Father In Secret. Fiona McArthur
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the ground and slipped one foot into her uncle’s gumboots.
Theo was much taller than she was and she could feel him looking down at her.
His voice was serious. ‘I had a green tree snake in one boot and a red-back spider in the other one yesterday.’
Savannah’s foot hovered over the second boot. Had she checked it well enough?
She heard him snort and glared up at him. ‘Very funny.’
His face was deadpan. ‘So you reckon you can run this farm on your own?’
That snapped her head up. ‘Why? Do you think I can’t?’
He stared at her for a moment as if she’d really offended him, his eyes narrowed. Then he shook his head once. ‘Lady, luckily, it’s not my problem.’ He turned and started to walk down the driveway to the sheds.
Macho moron. Savannah glared at the muscles of his back moulded against his shirt and clumped behind him in her uncle’s big boots. She’d have to get herself a pair she didn’t swim around in. She awkwardly skipped a couple of steps to make up some ground. Where had he learnt his social graces? The guy was a pain.
She almost laughed out loud when she remembered the rooster and what could happen to ‘pains’ around here. Theo probably wouldn’t notice if she hit him on the head with a hammer.
She caught up with him as they crossed the dirt road and entered the bottom paddock together. Savannah tried not to get her boots stuck between the rails of the cattle grid as she crossed, but it felt like there was a magnet drawing her into the broken spaces. The sheds were old but, thank goodness, made of thick hardwood planks that looked as if they’d still be standing if she had grandchildren one day.
It hit her then that she was the sole person responsible for a two-hundred-acre farm, a two-bedroom farmhouse and this menagerie of animals. She swallowed but Theo was getting away while she thought about it and she had to skip a couple more steps.
The pigs heard their approach and started to squeal and shriek in excitement. The thick smell of happy pigs cloyed the air but Savannah didn’t mind it.
It made her think of an uncle who’d paid her fifty cents per sty to hose them out, and had then taken her to the local show to spend the money. She could almost feel the tickle and taste of the fairyfloss they’d bought.
She followed Theo into the old office and stopped in front of the whiteboard nailed to the wall. Each pig’s name had a number next to it for the amount of pails of food it needed.
‘Bruce is the boar, I gather?’ She looked sideways at Theo. ‘So how come he gets three pails and Rosa only gets one and a half?’
‘Bruce has six women vying for his attention. He has to keep up his strength, poor guy. I couldn’t think of anything worse.’
‘Ah. A woman-hater. Personally, I feel sorry for Rosa and the other girls. He probably doesn’t shave.’
Why had she said that? She felt the rush of heat up her face but he didn’t even look at her.
‘They’re happy enough if you meet their material needs.’
I’ll bet there’s a story in that, she thought, but prudently restrained herself.
Theo had started instructing. ‘The pig pellets are in this drum. Make sure you put the brick back on top of the lid or the rats get trapped in there and jump out at you when you open it next.’
Savannah winced. That was one task she wouldn’t forget to do.
‘The pig’s water is piped to those drinking nipples at the side of each pen. You check the nipple as you feed to see if they’re working. The water is pumped from the river so you won’t run out.’
He looked at her from under his frown. ‘I hosed the concrete pens out early this morning but you need to do them at least every two days.’
‘My uncle usually did them daily and I’ll do the same.’
He grunted, looked at her as if to say ‘yeah, sure’, but didn’t comment. They walked the length of the big shed, doling out pails of feed from the bucket he’d filled and checking the water nipples. He stopped beside the last pen. ‘Louise’s litter is due in the next week. She should be fine.’
Savannah had had just about enough of his condescending looks. ‘I have my midwifery certificate, so I’m sure we’ll manage.’
His face twitched, then he smiled, and then he chuckled. It was deep and rumbly and infectious.
Savannah couldn’t help her own smile as she watched him in surprise. He threw back his head and she stared at the strong column of his throat as he laughed.
He wiped his eyes and dragged himself under control. And looked almost as surprised at himself as she was. ‘I’m sorry, it’s the thought of you telling the sow to breathe while you catch the piglets.’ His expression straightened. ‘I’d love to be a fly on the wall.’
His cheekbones were high and his lips were more sexy than sculpted. She wondered what those bristles would feel like against her face.
This was getting crazy. ‘Well, there seem to be a few flies already on the wall here, and I think that’s everybody fed. I need to meet the chickens.’
You coward, Savannah, she chided herself, but it was good to feel the breeze on her hot cheeks once they were outside the shed—and not just because of the smell.
They collected the eggs and he showed her the feed tin and how much to give. None of the cows were being milked so that was one chore she didn’t have to worry about.
She supposed it would be polite to offer him a drink for his help. But was it safe? She decided to take the risk. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’
‘No, thanks. I’ll be going if you haven’t any more questions.’ He tipped his hat and presented her with his gorgeous back and taut backside as he walked away. Watching him, it made her want to sign up at a gym, although at least living this far out of town she was safe from that. She had a mental picture of herself working out in gumboots and smiled.
Theo certainly wasn’t a talkative blighter and was obviously not going to be an intrusive neighbour. The strange thing was her own disappointment because he didn’t want to stay.
Savannah clumped back up the driveway to the house. She decided against more unpacking and went to shower in the soft rainwater from the tank.
When she was finished, she stood in the steamy bathroom and her towel stilled as she remembered the impact Theo had made on her as he’d laughed in the shed. And even before that. She had to admit she couldn’t remember a more arresting man.
Unfortunately he made her think of barns and hay and dappled sunlight and naked skin on naked skin. It was as if Theo had found and activated her erotic thought button—which was funny because Greg hadn’t discovered it in the two years she’d lived with him.
She jammed the towel through the rail and shivered despite the sudden flush of heat that had invaded her body. Deal with it. She didn’t need to complicate her life with a man. Especially a sinfully physical one with attitude.
This was her chance to be herself. Not trying to be the person someone else thought she was. Not expecting anything from anyone. First her mother and then her ex-fiancé Greg had hurt her—letting her assume his wife was completely out of the picture. From now on she would rely only on herself. She could do this. She could run this farm, start work next week at the small local hospital and live a full life. Be happy as she hadn’t been since the times she’d spent here.
As she glanced around the spartan room the memories crowded her mind. Memories of days filled with laughter, her uncle’s booming voice and, way back in the past, her aunt’s quieter tones that had conveyed so much warmth. Savannah was the child they’d never had and they had been the parents she’d wished had been hers.
Even