The Cattleman's Ready-Made Family. Michelle Douglas

ourselves and we are going to make that work. This is now our home and we’re going to make it a good home. Furthermore, you are not going to say anything in front of the children that might upset or alarm them—you hear me?’

      His mouth opened and closed. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

      He leaned towards her and he smelled like fresh-cut grass, and it smelled so fresh and young that she wanted to bury her face against his neck and just breathe it in. She shook herself. It’d been a long trip. Very long. ‘Then smile!’ she snapped.

      To her utter astonishment, he laughed, and the grim lines that hooded his eyes and weighed down the corners of his mouth all lightened, and his eyes sparkled, the same deep green as clover.

      Her breath caught. The man wasn’t just big and broad and a great help to his mum—he was beautiful!

      The blood started to thump in a painful pulse about her body. Four months ago she’d have flirted with Cam in an attempt to lighten him up. Three months ago she’d have barely noticed him. It was amazing the changes a single month could bring. One day. In fact, lives could change in a single moment.

      And they did.

      And they had.

      She swallowed. The particular moment that had turned her life on its head might not have been her fault, but if she’d been paying attention she might’ve been able to avert it. That knowledge would plague her to her grave.

      And men, beautiful and otherwise, were completely off the agenda.

      She snapped away from him. He frowned. ‘Tess, I’m not going to ask you to leave. I swear. This house is all yours for the next three years, and beyond if you want it.’

      She bit her lip, glanced back at him. ‘Really?’

      ‘Really.’

      ‘Still—’ she stuck out a hip ‘—you’re less than enthused about it.’

      He hesitated and then shrugged. ‘My mother has, in effect, foisted you lot on to me.’

      She glanced at the house and then back at him. ‘Isn’t the house hers?’

      ‘Not precisely.’ He exhaled loudly. ‘My father made certain provisions for my mother in his will. She has the use of this house along with an attached parcel of land for as long as she lives. When she passes the rights all revert back to the owner of Kurrajong Station.’

      ‘You?’

      ‘Me.’

      She pursed her lips. He met her gaze steadily. She wanted to get a handle on this enigmatic neighbour of hers. Was he friend or foe? ‘Don’t you want to help save Bellaroo Creek?’

      ‘Sure I do.’

      ‘As long as you’re not asked to sacrifice too much in the effort, right?’

      ‘As long as I’m not asked to give up a significant portion of my potential income in the process,’ he countered.

      ‘How will our being here impact negatively on your income?’ Her understanding was that the Save-Our-Town scheme only offered unused farmhouses in exchange for ludicrously cheap rents. If their farmhouse was unused he couldn’t possibly be losing money. In fact, he’d be fifty-two dollars a year richer.

      Her lips suddenly twitched. Cameron Manning didn’t strike her as the kind of man who’d stress too much over fifty-two dollars. Not that she needed to stress over money either. It hadn’t been the cheap rent but the promise of a fresh start that had lured her out here.

      He drew in a breath and then pointed behind her. She turned. ‘Forty hectares,’ he said. ‘Forty hectares I had plans for. Forty hectares my mother had promised to lease to me.’

      She slapped a hand to her forehead. ‘They were allotted to me in my tenancy agreement? That’s the mix-up you’re talking about.’

      ‘Yep.’

      ‘And you want them back?’

      ‘Bingo.’

      She laughed in her sudden rush of relief. ‘Oh, honey, they’re all yours.’ What on earth did she want with forty hectares of wide, open space? She had a house and a backyard and a whole ocean of possibilities enough to satisfy her.

      She clapped her hands. ‘Hey, troops, who’s for sultana cake?’

      CHAPTER TWO

      IT TOOK TESS until her second bite of sultana cake to realise she hadn’t allayed her sexy neighbour’s concerns.

      She stiffened. Umm…not sexy. Taciturn and selfcontained, perhaps, and, um…She dragged her gaze from shoulders so broad they made her think of Greek gods and swimsuits and the Mediterranean.

      Sleep, rest, peace, that was what she needed. The last month had been a crazy whirlwind and she quite literally hadn’t stopped. The two months prior had been a blur of pain and grief.

      She flinched at the memory and brushed a hand across her eyes. Bellaroo Creek would bring her the rest and the sleep she craved, but peace? She wasn’t sure anything on earth could bring her that.

      And she wasn’t sure she deserved it.

      Cameron hitched an eyebrow. ‘A penny for them.’

      She stiffened again. Nu-huh. But the exhaustion made her silly—an after-effect of the nonsense she’d used all day to keep the children entertained and in good spirits. ‘Are you sure you can afford a penny when I’m only paying you a dollar a week in rent?’

      His green eyes gleamed for a tantalizing moment. It made him look younger. She dragged her gaze away and rose. ‘I’ll just check on the kids. The promise of cake should’ve had them sprinting inside.’

      On cue, the pair came racing through the front door. ‘We found a lizard,’ Ty announced, breathless with excitement.

      ‘Will it bite us?’ Krissie asked, wide-eyed.

      She directed the question at Cam. He’d obviously become the source of trusted information. Tess’s chest cramped as she stared at them—took in their simple wonder.

      ‘That’ll be Old Nelson, the blue-tongue,’ Cam said, leaning back in his chair, one long, lean leg stretched out in front of him.

      Krissie’s eyes widened even further. ‘He has a name?’

      ‘Wow, awesome!’ Ty breathed. ‘Will he bite?’

      ‘Only if you poke him or try to pick him up.’

      ‘Can we take our cake outside, Auntie Tess?’

      With a laugh, Tess assented. She watched as they left the room and her chest burned. If only Sarah could see them now. If only—

      ‘You okay?’

      She jumped, swung back patting her chest. ‘Tired,’ she said. She sat and forced a smile. She’d become good at that over the last couple of months—smiling when she didn’t feel like it—but she could see it didn’t fool Cam. She shrugged. ‘They’ve been through so much, but for this moment they’re happy and…and that’s no small thing.’

      He stared towards the front of the house and then glanced back at her. ‘They’re great kids, Tess.’

      She nodded. ‘They really are.’ And they deserved so much more than life had dished out to them. Focusing on the negatives wouldn’t help anyone, though—least of all Ty and Krissie. She sipped tea. Cam had made a pot while she’d sliced the cake. It was the best tea she’d ever tasted.

      She lifted her cup. ‘This is seriously good.’

      ‘My mother was the president of the Country Women’s Association for a hundred years. Believe me, she made sure her sons knew how to brew a proper pot of tea.’

      She made a mental note