Del shook her head and hurried to her room to dress. It would have taken very little to stay with him and climb under the covers. We can make up for it tonight when the farm had less people to take care of.
She was making a large plate of toast when Blake walked in and stopped behind her. His hands snaked around her waist and he kissed the back of her neck, laughing when her skin broke out in goose bumps.
“I love that I do that to you. Makes me feel very manly indeed.”
“Really? I’m so pleased for your ego, Blake. Have a seat and get stuck in before the rush arrives.”
She poured him a coffee as the door opened and Bluey walked in with the shearers behind him. “Have a seat guys. Coffee’s coming.”
Fed and satisfied, the men walked back down to the sheds and the children followed, leaving Delilah to clean up the kitchen. Blake stopped at the door. “You can do your own thing today if you want to. No reason to spend it in the sheds if you have other things to do. I know you haven’t had a chance to work on your book while the men have been here, and I appreciated the help yesterday with working the race. Good job there too. We’ll make a country girl out of you yet. You’ve been great.”
Heat rushed up her cheeks and the compliment warmed her heart more than she would have thought. “Thanks, I’ve really enjoyed it. Never thought I would, but I have.”
“I’m glad. We can talk tonight when the guys have gone, if that’s okay. I need to get something settled, Del. I can’t keep living on hope alone. For me it has to be something concrete and viable.” He pushed his hat on his head and left her standing there watching him walk down to work.
Chapter 15
Bother. Decision time. I doubt I can do it. There is still too much for me to sort out.
Del cleaned the house, did the dishes, and took a chook from the freezer to defrost for dinner before bringing out her laptop. She twiddled her thumbs while it booted up and was surprised to see a number of emails had come in and one was from the studio.
Opening the most important one, she read.
Delilah,
I think we should get together and talk about this. As you know, you are one of my favorite writers and I wouldn’t like to see any animosity come between us if it can be avoided. If there is something we can do to sort out the issues you are having, I would appreciate the time to do so. Call me and set up a date and time and we can take it from there.
Regards, Paul Steenburg.
She sat back and blew out the breath she held. Wow, that was unexpected. She was sure there was going to be an argument and pointed referrals to her contract with them. Her whole estimation of the man jumped to a higher level.
She replied, asking if she could come into the studio in a couple of weeks. That would give her time to ease the kids into her going…and Blake. He was going to be devastated, of that she was sure. It was a hard decision to make, but she had to sort this out before anything could happen between the two of them. Satisfied things were now moving forward, Delilah decided to work on her book as Blake suggested.
As she opened the manuscript, a thought occurred to her. If she sent the first three chapters and a synopsis to Paul to look at, she might be able to get an answer about that too. To keep in with the studio would be good and it was possible he would be interested in it as a stand-alone movie. There was nothing to lose. If he didn’t like it, there was bound to be someone else who she could submit it to.
The shrill of the telephone broke her wandering thoughts and she reached for it.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Delilah. It’s Sara. Remember we met at the morning tea?”
“Hi, of course I remember you. How are things?” She smiled to herself, pleased to hear the woman’s voice.
“Actually, that is why I’m calling you. I wondered if you managed to get Blake to let you take Lilly in for an eye test.”
Del sank back on the chair resting the phone on her shoulder. “Yes I did. She needs glasses, poor wee thing. He took it really, really well though. I should be able to pick them up this week sometime.”
“Hey that’s great. How about meeting me for coffee then? I know we have my morning tea next week, but I could do with a chat away from home and the farm work. Give you and me a chance to get to know each other better without everyone else around. What do you think?”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll call you as soon as I know when we’re heading in to pick up the glasses. We can set it up then.” Del smiled. “Thanks Sara, talk soon.”
She hung up the phone and picked up the laptop again. An hour later, she attached a synopsis and the first three chapters of her manuscript to an email and sent it to Paul, hoping he would have time to look at it before their meeting.
* * *
“Lilly, they look so pretty on you.” Delilah smiled as Lilly preened in front of the mirror the optometrist handed to her.
“And I can see better too.” She handed back the mirror and climbed down from the chair, attaching herself to Delilah’s side. “Can we go and show Daddy and Royce now?”
“Soon, baby. Remember, we’re meeting Sara for coffee in town first? You get to play with Tara again. Your dad told me you haven’t seen
