Page 65 of Where the Wattles Bloom

‘Oh, yes, please.’

Rowena looked as though Reggie had handed her a lifeline, and Lachlan felt guilty he hadn’t thought to offer it himself. She’d rallied a lot during the walk over with Shirley, but she was looking peaky again. Maybe the early stages of pregnancy were like that? Nausea, vomiting, tiredness, exhaustion. Punctuated by bursts of activity?

Fun. Not.

Lachlan made a note to go to the library and see what books they had on pregnancy. Preferably one that could tell him what he should be doing. He knew what to do at every stage of a ewe’s gestation, but zip when it came to a human’s. He’d google it as well, but a book was handy for when he was out of internet range, as he often was on the outer reaches of the property, and at least he could keep the book in his glove box and thumb through it when he stopped for a bite to eat.

‘Lachy?’

He tore his gaze off Rowena’s profile at his grandmother’s prompting. ‘Yeah?’

Bugging her eyes at him, Reggie tipped her chin in Rowena’s direction. ‘Why don’t you give Rowena a tour then show her to her room?’

‘Oh, right … yes.’ Lachlan pushed off the counter he’d been lounging against and smiled at Rowena, gesturing with his hand. ‘This way.’

They were nearly through the door that led from the kitchen into the lounge room when Reggie called, ‘Ro?’

Rowena turned. ‘Yes?’

‘Don’t worry, darl. We’ll find something you can stomach. I saw someone asking for morning sickness remedies on the local CWA Facebook page last week. I’ll check out the comments and see if there’s anything worthwhile there.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Lachy said. ‘Be afraid. Be very afraid.’

Reggie shot him a quelling look, but Rowena managed a half laugh. ‘Thank you.’

*

It took Lachlan about five minutes to give Rowena an abridged tour around the house. She seemed to be flagging fast, and she sank down on the end of the bed as soon as she entered the room, blinking sleepily as she toed off her boots.

‘I’ll bring your bags up soon,’ he said, leaning a shoulder against the door jamb, wishing he had a magic wand to take away her morning sickness and erase her tiredness. ‘I’ll just pop them outside the door if you’re asleep.’

‘Awesome, thank you.’ She reached into her back pocket then gave a little groan. ‘My phone must be out at the table.’

‘I’ll get it.’

The relief and unadulterated gratitude in her expression almost cut him in half. Who knew you could feel like a bloody hero by walking through three lousy rooms and back?

‘Thank you. I need to set my alarm in case I oversleep.’

‘By the look of it you should forget your alarm and just sleep as long as you need. Please don’t feel you have to get up and socialise or anything. Mi casa es su casa.’

If she was impressed by his knowledge of basic Spanish, she didn’t mention it. ‘Well, that would be lovely in an ideal world, but I have a late shift starting at one.’

Alarmed, Lachlan pushed off the doorway. ‘Work? You can’t go to work like this.’

Giving a half laugh, she stared at him as though he’d just uttered the dumbest statement in the world. ‘Lachy … I could be like this for weeks.’ She paused, as if she’d suddenly realised she’d looked too far ahead and really wished she hadn’t.

But she pressed on.

‘I can’t not go to work. They’re short staffed as it is. Women all around the world go to work all the time while battling morning sickness. That’s just what we do.’

Well … fuck.

Lachlan had never thought about that. The number of pregnant women around town or out on farms that he’d been in contact with over the years, and he’d never spared a thought for how they were feeling. Turning up whether they felt rotten or not and putting in a day’s work.

That shit took fortitude.

And it was clear from the frown crinkling Rowena’s forehead that she had fortitude to burn. ‘Okay, fine.’ Not that she needed his permission, of course. He was just in new territory and thinking on his feet. ‘But at least let me drive you to and from the hospital.’