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After a glorious Sunday morning of baking dog biscuits and stealing plenty of steamy kisses, Liam and Steph went home. Ana grinned as she closed the door behind them and waltzed through the unit. She stepped onto the patio where Louis lay with his head between his paws.
‘Oh, it’s not that bad.’ She sat in the doorway and dragged Louis onto her lap, cradling him like a baby. He allowed her a cuddle for a few seconds, then began wriggling. Ana let him go as her phone rang. Jumping up, she snatched it off the kitchen bench and wished Nadia had FaceTime as she pressed the phone to her ear. ‘Hey, Mama!’
‘Morning, Ana. How are you?’
Ana sat back in the doorway as Louis dropped his ball at her feet. She tossed it. ‘I’m great. Really, really happy. You better make plans to visit because I’m never leaving this place.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yep! I love it here. I have great friends and so many things to do. It’s just ... life is wonderful, Mama.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Nadia laughed. ‘And how’s that man of yours?’
Ana smiled, her heart swelling until she could barely breathe. ‘Liam ... he’s good. Nothing wrong there.’
‘Natalia told me things were going well. And that you told him about that other bastard.’
‘I did. Oh God! That’s not why you called, is it?’ Her breath caught and Ana paused with Louis’ ball in her hand. He stood as still as a statue, staring intently as she tried not to panic. ‘Did something happen?’
‘No, Ana. I haven’t heard anything. Don’t worry.’
She exhaled and threw the ball. ‘Yeah, until he finds me and beats me up again.’
She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Taking a deep breath, she forced her pulse to slow as she watched Louis, his tail wagging as he proudly returned his ball.
‘That won’t happen, Ana. Now, tell me more about Liam. Let’s talk about him instead.’
Sighing, Ana shoved thoughts of Rick away and thought instead about the man currently in her life. One who outweighed Rick in every possible way.
‘Liam’s everything, Mama. He’s brilliant. Gorgeous. Kind. And after ...’ Ana swallowed. She certainly wouldn’t mention last night. ‘Everything’s amazing. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but Liam’s it.’ Her throat closed over. ‘He’s The One, Mama. I just want to stay here and have everything I can with him.’
The admission almost made her cry. Both with joy and despair. But her mum didn’t seem to notice the flaw in that wish.
‘Ana, that’s wonderful. He sounds like a great man and as long as he feels the same way about you, I’ll like him. I promise to make plans to visit.’
Ana blew out her breath and closed her eyes. She had to stop worrying and get the thought of a nomadic life out of her head. Because she didn’t want to leave, and not just because of Liam. She liked Elizadale and loved her friends. She could see herself settling down here and being happy.
And if Rick found her ...
She shook her head. She’d work that out if the time came. Because she didn’t want to spend her life running. She didn’t want to move from place to place. The thought of making new friends every year or living her life alone? It made her sick. She couldn’t do that. Like Natalia said, plans changed, so she needed to let it go. She needed to live while she could and embrace what she had found in Elizadale.
Which was easier said than done.
Opening her eyes, she reached for Louis’ ball and threw it. ‘I’d love for you to visit, Mama.’ Her shoulders softened. Nadia could meet the Maguires, the rest of Ana’s friends, and she could show her mum around Elizadale. Ana grinned as excitement surged through her veins. She was one of them now. She was just like Meg, overwhelmed with town pride and the desire to show it off.
‘I’ll kidnap Natalia and bring her with me.’
‘Yes! I’d love to see if she could survive a few days here.’
‘I’m sure she’d be fine. Nat was wondering if you’d gone horseback riding as apparently it’s something she’d do if she was there.’
‘No, but I’m sure I can arrange that for when you visit.’ Ana wouldn’t mind going riding herself. She’d need to mention it to Liam. ‘Lucy takes tourists on rides through the National Park and Liam has a horse. Archer, I think his name is.’
‘I’ll let Nat know. We’ll make plans for the September holidays.’
Ana talked to her mum for a while longer, mostly about what was happening back in Sydney. When she hung up, she turned on the air-conditioner and sat at the table to prepare for this week’s classes.
When three o’clock approached, Ana opened the back door. Louis looked over from where he lay beneath the hibiscus, keeping watch on the bird’s nest he’d found earlier this week. ‘Do you want to go to agility?’
Louis bolted over, his nails scratching against the tiles as he scampered past her towards the door. He skipped around in excited circles, grinning his doggy grin.
‘Okay, we’re going!’ Laughing, she clipped on his lead. Louis remained by the door, whimpering and wagging his tail as she tied her shoes and grabbed her hat. She pulled the door closed and let the screen crash behind her as they headed off, Louis leading them towards the park.
When they arrived, Steph and Roger ran over, making it much harder for Ana to unclip Louis’ lead as he strained between the two gates. She let him in and he bolted away with his friends.
‘Giving you a hard time there?’ Liam asked with a smile.
‘He’s just excited,’ she said as Liam wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned in for a kiss. She grinned into it, her body tingling as his fingers played with the waistband of her shorts. She grabbed his green T-shirt at his hips.
‘I’ve missed you,’ he whispered.
Ana laughed. ‘Behave. You can come over after practice.’
‘Deal.’ He took her hand and they joined the rest of their friends.
‘Hey, Ana!’ Adam called cheerfully.
Meg’s eyes twinkled. ‘You look quite cheerful today.’
Ana grinned and tried not to glance at Liam. ‘I like agility.’
‘Where’s Bells?’ Cade asked.
Meg shrugged. ‘Iz will be here soon.’
‘We really should walk together,’ Ana said, grimacing. But then Isabella always came later considering Evie wasn’t interested in agility.
Once training was underway, Liam and Ana worked on the practice obstacles—the dog walk and seesaw that were miniature versions of the real ones. The seesaw was only a metre long, barely off the ground and was designed to get Louis used to things moving beneath his feet.
‘You’re such a good boy.’ Ana grinned as she cuddled and praised him, Louis a genius at the practice dog-walk. ‘You’re getting really clever.’
‘He’s becoming too good,’ Liam said, rubbing Louis’ head. ‘I might have to stop helping you. He could almost beat Steph at our event in May.’
Ana raised her eyebrows. ‘Beat Steph?’
He smiled. ‘I said “almost”. Don’t think I’ll let you win no matter how much you beg.’
Even though she doubted Louis was close to beating Steph, Ana stood and flashed him the grin that had worked so well last night. ‘What if I beg in a little black dress?’
‘Hmm ...’ He placed his hand on her hip, his eyes flashing with desire. ‘You may get some favours, but you won’t win.’
‘We’ll win next time. Louis is only going to get better.’
‘Steph’s going to get better too. But I still have to help you else you might not visit as often.’
‘I could think of a reason to visit without training.’
He smiled. ‘Good. So, how about we go to Smithy’s for dinner tonight?’
Ana wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘It’s a date.’
* * *
A week later, February drew to an end and the rain finally arrived, much to the delight of the community and Liam’s family. Jack had been complaining as the rain usually came earlier in the summer. Sometimes even before Christmas. But nevertheless, it was a welcome relief for the farmers. As for Ana, the sunny Elizadale she’d grown to love was now wet, cool, and downright depressing. No matter where she went, the gutters flowed, mud caked her shoes, and she got drenched.
‘We don’t get rain like this in Sydney,’ Ana told Meg and Elanora as they walked to their classrooms. ‘Sometimes it’s just rain, or drizzle, but this is ridiculous.’
Meg grinned. ‘Torrential. I love the rain, at least for the first few days. It’s what you get living in this part of the country over your big city. Usually, we’d have weeks and weeks of this, but the rain’s late this year.’
‘Not good for the farmers,’ Elanora sighed.
‘But they’re expecting this rain to last awhile.’ Ana grimaced as they arrived at the flooded lunch shelter. ‘By the look of this, I’d say eating inside is included in the wet weather protocol?’
Meg tiptoed around the puddles. ‘Yeah, but I’ve brought a movie so you can both bring your classes over if you like.’
‘Sounds good,’ Elanora said.
‘You’re a lifesaver,’ Ana agreed. ‘I was afraid of the mess they’d make when I gave them arts and crafts.’
‘Movies create the least mess. And the least noise.’
‘They do.’ Ana waved them off. ‘I’ll see you both later.’
Meg’s movie idea was indeed brilliant as they settled the kids in the back of her classroom, where they remained relatively quiet and glued to Finding Nemo. Because of the children’s protest, Meg let the movie run through to the end of reading time, but she took a stand after that and insisted they’d finish it tomorrow. Ana and Elanora gathered their whining classes and returned to their rooms, where she spent the rest of the afternoon working on literacy skills.
‘That was a long day,’ Ana sighed, exhausted as she and Meg walked the long way around to the staffroom. Even beneath the covered walkways, they still got wet.
Thankfully, the staff meeting was short. After being locked up with eleven children all day, Ana longed for the booth at the Royal and a nice cold drink.
Meg grabbed the Diet Cokes and Ana sat beside Liam, resting her head on his shoulder.
He placed a kiss in her hair. ‘Busy day?’
‘Exhausting. I hate the rain.’
‘I hate the rain too.’ Adam crossed his strong arms with a scowl. ‘Bloody messes everything up, gets me wet, and puts Jack in a cranky mood.’
‘You put me in a cranky mood with all your whining. If you just did the work instead of complaining about it, you’d be done quicker and wet less.’
‘You still work outdoors when it’s raining?’ Ana asked, not sure why she was surprised.
Adam shrugged. ‘There’s still humping to do.’
Ana blinked. ‘What?’
‘Farm-term for picking bananas,’ Liam quickly explained. ‘It’s called “humping” because we carry the bunches on our shoulder.’
‘Right.’ Ana’s spine relaxed. ‘Makes sense.’
Lucy sighed as she nursed her beer. ‘Are we still going to Meg’s after this for a girls’ night in?’
Meg grinned. ‘Absolutely. I’ve got kebabs marinating—veggie ones for Ana. We’ll watch a movie and talk about men.’
Lucy laughed. ‘Even though Ana’s the only one of us with anything interesting to gossip about.’
‘But there’s not much I’ll share,’ Ana said, squeezing Liam’s hand.
‘Especially not with my sister.’
Lucy’s screwed up her nose. ‘Like I’d want to know what you two get up to. It’d gross me out.’
Jack cleared his throat. ‘I got some info from Lily about this party. She said it’ll be at her house, so I say we leave early so we don’t have to rush. Give us plenty of time to get to Townsville.’
‘And time for shopping,’ Lucy added, sharing a smile with Isabella.
Cade arrived and squeezed in beside Lucy. ‘What’s up?’
‘We’re discussing plans for Lily’s birthday.’
Cade raised his eyebrows. ‘Is she coming back? It’s soon, so you guys should have plans for the big twenty-one. I can’t believe little Lilypad is twenty-one ...’
‘Ridiculous, right?’ Adam agreed. ‘Makes me feel old.’
‘No, she’s not coming home,’ Jack told Cade. ‘But we’re turning up to her party.’
Cade grinned. ‘Turning up? Does that mean you’re not telling her?’
Lucy nodded. ‘Yep.’
‘Awesome. Can I come?’
Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘You wanna come? Why?’
Cade shrugged. ‘I like parties.’
‘Is Mum coming?’ Adam asked Jack.
‘She would, but she’s letting Lucy go, so needs to stay at the retreat. She reckons a twenty-first birthday isn’t really her scene and is happy to know we’ll be there.’
Shrugging, Adam glanced at Cade. ‘There’s a spare seat, so come if you want.’
Cade took a swig of his beer. ‘I think I will.’