Page 29 of Rough Stock

‘Oh, so you’re here on official business, then,’ Lydia said.

Craig shrugged.

‘Craig wants to help Ginny find her bull.’ Izzy didn’t care if Craig was going to get annoyed at her for speaking out like this, but he needed to do something productive with his future. Plus, there was the bonus of hanging out with Finn at the police station, Craig would be safe there, especially in his delicate condition.

‘Good. I’m glad you don’t hold any malice towards Ginny and her family, not after that bull gave you the cowboy cuddle like that. Did you get my flowers I sent to the hospital?’

Izzy dropped her head in shame, the heat pricking at her cheeks.The flowers. Again.

‘Yes, thank you, Lydia. They were lovely,’ replied Craig.

Not that Craig would know which bunch they were, but the hospital staff were going to share them with the other residents, because yes, Izzy was jealous enough to refuse to take those many bunches of flowers home. Although she was kicking herself for not taking Ginny’s and Lydia’s, now that she’d met them. But as for that Christine, with her Hallmark card of how-to—

Again, Craig squeezed her leg, dragging her back to the conversation.

What did she miss?

‘I was just asking Lydia the last time she saw Wraith before he went missing?’

‘Well, only at the rodeo. Like everyone else, I guess.’

Craig looked at Izzy. The pause stretched out.

Again, he squeezed her leg.

Oh, poor guy, he’d never done this before and was looking at her for cues.

‘Did anyone new or unexpected come through the stockyards recently?’ Blurting out the usual questions that she’d learned from her job. Should she write him a list? Or should Craig be accompanying Finn, who’d normally ask these questions? ‘Maybe someone who doesn’t normally handle the bulls? Or beef or…’ She shrugged, pulling a face at Craig.

Thankfully, Craig knew her well enough to finish her sentence. ‘You know, any unusual activity in the stockyard? People who wouldn’t normally be here?’

‘Besides me.’ Because this was a whole new world to her.

Lydia gave such a soft motherly smile. ‘Don’t you worry, luv, it may seem daunting at first, but it’s not. They’re all good people around here. And the stockmen are proper gentlemen. Won’t be long and you’ll be part of the furniture like the rest of us.’

Doubt it.Izzy had a way of making a fool of herself with her oddities. And in a town this small, it wouldn’t take the locals long to start treating her like the plague. Back when they’d lived for their weekends at Dustfire, she had no need to go into Elsie Creek and hadn’t met any of the locals except for Bree and Charlie.

Again, Craig rubbed her leg. It was soothing, while successfully snapping her out of her self-pitying inner monologue. She never knew how he did that—but it was always his gift to her.

Pity she wrecked it by losing the poor guy. For what? A job that almost got her killed.

‘So, no one new?’ Craig’s thumb traced slow circles on Izzy’s thigh. Even though she wanted to push it off, it helped her focus on the conversation.

But his touch also stirred up some deep-seated heat that softly skated just beneath the surface of her trousers, signalling her body to wake up. Her skin was suddenly sensitive, her stomach slowly spun with each stroke of his thick fingers, that sent the heat to bloom throughout her body. When he looked at her, her heart lurched towards him, wanting him to hold her, to kiss her.

What was going on? It wasn’t right.

Had it been that long since anyone had touched her? Except for the hugs she’d gotten today from the two middle-aged women she’d just met, and Craig. So far, most of the touching between her and Craig had been purely platonic. But with his hand on her thigh, it was more than platonic. It was familiar… igniting a hunger she struggled to ignore.

‘Just that Finn fella. Some say he’s new to the town, and some say they knew him when younger working out at Elsie Creek Station. But I did hear he’s brought out a young female police officer, too. She’s from South Australia Police, I hear. Got a few of the stockmen keen to check her out, you know. We don’t get that many single females out here.’

Didn’t that dial down Izzy’s inner desires, especially with Craig and his reputation with the single ladies. She pushed his hand off her leg. ‘Really?’ She’d bet not all the flowers delivered to Craig’s room were from women who were just friends.

‘What do you think happened, Lydia? About Ginny’s bull?’

Nice change of subject, honey.

Lydia sighed, shaking her head sadly. ‘It’s horrible, is what I think. I know how hard these cattlemen work for their livestock.’

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