“I have to be careful.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll swing something. I’m not missing an opportunity to get my hands on you again. My bed has felt very lonely since I left Auckland. Sexting, emails and phone calls are a poor substitute.”
“Okay.” Susan closed her eyes and, for about the hundredth time, wished she knew what Nolan was up to. “I miss you too.”
Nolan sat at the dinner table, impatience simmering in his gut. He checked his watch. An hour before the show aired.Ring, damn it.
Almost at his silent demand, the phone rang.
“I’ll get it,” he said, springing to his feet.
His mother sniffed with disapproval. “I don’t know who rings at this time of night. We haven’t finished eating. You tell them we’re in the middle of dinner and to ring back in an hour.”
Nolan ignored his mother and strode to the kitchen to answer the phone. He wished the timing had been better and his grandparents weren’t off cruising the world. They would have helped rein in their daughter and acted as a buffer. Yeah, too bad. He missed chatting with them every day. He’d have to make do with the materials at hand.
“Hey, man, it’s me,” his friend Scott said. “How was my timing?”
Nolan grinned. “Perfect. I’ll head out now. Are you already at the pub?”
“Not yet. I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Scott said.
Nolan hung up and returned to the dinner table. He didn’t sit down again. “I’m going to the pub to meet Scott.”
His mother’s gaze narrowed while his father continued eating his beef casserole.
“Aren’t you going to tell us about the show?” his mother demanded, impatience a red tide of color in her lined cheeks. She set her knife and fork on her plate in a soldier-straight line.
“No. I’ve signed a contract stating I won’t divulge the results before each show is aired.”
“But we’re your parents.” The same shade of brown eyes he saw in the mirror each day glared at him.
“I didn’t want to do this show,” Nolan reminded her. “I’m an adult and I don’t have to take your advice.” The blunt speech was long due. His mother had gone behind his back and submitted his name for the reality show because she disapproved of the woman he was seeing. Simple as that.
“You work on the farm your father and I own,” she retorted.
“Don’t make threats,” his father said in a harsh voice. “You’ve already run off one of my sons. I won’t stand for you alienating Nolan too. This farm will belong to him one day.”
Hell, when had it come to this? His parents lived in the same house and barely spoke a civil word. Nolan wasn’t sure of the reasons for their hostility, but the ongoing battle had raged as long as he could remember.
God, one look at his parents’ marriage was enough to keep a sane man single. He didn’t know why his parents remained locked in their loveless union when they were both so unhappy.
“Thanks for dinner,” Nolan said into the strained silence. “Dad, I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’ll get the ewes in first thing, so we can draft them for the sale.”
“I’ll be there.” His father stood. “I’m going into town for a few hours.”
His mother’s mouth firmed to a hard line, and Nolan decided to retreat before the war flared into violence. Both he and his mother knew exactly where his father was going—to spend a few hours with his friends at the pub. Thank god he lived in a farm hand’s cottage as a haven from the ongoing battle.
Half an hour later, Nolan walked into the pub.The Fox and Houndswas busy for a Thursday night, the feminine shrieks and hilarity coming from the function room indicating a hen’s night was in progress.
Scott sat at the end of the bar and hailed him with a wave. “Want a beer?”
Nolan nodded. “Is anyone using the pool table?”
“There’s a tournament.” Scott slid him a sly glance. “Guess you’ll have to shoot the shit with me instead.”
Nolan rolled his eyes. “God, not you too.”
Scott signaled for the barmaid and placed his order. “Give me a hint. Did you pick the sexy dancer?”
