Runaway Wife

“Who told you that, precisely, Laura?”

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” Indeed, she had noted the curiosity and interest as they moved amid the smiling sea of faces. probably they were already an item of hot gossip in the coffee shops, with a dazzle of gazes through the colonial windows. “Harriet mentioned it as well, if I’m not telling tales.”

“Harriet’s a throwback to everyone’s slightly astringent favourite aunt.” Evan grinned. “So, Harriet told you there are women anxious to enjoy my company?”

“I like being with you,” she pointed out, as though that were entirely reasonable. “You’re bracing and kindly.”

“Hell, I’m not your goddamn grandfather,” he retorted. “You seem to prize kindliness in a man above all else.”

“Every woman wants a man who will be kind to her and her children,” Laura answered, very seriously indeed.

“And you’re worried that your boyfriend isn’t a great choice for life?”

“Correct,” There was pain and sorrow in it.

“But you miss him already?”

“I’d like to ask you a few questions, Mr Thompson,” she retaliated. “If you answer truthfully my lips are sealed. Are you married?”

“Never. Not once.” He looked directly at her.

“How come?”

“For a lot of years of my life I never knew where I was going to wake up.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” She’d already sensed he was a man of adventure.

“On the move, Laura. I’ve travelled the world.”

“As a wood worker?” she queried dubiously.

“When I could find the time.”

“Don’t you miss it?”

“Miss what?” He bent to examine a small desk. A few scars. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed.

“Whatever you did. I’m not so totally inexperienced I can’t see you were personally acquainted with danger.”

“So much for my tight cover.” he mock-growled.

“You won’t always live here, will you?” she persisted, accepting the powerful natural attraction of him.

“No more than you. In fact I marvel at the fact you found your way out here. This is truly the Outback, the Never Never, the Back of Beyond.”

“I love it already,” Laura said, her lovely face dreamy. “The peace, the freedom, the vastness. I’ve decided I’m going to walk every inch of the Simpson Desert,” she joked. “Maybe I’ll take a pack of camels, like that wonderful woman author. I can’t remember her name at the moment, but I was fascinated by her book.”

“Robyn Davidson. The name of her book was Tracks. It’s an account of her 1700-mile journey across Australia with camels. It won her an award.”

“You’re very knowledgable.” She looked at a coffee table, thinking about where it might go.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“You’re a writer? You’re a famous author?”

His brilliant gaze told her she was way off beam. “Let’s get this whole thing cleared up. I’m a wood worker.”

She was afraid she had overstepped the mark. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry, Evan. I was just having—fun.”

“Hey!” He watched her face, saw it lose colour. That really bothered him. “I’m sorry too if I sounded a bit stern. Who hurt you, Laura?” he questioned, looking like a man who would listen. “If I don’t ask I’ll never know.”

Her eyes clouded. “Why do you want to know?”

“There’s something very endearing about you,” he said with simple truth. “Witness the way you’ve cajoled reclusive me to take you out for coffee and sandwiches. Just between the two of us I want to know enough to be on the look-out for your boyfriend, should he decide to try to track you down. Do you think he will?”

Her whole body tensed. “No, no. Everything’s okay.”

“Of course. That’s why you just trembled. I promise you I’ll keep an eye out, and you don’t have to put me on the payroll. Maybe you can invite me in for dinner some time. Can you cook?”

She smiled. Shook her head. “I thought I could. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Your self-esteem has taken a battering.”

“Why do you say that.”

“It couldn’t be clearer if it were front page news on today’s Courier Mail.”

“There you go again.” She paused in her inspection of a sofa to look across at him. “You’re a reporter. An overseas correspondent. There’s something else in your background, I think.”

“Please tell me,” he invited, deliberately using a casual tone. He continued down the aisle, thinking she was way too perceptive.

“This might be a bad time for it as you’re helping me choose my furniture.”

“Fire away.” He touched his fingers to the surface of a smallish circular table. Good red cedar. “I won’t hold it against you.”

“All right.” A curious thrill raced down Laura’s spine. “I know we only met today. And I’ve never seen you before in my life. Yet the more I look at you the more I’m convinced I know your face from somewhere. Have you ever worn a beard?”

“Good grief, Laura.” He rolled out a leather armchair on castors.

“Tell the truth.”

“Every man has a beard from time to time, even if it’s only the weekend growth.”

“I mean a full beard and moustache.”

“My dear, that would take years,” he drawled.

“All right. It’s just that I keep seeing you with a beard. Very impressive. Very formidable. As though no one could hide from you. The cover of a book, maybe?”