Nathan looked out of his kitchen window and cursed his earlier actions. I should’ve asked her nicely instead of rushing forward like an idiot. Now he had to wait his turn, and judging by the state of her ratty sheep, it was going to take the team a while to clean them up. Much more time than it would have taken to fully crutch all his stock. Disgusted with himself, he grabbed his hat and headed to his truck. Going to play nice went against the grain, but he may as well give it one more shot.
The buzzing of the cicadas filled the still night as he headed over to see Tom and Libby. The lights were on, bathing the old house in a soft, warm glow against the darkness of the country evening. Nathan could see her curled up in one of the old rocking chairs on the front veranda with a glass of wine in her hand. Her head lifted as he drove over the cattle grate and parked the truck.
Tom was standing at the top of the stairs when he walked into the yard.
“Tom, Libby.” He nodded in her direction, his gut tightening as she stared at him. Taking another sip of her wine, she turned back to the book on her lap and ignored him.
“What can we do for you, Nathan?” Tom moved down a step.
“I wanted to apologize for my outburst this afternoon.” He kept his gaze on Libby and tried not to notice she looked like she’d just stepped out of a warm bath. Her hair hung loose around her neck with damp ringlets clinging to her skin and fell softly on her face. A healthy, pink glow covered her cheeks, and his blood heated when he realized she wasn’t wearing anything under the sloppy T-shirt except cotton boxer shorts. He looked up, realizing she had put her book down and was now watching him. Her lips parted, but no words came from her mouth. His pulse raced into overdrive.
“I’m sorry, Libby. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, and there’s no excuse.” Nathan shifted his gaze to look at Tom rather than the scantily clad woman, willing his body not to betray him. “I assumed you wouldn’t be ready even though you have the shearers booked in. I’ve been trying to call them, but all I get is their answering service, so I don’t know what their plans are, and it’s made me a little bit edgy with this bad weather predicted.”
“No harm done.” Tom reassured him with a pat on the shoulder. “I’m sure they have you down in the book. They always do, so stop stressing over it. Can I offer you a glass of wine or a coffee?”
“Sure, if Libby doesn’t mind, a wine would be great.” He took a seat on the top step in front of Libby’s chair as Tom went inside to get the offered drink.
“Why should I mind?”
“I haven’t given you the warmest welcome.” Nathan hated to admit it but it was true.
“Nothing in my life has been that easy, so one snotty ehaviour isn’t going to be the end of me.”
Nathan was saved from replying when the boys came out of the house.
“Mum, can we have the day off tomorrow?” Josh spoke fast. “We can help the shearers, there’s heaps we can do.”
“I think not, but you can all pitch in once your homework is done.” She held up her hand as they moaned aloud. “And if we get through this crutching session, if we get it finished and if you guys pull your weight, we’ll go into town to the barn dance in a couple of weeks.”
Josh gawked at her until Winton whispered in his ear, and they both stumbled down the stairs to run away to the shed, giggling like a pair of schoolgirls.
Nathan shook his head at their retreating backs and turned to take the glass of wine Tom brought out to him to find Libby staring at him. He smiled at her, but she averted her gaze and picked up her book again, giving it her full attention and left him with an unusual empty hole in his stomach.
“So, how is the stock looking now that you have them in?”
“I was just going to go over the last few years’ shearing records to try and figure out the best course for the farm.” Tom held up a notebook before passing it to Libby. She placed it on the table between them without opening it.
“We can go over it later.”
Nathan downed his wine as the conversation stilled and stood up. Feeling uncomfortable, he placed his empty glass on the table.
“Thanks for the wine, Tom. Night, Libby.” He aimed a glance her way.
“Night.” She mumbled the word, not meeting his gaze.
He cursed himself again, this time for being so stupid as to try and right this morning’s wrong. She obviously didn’t care for his apologies, and he really couldn’t blame her. It worried him that he even cared what she thought. Damn it. She was starting to rattle him and get under his skin. The way she interacted with her kids and Winton, the way she cared for Tom...if she weren’t a city chick, he’d give his feelings more than a passing thought. Just because she stirred his blood and made his body take notice was no reason to get more involved than just being neighborly. A cold shower would fix him and bring him back to his senses. Heaven forbid he make the same mistakes he had made in the past.
“I can’t take this anymore, Nathan. Living in the sticks is dragging me down.” Eliza crossed her arms and stamped her foot to make sure she got his attention.
“I told you it was isolated out here when you wanted to move out,” Nathan replied, running a hand through his hair. A
