Moonlight Plains (30 page)

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, we are.’

Next moment she was enveloped in an ecstatic hug.

‘I’m so happy!’ Megan squealed again, this time in her ear.

There were more hugs before Sally escaped with Luke to the footpath, while her friends headed for the kitchen.

‘Sorry about that,’ she told him.

‘At least we have witnesses.’ Luke slipped his arms around her waist. ‘And Megan saved me from getting down on my knees.’

‘Well, there’s always time for that later.’ Sally looked up at him with a playful smile.

‘I can see you later? After this party?’

‘I’m counting on it.’

The road stretched ahead, an undulating ribbon rippling through cattle-grazing country, heading south. Sally and Luke were in the front of the ute with Jess safely caged in the back, along with their luggage and Luke’s tools.

They were off on an adventure: another restoration job in New South Wales at a sheep station near Inverell. The owners of the property had tracked Luke down after reading Sally’s magazine story. They’d sent photos of their homestead and, after several phone calls, everyone was excited about this new venture.

Luke and Sally would be living in an old shepherd’s hut, a very simple dwelling, but they didn’t care. Everything about this was exciting for them. A new beginning.

‘Did you know the name Inverell means a meeting place for swans?’ Sally asked as they zipped down the highway.

Luke grinned. ‘I’m glad you’ve started your research. You’ll probably need to write more about the homestead this time and quite a bit less about the builder.’

‘Most definitely. I don’t want half the women in Australia ogling my man.’

She was smiling as she dropped her gaze to her engagement ring, a lovely coppery-gold tourmaline, so different from the traditional little diamond she’d left behind in Townsville. She’d had to store quite a bit of stuff with her parents, but luckily they hadn’t minded in the least. They both adored Luke, and her mother had promised to spend more time at the nursing home with her own mother, Sally’s gran, so Sally could leave without worrying on that score.

‘Do you know my favourite moment of these past few weeks?’ Sally asked Luke now.

‘I can think of several highlights, but in most of them you were naked.’

She grinned. ‘Well, yes, okay, that’s very true, but I
also
loved it when we went to see Kitty to show her this ring.’

At the mention of Kitty, she could see the emotion flood Luke’s face even though he was staring straight ahead at the road. He nodded. ‘She was certainly happy, wasn’t she?’

‘I’m almost crying again just thinking about it. She was so teary and thrilled; it was like we’d fulfilled her final wish or something.’

‘We have, Sal.’ Luke shot her a shiny-eyed smile. ‘I know we have.’

While this book continues my rural romance stories about the Fairburn family, the inclusion of Kitty’s World War II story is a new direction for me, but it’s a step I’d been looking forward to for quite some time. The urge to write about wartime Townsville has been quietly brewing since the city celebrated VP 50 – fifty years since victory in the Pacific.

In 1995 Townsville opened its arms to the hundreds of veteran American servicemen who returned to the place that held so many vivid, life-changing memories for them. Amazing stories circulated in the newspapers, on the radio and TV and, as I began to see the city where I lived in a very different light, I was captivated.

I’ve spoken to many people about the war years, but I would particularly like to thank Kay Ramm, who shared her experiences of living on a cattle station during the war. I’m also grateful for two very inspiring books –
The Morning Side of the Hill
by Marion Houldsworth and
A Soldier Remembers
by Herbert C. Jaffe.

When it came to writing Luke’s story about restoring the old homestead, I was greatly aided by conversations with Louis Simon and Fiona Stewart, who are not only wonderful renovators but also great storytellers.

Of course, huge thanks go to my editors at Penguin, Belinda Byrne, Ali Watts and Arwen Summers, and proofreader Emma Dowden. Thanks to all of you for your belief and your encouragement and most of all for your wisdom. Thanks too to my wonderful first readers, my insightful and eternally patient husband Elliot Hannay and my brilliant, generous friend Anne Gracie.

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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2014

Text copyright © Barbara Hannay 2014

The moral right of the author has been asserted

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Cover design by Nikki Townsend © Penguin Group (Australia)

Text design by Grace West © Penguin Group (Australia)

Cover photograph: girl by Blend Images/Trinette Reed/Getty Images; girls/grass/hills by Andrej Godjevac/Getty Images; palms by Iakov Kalinin/BIGSTOCK; house by Dieter Woelfle/Ozstockimages.com

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ISBN: 9780857975348