“My brother Owen isn’t the smartest of the Cannon boys,” Colin said drily from the stairs.
Zoe looked up to see him walking down, fully dressed, thank goodness, but buttoning his shirt. He looked at Zoe. “As you can see, it’s rather casual around here.” He stopped and lowered a kiss on his mother’s cheek, but he gave both her and his brother a bemused look. “How did you know I was here?”
Owen frowned back. “I heard the ATV yesterday and saw you driving around. Mum was staying with me and we thought we’d pop over to see how things went in Atlanta. We didn’t realize you were trying to avoid us.”
“Maybe we should come back another time,” his mother said, turning toward the door.
Colin sighed. “No, Mom, stay.”
“Don’t mind if we do,” Owen said, his voice and expression bursting with curiosity as he looked Zoe up and down.
Colin shot Zoe an apologetic glance.
“I made coffee,” she offered cheerfully.
“And it smells wonderful,” Virginia Cannon said, also clearly glad to stay. “Your accent sounds familiar. Are you from the southern United States?”
“Atlanta, born and raised,” Zoe said. “Colin told me that you’re also from Atlanta.”
The woman dimpled. “That’s right, in Virginia Highland.”
Zoe smiled. “What a lovely area. I was raised in Candler Park.”
“Equally lovely,” Virginia said, then looked wistful. “Although I haven’t been back in more than twenty years—I’m sure things have changed.”
“Probably not as much as you think. There’s just more traffic.” Zoe leaned forward to look at the frog pin on the woman’s shirt. “What a lovely pin. Is it lapis?”
Virginia fingered it and nodded. “I collect pins.”
“Zoe makes jewelry,” Colin offered, pouring coffee for all of them.
“Really?” Owen asked, still sizing her up.
“Only as a hobby,” she said quickly.
“I offered her some of the Benbullen opals for a project she’s working on,” Colin said, handing a cup of coffee to Zoe. He gave her a meaningful look. “That’s why we came up.”
“Mighty generous of you,” Owen offered when Colin extended him a cup. “Bro, what happened to your hands?”
Zoe glanced at Colin’s hands, chagrined to see that the handcuffs had chafed red marks on his wrists. She nearly choked on her coffee.
“I sailed to Manly the day before yesterday,” Colin said easily. “They must be rope burns.”
“Indeed,” Owen said, grinning into his cup.
Zoe’s face flamed and she hoped the innuendo was going over Mrs. Cannon’s head.
Colin glared at Owen and handed a brimming cup to Virginia. “We’re riding to the opal field this morning, Mother. Would you like to come with us?”
“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Virginia said, shaking her head.
“Nonsense,” Colin said. “We haven’t been fossicking in a long while. Your birthday is coming up. If you find a stone you like, we’ll have it made into a pin.”
His mother blushed. “That might be nice.”
Owen rolled his eyes and looked at Zoe. “It’s hell being the son who doesn’t have an opal field on his land.”
Zoe laughed, enjoying the dynamic between them.
“So, Zoe, are you here visiting?” Owen asked, looking back and forth between her and Colin as if to see who would respond.
“Yes,” she said. “In fact, I’ll be returning to Atlanta tomorrow evening.”
“We’re heading back to Sydney in the morning,” Colin offered.
“How did the two of you meet?” Owen pressed, sipping his coffee and looking innocent.
Zoe deferred to Colin, relatively sure he wasn’t going to reveal that they’d met on a plane and had carnal knowledge of each other before disembarking.
“Zoe’s staying at the resort,” Colin said stiffly, giving his brother a stern look. “I’d invite you to go with us today, too, but I’m sure you have work to do.”
“Not really,” Owen said congenially. “I wouldn’t miss this.”
After they finished their coffee, Colin arranged for them all to meet at the stables. After his mother and brother left, he turned to her, hands on hips. “Sorry about that.”
She smiled. “I don’t mind. I just hope my being here isn’t going to cause you any trouble.”
He hesitated and she wondered if he would finally mention his girlfriend—it was obvious he was thinking of her. Instead he winked. “No worries. I thought we might head on over to the stables in case you want to practice a bit before Mother and Owen meet us there.”
“Thanks, I’d like that.”
He gestured around the kitchen. “It was nice of you to clean up, but I have someone to come in and do that sort of thing.”
Zoe tingled with embarrassment, feeling like a peasant. “When I’m not in a hotel, I’m accustomed to cleaning up after myself.”
From the look on his face, he realized his gaffe. “I just meant I wanted you to feel like a guest in my home, that’s all.”
She returned a smile. But she nursed a pang of sadness because she felt as if his offhand statement was the beginning of the end of the fantasy she’d spun in her head. They lived very different lives. And their time would be up soon.
Colin walked across the room and unlocked a cabinet, then removed a small wooden box and carried it to the table. When he lifted the lid, Zoe gasped. Dozens of small cut and polished black opals the size of peas winked back.
“Did you find all of these on Benbullen?”
He nodded. “None of them large, but all of good quality.”
She selected one and held it up to the light. The fiery colors emitted prisms in all directions. “They’re lovely,” she breathed.
“Take your pick.”
She looked at him, then returned the opal she’d been holding. “I thought we were going to look for rough opal today.”
“We are. But even if we find anything, it’ll need a lot of work. These stones are ready to set.”
He was right—it would take her hours and hours to cut and polish even a small amount of rough opal. “It’s a very generous offer, Colin, but I would feel odd taking your opals for bracelets for my bridesmaids. Will you let me buy them?”
“No. Consider it my wedding gift to you.”
She blanched.
“It’s okay, Zoe, really. What else am I going to do with them?”
“Sell them?”
“You know that none of these stones are extremely valuable—they’re too small. Trust me. I’d get much more enjoyment out of knowing that you have them than I would selling them in bulk to a Sydney jeweler.”
And it wasn’t as if he needed the few dollars the stones would bring, she conceded.
He nodded to the case. “Please. Take what you need for the bracelets, and then you won’t feel pressured to find something today. We can just have fun.”
She wavered, then smiled. “Okay. One stone for each bracelet.”
“I give nice wedding gifts,” he said. “How about three for each bracelet?”
She laughed in spite of herself. “Two.”
“Okay. Two for each bracelet.”
She chose them two at a time so each bracelet would have matching stones and dropped them in a tiny drawstring pouch he gave her. “Thank you, Colin.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his eyes smiling as he returned the box to the cabinet. Then he rubbed his hands together. “Now, let’s go prospecting. I just know there’s a giant black opal up there waiting to be found.”
She smiled. “Let it be today.”
They rode the ATV to the stables. Colin chose a lovely brown mare for her and Zoe saddled her, then rode around the paddock for a few minutes, amazed at how quickly the basics came back to her. Colin watched from the other side of the fence, nodding with approval as she rode by.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Cannon and Owen arrived in a pickup truck. Colin saddled a horse for his mother and she bounded onto the animal like a girl. Zoe marveled over the camaraderie of the Cannons as they rode, talking back and forth. She felt like an interloper, but unabashedly eavesdropped on their good-natured banter, especially from mother to sons.
A pang of envy struck her—she and her parents didn’t have that kind of relationship. All her life she had felt like the arbitrator, trying to negotiate peace between them. She could only hope that the truce they’d called for her wedding would hold for a while. If her mother had been a little overbearing when it came to the wedding details, Zoe figured the respite from her parents’ bickering had made it worthwhile.
Realizing she’d fallen behind, Zoe make a clucking noise and squeezed her knees, urging the mare forward. As they fanned out, riding past sheep and cattle, she almost pinched herself—what a thrilling adventure. They rode for a couple of miles, then climbed a steep hill. At the top sat a small backhoe and an outbuilding next to a craggy hole in a rocky outcropping and a huge mound of dirt.
Colin dismounted and walked over to stand next to her horse. “Do you feel lucky?”
“Yes,” Zoe said, although she wasn’t referring to the probability of finding an opal. Her heart still pounded from the exertion of riding and looking at Colin only made matters worse. His blond hair was wind-blown, his cheeks ruddy. He was so strong and so…male, he spoke to everything feminine in her.