Outback Blaze (9 page)

‘How do you take your coffee?' Ruby was looking at him, a slight frown on her face as if she'd noticed him staring.

‘Sorry, in a world of my own,' he said with a shake of his head. ‘Black, two sugars, please.'

‘You haven't managed to get any rest either, have you?' she asked as she stirred the coffee into the just boiled water.

‘I doubt there're many people in this town who have.'

‘Thank God for all of them though,' she sighed as she brought the two mugs to the table – she'd left the now cold takeaway coffee on the bench – and sat across from him. Despite the look of worry etched into her face she was beautiful. Naturally. ‘I get so emotional when I think about how many people helped last night. All those guys who risked their lives unpaid, but don't worry, I promise I won't cry again.'

He laughed and nodded. ‘Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Where I come from, no one would do anything for nothing. I'm guessing the percentage of volunteers is very low whereas here it feels like every member of the community does their bit.'

She picked up her mug but didn't drink. ‘Where are you from, Drew?'

‘Newcastle.' Thanks to his strong accent he didn't need to clarify England.

‘Wow. You're a long way from home.' The direction of this conversation should make him feel uneasy, but it was hard to feel that way around Ruby.

He shrugged. ‘I needed to get away for a while. What about you? I hear you haven't been back in Bunyip Bay for long either?'

This time she took a long sip before answering. ‘Just over six months. Although my parents bought the shop and moved here about ten years ago I never really lived here until this year. I'm ashamed to say I barely came home to visit.'

That surprised him. She appeared such a doting daughter. ‘Too busy?'

She looked down at the still untouched cake on her plate. ‘Yes.'

That one word seemed to say so much and he fought the urge to ask her to explain. For some bizarre reason he wanted to know more about Ruby Jones and it had nothing to do with the fire.

‘Go on, have some cake,' he pointed towards her plate and smiled. ‘You know you want to.'

She picked up the small fork she'd laid next to her plate and used it to point towards his. ‘Happy birthday to you too, Drew. Thanks for bringing this. It's been the bright spot in an otherwise shocking twenty-four hours.' And then she forked off a chunk of vanilla and cream sponge and lifted it to her mouth.

He watched as her lips parted and she delicately placed the fork between them.

‘Hmm, delicious.' Her eyes rolled back and she moaned her approval. Did she have any idea how attractive such a sight was? He shifted in his seat because suddenly his trousers seemed two sizes too small.

‘Try it,' she urged, already taking another forkful.

He snatched up his fork, looking down at his plate so as not to have to watch Ruby take another bite, digging into the creamy concoction and shoving a large chunk into his mouth. The cake all but melted on his tongue. ‘Geez, you're right. Frankie can cook.'

She nodded, her cake all but gone. He wondered how she'd managed to eat it so fast, yet so delicately. Of course, her appetite now satisfied, she pushed the plate and cup off to the side of the table, folded her hands in front of her and said, ‘What made you decide to come to Australia?'

The look on Drew's face made Ruby think that maybe she shouldn't have pried, but he'd asked her about her past and her family. Not that she'd told him much, but this was nothing more than making polite conversation. It didn't matter that she also found him damn near the sexiest man on the planet; her questions and interest were purely for conversation's sake. She was under no illusions that a man like Drew Noble – sexy, capable and confident – would ever look twice at a woman like her.

He took his time eating his last mouthful of cake, making her wonder if he was thinking over his answer, working out how much to tell her. Despite feeling as if they were both holding back a little, conversing with him was easy. Even with her hormones on high alert, simply
being
with him was easy.

Placing his fork on his plate he finally met her gaze. ‘I guess you'd say I was jaded in the job and in my life. Like you, I recently ended a relationship and I wanted a change.'

‘So you just transferred?'

He nodded. ‘Pretty much. There's a program that recruits British police officers for Australia. It sounded exactly like what I needed.'

‘But don't you miss your family? All those brothers and sisters?' She couldn't imagine moving
that
far away from her parents.

The muscles in his neck tightened visibly. ‘Yes, I do. But I lost them long before I decided to move.'

‘Oh?' She sat on the edge of her seat, desperately curious to hear his story.

‘A little while back I was involved in an investigation that ended pretty badly,' he paused and Ruby saw him swallow. ‘One of my cousins was involved in a drug ring and I was the arresting officer. He got in a fight in prison and died. My family couldn't accept that I was merely doing the job I'd signed up to do. They pretty much disowned me.'

He spoke like this was just one of those things, but she didn't need glasses to see the hurt lingering in the corners of his tough-guy eyes. Her heart went out to him and she fought the urge to reach out and hold his hand. She couldn't imagine her parents or her extended family of cousins, aunts and uncles turning against her like that. It wasn't like
he'd
killed his cousin.

He chuckled. ‘Don't look so put out. Grief does crazy things to people.'

She nodded. ‘I guess. Do you think about them much? Have you tried to mend the rift?'

‘I tried at first.' He ran a hand through his messy black curls. ‘But they made it pretty clear they wanted nothing to do with me. My mam said if I quit the force maybe the rest of the family would come round, but when I refused, she sided with them.'

‘So your job is more important than family?' The moment the question was out, she realised it sounded like an accusation and wished she could take it back, but he simply nodded.

‘The reasons I became a cop haven't changed. It's part of who I am. My family are the ones that couldn't accept that.' He shrugged. ‘The last thing you need to hear is my family woes when you're in the middle of a crisis yourself.'

She wanted to ask him why he'd become a cop but she'd already prised a fair bit of information out of him and his redirection of the conversation back to her indicated he'd said enough about himself. ‘Don't remind me,' she groaned and pitched her fork into the piece of cake he hadn't finished. Talking about Drew had been a nice reprieve from the fire. The fork was halfway to her mouth when she paused. ‘You really don't think Jaxon and Brad did it, do you?'

‘No, but O'Leary's pretty damn certain they did. Early indicators show the fire was started in a similar manner to that which they used to torch the cars. And the only alibis they have are each other.'

‘Sheesh.' Her heartstrings tugged again as she thought of the boys' hardworking parents. ‘But if it's not them, then who? I don't suppose there's any chance the investigators will discover the fire started by accident?' That would be so much better than the idea they had an arsonist on the loose in Bunyip Bay.

Drew raised his dark bushy eyebrows. ‘I'm afraid I doubt that.'

The heavy feeling in her heart grew stronger. ‘I just can't imagine why anyone would want to do that to my parents.' Lowering her voice, just in case her mum was awake, she said, ‘I think the investigators might even think they had something to do with it.'

Of course the idea was totally preposterous. From an early age they'd instilled good values in her and always been upstanding pillars of their community, but she was interested to know what Drew's take on this was.

‘That's normal,' he told her, glancing at his watch. ‘They wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't examine all possible angles. O'Leary believes the motive for the fire is vandalism – two teenage boys with too much time and little sense, but the investigators will be looking at all the other potential motives.'

‘Such as?'

‘Sometimes fires are used to conceal another crime – burglary, for instance. Once it's revealed if anything was stolen this angle may come to the forefront. Other reasons are for personal profit.'

Ruby gulped, hating the insinuation even though it was preposterous. ‘You mean arson for insurance fraud?'

He nodded, rubbing his thumb along his chin.

She ignored the thought of that thumb on
her
face and spoke forcefully. ‘I can tell you right now that's not the case here.' She felt her body temperature rising; no doubt a combo of anger and Drew. ‘If you don't think those boys aren't responsible then there's something bigger going on.'

‘Any ideas what that could be?'

‘No.' Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Jonas's face came into her mind again but she still couldn't believe he could be that vindictive and she didn't want to talk to Drew about her ex.

‘Hey,' he reached across the table and patted her hand. She stilled at his warm touch and met his gaze. ‘Don't worry about it now. Nothing ever makes sense on a lack of sleep but I promise you those guys from Perth know what they're doing. No one will get done for this crime unless they deserve it.'

She knew the determination in his voice was as much for Jaxon and Brad as it was for her parents.

‘You've become quite close to them, haven't you?' she said, trying to ignore the sparks shooting up her arm.

‘Who?' He furrowed his brow and withdrew his hand. It was all she could do not to reach out and snatch it back.

‘The boys you've been watching do community service.' It was a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business and that included the fact that Drew seemed to have taken the juvenile delinquents under his wing.

He scoffed. ‘A good police officer doesn't get close to anyone, but that doesn't mean I want them to go down for something they didn't do. They're just kids. Besides, they're better company than Mike and O'Leary.'

His confession made her smile. She didn't really know Mike but rumour had it he was about as interesting as an empty packet of cereal. ‘I can relate to that. Some days I feel like the only people I talk to are Mum, Dad and harried farmers coming in to buy stuff. Oh, and horse-mad girls, but I miss Faith.'

Her friend had recently moved far south to be with her boyfriend Monty – someone Ruby herself had unsuccessfully dated – on his new farm and while she was happy for them, sometimes she got real lonely.

‘You were good friends with her?'

‘Yes and no. We didn't know each other that long and we had our fair share of disagreements in that time, but once we sorted them out, we kinda clicked.' She sighed. ‘I hope to make more friends up here, but it takes time making connections in a small town where everybody already knows everyone or is related to them.'

‘Ain't that the truth.' He grimaced. ‘It's hard to keep track of whose cousin is married to whose niece.'

‘I wouldn't even bother,' she said with a laugh.

‘You're right, the fact I'm even trying is probably testament to how bored I am.'

‘Well, the fire might cure some of that. The investigators will involve all of you, won't they?'

He shrugged. ‘While we're talking, what exactly is a bunyip? I've been scouring the bay every morning on my run, looking for large odd shapes, but…nothing.'

She couldn't help but laugh at a vision of him running along the beach at dawn, peering over his shoulder in case a bunyip jumped out. ‘I have no idea. I think we read a book about them in school once. They're mythical creatures from Aboriginal culture, if I remember correctly. Apparently they lurk in waterholes – I think they're supposed to be evil.'

He shuddered theatrically. ‘Maybe I'm glad I haven't seen one then. Wonder why they named the town after it?'

‘No idea.' She tucked her hair behind her ears, wondering why in all her years being connected to the town that she'd never asked this simple question. ‘Although I have a friend who comes from Goomalling and apparently their town slogan is “home of the possums”, yet no one who lives there has ever seen one in the whole region.'

He shook his head, smiling. ‘Must be some weird Australian custom.'

‘Hey!' She almost lifted her hand and punched him playfully on the arm, but caught herself at the last moment. Why did she feel so at ease in his company? Hanging with him almost made her forget what had happened last night.

‘I really must get going,' he said, pushing back the chair and standing. ‘Thanks for sharing the cake. I'm sorry your birthday was so shit.'

‘It's not your fault.' She stood, wishing he didn't have to leave. ‘You brought me cake and made me laugh. Thank you.'

‘Don't mention it.' He was already heading towards the front door. Following him down the hallway gave her the perfect opportunity to appreciate his lovely butt. She licked her lips and her mouth suddenly felt dry. A few months back she'd tried dating again – Monty was gorgeous by all accounts but looking at him, being near him, didn't make her knees knock and her insides flutter the way they were doing now.

How inappropriate to be thinking such torrid thoughts after the night they'd just been through. And how bizarre.

With his hand on the door handle, Drew paused and turned back. Ruby averted her gaze from his cute behind in the nick of time. ‘Look after yourself, okay? If you have any questions about what's going on, I'm here.'

A lump formed in her throat at his kind words. ‘Thank you.'