Slanting rays from the setting sun blinded Xander as he turned the corner of the horse trail and emerged into the open area of the lookout. Holding a hand to shade his eyes, he spied the gentle mare Jenny had ridden yesterday grazing on long clumps of grass, loose reins trailing dangerously. The mare whickered a welcome to his gelding and ambled towards them and the stone-like lump in his gut shrank. Flick had been right after all.
He called Jenny’s name before he touched the roan’s flanks and brought it up beside the mare. Speaking soothingly to the little horse, he caught her reins before dismounting and tying the reins of both horses to the top railing.
Jenny was here somewhere. Heart thudding with hope, he stepped away, calling again as he pushed through the bushes to where she’d found the wombat. Deep shadows filled the spaces between the long fingers of sunlight. Desperate for a glimpse of Jenny’s yellow sunhat, his first sighting filled him with dread. Snagged on thorns, it hung from a spiky bush. He pulled it free and shoved it into his pocket. Narrowing his eyes against the blinding sunlight, he searched for the wombat burrow. Footprints—from Jenny’s shoes?—led to a hole beneath a bush, but of Jenny, there was no sign.
‘Jenny, where are you, sweetheart?’
She had been here; her horse and her hat were indisputable evidence of that, but she was missing.
‘Jenny.’
Birds called overhead while nearby, soft slithering sounds reminded him of the life beneath his feet. His breathing sounded harsh, desperate, deafening him to the little sounds of the bush. He sucked in a deep breath and held it, straining to hear over the blood rush pounding in his ears. A twig cracked off to his right. He spun around, seeking a flash of movement, and followed the sound. Carefully stepping between two bushes, he crouched down and lifted an overhanging branch.
From the shadowy depths, Jenny stared up at him, cuddling the baby wombat close to her chest. She looked fine. Seemed unhurt.
Relief surged through him, smashing the stone wall of fear that had built within him with each passing hour of her absence. Ruthlessly he held back his need to hold her close, kept a tight rein on his desire to demand answers. Neither would go down well with his sister. In the gentlest voice he could manage, he held out a hand. ‘Come out, Jenny.’
She shuffled forward, clutching the wombat over her shoulder and took Xander’s hand. ‘Baby wombat came out to play. Look.’
‘I see, but now it’s time for him—’
‘Her.’
‘For her to go back to her mummy and go to bed. And it’s nearly dinnertime. Flick’s coming over for dinner with us. You don’t want to miss seeing her, do you?’
‘No, I want to see Flick.’ Jenny hugged the wombat, kissed its nose and set it down at the entrance to the burrow. ‘Bye, baby. See you later.’
Giddy with relief, Xander set his arm over Jenny’s shoulders and drew her out of the clearing towards the horses. It would be fully dark before they made it back along the trail to the resort, but the route along the road was twice the distance. He led Jenny to the fence and brought the mare to her as Flick had done. ‘Come on, Jen. Up you go.’ So thankful was he to have found his sister unharmed that he couldn’t even be cross she’d forgotten to wear a riding helmet. Unbuckling his helmet, he held it out to her. ‘Put this on, Jen.’
She dropped the reins and her hands smacked onto her head. ‘My hat! Where’s my hat?’
He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. ‘Here. I’ve got it.’
She settled it on her head and added the helmet on top of her sunhat. Xander gathered the reins and held them out to her. Then he mounted, took up the leading rein, and her little mare followed his gelding back to the trail.
‘I’ve got to make a phone call. Can you follow me and stay close?’
‘Course I can.’
‘Good girl.’ He pulled the phone from his shirt pocket and pressed the speed dial for Flick.
She picked up on the second ring. ‘Have you found her?’
‘Yes, you were right. She’s safe. We’re riding back now, but can you let Andy know please. He can contact the search party and give them the good news.’
‘He’s found her and she’s fine.’ Flick’s voice was muffled. In the background he heard Chris’s voice before Flick spoke again. ‘Christophe said he’ll have dinner ready in an hour or so. If you text me when you’re back, I’ll meet you at the apartment with the food.’
‘Thanks. See you soon.’ Xander tucked the phone back in his pocket and turned to Jenny. ‘Okay back there?’
‘I don’t like the dark, Xander.’
Thank God I found her when I did. Jenny alone in the dark would have been her worst nightmare come true. And none of this would have happened if he hadn’t been distracted by those phone calls, if he had just stayed in the apartment instead of heading out onto the balcony. The lesson was salutary, and his parents would need to know just how adventurous Jenny had become.
‘Stick close to me, sweetheart. We’ll be home soon.’
***
Jenny’s eyelids were drooping as Flick helped pack her suitcase. ‘Why don’t you clean your teeth and I’ll finish the last of your packing?’
‘Okay, Flick.’
Flick set out the dress and shoes Jenny had chosen to wear on the plane tomorrow. A twinge of sadness at the departure of Xander’s sister caught her unawares. No more baking cupcakes or worrying if Jenny had found her pet of the day in Chris’s kitchen.
Like the albino gecko.
Flick slipped a pair of sandals into the case and set the yellow sunhat on top of the folded clothes. Touching the material, she smiled.
Memories. They’d made plenty of them to treasure, and the teenager had touched her in ways she imagined she would have felt if she’d had a younger sister.
When Jenny emerged from the ensuite, she surprised Flick by giving her a quick hug. ‘I’ll miss you, Flick.’
‘I’ll miss you too, Jenny. But each time you bake something, think of me, and how we made the recipe here. Will you do that?’
Jenny nodded. ‘I’ve got my recipe book in my carry-on case. Mum told Xander we’ll make one of the recipes when I get home. I’ll think about you then.’ She turned and climbed into bed. Her eyes closed as she mumbled, ‘Night, Flick.’
Flick turned off the light and quietly closed the door behind her. Xander was still on the phone to his mother as she moved into the kitchen and began stacking the dishes in the dishwasher. He ended the call and tossed the phone on the desk.
‘Leave it, Flick. I’ll see to it later. Come outside.’ He sounded weary, but the strain that had marked his expression this afternoon had disappeared.
‘Do you want coffee or anything?’ She wiped her hands on the hand towel and hung it on its hook.
He held out a hand. ‘Just your company, unless you want a drink?’
She shook her head and, taking his hand, followed him onto the balcony. A gusty sea breeze tugged at her messy bun and strands of hair blew across her eyes before the wind died away. ‘Is your mother still happy to let Jenny fly by herself after this afternoon’s adventure?’
‘She wants to try. I’ll get Jenny settled in the plane at this end, and Mum will be waiting at the gate at the other end. She’s still keen to give Jenny a little more independence.’ Xander drew Flick down beside him on the plump-cushioned two-seater and dropped an arm around her shoulders. Half-expecting him to kiss her once they were settled, she was a little disappointed when he didn’t. His strange mood seemed to have shifted their relationship to a different level, one that sought her company for its own sake.
He relaxed against the cushions and Flick dropped her head onto his shoulder. ‘She certainly showed initiative this afternoon.’
‘Initiative?’ He snorted and shook his head. ‘It was pure coincidence the horse she rode yesterday was saddled and waiting at the stables. The staff down there each thought someone else had attended to the booking when they discovered the horse was gone. But yes, heaven help us, I guess that’s showing initiative.’
He pulled her closer and rested his cheek on her head. ‘Thanks for your help.’
‘Help? I couldn’t even leave because we were a couple of staff down in the kitchen. How was that helping?’ But how she had wanted to race out of the kitchen and search alongside Xander. The memory of his desperation and drawn face would likely haunt her dreams.
‘You were the only one who thought of the wombat. I had a dozen people looking around the resort and down on the beach and not one of them suggested that.’
‘Another lucky coincidence is all it was. To be fair, we were the only ones who saw her with the wombat yesterday, and you’d just mentioned that you’d told your mother about Jenny’s adventures. That one was my most recent memory.’
‘And still I didn’t think of the wombat.’ He cupped her cheek and met her gaze. ‘I let Jenny down.’
She sat up and held his face between her hands. The balcony lighting revealed a degree of self-recrimination that concerned her. ‘Xander, you found her. As for my suggestion, well, as much as I care about Jenny, I’m not her family. Without the emotions of close family ties distracting me, it was probably easier for me to think than for you. I know if I had a younger sibling who’d disappeared, I’d have been off my head with worry. But you—you organised a full-scale search and made sure you succeeded. In my book, that’s the opposite of letting anyone down.’
His gaze pinned her, intense, dark and searching. Flutters of anticipation started in her belly, increasing when he dipped his head. Before she drew another breath, his mouth claimed hers with a fierceness that spoke more of need than desire. Xander needed her at this moment and she was more than willing to distract him from dark thoughts of what might have happened if he hadn’t found his sister before dark.
And then she stopped thinking and sank into a kiss that demanded her full participation.
He lifted her onto his lap and she slid her arms around his neck, wriggling closer, holding his head still so she could dive into the kiss like a woman drowning. A whisper of thought floated through her mind that having banned public displays of affection had sharpened her need for him.
Breathing heavily, they finally drew apart and rested their foreheads against each other. As she sat back, Xander grunted.
‘Sorry, did I hurt you?’ The second the words were out of her mouth, she recognised the source of his discomfort. Her hip was pressed against the bulge in his trousers.
A rueful grin touched his mouth. ‘Not intentionally. I was thinking, tomorrow night when Jenny’s not here, will you stay over?’
Even while her logical mind rejected the idea—she wanted to keep their relationship secret, not shout it out—her body knew what it wanted … Flick wanted Xander in her arms, in her bed, and moving to the next level. She wanted to let loose and find out just how good they would be together.
He nuzzled her ear, his breath warm on her skin despite the gusting wind. ‘No one will see us. Jenny will have gone home and we’ll have the whole apartment to ourselves. Please, Flick? Stay?’