be bothered with small talk.
But no amount of thinking came up with any reason why this particular man, of all the men she’d met in recent years, should affect her with flutters.
Surely it had to be more than a quick, bold grin and twinkling eyes and a piratical beard and tousled black hair …
Was she having second thoughts? Mac wondered. Would she get to Archerfield, take one look at his little plane, and grab a taxi to take her back to the security of her tiny apartment and her ordered life?
He knew enough about her childhood in the hippie commune—Hester’s agent had been far more thorough than he’d let on—to guess she needed order in her life and some measure of control over it, but surely she could find order of a different kind in Carnock.
It was a thought that made him think again—did he want her living in Carnock?
The answer came immediately—a positive response. At least, he amended to himself, until he’d had a chance to get to know her, and maybe understand the attraction he felt towards her.
Once understood it would be easy to counter—
That thought stopped as abruptly as he stopped the car at the lights at Rocklea.
‘Archerfield’s just up the road,’ he said, to break his train of thought more than the silence.
‘I can see planes already,’ his passenger said, and the soft, husky voice feathered up his spine, suggesting the attraction might grow instead of lessening …
Far better if she didn’t stay!
Once airborne it was easier. He could pretend flying the little gem of a plane was a complex procedure. But even pretending, he couldn’t miss the cries of delight from his passenger, who pointed out every dam and paddock and small hill as they flew towards the great range that ran down the east coast of Australia.
Enchantment shone in her face, and her delight was so open and enthusiastic that Mac found himself forgetting his pretence about the complexities of flying and joining in, naming the places they flew over, deviating off route to show her deep, uninhabited valleys in the ranges, and fields of sunflowers—faces up to the sun and so to them—ranging across the downs.
Turning north towards Carnock, he pointed out the small beginnings of the river that had caused much of the flooding the previous year.
‘But it’s barely a creek,’ Clancy protested, and Mac explained how the ground had been waterlogged from previous rain, and the little stream already breaking its banks in places before the deluge that caused the flood had hit the town.
‘Is there still visible damage in the town?’ she asked, and he hesitated.
‘If you’d known the town, then you’d see a difference. Some places that were washed away will never be rebuilt, but it’s the invisible damage that I worry about.’
‘The people?’ she asked quietly, and he nodded.
‘There’s far too much of a “she’ll be right, mate” attitude in the country,’ he said. ‘People—men and women but particularly the men—hide their emotions in case it’s seen as a weakness.’
‘At least that’s never a problem where I come from,’ she responded. ‘The nights I’ve fallen asleep listening to a litany of someone’s revelations of their deep inner angst. But I can understand people would be scarred by the experience of the floods. Even seeing the news coverage had me in tears.’
‘Carnock was lucky in that there was no loss of life, although we all thought Mike was gone. He leapt into the water when a big ball floated past—the dog’s a sucker for a ball. But he arrived back home five days later. Wet and bedraggled and absolutely starving, but still as bold as ever.’
Clancy turned to pat the dog, who was lying behind the two front seats. The image of a wet, bedraggled Mike had slunk into her heart and for all she told herself she couldn’t get too attached to this dog, she had a bad feeling she’d be unable to resist.
Could she get enough rent for her apartment to lease a house in the suburbs—somewhere on the train line so she wouldn’t need a car? With a good yard, of course—
A jangling noise erupted through the small cabin.
‘Is that your mobile?’ she asked Mac, and knew the answer when she saw him fish it out of his pocket.
‘Mac!’ he said, while Clancy marvelled that right up here in the air the man still had mobile coverage.
Although now Mac’s end of the conversation snagged her attention.
‘How long ago? Is it just his ankle? Did he hit his head at all? Land on his back? Can he move his toes and fingers? Jess, Jess, stop crying. I’ll be there in half an hour, maybe less. Your strip’s clear? No cattle in that paddock? Okay, just make him comfortable and come down to the strip to meet me. Yes, I can take you into town. Now stop crying, take deep breaths, think of the baby, make yourself a cup of tea, then drive down to meet us.’
‘Problem?’ Clancy asked.
‘Fellow on a property some distance from town. He’s come off his motorbike, but apparently only injured his ankle. They ride around on those darned things with sandals on, would you believe, and never wear helmets. It’s a wonder more farmers aren’t injured.’
Was that all he was going to tell her?
Not that she needed to know more, but she’d sensed Mac had more to say.
A long sigh confirmed her guess.
‘Rod’s wife, Jess, is eight months pregnant. She’s a city girl and although she’s adapted well to country life, something like this will have thrown her.’
Not knowing what to say, Clancy waited.
‘They live an hour’s drive from town.’
The information was coming in dribs and drabs and although she now knew it was leading somewhere, she had no idea where.
‘I don’t want her driving into town in her condition. She’s upset enough as it is, so …’
Mac turned so Clancy could see his face and read the concern in his eyes, plus what looked like a little uncertainty lurking around his lips.
‘Rod’s a big man and Jess is huge at the moment so I can’t fit you all in the plane. Would you be okay with me dropping you and Mike at the farm? That way you can drive into town, and Jess will have a car available to drive back home—drive Rod back home as well if it’s a simple break and I can set it. Best of all, I can have Jess stay in the hospital with Rod overnight and keep an eye on her in case the stress has affected the pregnancy.’
Clancy barely heard the justifications for the scheme Mac was proposing, having stalled on the first part.
‘You want me to drive these people’s vehicle into town?’ she demanded. ‘From a place I don’t know to a town I don’t know?’
She didn’t add ‘in a car I don’t know’, in case that made her sound altogether
