30
Camila
“Okay, let’s review: sandwiches arranged by filling, three red apples, the carrots, and the bottle of water with a hint of lemon. Perfect,” I tell myself, rearranging the containers for the fifth time inside the wicker basket on the table in my cabin.
When I’m done, I walk over to the windowsill and rest my elbows on it.
The Australian desert air smells of eucalyptus and the change that heralds the coming storm.
In the distance, a tractor engine breaks the silence with its rhythmic four-wheel-drive clatter.
Ethan and Bert continue digging trenches to bury the copper mesh under the supervision of Kira and the laborers who have joined the effort.
Without a doubt, if the storm doesn’t cause as much damage as I expect, it will be thanks to the effort everyone here has made.
“I missed you guys…” I catch myself saying.
I jump back from the window and smooth out my shirt. My goodness, my heart is racing. Among all the images floating through my mind, there’s one thought that beats with far greater intensity—insidious, fiery, and dangerously tantalizing: Darana Calloway.
The sound of hooves and a snort right outside my cabin makes me smile, and after putting on my hat, I step out onto the porch carrying my saddlebag to see that, sure enough, there she is—the cowgirl of my sins.
Darana is leaning against Byron, holding the reins of another beautiful gray mare. She’s wearing her hat pulled low over her eyebrows, her usual denim shirt, and her blond hair tied into that perfect braid that falls down her back.
“Good morning, Bennet,” she says with that cheeky smile that empties my arsenal of arguments in a matter of seconds. Then she looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “What’s in there? A shipment of tech?”
She points toward the basket.
“Good morning,” I reply, stepping down the porch steps and trying not to let on that I’m devouring her with my eyes. “For your information, I’m bringing some food for a little impromptu picnic. And I see you’ve come with reinforcements.”
I nod toward the gray mare, who looks at me with peaceful eyes.
“I thought this young lady would be gentler on your delicate scientist bones. Besides, she gets along wonderfully with Byron. Hop on—that way we can keep an eye on how the netting is being installed.”
“You know I haven’t lost my riding skills, right?” I say, standing beside her and securing the basket to the saddle. “Let me remind you that I’ve managed to tame your ranch hands and your… temperament.”
Darana bursts out laughing.
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, brainiac.”
As she hands me the leather straps, Darana glances at me out of the corner of her eye and digs her heels in to set off.
We ride at a slow pace toward the edge of the property, letting the horses set the rhythm across the land.
The landscape is like something out of a postcard: cows graze on the plains, oblivious to the magnetic danger; a flock of white cockatoos takes flight from an old eucalyptus tree, raising a tremendous racket; and sheepdogs run alongside us, panting.
For a few minutes, I feel a wonderful sense of peace.
“This is still spectacular,” I murmur, gazing at the endless horizon with a pang of nostalgia.
“Some things have changed in ten years…” Darana replies, turning her head toward me with a look so intense that it makes me blush like a tomato. “But this place still has the same soul.”
“What about the important things? Have they changed?” I ask, teasing her a little.
She stops Byron for a moment, forcing me to slow down as well.
“The important ones are still exactly where we left them. Although sometimes I wonder if we’re idiots for digging them up now.”
“Well, the last—and first—time we dug something up, we ended up soaking wet in your shower, Calloway,” I blurt out with a boldness I don’t even recognize in myself, raising an eyebrow.
Darana snorts, hiding a mischievous smile, and starts moving again.
“You’re such a tease, Bennet.”
“Can you at least tell me where you’re taking me with all this mystery?” I shout, keeping pace with her trot.
“Trust me for a moment. Or is the great scientist afraid of a humble cowgirl’s intentions?”
“Trusting you is my biggest problem,” I confess, and she smiles at me again.
The path grows narrow and rugged, surrounded by dense underbrush that forces us to duck our heads.
The refreshing murmur of water reaches us even before we push through the branches, and when we finally enter the clearing, my jaw drops.
“The Melaleuca Grove.” The stream flows clear and melodious, reflecting silver glints beneath a canopy of evergreen leaves that blocks the suffocating heat of the desert.
I didn’t even remember it being so… beautiful.
“Darana…” I whisper, dismounting carefully so as not to disturb the basket. “This is wonderful.”
“A couple of years ago, I cleared the paths and let nature breathe a little easier,” she says, climbing down from Byron and taking off her hat to brush away the dust. “I needed a place to breathe when work got the better of me. A little corner that was just mine. Well… ours now, I guess, if you behave yourself.”
I look at her, feeling such tenderness that my chest aches. This tough, bossy woman has a heart so big it can barely fit inside her chest.
“It’s perfect. I can’t believe you took the time to do this with all the headaches the ranch gives you.”
We’re drawn to each other magnetically, without planning it, as if the gravity of Birdsong Hills were pulling us toward the same spot.
I’m just millimeters from her face, feeling her warm breath, ready to dive headfirst into her lips when a loud, shrill, and terrifying bray shatters the magic of the moment.
I spin around suddenly, my heart in my throat.
“It can’t be…” I murmur, somewhere between disbelief and utter horror.
Angus is ten feet away from us, wiggling his ears with an expression of utter innocence.
“Did that hairy wrecking ball follow us?” I ask Darana, my eyes wide as saucers.
But Darana is already leaning against a tree trunk, laughing her head off.
“Don’t laugh, Calloway!” I warn her, even though the situation is so ridiculous that I’m starting to laugh too. “That animal is a professional criminal! I’m sure he came here looking for something.”
“Did you really doubt it?” she manages to say between bursts of laughter.
I don’t have time to reply. Angus, with a precision my weather satellites would envy, sticks his snout right into my basket and grabs the bag of carrots with his teeth.
“Hey! Get your dirty hooves off that, you four-legged thief!” I shout, grabbing the basket’s handle tightly and pulling it toward me. “Let go—this is private property!”
As I pull, the donkey plants his hooves in the mud and pulls back with colossal stubbornness.
“Darana, for God’s sake! Do something!” I exclaim, somewhere between laughter and desperation, losing my footing for a few seconds.
“And what do you want me to do, Bennet?” she replies, her arms crossed as she enjoys the spectacle without lifting a finger.
“Do you want me to read him his constitutional rights? Open diplomatic negotiations? You know Angus doesn’t accept bribes unless they’re vegetables.
He must have smelled the food the moment he left the pens,” she adds.
“He’s going to eat the lunch that took me half an hour to prepare!”
Angus jerks his neck sharply, the wicker handle creaks, and the donkey takes three steps back, chewing noisily on my bag of carrots with a dignity that’s downright insulting. I’m left holding the disheveled basket in my hands, staring at the animal in outrage.
“This is absurd,” I growl. “An Australian donkey just stole my lunch right from under my nose.”
Darana can’t take it anymore. She sits down on a rock, covering her face with her hands to stifle her laughter.
“You had to come along and defy the laws of Angus,” she says, catching her breath, her eyes sparkling and that lovely dimple appearing on her cheek. “Two grown women fighting with a donkey over a bunch of vegetables.”
I stand there completely frozen, staring at her. I haven’t seen her laugh like that in ten years. Unburdened, showing a side of herself so beautiful that it melts me inside instantly. And my heart softens all at once.
“All right, you win, you rascal,” I say to Angus with resignation, tossing the empty basket onto the ground. “But just so you know, you won’t be getting a reward when we get home.”
I turn to Darana, crossing my arms and feigning immense anger.
“You’re his accomplice. You planned this whole thing to make me lose against the local wildlife,” I accuse her.
“I confess I saw it coming from the moment we left the pens,” she admits, rising from the rock with slow steps and closing the distance between us. “But I didn’t have the heart to spoil the moment for you.”
Her laughter fades, but the warmth in her gaze intensifies, making the air between us thick and scorching. Darana takes the last step, coming to a stop just millimeters from me, and raises a hand to brush a strand of hair from my face. Her fingers graze my cheek, leaving my skin tingling.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispers. “I think I needed you to save me from turning to stone.”
I swallow hard, feeling as if the whole world is swaying beneath my boots.
“Darana…” I murmur her name, grabbing her wrist so she won’t pull her hand away from my face. “I… I have to admit I was absolutely terrified of coming back and finding out you hated me.”
“I’ve never been able to hate you, know-it-all. Isn’t that clear to you by now?” she whispers, closing the last bit of space between us until I feel the soft touch of her lips against mine.
My hands sink into her blond braid, and she wraps her strong arms around my waist. Darana presses me against her body, drawing a moan from me that’s stifled by her mouth.
The stream keeps flowing beside us, and a few yards away, Angus continues munching on his carrots, oblivious to everything. But I don’t care about the donkey anymore—or anything else. Because I’m kissing her, the woman I’ve always had on my radar, no matter how far off course I strayed.
“I adore you, Darana Calloway.”