Outback Blaze (43 page)

‘Come on, we can't stay in bed all day,' she said, placing Bobby on the mattress beside her and then rolling out of bed. He leapt after her, dancing excitedly at her heels as she went to the wardrobe to pick an outfit for the day. In the bathroom next door, she heard the tell-tale sound of water rushing through the pipes. As much as she adored the idea of joining Drew and saving water, she knew that if she did, their plans for the day would rapidly go down the gurgler. Today was too important for that to happen.

Trying to ignore a playful Bobby and the image of Drew naked in the next room, she selected her favourite sundress. It wasn't exactly suitable for the weather but if Drew, Simone and all the other participants of the Run were prepared to parade around town in their underwear, she could put up with a little cool breeze against her bare legs. Besides, her outfit matched her mood, which had been sunny since Saskia had been arrested in hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Despite her psychiatric condition, it looked as if she'd be punished with imprisonment. This time the Vandrebreks pulling strings couldn't save her. Ruby's heart still ached over Riley, but although she would always miss him, she refused to let their good times together be tarnished by what Saskia Vanderbrek had done. She'd throw all the love she would have given to Riley into loving Drew, Roxie and Bobby instead. Smiling into the mirror, she chose a flower from her basket of hair things and put it on the dresser to go with her dress.

Drew wolf-whistled as he emerged from the bathroom, a white towel wrapped his waist and another he was using to tousle his wet hair. Bobby launched his clumsy body at his master and Drew dropped the towel on top of him. While Bobby amused himself tackling the towel, Drew set his gaze on Ruby and wriggled his eyebrows. ‘Looking hot, my girl.'

Grinning, she held her hands up and backed away as he dropped the other towel and started towards her. As much as it pained her to resist him, she had a lot to do today. So did Drew. ‘Control yourself,' she told him, laughing as she leapt over the puppy and fled out of the room and into the shower.

Fifteen minutes later they sat down for a quick breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs, while Bobby ate his breakfast on the back veranda. Ruby made use of the time to admire the man sitting opposite.
Her man
. Dressed in his uniform blues – he'd be on duty throughout the day aside from the actual run – he looked every bit her fantasy and she would never again question a woman who professed she went weak at the knees over men in uniform. She understood the fascination wholeheartedly.

Of course, Ruby felt equally as hot under the collar and full in her heart whether he was dressed in casual jeans and a T-shirt or nothing much at all.

‘Are you okay?' Drew stopped eating and eyed her worriedly.

She smiled and nodded. ‘More than okay. Just running through everything I need to do today.' No need for him to know she'd been metaphorically drooling; she didn't want him getting complacent.

‘You'll do great.' He stood, picked up his empty plate, mug and crockery and crossed to the kitchen sink, pausing to drop a kiss on her head. ‘I'm so glad to see this flower again,' he said, giving it a tweak.

‘Hey, don't mess with my hair.' She lifted her hand to bat him away just as the phone started to ring. It didn't seem odd at all when he reached across and hooked the cordless off the kitchen wall.

‘Hello, Jones residence,' he said with a grin. ‘Sure, I'll just get her.' He covered the phone. ‘It's your mum. Enjoy the chat and I'll see you at the Festival. Will you be okay settling Bobby?'

When she nodded, he kissed her briefly before handing over the phone and then heading out. Even though she'd told her parents all about her whirlwind romance with Drew, Ruby still blushed at the fact they'd know he'd been staying the night. ‘Hi Mum, how are you?'

‘Ooh, he sounds so lovely.' Lyn replied, her voice radiating excitement as she completely ignored Ruby's question. ‘But are you sure you're not going to run away to England with him?'

Ruby rolled her eyes at the irony. Her parents had absconded from her life with an unsatisfying letter and yet they thought they had the right to be upset if she
did
decide to go. ‘Not for the time being, Mum. Who knows what the future holds. We're taking one day at a time, but for now Drew has resigned from his job in England. He's arranged to stay on in Bunyip Bay, but my guess is he'll want a bit more action before too long.'

Her mum sighed. ‘Oh well, he's a vast improvement on the last boyfriend so I suppose we can't expect him to be entirely perfect.'

Ruby bristled. She wished everyone could just forget about her unfortunate experience with Jonas and the Vanderbreks. Then again, she supposed her parents had some right to be a little dark as they'd been there for her while she was recovering and had been personally affected by Saskia's crazy actions. Still, she wanted to change the subject. ‘Are you on your way home now?'

‘Yes, we left Broome yesterday and stayed in Port Hedland overnight. We're aiming for Carnarvon today but it'll all depend on how I'm feeling after a few hours in the car.'

‘It's a pity you're going to miss the Bunyip Festival.' Especially since all those gossips had been made to eat their rash judgments when Saskia had been arrested.

As she'd hoped, her mum and dad had heard about the arrest on the evening news and called Ruby immediately. They'd been filled with outrage and sympathy over Riley's death. Apologies had been rife about leaving her to face such mess and although she tried not to be too angry, she still couldn't understand how they could have deserted her like that. Only her love for Drew – and the knowledge she'd run away with him too if that looked like the best option – brought her a little closer to understanding. But she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the arsonist had never been caught? Would they have stayed on the run forever? Would the odd postcard from Aunty Sybil have been the only contact she had from them? The thought didn't bear thinking about.

She realised her mum was chatting about memories from past festivals and tried to zone back in on the conversation. The excitement started to build within her about what lay ahead. The craft and food stalls, the displays of art from the local primary school, the town's musicians acting as buskers along the main street to provide the kind of atmosphere you usually only found in Northbridge on a weekend. And of course the Undies Run in the afternoon, followed by the famous Bunyip Parade and then fireworks over the bay.

‘Look Mum, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. We've got to set up the markers around town for the run and I want to check out the stalls before we're swamped with out-of-towners.'

‘Okay, well, I'll call you again tomorrow,' Lyn promised. ‘Oh, and can you pick me up a jar of Mrs O'Neil's lemon butter from the CWA stall? No one makes it like she does.'

Ruby bit down on the retort that if her mum hadn't absconded she could buy the damn lemon butter herself. It was going to take a while to get over this resentment, but she'd do her best because she didn't want to waste the years her mum had left being angry and bitter. ‘Sure, I'll pick up a couple of jars.'

Half an hour later, with Bobby safely tucked up in the laundry for the day, she gathered in the main street with her Undies Run volunteers. While distributing the orange vests to the place markers, Ruby found herself glancing about for a Drew sighting. Ridiculous considering a couple of hours ago their limbs had been entwined together in bed. Maybe one day her feelings would wane, but right now, she couldn't get enough of him.

‘Okay, that's it.' Ruby smiled. ‘Thanks for all your help with this, enjoy the day and don't forget to be in your places by one p.m.'

As the volunteers drifted off to explore the stalls, Ruby saw Faith and Monty, hand-in-hand, coming towards her. Monty dropped Faith's hand and enveloped Ruby in a big hug even before she could get out a hello.

‘So good to see you, Ruby. Thank God that psycho is behind bars.'

‘Yes, thank God.' She shivered involuntarily and Faith must have noticed because she made a point of changing the subject. ‘Since you haven't been in town for the last few festivals, Monty and I have decided it is our duty to show you around, direct you to the best places to get a feed and tell you which buskers to stay clear of.'

Monty chuckled. ‘The CWA stall is a must and Jaxon Bird and Brad McDonald playing their electric guitars is best avoided.'

‘Thanks for the advice. I've already promised Mum a jar of lemon butter from the CWA and I think the high school girls will ensure Jaxon and Brad aren't neglected.'

After hitting the roof about Alyssa's shenanigans with the town ‘thugs', her mother had had a long talk with her father and insisted they stop being so strict with their daughter. She believed if they gave her reasonable boundaries but let her keep seeing Brad, then she was less likely to go behind their backs and do something stupid. It appeared to be working and secretly Ruby thought the teenage romances sweet. The fright of almost being framed for the arson had kicked some sense into the young boys, but Drew was still keeping an eye on them.

‘True,' Monty nodded and then held out an arm each to Faith and Ruby. Happy that their brief relationship (if you could call it that) hadn't prevented friendship, Ruby linked her arm with his and walked with her friends down the street. They stopped and fawned over handmade jewellery, cutesy signs (‘I drink coffee for your protection'; ‘I have a kitchen because it came with the house'), cacti in fancy painted pots and tiny baby clothes none of them had any use for.
Yet
. Ruby couldn't help but notice the looks Faith and Monty exchanged over a pair of miniscule hand-knitted booties. And she couldn't help thinking of Drew.

She thought of the way he'd been with Jaxon and Brad and Simone's daughter, Grace, and smiled. He'd make such a great dad and she couldn't think of another person on this planet she'd rather make babies with.

As if thinking about him had brought him to her, Drew appeared. He brushed his lips against her cheek, placed his hand on the small of her back and raised his eyebrows at Faith and Monty. ‘Is there something you two aren't telling us?'

Monty dropped the booties like they were one of the more spiky varieties of cacti. Drew and Ruby laughed.

‘Not yet.' But the look Faith gave her boyfriend told them it wouldn't be long.

The four of them sauntered down the street. Faith and Monty kept a few feet in front, giving Ruby time to enjoy Drew.

‘What did you think of those baby booties?' he asked, surprising her.

She frowned, wondering if it were a trick question or something. ‘They were cute but I prefer the more modern baby shoes.'

He nodded at her answer and smiled a little smugly. That was all that was said on the subject but something unsaid was established between them. There was a lot to face in the months ahead – Drew had the trial in England that he needed to take leave for, Ruby would have to face Saskia and the Vanderbreks' lawyers in court and her parents still had the whole insurance business with the shop to tie up. Now was not the time to contemplate having a family but Ruby felt secure in the knowledge one day that time would come.

In the meantime they would make do with Bobby.

As no one in town appeared to feel the need to cause any trouble, Drew managed to spend the entire morning with Ruby. She soldiered through a number of apologies from town members who had been cruel the last few weeks and apologies from mums who begged her to take their daughters back to horse-riding lessons. Of course she would, she told them, and then silently added it was for their children, not them. They enjoyed a simple but delicious lunch of sausage sizzles in the splendid company of Faith, Monty, Simone, Frankie, Ryan and Grant. Poor Ryan was still on the receiving end of a few cold stares and harsh words but, like her, he'd pull through and come out stronger on the other side.

Finally the time came for the much anticipated Undies Run. Ruby took her place at the starting line as the festival goers and stall holders came forward to line the sides of the street. Children waved homemade banners and cameras flashed in every direction. Seeing half the town lined up in their underwear had to be one of the funniest things Ruby had ever borne witness to.

True to her word, Simone wore thermal underwear from her wrists to her ankles. Harriet and Grace looked on in typical teenage horror. Monty wore Superman boxers and a Chesty Bonds singlet. Ryan and Grant had decided that if they were already causing a stir, why not add a little spice to the pot so they stood at the starting line in matching black leather g-strings and dark sunglasses. Mrs Brady could be heard tsking from a distance away but Mrs O'Neil busily snapped photos for the Bunyip Bay paper and the other participants were laughing so hard they would find it difficult to run. It was all for a very good cause.

And then there was Drew. He wore simple black cotton boxers and although muscles bulged in all the right places, his skin looked remarkably pale alongside all the Aussies. He glanced over at her and winked and her heart turned over in her chest. If she had to go through all those horrors again in order to meet Drew, she would do it.

Someone thrust a microphone in front of her face signalling it was time to start the race. Gripping the black cordless mike, she stepped up to the podium, leaned forward and said, ‘On your marks, get set, run!'

After the sprinting he'd done earlier in the week chasing after Saskia, Drew's leg muscles still ached. Naturally competitive by nature he had to concede, when Ryan, Grant and Monty sped past him, that this was one race he might not win. It didn't matter. He was doing this for charity to improve the local hospital facilities and because Ruby had needed participants. That last reason pretty much summed it up.