An Outback Affair by Iris Leach

Author:Iris Leach [Leach, Iris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781440564390
Publisher: Crimson Romance, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
Published: 2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

After a restless night, Cassie woke feeling leaden and lethargic. She had tossed and turned for hours, finally falling into a drug-like sleep.

She looked around the beautiful room she’d slept in. Any woman would love to live in such a grand house.

Melbourne seemed a long way away. Another world, another time, and another life. A life without Joel.

She crawled out of bed, wrapping a white terrycloth bathrobe around her body.

Cassie moved to the open window and took a whiff of the soft warm air. She stared into the vastness that was Oriole. Over five hundred thousand acres of magnificent outback country stretched before her. Untouched by nature, everything was how it was meant to be. And most of its inhabitants were the cattle that roamed and dined on its rich, green pastures.

She’d studied the map of Australia that lined the large wall of the library. The Kimberley wasn’t too difficult to locate, situated at the far north of Western Australia.

Then a book on the Kimberley caught her attention. When she had returned to her room, she spent ages reading up on the area. From the Pearl Coast of Broome in the west to the historic town of Wyndham in the east, the Kimberley was a vast and exciting wilderness area. It was one of the most remote regions of Australia and was considered one of its last wilderness frontiers.

Shouts of laughter made her look down. Sam was in the garden with Berta. Cassie raised the window higher and leaned out, “Hi, down there. What’s going on?”

Sam waved. “Hi, Aunty C,” he yelled. “Berta got me out of bed and dressed me, and I came down with her to the kitchen, and we had breakfast and I ate it all up. Didn’t I, Berta?”

“You sure did, Sam. You ate every last crumb.”

“Good boy, Sam. What are you doing now?”

Of course Sam would think it so wonderful being on Oriole, and having Berta’s kindness, Joel taking him under his wing, protecting him, guiding him, and his grandmother to love him. She felt a sense of sadness; this was all a little boy could wish for.

“I’m playing with Berta.” He grabbed a ball and tossed it into the air, catching it on its downward journey. “See how good I are? I catched the ball.”

“Very clever, Sam.” She smiled at the housekeeper. “Morning, Berta.”

“Good-morning, Cassie. It’s a wonderful day.”

“Seems too hot already.”

“Hot? Are you kidding? This is mild.”

Cassie laughed. “I’m used to Victoria and its four seasons in a day weather.”

“You’ll love it here — when you get used to the heat, that is.”

“Have you been here long?”

“Born and bred in Derby. I came to Oriole a few years back when my husband died, and my kids had all grown up and travelled away. Joel advertised for a companion for his mother, so I came here to look after the missus while she’s crook.

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