Right As Rain (15 page)

“Mack's not far away, is she?”

They both turned to see Patrick drift in. His hair stood up all over his head and he was still wearing pyjamas – if that's what you could call the ripped t-shirt and threadbare boxers.

“She's got a busy day,” Louise said and set another place at the table. “Both of you sit down. Would you like a cooked breakfast, Adam?”

Adam hesitated and then sat next to Patrick. “Cereal will be fine, thank you.”

“Yeah but they're only over at the new place, aren't they?” Patrick scratched his head.

“Murphy's?” Louise said.

“Yeah. It's not like they're far away.”

She put bowls and cereal boxes on the table. “Adam's probably got other things planned.”

“I could take you over there,” Patrick said. “I'm supposed to go over and plant some trees or something.”

“I'd like to see your property,” Adam said. “I went with Mackenna to a Corriedale stud outside of Queenstown. I'm a chef but it was really interesting to find out the whole process before the meat reaches the restaurant.”

“Yeah, Mackenna's into all that.” Patrick slurped a big spoonful of cereal into his mouth and milk ran down his chin.

“Really, Patrick,” Louise said and passed him a serviette.

“She said she was hoping to open some kind of farm gate outlet here,” Adam said.

Louise stopped pouring the tea. She had thought that idea had been squashed.

“We've done up the old house at the front gate,” Patrick said.

“Oh yes,” Adam replied. “I went there last night but I didn't go in.”

“It will be the working man's quarters,” Louise said as she handed round the cups.

“But Mack's done all that work.” Patrick turned to her. “The new kitchen is ready to go.”

“What new kitchen?”

“Where have you been the last few weeks, Mum? Mack has put every spare minute into getting the place shipshape. It's looking really good over there.”

Louise gathered up their empty bowls. She hadn't been over to the old place since it was decided Cam would use it. Her life had been confined to keeping an eye on Lyle, the housework and trips to town for her committees and fundraisers. She walked past the old house nearly every day to collect the paper but she hadn't gone in.

“I'll just throw on some clothes,” Patrick said, “then I'll take you over to where Dad and Mack are working. I'll leave the guided tour of the farm to her, though. I'm sure she'll want to show you around, especially her farm gate outlet.”

Louise glared at Patrick's back as he disappeared out the door. How was it possible all this was going on and she didn't know about it? Lyle would have to be in the loop. Surely Mackenna wouldn't have kept it from him as well.

“Can I help with the dishes?”Adam's question brought her back.

“No,” she said, “thank you. We have a dishwasher.”

“Thanks for your hospitality, Mrs Birch.” He held out his hand and Louise accepted his firm shake.

“Will you be heading back to Melbourne today?” she asked.

“No,” Adam said. “I'm not really sure what I'll do next. I've got a bit of time to wander unless I get a call from my mother.”

“Is your grandfather very sick?”

“I think it's only a matter of time but he was looking quite good when I was there.”

“Ready to go?” Patrick called brightly from the passage.

“Thanks again,” Adam said and followed Patrick out.

Louise cleared the table in a flash, whipped off her apron and set off to the old house. She needed to see for herself what was going on there.

Mackenna and her father both stopped at the sound of Patrick's old bomb approaching. Thank goodness, Mackenna thought, and risked a quick glance at her father. He straightened up and arched his back. He looked okay but he wasn't moving at his usual speed.

They were putting a new gate between the two paddocks they'd bought and it was taking more work than they'd anticipated. The ground was hard. She was worried her father was overdoing it. She should have brought Cam to help her, but he'd gone to get a load of hay. Maybe Patrick could take over.

She shielded her eyes from the morning sun as the car drew to a stop and Patrick bounced out.

“I've brought you a visitor,” he said.

Mackenna stiffened as Adam got out of the passenger side. He looked so good. She'd noticed last night he wasn't clean-shaven like he had been in New Zealand and the dark stubble, along with his tight, closely cropped curls, made him look so rugged.

“Hello, Adam,” Lyle said. “What are you like at mixing cement?”

“Not bad actually.” Adam grinned. “I've helped my cuz lay a few paths recently. It's just like mixing a cake.”

He gave Mackenna a nod and a smile, which she didn't return. The look of him and the sound of his voice was making her body react even though her head was trying to remain aloof.

“We can't make a visitor work,” she said.

“Why not?” her father and brother said in unison. The three men chuckled together. Lyle gave some instructions and they were soon all working.

Mackenna tried not to look when Adam stripped off his shirt and bent over the cement mixer. He wasn't bulky but his trim body was firm. She shuddered as she remembered their nights together.

“Stop gawping, sis,” Patrick murmured in her ear.

She spun around and glared. Patrick was grinning at her with that smug smile of his.

“Where am I supposed to put these trees?” he asked.

“This way,” she said and moved off to a double-fenced stretch along from the gate. Instead of the five replacement trees they'd decided to plant a stand and some other natives to create some shelter. The paddocks here had been all but stripped of vegetation. She helped Patrick get started.

“I can manage,” Patrick said after she'd hovered over him while he planted the first two trees. “You get back to Dad and Adam.”

“Mack,” her father called, “can you hold this post while I add the cement?”

Adam was manoeuvring the wheelbarrow in place as Mackenna took the post from her father. It was heavy and she didn't get a good grip on it. Suddenly Adam was opposite her, his hands on the post and his face only a short distance away.

“I don't want to leave without talking to you, Mackenna, please.” His deep brown eyes bored into her.

“Watch your feet.” Lyle started shovelling cement into the hole and she was saved from replying.

Somehow she managed to avoid getting too close to Adam again all morning, until finally Lyle called it quits.

“We're finished for now,” he said. “Thanks for your help, Adam. Patrick and I can load up here. Why don't you take Adam for a look around before lunch, Mack?”

“I wasn't expecting lunch,” Adam said.

“Of course you must.” Lyle patted his back. “You've earned it. Go for a drive and we'll see you back at the house.”

There was no escaping him this time. Mackenna picked up her hat that had fallen off when she'd been wrestling with the last piece of wire and led the way to her car. Once Adam was in, she started the motor and drove back towards the main property. Alongside the boundary fence she pulled into the shade of some gum trees and nosed the car in so that they had a view across the paddocks towards the house. Normally it was picturesque with lush green pasture but at the moment it was looking dry. They really needed some decent rain. She turned off the engine and they both sat, looking ahead in the silence that followed.

Yesterday she'd been kissing her old friend Hugh. Today she was sitting a metre away from Adam, the man she loved in New Zealand and who she'd thought had loved her. Her emotions were all over the place and she didn't trust her judgement at all.

“This is a nice place,” Adam said at last.

Mackenna kept her eyes fixed on the distant house while the silence stretched between them again.

“I had trouble tracking you down,” he said. “I had your name, Corriedales and South East to go with. Australia's a big place.”

Finally Mackenna spoke. “I wasn't hiding.” What did he want, a medal? She gave him only a quick glance, still not trusting herself to look into those deep brown eyes.

“We didn't even exchange addresses.”

Mackenna flicked her eyes his way again. He was grinning for goodness sake.

“You've found me now,” she said and waved a hand at the view. “This is where I live.”

“Sounds like you've got your dream happening.”

“My dream?” Mackenna frowned. There was no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Your brother was telling us over breakfast about the work you've done in the old farmhouse, the kitchen and – ”

“Breakfast!” Mackenna's heart thumped. “Was Mum there?”

“Yes.” Adam put his head to one side, a puzzled expression on his face. “She got our breakfast.”

“Damn!” Mackenna started the car. “I need to get back to the house. You can have a tour of the old place later if you like.”

The car bounced back over the verge of the road and slid in the gravel as Mackenna put her foot down. She gritted her teeth. That's if I've still got access to it, she thought.

Hugh pulled over at the crossroads and looked again at the directions he'd been given. He was a long way from town in an area he didn't know so well and he wasn't sure if he should have taken the turn-off before this one. He bent forward to look up at the post but someone had removed the sign. The clock on his dash showed he was still on time. He'd left early in case of this very event, but he'd have to ring the bloke and get new directions. No point doing it from here though, without being able to name the crossroad. He'd have to go back a few kilometres to the previous one.

He did a U-turn and immediately his phone rang. A farmer he was visiting later in the day had some questions. Hugh pulled over to check his paperwork. He was about to start out again but waited to give way to a truck coming along behind him. He watched its approach in his side mirror then as it passed him, he realised it was the Birches' truck. He couldn't see who was driving, but they were going like the clappers with the empty truck. It could have been either Lyle or Mackenna, but somehow he thought it more likely to be Cam.

Hugh wondered what he'd be doing out this way but the thought was quickly replaced by a vision of Mackenna and that kiss. Damn! He put his four-wheel drive in gear and moved out onto the road, following the trail of dust left by the truck. Half the night he'd tossed and turned replaying their encounter. They were good mates. He'd kissed her without thinking.

Thank goodness her friend from New Zealand had turned up, or who knows what would have happened next. Hugh would have done a runner then but Mackenna had been insistent he stay and so had Louise, but the meal had been a nightmare. The tightness had returned to his chest, he'd had trouble focusing on the conversation and his stomach had shut down. All he could do was push the food around his plate and try to make it look as if he'd eaten some of it. The drive home had been slow. He'd practised every one of the strategies his psychologist had given him to calm himself.

This wasn't good. He'd only agreed to come back to the district thinking he'd put all the demons well and truly behind him, but they seemed to resurface at every turn and it was Mackenna who set them off. Hugh pulled up at the next crossroad. Going to Canada was the easy solution. He could make a new start but somehow the thought of that didn't excite him like it had before.

He sighed. At least his appetite had returned and he reached for the roll his mother had prepared for him this morning. He never wanted to lose all the weight he had back in the dark days. None of his family ever saw him that thin. Even though he'd never put all the bulk back on, at least his appetite had returned – up until last night.

Hugh brushed the crumbs off his clothes. He was alright, he told himself, coming home to live would either make him or break him, he decided. A chill went through him. He never wanted to feel that bad again.

He took a drink from his water bottle then twisted back and forth in his seat to stretch. He reached for his phone – time to ring this farmer and get directions.

Louise sat in one of the chairs in the front room of the old house. She'd spent the morning wandering from room to room. Her emotions had ranged from amazement to anger and even admiration. Mackenna had changed the place completely since Louise had last been over. The kitchen was refurbished and decked out with brand new equipment. No doubt this room where she now sat was where the food would be served.

None of it could have happened without Lyle's knowledge and it sounded like Patrick was in on it as well, perhaps even Cam. Louise was the only one who'd been oblivious of the goings on here, and that annoyed her. She shared everything with Lyle and she always believed he did with her. Well, perhaps not everything about the farm. He shared the intricacies of the day to day with Mackenna but Louise helped whenever she was needed, paid the bills and kept the paperwork up to date. She had a fair idea of how things went. She and Lyle always started the day with a cuddle and a chat about the work to be done.

She squirmed in her chair making it creak. It made her sad to think they'd lost some of that closeness since his heart attack. He was sleeping better now. Not so many restless nights but these days she often got up before he was awake. And their sex life was nonexistent. The doctor had told Lyle he was fine to resume his normal activities, but Louise was still anxious that any over-exertion might cause problems and Lyle hadn't shown any interest in being that intimate until the other night.

Louise got up from the seat and wandered the room as she recalled their first attempt at love-making since his heart attack. It had been a disaster. She'd been anxious and he'd been frustrated by his lack of ability. It wasn't a problem they'd experienced before. She'd suggested it was probably due to all the treatment he'd had and the medication. He didn't want to talk about it then and there hadn't been an opportunity since. Besides, how did you bring up the subject of impotence? It was probably normal, but would things ever go back to the way they'd been?