The Outback Cattleman's Hired Wife (4 page)

Kirra
’
s cheek flushed
crimson.

‘
I thought as much. It must have been quite a shock for
you to discover mother was gone,
’
he bit
out.
‘
I must admit though, it was very clever of you to gain
my curiosity by pretending to want to be my wife and mother to my son. You must
be a top journalist on your newspaper, Miss Whitely,
’
he said, patronising her.
‘
Your editor has already made space for your article
according to Miss Watson.
’

Kirra swallowed hard. What he was saying had a
familiar ring to it. She’d convinced herself that was why she came, out of
respect for Zac
’
s memory. But after meeting Jared, she found herself
wanting to genuinely know more about him for herself, not the newspaper.

‘
I don
’
t know why my
editor would do such a thing. He approved my two week
’
s holiday application,
’
she explained, then sighed.
‘
But then
again his motto is that journalists are never on vacation!
’

‘
I think you
’
d better
leave before I start giving you the benefit of the doubt.
’

‘
So you would rather be a lonely widower?
’

‘
Nice try, Miss Whitely. As I
’
ve said, you must be a very good journalist. You
certainly know all the tricks for gleaning information from people.
’

He turned and strode down the hallway.

With reluctance, Kirra followed him.

The rain was now pelting down hard in thick,
blanketing sheets. Jared
’
s horse swept its tail from side to side as the rain
angled under the awning.

Jared put down the suitcases and sighed with
exasperation.
‘
You can
’
t leave in
this weather. It
’
s too dangerous.
’

Kirra planted her hands on her hips and her chin rose
in defiance.
‘
Nonsense! I
’
m a capable
driver. I
’
ve completed a defensive driving course and have
driven in the rain before.
’

His cold blue eyes narrowed.
‘
The low bridge down the road may be under water by
now.
’

‘
What rubbish! The water under all the bridges I passed
on the way here were mere streams,
’
she countered with more bravado than she felt. Not
that she’d taken any notice …

How could she have thought Jared Glengarry would want
a wife? Or worse still, be obliging enough to give her an insight into the type
of people who placed ads in the personal column of a newspaper. She must have
been out of her mind to listen to Elise
’
s
persuasive banter! Oh Elise, for once why didn’t you engage the brain before
shooting your mouth off?

‘
Things can change quickly here,
’
he pointed out in an authoritative tone.
‘
The water was almost across the bridge when I rode
back. At least wait until I
’
ve checked it out.
’

Dammit!
S
he wanted to say,
‘
No!
’
and be done with
him, but every cell in her body screamed,
‘
Yes!
’

‘
I
’
ll stay,
’
she said.

It was the sensible thing to do.

JARED SMILED CROOKEDLY, his heart performing what seemed a somersault.
It gave him a massive internal jolt, but somehow he remained outwardly calm.

‘
Wise choice,
’
he said,
gathering up her suitcases.
‘
You
’
re welcome to use the granny flat to freshen up.
’

With cool efficiency, he led her back into the
homestead, opened the door to the granny flat and deposited her suitcases on
the bed.

‘
Thank you,
’
she said
quietly behind him.

Tension bunched his shoulder muscles together. It was
the first time he
’
d entered the granny flat since he
’
d built the extension. He
’
d had no desire to court any of the young nannies who
’
d stayed there.

Some stayed for as little as a week and others a few
months, depending how long they took to make advances towards him. He was
flattered at first, any man would, but their immaturity and demanding,
frivolous natures were a turn-off. Worse still, when they turned their
attentions to him, his son was neglected. He
’
d had no
choice but to fire them.

Suddenly being in the self-contained room with Kirra,
he could smell her alluring scent. She smelled like strawberries and lust
stirred in his loins.

Disturbingly, he still wanted her after learning she
was here under false pretences. But he hadn
’
t given her
a chance to explain. Maybe, he would when he returned from checking out the
bridge.

And dammit! Those cows needed milking, the rational
side of his brain screamed.

He turned, his gaze softening when he saw how
vulnerable and out-of-sorts she looked.

But he couldn
’
t worry
about that now.
‘
I
’
ll take the Land
Cruiser so I
can
be back within the hour,
’ he told her
matter-of-factly and then he was gone.

After taking a shower, Kirra sat on the bed brushing
her freshly-washed hair. Dressed in jeans and a cream, long-sleeved t-shirt,
she felt infinitely better.

She took in her
surroundings. The room was cosy and decorated tastefully in crimson and
apricot. She found that she could relax there for the first time in a long
while.

How many hours had she spent at the office since Zac
’
s death?
She
’
d never
thought about it before now.

Being out here, out of her comfort zone, wasn
’
t all that bad.

As she waited for Jared to return, she began to wonder
just how many nannies Caleb had had.

She remembered when she was growing up how hard it was
being an only child with both her parents working. But at least, she
’
d had both parents come home every night to spend
quality time with her.

For Caleb to lose his mother at five or six years of
age, could only be imagined as a devastation.

And what of Jared losing his wife? Had there been
anyone since?

She
’
d seen a hint that
he wasn
’
t totally celibate. His jeans had tightened with
arousal when he came near her. He
’
d looked
awkward, as if it surprised him, when he
’
d left
abruptly.

What was that all about?

He
’
d
looked at her with desire.
           

Zac had hardly looked at her like that, even on their
wedding day.

What was so wrong with wanting to be a virgin on her
wedding night? The question echoed in her mind for the countless time. She was
only nineteen.

To the older Zac, she was a challenge, a conquest to
be won and if he had to marry her so be it. She knew that shortly after, when
the honeymoon was over. He
’
d bragged about it
to his best man and it had gotten back to her.

When she
’
d berated
him about it, he
’
d said he
’
d wanted
her to look after him, not be his wife. He could have any woman he wanted for
sex, he
’
d boasted. He
’
d only
married her for the conquest and to get himself a clean house! Damn him!
She’d
married for love.

Why did she stay with him for six years?
She
kicked herself again and again, but she
’
d kept
hoping he
’
d change. That he’d fall in love with her.

The sound of the driving rain interspersed with the
whirr of an engine jolted Kirra out of her reverie.

Her heart accelerated and her blood zinged around her
body. She ran to the front double doors and threw one open.

Jared drove the
Land Cruiser right up to the verandah. He wound down the window.

‘
The bridge is covered with fast-flowing water. Using
it is out of the question.  Stay here. I
’
m going to milk the cows. I
’
ll be home
in a couple of hours.
’

Kirra saluted him, annoyed and deflated by his
dominance.

He grimaced, shifting the gearstick, before he averted
his troubled eyes and she instantly regretted her impulsive gesture.

For a few moments, she watched him turn the vehicle
around and drive towards the dairy.

The cows had started to gather in front of the
cylindrical-shaped building. There seemed to be hundreds in the herd.

How was he going to milk all of them by himself? Kirra
wondered.

Maybe he
’
d need
help, she decided, a lump forming in her throat. It wasn
’
t in her nature to sit idly by anyway.

Without a second thought, she strode back inside and
hunted around the homestead for a pair of gumboots. 

What was it that he
’
d said?
‘This ad was the last straw in a problem-filled day.’ He needed her help. He
mightn
’
t want it, but she didn
’
t care. She had to make amends.

Kirra found another oilskin coat and gumboots in the
laundry. They were smaller than Jared
’
s so she
guessed they might be his mother
’
s. She told
herself that she was only borrowing them and slipped them on. The gumboots
turned out to be a little big for her, but she could manage to walk in them.

Locating the keys to her Subaru on the antique dresser
inside the front entrance, she headed out into the rain. Her car wasn
’
t far. She practically dove into it and slammed the
door shut behind her to prevent further water damage to its
interior.  

Murky water lapped beneath the Subaru
’
s chassis. With cold, nerveless fingers, she started
the engine and put it into four wheel drive. Bobbing up and down, with the
wipers swishing madly across the windscreen, Kirra drove slowly through the
water-logged acreage.

Flicking the headlights on high beam, she spotted the
hazy shadow of cattle
en masse
at the dairy a few hundred metres away.
The building was huge, much larger than she’d realised.

Kirra stopped close to the entrance, her brakes
squealing her arrival. Wiping the fog from the inside of the windscreen, she
saw fluorescent light illuminating the milking area. She could see several cows
were hooked up to automatic milking machines; their udders being relieved of
their nutritious contents. They seemed to be moving on a circular platform.

There was a trough of liquid the cows sloshed through,
before they stepped onto the platform, moistening their hooves. She thought
they’d slip, but none did.

Twenty or so cows stood in the fenced-off area
awaiting their turn. The rest of the herd stood nearby in the rain. Their
short, black and white coats were plastered flat against their huge bodies.
Kirra
’
s heart went out to them, as their large, black eyes
blinked woefully at the headlights.

There was no sign of Jared so she beeped the horn
once. The cows that waited in the holding area became agitated and began to
move backwards.

Within seconds, Jared appeared like a notorious
bushranger in his hat and coat. He jumped down from the milking platform. His
face was grim, contorted with anger, as he strode towards her.

What had she done now?

Kirra switched off the headlights and killed the engine, thinking that
it might help settle them. It did a little. They stopped moving backwards and
she breathed a sigh of relief.

Within seconds, Jared was at her driver
’
s side. He tapped at the window.

Kirra automatically wound it down.

‘
Jared, I -
’

‘
What were you thinking?
’
he thundered over the incessant hiss of the rain.
‘
I don
’
t want a stampede
on my hands.
’

Kirra grimaced.
‘
I
’
m sorry. I came to help.
’

‘
Some help! Go back to the homestead.
’

Kirra gripped the steering wheel.
‘
No, it
’
s because of me,
you
’
re running late. I
’
m sure
there
’
s something I can do.
’

Determined, she opened the door and stepped out before
he could rebuke her.

‘
Show me what you want me to do. I have two capable
hands and a brain.
’

His steely-blue
eyes met hers with disbelief, as the cows began crowding back into the holding
yard behind him.

‘Come under
shelter, then wait,’ he said without preamble. Then, he disappeared into a side
room.

Kirra did as she was asked. The smell of manure hit
her senses full-force and she held her breath. But she couldn’t do that
indefinitely, so she exhaled and dealt with it. After the initial shock, she
actually found it oddly sweet-smelling like freshly-mown grass when she was
growing up. The cows looked magnificent and ever so big. She wasn’t scared of
them, but they continued to stay away from her.

Jared returned quickly with overalls and straw hat in
hand.

‘
Take your coat off,
’
he said.
‘
Put these on over your clothes.
’

‘
Why? I don
’
t mind getting
my clothes dirty.
’

The cows became agitated again.

‘
Don
’
t argue,
’
he said on a controlled whisper through gritted
teeth.
‘
The cows don
’
t know you.
They
’
re scared.
’

‘
I
’
m sorry,
’
she mouthed. Immediately, she took the smelly outfit
and put it on.

The cows slowly moved forward again.

‘
Follow me,
’
he said
without further preamble and jumped back on the platform.

She felt like he was speaking to her like she was a
farmhand and a male one at that! But perhaps, he was just tired. And she had
disturbed the cows and therefore, the milking process. Shaking off his brisk
order, she jumped onto the platform. She always did have good balance. It had
kept her in good stead when she’d done gymnastics and high jump at school
sport’s carnivals.

‘What would you like me to do?’ she said kindly,
enthusiasm and excitement at learning a new skill making her voice high.

‘
I need you to unbuckle the strap behind the cow
’
s back legs, like this,
’
he instructed, not looking at her, but concentrating on the technique
he was showing her.

‘
What does it do?
’ she said, instantly curious.

‘
It stops the cow moving backwards,’ he explained,
matter-of-factly, then took a step away from her. ‘Now, show me if you can do
it.
’