Bella's Run (7 page)

‘Christ,’ said Rodney as he viewed the blackened bacon resting in the pan. ‘The Springsure roadhouse is looking pretty darn good for lunch. Let’s put a temporary patch on that pipe leak that’ll do till Monday, and piss off out of here before Bella decides to cook again, ay?’

Bella threw what she had in her hands. It was lucky it was only a soft cloth, because Rodney wore it smack in the middle of his forehead.

Chapter 7

The gates had been open since late Friday afternoon, so when their vehicles rocked into the recreation reserve grounds at Gundolin, hundreds of utes and four-wheel drives were already there. Swags were rolled out in all directions, as people set up camp with others from their own properties.

‘Crikey!’ said Bella. ‘Half of western Queensland must be here.’

‘Yeah, it’s a great rodeo. You always have a good time at Gundolin,’ said Rodney as he looked for where the Ainsley Station mob had camped down.

Straddling the gearstick in the LandCruiser, Bella was jammed in between two men. On her right sat a stocky Rodney, whose body just felt warm against her thigh, like a good mate. To her left sat Will, a hard body pressed up against her left side; a side that had been on fire for the last couple of hours as it rubbed and pushed against him on the gravel roads.

‘There they are over at the horse stables,’ said Rodney. ‘I’d know that ute of Sandy’s anywhere with all those flamin’ aerials giving a finger to all and sundry. They must’ve made it here pretty early to get the stables. Might need the shelter too,’ he said, looking up at the heavy sky.

Rodney directed his ute to the left of the main recreation reserve pavilion. Bella looked around for the stables, grateful they would have four walls for shelter, warmth and privacy. The ute pulled up in front of a long and simple corrugated-iron roof held up by upright steel poles; under the roof were basic steel-railed pens with gates fronting the gravel track that ran along in front.

‘Here we are.’ Rodney turned off his ute.

‘
This
is the stables?’ said Bella, unable to keep the incredulity from her voice.

‘Yep,’ said Rodney looking perplexed. ‘What’d you expect? The Hilton?’

‘Nope,’ replied Bella, as she baled out of the ute behind Will. ‘In Victoria, Rodney, stables generally mean four closed walls and a neat little half-and-half door. I guess the dawn dash is a bit more laidback and public in Queensland.’

‘You reckon?’ said a puzzled Rodney, not sure if the piss was being taken out of him or not. He glanced at a smiling Bella and decided he might be safe to go on. ‘Anyways, the loos are over there, the bar’s over there and . . .’ He looked pointedly at Will and winked, ‘. . . the girls are everywhere. I’m going to find the station blokes. Catch you later.’ He walked off in the direction of the bar.

The twin stacks on Macca’s ute made a deep growl as they halted behind Rodney’s four-wheel drive. Jumping from the driver’s seat, the black-hatted, big-framed Macca strode around the front of the vehicle and made it to the passenger door before Patty had a chance to jump down. Thrusting out his big hands, he grabbed her under the arms and knees and carried her from the ute.

‘Here we are, darlin’. Welcome to your new home. Shall I carry you over the threshold?’ Macca made his way through the steel gate and into the little pen, where he proceeded to dump his ‘bride’ on a pile of old hay left by the previous inhabitant.

Obviously they hadn’t wasted any time on their ride to Gundolin; Bella could practically see chemistry zinging above their heads. She’d never thought of these two getting together before. She probably should have, though – they complemented each other perfectly.

‘When you two have finished horsing around you might like to come with us to hit the bar?’ said Will, already primed with two rums downed on the trip from Ainsley. Grabbing Bella’s hand he walked off towards the main pavilion, pulling her with him.

Bella’s smile quickly disappeared as she tried to extract her hand from his grasp, but he held on – real tight. In fact he hauled her in close, hard up against his side, his arm coming up around her shoulders, pinning her there. She felt his breath on her face and then his seductive lips were moving the sweet rum-laden air near her ear. He half-whispered, ‘You are one mean little mountain woman. Poor old Rodney didn’t know if you were yanking his chain or not. But I tell you what, hold on tight, cowgirl. You and I are going to find some Bundy, a band and a rodeo, and . . .’

Bella tried to pull away. Will nipped her ear, stilling her before he went on, ‘The trip here beside you was akin to grievous bodily harm. Get ready for a wild time, Isabella Vermaelon!’

‘What do you mean, a bet’s a bet?’ Will asked incredulously, a couple of hours later as they lay looking for satellites among the stars overhead. It had bucketed down with rain earlier and then the sky had cleared, giving them an unobscured view of the diamond-filled night sky.

‘I’ve made a bet with your sister and I’m not going to lose. There’s a lot at stake,’ said Bella.

Knowing his sister, Will was sure the high stakes could be anything from a cattle station to a damned Cadbury chocolate bar. ‘So what’s the bet
exactly
?’

‘You don’t want to know the details, but it means I can’t sleep with you for at least six weeks.’

Inwardly Bella cursed. Her mind flicked back to the event that caused the wager to be made in the first place.

‘Pat Me Tuffet, you can’t sleep with
every
bloke you find attractive!’ yelled a worried Bella, as Patty blearily staggered in the door one Saturday morning a few weeks before, after spending the night in a passing stock-buyer’s swag.

‘Who says I can’t?’

‘
I
do!’

‘Since when have you become my mother?’ asked an unruffled Patty, as she stifled a yawn and stretched her arms to the ceiling like a satisfied cat. ‘Anyway, last time I saw you, you were dirty dancing with that government bloke working in tick control.’

‘I wasn’t dirty dancing –
and
I left him at the party. I don’t sleep with blokes I don’t know.’

‘Yeah, since when?’ asked Patty with a smirk. ‘What about that truckie—’

‘I was drunk!’

‘My point exactly. I
too
am usually drunk at station parties and I can’t help it if lonely, hunky men succumb to my charms. How can I say no?’

Bella stood and considered Patty. She was worried about her friend. She didn’t want her to become known as the Ainsley Station bike. How could she get Patty to say no? There was really only one way.

‘Let’s have a bet.’

Patty quirked an eyebrow, looking interested. ‘What sort of bet?’

‘No sleeping with anyone until six weeks after you meet them.’

‘Mmm . . . tricky . . . And the stakes?’

‘A slab of rum.’

‘Nup, not good enough. Those stock agents are hot.’ Patty turned and walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Bella could see her through the door, spread-eagled, eyes closed.

Bella sighed. ‘A slab of rum . . . and fifty bucks.’

Patty struggled to a half-sit and smiled.

‘Done.’

It had sounded good at the time. And it was all for Patty’s benefit, but Bella wasn’t going to tell
that
to her best friend’s brother.

‘She won’t know, Bella,’ said Will in a low, inviting voice.

‘Of course she’ll flaming well know! She only has to look at my face and she could tell you the story of my last twenty-four hours.’ Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but it was close to the truth. She and Patty knew each other better than two sisters ever would.

‘All right . . . all right,’ said Will, disappointed that a wild night between the sheets, or swag in this case, had disappeared.

‘Look,’ said Bella, grabbing his arm. ‘A satellite. It’s humping along, east to west.’

‘Don’t talk about humping anymore,’ said Will with a mock grumpy face.

Bella gave the satellite one last look before lifting her upper body to lean on her elbow and rest her head in her hand. Looking down into Will’s face, she put out a tentative finger to trace the strong, square jawline. They’d spent most of the night laughing, flirting, talking. And she’d never had anyone focus on her words, her thoughts and ideas like this man. Most blokes her age were focused on themselves. But not Will O’Hara. His interest in what counted to her was absolute.

His eyes crinkled with laughter. He tried one last time. ‘Don’t you females always reserve the right to change your mind?’

Bella smiled and shook her head.

Will sighed. ‘Well, I reckon I’ll just work on getting you into my swag and leave it at that for now. If I can’t have the cup full, I’ll have to settle for half.’

‘Huh?’

Will’s body shook as laughter rumbled through him. He sat up and downed the remains of the can of Bundy rum sitting at his side. ‘If I can’t bonk you senseless, I’ll just have to cuddle you instead. Want another drink, cowgirl?’

Bella nodded and watched as he jumped to his feet and strode his tightly muscled Wrangler-covered butt towards the bar.

‘Bella!’ Wrenching her eyes from the view of Will’s backside, Bella looked towards the bull-riding ring where the rodeo was in full swing.

Patty’s arms were waving in the air, trying to get her attention.

‘Want to dance?’ Patty yelled from her place at the top of the viewing stands. Bella could see Macca beside her, head bent in a solid conversation with Rodney and his mate Sandy.

‘It’s Sara Storer!’ Patty yelled again, trying to be heard over the loudspeaker calling the bull ride.

All Bella heard was the word ‘Storer’, but it was enough for her to tune into the music coming from the stage.

‘Cry don’t cry

Better things are in store and I just can’t explain it yet

High up high

Oh I see you both dancing through tumbleweeds’

Sara Storer in Gundolin – Bella whooped with joy, punching the air as she jumped to her feet.

‘C’mon, let’s go dance through tumbleweeds!’ she yelled to Patty.

At that moment Will arrived back clutching two cans of Bundy-and-coke. Grabbing one from his hand, she spluttered, ‘Sara Storer. Here. Gundolin. Gotta go dance. You go to Macca,’ and she pushed him in her cousin’s direction.

Patty pulled up beside them and snatched the other rum from Will’s grasp, leaving him empty-handed. ‘Thanks, bro. Didn’t know you cared.’ Grabbing Bella’s hand, she took off at a run, heading towards the music, both girls dancing as they went.

Will heard shrieking, as they spilt the full cans down their shirts. He closed his eyes imagining that black, sticky liquid dripping through Bella’s full cleavage. He could still hear their high whoops of delight as he made his way back to the bar.

Now he
really
needed a rum.

It wasn’t until the sun was reflecting her first yellow-orange glow in the sky that Bella found herself stumbling back towards the stables with Will. Patty and Macca had long since disappeared. As they reached the pair of utes, Bella could see Patty’s swag still sitting up beside her own, whereas Macca’s had disappeared.