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Laura felt a thrill of triumph that he was actually offering to spend
time with her. She was making real progress now! 'That would be
marvellous, Jared. Thank you,' she said warmly.
He shot her a wary look as he stood up. 'Is that all, Laura?'
'You will fix up about the money? I do want to get started on my
project straight away.'
'What project?' he asked suspiciously.
'Nothing for you to worry about. I promise I won't spoil anything.
And I'd like it to be a surprise,' she said, smiling brightly at him.
He drew in a deep breath. 'Whatever makes you happy,' he said with
an ironic twist. 'Just make sure it doesn't make me unhappy. I'll
speak to Harry. He'll get it arranged first thing today.' The last words
were tossed at her as he headed for the doors which led on to the
veranda.
'Jared!'
'What now?' he snapped at her.
Laura flung off the bedclothes and ran to him, throwing her arms
around his neck before he could make any move to stop her. 'You're
not going without kissing me goodbye, are you, Jared?'
'Laura! For God's sake! This is no time for playing games!' There
was a ragged edge to his vehemence, and his hands were curving
around her soft, warm nakedness as she hung on and insinuated her
body even more intimately against his.
'One kiss won't hurt you, Jared,' she pleaded, thrusting her fingers
persuasively through his thick tan- gold hair. 'And I was a very good
wife last night, wasn't I?'
His chest heaved and his mouth crashed down on hers in angry
compliance. But the kiss didn't stay angry. Like the way he moved
his hands over her, it was hungrily possessive, and when he finally
wrenched his head up, a raging conflict glittered in his eyes.
'I've got to go. And I'm going,' he enunciated with biting
determination. He thrust her away from him and held her at arm's
length. 'Goodbye.. .my wife! I'll see you in a week's time. If you're
still here.'
He banged the door shut after him. His footsteps fairly thundered
along the veranda, almost as if the hounds of hell were snapping at
his heels. Laura grinned to herself and leapt back into Jared's bed,
snuggling under the bedclothes in sensuous delight. He was her man
all right. And she would soon convince him that she was his woman.
Already he wanted her to stay with him. Or at least still be here for
him when he came back. He wouldn't have offered to teach her to
fly a helicopter otherwise. And he hadn't really blinked about the
money. Whatever makes you happy those were his exact words.
She simply had to teach him that what would make her happiest was
sharing everything with him.
She drifted back to sleep and didn't wake again until almost eight
o'clock, by which time Jared was long gone on his mustering.
Nevertheless, not even his absence could dim her excitement as she
got herself ready to face her first morning at Bendeneer Downs. Life
was suddenly full of beautiful possibilities.
It was hot already, but not the humid heat of Port Douglas where her
father had lived out his years. It was dry outback heat that was
actually far more bearable than the coastal tropics. Laura dressed in
shorts and a loose shirt. She strapped sturdy Roman sandals to
otherwise bare feet, swept her hair up in a pony-tail, and almost
danced out on to the veranda.
The delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted in the air. The
shouts of children mingled with the barks of dogs. Laura didn't feel
the least bit isolated. Bendeneer Downs was like a small kingdom,
and Jared's people were her people. No way would she be lonely or
bored here!
She found Gwen Donovan in the kitchen with the two Aboriginal
girls who helped in the house Susie and Sally. Laura insisted on
having her breakfast at the kitchen table so she could chat to them
all, but the girls were full of shy giggles so it was Gwen who
answered her questions.
'I thought you must be baking bread,' Laura remarked questioningly,
looking around at the ovens although there was no smell of it in the
kitchen.
'Down in the bake-house,' Gwen explained. 'I'll show you after
you've eaten. If you like.'
'Yes, please. I'm looking forward to seeing everything,' Laura said
eagerly.
Gwen laughed. 'And everyone's looking forward to strutting their
stuff in front of you, Laura. They'll probably talk your ears off.'
Susie served her a dish of fresh fruit: melons and papaw and banana
all neatly diced. 'Do we fly these in?' she asked.
'Good lord, no!' Gwen exclaimed with another laugh. 'We're fairly
self-sufficient here. Grow all our own fresh fruit and vegetables.
The soil is very good. It's the lack of water that's the problem. But
Jared has that solved around the homestead. Would you like some
eggs to follow the fruit? We keep poultry too.'
She went on to tell Laura about the meat-house and the store where
all dried and tinned foods were kept, as well as a stock of clothes
and other maintenance necessities. A bell started ringing loud and
clear and Gwen immediately answered Laura's unspoken question.
'The school bell. It's nine o'clock.'
'How many children do we have of school age?'
'Fourteen this year. In five different grades. So Jill our
governess really has to juggle them around for the School of the
Air sessions.'
'What's School of the Air?'
'Lessons by radio. They're beamed out by teachers at Derby. That's
the closest town on the west coast.'
Laura shook her head in amazement. She had heard of the Flying
Doctor service, but School of The Air was completely new to her.
She was intrigued to see how it worked.
'It only goes up to the sixth grade,' Gwen explained. 'After that the
children have to go to boarding school to further their education.
Some of them won't leave home, and Jared doesn't force them to.
But he arranges for them to be taught practical skills here on the
station. Susie's brother, Bill, is a marvellous mechanic. He can fix
anything.'
'Sally's got her eye on Bill,' Susie declared, and both girls burst into
another fit of giggles.
Gwen sent them off to clean rooms while she took Laura on a grand
tour of the places she had spoken about.
Bread was baked every second day. The store was open every
morning for anyone who needed anything. The radio lessons were
very personal, each child speaking to the teacher in turn. The meat-
house looked as if it could feed the whole community for weeks.
Laura reacquainted herself with most of the people she had met
yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed herself with everyone. Their last
stop was at the stables where she arranged with Tim, the head
stable-boy, to have a very tame horse ready for her to ride later in
the afternoon.
They returned to the big house for lunch, and Laura took the
opportunity to ask Harry if she might have a private chat with him in
Jared's study. Harry didn't go on muster any more. He had a back
problem that was aggravated by riding long hours, so he contented
himself with doing all the organising and handling the business end
of fulfilling contracts.
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