now gets left on the ground.’
‘Very unhygienic.’
‘Didn’t stop you doing it.’
‘No.’ He could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Well, sometimes you need a bit of luck.’ She was silent for a few seconds and then her tone became very wry. ‘Maybe I should spit on the next man to ask me out on a date.’
‘I wouldn’t advise it.’ It was hard to keep his own tone light. ‘Unless he’s Greek, of course.’
Dammit, Emily was thinking about Simon bloody Kent again. Mike’s fingers curled more tightly around the control stick. The man had better not show his face in Crocodile Creek again, that was for sure. He’d never been good enough for Emily, anyone could have seen that, but she’d fallen for him and if the others had shared Mike’s reservations, seeing the sparkle that emanated from the quiet young physician had been more than enough to stop them saying anything.
Mike decided he needed to distract Emily from her thoughts. ‘Sounds like that young girl must be pretty sick to collapse like that.’
‘She may have just had a spell of low blood pressure. If she’s been unwell and lying in bed for a few days without adequate food or fluid intake, she could well have fainted by standing up too quickly.’
‘Her father sounded pretty anxious.’
‘Charles will have stayed in contact with him. He’ll call us if there’s any significant change.’
Emily fell silent as she watched the set of instruments on her side of the dashboard.
‘What’s that?’
‘Airspeed. In knots.’
‘And that one?’
‘Artificial horizon. Gives us our position in relation to the real horizon.’
He kept answering the queries as Emily discovered the fuel gauge, engine temperature, altitude and vertical speed indicators.
Now Emily was leaning towards him to examine the rest of the dials. ‘They’re exactly the same as the others!’
‘It’s a twin-engined craft. It would be possible to fit a second set of controls and have two pilots so there’s a duplicate set of instruments. Hey, maybe you should get your helicopter pilot’s licence.’
Emily laughed. ‘Not in this lifetime, mate.’
At least she wasn’t thinking about Simon the rat any more.
It had lasted for months, that sparkle. If it hadn’t still been there when Marcella had ended her engagement to Mike and stormed off back to her native Italy six months after their arrival in Crocodile Creek, he would have…
Would have what?
Told Emily just how special he thought she was? That her living in and loving his home town had made an appearance on the list of why he hadn’t given in to Marcella’s ultimatum and left Crocodile Creek for ever?
Not likely.
Not when his ego had actually been rather dented by Marcella having dumped of him. Or when he’d never had a hint of anything more than friendship being available from Emily. And especially not when she was obviously still in love with Simon the cardiologist, whom she couldn’t see had no respect for hearts other than in their pumping capacity.
Not many people knew just how patient he was capable of being, however. Or how highly he prized his friendships. However hard it was right now, he was not going to jeopardise a friendship or risk something even bigger by moving too fast. Or by telling Emily just how much better off she was without Simon in her life.
And it was hard. As hard as it had been to watch that sparkle dimming and tendrils of unhappiness infiltrate Emily’s life over the last twelve months. She’d tried so hard to make the relationship work and Mike had been sorely tempted on more than one occasion to take her in his arms and tell her that Simon simply wasn’t worth the effort.
Thank goodness he had trusted his instincts and left things to travel naturally to their inevitable conclusion. Emily needed to work things out for herself. To see what was staring her in the face and decide whether or not she wanted it.
All Mike could do right now was to be there.
And to be patient.
The moonlight was even brighter as they neared their destination and it was quite light enough to appreciate the oasis that Wetherby Downs cattle station represented. The number of outbuildings and a cluster of what had to be staff accommodation made the hub of the station seem like a small village. A huge, majestic old homestead sat well to one side, isolated by a ring of irrigated lawns and gardens.
‘Wow, look at that!’ Emily breathed. ‘Almost medieval, isn’t it? The big manor-house and all the peasant cottages. This is where Charles grew up, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah.’ Mike hovered for a moment, looking past the homestead. ‘There’s the airfield.’
‘His younger brother runs the station now, doesn’t he?’
‘Philip,’ Mike confirmed.
‘And he’s married?’
‘To Lynley. Couple of teenage girls who go to boarding school down south.’
‘Charles never talks about them.’
‘No.’ Mike clearly needed to concentrate as he brought the helicopter down close to a floodlit area where a rangy stockman was standing beside a series of fuel tanks.
Emily needed to distract herself from the landing process.
‘Did it have something to do with his accident?’ she wondered aloud. ‘Was it a disappointment to his family that he couldn’t take over running the station because he was in a wheelchair?’
‘Dunno.’ Mike reached overhead to ease the throttle control back and the engine noise abated as the rotors began to slow. ‘I was just a kid when it happened. I do remember seeing old man Wetherby in town once or twice, though. He was pretty intimidating. He had a reputation for being pretty rough. On his family as well as the blokes who worked for him.’ He unclipped his harness. ‘I’ll get on with the refuelling. Shouldn’t take long.’
The helicopter felt strangely empty without Mike so Emily climbed out a minute later.
‘This is Wayne,’ Mike told her. ‘He’s the station manager for Wetherby Downs.’
‘Gidday.’ Wayne pushed the brim of his hat up and held out his hand. Emily winced inwardly at the firm grip. ‘Long way for you guys to get hauled out in a chopper. How far have you still got to go?’
‘We’re headed for Cooper’s Crossing,’ Emily said. ‘Next door, isn’t it?’
‘Been an accident?’
‘No.’ There was something weird about his tone, Emily thought. About the place in general, actually. This was Charles Wetherby’s family station but
