowing we were all together and far away from the buildings.’

‘I’ll catch her in the morning and let her know the plan. ’Night.’

Indy bid her goodnight and hurried off to her own cabin. The meeting had finished later than she’d thought and she was keen for a shower before Carter came down. As she went through her front door, a figure rose from the couch.

‘How’d you beat me?’ she asked.

He lifted her into a hug and spun them around the small space before setting her on the floor. ‘Watching old game tapes from last season was too much for some players, so we got an early night.’

Indy grimaced. ‘Beau?’

‘Yeah, but it’s okay.’

‘It’s really not.’

‘I know, but believe it or not, the taunts are dying off—or maybe I’m just more immune to them. Anyway, I’m not the only one in the team getting sick of it, so it wasn’t me or the coaching staff who told him to shut up tonight.’

He kept his tone light, but Indy was suspicious. A darkening on his cheekbone made her reach up and turn his face so she could see it properly.

‘Another wayward tackle?’

‘Something like that.’ He lowered his head to kiss her.

She was sure it was his way of distracting her from asking any more questions and, dammit, it worked. She moaned against the swipes of his tongue, relishing his taste. He pressed her body to his then pulled back.

‘We have all night, and I stink like Blossom’s pen.’

‘How was your staff meeting?’ Carter asked, releasing her and heading back around to where her puzzle was. She noticed a few gaps had been closed.

‘I’ve never seen Nova so stressed out. Emery and I have a plan to make ourselves scarce because if anyone’s going to blow up at the nerdy rule-abiding freak trying to rip part of our livelihood away from us, it’ll be me.’

Carter chuckled. ‘Sounds like you need a shower to cool down.’

‘Mmm, and to smell human again.’

‘I’ll give you a two-minute head start, but then I’m coming in there with a plan to distract you from all thoughts of nerds and rules,’ Carter said, his voice taking on a gravelly tone that shot directly to her core.

‘Two minutes!’

He leant over the jumble of unclaimed puzzle pieces. ‘One … two … three …’

She gave a small squeal and ran for the bathroom, laughter pouring from her, mingling with his deeper chuckle. Could life get any better than this?