The Runaway Girl: An Australian Outback Romance by Lucy Walker

Author:Lucy Walker [Walker, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town and rural, outback romance, clean romance, clean and wholesome, australian romance, autstralian rural romance, australian author, australian rural novels
Publisher: Wyndham Books (Small Town & Rural Romance)
Published: 2021-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Jenny did not go to the motel dining-room for dinner that night. She wasn’t hungry, though she knew she should eat something. Today was the last of civilization and its amenities. Tomorrow would start the doing-it-the-hard-way part of the trip. She rang for room-service and asked for some cold beef and salad. That was as much as she could manage.

She made herself coffee with the help of the hot-water jug and a packet of coffee left in the cupboard below the work bench.

If Geoff, Nicole and Drew were dining together, she knew now that Geoff would carry a flag for her. He wouldn’t let her down even if Nicole took this opportunity to tell Drew of the ‘goings-on’ in Jenny’s motel unit. Two on their backs on a double bed!

Jenny began to laugh at the very thought of it. It was a memory she would treasure all her life.

The next morning came the early start. Jenny was up at first dawn. That meant four-thirty. By five she had had her shower, a quick snack breakfast ‒ again with the help of the hot water jug, a bread roll and a tea bag.

She had packed her carry-all and had barely pulled on her desert-boots when a sharp knock came at the door. She hoped it was Geoff and not Nicole.

It was neither. There, standing in the doorway, his stetson clapped down over his brow, his long, slim-trousered legs slightly apart, stood Drew. As it wasn’t light Jenny couldn’t see whether he smiled or not. She thought not, but the light from her room caught a pale reflection in his eyes. This gave them a steely, unsmiling look.

‘Oh … good morning …’ Jenny faltered quickly. ‘Will you come in?’

‘No, thank you. We haven’t time. Are you ready?’

‘Down to the last bobby pin.’

‘Good.’ He ignored her attempt at humour. ‘Better put your hat on now, Jenny. That way you won’t forget it. You’ll need that hat by mid-day. Which reminds me ‒’

He rocked back on his heels ever so slightly. ‘If we part company in the bush even for a hundred yards you don’t move without your hat on your head and your water bag over your shoulder. Have I told you that before?’

‘Yes. But I knew that rule.’

Drew was in a thoughtful silence. Jenny felt uncomfortable. What was on his mind now? They were standing in a doorway, facing one another. She waited while he marshalled together whatever it was he was about to say. He didn’t say it. Instead, he half-turned away, then remarked over his shoulder, ‘I can’t bring the Land Cruiser in through the motel entrance. It’s outside. I’ll give you five minutes. Right?’

Jenny’s heart did a skip and a jump. So she was going with him?

‘Four and a half minutes,’ she said and turned back into the room. She took one last peek in the looking-glass as she pulled on the cotton hat. She inspected her safari rig-out, including her desert-boots. All was well. Then she picked up her carry-all.

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