Page 106 of Where the Wattles Bloom

She smiled then and the itch under Lachlan’s skin eased a little. ‘In fact, I’m very much looking forward to it.’

Lachlan couldn’t help his answering smile. She wanted to see him again. ‘You are, huh?’

‘Yeah.’ Her smile got bigger. ‘I am.’

Unfortunately, it faded fast as her brow wrinkled. ‘I don’t know where the baby’s going to be born yet. I guess I’m still trying not to get too far ahead of myself and I figured that question would be answered when I found an obstetrician. No, I wouldn’t ask my mother to be there.’ She paused for a beat or two, her gaze drifting over his shoulder, as though the admission had embarrassed her and she couldn’t quite meet his eye. ‘We don’t really have a touchy-feely kind of relationship and she’s pretty highly strung, which is probably not what I’m going to need. Also, they retired to the Eyre Peninsula a couple of years ago. But I’m sure they’ll be on a plane as soon as the news comes through.’

Her eyes returned to his then, bold again as they held his unwaveringly. ‘And yes, I want you there. Of course I want you there. If that’s what you want.’

Mentally, Lachlan sagged a little. He didn’t realise how it had been gnawing at him until this definitive assurance. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for anything.’

Except, of course, that was a possibility, what with babies arriving whenever they damn well pleased and Lachlan potentially being many hundreds of kilometres away when labour started.

But. She wanted him there. That was enough for now.

‘Good to know.’ She smiled briefly before ploughing on. ‘I guess I’ll take maternity leave around thirty-four weeks, but that’s going to very much depend. I’m a geriatric pregnancy, don’t forget. Which makes me more susceptible to pre-eclampsia, for example, which might force me to take leave earlier.’

Lachlan nodded—that made sense.

‘As for us?’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t know yet.’ Two earnest green eyes implored him to understand. ‘Right now, with me leaving in a month, all I can say definitely is that we’ll be coparenting. I just don’t know what that’s going to look like at the moment. Do you have any thoughts on it?’

Oh yeah, he did. But … ‘Probably not helpful ones.’

She laughed. ‘Okay, well … let’s hear them anyway. I want to know what you’re thinking about all this stuff.’

Man … he hoped like hell he didn’t ruin this.

‘I love this little girl we made together already more than I thought was possible to love anything. But …’

He hesitated and she said, ‘It’s okay. It’s cards on the table time. You can say it.’

‘I’m just not interested in living in the city. I’ve been there and done that and I know it’s not for me.’ He looked over her head at the scene in front of him as dusk draped itself over the landscape. ‘This is my life.’ He returned his attention to her. ‘But I don’t want to have some long-distance, part-time relationship with my kid, either. And, if I’m being honest, I’d like her to grow up out here, with all of this. With Reggie and Albert and the biggest pumpkin in show every year and baby lambs in spring and the wattle blooming in June.’

Rowena nodded slowly as he laid out his conundrum, and he could see that she understood his conflict. She wasn’t angry or defensive about it, she was contemplative.

‘Yeah.’ She nodded. ‘I get that. And I’m not saying that’s not a possibility. What I’m saying is I don’t have all the answers right now, and I’m asking you to be patient with me. Give me a month to get my bearings back at work and we can reassess.’

Lachlan nodded. It was more of a plan than they had fifteen minutes ago. They’d both laid their cards on the table and Rowena wasn’t shutting him out. She hadn’t dismissed or felt threatened by him telling her he’d like their daughter at Blairgowrie. And she hadn’t ruled it out, either.

So, there was reason to hope.

‘Sounds like we’ve got ourselves a plan,’ he murmured.

She smiled. ‘Shake on it?’

Lachlan smiled back. ‘Nah,’ he said, lowering his mouth to hers, kissing on it instead.

Twenty-Six

They were up with the sun the next morning and Rowena was caught up in the buzz of what felt like a grand adventure. All hands—including three local ring-ins—were on deck for the muster of several thousand head of sheep from the far reaches of the property into the stock yards, for the drenching.

Rowena helped Reggie pack enough food for seven people for two days—tonight they’d be camping out under the stars—while the men did … well, she didn’t know for sure, but outside stuff that seemed very manly.

By six am they were setting out. Reggie and Albert were on horseback. Two guys, one called Ryan, the other Brodie, were on dirt bikes. Another called Shaun drove the old four-wheeldrive ute, which was stocked with various supplies, including the drone along with two eskies full of food and camping gear.

Also tagging along in the back was Blue.

Lachlan had gestured for Rowena to ride with Shaun, but no way did she want to be left out of the experience. Not when Lachlan was on a quad bike with room on the back.