Recent titles by Annie Claydon:

THE DOCTOR MEETS HER MATCH

DOCTOR ON HER DOORSTEP

ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS

These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

The Rebel
and Miss Jones
Annie Claydon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To the unsung hero

Dear Reader

One of the best things about being a writer is that you have the opportunity to travel, even if it’s only in your imagination. So this book has been a real indulgence, because I got to set it in two of my favourite places—which just happen to be on opposite sides of the world.

For me, one of the best parts of travelling is returning home. But for Sara and Reece ‘home’ isn’t just a different place on the map, it’s an entirely different concept. The challenge that they face is not merely a matter of physical distance, and it’s one which is far more difficult to overcome. I loved writing their story, even if they did have me tearing my hair out at times, and I was with them every step of the way on their travels, as they explored each other’s worlds and began to find that home truly is where the heart is.

Thank you for reading Reece and Sara’s story. I hope you enjoy it. I’m always delighted to hear from readers, and you can e-mail me via my website at: www.annieclaydon.com

Annie

CHAPTER ONE

‘I’VE got to go. You know that, don’t you?’

They’d been through this already. Sara grinned up at her brother. ‘Of course I do. I know what it’s like to be on call. You can’t tell a bush fire that now’s not convenient and you’ll be there in a couple of days.’

Simon smiled for the first time since he’d answered the telephone that morning. ‘You grew up some time when I wasn’t looking. I keep forgetting that.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he still couldn’t believe the evidence of his own eyes. ‘Ten years is a long time.’

And a lot had happened in the years since they’d last seen each other. But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. ‘If the boot was on the other foot, and that phone call had been for a paramedic, you wouldn’t have seen me for dust. You need to go.’

Simon shrugged. ‘You’ll be here when I get back?’ It was almost as if he thought she wouldn’t. As if the bonds that they’d been carefully rebuilding for the last two days would break at the slightest touch. Sara could understand that too. She shared his fears.

‘Where else am I going to go? By the time you get back I’ll have got over my jet-lag, rearranged your house for you and taught Trader how to bark with an English accent.’

‘I’ve still got an English accent.’ Simon frowned. ‘Haven’t I?’

‘Now you mention it, no. Not any more.’ Simon’s accent was pure Aussie to her ears. He’d changed in other ways too. No longer the lanky older brother, fresh out of university, who had clashed so violently with their mother and walked out of their lives for ever. He was broader, more thoughtful and a great deal more measured. Much tidier too. ‘Did I say that I’m proud of you?’

‘No. But thanks.’ The smile he gave her was full of the warmth they’d once had. Simon heaved his backpack onto his shoulder and turned to face her squarely. ‘I’ll let someone know you’re here as soon as I get to the CFA centre. There’s a list of numbers on the pad in the kitchen, so call if you need anything. Someone will come by tomorrow if I’m not back.’

‘I’ll be okay. I’m not sixteen any more.’

‘Bear with me. The fire’s well out of this region and heading westwards, away from us, but if there is any danger someone will contact you and drive up here to get you. If you can put your valuables into one bag, well and good, but don’t waste any time …’

‘I know, I know.’ Sara held up her hands. ‘We’ve been through all this.’

‘Right.’ Simon still hesitated. Finally he leant in, giving her an awkward kiss on the cheek.

‘Stay safe. See you soon.’ Sara gave him a bright smile, and propelled him out of the door.

She’d been restless all day, and had hovered fitfully between being half asleep and half awake all night, but now something shocked Sara into wakefulness. The silence perhaps. Or maybe it was the insidious, nagging worry that she had tried think through logically but still couldn’t quite put a name to. Even the feeble light of early dawn somehow seemed slightly menacing.

Simon might have come back while she was sleeping. The thought propelled her out of bed, and took her all the way to the large windows at the front of the house. Nothing. His car wasn’t parked in its usual place, and his jacket wasn’t hanging in the hallway. Sara knew that she wouldn’t find him sleeping in his bedroom either, but she looked anyway.

She wasn’t used to this. She’d dealt with her fair share of emergencies but waiting it out while someone else handled the situation was way out of her experience. Taking Trader for a long, brisk walk yesterday afternoon, without seeing another living soul, had spooked her even more. She’d returned to Simon’s beautiful house, switched on the TV and played one DVD after another, just to hear the sound of human voices.

She padded to the kitchen, the sound of scratching at the back door coming almost as a relief. Pulling back the bolts, she opened the door, and fifty pounds of Australian cattle dog, the only one of his kind that Sara had ever seen before, herded her deftly out of the way to get past her and into the house.

‘Whoa, Trader.’ The dog had followed her footsteps, trotting hopefully to Simon’s bedroom door, and finding the room empty, was now pacing the hallway fretfully. ‘He’s not here. I’m on breakfast duty today.’

Trader was unsettled about something. Perhaps food would appease him. Fetching the plastic container that held his food, Sara made for the doors that led out onto the veranda, unlocking them and sliding them back.

Maybe the wind changed. Maybe it was just that she was outside the house now. The smell hit her like a slap in the face. Blown in on the breeze, like bad news from across the hillside, came the acrid smell of smoke.

Trader was at her side, pressing himself against her legs, and she staggered back. He nipped at her heels, trying to shepherd her back into the house, and Sara grabbed his collar. ‘Okay, okay, have it your way.’ Maybe Trader knew best. She certainly didn’t know what to do.

Gathering up his bowls, spilling what was left of the water in one down her nightdress, she pulled the dog inside the house and shut the patio doors, locking them tight as if somehow that might stop a fire from getting in. ‘You can eat inside today.’

Quickly she put Trader’s food down for him on the kitchen floor and made for the sink to fill his water bowl. When she twisted the tap, nothing happened. Sara whirled around and saw that the LED lights on the fridge and the cooker were out too.

‘Dammit!’ No electricity meant that the pump from the water tank wasn’t working. Turning the tap off, she poured some spring water from the refrigerator into Trader’s bowl, then took a swig from the bottle. Maybe the hydration would help her to think.

This must be another fire. Unless the wind had changed and the fire that Simon had gone to was coming this way. Sara had no idea, and it didn’t really matter. It looked as if the situation had changed, and so Simon needed to keep his promise and either come and get her himself or send someone. Any time now would be good.

The phone was dead and even though she knew her mobile was out of range here, she tried it anyway. ‘It’s only a little smoke, Trader. Smoke travels for miles, the fire’s probably nowhere near us.’

Her assertion was born of hope rather than knowledge, but at least Trader’s gentle, intelligent eyes looked convinced. Perhaps that was a good sign. Sara left him to eat, and ran to fetch the binoculars that Simon kept in his home office. Slipping outside, she trained them on the horizon in the direction that the smoke seemed to be coming from.

She could see the source of the black smoke, which billowed out from behind a fold in the landscape. It was impossible to gauge how close the fire was or which way it was headed, but the breeze in her face gave Sara a sickening clue.

‘Oh!’ Her chest and stomach tightened painfully, and she doubled over, trying to breathe. She had to get out of here. Had to get home. She had responsibilities.

Suddenly this whole trip seemed impossibly reckless. Gran had urged her to come here, and had even booked herself into respite care for three weeks, but that was just temporary. She was ninety years old, and completely dependent on Sara. What would she do if she didn’t come back?

Simon would send someone. He had to. Their mother might have labelled her elder brother feckless, irresponsible and not worthy of a moment in their thoughts, but Sara knew that wasn’t true. This time he was going to come through for her.

Self-pity wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Emptying the contents of the kitchen drawers at least secured a battery radio and Sara switched it on, scanning for a local station. Surely they’d be putting out information on some kind of regular basis.

Carrying the radio with her, she quickly filled a couple of bags with what she hoped were Simon’s most valued possessions and put them in the hall. She pulled on a pair of jeans and made her way around the outside of the house, pulling the fire shutters down over the windows and back door as Trader ran back and forth, trying to urge her away from the ever more pungent smell of smoke, which was beginning to hang in the air like a dirty fog.

A tone sounded from the radio, and she held it to her ear, straining to catch every word. It didn’t help much, mentioning places that she’d only half heard of and could be anywhere, and fire alert statuses that could mean anything. She understood the urgency, though. Evacuate. Be safe. Nearest low-risk area.

There was nowhere to go. She was without a car and even if she could remember the way to the nearest town, she knew that trying to walk the twenty or so miles there would be madness. Simon had designed this house himself, and put all his architectural expertise and experience of local building techniques and conditions into it. The shutters were designed to keep burning embers from getting into the house, and the mud-brick walls would afford some protection if the blaze was not too intense. If the worst came to the worst, she and Trader were just going to have to sit it out and hope for the best.

The thought made her feel sick. Gulping back tears, Sara turned to the only living creature that might give her any comfort. ‘He won’t forget us, Trader.’ The animal seemed to sense her anxiety and nosed at her hand. ‘It’s probably not as bad as we think it is. Perhaps the wind will change …’

She stiffened, straining to see, as she caught a glimpse of something that looked like more smoke, this time on the dirt road leading to the front of the house. There was movement, and the flash of something bright in the sunlight. Just as dread began to grip her, squeezing all of the air from her lungs, she made out what it was. A vehicle, moving at speed and kicking up dust as it went. It could only be coming to one place. That track only led here.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Sara ran back into the house, pulling the red tablecloth from the table and sending the wooden bowls in the centre of it crashing to the floor behind her. Whoever it was wouldn’t be able to hear her yet, but she shouted anyway, waving the tablecloth over her head.

‘Sit, Trader.’ Sara strained to see any sign that the driver of the SUV had seen her. Nothing. She waved the cloth again and this time, through her tears of frustration, she saw something. Headlights, three short flashes and then a pause, and another three flashes. Just to make sure, she waved again. Another three flashes.

‘Thank you.’ She whispered the words under her breath, to no one in particular, her chest heaving. ‘It’s all right, see, Trader. Someone’s coming.’

By the time the SUV had skidded to a halt outside the house Trader was barking joyfully, pulling her towards the man who swung the door open and got out.

She could have hugged him. If he’d been middle-aged, with a paunch, she might have. But this was the kind of man you didn’t just walk up to and hug without having to accuse yourself of an ulterior motive. Tall, broad and with blue eyes, bright against his tanned skin. Thick blond hair that looked as if it hadn’t been combed in a while, which just added to the general look of a handsome adventurer.

‘Sara? Sara Jones?’ He was striding towards her and she nodded, lost for words. ‘Simon sent me to fetch you.’

This wasn’t the moment to ask why he hadn’t come sooner. Neither was it the time for the normal reservations about getting into strangers’ cars. Trader seemed to know him and at his command gave off trying to lick his hand and trotted to the SUV, jumping in and settling quietly on the back seat.

‘We have to hurry.’ The stranger didn’t seem disposed to stop for questions anyway, and had already taken the steps up to the veranda two at a time, twisting the handle of the front door and turning to her in surprise when it didn’t budge.

‘I’ve got the key here.’ Sara hurried after him, pulling the single key from her pocket. In her agitation it slipped through her fingers, bouncing next to her bare feet on the decking and sliding through a crack between the boards.

At least he didn’t call her stupid, but that didn’t stop Sara from muttering the word under her breath. He shrugged, starting for the back of the house, and Sara ran after him. ‘I locked the doors at the back too. Maybe we could lever one of the boards up. I think I can get my arm through …’

He looked at her in frank disbelief. ‘Yeah, maybe. Stand back.’ Before she could stop him he had shouldered the door and it burst inwards, snapping back against the wall.

‘Did you have to do that?’ The door had smashed into the table in the hallway, sending a glass bowl crashing onto the floor, and broken shards were everywhere. Just because her habit of locking doors was a little over the top for this neck of the woods, it didn’t mean he had to go caveman on her.

He turned, taking her by the shoulders. ‘Sara, we don’t have any time.’ The look on his face was making her tremble.

‘But you can’t even see the fire yet …’

‘If you can see a fire, it’s too late to run. At the moment we have two options, staying here to fight it or getting out. We’re not properly prepared for the first and the second isn’t going to be available for much longer.’ He was focussed, calm, and Sara began to divine that breaking the door down had not been an overreaction. ‘It’s going to be okay, Sara, but if we’re leaving, we need to do it now.’

There was something in his eyes that made her trust him. Something about the brief smile he gave her. She’d made a few bad decisions in her life, but hopefully this wasn’t going to be one of them. ‘Yes … okay.’

‘Good. Thank you.’ Before she could ask him what would happen next, he had lifted her up in his arms, carrying her into the house, his boots scrunching on the broken glass. ‘Have you got a pair of heavy boots and a thick cotton jacket?’

‘Yes. But it’s too hot …’

‘Heavy clothes will protect you. Cotton is less flammable than man-made materials.’ There was no arguing with him, and Sara didn’t particularly want him to elaborate on a situation where she might need heavy cotton clothing to protect her. Hopefully he was just being over-cautious.

He let her down, and she bolted to her bedroom. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking that despite the smoky smell of his clothes the scent of his skin was alluring, or that the sheer power in his arms and shoulders was somehow reassuring.

When she emerged from her room, the hallway was empty of the bundles that she’d left there and her new companion was rummaging in the refrigerator, two large bottles of water under his arm.

‘Ready to go?’

‘Yes.’ She mustn’t hesitate now. Mustn’t go and check the house to make sure everything was secure. If Simon had trusted this stranger, then she had to do so.

‘Good.’ He turned to her, kicking the fridge door closed. His gaze flicked over her with an audacity that made her shiver, and Sara called a mental reality check. He was just making sure that she wasn’t wearing anything that might catch light. ‘Have you got everything?’

‘Yes.’ Her passport and valuables were in the large leather handbag she had slung across her body. That was all she needed.

‘Let’s go, then.’

He hurried her to the SUV and then went back to draw the shutter down over the shattered front door. Sara craned her neck to keep the house in view as the car described a wide arc and bumped back down the dirt track towards the road.

‘Reece Fletcher. Nice to meet you, Sara.’

‘What?’ All her attention was on the house, trying to fix it into her memory as if that would somehow ensure that it would still be standing when she returned. It had been Simon’s dream to build this house, and the thought of it being reduced to ashes was impossibly cruel.

‘Will you keep your eye on the road ahead of us for me?’

‘What for?’ She swung round, scanning the empty road, before she realised that Reece was just giving her something to do so she wouldn’t be staring out of the back window of the car for the next five miles, straining for a last glimpse of the house.

‘Just look.’ His voice was gentler now. ‘And if you could open one of those bottles of water, that would be great. You’ll find a couple of plastic beakers in the glove compartment.’

‘Right.’ Now that they were on the road, the lines of tension in Reece’s face had relaxed and Sara drew her sunglasses out of her bag and put them on, only partly to shade her eyes from the glare. At least when he’d been ordering her around, she’d been able to respond without feeling the need to cry on his shoulder.

Time for another reality check. She’d just been rescued. Wanting to cling to Reece was a perfectly natural reaction. Deal with it.

‘Nice to meet you too, Reece. Thanks for coming.’ She handed him half a cup of water and he downed it in one go, passing the cup back to her for a refill.

‘No worries. I’ll phone Simon when we get into range of a signal, let him know that we’re on our way.’ Although the road was empty, he was still watchful, his gaze flipping constantly from the road to the rear-view mirrors.

‘Thanks.’ Sara supposed that she ought to ask, even if she didn’t much want to know why it had taken so long for Reece to come for her. ‘Where is he?’

‘He’s okay, but he’s in the hospital. No burns, but he has a compound break to his leg. That means—’

‘I know.’ Sara struggled to control the panic which rose in her chest. ‘I mean, I know what that means, I’m a paramedic.’

He nodded slowly, as if he’d just remembered. ‘Then you’ll know that he needed an operation to set the leg. That was done last night, and he’s awake now and doing well. He has a crush fracture in his lower back, but that will mend with rest. Some smoke inhalation, but it wasn’t too bad.’

‘What happened to him?’

‘I don’t know the details. He was working on a firebreak when he was injured. They brought him out and airlifted him to hospital. I’m on his list of people to call in case of an accident.’

It was obvious that Simon should choose someone who lived more locally than she did for that, but it still hurt. ‘And he didn’t think to mention that I was out here with Trader?’

Reece shot her a questioning look, the edges of his mouth turned down. ‘He was diverted on his way into the CFA centre, never got the opportunity to tell anyone. And after he was injured he was heavily sedated most of the time. I didn’t know you were here and assumed that Trader was with a neighbour and that the house was empty. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.’

The way he sprang to Simon’s defence so readily warmed Sara. ‘No one knew.’ She puffed out a breath.

He turned in his seat slightly, shooting her a quizzical look. ‘How long have you been here?’

‘Three days. We wanted a week to ourselves so we could do some catching up. Next week was going to be for introductions to friends.’

Reece chuckled. ‘If he’d mentioned that, I’d have known what I had to look forward to when I came up at the weekend.’

Light dawned. ‘So you’re the doctor he talks about? Fletch?’

He grinned at her and Sara’s fingertips began to tingle. So he wasn’t just a handsome face, he’d been a good friend to her brother. Simon hadn’t mentioned that Fletch was gorgeous but, then, she supposed he wouldn’t have noticed. She’d noticed, though.

‘What’s he been telling you?’ The engine of the SUV raced up a gear. Simon hadn’t said anything about that easy, intimate grin either.

‘He says … that you’re a doctor. And that you’ve worked in lots of different places, from city hospitals to the outback. It must be interesting.’ That seemed safe enough. ‘What does he say about me?’

‘That you were just a kid when he left home.’ There was a trace of seriousness in his voice. ‘I’ve obviously got some catching up to do.’

He was deliberately not saying everything, but now wasn’t the time to start wondering how much Reece knew about the dysfunctional branch of Simon’s family. ‘So how come you got to drive all the way out here? Surely this is a busy time for you, with the fires and everything.’

He laughed. ‘I’ve been working for a week straight now. When the call came in about Simon, I was just about to go off duty and catch some shut-eye. By the time I got to the hospital, he’d just woken up and was shouting the place down and I came straight here.’

‘So …’ Her brain was working overtime, trying to process all of the new information that had been thrown at her this morning. She decided to concentrate on the most immediate concern. ‘How long since you’ve slept?’

He laughed. ‘Just keep talking.’

CHAPTER TWO

SIMON’S kid sister had taken it almost as a personal affront when he declined her offer to drive. Reece was tired but he wasn’t that far gone. And ever since he’d seen Sara he’d been wide awake. Her dark hair, cut almost boyishly short, emphasised the soft curve at the nape of her neck. Those large, grey eyes managed to be both seductive and intelligent at the same time. She’d buckled down and done what had needed to be done in a crisis.

Clearly she was stubborn too. ‘I’m perfectly capable of driving an automatic. I drive in London every day. Have you ever driven through a two-mile traffic jam to get to a pile-up?’

She had him there. ‘Okay, but the conditions here are different.’ He couldn’t quite divine whether she had been aware of the seriousness of the situation. She was either handling it extremely well or she didn’t realise how narrow their escape had been.

‘All right, then. What do I need to watch out for?’ She obviously wasn’t about to give up, and exhilaration flared in the pit of Reece’s stomach.

‘Kangaroos on the road, for a start.’ He reckoned she hadn’t come across that one.

‘Simon’s told me about not trying to overtake them. I reckon I’m in much better shape than you are to keep an eye out for anything about to leap out in front of me, and I know where the brake is.’ She wrinkled her nose at him, and Reece wondered how long he could hold out if she was going to use such unscrupulous methods of persuasion.

She had half turned towards him in her seat, and even though he couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, he was pretty sure that she was sizing him up. ‘So are you going to stop, or do we need to do that thing they do in the movies, where they keep driving while they swap places? I’ve not done that before, but I can give it a try.’

He found himself wondering whether she would actually do it, and a laugh began to rumble deep in his chest, leaving him almost breathless.

‘What’s that?’ Her attention was diverted for a moment and the tone of her voice changed. Reece followed the line of her pointing finger and saw a ute stopped at the side of a track leading to the road.

Without a word, Reece swung the steering-wheel round, bumping onto the cracked, dry earth. She had the presence of mind to hang on, and they sped towards the vehicle. The hazards were on, blinking a warning, or in these circumstances more likely a cry for help.

‘There’s someone in there.’ She was leaning forward, trying to see through the dust. Reece jammed on the brakes, and before he could tell her to stay in the car, she had released her seat belt and had jumped out, running towards the stranded truck.

He was right behind her. A quick look told him all he needed to know, and he opened the driver’s door and spoke quietly to the middle-aged man behind the wheel.

‘What’s up, mate?’ Blue lips. Perspiration. Gasping for breath. ‘I’m a doctor.’

‘Bloody angina. Always seems to come on just when you don’t want it, eh?’ The man seemed more annoyed than relieved to see them.

Reece resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Bravado was just one of the unhelpful reactions that someone might have to a situation like this. ‘Have you got medication? Pills or a spray?’

‘Yes.’ The man tried to turn in his seat and winced, clutching his chest. ‘There’s a spray in the emergency bag behind my seat.’

‘I’ll get it.’ Sara was grinning, only a slight shake of her head betraying that she was probably thinking exactly the same as Reece was. Opening the passenger door, she clambered inside, tugging at the red canvas bag that was wedged behind the driver’s seat. She managed to pull it out, almost falling backwards out of the vehicle, and unzipped it. ‘Gotcha.’

‘That’s the one.’ Disarmed by her smile, the man began to relax in his seat.

She passed the canister of nitroglycerin spray over to Reece, and he checked the prescription details on the label. ‘Here you go, mate.’

The spray began to work, and almost before his eyes the man began to recover, the blue tinge around his lips fading. Reece straightened and beckoned Sara to his side, out of earshot. ‘I’ll check that the truck’s running all right and then I want you to take my car. Keep going on this road for another thirty kilometres and we’ll meet you …’

‘I’ll stay with you.’ She grabbed the car keys from him and pocketed them. ‘How long do we have?’ She scanned the horizon, suddenly tense.

Reece didn’t know. The fire might be coming this way and it might not. But by the time he got on the road again she could put at least five kilometres between herself and here and that could only be good. ‘Not enough time to argue about it.’

‘Perfect.’ She turned on her heel and almost flounced the two steps back to the truck, bending down by the driver’s door to talk to the man.

Reece sighed. The look on her face when she’d looked back in the direction they’d just come from told him that she had understood the risks of staying any longer, and her body language now showed that there was no changing her mind. And since he would have made the same decision in her place, he couldn’t think of a single argument to persuade her differently.

‘Right, then, Frank, if you’re up to standing, we’ll just move you round to the passenger seat and we can get going.’ She gave the man a bright smile and he grinned at her. She had a way with her. No-nonsense, but with a lightness of touch that made even Reece feel better about the situation.

‘Sure.’ The man took her arm, leaning heavily on it, and Reece supported him from the other side. They slowly walked him around to the passenger seat and she folded a rug to make a support for his back, and buckled the seat belt over him.

‘Where are we going?’ That hint of tension had returned, although she hid it from Frank.

‘It’s thirty kilometres to the next town. I’ll call ahead, see if an ambulance can meet us there.’

‘Okay. I’ll follow you.’

‘Think you can keep up?’ Reece grinned at her, suddenly relishing the chance to goad her a little.

Her cheeks flushed prettily and suddenly the day seemed a whole lot easier. ‘I’ll do my best.’

They leaned against the SUV side by side, drinking the takeaway coffee that Sara had got from the store in the main street while Reece had been busy seeing Frank into the ambulance. Trader lapped greedily at the water that she had poured into a camping dish she found in the boot of the car. ‘So what was he doing out there? The guy in the café said that whole area is on high alert.’

‘It is. He’d been staying with his daughter for a couple of days and he reckoned he’d nip back and get some things from home. He would have been fine if the angina hadn’t slowed him up.’

‘Hmm. So you gave him the talk about not being indestructible, then?’

Reece chuckled. He liked the way that she anticipated him. The way that they’d fallen into an almost seamless synchronicity back there. Just training, he guessed, hers and his. ‘Yeah. I imagine he’ll hear it again from a few different directions.’

She shrugged. ‘Well, as long as he listens to one of them. We must be in mobile range by now.’

‘Yeah. I’ll call the hospital and get them to tell Simon that we’re on our way. We can stop by at my house first and you can have a shower and change your clothes.’ Reece drew his phone out of his pocket.

She twisted her mouth ruefully and Reece wondered what her lips would taste like. Sweet, he reckoned. Like the rest of her. ‘I’ll take the shower, but I don’t have a change of clothes with me.’

‘Wasn’t that your case I put in the back of the car?’ The large, lightweight case with a strip of gaudy material tied around the handle so it could be picked out easily at an airport.

‘Yes, but my clothes are in the chest of drawers in Simon’s spare room. I filled my case with his things.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s his home. I wanted to bring as much of it as I could.’

Most women would have brought at least a change of clothes, but it seemed that Sara wasn’t most women. She’d left behind practically everything she possessed in this hemisphere, putting her brother first. That simple act of selflessness made Reece smile.

‘I’ll call my sister, then. She’s about your size. I dare say she can fix you up with something.’

She blushed again. Reece could really get used to that. ‘That’s okay. I have plenty of spending money. I can pop to the shops somewhere. I don’t need much.’

Maybe not. But Reece could provide her with whatever she did need. She was his friend’s sister, and she had no one else, which made her his responsibility now. ‘I won’t ask Kath to bring much, then.’

She nodded, head down all of a sudden, staring at her coffee. ‘Thanks. Just a clean T-shirt would be great.’ She drained her coffee, crushing the cardboard cup in her hands. ‘Thanks for coming to get me. I don’t know where I’d be right now if you hadn’t.’

Her hands were shaking. She was under no illusions about the danger of the situation she’d been in.

‘No problem. Do you want to drive while I make my calls? I’ll programme the sat nav for you.’ It might take her mind off the worries of the moment.

She nodded. ‘Yeah. Thanks.’

‘On the right, remember.’ Reece tried to make a joke of it, but he was too tired to even see whether she got it or not.

‘I remember. Get in, before I decide to leave you behind.’

He’d dozed fitfully in the car. As soon as he’d made his calls and there was nothing left to do, his body seemed to shut down, taking what it needed. Sara knew all about that kind of exhaustion. After her mother had died last year, finally losing her battle with cancer, it had been weeks before she’d been able to sit down without going to sleep. Gran had said she had slept off all her tears, gently making it clear that she disapproved of such a strategy, and in hindsight she might have been right.

The sat nav beeped in an indication that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Sara nudged Reece gently, and he woke with a start, suddenly alert. ‘Is this your house?’

‘Uh?’ He relaxed back into his seat when he saw where they were. ‘No. This is my sister’s house. Back up a bit, will you?’

Sara manoeuvred the heavy vehicle into the mouth of the driveway, stopping when Reece shook his head. ‘Her car’s not there, she must be over at my place. I’m just down the road a little way.’

‘Down the road a little way’ turned out to be more than four kilometres. Reece indicated an opening in the tall bushes that flanked the road, and Sara steered into it, the SUV dwarfing the small shiny runaround already parked outside the house.

‘Here we are.’ He grinned, stretching the kinks out of his back and shoulders. ‘Hopefully, Kath’s got the kettle on.’ He opened the passenger door and almost fell out of the car, regaining his footing quickly. At his command, Trader suddenly woke from his repose and scrambled past Sara to follow Reece.

The house seemed far too big for one but, then, there was more space out here. There were large windows, a covered porch, and trees and bushes that were unfamiliar to Sara. It wasn’t like home. From what Simon had said, it wasn’t really a home to Reece either. Just a place to camp out until Reece’s permanently itchy feet became too much for him and he upped sticks and moved on.

It was nice, though. An oasis of shade and weatherworn colours, which made up in charm for what it lacked in grooming. Reece fitted in here perfectly.

‘Ah!’ He was standing in the open doorway. ‘I can smell fresh coffee.’

‘Only because I brought it with me.’ A woman’s voice sounded from the hall. ‘When did you last go shopping for food, Reece?’

He rolled his eyes and winked at Sara. ‘I’ve been working.’

‘Yeah, and what’s your excuse the rest of the time?’ A blonde, pretty woman dressed in shorts and a T-shirt joined him in the doorway.

Reece shrugged. ‘No clue. Playing?’

Kath jabbed one finger at his ribs and Reece caught her hand, chuckling. Trader sensed that it was time to let off a little steam and threw himself against Reece’s legs, demanding attention.

‘Come inside.’ Kath had broken away from Reece and was advancing on Sara now. ‘Don’t mind my brother, he’s got no manners.’ She grabbed Sara’s hand and led her past Reece into the house. ‘No coffee either, but at least I can do something about that.’

Kath stayed long enough to pour the coffee and unload the contents of two large shopping bags into the refrigerator. Then she took a last swig from her mug, professed herself delighted at having met Sara and apologised for having to run.

‘Later, sis. I’ll come by and pick Trader up this evening if that’s okay.’ Reece rose from the sofa and gave his sister a brief hug. ‘Thanks for everything.’

‘I just wish we weren’t going away tomorrow. Perhaps I can stay behind a few days, Joe and the kids can manage on their own for a while …’ Kath fisted her hand against Reece’s chest. Sara could never have done that with her own brother, and suddenly she envied Kath the careless gesture.

‘Don’t start trying to tear yourself in two again.’ Reece held up an admonishing finger and Kath shrugged and nodded. ‘If you can run some of that excess energy out of Trader this afternoon while we get sorted, that’ll be fine.’

‘Right. Later, then.’ Kath grinned cheerily at Sara, and Trader followed her to the door with an air of almost palpable joy.

‘At least Trader’s found someone who’s got their priorities straight.’ Sara smiled, nodding at Kath as she jogged to her car, Trader trotting obediently behind her.

‘Yeah.’ Reece grinned. ‘Cattle dogs can be a bit of a handful if they’re not trained and exercised properly. Trader’s ancestry is part dingo.’

‘Yes, Simon told me. He said you helped him to train Trader.’

‘Yep. He didn’t have a clue where to start.’ Reece shot her a quizzical look.

‘No, he wouldn’t. We didn’t have pets at home. Too much mess.’

‘That’s a shame.’

‘Yeah.’

Reece seemed to be waiting for Sara to elaborate, and when she didn’t, he collected the empty coffee cups and put them into the dishwasher, leaving her to stare aimlessly out of the window. This sitting in one place, waiting to find out what someone else was going to do next, was the downside of being rescued.

‘Right, then.’ Reece obviously had a plan, even if she didn’t. ‘I expect you’ll want to wash off some of that dust.’ He turned, without waiting for her assent, and disappeared into the hallway. The only option available was to follow him.

‘This is your room.’ He flung one of the doors open and walked inside. ‘The shower’s through there, and Kath’s left some things for you, so I hope you’ll have everything you need.’

The room was bright and welcoming. Clean, cool shades of cream and green that just demanded you stay a while and relax. On the wide bed was a small pile of clothes, neatly folded. Next to it were towels and a small wicker basket containing soap, shampoo, toothpaste and some packages wrapped in paper. A large bunch of flowers sat on the table next to the bed, strange, brightly coloured blooms mixed with others that were more familiar to Sara.

This was a safe place, an oasis, where she could wash off the dust and sweat of the road. She couldn’t accept it. She needed to stand on her own two feet. Make her own decisions.

‘This is my guest room. It’s yours for as long as you want it. At least until Simon gets out of hospital.’

From what Reece had said, that was going to be more than a week. ‘I really can’t impose. I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done already …’

‘And what? Do you know anyone else here?’

No one. Apart from Simon, Reece was the only person who even came close to being a friend. ‘I can book into a hotel. Near the hospital.’

‘What, with Trader? Even if you find somewhere that’ll take him, he’ll get bored and tear the place apart.’

He had a point. ‘Perhaps you wouldn’t mind taking him. Just for a while, until I get something sorted.’

Reece rolled his eyes. ‘Right. So I get to do a full day at the surgery then come home and take him out for a couple of hours to work off his excess energy. Anyway, what kind of person takes a mate’s dog in and sends his sister to a hotel?’

Sara’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to …’

‘Impose? You already said that. And you’re not. You’ll have to fend for yourself while I’m at work, but treat this place as your own.’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s half past ten now … an hour’s drive to the hospital … We can catch our breath, have something to eat and be with Simon by lunchtime. What do you say?’

‘That sounds wonderful. Thank you.’ If she was going to stay here, she may as well do it gracefully. Her mother had told her that. Whatever you do, do it gracefully. Sara had been berated too many times for almost never following that advice.

‘Good. Shall I call Simon, let him know that we’re here, or would you like to?’ He nodded at the phone extension next to the bed.

‘I’d like to if that’s okay.’

‘Of course.’ In one fluid movement he caught her hand, and Sara felt her cheeks redden. He produced a pen, pulling the cap off with his teeth in a gesture that was oddly almost piratical, and wrote on her palm. ‘Here’s the number. It’s the main switchboard, but if you ask for Simon, they’ll put you through to his room. Tell him that you and Trader are staying here.’

‘Yes. I will. Thank you, Reece.’ There was something else that she needed. The thought that Gran might have somehow heard about the fires was thudding at the back of her skull, like a headache about to happen. ‘Would it be okay if I used your phone to call England?’

‘Of course. Call whoever you want, you don’t need to ask.’

‘Thanks. I’ll just be quick …’

He dismissed the notion with a weary gesture. ‘Take as long as you like.’ Turning swiftly, he strode out of the room and closed the door behind him. Sara heard the sounds of his footsteps along the hallway and another door opened. A thud as his heavy boots were dragged off and hit the floor. Then silence.

CHAPTER THREE

SARA had made her calls and taken a shower. She sat on the bed, wrapped in a towel, and forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths. Gran was okay, Simon was okay. It was going to be all right.

Kath had left T-shirts, sweatpants and a skirt with a drawstring at the top, which would pretty much fit any size, along with a pair of open sandals. There was also a cotton nightdress and a note, saying that she should call her and let her know if there was anything else she needed. Sara smiled. The resemblance in tone to Reece’s, kind but brooking no argument, was striking.

She dressed in her own jeans and one of Kath’s T-shirts, and padded barefoot along the hallway and into the open-plan living area. Reece’s car was still parked out front, but the house was silent and there was no sign of him outside on the veranda either. She took a deep breath. She knew exactly where he was, and it was the last place that she wanted to have to go and find him.

The door was slightly ajar, and she tapped on it nervously. Not a sound. Frowning, Sara cautiously craned her neck around the door to see inside.

He was lying on the bed, fast asleep. His boots, jeans and heavy shirt had been slung in the corner in the approximate direction of the laundry basket. It was as if he’d stripped down to his boxer shorts and then lain down, thinking just to close his eyes for a few moments, until it was time to move again.

His skin was smooth, golden. One arm thrown out to the side and the other rested across his chest. Sara caught her breath and for the first time allowed herself to stare at Reece. He looked so peaceful. The temptation to join him there on the bed, feel the steady, reassuring swell of his chest against her cheek, was almost irresistible.

Stop this! Peaceful he might be, but that wasn’t what was freezing her to the spot. He was so beautiful. The snapshots that she’d already dared to glimpse—his chin, his brow—were nothing in comparison to being able to look for as long as she liked at the whole thing.

Just a moment more. One minute, to fantasise that she wasn’t who she was, and he didn’t live ten thousand miles away from where she had to be in another couple of weeks. It didn’t work, and a minute wasn’t enough. Sara drew back, and headed for the kitchen.

She’d made coffee for herself and sat in one of the wicker chairs on the patio with a book from the stack on the breakfast bar. She’d reckoned that she ought to wake him, and then chickened out and read another couple of chapters. Finally she decided that food would probably do the trick.

The amount of chopping, clattering and general commotion that it took before she heard his footsteps in the hallway attested to how tired he’d been. As did the fact that he was still half-asleep and had clearly forgotten that having company generally meant you didn’t walk around the house half-naked. Sara concentrated on not slicing her finger along with the vegetables on the chopping board. She’d already seen what Reece had to offer, and there was no point in staring at what she couldn’t have.

‘Ready for something to eat?’ She flung the words over her shoulder and then gave in to the inevitable and looked in his approximate direction.

‘Uh? How long have I been asleep?’ He ran his fingers backwards through his hair in a lame effort to tame it a little.

‘It’s two o’clock.’

‘What?’ He straightened, suddenly seeming to come to. ‘We should be at the hospital by now. Sara, I’m sorry. Why didn’t you wake me?’

‘Because you were asleep. How do you like your steak?’

He stared at her as if she had just landed in his kitchen from outer space. ‘What?’

‘Kath left some steak in the fridge. I hope you weren’t planning on saving it for anything else?’

‘No … no, of course not. What about Simon?’

‘I called him and told him we’d be with him later on this afternoon.’

He grinned. It was the kind of easy, open grin that melted your heart, set it sizzling like butter in a pan. ‘How is he?’

‘He says he’s fine. I’d like to see for myself, though.’

‘Yes, we’ll go as soon as we’ve eaten.’ He tried to see what she had on the cooker. ‘What’s that you’ve got there? Smells great.’

Sara stepped in front of it. ‘Wait and see. Are you hungry?’ She was getting a crick in her neck. Fixing her gaze on his face, not allowing it to wander down to his chest, to the tiny line of sun-bleached hairs that disappeared into the waistband of his shorts, was making her jaw throb.

He grinned. ‘I could eat a horse.’

‘Bad luck, then. That’s not on the menu. You’ve got ten minutes to have a shower if you want to.’ Sara hoped that was enough of a hint to get out of her hair and stop distracting her. Maybe put some clothes on.

‘Oh. Yeah, thanks.’ One hand wandered to his chest and stayed there, as if he had only just realised that he had no shirt on. He turned quickly, and Sara allowed herself just enough of a glance in his direction to confirm that the view from the back was as good as that from the front. ‘Pink.’

‘What?’

‘The steak. Pink but not too bloody, thanks.’ He threw the words over his shoulder and disappeared.

He was back in five minutes, thankfully wearing a clean pair of cargo pants and a shirt, his short hair already half-dry. Banished once more from his own kitchen, he busied himself with laying the table in a shaded part of the veranda.

Sara laid his plate down in front of him and he grinned appreciatively.

‘Looks good! If I’d been awake, I would have thrown myself in between you and the cooker.’

‘In case my cooking’s like Simon’s?’

‘Yeah.’ He waited for her to sit down, and cut into his steak. ‘This is just perfect.’

Steak with a black pepper sauce, potato gratin and green beans. Nothing fancy, but all done from scratch. ‘Good. Thanks.’

‘I could get used to this.’ He tried the potatoes and nodded with approval. ‘Obviously Simon missed out on the family cooking lessons.’

‘Yes. Missed out on a lot.’ Sara stopped herself. She didn’t want to say anything to Reece that Simon wouldn’t want him to hear. ‘How long have you known him?’

‘Ten years. He was working on the architect’s plans for an extension to the hospital where I was working. Kath was there to meet me, and he tried to chat her up in the canteen.’ Reece was grinning.

‘So you found my brother trying to hit on your sister …’ Sara laughed. ‘How did that go?’

‘Oh, pretty much as expected. I thumped my chest and growled a bit, and Kath kicked me under the table. Simon had told her that he was only just off the plane, and before I knew what had hit me, she’d roped us both in for a trip up to Sydney with her friends.’

‘And did Simon and Kath ever …?’ Sara waved her hand to indicate whatever it was that might have happened between the two of them.

‘Nah. Kath’s interest was purely humanitarian. We’ve both been in that situation enough times—new place, no friends—and she was just trying to make him feel at home.’ He grinned. ‘Kath does that.’

Reece did too. He’d taken her in without a second thought. ‘Thank you. For looking after him.’

Reece gave her the smallest of nods in acknowledgement. ‘So what about you?’

‘Me?’

‘Who looks after you?’

The question floored her for a moment and she stared at Reece, not sure quite how to answer. ‘No one.’

‘Surely there must be someone.’ Reece was gazing at her intently and Sara felt her cheeks flush. ‘Or haven’t you told Simon about him yet?’

Suddenly, and quite unaccountably, she felt the need to defend herself. As if being single made it okay for her to have looked at Reece and wanted him, even if it was impossible, and she’d rather be dangled over a tank of hungry sharks than admit it.

‘There’s nothing to tell.’ There was no time for a man in her life. When she wasn’t working, Gran took up all of her spare time. A man couldn’t be expected to stay with a woman who could only give him about five minutes of her undivided attention per day. ‘There’s been no one since before my mother died. And Simon’s my only close family.’

Apart from Gran. Simon seldom asked about her, probably assuming that she still lived independently, and Sara didn’t dare tell him any different until she could be more sure of his reaction. She could just about understand him staying away when their mother had been ill, but if he acted the same way with Gran, Sara would never be able to forgive him. And if Simon wasn’t to know just yet, then telling Reece would be foolish.

They ate in silence for a while. ‘Simon talked a lot about going home when your mother was ill.’ Reece had clearly been giving some consideration to which bombshell to drop next.

‘Did he?’ Sara couldn’t conceal her surprise. Simon had pretty much covered everything he’d had to say to her in one line of an email. He wasn’t coming back. It would be hypocrisy to do so when his mother hadn’t spoken to him for more than ten years.

‘Perhaps he’s been saving it. Until he sees you.’

‘Maybe.’ Maybe not. The last two years had been tough. First her mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and then her grandmother had fallen and broken her leg. Sara had given up her job, her home and, one by one, most of her friends in order to move back to her mother’s house to take care of them both. She had never quite understood why Simon had stayed away.

‘Give it time.’

‘I thought I’d done that already.’

‘Then give it some more.’ He was holding her in his gaze. It felt almost as if he was cradling her, keeping her from any harm.

‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ She may as well say it. He’d obviously heard most of it from Simon already. ‘I don’t want you to think that it was all Simon’s fault. Mum wasn’t the easiest of people to live with. We each dealt with it differently. I gave in to her on the things that didn’t matter and held out for the things that did. But Simon couldn’t do that. They used to have the most awful rows.’

Reece nodded her on. He seemed to understand that she both wanted and needed to say this to someone. And he was all she had right now.

‘It all came to a head when Simon said that he wanted to travel for a year after he’d done his degree in architecture. Mum had been pushing him away for years and then when he did leave she was so angry with him that she never mentioned his name again, even when she was dying.’

‘Simon told me that your father leaving had a pretty big impact on her.’

‘I don’t remember that. I was just a baby.’ Gran had told her about it, though. ‘I’m told she just shut herself off from everyone, became totally focussed on showing that she was better off without him. She threw herself into work and built up a successful company from nothing. She used to say all the time that my father was unreliable and weak …’ Too much information, perhaps.

‘And that’s what she said about Simon too?’

‘Yes.’ It felt good to be able to say it, even if it was hard. Sara swallowed down the lump in her throat. ‘It’s not true, though, is it?’

‘No. That’s not the friend I know.’ The look in his eyes was almost unbearable. Liquid blue, as if she could somehow plunge into his world. Luxuriate in the safety of those cool, soothing waters. ‘And you and Simon kept in touch. That has to say something, doesn’t it?’

‘Yeah. Not sure what … but, yes, it says something.’

He seemed to realise that she’d had enough, and that she couldn’t talk about this any more. He nodded towards her plate. ‘Eat. It’s been a long day already, and it’s not over yet. And this is too good to waste.’

‘Thanks. There are some more potatoes in the kitchen if you want them. I always make too much.’ She reached for his plate, but he was already on his feet.

‘I’ll go. You want some?’

‘No, I’m fine with this, thanks.’ Sara went back to her food, smiling as she heard the sound of a pan being scraped from the kitchen. She loved cooking, and having someone with appetite enough to scrape the pan was a welcome novelty.

‘Do you like Australia?’ When he returned to the table, he seemed as intent as Sara was on lightening the mood.

‘I love what I’ve seen so far.’ She shrugged. ‘Simon and I have been keeping ourselves to ourselves since I arrived. You and Kath are the first real Australians that I’ve met.’

‘Well, I hope we’ve not let the team down.’ He grinned at her then looked at his watch. ‘We’ll get going as soon as we’ve finished lunch. Simon will be wanting to see you.’

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