My voice rang out across the compound, but no one answered and that wasn’t right.
We had a plan.
She would stay safe. The animals would stay safe. Charlie and Scotty would protect the farm and I’d… With a shake of my head, I made for the house, hoping, praying that’s where Mackenzie was.
Blank walls and an empty room greeted me when I barged into her bedroom. Not even Bruce, the damn huntsman spider, was there to greet me. Scouring every room including my own didn’t help me either.
“Charlie?” I said down the radio when I pressed down the button. “Scotty?”
“Here, boss,” came the Scotsman crackly reply.
“Have you seen Mackenzie anywhere?”
“Nope. Just headed over to the hay shed to check the new bales. Want me to go and look for her?”
“Nah, I’ve got this,” I replied, trying my damnedest to keep the concern out of my voice.
Except I didn’t. As I walked outside and stared at the familiar sights of the farm, I had no bloody idea where my girl was, and that was a problem.
Hours later, I stepped out of the shower and then threw on some clothes. Barely noticed the sandwich maker sizzling, because I’d spent the last few hours stewing. I’d rung Mackenzie, and Charlie, and when they didn’t answer, I started calling around places in town, hoping someone had caught sight of the two of them.
The vet’s had.
They reported that the girls had brought in some injured wildlife to the triage centre that was set up in the town hall. Been out in the forest, walking between burnt out trees, unaware that a ground fire could start all over again with the barest of provocation. I pulled the toasties out of the machine and tossed them onto the chopping board, then sliced them in half with more vehemence than needed. Then I heard the door open.
Striding out into the dining room was a relief of sorts, but only momentarily. The boys stopped chatting for a second, going silent when they saw my expression. Standing there, taking in every sooty mark, the state of their boots, something rushed up inside me, ready to burn me to cinders. It tried to push me forward, into Mackenzie’s arms, but that temper ofmine got in the way. Glaring at the two of them, my hands went to my hips.
“Where the hell have you two been?” I snapped.
Chapter 25
Mackenzie
“Where the hell…?” I shook my head, unable to reconcile the surly expression Troy was wearing now with the much softer, sweeter man of before. “We took some injured animals to the vet.”
“That wasn’t the plan,” he growled as he stalked closer.
“No?” My hands went to my hips as my back straightened. “It wasn’t. Needed doing anyway.”
“I’m having a shower,” Charlie said with a shake of her head. “Troy, if you’re smart you’ll do the same down at the bunkhouse.”
“Had a shower already,” he snapped.
“Doesn’t mean you don’t need to cool off.” She held his gaze for a second, then shook her head when Troy continued to scowl. “Or, y’know, just continue being the same grumpy fuck you always are.”
He didn’t answer, his focus swinging back to me, and that was just fine.
“I told you to keep out of the forest until the fire service gave the all clear,” he said in a terse tone. “That just because the flames are out, it doesn’t mean the danger is over.”
“I know.” Shit, my voice was wavering, and I didn’t like that one bit. “And I had no intention of going outside, but Nugget?—”
“The bloody wombat?” Troy jerked back as if I’d slapped him.
“He got out, and he’s Charlie’s favourite, so I went after him.” God, it felt like I was deflating by the second. “He popped the door open and took off, so I followed in the car. Didn’t find the wombat, but there was a koala?—”
“What is with you women and the bloody animals?” His fingers raked through his damp hair as he stared at the ceiling. “Nugget and his kind have spent thousands of years adapting to living in the bush and you…” There was something real, too real in his eyes and that had me aching. “You could’ve been hurt.”
“I wasn’t.”
