Margaret Way - Six Australian Heroes

He’d rented a houseboat there once, on a recommendation from a mate who said it was just the place for a romantic weekend getaway.

Ryan frowned as he struggled to remember the name of the girl he’d brought with him. Strange; that had only been about three years ago. Maybe not even that long. Yet he could not remember her name, or even her face. All that came to mind was his pleasure at being out in the open on the water. And the fact that he’d caught a fish.

He glanced over at Laura for a moment. This weekend would hardly qualify as a real romantic getaway. But Ryan rather suspected that he would never forget it, just as he would never forget Laura Ferrugia.

Ryan smiled wryly at this last thought. Impossible to forget the most irritating female he’d ever met!

LAURA woke with a start, shocked to find that she’d been asleep for almost an hour and a half.

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’ she demanded to know when she realised the time.

Ryan’s shrug was nonchalant. ‘I figured you needed the rest.’

‘Where are we?’ she said, suddenly aware that they’d left the motorway and were on a single-lane road. Panic set in until she realised they were on the right road, heading for Cessnock. ‘I thought you said you didn’t know the way!’

‘I figured there would have to be signs. When I saw an exit which led to the vineyards, I took it.’

‘You should still have woken me.’

‘Will you stop fussing?’ he said, his voice showing some impatience. ‘We’re not lost.’

‘But we could have been,’ she muttered.

‘And if we had been? It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, Laura. We both have mobile phones. We could have called and explained that we would be a little late.’

‘Maybe, but I don’t want to give Aunt Cynthia any reason to criticise me.’

‘She won’t criticise you with me by your side. She’ll be putty in my hands in no time flat.’

Laura rolled her eyes. The arrogance of the man!

‘Believe it or not,’ he went on with a wry smile curling one corner of his mouth, ‘I have a good track record with the opposite sex. Most women—especially the older ones—find me totally charming.’

Laura didn’t doubt it. But no way could she let him get away with such self-praise without putting a small dent in his insufferable male ego, as well as reminding herself to be on her guard against him at the same time.

‘Which is exactly why I chose you as my Mr Right, Ryan,’ she said in droll tones. ‘Because you have all those superficial qualities which pulls the wool over the eyes of most women. It’s only the once-bitten, eyes-wide-open females like myself who recognise that charm like yours is just so much hogwash.’

He laughed a very dry laugh. ‘And there I was, thinking you were starting to truly warm to me.’

‘In your dreams, Ryan. Now concentrate on the road, please. We’re coming into Cessnock. I’ll direct you from here. It’s a bit tricky getting through the town and out onto the right road.’

He took her directions without a hitch, and they were soon through the old mining town and turning onto the road which would take them to their destination.

‘Not too fast along here,’ she warned him as he whizzed along what probably looked to him a very straight, very good road. ‘After all the rain we’ve had lately, there’ll be a lot of potholes.’

Ryan slowed appreciably, which allowed him to take his eyes off the road occasionally to study the countryside.

‘This is a very pretty area, Laura.’

It was pretty, she conceded, with lots of rolling hills and trees and well-looked-after properties, not all of which were vineyards. Tourism had spawned quite a few plush resorts to cater for holiday makers who enjoyed wine-tasting tours, plus five-star food and accommodation. It was also a popular place to retire to, with several new villages for the over-fifties who wanted to enjoy country living without the hassle of having to do too much work.

‘I guess my view is jaundiced by my not being happy living here.’

‘Just as your view of men is jaundiced by your not having been happy with one.’

Laura’s teeth clenched down hard in her jaw.

‘We all have jaundiced memories, Ryan,’ she countered coolly. ‘I dare say you have some of your own.’

How right you are, sweetheart , Ryan thought with a mixture of annoyance and admiration. She gave as good as she got. But shooting back poisoned darts must get exhausting. He couldn’t wait until they got to her place and she would be forced to behave herself. Maybe even be sweet to him. The mind boggled at how she would handle it when he put his arms around her. Maybe even kissed her. Just for appearance’s sake, of course. Even so, his heartbeat quickened at the thought.

‘How far to go now?’ he asked.

‘Less than a kilometre. Take the next road on your right.’

It was a wider road, recently tarred and with no rough edges or potholes, which he commented on.

‘There’s been a lot of development along this road,’ Laura explained. ‘Several new wineries and a brand-new golf resort built on the land Uncle Bill sold them. We’re just coming to that now on your right.’

‘Wow!’ Ryan exclaimed. ‘That’s some golf course.’

‘It’s not just a golf course, it’s an estate as well. If you buy a house there you get automatic membership to the golf club. But it’ll cost you at least a million. Crafty old Uncle Bill made sure a life membership to the club came with the land deal. He’s crazy about golf. I suppose you are, too. Most sporty men are.’

‘I wouldn’t say I’m crazy about the game, but I like it well enough. To be honest, you have to be able to play golf when you’re in the sport-management business. You’ve no idea how many deals I’ve negotiated on a golf course, especially at the nineteenth hole.’

Laura frowned over at him. ‘I thought there were only eighteen holes?’

Ryan smiled. ‘I see you don’t play golf. The nineteenth hole is the golf club.’

‘Oh, silly me. Slow down a bit; our driveway’s coming up. There …’ Laura pointed a finger to a spot just ahead. ‘Between those two gum trees. You won’t have to stop, the gates are always left open.’

‘I can’t see any house,’ Ryan said, glancing around as he turned into the driveway.

‘That’s because you’re not looking in the right place. That’s it on top of that hill over there.’

His eyes followed the direction of her finger to what was a large two-storey homestead sitting majestically on the crest of a very distant hill. It was rectangular and colonial in style, with a high-pitched roof, and verandahs all the way around, top and bottom. Several chimneys more evidence of real fireplaces, no doubt with elegant hearths to go with the elegant architecture of the building.

‘I thought you said your family wasn’t seriously rich,’ came his rueful remark.

‘They’re not,’ Laura replied.

‘Possibly you and I differ on what ‘seriously rich’ is.’

Unless this property was mortgaged to the hilt, then the owner, in Ryan’s opinion, was seriously rich. The fences around the paddocks were in excellent condition and the cattle grazing on the pastures were fat and healthy looking. Despite his knowledge of country living being confined to watching the occasional programme on TV, Ryan could already see he was looking at money.

‘I presume all the land leading up to the house belongs to your grandmother?’ he asked as they crunched over the gravelly surface.

‘No. The whole property actually belongs to Uncle Bill. My grandfather—dear, sweet man that he was—left everything to his son rather than his wife.’