Not The Marrying Kind

Not The Marrying Kind

Kat Davidson

Published by Kat Davidson at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Chapter One

Tess O'Malley was picking up some groceries when she discovered the news.

Jack was back.

She overheard it in Benson's General Store when Molly Jantz and Elise Fricker were talking next to the canned beans.

'... you could have knocked me over when I saw him!'

'Imagine that! You know, I thought we'd seen the last of that boy. He was a lad born for the bright lights if ever I saw one.'

Molly had given a snort. 'Of course he had to come back. Copper Creek Junction will belong to him when his father passes on and you know the man's been sick as a cat all winter.'

Tess had paused in the act of reaching for the bug spray, the name of Copper Creek catching her attention fast. She experienced the strangest sensation of being both hot and cold and the same time and sucked in a deep breath; 'that boy' could only mean Jack...

'Do you think he's sell up?' Elise had inquired, 'I mean, there's not that much life in the place and I know Donald has found it a struggle this past eight years or so.'

'Oh I expect so.' Molly chuckled maliciously, 'But what's the bet it will be to anyone but the O'Malleys! The day a McCready gives a O'Malley what they want will be a cold day in hell, you mark my words!'

Tess, hidden as she was, had flushed with anger, her fingers tightening around the can. It was all very well for the people of Serenity to make light of a squabble that had been going on for years between her family and the McCreadys but it was the O'Malley's that had been on the receiving end of some of the nastier tricks handed out by their damn neighbors. Serenity's population had found the whole sorry squabble between the two families hugely entertaining for years. They'd all be delighted Jack McCready was back in town because a bit of juicy gossip looked like it was in the offing.

Well she wasn't going to oblige; no way in hell. She’d outgrown all that a long time ago.

She'd stuck the bug spray back on the shelf and had marched out the door, knowing that if she stayed she'd be having a word or two to say to Molly and Elise and she already had a reputation around town of being a little too inclined to speak her mind.

But still, it was all so unfair...

The McCreadys and the O'Malleys hadn't always been at loggerheads. They had settled in Serenity at more or less the same time on adjacent properties and the two families had formed a solid friendship. For twenty years things had prospered for both, until Jake McCready, Jack's grandfather, ran away with Maggie O'Malley, Tess' grandmother. It was a seven-day plus wonder in Serenity as scandals of that magnitude were rare. People talked about it for a long time and they talked about it again when Jake came back. Maggie didn't, unable to face her family or the small town gossip. That might have been what prompted Lucus O'Malley to claim the piece of land that ran down the bottom of both properties. For years it had served as a communal waterway for both families used but Luke had apparently looked at the land titles and had come to the conclusion that the narrow strip belonged to him. Sheer spite of course, Luke O'Malley had just wanted to hit out at the man who had hurt him. Naturally Jake fought back and The Feud, as it was know to one and all, had started.

The matter went through the courts for years. As soon as one decision was made there was an appeal and it began all over again.

Tess had always thought The Feud was kind of silly but she'd listened to tales about the McCreadys for years. Her own father had loathed Donald McCready who had taken over the family property from his father so she had been taught from the cradle that their neighbors were a bad lot without a redeeming characteristic among them.

Tess wasn't the sort to let others make up her mind for her. She'd always liked the look of Kellie McCready, Jack's mother and wouldn't have had any objection to burying the hatchet if the opportunity had presented itself. Not that it ever had.

But Jack himself was a different kettle of fish entirely. While Tess might have been inclined to want to make up her own mind about the McCreadys in general, in her eyes Jack McCready was irredeemable. She considered him glib and fickle and far too full of himself. Everybody in town might think he was a marvel but Tess had her own reasons for disliking the man.

And they had nothing to do with her family's ancient feud...

She was alone on the farm now. Her brother Michael was away in Adelaide finishing his degree in archaeology. Her dad was in a respite care facility down in Edgemont. For years Alzheimers had eaten away at his memory, to the point where the doctor had decided he'd be better off in constant care. It had been a hard decision for she and Michael to make but James O'Malley really did seem happier now. As if a weight had been somehow lifted off his shoulders. She and Mike tried to see him as often as possible but it was a long drive on the weekends and since her brother had gone back to university, a lot more things seemed to have fallen onto her shoulders.

It had been years since Bellowrie had actually been a viable farm. The only thing that she grew there now were the vegetables out back in the small garden she and her brother kept going. She and Michael had discussed starting up again - once Bellowrie had run up to eight hundred head of dairy cattle - but they both knew it was unlikely that either of them would ever get it up and running again. Tess had been lucky enough to secure a job at the local primary school when she'd finished her teaching degree and Mike himself wanted to pursue archaeology. She could have picked up a job in the city but until she and Michael decided what they were going to do with the place it seemed sensible to have somebody there. Michael had done university by correspondence until her training was complete and then she had come home to Serenity so he could go and finish his own degree.

So it was that she was living alone at Bellowrie, about a kilometre out of the township itself. Lots of people in Serenity thought she was crazy, staying out on the farm by herself but Tess kind of like the quiet.

And it was quiet. Quiet and peaceful.

Little did she know just how thoroughly her peace was about to be shattered!

After hearing the news about Jack, Tess found herself unable to settle.

Restlessness drove her from one task to another, as if she were looking for something to distract her.

She'd honestly believed he wouldn't be back - or, if he did return, that it would only be to tie up any loose ends out at Copper Creek. Could that be the reason for this visit? Father and son had never seen eye to eye, but then, that was no surprise. Both men were stubborn as all get out and both had a bit of a temper. There had been one row after another when they'd lived under the same roof. Sometimes, late at night, Tess could hear the arguments reverberate across the space that separated the two farmsteads, carried by the still night air. She had hunkered down in her bed, glad that her own family wasn't always at each other’s throats.

Sometimes she'd felt sorry for Kellie McCready, stuck in the same house with a difficult husband and an impossible son.

And sometimes, she'd secretly admitted to herself in the dark reaches of the night when she could hear the big, booming voice of Donald echo across the intervening space, she'd even felt sorry for Jack himself...

Not that there had been any need to. It would have been hard to imagine a boy better able to take care of himself. In and out of the principal’s office at school, trouble had fulminated around the boy's good-looking head like a dark cloud but he might as well have been coated in teflon because everything slid right off him. Between him and his best mate Tom there wasn't any mischief left unexplored but Jack had grinned nonchalantly through it all, totally confident of his ability to come out on top.

The truth was, that confidence had been well founded because it wasn't Jack who came out of any situation the worse for wear. He always ended up smelling like roses.

No; she'd never thought to see Jack back in Serenity but now rumour had it that he'd returned and her best friend Emily had confirmed it with a phone call the day after she'd overheard the conversation between the two town gossips.

She'd rung Tess mid-morning, sounding breathless. 'You'll never guess what!'

Tess made a face but had played along. She had a very good idea what was coming next, however. 'You've changed your hair colour again? That'd be the third time this month.'

Emily had sounded indignant. 'No! Much more exciting than that.'

'Russ has finally finished the third bedroom?' Russell was Emily's husband, a handyman accountant who was a lot better with figures than a hammer. Every job he did around the house seemed to require an even larger job to fix it.

'Would you stop it? What I've got to tell you is much more earth shattering! Jack McCready is back in town!'

There was an expectant pause. Tess wondered wryly how she was supposed to respond. Gasp in shock? Rant and rave because her archenemy had returned? Instead she opted to deflate her excitable friend as best she could. 'I know,' she replied casually, 'Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?'

There was a small, disappointed pause. 'You've seen him!' Emily exploded accusingly, 'Why on earth didn't you tell me?'

'I haven't seen him. I just heard he was back.' Tess found herself fighting not to ask questions. Such as...

When had Emily seen Jack?

Where had Emily seen Jack?

How did he look?

And... had he been alone?

They were questions that shouldn't even have interested her. After all, Jack McCready meant nothing to her. Less than nothing. He was a complete and utter zero.

Which was why she would not allow herself to give in to curiosity. The only thing she should be hoping for was that Jack concluded whatever business he had in Serenity and high tailed it back to where ever he'd blown in from.

'Well he is back,' Emily sounded decidedly put out. She'd obviously been hoping to be the bearer of some serious news. 'I saw him down at Benson's.' Tess heard her friend exhale, 'D'you know, that man has done the impossible!'

'And that is?' Tess inquired cautiously.

'He's gotten even more gorgeous in the past eight years. Can you believe it? I swear, there wasn't a female around who didn't go weak kneed at the sight of him.'

Tess scowled out the window. Tom Grenfell, Jack’s best friend for years, had grown a paunch with the passing of the years. It might have had something to do with the fact that he was a little to fond of his beer but in her head she had comforted herself with the thought that the passing years would have seen Jack McCready grow bald and fat like Tom. 'Weak kneed' didn't sound like the reaction any woman would have to an aging Romeo who was running to seed.

He'd be thirty-one now, she remembered. A little too easily for comfort.

She'd been eighteen the last time they'd run unto each other.

Tess allowed Emily to talk some more but she'd cut her off rather abruptly after ten minutes or so, unwilling to listen to any more eulogies about how fabulous Jack was. She decided that, for the next couple of weeks, she was going to keep a very low profile in Serenity.

Just until he'd gone away again.

It was a wonderful plan except for one little thing.

At three o'clock that afternoon there was a knock on the front door. Tess was just drying off after a quick shower having worked off some of her frustrations digging in the veggie garden. She frowned and grabbed a robe, wrapping it around herself and pulling her hair out of its damp ponytail. She figured Emily had given in to the urge to gossip some more and had dropped by for coffee, determined to discuss the latest news in greater detail.

Tess sighed, unaccountably depressed. She really didn't want to discuss Jack. It was bad enough that he seemed to be dominating her thoughts since she'd discovered he'd return.

Opening the door, she froze, staring aghast at the figure just outside.

Jack McCready, taking up more space than he had any right to...

Tess felt her heart stop in her chest for one, long moment. Then it started again, racing like a river at the sight of that familiar figure with all his customary easy confidence. He gave her a slow smile, eyes flicking down to the robe a quick appraisal.

Head spinning, Tess stared at him with blank incredulity.

For a moment she wondered if she'd conjured him out of thin air.

But even her imagination couldn't have come up with the man before her.

Jack was six foot, three and would have stood out anywhere, head and shoulders above those around him. He had the kind of look that spoke volumes to a woman; those arms were designed to hold a woman close, to shelter and protect. That chest was just about perfect to lean your head on. Jack McCready radiated solid male. He was certainly beyond the scope of most people to just dream up.

Jack looked much the same as he had eight years before. He was a little leaner, a little more well defined perhaps. But still wickedly good-looking. W-ay too good-looking! Jack's dark hair still flopped onto his forehead, incredibly deep brown eyes - flecked with gold - just as she remembered them. He was smiling the same smile that had got him out of a hell of a lot of hot water in the past.

He raised an eyebrow, dark eyes glinting with amusement at the expression on her face. 'Hello Tess. Seen a ghost?'

At the sound of that lazy, familiar drawl, Tess tried to get a grip. Warning bells had started up and she found herself tensing automatically, as if bracing for impact. She deeply regretted the robe she was wearing - it made her feel at even more of a disadvantage and she clutched the lapels together firmly across her breasts, terribly conscious that there was nothing beneath. 'No such luck!'