Читать книгу Inherited: Twins - Jessica Hart - Страница 7

PRUE’S grey eyes widened. ‘You’ve got children?’

There was no reason why he shouldn’t, of course, but she couldn’t help feeling surprised. He seemed so self-contained that it was hard to imagine him with a wife amid the cheerful chaos of family life.

What would Nat’s wife be like? Prue wondered. Probably as cool and sensible as he was himself. Certainly not the kind of woman who would forget to put fuel in the car, or cry, or pour out her heart to a virtual stranger, she decided, and felt unaccountably depressed.

‘I’m going to have two.’ Nat’s smile was a little twisted as he thought about how much his life was going to change.

‘Going to…?’

Glancing sideways, Nat caught her puzzled expression. ‘They’re not mine,’ he explained. ‘I’m talking about my brother’s children, William and Daisy. They’re twins, just eight months old and I’m their guardian now.’ He paused. ‘Ed and his wife were killed in a car accident in England a couple of months ago.’

Shocked, Prue pressed her hand to her mouth. ‘How terrible,’ she said, conscious of how inadequate her words sounded.

‘I thought you might have heard about the accident,’ said Nat after a moment. ‘The Grangers knew Ed and Laura pretty well. They bought a property just to the east of Cowen Creek last year, and they’d help each other out on big musters sometimes.’

Prue shook her head. ‘I didn’t know,’ she said. She had been too wrapped up in Ross to take any interest in the Grangers’ neighbours she realised, ashamed. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she went on, biting her lip. ‘What were they doing in England?’

‘Laura was English, like you. Ed met her when he was over in London, but they married out here. Laura loved the outback, too, and she was quite happy to live here but she felt guilty about her parents. They’re quite elderly, and couldn’t manage the trip out to Australia, so they hadn’t been at the wedding. When the twins were born, she knew they would be longing to see their grandchildren and Ed promised that he would take her and the babies to London for a visit instead.

‘That was in April,’ Nat went on. ‘It’s a busy time of year, but Ed knew how much it would mean to Laura, so he asked me to keep an eye on things while he was gone. He said they would only be a month.’

The careful lack of expression in his voice made Prue’s heart twist with pity, and she cringed as she remembered how she had whinged on about her own problems which were so pathetic in comparison to his.

‘What happened?’ she asked awkwardly.

‘They’d been in London three weeks when Laura’s parents offered to look after the twins for a day so that she and Ed could have some time to themselves. It was the first time they’d left William and Daisy. Apparently it was a nice day, and they decided to drive out to the country…’

He trailed off, and Prue found herself imagining Ed and Laura kissing the babies goodbye, waving cheerfully as they got into the car and drove off, looking forward to a day together alone away from the city’s noise and grime. Not knowing that they would never be coming back.

‘They were in a head-on collision with a van,’ Nat finished. ‘The police told us that they would have both been killed instantly.’

‘But the babies weren’t with them?’

‘No, they were with Laura’s parents so they’re fine.’ As fine as they could be when their world had been torn apart, Nat amended grimly to himself.

He was very grateful to Prue for not offering false comfort or asking him how he had felt, what he was still feeling. He didn’t want to talk about that.

‘Where are they now?’ asked Prue, almost as if she understood intuitively that he was happier sticking to the practicalities of the situation he had to deal with now.

‘They’re still with Laura’s parents in London,’ he said. ‘I went over as soon as I heard. Ed and Laura wanted William and Daisy to grow up as Australians, and they knew that her parents would be in no position to look after them, so they’d made a will appointing me as guardian. I don’t think they thought for a minute that anything would ever happen to them, that I would ever need to take responsibility for their children.’

‘But now that’s what you’ve got to do?’

‘Yes.’ His glance flickered over to Prue. She had turned slightly in her seat to face him as far as she could in the confines of her seatbelt, her expression warm and sympathetic. ‘There was no way I could bring William and Daisy back with me after the funeral,’ he told her, and he found himself hoping that she would understand and approve of what he had done. ‘I arranged for a nanny to look after them with the Ashcrofts—Laura’s parents—until I could sort things out here and make sure that I would be able to care for them properly, but I think it’s important for me to go and get them as soon as possible.’

Prue nodded understandingly. ‘The longer you leave them, the more attached they will become to the nanny and the harder it will be to take them away.’

‘Exactly.’ Nat looked at her gratefully. ‘The trouble is, I’m going to need help. I don’t know anything about babies. I’m not sure I would be able to cope with one baby on a plane, let alone two. That’s where you come in,’ he said. ‘I think we may be able to help each other. You want to come back to Australia; I want someone to help me look after William and Daisy. I’ll buy you a return ticket if you’ll fly back with me and the twins,’ he finished.

For a moment, Prue could only stare at him, unable to believe that he could sound so casual. ‘That’s…incredibly generous,’ she stammered, not entirely convinced that he knew what a generous offer it was.

‘Not if you think about how much I need you,’ said Nat with a wry glance. ‘I can put a mob of cattle through the yards, and do all those things that you said you wanted to be able to do earlier, but I don’t know where to begin with a baby! If you come, you’re going to have to teach me how to feed them and change them and bath them and do all the other things they need. Could you do that?’

‘Well, yes, I suppose so, but—’

‘It’s not just a question of the flight either. Eve, the nanny who’s looking after William and Daisy at the moment, thinks that it would be upsetting for them to be suddenly taken away from everything that’s familiar. They won’t remember Australia now. She suggested that I spend a few weeks getting to know them before bringing them back, and it would make sense for you to come along too.’

‘I can see that,’ said Prue, nodding. ‘They would need to get used to being with us.’

‘And then there’s the Ashcrofts,’ said Nat. ‘They were too distressed to talk much when I was there for the funeral, but they’ll probably want to see who’s going to be bringing their grandchildren up.’

‘How do they feel about you taking William and Daisy away?’ Prue tried to imagine her own parents in a similar situation. ‘Don’t they mind?’ she asked curiously.

Nat thought about it. ‘I think they know they can’t manage the twins on their own,’ he said at length. ‘Losing Laura was a terrible blow for them—she was their only child—and it’s hard enough for them to cope as it is, without the worry of bringing up children. That doesn’t mean they’re not concerned, of course,’ he added, noting with one part of his mind a plane’s wing glinting in the sun as it turned. The airport was just ahead, which meant that it wasn’t far to Mathison, and he wanted Prue to understand the situation before they got there.

‘They’ve never been to Australia, and the outback sounds a very strange place to them. They were worried about the fact that William and Daisy will be isolated, and that as a bachelor I wouldn’t be able to look after them properly, but they were all right when I told them that I was engaged, and that the twins would grow up in a family. I said that the next time I came I’d bring my fiancée with me so that they could meet her too.’

There was a pause. ‘I didn’t know you were engaged,’ said Prue after a moment, and wondered why her voice sounded so hollow all of a sudden.

Or why she was even surprised.

There was no reason why Nat shouldn’t be engaged, just as there had been no reason why he shouldn’t have a wife and children. It was just that, having established that he wasn’t married, she had somehow assumed that he never would be. And if he had a fiancée, why did he need her to help him with William and Daisy?

‘I was then,’ said Nat, answering one of her unspoken questions as she stole a puzzled look at him. His voice had no inflexion whatsoever and it was impossible to tell how he felt about the fact that his engagement apparently belonged to the past.

‘I’m not any more,’ he added when Prue continued to look blank.

In one way, it made it easier for Nat that she knew nothing about Kathryn, but a perverse part of him couldn’t help wishing that she hadn’t made it quite so obvious that she had never taken the slightest interest in him. He was surprised that she had even known his name.

‘You obviously didn’t know that either,’ he commented dryly.

‘No.’ Prue shook her head. ‘The Grangers don’t go in much for gossip,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added, and then realised that she sounded as if she regretted not knowing about the break-up of his engagement. ‘I mean, I’m sorry about your engagement.’

‘Don’t be,’ said Nat. They were driving past the airport now, where he had said goodbye to Kathryn before she’d got on the plane back to Perth. He remembered the softness of her kiss, the swing of her hair as she’d turned, the unmistakable relief in the way she’d walked away.

‘It was a mutual decision,’ he told Prue. ‘Kathryn and I have known each other a long time. She’s got a good job in Perth, and we’d deliberately decided on a long engagement so that she could concentrate on a big project she’s working on at the moment. When I got back from London I realised that it wasn’t fair to ask her to give everything up to look after two small children, so we talked about it and agreed to…postpone…the idea of marriage for the time being. It’s better this way for both of us.’

He didn’t sound bitter, but Prue had the impression that he was picking his words carefully, editing as he went along. He could say what he liked about it being a mutual decision, but he was obviously still besotted by her, she decided, unsure why she felt slightly peeved at the idea. Why else would make excuses for her?

She found herself disliking the unknown Kathryn intensely, and feeling obscurely cross with Nat at the same time. He ought to mind that his fiancée had chosen her job over him.

‘It’s not really better for you, though, is it?’ she said, more sharply than she had intended. ‘How are you going to look after the twins on your own?’

If Nat was surprised at her tone, he didn’t show it. ‘I’ll have to hire a nanny,’ he said. ‘I asked Eve if she would think about coming out to Australia with William and Daisy, even if only for the first few weeks, but I’ve just had a letter from her saying that she’s getting married and doesn’t want to leave England.’

Prue couldn’t imagine anyone turning down the chance to travel to Australia, marriage or no marriage. Ahead, the heat beat down on the road, creating a wavering mirage that blurred the horizon between the crushing blue sky and the sparse scrub that stretched off as far as the eye could see and beyond. It was like being in a different dimension altogether—so much space and so much light that Prue would sometimes feel dizzy and disembodied.

How could anyone not want to be here? Prue shook her head pityingly.

She brought her attention back to Nat, who was talking about the arrangements he would have to make. ‘I’ve contacted a couple of agencies here to see if anyone would be prepared to travel to London with me and help bring William and Daisy back. Ideally, it would be someone who wanted to stay at Mack River on a permanent basis, but they haven’t come up with anyone yet. That’s why I thought of you,’ he said, glancing at Prue. ‘When you said how much you wanted to come back to Australia, it seemed you could be just the person I need. I know you wouldn’t want to stay permanently, but it might take me some time to find someone suitable. You could stay at Mack River while you looked for another job in the area, if that’s what you want. You’d only be gone about a month. The Grangers might even keep your job open for you.’

Prue sat up straighter, fired up by the mere possibility. ‘I could ask them,’ she agreed excitedly. ‘They’ll need to replace me while I’m away, but maybe they’ll get someone who doesn’t want to stay.’

‘More than likely,’ said Nat. ‘There’s always a high turnover of staff during the dry season. It’s too hot, or too isolated, or too boring, or too much like hard work.

‘There aren’t many people like you,’ he told Prue with a slight smile, and she found herself wishing that he’d smile the way he had smiled before.

It wouldn’t take much, just a deepening of the creases on either side of his mouth, just a parting of the lips, just a crinkling of his eyes. She remembered how startled she had been, the way her heart had jolted, that odd sensation of suddenly finding herself face to face with a stranger.

For some reason, Prue’s cheeks were tingling, and when she put up a hand to feel her skin she realised that she was actually blushing! Embarrassed, without knowing why, she dragged her eyes away from Nat’s mouth, which had lifted into something that was almost—but not quite—a proper smile, and forced her mind back to what they had been talking about.

For a terrible moment her mind was blank, before memory kicked in. Going back to Cowen Creek…how could she possibly have forgotten?

Giving herself a mental shake, Prue let herself picture the situation. If she went back, Ross would know that she was serious about wanting to live in the outback. He would realise that she meant what she said, and wasn’t just amusing herself for a few months, the way the girls who saw a stint on a cattle station as part of travelling around Australia did.

Nat’s offer would mean that she would only be gone for a month or so. Surely even Ross couldn’t forget her in that time? He might even miss her. The thought flickered into life, grew stronger. Didn’t they say that absence made the heart grow fonder?

Prue slid a sideways glance at Nat from under her lashes. He was a bit older, of course, and not in Ross’s league when it came to looks, but he wasn’t unattractive. What would Ross think when he found out that she was going to spend a month with Nat? Might he even be jealous? Prue wondered hopefully.

Remembering how miserable she had been less than an hour ago, Prue smiled to herself. ‘I’m beginning to think that forgetting to check the fuel today was the best thing that ever happened to me,’ she said slowly.

‘Does that mean you’ll take the job?’

‘I’d love it,’ said Prue honestly, ‘but…well, I don’t have that much experience of babies. Wouldn’t you rather have someone more qualified?’ She grimaced, thinking of the catalogue of stupid mistakes she had made just since she had been at Cowen Creek, let alone the rest of her life. ‘Someone more efficient?’

Nat took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at her, with her unruly curls and her wide, tilting mouth and the nose that was just a little too big. ‘I’d rather have someone like you,’ he said.

He didn’t know how to explain that there was a warmth about her that was much more appealing than efficiency. He might not be able to imagine her keeping an immaculately tidy house, but he could picture her holding a baby in her arms, offering unlimited tenderness and security and love.

A little too vividly, in fact.

Nat frowned and concentrated on his driving once more. ‘You’re a nice girl,’ he said gruffly. ‘The Grangers like you. You love the outback and you want to come back. Those are all good enough reasons as far as I’m concerned. And then, you need to go to London just when I do…’

‘You could almost say that we’re meant for each other!’ Prue finished for him cheerfully.

A tiny pause.

We’re meant for each other. Her words echoed in the silence between them, and she suddenly realised how easily Nat might have misinterpreted them.

‘I mean…job-wise,’ she added uncomfortably.

Nat flashed her an enigmatic look. ‘What else?’ he said in a dry voice.

Nobody could say that Mathison was a pretty town, but Prue loved the old hotel, with its wide, wooden verandahs, the great iron water-tanks beside every house, and the pokey general store which had a weird and wonderful selection of goods and an eccentric taste in displays. Prue perked up as they drove along the wide street. She had hated the thought that she might never see it again, of returning to soulless supermarkets where everything was wrapped in layers of plastic.

Now, thanks to Nat, she could stop worrying about whether every trip would be her last and just enjoy being here. Oh, and do the shopping, of course.

Nat dropped her at the store while he went off to find some fuel. Prue still had her list, although it was so creased from being folded and unfolded so much that she could hardly read it. It was better than nothing, though. Wandering around the store, Prue found it harder to concentrate on the shopping than she would have thought. She had to keep stopping and peering at the tattered piece of paper, while her mind drifted back to Nat and the fantastic offer that he had made.

The more Prue thought about it, the better it seemed. There was no way she could miss Cleo’s wedding, but it had been hard not to resent the fact that she would have to leave Australia much earlier than she had originally intended. Now she would not only be a good sister, but she should also be able to spend another whole year here, and who knew what could happen in that time?

Prue could hardly believe her luck. Her momentary embarrassment had passed, and now all she could think about was how everything was turning out better than she would have believed possible. No wonder it was hard to concentrate on how much flour and sugar she needed!

She was coming back. Prue hugged the knowledge to her. Coming back to this place she loved so much.

And to Ross.

Prue’s heart melted when she thought about the daredevil blue of his eyes, about the way he threw his head back when he laughed and the air of suppressed energy he carried around with him, and happiness bubbled along her veins. Surely meeting Nat meant that she and Ross were destined for each other after all?

When Nat found her, Prue was gazing at a pyramid of tinned vegetables, her mouth curved in a dreamy smile. Her sunglasses were pushed on top of her head, drawing the tousled hair away from her face, and even in the dim old-fashioned light of the store Nat could see that her grey eyes were shining.

There had been a moment in the ute when something had tightened in the air between them, but whatever it had been it had gone now. Nat could tell just by the way Prue smiled when she saw him, a wide, open smile that said more clearly than words ever could that she might think of him as a friend, or an employer, but certainly not as a man.

Which was just as well, in the circumstances, Nat told himself.

‘You look happy,’ he said.

‘I am.’ Prue beamed at him. ‘I was just standing here, thinking about how miserable I was when I set out this afternoon. I was convinced that I would never have a chance to persuade Ross to love me, that I’d have to go home and never see him again. When that car ran out of fuel. I just sat there and bawled my eyes out,’ she confessed. ‘I was really pathetic! And then—’ she spread her hands ‘—you came along and suddenly everything is possible again.’

She looked at Nat with her frank eyes. ‘I feel as if today is going to prove to be the turning point of my whole life,’ she told him, ‘and it’s all thanks to you.’

Her face was alight with happiness, and Nat was suddenly aware of how close she was standing. She was so warm, he thought, so vibrant, so open and uncomplicated.

So in love with Ross Granger.

He stepped away from her, unsettled to realise that he didn’t want her thanks. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked curtly.

‘Yes, the boxes are by the door.’

Prue was puzzled and a little hurt by his brusqueness as they carried the boxes of groceries out to the ute. The light hit her like a blow as she stepped out of the shade of the verandah, and she couldn’t wait to hand over her box so that she could pull her sunglasses back down onto her nose.

Nat didn’t seem to notice at all. None of the men she had met wore sunglasses, relying on their hats to protect them from the glare instead, she supposed, but the corners of their eyes were always creased from years of squinting into the sun. Prue could see the fan of lines at the edge of Nat’s eyes now as he loaded the boxes into the back of the ute and covered them with a tarpaulin to keep out the dust.

Looking at those lines gave her a funny feeling inside—either that, or the sun was getting to her—and her gaze dropped to his mouth, which was set in a bleak line that made her frown slightly.

His expression was closed, shuttered even. Of course, Nat would be an unemotional man at the best of times, but he hadn’t been like this when they drove in together. She remembered how he had smiled, the look in his eyes when he had said, ‘I want someone like you.’

It was as if he had withdrawn into himself since then. As if, Prue thought slowly, her bubbling enthusiasm had made him retreat behind a barrier of impenetrable reserve. As if he didn’t like her being happy.

And why should he?

Prue felt a sickening wave of shame roll over her. She had forgotten what the trip to London was going to mean for Nat. For her, the job he had offered her meant the possibility of romance, a chance to achieve her heart’s desire. For him, it meant only the aftermath of tragedy.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said in a small voice as she got into the ute beside him.

Nat was bending to push the key into the ignition, but at her apology he straightened in surprise. ‘Sorry?’ he echoed blankly. ‘What for?’

‘I must sound absolutely heartless, wittering on about Ross and coming back to Australia when all you’re thinking about is your brother.’ Prue pulled the seatbelt around her and fastened it into place before turning contritely to Nat. ‘It’s going to be a terrible trip for you, I can see that. I wish you’d just told me to shut up,’ she said in a burst of honesty. ‘I feel awful now!’

Nat’s expression was rueful as he started the engine and pushed up the gearstick on the steering column. He hadn’t been thinking about Ed at all, he thought wryly. He had been thinking about her.

‘You mustn’t think like that,’ he said, contrite in his turn. ‘It’s the last thing Ed would have wanted, or Laura either come to that. They were both real live-wires, and they believed in deciding what you want and going for it.

‘They’d approve of you doing whatever you could to get back to Ross,’ he told Prue. ‘You don’t need to feel guilty about being happy over the fact that I need you to help me with William and Daisy. Ed would be the first person cheering you on!’

His voice was warm when he talked about his brother. ‘You must miss him,’ said Prue quietly.

Nat hesitated. He wasn’t used to discussing his feelings, but somehow it was easy to talk to Prue.

‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘I do. I miss him a lot. Ed was only a couple of years younger than me, and there were just the two of us when we were growing up. We ran Mack River together when our parents died, and then Ed met Laura, and they bought their own property. I’d got used to them not being around every day, but still…it’s hard sometimes to believe I won’t see him again.’

He wasn’t looking at Prue, but she felt her throat tighten. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said again, knowing that it was inadequate, but knowing too that there was nothing else to say.

Nat’s smile was rather twisted. ‘I’m sorry too,’ he said slowly, ‘but it’s William and Daisy who matter now. I’ve got to think about them, not Ed, and that’s what I’m going to do.’

When they got back to Prue’s car, they transferred the groceries into the back, and then Nat took the can of fuel he had bought and poured it carefully into the tank. He had brushed aside Prue’s attempts to pay and she watched him, feeling helpless and more than a little disconcerted to discover how easy it was to accept being looked after by someone so competent.

It was difficult to imagine that barely two hours ago she had had trouble remembering his name. Already there was something very familiar about him. How much more familiar would he be after they’d spent almost a month together in London?

The thought was vaguely disconcerting, and Prue frowned. It wasn’t as if they were going to be intimate, she reassured herself. It was just a job like any other. And Nat was hardly likely to show any interest in her, was he?

Even if she hadn’t been in love with Ross, she would have little to appeal to a man like Nat. He was quite a bit older than her, for a start, and to him she probably seemed very young and very silly. Correction, thought Prue, cringing inwardly as she remembered some of the things she had said: she must definitely seem very young and very silly.

Anyway, Nat himself had sounded far from over his broken engagement. Prue couldn’t help wondering what Kathryn was like. What kind of woman could break through that quiet self-containment and unlock his reserve? She must be quite special, Prue decided.

Hidden behind her sunglasses, her gaze rested on Nat as he tipped the can higher to let the last drops of diesel trickle into the tank and she tried to imagine him in love. He wasn’t a demonstrative man, she guessed, but behind closed doors…well, that might be a different matter…

‘OK, that’s it.’ Nat’s voice broke into her thoughts as he dumped the empty can in the back of the ute. ‘Start her up and we’ll see if she goes now.’

Obediently, Prue climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The engine shuddered into life and then settled down to a steady tick.

‘Do you ever get a day off?’ Nat asked, laying a hand on the roof of the car and bending his head slightly so that he could talk to her through the open window.

‘I don’t do much on Sundays. Why?’

‘We still need to sort out a few details about this trip,’ he pointed out. ‘I could fly over and pick you up next Sunday and you could spend the day at Mack Creek. It might not be a bad idea for you to see where the twins are going to grow up anyway, and we could talk about things then. It would give you a chance to think about what’s involved too, and change your mind if you want to. How does that sound?’

‘Fine,’ said Prue. ‘But aren’t you coming to Cowen Creek now? I thought you wanted to see Bill Granger?’

‘It can wait.’ Nat didn’t think he really wanted to go to Cowen Creek now and watch Prue mooning over Ross. ‘I think I’ll get back.’

His face through the window was very close, and his features seemed uncannily clear and detailed. Prue felt as if she could see every crease at the corner of his eyes, every minute line texturing his skin, every hair that grew in the strong brown brows. She wanted to look away, but her gaze seemed to have snagged in his somehow.

‘What shall I tell the Grangers?’ she managed to ask.

‘Just say that you met me in Mathison,’ said Nat. ‘There’s no need to tell them about the fuel. You could say that we got talking and when I found out that you were going to London, I offered you the job. They know about Ed and Laura and the fact that I’m guardian to the twins now, so they probably won’t even be surprised.’

‘Right,’ said Prue, finally succeeding in wrenching her eyes away. She put the car into gear and cleared her throat. ‘I’ll see you on Sunday, then.’

She had the impression that Nat was about to say something else, but in the end he just stepped back, slapping the car roof in a gesture of farewell.

‘See you on Sunday,’ was all he said.