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CHAPTER TEN
DAISY STARED OUT the windshield at Corella Creek. It didn’t look much different to two days ago, when she’d been crazy enough to try to cross it in her little Corolla. She’d been lucky Dale had come along when he had, otherwise… It didn’t bear thinking about. Recalling her car, she swiveled her head to look for it.
“Where’s my car?” Surely, they’d left it up on the little rise beside the road on the left. But it wasn’t there. Had someone stolen it?
“Lefty already came and towed it away. I rang him yesterday. Sorry, I forgot to tell you.”
She stiffened in her seat.
“He’s good, he’s repaired quite a few water-damaged vehicles in his time. If he can’t fix it, no one can,” Dale prattled on from the driver’s seat, seemingly unaware of her sudden discomfort.
How could he have done that without asking her?
“As long as he doesn’t discover any major damage, it should only take a day or two.” He glanced over at her expectantly, and she had to quickly rearrange her face into a smile.
“Oh… Thank you.” She bit her lip to keep the rest of her words in. Damn, how was she going to afford that? She had barely enough money to keep them fed, let alone pay for towing and repairs. She was a poor uni student, who could scarcely make ends meet. And she’d used most of her meager savings on this escape trip to Queensland. Her mother had given her some money to help, but not nearly enough to pay for repairs to a car.
For some stupid reason, Daisy had been hoping against hope that she might hop in her car and drive on home. And all that stuff Dale had said about car engines not doing well after being dunked in a muddy creek was all a lie.
But it’d been a false hope, and she was faced with the reality of no car and no way out of here. At least, not in the near future.
Dale had been so good to her already, rescuing her out of a flooded creek, letting her stay at the resort, organizing for her car to be fixed, driving her home. He’d even handed her a satellite phone as they hopped in his car this morning, saying it was a spare one that she could have on loan until she sorted out proper communication. It was lying in her lap, glaring at her. She couldn’t very well say anything now.
The car would have to stay at the repairers until she could come up with the money. She’d have to take a chance and contact her mother again, perhaps she’d loan them some more. Because she needed that car back as soon as possible.
Daisy was determined to get herself and River out of here. They couldn’t stay in the area, not knowing she was on the police’s radar. Not now the cops would be swarming all over, looking for a potential murderer. They needed to leave today. Tomorrow at the latest.
It was lucky she’d grabbed the motorcycle part for River, otherwise it might be on its way to town inside her Corolla. He’d still be able to repair the motorcycle. Maybe if it came to it, they could both hop on the motorcycle and flee that way.
Dale had been peering out of the windshield for the past few moments, studying the rushing water in front of the truck’s bumper. “Hold on tight, I’m going through,” he blurted.
Was it really safe? Obviously, he thought so. Daisy grabbed the bar above her head and braced her feet hard against the floor of the cab. The vehicle surged forward; the water rising quickly up the doors until it formed a bow wave in the front, so they resembled a boat more than a land-bound vehicle. She held her breath. Water trickled in through the door sill.
Then they were through the creek, driving up the other side, tiny waterfalls cascading from the undercarriage.
“Easy,” Dale said, but Daisy caught the sigh of relief he tried to hide. He’d been worried about it, as well.
They drove in silence for a few miles, Daisy taking in the scenery, and at the same time screwing up her courage for what was to come. Dale was about to find out she hadn’t told him the whole truth about more than a few things. She’d been tossing up getting him to take her up to the community and then seeing if she could get a lift to the outstation from someone there. But that could potentially take hours or even days, and she wanted to check on River as soon as possible. She regretted not telling Dale where she lived, she’d come to feel she could trust him, especially after that hot kiss last night. But there was no turning back time, she’d have to live with her choices.
Dale had his window down, leaning his elbow on the sill and driving with one hand. His hat was tipped backward on his head; it suited him, made him look like a cowboy straight out of a western movie. A bit dark and mysterious. He looked happy and relaxed, much as he had yesterday morning when they were fishing, before they got the terrible news about Karri. He flashed her a smile that lit up his dimples for a second, and her heart did a double take. Sheesh, he was good-looking.
Daisy knew a moment of regret. What might’ve happened between her and Dale if circumstances had been different? She was desperately attracted to him. Even just sitting in the same truck cab as him had all her senses tingling. She wanted to reach out and lay her hand provocatively on his muscular thigh, the one she could see bulging nicely beneath his jeans. Run her fingers up to the waistband, lift his shirt and find the naked skin so she could dig her fingernails in again, like she had last night. Watch him react the same way.
He was attracted to her, too. There was no doubt about that.
Could they have made something work? If things had been different?
“The turnoff is coming up soon,” Daisy said quietly.
“What?” Dale slowed the truck. “I thought you said you were staying up with Bryan?”
She’d never told him that, but she had let him make the assumption, and she suddenly felt guilty. But when it came to protecting River—and herself—she couldn’t allow remorse to make her weak. So instead of apologizing, she said, “No, we’re actually staying at the old outstation. Do you know it? It was the temporary residence in the back paddock, for the manager while they built the current homestead.”
“Yeah, I know of it. Haven’t been up there in years, though. If I remember rightly, the place is pretty run-down.”
He’d hit the nail on the head. The place had been allowed to fall into disrepair, but that was fine by her. She and River just needed a place to shelter and hide out for a while. It didn’t have to be a five-star hotel, as long as it was safe.
She gave a nonchalant shrug. “It’s does us fine. It was only meant to be temporary accommodation. We’ve nearly finished our work here, anyway.”
