Page 59 of Jillaroo from Jacaranda

‘I can’t draw blood from a stone, sis.’

Leah sighed loud enough to echo off the walls. ‘You’ll be the bloody death of me, bro, I tell you.’

‘Right back at you, little sis,’ he retorted.

Lean tucked her hands beneath her belly protectively. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Now, come on you two. You both love each other to bits, and you’re just stressed, that’s all.’ Rose stepped in like a referee, looking from one to the other. ‘You scared the bloody hell out of us, Ty.’ Her voice was as shaky as the hand she’d just rested on his arm.

‘Sorry about that, Jonesy. I’ll live to fight another day.’ He tried his best to put her at ease with a smile. ‘You know what it’s like having a bad fall, being an Australian barrel-racing champion, I’m sure.’

‘Yeah, kind of, but nothing like yours was today.’ She leant in and kissed his cheek. ‘Please don’t worry me like that again.’

‘I’ll do my best not to.’ The look in her eyes told him everything he’d been dying to know, but now wasn’t the time to broach the subject.

Rose challenged him. ‘Promise me you won’t be getting back on a bull?’

He remained tight-lipped. He wasn’t about to lie to the love of his life about something she took extremely seriously. But he also wasn’t going to give up the one thing that got him through the hardest of times.

* * *

Exhausted and emotionally drained, Rose traipsed into the cottage, tossed her bag and keys onto the couch and lumbered down the hallway. She desperately needed a shower and some sleep, possibly for a few days. A storm was quickly approaching and the atmosphere was thickening all around. She loathed driving in the pelting rain, so she’d done well to avoid it, if only just. When the heaving black sky finally opened, hopefully it would bring some relief from the thick humidity that was making it hard to draw a decent breath.

As she stepped from the hall, lightning zipped through the sky, igniting her bedroom in a blue glow for a split second. Thunder crackled and boomed, ricocheting like a gunshot, the detonation of Mother Nature sounding as if it were right over the top of the cottage. Seconds later, the heavens finally gave way and heavy raindrops hammered against the corrugated iron roof so deafeningly, she could barely hear herself think.

Flat on her bed with her legs in the air, Rose hauled off her boots and tossed them into the corner of the room. Rising, she hopped around, cursing beneath her breath as she tried to pull her jeans off. She wished she had a switch to turn her mind off. Even though she’d tried to banish thoughts of Ty dying, she just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Watching him being dragged around by the bull had been horrifying, and the almost fatal thirty seconds kept playing in her mind like an old movie reel, over and over and over again. The thought of losing him was too much to bear.

She also couldn’t stop thinking about the fact he was adamant about returning to riding bulls in no time. She’d left that battle with Leah for now, but she was going to step in once she’d caught up on her sleep – she didn’t want to say things without getting her head straight first. Freed from her jeans, she flopped back to the bed. Closing her eyes, she decided to meditate for a bit before she dragged herself from the comfort of her bed to the bathroom.

Just five or ten more minutes …

The stream of water was piping hot, and she’d been standing beneath it for so long, steam enveloped the room. After stepping from what had been the most revitalising shower she’d had in forever, Rose grabbed her fluffy towel and dried herself off.

She tugged on her robe and headed for the kitchen – a cup of hot chocolate would be the perfect nightcap, along with a little bit of music. She flicked the kettle on, followed by the radio, where Dolly Parton’s soft soulful voice sang to the tune of ‘From Here to the Moon and Back’. It had been so long since Rose had heard the moving love song, but she still knew every single word.

The rain was still persistent but lighter, the scent of renewed earth floating through the kitchen window. She breathed it in deeply.

‘Rose.’ Her name drifted on the breeze. She turned to see Ty at the doorway of the kitchen, his gaze filled with promise and passion. ‘I called out, but you mustn’t have heard me.’ Droplets of rain clung to his damp hair, and a white towel was wrapped around his waist. Tall, wide-shouldered, tattooed and carved in all the right places with muscle; her mouth went dry with the sight of him. ‘I needed to come over and say thanks, for being there when I woke up in hospital.’

‘Of course. I wanted to make sure you were okay.’ Holy moly, she could barely keep her eyes off the strong planes of his chest.

‘Rose, are you listening to me?’

‘Yes, sorry.’ She tried to pull herself together. ‘What were you saying?’ Heat sparked and fizzed between them, and she felt a telltale blush warm her cheeks.

‘I can see you’re a million light years away.’ He leant forward, into her space. ‘What’s on that pretty mind of yours?’ While waiting for her reply, he watched her with absorbed fascination.

‘Nothing in particular.’ Her eyes locked with his, but she blinked and quickly looked away before she tumbled so far into him, there’d be no turning back.

‘Really?’ He took her hand in his. ‘I don’t believe you.’ Turning it over, he ran his thumb over her palm suggestively. ‘If your love line is right, you’re going to be married once and be in love with that man forever and beyond.’

She tried to string intelligible words together but couldn’t, so she remained silent, breathing all of him in.

‘I think that man is me, Rose.’ The huskiness of his voice was deep, untamed. ‘Don’t you?’

It made her feel dizzy with longing and a desire-fuelled sound escaped her. She wanted him so badly, she could barely breathe. Looking at where he was still running his thumb along her hand, she then jerked her gaze upwards and her breath hitched even more when her eyes snagged on his – never had she witnessed such intensity. The world spun and time froze for a lengthy moment.

‘What are you doing, Ty?’ She swallowed, too afraid to move in case she pounced on him like a hungry lioness.