Kate was in the catching pens, stripped down to her T-shirt, a sheen of sweat covering her brow, when Nick McDonnell walked into the shed. Shocked, she swiped away strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail, her eyes glued to him. God, she thought, her dad had asked him to be the new rouseabout!
She glanced at Nell, lying near the wool table on her blankets, a book still open, her eyes shut, sound asleep. Her relaxed face revealing so many similarities to the man who stood above her. Kate watched in horror as Nick looked down at her and smiled. He gingerly stepped over the sleeping child and went to shake Henry’s hand in greeting.
Oh. My. God. Nick McDonnell is here, thought Kate.
At Nick’s arrival, Rocker looked up from his sheep and let out a whoop.
‘You bloody bewdy! G’day Nickel-arse!’
Nick waved a greeting.
Razor reached behind for the cord and pulled his machine out of gear. He gently stood the ewe up, letting the old girl find her way down the small drop to the count-out pen. He greeted Nick with a handshake and a grin as wide as his combs. Nick clearly belonged as one of them, Kate thought. He was welcome and well liked.
Aden glanced up from where he was sorting wool and nodded a sulky hello. In the back pens Kate dropped the well-worn wooden latch into position, but didn’t let go of the rail, her mouth still open. As she continued to stare at Nick from the darkened back of the shed, she was startled by Jonesy’s voice.
‘Close your mouth, Kate,’ he said as he gently tipped over another ewe. ‘He’s not that handsome.’ He gathered the ewe up by the front legs and dragged her out of the catching pen, giving Kate a wink.
For the next few minutes as she moved mobs about in the back pens, Kate watched Nick through the maze of shed uprights, her heart racing. She took in his square-set shoulders and his face, more handsome than her memory of the night at the pub had allowed. His firm jaw, set serious as he concentrated on his work. Yet despite his sombre expression he was undisputedly delicious and downright sexy. But then with a jolt she recalled she was staring at the father of her child. She sucked in a nervous breath. At that moment, Nick spotted her. His face lit up. A sunshine smile. He raised a hand. Kate waved back and swung her leg over the fence, Grumpy leaping over beside her. As she stepped out onto the board she smoothed her palms over her thighs nervously.
‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Hi, Kate.’
She shoved her hands in her back pockets and looked down at her boots. Then, horrified that the position made her breasts stick out, she whipped her hands out again and folded them across her chest.
‘Thanks for dropping everything and coming over,’ she said.
‘No problem. We got plenty of help when Dad had his accident. It’s the least I can do for Will.’
Kate was thrown by the sudden mention of Will’s name, her self-consciousness instantly quashed as grief rose up again. She felt tears well at the tenderness she saw in Nick’s gentle, sympathetic expression. Nick rested his hand on her upper arm.
‘I’m sorry. Eh?’
Then his hand was gone and Kate was left feeling as if he’d imprinted his warm, calm energy within her. She nodded, taking in his earnest way. Then suddenly he smiled brightly at her, a crinkle appeared beside his eyes, a dimple on one side of his mouth.
‘Better get to work, or they’ll sack me before I’ve even begun.’
‘Yep. Leave you to it. You seem to know how the shed runs, right?’ Kate said.
Nick nodded, smiled again and was off with the broom. Kate watched him jog to the end of the board. He stooped and grabbed up a fleece, delivering a friendly comment that made Rocker laugh, then made his way to the table, brushing past her, and floated the white AAA wool through the air so it landed perfectly on the wool table slats. Henry nodded at him gratefully, took up the wool and began to skirt the fleece. In a flash, Nick was back at the far end of the board to drag the locks away before Jonesy returned with another sheep. Flicking a belly in Aden’s direction for him to skirt, Nick swept his way back down the board towards Kate. She stood at the table opposite her father, clutching wool between thumb and forefinger, skirting the frib quickly from the fleece towards Trev. She watched the flex of Nick’s forearms as he quickly swept up the entire shed, then made his way towards the table. Quick broom flicks, clearing the way for Henry and Kate’s feet on the well-trodden path around the wool table.
‘Excuse me,’ he said. He moved past Kate, catching her eye again with a smile as he swept on.
Henry glanced up.
‘Good rousie,’ he said.
‘He seems to be,’ Kate said, feeling blood rush to her cheeks.
‘Now Nick’s here and Nell’s asleep, how ’bout you get the maiden mob in? Best take a horse. Save time on coming over the big hill, rather than take ’em along the creek track.’
‘Okay, Dad. No problem.’
She stooped to draw a blanket further over Nell’s shoulders and, reluctant to leave the shed now, sneaked one more glance at Nick as he whipped along the board as if he were dancing on air.
Outside, Kate leant against the shed wall for a moment sucking in air and banging the back of her head gently against the tin. It was ridiculous to think of Nick that way. He was engaged, in love with someone else, and he didn’t even know his connection with Nell. There was no way he’d be interested in Kate now. But she couldn’t believe how gorgeous she found him. How she felt electric currents when he came near. How everything in the shed seemed different now he was there. The droning sound of the shearing machines became intoxicating. The smell of sheep manure, lanolin and sweat, mixed with the atmosphere of hard work, framed Nick in a world that Kate adored. She felt breathless in his presence. But at the same time a fear beat in her heart. Had he looked at Nell and seen the likeness?
Will’s words echoed in her head. ‘You should tell him about Nell.’ Kate shut her eyes, and gently shook her head, but still Will’s voice persisted. ‘It’s for Nell’s sake too, Kate. It’s not always just about you.’
In the horse yard, Kate stepped into the stirrup and swung up onto her horse.
From inside the shed, Nick watched her through a cobweb-framed window. There she was on her horse in a red T-shirt, her dark hair falling down her back in a ponytail from beneath her cap. A collie dog at the heels of her sturdy bay mare. He watched as she tightened the jumper that was tied around her waist. Then she urged the horse into a trot. Nick had had this girl in his dreams since he was a teenager, yet she seemed different in real life. She was a grown-up version of his fantasy-woman, but just as beautiful. She was everything he’d imagined, except for the fact that she had a child. Somehow that just didn’t fit with his memory of her.
Nick sensed someone standing close by. Jonesy rubbed a grimy brush over his cutter in a slow circular action, his tongue playing wet on his top lip. He followed Nick’s gaze, then turned and smiled wickedly at Nick.
‘Ah no, mate,’ Nick said, shaking his head. ‘Not me.’
Jonesy laughed as he slapped Nick on the back. ‘Never thought of riding one and leading one at the same time?’
Nick laughed along with him, but he felt the jolt of being engaged to Felicity, yet looking at Kate with longing. As Jonesy went back to his stand, Nick couldn’t help staring at the girl on the horse, cantering further and further along the face of the big dome-shaped hill. Kate Webster. His first love.