[Harlequin] - Jessica Hart - Wedding at Waverly Creek (txt), Ksiazki, txt
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Dummy1.htmCHAPTER ONEELLIE parked the ute in the shade of the gum tree and got out. She wasstiff after the long drive, and she paused for a moment with her hand onthe door, her eyes on the homestead before her.Bushman's Creek. Jack's home.It was over three years since she had seen him, but his image shimmeredin the heat as clearly as if he stood before her as he had then, vibrantwith reckless energy, smiling that smile that made the breath clog in herthroat, brown eyes alight with laughter.Ellie sighed. She had tried so hard to forget Jack. She had remindedherself a million times that Jack was simply an old friend, someone whothought of her?if he thought of her at all?as no more than the kid sisterhe had never had.She had tortured herself by remembering every one of his girlfriends, allof whom had been pretty and lively and about as different from her asthey could possibly be. She had even stayed away for three long years inthe hope that his memory would fade, but none of it had done any good.All she had wanted was to see him again.And now she was back.She had thought it would be safe enough. Jack, her mother had saidvaguely, was away. No risk of running into him and getting sucked backinto that cycle of hopeless longing. Ellie remembered the confidence withwhich she had set off that morning, and smiled wryly to herself. Sheshould have known better. Jack might not be here, but the memory of himlurked wherever she looked, almost as disturbing and exciting as Jackhimself.Making a determined effort to push his image aside, Ellie banged the doorshut with unnecessary force and headed across the dusty yard to thehomestead. She wasn't here because of Jack. She was here to find outexactly what her wayward elder sister was doing, and why she was stayingwith Jack's brother, Gray.'Ellie!' Far from seeming guilty or defensive, as Ellie had halfexpected, Lizzy was delighted to see her. 'I can't tell you how much I'vebeen longing for someone to gossip with,' she confided when theexcitement of their first meeting for three years was over and they weresitting at the worn kitchen table. 'It's been so boring with no one totalk to all day.'At least that gave Ellie the opening she needed. 'Lizzy, what are youdoing here?' she asked. 'Mum told me you'd broken off your engagement andmoved in with Gray...what on earth's going on?''Oh, trust Mum to get the wrong end of the stick!' Lizzy rolled her eyes.'I have broken off my engagement, but of course I haven't moved in withGray! We decided we weren't suited a long time ago. No, I'm just holdingthe fort until Clare gets back.''Clare? Who's Clare?''Gray's wife. Didn't Mum tell you about the wedding?'Ellie shook her head in confusion. 'Do you think you could start again atthe beginning?''It's perfectly simple.' Lizzy poured boiling water into the teapot andturned to set it on the table. 'Gray married an English girl called Clarea couple of months ago. I wish you could have been here, Ellie. It was alovely wedding.'She sighed nostalgically as she pulled out a chair and sat down. "They'rein England at the moment, having a long-overdue honeymoon. I was at aloose end anyway, and it suited me to get away from Perth for a while andhelp out here,' she explained as she poured the tea into two mugs. 'ButI'll be hot-footing it home as soon as they get back, so you can tell Mumto stop worrying!'Ellie took the mug her sister held out automatically. 'Gray's not here?'she said, as if she had only just realised what Lizzy had said. 'Do youmean you're here on your own?''Oh, no,' said Lizzy casually. 'Jack's here.'Ellie's heart jerked painfully, the way it always did whenever Jack'sname was mentioned, and she put the mug down with a hand that was notquite steady.'Jack?' she said, horribly conscious of the tight, high note in hervoice. What was it about the mere thought of Jack that made it hard tobreathe normally? She cleared her throat. 'I thought Mum said that he wasaway.''He was. He travelled around the States and South America for a while,but he came home about a month ago. I'm surprised Mum hasn't heard.'Ellie didn't reply. Green eyes oddly unfocused, she was gazing out of thewindow. Beyond the verandah, the great ghost gums hung over the creek,their branches outlined in crystalline detail against the blue glare ofthe outback sky, but Ellie didn't see them. Jack's face shimmered infront of her eyes, and all at once she was intensely conscious of thewooden chair beneath her thighs, of the colour of the mug and the smellof the tea and the beat of her own heart.Jack. The world was more vivid just knowing that he was near.'How...how is he?' she asked, trying desperately to sound casual.'Well...' Lizzy hesitated, and at the sound of steps outside anexpression that was almost relief flitted across her face. 'You can seefor yourself,' she said. "This'll be Jack now.'There was a clatter as the screen door leading out to the verandah bangedshut, and without quite realising what she was doing Ellie rose to herfeet, clutching the back of her chair for support as she faced the door.Jack was brushing the dust off his hat as he came into the kitchen.'Lizzy, have you?' He broke off as he realised that Lizzy wasn't alone,and looked enquiringly.Every time Ellie prayed that the magic would be broken, and every time itwas the same. All Jack had to do was walk into the room and the airevaporated from her lungs, leaving her breathless and giddy and intenselyconscious of the blood singing along her veins.Every time she prayed that he would be less attractive than she hadremembered, but he never was. He was always exactly the same. The samelong, lean body, the same dark blond hair, the same brown eyes starredwith laughter lines. The same puzzled look as he searched his memory forwhy she looked vaguely familiar.He hadn't carried her image in his heart since they had last met, Elliethought sadly. She was used to not being remembered. It wasn't that shewas plain. She was just unremarkable, just ordinary. Ordinary brown hair,ordinary eyes, a quiet, ordinary face.'Hello, Jack.'Her fingers dug into the back of the chair, she forced herself to soundcasual. It was always like this, pretending to be politely pleased to bemeeting an old friend, terrified that someone would guess how she felt.Sometimes Ellie marvelled that no one ever had. Couldn't they all seewhat he did to her just by standing there? Couldn't they hear her heartthudding against her ribs?Jack's face cleared in belated recognition. 'Ellie!' he said, smiling ashe gave her a brotherly hug. 'I didn't recognise you there for a moment.You've grown up!'She had grown up a long time ago, but Jack hadn't noticed. He wouldalways be vaguely surprised to discover that she wasn't still runningaround in dungarees with her hair in bunches, Ellie thought with an edgeof bitterness. She would only ever be Lizzy's little sister, too young toplay, too young to dance, too young to kiss.'It's good to see you again,' he went on with a final squeeze of hershoulders. 'I haven't seen you for ages.''Three and a half years,' said Ellie, then cursed herself for sounding asif she had been keeping count. 'About,' she added lamely. Her knees feltweak from his touch, and she sank back down onto her chair.Jack laid his hat on the table, and it seemed to Ellie that a faintshadow crossed his face. 'What have you been doing with yourself all thattime?' he asked.Loving you. Trying to forget you. 'Oh, you know... working, travelling,that kind of thing.'She watched him covertly as he pulled out a chair and sat down opposite,and saw with something of a shock that he wasn't quite the same afterall. For the first tune since she had known him, he looked tired. Thevibrant, restless energy had gone. There was a strained look now in theeyes that had used to glint with daredevil charm, and the long, curlingmouth had hardened into a bleak line.A cold feeling settled in the pit of Ellie's stomach as she looked athim. What's happened? she wanted to cry, but Jack was forcing a smile,asking her where she had been travelling.'In the States, mostly,' she said, still distracted by the change inJack's expression. 'I was a nanny for a bit, and then I got a job on aranch in Wyoming. I loved it there.''I don't know why you didn't just stay at home,' commented Lizzy, eyeingher younger sister with resigned affection. 'I can't believe that youspent three years in the States and didn't go to New York once!''I don't like cities.' Ellie wondered why she always felt so defensiveabout it. 'I'm not like you, Lizzy. I'm a country girl.''There's nothing wrong with that,' said Jack, smiling slightly as helooked from one sister to the other.It was hard to believe that they were related. Lizzy was blond and bubblywith bright blue eyes and an indefinable air of style, overshadowing, asalways, her quiet sister. Both girls wore jeans, but there theresemblance ended. Lizzy's jeans were beautifully cut, and she wore withthem a fine white shirt more suitable to shopping or a casual alfrescolunch than an outback cattle station.Ellie, on the other hand, looked ready to help out down at the cattleyards. Her jeans were serviceable, the blue shirt worn with use, and thehair waving softly around her face had been cut to demand as littleattention as possible.Aware of how dull she always appeared compared...
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