Page 4 of The Talk Around Town
Emma stared at her, not comprehending.
“I’ve dumped too much on you at once, haven’t I? Sorry about that. It’ll all come together after a few days. Mum owns the bakery in town. Amy and I work with her.”
Amy.Another name to file away. Emma gazed at Darby. “So, Amy’s married to Gabe.”
What a shame.He was a cutie, all right. Emma gave herself a shake. She wasn’t interested in men. Not now, and probably not ever, but hewas nice eye candy. Damn nice. He looked a lot like the actor from her favourite disaster movie. But it wouldn’t do to get caught staring at another woman’s husband in a town as small as this.
Darby’s laughter grabbed her attention again. “Hell no! She’s married to Simon, one of our older brothers. The other one, Max, owns the bar that you’ve already seen, the Spotted Cow.” Her grin turned mischievous. “Gabe’s not married. Doesn’t even have a partner. Why, you interested?”
“No! I just assumed…” Emma shrugged, embarrassed that Darby had seen through her. “Why isn’t he attached? It’s not because he’s ugly,” she joked to cover her slip.
“He’s far from ugly. No, he’s just not interested in women,” Darby murmured.
“Oh,” Emma said, her mind whirling a mile a minute from such an information dump.
Oh.Emma glanced sharply at Darby as her implication struck, but Darby’s attention was on her cake.
That’s a shame for women the world over. But good for me.
A man that good-looking could make a girl’s pulse speed up just by looking at him. Not that hers had, of course. A man was the last thing on this earth she needed, or wanted.
“I take it you have questions? You may as well get the third degree over with, Darby. Ask away.” Emma picked up her cake and took a bite, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head from the explosion of flavour. “Oh yum! This is amazing.”
“Mum’s secret recipe. She won’t even tellmewhat’s in it. She made it especially for you, kind of an advance apology for not being here too.” Darby popped the last of her cake into her mouth and washed it down with a healthy mouthful of coffee. “Okay. Where are you from, specifically? How old are you? What brought you here to the Crossing?” she asked rapid-fire.
Emma took a deep breath. “Gee, don’t hold back, will you? Let me see. From a suburb north of Perth called North Beach. I’m thirty-two. I chose here because it looked really lovely from the website blurb. I spent hours researching the industry and surrounding areas. The climate is cooler than where I’m from, and you get snow. I’ve always loved the cold. You have Bialga fairly close by, and I can choosebetween Sydney or Brisbane for large city shopping. So, if I want to go shopping, I can, but I’ll still have the country lifestyle. It looked like a friendly kind of place.”
Darby nodded as she spoke. “Okay. Sounds good. What do you do for a living? Are you married, or do you have a significant other?”
Emma’s blood chilled. She knew this question was likely, but it didn’t make answering it any easier.
“I’m a hairdresser by trade, but my dad was a carpenter. I used to help him on holidays, so I can manage small repairs.” She indicated the dust on her clothes. “And no, there’s no one. I’m single,” she added softly. Pain shafted, not the agony it was before, but still there, aching. She kept talking to keep her mind from dwelling on the subject. “I like chocolate, in all things. I like puppies. I’m not so fussed on cats, but some are okay. I like summer, but I love winter better, especially if it snows, but I hate to be cold. Go figure. I like beer and red wine—but not together. I love pizza, cakes and savoury things. I love parties, and I love to dance. I’m not terribly good at it, but I love it anyway. I love to be able to dress up and wear pretty things. I love expensive perfume and French lingerie, but I prefer to wear pants if I’m working or outside. I’ve never ridden a horse and I don’t like cows.” Emma took a breath. “I think that just about covers it.”
Darby blinked and nodded, a small smile tilting the corners of her lips. “I think it does. If there’s anything else, I’ll get back to you.” She sat back into the chair. “You know, Miriam at the salon in the mall has an opening for a stylist. It’s only part time, but it might be worth going and having a chat with her, if you’re interested in looking for work that is. You could tell her I sent you.”
Emma tried to hide her surprise at Darby’s words and swallowed the final piece of cake on her plate. She licked the frosting from her sticky fingers.
Damn, that frosting is as good as it looked.
Darby looked at her, her eyes assessing. “So, you’re coming out with me tonight? Give the locals something to talk about?”
Emma blew out a breath. She nodded. “Sure, why not? I’m game.”
“Fantastic! You’ll have a great time, I’m sure of it.”
Emma couldn’t help but smile at Darby’s infectious humour. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. What do I wear?”
Darby’s grey eyes sparkled. “Max’s. Just wear something you’d usually wear out to dinner at a bistro.”
“Okay. I brought most of my clothes over with me. The rest of my stuff is still on its way,” Emma said.
“I’ll pick you up at seven. We can eat there and stay for the entertainment. Max has a band play every Saturday night at eight. Should be an interesting night.”
Emma followed Darby as she went back toward the front door and waved goodbye.
Nerves struck up a dance deep in her belly. Sure, she wanted to get involved in her new town and meet people, and having worked with the public for so many years had built her a reasonably thick skin, but she hoped like crazy the rest of the town would be as welcoming as Darby had been. Kurrajong Crossing wasn’t a big place, and she needed this to work. She couldn’t go back. Ever.
Chapter Three