Deciding it was pointless to change her clothes, she did her best to ignore the stains and concentrated on getting herself fed and back to the sheds. Del found cereal and poured some into a bowl for breakfast. After eating and cleaning up the mess the family had left in the kitchen, she hurried back down to the shed to see what she had to do to help out.
“Want to come out and help round up the sheep or do you want to stay here with the kids?” Blake tipped his hat back on his head and waited for her to answer.
“In the ute, you mean?” Bluey saddled the horses and she eyed them warily, hoping she wasn’t getting a lesson on them today.
“Yep, I'll take you and Lilly, and the guys will ride the horses. You can open gates for me if you like, it'll save me time and we might get a fair few sheep in before lunch.”
Del chewed on her bottom lip and thought for all of two seconds. If the studio wanted her to have a break, she was certainly doing that, even if it wasn't the one they had planned.
“That sounds great. Let's go.” Relieved not to be going on horseback, she followed Blake to the ute. She let Lilly jump in first and slide to the middle of the seat before getting in beside her.
Royce and Bluey mounted their horses and led the way, followed by two dogs nipping at their heels excitedly.
“Tell me what's happening. I've never had a farm holiday, so this is all kind of new.” Del leaned an arm out the window like Blake did, and settled down for an adventure.
He glanced her way and grinned. “We're bringing in the ewes now—the females—for shearing before they drop the rest of their lambs. Gives us a chance to clean them up and check their health as well. Then they will go into the paddocks closer to the house so when it's time to dock and sex the lambs, we don't have to bring them all in again.”
He pulled up in a cloud of dust. “Here’s the first gate. Let me through and the boys too before you close it behind us.”
She jumped out and ran to lift the latch. After a couple of false goes and one broken finger nail, she worked out how to do it and let it swing wide. The ute went through first, quickly followed by the horses and dogs. Del hurried to grab the gate, pulling it shut. She waved the dust cloud from around her face as she ran back to the ute.
She slammed the door and they took off again. Glancing down, she noticed Lilly watching her with huge eyes. Del reached over and squeezed her arm, smiling before looking back out the window.
It took a good half an hour to get to the next gate and she commented on the wide open spaces. “I never imagined the paddocks would be so huge.”
“Unfortunately, the grass isn't as good here as some places, but we do better than most. Still, we need a lot of acreage to feed the amount of stock we have.”
He stopped the vehicle. “If you could open it wide and leave it open, the boys can run the sheep through.” He waited until she finished, then drove through and parked to one side, back from the gate, nearer one of the boundary fences. “You and Lilly get in the back and watch the dogs and horses work the sheep.”
Del let him help her climb on the back and she sat on a bale of hay with Lilly leaning into her leg. After giving the child a gentle pat on the back, she draped her arm across her shoulders and pulled her closer.
Blake walked toward the sheep, whistling instructions to the dogs who watched his every move. They ran around the back of the herd and, with the horses helping on the opposite side to Blake, brought the animals into a manageable mass, racing off to bring in strays when the sheep decided they wanted to go a different way. A couple of the ewes already had lambs at foot and nuzzled them to keep pace, bleating their displeasure at having to move.
Del sat transfixed as the dogs worked with man and horses to bring order to the chaos. The sense of organization from the four legged pocket rockets and the men guiding them amazed her, leaving a sense of wonder racing through her head. Who would have thought I would see something so fascinating out here in the middle of nowhere. These dogs are incredible.
* * *
Blake walked back to the ute and let the riders herd the sheep through the open gate. He reached up to take his daughter down and met Del's gaze. Her face was bright and her eyes shining with excitement. After he placed Lilly on the ground he reached up and held a hand to help her down.
She gripped his hand and jumped from the back of the vehicle, gazing into his eyes when she made it to the ground. “That was fantastic. It was like watching a well-choreographed ballet.” She wiped her hand over her face and smeared the dust into a stripe along her cheek while a small bead of sweat rolled down her face.
He lifted a finger and smoothed out the line, then wiped the dirt on his jeans. Her lips parted and the pink tip of her tongue raced across her even white teeth, making his gut clench. Blake reached out and clasped her hand in his.
“I'm glad you’re enjoying it. We'd better get back and help. Would you close the gate before you get back in the ute?” He squeezed her fingers and let go, leading Lilly inside the vehicle.
From the corner of his eye, he watched the color race up her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her
