to ring Lucette.
‘Have I heard from Fletcher, Ally?’ Lucette repeated, her voice squeaking with surprise at Ally’s first question once the greetings were over. ‘Why, yes, I have actually. He rang from North Queensland just yesterday.’
‘You see,’ Ally offered with a silly little laugh, ‘I ended up seeing quite a bit of him while he was down here, but then he was called away for the funeral...’ Her voice trailed away as her tightly strung nerves clenched a notch tighter.
The stunned silence on the other end of the line didn’t help her feel any more relaxed.
‘Really?’ Lucette managed at last.
‘Does he have the little boy with him?’
‘No, not yet Connor’s still in Sydney with his grandparents. But as a matter of fact that’s why Fletcher rang me. He’s guardian for Connor and he wants me to find a nanny to travel up to Wallaroo Downs and help take care of him there.’
Ally closed her eyes against the frightening wave of dizziness that swamped her as a host of different pictures crowded her mind: pictures of Fletcher, sun-tanned, astride a horse somewhere in North Queensland; of Fletcher and a little brown-haired, brown-eyed boy walking hand in hand along a shady creek bank; of a young attractive nanny living with them both day in, day out.
‘Ally, are you still there?’
‘Yes, Lucette. I’m here. Listen, would you mind terribly much if I came and visited you? I need to talk.’
‘That’s fine,’ replied Lucette, unable to disguise her surprise. ‘I’ll be home all evening. You have my address?’
‘But, Ally, this is impossible!’ Lucette exclaimed an hour later as the two women sat opposite each other at the kitchen table in her tiny bed-sit apartment. ‘For starters you underestimate the stubbornness of the Hardy male. There’s no way Fletcher would have someone like you as a nanny on Wallaroo Downs.’
Ally’s chest tightened painfully at Lucette’s words.
‘I think Fletcher came to care for me. In fact I know he did.’
Something in her expression seemed to capture Lucette’s attention. She stared at Ally for several silent moments and then she reached over and took Ally’s hand.
‘I’m sure he does feel very strongly about you,’ she said gently. ‘Fletcher’s usually very wary about getting entangled with women, because of where he lives. He believes only women who grow up in the bush can take the harsh life of the outback. So if he allowed you to understand he cared...’ Lucette paused and smiled ruefully. ‘Then I’d say chances are he was totally smitten.’
‘I’m prepared to take a gamble on it.’
‘But your career!’ Lucette cried. ‘How could you possibly turn your back on everything you’ve achieved?’
‘I don’t know,’ admitted Ally. ‘A month ago I would have said it was totally impossible, but...’ She paused, taking in a deep shuddering breath. ‘Have you ever been in love, Lucette?’
‘Of course,’ the girl laughed, ‘hundreds of times.’
‘No. I’m talking the real thing. I can’t go on without him. I can’t work. I can’t eat or sleep.’ She paused and shook her head at Lucette’s wide-eyed response. ‘I can’t believe I’m saying all this. I used to be the first person to condemn girls who went all drippy over males. I mean, I used to think that all it took to resist falling into that kind of trap was a modicum of intelligence. But honestly, Lucette, I’ve no choice. I’ve got to go to him.’
Lucette sighed and refilled Ally’s coffee cup. ‘Ally, I really feel for you, believe me. But I don’t think Fletcher would have a bar of it. And it wouldn’t be because he doesn’t care for you. It’s simply that he couldn’t imagine how you could possibly be happy out there. He’d worry about taking you away from everything you’ve achieved.’ Lucette eyed her crestfallen friend with concern. ‘This is all my fault!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, if I hadn’t been so jolly eager to show off my set designs when he was in Melbourne for that conference, he would never have come to the show and fallen for the lovely Alexandra Fraser.’
Ally closed her stinging, tear-filled eyes as she remembered that moment when a tall, dark grazier marched into the models’ dressing room! She stared into her coffee cup. ‘I think I’ve got to do it, Lucette. I’m prepared for everyone telling me I’m mad. I’m prepared for Fletcher to be a little angry at first, but I think he’ll get over it. It’s just that I’ve found someone I love more than my career and I think I can convince him of that, too. I’ve fallen in love and I can’t just sit here and do absolutely zilch about it!’
‘Well, apart from anything else we’ve covered, there might still be one major hitch,’ said Lucette tentatively.
‘Which is?’ asked Ally, lifting her chin in a brave effort at defiance.
‘What experience have you had as a nanny?’
‘Aha! I can answer that,’ cried Ally triumphantly. ‘All the time I was at college, I worked as a nanny for the Johnstons. You know Dr. James Johnston and his wife Helen—the paediatricians? Nights, weekends, holidays. I looked after their four children on and off for three and a half years.’
Lucette raised her fair eyebrows and looked back at Ally with eyes the same sky blue as Fletcher’s. She took a long, deep swig of her coffee. ‘Then perhaps we’d better take a closer look at this,’ she said with a solemnity which was totally spoiled when her face broke into a cheeky grin, again alarmingly like her cousin’s. ‘But we’re going to have to plan it all very carefully.’
CHAPTER THREE
THE best laid plans of mice and men... The unwelcome quotation flashed through Ally’s mind again as it had on repeated occasions over recent weeks. But now, with Connor’s little hand clinging to hers as she crossed the steamy car park at Townsville airport, she refused to think of defeat. Together with Lucette, she had schemed and plotted so that this risky enterprise would run like clockwork and the journey was almost complete.
She’d been nervous about going to Sydney to meet Connor, but the few days she’d spent there getting to know the little boy had been delightful. They had enjoyed a trip to the beach and to Taronga Park Zoo, as well as some quiet times at his grandparents’ house. Then, to her relief, he had come with her and Lucette on the plane night to Townsville without objection. All that was left was the final leg—driving out to Wallaroo Downs.
And to Fletcher.
Ally shifted the weight of her large carry bag higher onto her shoulder and smiled at Connor, who looked back at her with trusting, big brown eyes.
‘This should be our vehicle,’ said Lucette, indicating a sturdy-looking station wagon in the line-up of hire cars. She pushed their heavily loaded luggage carrier the last few metres and clicked the central locking button on her key. ‘Hey, presto! Look, Connor,’ Lucette cried as she swung the car door open. ‘Magic doors!’
