"The kitten still has claws, I see." A smirk crossed his face and he looked at her lips, before he met her gaze again. "I think you and I could reignite that flame, Kate."
She laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, Cade, seriously. You don't know how to take no for an answer, do you?" She caught a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail and tucked it behind her ear. "I run this place. I don't have to have your permission for anything. It's the other way around now." Kate mentally ticked her scoreboard as a dark shadow crossed Cades eyes and a frown marred his otherwise perfect forehead. Gone were the days when she had to tow the line to spend time hanging out with him.
"That's right. Get your little brain around that one. I am the boss now. You get to live here, but I run the place." She stepped back and nodded at the car. "Now move it or it gets towed."
Anger tightened his jaw. With no other option, Cade moved over to his car, shuffling along the side of the shed wall to get into the front seat.
Kate moved back and sat her butt on the old wooden rail fence that surrounded the vegetable garden. She crossed her arms and watched as he manoeuvred his car out. With a glare in her direction, he planted his foot on the accelerator and headed down the driveway toward the barn. The small burst of power scattered crushed granite over the grass and she laughed. Round one to her. A shame he still had the ability to set her heart racing.
Not one to tag along at the rear anymore, she quietly thanked her Cade’s father for taking her in and toughening her up. When Kate had applied for the job of stockman, he’d laughed, telling her she wasn't up to it. She’d proven him wrong more times than she could remember.
Now she knew she would have to prove herself all over again. Cade would to try and undermine her He always had. It was his way to make himself look good when all he had to do was play football and his following would be just as big.
Of all the Williams children, Kate felt most sorry for Russ. He was the quiet achiever, the child who’d always looked for approval. The eternal peacemaker she used to call him. He was still the same, although there was now a sadness in his eyes that made her wonder what had happened to him in the last few years.
The sound of silence rolled over the farm and Kate realised Cade had turned off his car. The rumble of the engine was no longer at odds with the cries of cattle in the paddocks. From her position on the fence, she watched as he hobbled out of the barn and headed back to the house.
Satisfied she’d made her point, she moved over to the work ute and opened the door. Kate climbed in and turned the key, not bothering with her seatbelt. Reversing back, she spun the steering wheel and pointed the nose into the space vacated by Cade moments before. When she was parked, she killed the engine and jumped out, slamming the door behind her before hanging the key on the nail by the door post.
Kate stood and tilted her hat back on her head, checking to see everything was in its place before walking the few hundred yards to her home.
The original homestead was one of the oldest homes in the Hunter Valley. Large hand cut sandstone blocks soaked up the setting sun, giving off warmth that would keep the house cosy for hours. Dubbed Thunderbolts cottage after the bushranger who had grown up in the small house, it had been modernised before Kate had moved in.
She grasped the old handle and pushed open the solid timber door. Kate turned and used the heavy stone step to help slip her work boots off. She dug her fingers under the elastic band of her socks and pulled them off, jamming them into the boots and placing them beside the door step before walking inside the small front room. A ginger cat looked up from its position amongst the pile of cushions on the tapestry couch and stretched.
"Such a hard life, Wally." Kate walked over and picked him up, smiling as he purred into her neck, his whiskers tickling her skin. She continued to hold him and stroked around his ears as she walked into the tiny compact kitchen. The cat jumped from her arms when she got closer to the fridge. While Kate opened the door and took out his tinned food, he wound himself in and out of her legs. "Cupboard love, Wally, it's all cupboard love."
At least that was the only demands her cat had on her. Food, the occasional loving cuddles and a space on her bed at night. Those demands she could cope with, it was safer that way. Her cat couldn't break her heart or pretend she wasn't there, unlike the only man who had made her young heart flutter. As a teenager, Cade had never acknowledged her existence unless he wanted something from her.
Now he was home and things were different. She was in charge but he still had the ability to make her legs tremble and her heart ache. If only Kate could have outgrown the teenage crush she had on him, life would be so much easier. Kate stroked Wally while he
