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‘Mumma,’ he whined.
‘Shush.’
The man looked up. His face was ruggedly handsome in a country sort of way, his skin bronzed by the sun with a short beard of a few days’ growth at most. She was just close enough to see the gold fleck in his eyes but they held a burning, faraway look in them. A sadness. His jaw tensed as he considered her while his forehead creased into a frown. Ava swallowed.
Had they been discovered already?
What rhymed with woman? Beautiful exotic dark-haired woman with arched eyebrows and a perfectly heart-shaped angelic face? No, that wasn’t what he was thinking, that was what he was seeing. Damn it. Noah Hawthorn wracked his brain for the sentence he’d been constructing, the words running around the edges of his mouth. He’d almost had it and now it was gone. Off to the ether. Perhaps forever forgotten.
In the grounds of the old homestead stood a woman and a child. Her face was pale; the pallor exaggerated by the cascading jet-black, locks flowing past her shoulders. She was stunning, striking with her olive skin, slim waist and long legs shown off by her short summer dress. Too beautiful to be here. A city girl, he knew one straight away. It wasn’t hard to tell, it was the grooming and polish you didn’t see on country folk. The lack of fatigue, and wear and tear, the cleanness and usually, the confidence in their stance. Okay, oddly, this woman didn’t have the self-assuredness.
Pleasure zoomed through Noah at the vision before him. She sure was worthy of a poem. But no time for that. He ignored the blissful sensation making his body pulse and shoved his equipment back onto the tray and cleared his throat. It was an invitation for her to explain. She didn’t. Instead, she appeared as if she’d seen a ghost. He turned on the spot. Was there a snake he hadn’t seen? A wild pig? Something to make her fearful? It couldn’t be him, surely? And anyway, she was on his land.
‘Um, not sure if you’re aware but you’re trespassing,’ he finally said.
‘I’m sorry?’ Her arm dropped from securing the boy tightly to her side and the self-conviction that had been lacking, rose to the fore.
In a flash, his kelpie, Otis, jumped down from the tray and raced forwards before rising on his fore legs and placing large paws on the boy’s tiny chest and licking his face. The boy squealed in delight until his mother tugged him away and behind her, partially hiding him.
Bit late for that.
‘Otis,’ Noah commanded the dog who obediently returned to his side to receive a neck rub. ‘Sorry, mate,’ he spoke to the boy, ‘he won’t hurt you; he gets a bit excited at meeting new people.’ Noah held up his palm for a high-five in apology that the boy exaggeratedly clapped.
‘This is private property and you shouldn’t be here.’ He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he addressed the woman again. ‘But if you leave now there won’t be any trouble.’ He reached for his tools, dismissing her and ready to get on with the job.
‘I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but you’re mistaken. So, if you wouldn’t mind leaving, that would be great.’ The woman matched his crossed-arm stance.
‘Look, I’m sorry you’re confused, but this ain’t no tourist attraction so, I’d really appreciate you taking off. I need to fix this fence.’
‘Why are you fixing my fence?’
‘I thought we’d established that. It’s my fence.’ Something about this felt very wrong.
‘Actually, it’s my fence, my house.’ She spread her arms wide. ‘My land and you are the one trespassing. So, unless you want me to telephone the police, I suggest you leave.’
The police? Definitely a city chick. The police around here wouldn’t be interested in this squabble.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I purchased this house and land a month ago. We’ve just moved in.’
Noah dropped the hammer he’d been holding. It made a loud clunk as it hit the bottom of the tray and he gripped the edge for support. ‘No, that’s impossible. There’s been a mistake. Who sold it to you?’
They both turned at the sound of another vehicle.
‘He did,’ Ava said and pointed as soon as she saw Mac Turner alight from his fancy un-countrylike BMW advertising Bellethorpe Property Real Estate.
Mac walked the short distance from the end of the driveway to the fence. Noah used the time to take deep breaths to cool his rising temperature. This had to be a silly blunder but he was confident Mac would sort it out.
‘Noah,’ Mac offered him a curt nod and then nodded towards the woman. ‘See you’ve met. I’m just dropping in to check our new resident is settling in okay.’
Ava spoke first. ‘Can you please explain to … to this gentleman that I’m the new owner of this property.’
Mac alternated his gaze between the two of them.
‘Mac, we had a deal. You promised me. I’ve been saving up, wasn’t going to be long now.’
‘Look, Noah, sure. It was agreed you could have the place if no one else was interested. Except, Ava here was interested and paid the asking price with no negotiations. Quick sale, no conditions, no more waiting. You have to understand the owner has waited long enough, they wanted to get rid of the property.’
