Outback Dreams (25 page)

‘Damn straight.' Monty stared ahead at the woodpile they'd spent the last few hours creating. He couldn't wait till it was late and dark, when everyone would form a circle around the bonfire to roast marshmallows, tell bad jokes and, depending how much they'd had to drink, sing a few off-tune bush songs.

He glanced at his watch.

‘I swear that's the tenth time you've done that in the last few minutes,' Adam said.

‘Done what?'

‘Checked the time. Unless you're checking out that ugly mole on your arm.'

‘Shut up,' Monty replied good-naturedly. ‘Anyway, how come moles are called beauty spots on women and they're ugly on men?'

Adam chuckled. ‘Nothing about you is beautiful, mate.'

Monty shook his head and laughed. Then without thinking, he checked the time again.

Adam snorted. ‘Are you worried Ruby's not going to show or something?'

‘What?' Monty dragged his eyes from the long driveway to look at his friend.

‘Ruby Jones.' Adam clarified. ‘I figure she's the reason you're acting like that crazy rabbit in
Alice In Wonderland
and checking the time every five seconds.'

‘You figure wrong. We broke up. Not that we were really ever
together
together.'

‘I'm sorry, man. You didn't say.'

Monty shrugged. ‘Didn't I? We've been busy.' He'd been so focused on worrying about how to right the rift with Faith, it hadn't crossed his mind mention it to Adam.

‘What happened?'

He hesitated for a second, but decided that he needed to get it off his chest. ‘Faith happened. We slept together when we were down south.'

‘Holy hell!' Adam almost fell off his seat. ‘What are you telling me? Are you and Faith together now?'

‘No
. No.' Monty shook his head, suddenly aware this news might be as much of a shock to Adam as it was to him. That maybe Adam would be hurt by it. ‘Faith's like a sister to me. But now everything's weird between us. It's all fucked up and I have no idea what to do about it.'

‘Man.' Adam took a slug of beer.

‘I hoped you'd have some better advice to give than that,' Monty grumbled. ‘You guys had a thing together. How'd you get back on level footing?'

‘Well, for starters we only fooled around. We never actually did the big S.E.X. However…' But before Adam could continue, the first car rolled over the horizon.

‘Look, forget I said anything,' Monty said, jumping to a stand. ‘Don't say anything to Faith, and just pretend you don't know. I want to get things back to normal between us, okay?'

‘My lips are sealed.'

As he squinted to see whose car was approaching, Monty's stomach flipped. How pathetic that he was nervous about seeing Faith.

Adam followed him up. ‘Looks like here comes Normal and Ruby. Let the party begin.'

Faith's four-wheel drive got closer and eventually parked under an old gum tree in front of the cottage. Monty and Adam went to help unload the food, and as Faith's car door opened, her sunny laughter drifted out from inside the cabin. The familiarity of that sound worked like soothing music for Monty's soul. Excitement stampeded over the top of his awkward nerves and he smiled at the girls.

‘Afternoon, ladies. Good to see you both.' He couldn't wait to crack open another beer and catch up on everything Faith had been up to these past few weeks.

As she climbed out of the vehicle, he noticed she looked different. Although she wasn't as polished as Ruby, who was wearing designer jeans, fashion boots and a city-ish jumper, he didn't recognise her outfit. Maybe another one she'd bought in her mission to change things in her life. He'd certainly never seen her wear such tight-fitting, soft-coloured jeans to a barbecue before. Her cheeks were rosier than normal too. She wasn't as heavily made up as Ruby, yet she didn't need to be. Natural beauty shone from her smile.

‘Good to see you too,
gentlemen
.' Faith's tone told him she believed them to be no such thing. ‘Now, give us a hand with all this stuff.'

The four of them traipsed round to the boot and Faith peeled back the door to reveal an absolute feast. They spent the next ten minutes carrying everything inside and setting it up on the trestle table. While they were doing so, more utes arrived, and before long the noise of excited chatter rivalled the stereo. Having lost sight of Faith when she'd gone to greet Ryan, Monty did the rounds inside and out, carrying a beer for each of them.

He spotted her chatting with Ruby, Simone and Frankie. Realising it would be rude to bring only one beer, he went inside for a few more, but when he returned, the others had drifted away and Faith was on her own. He all but bounded down the steps towards her, not wanting anyone else to intercept.

‘Hey, Faith. Brought you a beer.'

‘No thanks.' She looked down at the five he was carrying. ‘I don't really feel like drinking tonight.'

‘Okay. Fair enough.' Wondering if she wasn't drinking for fear of doing something stupid again, he put the extra bottles on one of the crates that had been scattered around the garden as makeshift chairs. ‘So, how's you?'

‘Fine,' she said, offering him what was undeniably a forced smile. His heart ached at this awkwardness between them. ‘You're all finished seeding now?'

‘Yep. All done. Adam is stoked to have his first season as boss under way, and Mr Burton seems pleased at the way he handled it. Still, I reckon it'll be hard for him to step back completely.'

‘That's understandable.' Faith smiled. ‘I think no matter what job you do, when the time comes to retire, you'll always have mixed feelings—farming even more so because it's not just a job, it's a lifestyle.'

‘Yeah, you're right.' And suddenly they were talking so normally.

‘Speaking of retiring, I wonder how Tim and Nora are feeling about leaving Clancy's Breakaway?'

Before Monty could tell her that he'd spoken to Tim a fair bit, Adam walked past them. Faith reached out and grabbed him by the arm. ‘Great party, mate.'

‘I'll drink to that.' Adam lifted a bottle to his lips and took a long slug. ‘Thanks again for all the food. You should think about starting a catering business or something.'

‘Hah. Let me get the ball over and done with first.'

‘Why aren't you drinking?' he asked, nodding towards Faith's empty hands. ‘Has this bloke not offered to get you one yet?'

‘I offered,' Monty said, gesturing towards the extra bottles.

‘I didn't feel like it,' Faith replied.

‘Bollocks.' Adam scooped one up, screwed off the lid and handed it to Faith. ‘This here's a party, remember?'

‘Fair enough.' She laughed and then raised the bottle to her lips.

That's when normality took a hike and Monty caught himself staring at her mouth, watching the way her lips closed over the rim of the bottle, imagining other things they might close over. A few droplets of liquid escaped, running down her chin, and she wiped them off with the back of her hand. He fought a deep desire to reach out and hold her, to kiss her. The intensity of his feelings scared him. Thank God they were in the company of others.

Ruby and Simone sidled up to join the group.

‘Looks like we're missing out on all the fun,' Simone said, wrapping her arm around Adam and reaching for a beer. ‘Hi, cuz, any hot blokes coming tonight I should know about?'

Adam shook his head and rolled his eyes. ‘No idea.'

Making a concerted effort to act normal, Monty addressed the three women. ‘So, how are things progressing with the ball?'

‘Really good,' Faith replied.

‘She's too modest,' Simone admonished. ‘They're awesome. Tickets are sold out, you know, so even before we factor in the raffle and the fabulous things we have to auction on the night, it's been a success. And people are coming from miles around. Faith is gonna raise squillions.'

Faith blushed a little.

‘I've got a new suit on order,' Adam announced, puffing out his chest.

‘What? You mean you're not going to wear that old corker from your B&S days?' Faith teased.

Monty cringed, laughing along with Faith as they recalled what Adam had once called The Wondersuit. Pale blue and two sizes too small, he'd looked like Greg from
The Brady Bunch
whenever he'd worn it.

‘Nah. Thought it was time for an upgrade.' He grinned. ‘What about you ladies? Got your dresses picked out yet?'

Fashion didn't interest Monty, but when Ruby mentioned she'd helped Faith pick out a gown, he almost choked on a mouthful of beer. No one else appeared to think the situation odd.

He watched the interaction between his best friend and the woman she couldn't stand only a few weeks earlier, and puzzled at what had changed between them. After another round of drinks, a couple of the Burtons' farm workers asked when the barbecue would kick off.

‘Don't you know about responsible party hosting?' one of them joked to Adam. ‘You're supposed to serve food along with the alcohol.

The Burtons had just turned up, and Adam wanted to go over and support his mum before the crowds scared her off. Seeing this, Monty offered to get the barbecue started. Simone went with Adam to see her aunty, and Monty returned to the verandah where he found Ryan nursing a lone bottle of beer.

‘Evening, Monty,' Ryan said. His usual cocky grin spread wide on his face.

Monty nodded back. ‘You finished seeding too, then?'

‘Yep. Yesterday.' He smiled and nodded towards the front of the yard. ‘Well, well, well. I wonder what the constabulary is doing here?'

Monty followed Ryan's gaze and saw the new cop approaching from his parked patrol car. He shrugged. ‘Adam must have mentioned it to him, I guess. Probably just trying to be friendly.'

‘Constable Noble's friendly all right.' Ryan chuckled.

He'd stopped next to Faith and the others. Monty watched as the policeman smiled and the ladies laughed at something he said. Faith flicked her hair over her shoulder and Monty clenched his fists at his side. What could he possibly be talking to her about?

‘You better watch out,' Ryan said. ‘I reckon the new bloke might have his eye on Ruby.'

‘What?' Monty frowned, his gaze lingering on the exchange. He hadn't considered the possibility that Constable Noble might be interested in Ruby.

All of a sudden, he couldn't understand why anyone would look past Faith.

‘Nice to see you ladies again. Hope you're watching your speed, Miss Forrester.' Drew tipped his head slightly.

‘Yes, sir.' Faith tipped hers back, trying hard to concentrate on the conversation between herself, Ruby and Constable Noble. She feared the battle a lost cause because she couldn't seem to stop glancing at Monty talking to Ryan near the barbecue. Their gazes met and she forced herself to smile, even though her insides twisted at the mere sight of him.

The longer they'd been apart, the more awkward it felt to see him again, although he didn't seem to suffer the same affliction. He'd never been far from her mind these last few weeks but seeing him now didn't satisfy a craving, it only made everything worse. For the first time, she felt glad he was moving away. He'd promised to help with the Barking Ball in any way he could in the next week, but in the name of self-preservation, she planned on putting as much distance between them as possible.

‘Looks like it's going to be a good night,' Drew said. ‘Pity I'm on duty. Adam invited me and I couldn't resist a quick glimpse of an Aussie party. Really wish I could stick around.'

‘We'll have to have another one when you're not on duty,' Ruby said with a coy smile.

Drew smiled. ‘I'd like that,' he replied, and then his expression grew serious. He leaned towards them. ‘Tell me. Is it true Adam's got a sister still filed as missing?'

Faith blinked, having not expected the question.

Ruby frowned. ‘I don't know much about it. It was long before my time. Faith?'

‘Yes,' she answered in a subdued tone, unsure why he was asking, or how much she should tell. ‘She disappeared from the farm twenty years ago. The police suspected foul play, but they never found a trace.' She looked over to where Adam and Simone lingered at the edge of the party, trying to encourage his mother into conversations.

‘Is that his mum he's with?' Drew asked.

‘Yeah. Esther's never been the same since. It was awful for the whole town, but I can't imagine what it must have been like for her.'

‘I see.' Drew sighed deeply and scratched the side of his neck, before standing tall again. ‘I'd best go say hi to Adam and have a look around before I head out on patrol again. You girls have fun.'

‘We will,' Ruby promised with another girly smile.

‘Yeah, see you later.' Faith, wondering if Drew meant he was going to look over the renovated cottage or something more, found it difficult to gather her thoughts. As he turned to go, her phone rang.

‘Are you going to get that?' Ruby asked.

‘Oh. Yes. Of course.' Faith scooped the phone out of her pocket and accepted the call before checking the ID. ‘Hello?' Moments later she wished she'd taken a second to do so.

‘Hi, Faith. Sorry to call on a weekend, but I have some brilliant news.'

Faith's heart thudded in her chest.
Katarina Lamberusco-Cunningham.

‘Yes, Katarina, what is it?'

‘I'm coming to the ball! I didn't want to say anything until I was sure I could swing it, but I'm coming and I cannot wait to meet your man.'

‘That's … um …
great
!'

Kat's singsong tone gave her the impression she knew Faith had lied about having a boyfriend and planned on catching her out. Now she'd have her chance. So distracted was she by the first part of Kat's announcement, Faith took a second to register the next: