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Liesel skipped up the steps of the bus and grinned at the sight of the children jockeying for the “top spots.” Nothing had changed from when she was a kid. Front seats and backseats were still the most popular and now the mayhem of fifteen children organizing themselves in the middle rows played out in front of her.
The seven-year-olds had clearly had a wonderful time at the farm. Some carefully held eggs in Mr. Jones’s distinctive red cartons in their laps. A gaggle of children were plastering their faces to the windows to catch final glimpses of the sheep and cattle. Others were talking about helping feed the orphaned lambs, and it was just about impossible not to hear Devlin already bragging about how he’d helped the fireman pull apart the iron bars with his own hands to get free of the crush. A quick glimpse toward the barn and she could just see him swinging into the cab of his truck. Yum. Talk about eye candy!
Liesel felt Cassie sending her a knowing look as Jack’s name was bandied about by the children. She sent her friend a smirk and didn’t bother to hide her grin.
This was good. She didn’t feel she was just convincing herself now. It was good. Being around the children all day reminded her of life’s endless possibilities. A year ago she could only see dead ends. Now? Now she was ready to slowly start carving out a new life for herself and Liam.
The last thing in the world she wanted for her son was to have his life curtailed by her grief. It had taken every ounce of energy she’d possessed, but when her parents had offered her use of their holiday let—their “retirement fund”—for the first few months she spent out here in Engleton, she’d gratefully accepted. She’d have to move out when the summer holidays came, but that was a bridge to cross in a few months. It was as if fate had been giving her a gentle nudge. Go on, it had said, take a chance.
Liesel sank into a seat near the driver, a little sigh slipping through her lips. For her son, she would take chances.
This was Jack’s favorite stretch of road along the Murray Valley and he’d missed it. No doubt about it. Four years was a long time to stay away from home. There’d been phone calls, but a clean break had been called for and he had made it easy for everyone by packing a bag and leaving.
Intuitively, Jack guided the truck through the sloping hills that spilled into a wide river basin. The land was thick with spring vines unfurling new leaves and clutches of miniature grapes. Next year’s wine.
He glanced at the cloudless sky, knowing his background had built in a need to check the weather at regular intervals. His father had done it instinctively and now—well, the apple hadn’t fallen too far from the tree. Just a bit farther than usual.
As the moments ticked past he was surprised to see he’d managed to get to the end of the valley without even noticing. It didn’t take a brain surgeon for Jack to know he’d been distracted by a certain freckly nose. Or was it the wild spray of deep auburn curls? They certainly didn’t detract from anything. A collection of distinctively beautiful parts to make up one heck of a whole. Even with his eyes wide open he could picture those sexy feline green eyes that a certain school nurse had kept tilting up at him underneath a long set of lashes. Liesel was definitely on a par with just about any adorable-one-minute-and-knee-bucklingly-sexy-the-next movie star he could think of.
Meeting a beautiful woman had been the last thing on his mind when he’d received his transfer notice to move back to the Murray River Valley. Confronting his demons had his plate piled pretty high as it was.
He leaned his head back against the truck’s headrest, one arm navigating the vehicle along the wide country road dividing the vast tracts of vineyards. The cab briefly filled with a bark of laughter as Jack ruefully acknowledged he knew this road so well he could probably close his eyes and daydream all he wanted about Engleton’s new school nurse. As if on cue, his left hand automatically flicked on the indicator and his foot eased off the accelerator before he’d even looked to the right to acknowledge the arched gateway he’d been through thousands of times.
River’s Bend Winery.
His family’s legacy.
His father’s, more specifically. John Granville Keller, locally known as Granville due to his father before him having carried the same name.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, a clutch of tourists stepping out onto the veranda of the modern wine-tasting center. He’d seen the plans but had never seen the real thing. It looked good. Becca had done well.
As if thinking about her was strong enough to draw her to him, he saw a familiar blonde figure emerge from the group on the veranda. He slowed the truck to a stop, just remembering to slip the gear lever into Park before jumping out and giving his sister a good old-fashioned bear hug and swing round.
“Hey, there, stranger. I like the new threads! Fireman blue suits you.”
Good old Becca. He could count on her for not giving him a case of the guilts. That was his father’s specialty.
“You’re looking good, sis! And so’s your new tasting center.” They both turned to give it an appraising look. The sleek modern lines were beautifully crafted to fit in with the lush riverscape surrounding them. He couldn’t wait to have a good nosey round—and snag a chilled bottle of the unoaked chardonnay Becca had been bragging about in her emails.
“It beats that old shack you were so fond of.” He felt his sister give him a good solid jab in the ribs. He gave her a playful jostle in return before turning her to face him, serious this time.
“How are you? Really? Are you good?”
“Really good, Jack. Just missing you. Staying for tea?” She turned her hundred-watt smile on for him and he couldn’t resist pulling her into another deep hug.
“Not today.” She pulled back from the hug with a frown.
He tapped the brim of his CFS cap. “Duty calls!”
It might have been true—but it was an excuse he’d used all too often for the past few years. They’d spoken on the phone a lot, emails, texts—but the real thing was something he missed. Staying away from his family had been harder than he had thought—but if he was ever going to prove to his father that he could amount to something then complete focus was necessary.
Thank heavens Becca was such a star. She knew everything there was to know about River’s Bend—the crops, the land, their impressive output and, more important, she showed a business acumen that would’ve been as natural a match to the Australian Securities Exchange. He was proud to call her his kid sister, even though the ponytails and plaster-covered knees were a thing of the past.
“You know you’re always welcome. No need to wait for an invitation.”
“I know, Bec. I know.” He let her go and made a little show of wiping away some invisible dust on her shoulders. “Right, well. Best get on to see Old Man River, then.”
“Go gently with him, Jack.” His sister’s voice was loving but held a genuine note of caution. “It’s not been easy for him the past few years.”
“I wasn’t the one who forced me to choose between a life in the CFS or the farm.” He instantly regretted his words when he saw the shots of pain in his sister’s eyes and tried to lighten the atmosphere with a playful boxing move. “At least you came out the winner—running a gold-star winery!”
“This was never about winning or losing, Jack.”
“I know.” He pulled one of her hands into his. “I’m sorry, that was a low blow. You’ve done an amazing job here, sis. Far better than I would have. I mean it.”
He gave her a contrite smile. “Don’t worry, Bec. I’m an older and wiser version of ‘that wild Keller boy.’” He did a spot-on imitation of the town’s former roving police officer and enjoyed his sister’s smile at the likeness.
He didn’t have a record. No. But he did have a history. Nothing horrible, just the usual teenager-gone-off-the-rails sort of stuff that happened when … when stuff happened.
He climbed into the truck, threw a wave at his sister and eased the truck into first gear. “We’ll get that dinner soon, I promise!”
Good ol’ Becca. She really was her father’s daughter, growing up steeped in the station’s quirks and customs. Stubborn as a mule and born to work the land. As a little girl, she was always being retrieved by one of the farmhands from among the vines, where she would spend hours painstakingly setting up her own “wine-tasting” sessions for her dolls. His traditional father had just presumed Jack would take over the business and that his sunny-faced daughter would marry well and be content to enjoy River’s Bend from the sidelines.
As a team, they would’ve made quite a dynamic duo. But life hadn’t panned out that way. The winery was her calling and, after his mother’s death, the CFS had been his. Too bad his father hadn’t seen things that way.
Jack began taking deep, slow breaths. He’d need all the reserves of calm he had to get down the long track past the sleek tasting room, the outbuildings that made up the actual winery, and down the slope into the curved drive fronting the stone expanse of the Keller family home. He may not have spent the past four years here but it was definitely home.
The sprawling three hundred hectares encompassed so much. The eucalyptus-rich expanse of river land he had escaped to as a boy on hot summer days. The exquisitely manicured gardens and orchard where he and Becca had played hide-and-seek. The wooded site near the bridge where they’d spread his mother’s ashes after the fateful out-of-control fire so many painful years ago. The new barn built over the burn site as if it would erase the fact Ava Keller had died there. The same barn where he’d had the final, gut-wrenching fight with his father about choosing the fire service over a life on the land.
He stopped for a minute and let himself take in a delicious lungful of the blossoming vines. Coming home was tougher than he had thought. He’d spent virtually every day here until he was twenty-five. He hadn’t thought jumping between a life as a CFS volunteer and his duties at River’s Bend had been such a wayward existence. But his father had—and had forced him to make his choice.
And he had. He was genuinely committed to the fire service and all it stood for out here in the country. The people out here relied on volunteers to help fight the annual bushfires, pry them out of cars, even rescue the odd kitten—or little boy, as in today’s case. Now he was in a position to make it even better. Without this service people would die. As his mother had. Keeping the local station on the map was essential.
Jack slowed the truck to a stop on the hard, iron-rich earth in front of the house, his father already walking out onto the front veranda as if four years hadn’t passed and he’d been expecting his son to turn up about now.
Jack hated the look of disappointment creasing his father’s face when he saw the uniform.
He would make his father proud. He would understand. One day. He just had to hang on to his principles. Hang on tightly to all he knew was true.
CHAPTER TWO
“I’VE GOT TO hand it to you, Kev. This one’s a real corker.” Liesel snapped off her protective gloves and popped them in the bin.
“Thanks, miss!”
“I should’ve known you’d take it as a compliment.” Liesel sent the brand-new teen an admonishing glare, albeit with a twinkle in her eye. “A black eye and a sprained wrist on your birthday hardly give you bragging rights.” She secured the brace on his arm before reaching into the cupboard behind her for a chemical ice pack.
“They are when you finally popped Diggy Reynolds a good one on the nose. You couldn’t have asked for a better present, miss.”
Liesel winced. She’d seen Diggy first. It had been an impressive nosebleed, but thankfully not a break. Deviated septums weren’t killers—but they sure did hurt. She’d have to talk to Cassie about the incident. Again. Kev’s file was now officially the fattest in her cabinet.
Liesel gave Kev her best “harrumph” as she twisted the ice pack, felt the coolness flood through the packet and gently laid it across his wrist. The thirteen-year-old knew just as well as she did that she had a soft spot for him. Even if he was permanently in trouble. She was pretty sure an absent father was the cause, but she was hoping Cassie had things in hand. The counseling training she’d had in Adelaide was setting off all of the alarm bells that Kev was a troublemaker in training.
“Look, you make sure you keep that wrist iced for the next few days, otherwise I’ll tell your mother on you.”
“Tell your mother what, Kevin Alexander Monroe?”
Cassie’s head popped out from around the corner of Liesel’s nurses’ station, lips pursed, eyebrows raised. Liesel quickly sent Kevin a look indicating it was up to him now and then wheeled her chair out of the way as Cassie entered.
“What is it this time, bud?” Her tone was sharp, but Cassie’s face spoke of the volumes of love she felt for her son. “I’ve got a class to start in five minutes and a hot date with a fireman—so you had better tell me that this week’s injury doesn’t need a trip to the CMC.”
Liesel’s attention level shot straight up and, disturbingly, into the a-little-bit-jealous territory as an image of a certain sandy-haired fireman flitted through her mind. Trying her best to quell the heroic poses he was enacting in her imagination, she smiled up at her friend. “A date? You didn’t tell me.”
“Now, now, my little woodland fairy friend.” Cassie laughed, openly pleased she’d piqued Liesel’s interest. “We’ve both got a date with a fireman so don’t look so envious.”
Liesel felt her nose crinkle—her go-to what are you talking about? expression.
“Uh-oh, Miss Adler,” Kev broke in warily. “You’re Mum’s latest double-dating victim. Better beware!”
“Right, you two.” Liesel stood up briskly, wanting to put an end to the conversation as soon as humanly possible. “Time’s up. I’ve got an assembly to prepare for.” She shuffled them both out of the nurse’s office and shut the door behind her with a satisfying click.
Discussing her love life, or lack of one, in front of the students, let alone the son of her new—her only—friend here in Engleton wasn’t on the agenda. She leaned heavily against the door, allowing a slow breath to escape her lips. A breath she hoped carried away some of the ache she felt whenever she confronted the idea of moving on.
Yes. She’d loved Eric with all of her heart, an over-the-moon-and-back-again young woman’s heart, but she’d never even got the chance to have her wedding day, let alone share the birth of her son. Now, at the ripe old age of twenty-eight, Liesel had a daily wrestling match with the feeling that she was “finished” in the romance department.
It had all happened so fast. A whirlwind love affair in an American ski resort. The spontaneous proposal. Their surprise pregnancy. Losing Eric. Never having the family that she had only just begun to imagine.
She started at the tap-tap-tap against the door.
“I know you’re in there, Liesel. I can hear you breathing.”
Despite herself, Liesel giggled. Being friends with Cassie gave her little glimpses back to the “old Liesel.” The free-spirited young woman she used to be.
Cracking open the door, she allowed her friend access to one of her eyes. “Friend or foe?”
“Friend, you noodle! C’mon,” she pleaded. “Open up!”
Liesel pulled open the door while simultaneously grabbing a light jumper from the hook on the wall. “Make it fast. I’m afraid I’ve got to get going down to the gym for an assembly. The principal just told me about it fifteen minutes ago.”
“Cool your rockets. I’m heading the same way.”
“Your class is coming?”
“You could put it that way.” Cassie adopted her best nonchalant voice. “Or you could say that my class is coming to your date.”
Liesel stopped in her tracks.
“Cassie Monroe! What have you done?”
“Oh-h-h-h …” Her friend was fastidiously avoiding eye contact now. “It might have been me who volunteered you to help with a little demonstration.”
“What demonstration?”
“The first-aid demo for the first, second and third years. It was meant to be a ladders demonstration, but …” Cassie used her best cheerleader voice.
“But what?”
“Now, that, I don’t know exactly. All I know is it has turned into a first-aid demo.”
“And who exactly is leading today’s first-aid demo?”
“Oh, I think he might have a familiar face.”
Liesel felt her body go rigid as Cassie pushed open the door to the gym. Smack-dab in the center of the room a certain sandy-haired fireman was kneeling on the floor, setting up his kit. Seeing Jack again had the same effect on her nervous system as it did on the no-longer-dormant butterflies in her tummy. They were going crazy.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Cassie caught her arm as Liesel tried to turn and leave. “You’re the Murray River Valley school nurse and I don’t think there is anyone better placed to help our local CFS crew inspire young minds.”
“But—”
“Nope. I don’t want to hear it.” Cassie gave her a quick hug and a push. “Now, go and put on a good show for my class. They just might be the future doctors of Engleton. Back in a tinkle!”
Liesel watched as her friend hastily retreated down the school corridor. If there was one thing she definitely knew about Cassie, she was persistent.
Jack first caught a glimpse of the familiar auburn curls through the gym door. As Liesel virtually hurtled through it, he felt bushwhacked anew by her fresh-faced beauty. Her petite features instantly made him feel like a klutzy brontosaurus who’d been charged with protecting a tiny and exquisitely beautiful tropical bird. His modus operandi at these gigs was usually big and loud, but something about her made him want to ratchet things down a notch.
“Are you the set of helping hands I was promised?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Jack took on board the microscopic flinch as she made eye contact with him. What had provoked that?
“Apologies for the last-minute setup. The CFS are trying to do as much outreach in the local schools as we can and after we met the other day I realized we hadn’t done a demonstration here in ages.” Too obvious?
She squinted up at him, waiting for more information.
“I’m trying to score a few more points locally before I turn in my outreach stats to the big boys in Adelaide.” Too macho. Definitely too macho.
“What exactly are we meant to be doing today? I heard a rumor it was going to be snakes and ladders.” Liesel crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping that demonstrating anything involving body contact was off the agenda. She was beginning to feel a little giddy in Jack’s presence and feeling that way—particularly in front of the student body—was definitely not in the rulebooks.
Jack rose to his full height, arms spreading out in front of him as if preparing to sell his wares to Liesel. “Ahh. Well, HQ decided today was the day all the ladders would be checked out by one of their techs. Safety-first bureaucracy, and all that.” He gave her a knowing look and she couldn’t help but nod along. The world of school nurses was weighed down with thick ledgers of mind-numbing paperwork. It was little wonder his was, too.
“This is what we’re going to do today.” He waved an arm across everything he’d been laying out on the gym floor. “It’s what you find inside a proper first-aid kit—one you’d find at a school, in a restaurant, the science lab. I know these kids are too little to reach one, let alone use it, but we can try and make it fun.” His eyes twinkled down at hers and if she wasn’t mistaken she saw the beginnings of a wink form, reconsider, then withdraw. Shame. Her butterflies were just about ready for another whirl round her tummy.
Liesel knew her eyes were meant to be following Jack’s to take in the array of splints, plasters, bandages, wipes and protective glasses—a deluxe edition of first-aid kits. Instead, they were working their way from one of his long-fingered hands along his golden-haired forearm—she had a weakness for a well-defined forearm. Tanned, well-toned, his definitely measured up. Her eyes slid up and over the biceps filling his short-sleeved CFS T-shirt to a set of awfully broad shoulders—
“Like what you see?”
Heat instantly spread across her cheeks. Obviously. She hadn’t ogled anyone from such close range in years. Three years, to be exact. A twist of guilt knotted up her butterflies and as she looked up at him she realized in an instant he was referring to the contents of the first-aid kit.
Doubly embarrassing.
Even if he hadn’t seen her do an ocular tiptoe up his arms and on to the expanse of his shoulders, he would be sure to spy the flush of embarrassment continuing to heat her cheeks. Say something, you idiot!
“It’s great. You’ve really got the full Monty here.”
She clapped a hand over her mouth. The full Monty! Her brain did a whiz-bang dress and undress of the unsuspecting man in front of her and before she could stop it, Liesel felt herself succumbing to a full-blown case of the nervous giggles.
Jack had no idea what Liesel was finding so funny but was glad to see, whatever it was, that it brought a happy glint to those kitty-cat eyes of hers. He took a swipe at his chin. Maybe he still had some egg yolk on there from this morning’s egg and bacon roll.
“I’m sorry.” Liesel spoke through her fingers, actively trying to stifle her laughter. “I don’t know what’s got into me this morning.” She cleared her throat and gave her feet a little stomp on the gym floor, as if the motion would add some sobriety to the moment. It worked. For a second. As soon as their eyes met again she burst into another peal of laughter that was about as infectious as they came.
Feeling at an utter loss as to what would have caused it, Jack was relieved to see a flow of students start to make their way into the big gymnasium. He bent his head in their direction and stage-whispered, “Quit your laughing, Miss Adler. You’ll take away my tough-guy image.”
Hardly. She didn’t know a single thing about Brigade Captain Jack Keller, but there was little to nothing that would diminish from the all-man mojo he was exuding.
Liesel took herself off to a corner to choke down a few more mortified giggles as the students made their way in. Being a few dozen meters away from him made it easier to spy on him. Well, not spy really … assess. Jack had clearly thought out the presentation more than he’d let on and was soon directing the children according to age toward floor seats or the stands.
He was good with them. A natural. He started off the talk with a few jokes that immediately captivated the children’s attention. Liesel had to admit it, if there was anyone who could get this boisterous group of young kids interested in first-aid training and the CFS cadets, Jack Keller was the man for the job.
“All right, Miss Adler, time for you to come over here and for us to find out just how smart you are!”
Liesel did her best who, me? double take before realizing all eyes in the gym were focused on her and Jack was genuinely waiting for her to join him. The old Liesel would’ve loved being center stage, playing the jester to his brigade captain. The new Liesel? Not so sure about being in the limelight anymore.
Twenty minutes later Liesel realized she shouldn’t have worried a bit. Jack Keller wasn’t out to embarrass her—or anyone, for that matter. He really struck her as one of those genuinely kind guys who just wanted to help.
He had devised a really clever game where he would call out the name of an item in the first-aid kit and then he and the children would count how many seconds it took her to find it. Then, when she had found it, he would equate the time it took her to find it with what would have been happening to the patient while they were waiting. The children loved it and at the same time were learning how important it was to get help quickly in an emergency. They were putty in his hands and Jack seemed to be having just as much fun as the students.