Sandra Hyatt - His Ring, Her Baby / His Bride for the Taking

“What sort of crops?”

“Cereals. Things like wheat, which we sell, and barley and oats for cattle feed.”

Then he went on to show her all the different types of paddocks from calf paddocks to weaner paddocks, breeding cow paddocks to bull paddocks. There were so many paddocks her head spun. And they weren’t tiny little parcels of land, either. They stretched for miles and miles.

“Naturally I keep my best stud cows in a separate paddock closer to the yards.”

“Of course.” She understood these animals cost thousands of dollars. He’d have them where his men could keep a close eye on them.

Finally they drove up to the cattle yards. Beyond were huge sheds that Kirk said stored feed and fertilizer and machinery, and farther beyond were the manager’s residence and the workmen’s cottages.

One of the men rushed to open the gate for them and Vanessa smiled to herself. She never thought someone opening a gate would be such a big thing, yet she felt like a queen.

She was soon introduced to some of the staff. She could imagine her presence as housekeeper was making the rounds of gossip, but they were all very polite and pleasant and some of the men even seemed shy.

Then she was introduced to the farm manager, but not before she heard Kirk ask him about Brady’s whereabouts and learned that Tom had fired the man over a dispute earlier. Brady apparently had already cleared out.

“Good,” Kirk said, looking grimly satisfied.

Before long the farm manager’s wife, Fay, hurried over to introduce herself. She was a pleasant woman in her forties who insisted they come to the house for lunch.

“Thanks, Fay,” Kirk said, “but one of the trucks has arrived early to pick up a load of stock for sale. Tom and I have to help.” He looked at Vanessa. “I’m sure Vanessa would be happy to keep you company.”

“I’d love to,” Vanessa said.

She and Josh ended up staying a couple of hours, and she learned that Fay was Kirk’s office manager and helped out a lot with the bookwork.

“I can do a lot from here,” Fay said, showing Vanessa her office, complete with the latest computer equipment. “And twice a week I pop up to the main house to do things like filing or collecting the letters for the post that I’ve e-mailed Kirk and he’s signed.” Fay smiled. “But I always made time for coffee and a chat with Martha.”

“Well, I hope you’ll make time for the same with me.”

Fay’s smiled widened. “That would be lovely.”

After that, Kirk drove Vanessa and Josh back to the homestead. “What do you think of Fay?” he asked, once he’d parked the Range Rover near the front steps. “You seemed to get on well together.”

Her face relaxed. “She’s really nice.”

He nodded, then, “And what do you think of Deverill Downs?”

She had the feeling he cared what she thought. “It has a certain charm,” she said, and meant it, then recognized that this really wasn’t about her. This was about the pride he had for his cattle station.

He looked pleased and that was that.

The next morning, Vanessa had put Josh down for his morning nap when she heard Suzi barking out in the barn. She didn’t want to think about snakes, though it definitely crossed her mind as she made her way outside.

She found Suzi over in the corner, barking at something beneath a large wooden bench. Heart thumping, Vanessa took a quick look back at the knee-high partition erected around the pups. She counted them and realized one was missing, then saw a small hole at one corner of the wood where it must have escaped.

Grabbing the flashlight hanging near the door, she shone it under the bench. And there was a sleeping puppy. Suzi hadn’t been able to get to her offspring because a roll of wire partially blocked it.

She turned to Suzi. “So you think we should get him out, huh?”

Suzi sat looking at her expectantly.

“Okay, little mother. Give me a moment.”

Trying not to think about spiders and snakes and every other poisonous animal that seemed to inhabit this country, Vanessa reached under the bench and drew the puppy toward her.

“Here we go,” she said, placing it in front of Suzi, who barked then picked it up in her teeth and trotted back to the others.

Smiling, Vanessa pushed herself to her feet. But as she went to stand, she heard a ripping noise and felt a pain at the back of her left shoulder blade. She gasped. Had she just been bitten by a snake? She glanced behind her and went weak with relief when she saw a nail sticking out of the bench.

Reaching over her shoulder, she managed to touch the gash. Her fingers came away with blood on them. Great. That was all she needed. Stitches.

Looking in the bathroom mirror a few minutes later, she was thankful to see a cut only about half an inch long and not too deep. A bit painful but nothing she couldn’t handle, she decided, dabbing at it with antiseptic cream from the first-aid kit in the laundry room, then changing into another blouse.

It hurt like the devil as she went back to the kitchen but she ignored the pain as best she could. She’d just decided to gather the ingredients to make a lemon meringue pie for dessert when she heard the sound of Kirk’s vehicle returning.

Her pulse started to race and she called herself a fool for letting him affect her this way. He was her employer, for heaven’s sake. He had come home for lunch, that was all. He hadn’t come home to see her.

Vanessa reminded herself that she still had to be wary where Kirk was concerned. Attraction, that was all it was. She’d been without her husband for a while, and Kirk was used to having any woman he wanted.

She heard him come in the back door and stop to wash his hands in the laundry, then his footsteps came to the kitchen door. She pretended to be busy wiping the sink down.

A moment crept by.

She knew he was there.

She started to casually turn and—

“Bloody hell, Vanessa.” He strode toward her. “You’ve got blood on the back of your blouse. What happened?”

She whirled around and found Kirk far too close for comfort. Alarm flashed through her.

She swallowed. “One of the pups escaped and I got caught on a nail getting him out from under the bench.”

“Let me take a look.”

She stepped back but came up against the sink. “No, I cleaned it up myself and put some antiseptic cream on it. And I had a tetanus shot last year when I walked on a nail, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Kirk ignored her as he turned her around, holding her still. “It’s been bleeding. Now it’s stuck to your shirt. I’d better take a proper look at it.”

She went to move away. “It’s nothing. Really.”

“You may need stitches.”

“I don’t.”

He paid no attention as he strode toward the laundry room. “I’ll get the first-aid kit. We’ll use the guest bathroom. It’s got good light in there.” He disappeared, then came back with the small box in his hand. “Come on, Vanessa. Don’t dilly-dally. You don’t want to risk it getting infected.”

There was nothing for it but to follow him along the hallway to the guest bathroom.

He placed a stool in front of the basin. “Sit.”

She sat but she was getting annoyed at his bossy attitude. “Want me to roll over, too?”

His gaze snapped to hers in the mirror. “I generally save that for the bedroom,” he said, with a smirk.

“You wish!”

A glint returned to his eyes before he pulled out a wad of cotton wool from the first-aid kit. “Right. It’s going to hurt like hell, but if I wet it first the material should come off easily.” He paused at their reflection, his eyes plunging to her blouse then up again. “You know you’ll have to take that off afterward, don’t you?”