Best Laid Plans: A Friends to Lovers Outback Romance (Heads or Hearts), page 1
Best Laid Plans
Barbara Hannay
Copyright © 2024 Barbara Hannay
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved.
This book or any part of it may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without my express written permission except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Originally published by Harlequin Mills and Boon in 2009 as The Bridesmaid’s Baby, this novel may not be re-sold, copied or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting my rights and my work.
PROLOGUE
A PARTY was in full swing at Tambaroora.
The homestead was ablaze with lights and brightly coloured Chinese lanterns glowed in the gardens. Laughter and the happy voices of young people joined the loud music that spilled out across the dark paddocks where sheep quietly grazed.
Will Carruthers was going away, setting off to travel the world, and his family and friends were sending him out in style.
‘Have you seen Lucy?’ Mattie Carey asked him as he topped up her wine glass.
‘I’m sure I have,’ Will replied, letting his gaze drift around the room, seeking Lucy’s bright blonde hair. ‘She was here a minute ago.’
Mattie frowned. ‘I’ve been looking for her everywhere.’
‘I’ll keep an eye out,’ Will said with a shrug. ‘If I see her, I’ll let her know you’re looking for her.’ He moved on to top up other guests’ glasses.
But by the time he’d completed a circuit of the big living room and the brightly lit front and side verandas, Will still hadn’t seen Lucy McKenty and he felt a vague stirring of unease. Surely she wouldn’t leave the party without saying goodbye. She was, in many ways, his best friend.
He went to the front steps and looked out across the garden, saw a couple, suspiciously like his sister Gina and Tom Roberts, pashing beneath a jacaranda, but there was still no sign of Lucy.
She wasn’t in the kitchen either. Will stood in the middle of the room, scratching his head and staring morosely at the stacks of empty bottles and demolished food platters. Where was she?
His brother Josh came in to grab another bottle of champers from the fridge.
‘Seen Lucy?’ Will asked.
Josh merely shook his head and hurried away to his latest female conquest.
A movement outside on the back veranda caught Will’s attention. It was dark out there and he went to the kitchen doorway to scan the veranda’s length, saw a slim figure in a pale dress, leaning against a veranda post, staring out into the dark night.
‘Lucy?’
She jumped at the sound of his voice.
‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere,’ he said, surprised by the relief flowing through him. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I had a headache.’ She spoke in a small, shaky voice. ‘So I came outside for a bit of quiet and fresh air.’
‘Has it helped?’
‘Yes, thanks. I feel much better.’
Will moved beside her and rested his arms on the railing, looking out, as she was, across the dark, limitless stretch of the sheep paddocks.
For the past four years the two of them had been away at Sydney University, two friends from the tiny country town of Willowbank, adrift in a sea of thousands of strangers. Their friendship had deepened during the ups and downs of student life, but now those years were behind them.
Lucy had come home to start work as a country vet, while Will, who’d studied geology, was heading as far away as possible, hurrying overseas, hungry for adventure and new experiences.
‘You’re not going to miss this place, are you?’ she said.
Will laughed. ‘I doubt it.’ His brother Josh would be here to help their father run Tambaroora. It was the life Josh, as the eldest son, was born to, what he wanted. For Will, escape had never beckoned more sweetly, had never seemed more reasonable. ‘I wish you were coming too.’
Lucy made a soft groaning sound. ‘Don’t start that again, Will.’
‘Sorry.’ He knew this was a sore point. ‘I just can’t understand why you don’t want to escape, too.’
‘And play gooseberry to you and Cara? How much fun would that be?’
The little catch in Lucy’s voice alarmed Will.
‘But we’re sure to meet up with other travellers, and you’d make lots of friends. Just like you always have.’
Lucy had arrived in Willowbank during their last year at high school and she’d quickly fitted into Will’s close circle, but because they’d shared a mutual interest in science, she and Will had become particularly good friends. Really good mates.
He looked at her now, standing on the veranda in the moonlight, beautiful in an elfin, tomboyish way, with sparkly blue eyes and short blonde hair and soft pale skin. A strange lump burned in his throat.
Lucy lifted her face to him and he saw a tear tremble on the end of her lashes and run down her cheek.
‘Hey, Goose.’ He used her nickname and forced a shaky laugh. ‘Don’t tell me you’re going to miss me.’
‘Of course I won’t miss you,’ she cried, whirling away, so he couldn’t see her face.
Shocked, Will reached out to her. She was wearing a strapless dress and his hands closed over her bare shoulders. Her skin was silky beneath his hands and as he drew her back against him, she was small and soft in his arms. She smelled clean like rain. He dipped his head and her hair held the fragrance of flowers.
Without warning he began to tremble with the force of unexpected emotion.
‘Lucy,’ he whispered, but as he turned her around to face him, anything else that he might have said was choked off by the sight of her tears.
His heart behaved very strangely as he traced the tears’ wet tracks with his fingertips. He felt the heated softness of her skin and when he reached the dainty curve of her tear-dampened lips, he knew that he had to kiss her.
He couldn’t resist gathering her close and tasting the delicate saltiness of her tears and the sweetness of her skin and finally, the softness of her mouth. Oh, God.
With the urgency of a wild bee discovering the world’s most tempting honey, Will pulled her closer and took the kiss deeper.
Lucy wound her arms around his neck and he could feel her breasts pressed against his chest. His body caught fire.
How could this be happening?
Where on earth had Lucy learned to kiss? Like this?
She was so sweet and wild and passionate – turning him on like nothing he’d ever known.
Was this really Lucy McKenty in his arms? His heart was bursting inside his chest.
‘Lucy?’
Mattie’s voice called suddenly.
‘Is that you out there, Lucy?’
Light flooded them.
Will and Lucy sprang apart and Mattie stared at them, shocked.
They stared at each other, equally shocked.
‘I’m sorry,’ Mattie said, turning bright red.
‘No, it’s okay,’ they both protested in unison.
‘We were just –’ Will began.
‘Saying goodbye,’ Lucy finished and then she laughed. It was a rather wild, strange little laugh, but it did the trick.
Everyone relaxed. Mattie stopped blushing. ‘Josh thought you might like to make a speech soon,’ she told him.
‘A speech?’ Will sounded as dazed as he felt.
‘A farewell speech.’
‘Oh, yeah. I guess I’d better say something now before everyone gets too pissed.’
They went back inside and with the speed of a dream that fades upon waking, the moment on the veranda evaporated.
The spell was broken.
Everyone gathered around Will, and as he looked out at the sea of faces and prepared to speak, he thought guiltily of Cara, his girlfriend, waiting for him to join her in Sydney. Then he glanced at Lucy and saw no sign of tears. She was smiling and looking like her happy, old self and he told himself everything was okay.
Already he was sure he’d imagined the special magic in that kiss.
CHAPTER ONE
THERE WERE DAYS when Lucy McKenty knew she was in the wrong job. A woman in her thirties with a loudly ticking biological clock should not devote huge chunks of her time to delivering gorgeous babies.
Admittedly, the babies Lucy delivered usually had four legs and a tail, but that didn’t stop them from being impossibly cute, and it certainly didn’t stop her from longing for a baby. Just one baby of her own to hold and to love.
The longing swept through her now as she knelt in the straw beside the calf she’d just delivered. The birthing had been difficult, needing ropes and a great deal of Lucy’s perspiration, but now, as she shifted the newborn closer to his exhausted mother’s head, she felt an all too familiar wrench on her heartstrings.
The cow opened her eyes and began to lick her calf, slowly, methodically, and Lucy smiled as the newborn nuzzled closer. She never tired of this miracle.
Within minutes, the little calf was wobbling to his feet, butting at his mother’s side, already urging her to join him in a game.
Nothing could beat the joy of new life.
&n
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
Swallowing a sigh, Lucy stood slowly and stretched muscles that had been strained as she hauled the calf into the world. She glanced through the barn doorway and saw that the shadows had lengthened across the golden grass of the home paddock.
‘What’s the time?’ she asked Frank Evans, the farmer who’d called her in a panic several hours earlier.
Instead of checking his wrist, Frank turned slowly and squinted at the mellowing daylight outside. ‘Just gone five, I reckon.’
‘Already?’ Lucy hurried to the corner of the barn where she’d left her things, including her watch. She checked it. Frank was dead right. ‘I’m supposed to be at a wedding rehearsal by half past five.’
Frank’s eyes widened with surprise. ‘Don’t tell me you’re getting married, Lucy?’
‘Me? Heavens no.’ Peeling off sterile gloves, she manufactured a gaiety she didn’t feel. ‘Mattie Carey’s the lucky girl getting married. I’m just a bridesmaid.’
Again, she added silently.
The farmer didn’t try to hide his relief. ‘I’m glad you haven’t been snapped up. The Willow Creek district can’t afford to have you whisked away from us.’
‘Well, there's not much chance.’
‘Most folks around here reckon you’re the best vet we’ve ever had.’
‘Thanks, Frank.’ Lucy sent him a grateful smile, but as she went through to the adjoining room to clean up, her smile wavered and then collapsed.
She really, really loved her job, and she’d worked hard for many years before the local farmers finally placed their trust in a mere “slip of a girl”. Now she’d finally earned their loyalty and admiration and she knew she should be satisfied, but lately this job hadn’t felt like enough.
She certainly didn’t want to be married to it!
For Will Carruthers, coming home to Willowbank always felt to like stepping back in time. In all the years he’d been away, the sleepy country town had barely changed.
The wide main street was still filled with the same old fashioned flowerbeds. The bank, the council chambers, the post office and the barbershop all looked exactly as they had when Will first left home.
Today, as he climbed out of his father’s battered old truck, the familiar landmarks took on a dreamlike quality. But when he pushed open the gate that led to the white wooden church, where tomorrow his best mate would marry one of his oldest friends, he couldn’t help thinking that this sense of time standing still was a mere illusion.
The buildings and the landscape might have stayed the same, but the people who lived here had changed. Oh, yeah. Every person who mattered in Will’s life had changed a great deal.
And here was the funny thing. Will had left sleepy old Willowbank, eager to shake its dust from his heels and to make his mark on the world. He’d traversed the globe more times than he cared to count, but now, in so many ways, he felt like the guy who’d been left behind.
From inside the church the wailing cries of a baby sounded, a clear signal of the changes that had taken place. Will’s sister Gina appeared at the church door, jiggling a howling, ginger-headed infant on her hip.
When she saw her brother, her face broke into a huge grin.
‘Will, I’m so glad you made it. Gosh, it’s lovely to see you.’ Reaching out, she beckoned him closer, gave him a one armed hug. ‘Heavens, big brother, have I shrunk or have you grown even taller?’
‘Maybe the weight of motherhood is wearing you down.’ Will stooped to kiss her, then smiled as he studied her face. ‘I take that back, Gina. I don’t think you’ve ever looked happier.’
‘I know,’ she beamed. ‘It’s amazing, isn’t it? I seem to have discovered my inner Earth Mother.’
He grinned and patted her baby’s chubby arm. ‘This must be Jasper. He’s certainly a chip off the old block.’ The baby was a dead ringer for his father, Tom, right down to his red hair. ‘G’day, little guy.’
Jasper stopped crying and stared at Will with big blue eyes, shiny with tears.
‘Gosh, that shut him up.’ Gina grinned and winked. ‘You must have the knack, Will. I knew you’d be perfect uncle material.’
Will chuckled to cover an abrupt slug of emotion that had caught him by surprise. Gina’s baby was incredibly cute. His skin was soft and perfectly smooth, his eyes bright and clear. There were dimples on his chubby hands and, crikey, dimples on his knees. And even though he was only four months old, he was unmistakably sturdy and masculine.
‘What a great little guy,’ he said, his voice rough around the edges.
Gina was watching him shrewdly. ‘Ever thought of having a little boy of your own, Will?’
He covered his sigh with a lopsided grin. ‘We both know I’ve been too much of a gypsy.’
Reluctant to meet his sister’s searching gaze, Will studied a stained glass window, found himself remembering a church in Canada, where, only days ago, he’d attended the funeral of a work colleague.
He could still see the earnest face of his friend’s ten year old son, could see the pride in the boy’s eyes as he’d bravely faced the congregation and told them how much he’d loved his dad.
Hell, if he let himself think about that father and son relationship now, he’d be a mess in no time.
Hunting for a distraction, Will slid a curious glance towards the chattering group at the front of the church. ‘I hope I’m not late. The rehearsal hasn’t started, has it?’
‘No, don’t fret. Hey, everyone!’ Gina raised her voice. ‘Will’s here.’
The chatter stopped. Heads turned and faces broke into smiles. A distinct lump formed in Will’s throat.
How good it was to see them all again. Tom, Gina’s stolid, farmer husband, was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he held baby Mia, Jasper’s twin sister.
Mattie, the bride to be, looked incredibly happy as she stood with her bridegroom’s arm about her shoulders.
Mattie was marrying Jake Devlin and Will still couldn’t get over the changes in Jake. The two men had worked together on a mine site in Mongolia and they’d quickly become great mates, but Will could have sworn that Jake was not the marrying kind.
No one had been more stunned when Jake, chief breaker of feminine hearts, had fallen like a ton of bricks for Mattie Carey.
One look at Jake’s face now, however, and Will couldn’t doubt the truth of it. Crikey, his mate had never looked so relaxed and happy – at peace with himself and eager to take on the world.
As for Mattie… Will had known her all his life… but now she looked… well, there was only one word…
Mattie looked transformed.
Radiant and beautiful only went part way to describing her.
He couldn’t detect any sign that she’d recently given birth to twins – to Gina and Tom’s babies, in fact, in a wonderful surrogacy arrangement that had brought untold blessings to everyone involved. Mattie was not only slim once again, but she’d acquired a new confidence that blazed in her eyes, in her glowing smile, in the way she moved.
All this, Will noticed as everyone gathered around him, offering kisses, handshakes and backslaps.
‘So glad you could make it,’ Jake said, pumping his hand.
‘Try to keep me away, mate. I’d pay good money to see you take the plunge tomorrow.’
‘We’re just waiting for the minister and his wife,’ Mattie said. ‘And for Lucy.’
Lucy.
It was ages since Will had seen Lucy, and he’d never been happy about the way they’d drifted apart, although it had seemed necessary at the time. ‘Is Lucy coming to the wedding rehearsal?’
‘Of course,’ Mattie said. ‘Didn’t you know? Lucy’s a bridesmaid.’
‘I thought Gina was the bridesmaid.’
Gina laughed. ‘You haven’t been paying attention, Will. Technically, I’m the matron of honour, because I’m an old married woman. Lucy’s the bridesmaid, you’re the best man and Tom’s stepping in as a groomsman, because Jake’s cousin can’t get away.’
