Runaway Wife

Evan knew he could have his career back tomorrow. To this day he was being pursued by various agencies who well remembered his “meritorious service”—but he didn’t know if he could live that life again, with the sound of gunfire forever reverberating through his head. The Outback, the Timeless Land, had offered solace, a place to write and lick his wounds.

He found himself moving to the rear closed-in verandah, steaming coffee cup in hand, to check on the girl.

There she was again, turned flower child, twirling a sprig of lavender beneath her nose. He could have moved off, but the sight of her halted and held him. She looked so innocent as she walked among the blossoms, admiring the pretty petals.

He knew the cottage was up for rent. His neighbours, the Lawsons, had gone back to the UK for a year or two to be with family. Surely this young woman didn’t intend to live there? Everything about her—the lustrous hair, the trendy clothes, the graceful limbs—carried the stamp of “money”, or at the very least a comfortable background. What would she be doing looking over a modest little cottage in an Outback town?

Very odd! Even odder was the way she was taking such pleasure in the tiny backyard that had run riot since the Lawsons had left. He was disconcerted by his reaction to her beauty and her slightly fey attitude. What the hell was the matter with her? She was treading the path rather vaguely, picking wildflowers, but looking so utterly captivating she might have been modelling for a photo shoot.

I don’t need this, he thought. I definitely don’t need this. Beauty was a bait to lure. Yet he didn’t move, scarcely aware the coffee cup was burning his hand.

He couldn’t put his finger on just why he thought there was something disturbed or disturbing about this girl. Instinct again. His instincts were significant. They had saved his life time and time again—though that made him feel guilty he had survived when others so close to him had not.

Butterflies were fluttering around the lantana. A magical sight. She was looking towards it in an apparent trance of beauty. He felt an involuntary hostility well up in him. Simply because something about her had reminded him of Monika? This girl was a total stranger. She could never have witnessed an ugly sight in her life.

She strolled back along the path, taking a seat on the stone step. This wasn’t wise, watching her, but still he remained. Again she surprised him, raising her slender arms gracefully, dramatically, to the blue sky like some sort of ritual to the sun.

Bravo! A would-be ballerina! He kept his gaze focused. Perhaps she’d guessed she had an audience? She certainly couldn’t see him from where he stood.

“There’s more to this woman than meets the eye!”

He was surprised he’d spoken aloud, but the words had flowed irresistibly. He couldn’t believe he was even doing this. Spying on a perfect stranger. Normally he guarded his privacy and isolation.

With one exception. Harriet Crompton, the town school teacher and a character in her own right.

He had taken a liking to Harriet to the extent that he had agreed, after some heavy persuasion, to join the town orchestra, and then make up a surprisingly good quartet. He played cello. Harriet played viola. His mother, a concert artist, had taught him first the piano and then, when his interest had waned, the cello from an early age. He hadn’t wanted to make music his career—he had far too many interests—but that hadn’t prevented him from becoming very proficient. He guessed, as his mother always said, music ran in his blood.

These days it could make him very unhappy. He couldn’t listen to certain great artists for very long. Those who played with great passion, like the tragic Jacqueline Du Pré. It almost brought him to despair. He’d thought he had put his journalistic talents to the advancement of a downtrodden people and their cause. All it had brought about was the death of a father he had rightfully idolized and a profound mistrust of beautiful women.

Like the young woman who had disappeared back inside the cottage.

Ten minutes later and she still hadn’t come out. What was she doing?

By that stage he was back to his prowling. He knew the house was unfurnished. The Lawsons had preferred to store their furniture—a lot of genuine colonial pieces. He returned to his desk, but such was his mood he made the unprecedented decision to go next door and ask the young woman one or two questions.

He couldn’t explain the need to do so to himself beyond the fact his instincts were exceptionally finely honed. They told him she brought trouble. Or trouble was reaching out for her. One or the other.

He didn’t spend any more time thinking about it. He obeyed the powerful urge.

The brightly painted front door was open. An invitation? He gave a couple of raps. That should bring her.

Maybe, just maybe, she looked nothing like Monika beyond the white skin and the long waterfall of dark hair. He had spent a long time thinking about Monika and her treachery, which had ultimately cost his father and his father’s driver their lives.

His hand on the doorjamb was registering a faint tremor. Some things he couldn’t banish.

He’d realized at some time someone would rent the cottage. He’d hoped for a quiet couple. The sudden appearance of the girl had shocked him out of his complacency. He didn’t want her close. The wrong time. The wrong place. A random visit? Fate?

He heard her light footsteps, then she rounded the corner of the dining room, a half-smile on her face as though she expected someone. A friend? Her eyes—a beautiful iridescent green—at first radiant, suddenly flooded with something he interpreted instantly as panic. He knew all about panic. He couldn’t be fooled.

How very damned odd! Why should she look so shaken? He wasn’t that formidable, was he? Although he’d been told many times he was.

He damned nearly gave his real name—he was only trying to project reassurance. But he didn’t move an inch from the door, all at once wanting to release her from her high tension. He hadn’t considered she would have that effect on him. He had no wish to frighten her, and frighten her he had.

“Evan Thompson. I live next door,” he gestured with his hand. “The colonial.” In the space of about a minute she haunted his eyes.

“Laura…Graham.” She responded so hesitantly it immediately spun into his mind that it wasn’t her real name any more than his was Thompson.

Laura, in turn, realized within the space of a second that this was the fascinating “loner” Harriet had told her about.

“I’m sorry if I startled you.” He was aware his apology was overly clipped and formal. But he couldn’t seem to stop looking at her. The long dark hair, the white skin, the delicate bone structure and petite stature. Otherwise she was nothing like Monika.

Monika had had gold unwinking eyes, like a cat’s. Monika had never looked frightened—even when the game was up and she’d been surrounded by the comrades of the patriots she’d betrayed. Men about to pass instant judgement and there had been no way he could have stopped them.

Laura said nothing for a moment, aware she was under intense scrutiny. “I wasn’t expecting a man at my door,” she explained.

He answered dryly. “I’ll go if you prefer.”

“Oh, no!” She half raised a hand, let it drop. “I’m sorry. I must sound flustered.”

“One wonders why. I’m not that frightening, am I?”

She studied him, thinking Harriet’s description had been excellent. Late thirties. Exceptionally handsome in a dark, brooding way. Deep resonant voice. Thick dark hair. Brilliant dark eyes. Heavy sculptured head. A big man, strongly built.

She sensed he was somehow hostile to women. To her? That didn’t make sense.

Grooves ran from his nose to his mouth, bracketing it and drawing attention to its chiselled perfection. A sensuous mouth. A contradiction.

“Not at all!” She tried hard to suppress her agitation, knowing colour was running beneath her skin. “I thought it was someone else. Someone who knows I’m here, inspecting the house.”

“You like it?”

“I do.”

He regarded her lovely face, clear of that early expression of panic. “May I ask if you intend to rent it?”

“I don’t think I could if I had to get your approval,” She read his mind.

“On the contrary, I don’t care who moves in as long as they’re quiet. May I enquire too if you’ll be on your own?” He couldn’t keep the sardonic note out of his voice.

She stared back at him, trying to formulate an answer. He was formidable, but not threatening. Experienced. Tough. But never the sort of man to lift his hand in anger to a woman. Such a thing would only rouse in him revulsion. All this she saw even as she registered he would be very difficult to know. Very complex.

“It’s not a crime, is it?”

“It is if you play pop music very loudly.” Unexpectedly he smiled, sunlight from behind storm clouds.”

“I don’t know much about pop music at all,” she confessed, lulled by that smile. “I’m a classically trained pianist without a piano. I expect you’ll be grateful for that.”

“Not at all. I grew up in a house of music. My mother is a cellist.”