Chapter Five

This woman failed to compare with the image Luke had dredged up from school. Oh, her spiked hair still had a suggestion of red, but not the carrot color he had associated with the former Shannon McFarlane. His gaze dropped to survey her slender body before he grasped his actions and averted his eyes.

Luke smiled at the shocked expression on the face in front of him. She’d given up hope of being offered a job when she stood, which hastened his decision.

The abject disappointment—and he suspected a hefty dose of chagrin—he’d witnessed on her face slowly changed into a wondrous smile transforming her in a way he’d never suspected possible. Her dark eyes sparkled, her skin fairly glowed, and the slightly misaligned teeth were ringed by the most luscious lips.

He jerked his gaze away from those lips before his imagination took him places he didn’t intend going. He needed a long-term business associate, something not easy to find in this town. To allow any physical reaction to endanger this singular prospect was crazy.

He jumped to his feet and circled the conference table on the pretension of retrieving the tube with his plans. Without looking at her again, he shook out the roll of drawings and spread them out, swinging them around for her to study from her side of the desk.

He sucked a deep breath in through clenched teeth as she bent over the drawings. The gaping of her top allowed him ample opportunity to glimpse the hidden delights beneath.

“What I have in mind isn’t what you envisioned all those years ago.” His tone came out harsh. He wasn’t some philanthropist. He needed to mentally distance himself from the woman. Making her understand he wasn’t building his park for the disabled would be a start. Far from it, he aimed for the opposite end of the market, extreme adventurers like himself.

“This is quite a venture.” She moved along the table, studying the drawings. “You must have been planning it for some time.”

Luke didn’t answer. She needn’t know acute boredom had forced him to reassess the life he now endured.

“Have you settled on where you’ll start?”

“You mean after I have a business plan?”

She smiled again with only half the mega wattage of before, but it was a smile.

Talking in depth about his drawings set aside the ridiculous thoughts he’d had for a moment. Delighted when Shannon tentatively offered a couple of comments—one to slightly alter the layout of the confidence course—any hesitation he had about employing her disappeared.

“Can you come and see the place now?” Sharing the venture with someone interested had hiked his enthusiasm. He wanted to start right away. “The farm’s a few minutes’ drive up the Murihuku Valley. We can grab some lunch there and I’ll have you back in Riversleigh well before school’s out.”

A blush colored her cheeks as she retrieved her CV folder and waited for him to roll away his drawings. Is she remembering our last encounter? Probably.

Luke phoned Marcia, asking if she could stretch lunch for one more.

They walked across the hotel foyer. Outside a cold wind had blown up. Shannon turned up the collar of her jacket and hurried across to the car he indicated.

“You might have difficulty enticing people to enjoy these adventures during the winter months.”

“I know.” He backed the car around and drove out onto the road. “There will without a doubt be a few summer-only pursuits.”

“Like the mud slides?”

He grinned and nodded. Some of the starch had leaked but she still displayed a tightly-controlled reserve. Somehow he had to change that. He needed a relaxed working relationship. He needed her to offer ideas or argue if she disagreed. He needed a partner, not a mindless robot.

On the drive through the Longwood range he set about telling her exactly that. “Once you see the working environment and know what you’re taking on, you can decide whether you want the job.”

A loud sigh rattled beside him. “I need a job, Luke. I’d given up finding anything in Riversleigh.” He could feel her gaze locked on him, but the windy road allowed him nothing more than a quick glance toward her. “At the risk of putting me at a disadvantage with my employer, I’m grabbing this with both hands. It sounds more interesting than scrubbing floors, and I was preparing myself to do that.”

Luke frowned. “Didn’t your husband leave you well cared-for?” He knew the money needed to finance some of the adventures Eric Turner had gained fame—or infamy—for undertaking. Surely he had made adequate provision for his wife and child before lavishing huge amounts of money on himself and his ego-building?

Wary accusation sounded in her voice. “Did you know Eric?”

“I met him a couple of times.”

Something in his own tone probably alerted her to his impression of the man. Eric Turner had been a first-class idiot, reckless, and uncaring for the safety of others. Luke wouldn’t have accompanied him down a street, let alone on any trek. It had been no surprise to hear that, after ignoring the advice of his guides, he’d died in a storm on K2.

Luke glanced at Shannon when the road allowed a moment of inattention. She didn’t say any more, didn’t answer his question. Not that it mattered. Luke already had his answer. He’d known before he asked. Eric Turner had left nothing for his family but heartache.

****

Shannon thrust anger and unhappy memories aside. She’d given up allowing Eric to impact on her life anymore—except where Thomas was involved. She’d keep on lying to him about his father forever if she had to. A boy deserved to respect his dad.

She surreptitiously watched Luke Prescott—her new boss—as they wound along the Murihuku River, past both farmland and through dense bush. She remembered a school trip up the Porakino Valley to study the bush, but she didn’t remember ever coming this far into the Longwoods.

How had Luke met Eric? She shifted uneasily in her seat. She knew nothing about Luke except the little she remembered from school. Biting her lip, she sent up a little prayer. Please don’t let him be so certain of his own immorality he thinks he can do anything. She’d had enough of that sort to last her a lifetime, two lifetimes.

The Luke she remembered had been a hellion teenager. Has he retained that recklessness as an adult? If he knew Eric, if they’d hung out in similar circles…Shannon swallowed the groan itching to escape. Something told her the truth. He’s willing to gamble with his life for a burst of thrilling adrenalin, too.

Shannon took a grip on her tumbling thoughts. What does that matter? It’s got nothing to do with me. As long as my wages arrive in my bank each week, what this man does or doesn’t do has sod all impact on me or my life.

She looked about with interest as they swung off the road onto a long gravel driveway. The Takitimu ranges appeared close enough to touch, though they were kilometers in the distance—a sign of impending rough weather according to local farmers.

Numerous hills rolled down onto lush paddocks dotted with sheep. To the left the tops of the high hills were covered in bush while others in front of them and to the right of the now-visible house had been stripped in an attempt to convert the land into farmland. Judging by the number of sheep apparent on these hills, those attempts had not yet proved overly successful.

Luke stopped near the large rambling farm house. Probably close to a hundred years old, the building had had a couple of additions over the years.

Surrounded by a solid wooden fence, the massive garden and manicured lawns called to Shannon. She’d loved pottering around in her parents’ garden, but there hadn’t been much chance over the last few years. They’d lived in an apartment in central Auckland. Eric had scoffed at her attempts to have a few potted plants on their balcony.

Perhaps I’ll be able to take my breaks out here.

Leaning over the roof of the car, Luke pointed to the bare hills behind a number of farm sheds. “There’s twenty to twenty-five hectares up there that’s supporting only a couple of sheep to the hectare. That’s where I want to put most of the park. The farm isn’t going to miss the land and I would put in another driveway and parking area away from the house.”

Shannon followed his pointing finger. She saw where the driveway could easily be divided to take any traffic away from the house and farm sheds.

“Come and have some lunch and then we’ll go for a drive so you can see more closely what I want to do.”

****

The lunch Marcia served was as delicious as any Shannon had sampled in Auckland’s swanky cafes, although the older woman waved aside Shannon’s praise. The atmosphere as they sat around the table in the large kitchen was so friendly and relaxed Shannon soon lost any trepidation at working for a man she suspected might be as recklessly adventurous as her husband had been.

Glancing between the three adults she sensed their closeness, but the two children captured her attention. A little Shirley Temple look-alike watched Shannon, but made no response to her attempts to engage in conversation. An older boy, maybe six or seven Shannon guessed, dressed in pajamas and a dressing gown, was off school getting over a bout of flu, Marcia had explained. They’d eaten their meal silently and, when excused, slipped like shadows from the table to disappear into another room.

“They’re very quiet, aren’t they?” she whispered an aside to Marcia.

The older woman nodded sadly. “Too quiet.” She straightened her back. “But they’re improving. It’s been such a change for them.”

Luke frowned as his gaze flashed to the door the children had disappeared through. “And it doesn’t help that I have zero parenting skills.”

“Stop beating yourself up, lad.” His uncle’s tone suggested this advice had been issued before. “I keep telling you I wasn’t much of a father after only six months on the job. Why do you reckon you should have acquired the skills so soon when the rest of us had to muddle through for years?”

Shannon dropped her gaze from Luke’s face at his heartfelt sigh. He believed himself less than capable of the role thrust upon him by his brother’s death. The knowledge this bothered him was another giant point in his favor in Shannon’s eyes. Eric hadn’t considered parenting worthy of any attention at all.

Marcia ignored Luke’s obvious tension and turned to Shannon. “You’ve got a little boy yourself, I understand?”

“I doubt you’d call him little any more. Thomas is twelve.”

“Ahh, the beginning of those daunting years when children decide their parents are imbeciles.”

Shannon managed a smile at the empathy in the other woman’s tone. Letting Marcia assume the angst between her and Thomas was merely teenage rebellion sounded a sensible option. I can’t risk Luke’s faith in my abilities to diminish if he discovers what a lousy job I’m doing with my son.

Suddenly Luke rammed back his chair. “Shall we go for that drive?”

Shannon jumped up, gathering dishes and taking them to the sink.

“Leave those,” Marcia ordered, plucking a second load out of Shannon’s hands. “They won’t take me a moment to pop into the dishwasher. Away you go and see what Luke wants to do with this perfectly good farmland.”

They were bouncing across the paddocks toward the hills far behind the house. “Doesn’t your aunt approve of your ideas?”

“She’s always giving me a hard time.” Luke laughed. “She was hesitant to begin with, mostly worried about me overstretching myself financially. But I think I’ve allayed her fears.”

Luke stopped on a knoll and jumped out. Shannon joined him as he pointed out the areas he envisioned his park would go. Shannon was soon caught up in his enthusiasm and by the time they’d stopped at other sites to discuss the possibilities she knew she was going to enjoy this job immensely.

“There’s this one other thing.” Luke led the way back into the farmhouse, waving a casual arm at Marcia playing with the children in the lounge. He continued down a long passageway.

“Gordon had this little addition built before he got married. Mum was adamant she wouldn’t live with her children. She insisted the house belonged to Gordon and Alice. He opened a door and ushered Shannon inside. “This annex has been empty since Mum died. There are only a couple of rooms, but if you and your son wanted to shift?” He let the question hang. “It would be part of your employment package, of course.”

Shannon’s mouth dropped open. He’d already offered an excellent wage, now he making accommodations available as well.

“There’s a school bus running into Riversleigh so you wouldn’t need to worry about your boy getting to school. He could catch it with Jake. It means a bit of travel time, but there are more kids even farther up the valley. It doesn’t seem to do them any harm. I don’t remember it ever bothering us when we were kids.”

Shannon’s gaze swept around the compact kitchenette cum lounge before her wobbly legs took her to the doorway of a small bathroom, then onto a tastefully furnished bedroom.

“There’s only the one bedroom, but I wondered whether your boy might be happy having this as his room.” Luke stretched up and hauled down a fold-up staircase she hadn’t noticed. “There is another entrance from the other end of the house, but I don’t think anyone’s used this since we were kids. Jake and Amy are too young yet.”

Wordlessly she followed him up the ladder before staggering and gasping aloud. The roof space stretched for what she imagined might be the whole length of the house with only a couple of vertical studs interrupting the flow.

While the head space appeared less than the normal two-point-four meters, Luke was able to stand upright. Lined and carpeted, it was unlike any ceiling space she’d seen before.

Large cupboards had been built along each wall where headspace was inadequate. Lighted by large skylights as well as a couple of dormer windows farther from where her feet were glued to the carpet, Shannon stared. What a marvelous play area this must have been when the Prescott boys were young.

She sucked in a deep breath, holding it until her head started to swim. Has something finally gone right?

She’d have a job, a decent-paying job she suspected she would enjoy immensely. And no more baked beans. She hugged herself. Thomas would be in heaven up here in this room. He’d not only enjoy the space, but have a sense of freedom from her—something he needed right now.

He might even think I’ve done something right for a change. Just one little smile of pleasure or appreciation would keep her going for weeks.

She walked over to one of the windows and looked out over the lush paddocks to the Takitimu range in the distance. Surely coming to live here would gain her son’s approval.

Luke wandered around. “We could shift a bed up here, and reorganize the cupboard contents to make room for his gear.” He turned and faced her. “What do you think?”

Before she answered he tacked on, “You can have complete privacy. There’s a door farther along the passage you can come and go by. You wouldn’t be bothered, unless you wanted company, of course.”

His face darkened a little and he hurried down the stairs, expecting her to follow. “And I’m not suggesting you shift so you’ll work longer hours.” His wry expression was almost endearing. “I’m happy to have you working whatever hours you can spare. And if you’d rather stay in Riversleigh where you’re in town and closer to school…”

“You’ve seen where we’re living at present. Do you really think I’m keen for us to spend winter there? We’d both probably end up with pneumonia.”

A smile covered Luke’s face. “So I should see about shifting a bed up these stairs?”

“Are you really sure? I mean, having strangers living in your house? We’ll try to keep out of your way, not impose, but Thomas—he’s not exactly as quiet as your niece and nephew.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure things will work out fine. Who knows, having an older kid around might lead Amy and Jake to come out of their shells a little.”

Some of the warmth deserted Shannon. It was unlikely her son’s presence would contribute anything positive to those two little shadows. She bit her lip as she followed Luke back to the main part of the house.

She prayed Thomas wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their ability to stay here.