Page 24 of Whispers of Sweetwater

‘Then don’t,’ Gavin said simply. ‘No one’s asking you to date her. But what you can’t do is pretend you don’t feel something when you’re around her. I’ve seen it.’

Hayden didn’t argue. Because Gavin was right. Because he had felt something. Quite a lot, actually. Especially for the short amount of time he’d known her. What was it, two weeks? Maybe a little more, a little less. And every day that passed throughout that fortnight, the feeling only deepened. Even when he spent five days distancing himself, staying away from her, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her, and how she made him feel when he was around her.

‘I can’t explain it,’ he muttered. ‘It’s like … like something I wasn’t looking for showed up anyway. And now it’s here, and I don’t know what the hell to do with it.’

Gavin’s voice softened. ‘Maybe you don’t have to do anything. Other than be honest. With yourself. With her. That’s a start.’

Hayden gave a humourless chuckle. ‘You know, you’re a real pain in the arse, but you’re not wrong.’

‘Don’t sound too shocked,’ Gavin said with a grin. ‘I’m right about one thing a month, and this was it.’

They stood in silence for a while, the wind rustling the nearby gums, a couple of galahs calling out overhead. Hayden turned towards Jacko, who ambled over to the gate and gave a low nicker. The horse had been skittish and defensive when Hayden had first started with him, but now, with consistency and patience, the trust had returned. It was a reminder that the things worth having never came easily. Trust had to be earned. Just like with Brianna. She was a woman he wanted to be friends with. A woman he needed to care for his horses. A woman that deserved to be treated respectfully.

‘I need to make this right,’ he said, more to himself than Gavin.

‘You’re not the same man you were when Casey died,’ Gavin said gently. ‘You loved her, sure. But that chapter of your story ended. And it’s okay to want more pages.’

Hayden didn’t answer, but the words settled inside him like stones dropped into still water.

He glanced towards the house. ‘We nearly lost Diesel. That colic scare? Brianna, she dropped everything to help him. She didn’t hesitate. She saved his life.’

‘Yeah,’ Gavin said with a faint smile. ‘That’s her job, mate, to save animals’ lives.’

‘I know, but with her, you can see she does it because she lives for it, not just because it pays well.’ Dropping his head, Hayden squeezed the bridge of his nose. ‘She’s a good woman, Gav, a great woman, she deserves someone who doesn’t carry a ghost into the room with him.’

Gavin stepped closer and clapped a bolstering hand on Hayden’s shoulder. ‘Then don’t, Pierce. Instead, be the man she sees when she looks at you. Not the one who’s still trying to prove he’s broken.’

Hayden nodded slowly. ‘Much easier said than done, my friend.’

‘Yeah, but, when you’re ready …’ Gavin met his gaze with one of a friend who’d seen him at his worst, ‘it won’t be hard, it will feel like a natural step into your present, and the future.’

Hayden let his best mate’s words reach in, past his armour, then he let each one sink deep inside, way down into his soul, and for the first time in a long time he didn’t feel the past chaining him to the ground. Instead, he felt something else. A gentle pull. Towards something real. Something that just might be worth stepping into the unknown for.

‘Thanks, Gav. I really appreciate you, mate.’

‘Oh heck, don’t go getting all soppy on me, Pierce.’ Gavin smirked. ‘But know this, you’ll owe me lots of beers if you two end up together one day.’

Hayden raised a brow. ‘That’s not happening.’

‘Yeah, righto,’ Gavin said with a grin. ‘Just like you weren’t going to fall for her in the first place.’

Hayden rolled his eyes but couldn’t suppress the slight smile tugging at his lips. ‘Come on. Let’s get this last line of wire done before the rain rolls in.’

As they walked back towards the fencing supplies in the tray of the work ute, the wind picked up slightly, carrying the earthy scent of the paddocks with it. Hayden paused for just a moment, turning his face into the breeze, grounding himself in the feel of the place he called his forever home. Step by step, he needed to let the past go, and live, just like Gavin had said. And he would try.

For himself – but also by himself.

Because he wasn’t ready to love again, not yet.

* * *

Brianna glanced at the address Molly had texted her and double-checked the GPS on her phone. It wasn’t far from the Gum Boot Hotel, nestled behind a dilapidated weatherboard cottage – somewhere she hadn’t expected to make a house call today, let alone one like this.

The message had been vague: Stray cat. In trouble. Think it’s in labour. Can you come? Please bring gear.

Pulling up alongside the pub, she parked beneath a flowering jacaranda and grabbed her kit from the back of the Hilux. Sherlock hopped down beside her, tail wagging with mild curiosity.

Molly met her at the gate of the abandoned house, her expression unusually serious. ‘Thanks for coming so quickly, Bri.’