Page 37 of Jillaroo from Jacaranda

Although she was glad Leah felt comfortable talking to her, Rose didn’t feel right talking about Ty’s private business, so she did her best to divert the conversation to something a lot happier. ‘So, when are you due?’

Leah grinned far and wide. ‘In a little over seven weeks.’

‘Oh, how wonderful.’ Rose had a sip of her coffee. ‘Ty will have a little niece or nephew to spoil rotten.’

‘He will be the best uncle ever.’ Her second scone finished, Leah cradled her cup and rested back. ‘I’m going to have this bundle of joy at the Townsville hospital, and I’ll be sticking around for a while after that, so hopefully you’ll be back to visit so you can meet the little munchkin.’

‘I’d love to. Is the father going to be here for the birth?’

Leah’s bright eyes turned doleful, and Rose kicked herself for not considering Leah could be single. ‘I’m afraid not. He wants nothing to do with the baby.’

‘What the f—’ Rose huffed a breath. ‘Sorry. That just gets me so riled up.’ Reaching out, she gave Leah’s arm a friendly rub. ‘Men can really suck sometimes, huh?’

‘They sure can, but it’s all good. We’ve got this.’ Leah tenderly touched her belly. ‘Don’t we, little one?’

Rose felt compelled to support her newfound friend, just as she had when she’d met Ty and found out he was going to be spending Christmas alone. ‘Well, if you ever need an ear, I’m here, and I’ll only be a phone call away in future, okay?’

Leah blinked faster, as if warding off tears. ‘Okay. Thanks, Rose. You’re really lovely, you know that?’

‘Ahh.’ Rose bit back tears of her own. ‘It’s only because I like you.’ She grinned playfully. ‘If I don’t like someone, I can be a little, hmm … let’s just say, unpleasant.’

‘You, unpleasant?’ Leah chuckled. ‘I don’t believe that for a second.’

‘Oh, trust me, I ain’t as sweet and innocent as I might look.’

Leah’s eyes brightened. ‘Ha! Join the club, girlfriend.’

They shared a cackle, then after a few more minutes of yakking, Leah glanced at her watch. ‘Oh wow, I’ve been here annoying you for over an hour now.’ She touched Rose’s wrist. ‘I’d best let you get back to it.’

Rose shook her head. ‘You haven’t annoyed me in the slightest. It was a really nice distraction from the computer.’

‘Good, I’m glad to be of service.’ Easing to her feet, Leah started to gather the plates.

‘Leave that, it can be another sidetracking moment before I get back to it. Besides, you cooked so the least I can do is tidy up.’

‘You sure, Rose?’

‘Positive.’

They walked to the door and after slipping her thongs back on, Leah placed a gentle hand on Rose’s arm. ‘When you’ve finished editing, make sure you give me a hoy. It’ll be nice to have some female company.’

Rose nodded. ‘I’ll be sure to.’

Leah stepped outside. ‘Catch ya.’

Rose gave her a wave and watched her waddle away, feeling lighter and a little brighter from sharing that short amount of time with Leah.

* * *

Ty spent most of the next day marking off chores on his never-ending to-do list. He checked the stock tanks, mended the few holes in the fence line, fed his prized bulls their weekly treat of molasses, shod his horse, and now he was almost done servicing the tractor. It was taking him everything he had to stay away from Rose, but he knew she needed this time to herself, so he tried to respect that. Even so, he was going out of his frigging mind.

Grumbling beneath his breath, he pushed the brim of his hat up, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the oily rag in his hand. Realising he’d just probably spread grease across his face, he rolled his eyes at himself. Looking to the wide expanse of sky, smudges of pink and grey momentarily filled his line of vision. The galahs’ high-pitched and very noisy squawks filled the Australian bushlands he called home. With the sun due to set anytime now, and after working to the bone since it had risen at a sparrow’s fart this morning, Ty decided to down his tools and call it a day. He was keen to spend some more time with his sister anyway. It felt nice to be going home to enjoyable company, and when it came to his sister, quite often it was very entertaining too. There’d never been a dull moment growing up with her.

Crossing the driveway, he almost took a detour to the cottage, but physically dragged himself in the opposite direction, ignoring his fixation with wanting to pop his head in on Rose. Climbing the front steps, Ty slipped off his boots and stepped inside the homestead. The first thing that hit him as he hung his hat on the rack was the mouth-watering scent of home cooking. It had been a long time since he’d arrived home to such a heart-warming aroma. Kelly had never been one to cook, it had always been left to him – like most other things around the place.

Eager strides had him down the hallway and into the kitchen in record time. ‘Wow, Leah, something smells bloody delicious.’

‘Thanks, bro, I’m making one of your all-time favourites, spaghetti bolognaise.’ She looked up from the pot she was stirring. ‘Man, Ty, you look like hell.’