Maxine Morrey - Second Chance At The Ranch

A shadow flitted across her expression before she answered. ‘They passed away. Quite a while ago now.’

Pete pulled himself up. ‘God, I’m sorry, Juliet. I didn’t—’

‘It’s all right.’ Juliet touched his arm and then let her hand rest there. Pete covered it gently with his own. ‘We weren’t close. It was a few years ago now. My parents did everything together, went everywhere together. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away nine weeks later. It was all a bit sudden. Six months later we buried Dad. He just sort of faded away.’

Pete put his arm around Juliet as they sat watching the stars glisten in the clear sky. She snuggled into his warmth. ‘My father was a diplomat, and they travelled a lot. I was a novelty, and Hero was … I don’t know. They took so little interest in her, I couldn’t help but wonder why they had her at all sometimes.

‘It was heartbreaking to watch her try to please them … but she never seemed to be able to. It made me so mad. I’d look at her sometimes and there was such confusion written on her face. I know it certainly affected her confidence.’

‘But being a model must make her pretty confident?’

Juliet raised an eyebrow. ‘Looks can be deceiving. But yes, she’s better these days. She has a couple of very good friends. And she has me.’

‘So, there’s just the two of you?’

‘Yes.’

‘What did you say her name was?’

‘Hero.’

Pete paused. ‘Your parents really liked Shakespeare, didn’t they?’

Juliet laughed. ‘Yes.’

‘So she made it through school with that name?’

‘We went to quite a posh school. Unusual names were par for the course.’

Pete nodded.

Juliet continued, ‘Actually, it’s been useful with her chosen career.’

‘Easy to remember.’

‘Hard to forget a Hero!’ Juliet laughed.

‘So why Australia, apart from the fact it was somewhere sunny? Or was that our sole attraction?’

‘My father was Australian. Hero and I both have dual citizenship. We were born here but left young to be educated in England whilst my parents had various postings all over the world. I’ve not been back so I thought it was about time I spent some time out here myself.’

Pete sat up. Juliet followed and touched his arm.

‘Pete? Are you all right?’

‘Would you consider spending some more time out here?’

‘I don’t really know. I’d planned on staying about a year and then seeing—’

‘I mean out here.’ Pete waved an arm to take in the Websters’ land. ‘I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, being a bit remote like this but …’

Juliet shifted position on the rug. ‘What exactly are you saying?’

‘Juliet, will you marry me?’ He paused, and then made to push away. ‘What was I thinking? I should have done all this properly. You’re not just some—’

‘Yes!’

‘What?’

‘Yes!’ Juliet laughed, catching his hand, and holding it up to her face. ‘I will marry you.’

Pete felt his legs give way and flopped back onto the rug from the kneeling position he’d been in. He landed on his backside, and Juliet grinned, moving across the rug and plopping herself down on his lap.

‘You seem surprised.’

‘I am a bit.’

‘At me saying yes, or the fact that you asked me?’

‘Both. I think.’

Her face clouded a little. ‘Do you want to take it back?’

‘No!’ he said, reaching for her, and pulling her close. ‘God, no!’

‘Then what’s the problem?’

‘I just – you deserve a better proposal than in the middle of a paddock on a lumpy old rug.’

Juliet smiled and raised her eyebrows. ‘Actually, I think it’s pretty much perfect.’

Pete recognised the smile and pulled her closer still.

‘Is that so?’

‘Very much so.’

Pete dipped his head, brushing the warm, soft lips of his fiancée as her fingers began working quickly at the buttons on his shirt.

***

‘Here we are,’ Pete announced as they pulled into the long driveway. A sign told them that they had reached ‘Hill Station’.

Hero peered through the dusty windows of the vehicle and looked around. ‘Where’s the hill?’

‘Sorry?’

‘The sign said “Hill Station”, but there’s no … hill.’ She tailed off, suddenly feeling stupid for voicing the question.

Pete smiled at her in the mirror. ‘You’d be amazed at how many people don’t even notice that.’

‘Really?’ Hero asked.

Pete’s eyes flicked back up to the mirror and in that second, he saw everything he needed to. Under that apparently confident exterior was the girl his fiancée adored. For a split second, he saw through the mask, heard the hint of real pleasure in her voice at his compliment. Pete glanced back again but the childlike glint of delight had gone.

‘The name’s kind of a joke. My parents are Jack and Gillian. When they took over the station, it didn’t have a great reputation so they wanted to change the name, do away with the stigma. One night in the pub, some bright spark said something about Jack and Jill going up the hill, and it kind of stuck.’

Hero was peering out through the dusty glass of the window as the evening sun lowered itself behind the horizon, making way for dusk to wind its way over the land.

‘Jack and Gill went up the hill,’ she said softly, smiling.

Juliet cast a glance at her sister and then at Pete. He met her eyes and smiled, with an almost imperceptible nod. She smiled back and released the breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding. The two people she adored most in this world were right here and she hadn’t realised how anxious she had been for their meeting to go well until that moment. But her fiancé’s gesture told her all she needed to know.

Nick Webster watched the visitor exit the 4x4, her movements fluid. She stood for a moment and looked about her as his brother moved to the rear of the vehicle to deal with the luggage. Nick’s grooming of the mare’s coat slowed as he studied their guest. She was certainly taller than her sister and undeniably beautiful. Pete had mentioned something about her being some hotshot in the modelling world. Nick had let the comment roll off. Fame didn’t impress Nick. People impressed him – what they did, not who they were. The brush came to a stop and Nick felt a nudge on his shoulder from the mare.

‘Yeah, yeah. All right,’ he soothed, taking up the motion again, his eyes never leaving the new arrival.

Juliet was showing Hero the land, pointing in various directions. Nick watched the weak remnants of the evening sun catch subtle highlights in the sleek, swinging sheet of hair. They were looking towards the west now, gazing at the low fire of the setting sun. Long, elegant fingers reached up and dropped sunglasses down in front of her eyes, freeing the hair they had secured. As he watched, she reached into the bag swinging off her lower arm and pulled out a mobile phone. Nick’s mouth twitched in a smile.

‘Good luck with getting a signal on that,’ he said under his breath.

The two women walked towards the house. Juliet’s words carried gently on the same breeze that ruffled Nick’s shirt and hair and he smiled at the excitement in her voice. From the corner of his eye, he saw his parents emerge from the coolness of the house and step out on the verandah to meet their new guest. His mother hurried towards the two, followed at a more leisurely pace by his father. Pete had now re-joined them after retrieving the luggage from the car. Nick watched as Juliet’s sister pushed her sunglasses back up onto her head and held out her hand. His mother took it, and then swept her into a huge hug. The visitor had her back to Nick, so her reaction to his mother’s normal, effusive display of emotion couldn’t be seen by him but he saw Juliet subtly take her sister’s hand and squeeze it.