Righto, boy. Adam leaned down and scooped him up and placed him on the front of the bike between his legs. “You big sook.” The dog licked his hand and snuffled against his body. Adam tried to ignore the warm hands circling his waist and headed off down the lane toward the back paddocks where he was keeping his new stock. He pulled up at the gate and killed the power, waiting for Lena to get off before he did. When she moved away from him, Adam held onto Spencer and swung his leg over the bike. The small dog surveyed the stock from the safety of his owner’s arms, growling low in his throat before giving up.
“What do you think?” He leaned on the gate and looked from the deer to Lena. It seemed right having her here with him. How was it possible to notice a connection like this with someone he’d just met?
“They are so pretty and delicate looking. Like little fairies with the longest legs on them.” Lena rested her arms on the wooden rail of the fence and gazed at the animals who were huddled as far away from them as possible. The buck was standing in between the people and his girls, tapping his hooves in an attempt to keep the humans at bay, flashing them with his magnificent set of antlers.
“Yes they are, and they taste great with red wine, or so I’ve been led to believe.” He grinned at her wishing they had met under better circumstances. Lena was a beautiful woman and a clever one too. She’d managed to pull herself up to become one of the most famous chefs in Sydney before being forced to come back to her roots leaving it all behind her. He hoped for her sake she would take the risk again. Adam had no doubt she’d make waves in their tiny town with her cooking if she decided to start up again. But that town became a bustle of tourists on weekends and most holidays.
“I promise to make you dinner when you slaughter your first animal.” She looked up at him. “I catch up with Gail to go over the figures for the fundraiser on the weekend. What’s the chance of having enough meat for me to use as an entree? Would you have enough available by then?”
Probably for you I would. “Depends how much you want but I’m sure we can come to some arrangement.”
“Okay, thanks. Let me think about it some more and see what I can come up with. I’d better go and help Mama before its time to go and pick up Kyle.”
Adam drove her back to the dairy again. When the walkway opened into a holding yard he paused and turned to her. “If the grass was shorter, you could set up tables out here and we can string lights overhead easily enough. I reckon you could seat around two to three hundred guests if you wanted too. There’s plenty of room.”
She gave him a whimsical smile. “Thanks, Adam. I’ll get back to you. I want to run it past Gail first if you don’t mind.” He watched as she walked away down into the belly of the dairy and out the heavy wooden door, shutting it behind her. Spencer whined and licked Adam’s hand when she was out of sight.
“Yeah, me to buddy. That is one special lady. You and I have work to do.” We have to push down her defenses and show her how nice we are to be around.
Chapter 9
“Here’s the proposed menu for the fundraiser.” Please like it. Lena pulled the papers out of her file and handed them over to Gail.
“I’ll leave you girls to it.” Pete, Gail’s husband bent down and kissed his wife on the top of the head. “I’m heading into town for darts night. Great to see you again, Lena.”
“You too, Pete. We’ll have to catch up with the rest of the old gang soon too.”
“Bye, hon. Mwahh.” Gail watched him walk away, a sparkle in her eyes. “My my, that guy still has the cutest buns in town even after eighteen years together.”
Lena burst out laughing and blushed when Pete looked back at them wiggling his eyebrows. He’d heard his wife and gave his hips an extra exaggerated swivel just for the enjoyment of it all. “I’ll be home early, if you know what I mean, my little sugar plum.” He let the door shut behind him.
“You guys are way too cute after all this time. How on earth do you do it?” I never had that, I’m jealous.
“Do it? Any which way we can.” Gail winked and picked up the papers.
Oh my! “You have such a dirty mind. How do you keep the spark between the two of you?” Ours died an early death. Some days I’m not sure there was much of one. Lena always blamed the dying lust between her and Cole on their work commitments, but now she was wondering if that really was the problem between them. Perhaps it was more than that. Maybe she was the only one who fell in love and wanted a happy ever after. Maybe he did too at the beginning. It seemed he’d gotten what he wanted, but sadly that didn’t include her or Kyle.
“It’s a two way street and you both have to work it like anything else. I love him enough to make sure I try and he’s the same. Why, are you having issues dealing with what happened between you and Cole?” Gail
