“Sure.” Her smile hit him in the gut, made a warmth spread through him, and he forced himself to walk away.
He drove into town and while Jeff changed the tyres, he grumbled about the cost of pony club and the horse he’d bought to keep his little girl happy. “You’re lucky you’ve got all that land out there,” he said to Darcy. “Don’t have to find somewhere to agist Lara’s horse.”
“Where are you keeping yours?” Darcy asked.
“The pony club for now. Faith’s feeding it, but I don’t know what will happen when she leaves town.”
He frowned. “She leaving soon?”
Jeff shrugged. “She’s only here looking after her mother, and I heard Milly went out on the tour boat the other day. Faith’s got a high-powered job as a lawyer back in Perth, so I can’t imagine she’d want to stay.”
No, of course she wouldn’t. He had to remember that, not get too caught up in the joy her smiles made him feel. But it reminded him of the contract he had in his pocket.
“I’m done.” Jeff stood and Darcy shook his hand.
“Thanks, mate.”
“No problem. I almost borrowed the float myself, but didn’t like the look of it. You’ve done a good job fixing it.”
Darcy headed back to the pony club, parked the float where Faith indicated and then hitched his own trailer to the ute. Lara was already in the arena with a group of boys and girls her age.
She nudged Starlight into a slow canter and leaned forward as they easily cleared the jump in the middle. His girl was a natural on horseback. She circled around and spotted him, waving madly. He waved back, his heart full.
Some other parents sat on the seating around the arena, so he joined them.
“Darcy! How nice to see you.”
He stifled a groan. He hadn’t seen Kristy sitting next to Joan, otherwise he would have stayed where he was. Still, he tipped his hat. “Kristy. Joan, thanks for picking up Lara from school.”
“It’s never a problem, Darcy.” Joan patted the seat next to her and he sat. “Lara’s always a delight.”
“I’d be happy to pick her up if you ever need me to,” Kristy piped up.
“I’ll keep it in mind.” It would never happen. Kristy’s daughter was Natasha, Lara’s nemesis. From all reports she was like her mother who Georgie said was as shallow as the reef at low tide. Despite being married, she flirted with every male under the age of thirty, which unfortunately included him.
“Lara told Mischa you went riding with Faith on the weekend,” Joan said.
He saw the desire for gossip in her eyes, but unlike Kristy, it wasn’t malicious. Joan had been introducing him to every single lady in town since Lara had been in pre-school. “Yeah. Lara invited her, and we rode to the beach.”
“Would have been a lovely day for it. Did you go swimming?”
“Sure did.” He wouldn’t tell her about the dead sheep which had ruined the day.
“And then you fixed the pony club float as well.”
“It was dodgy. I didn’t want her to have an accident.”
The glint in Joan’s eyes faded. “Of course not.” She touched his knee with the look of pity he’d become accustomed to since his parents died.
“I heard Faith deserted her mother to go riding,” Kristy said.
Darcy gritted his teeth. “I believe her mother chose to go out on their boat.” He never understood why some people felt the need to put others down or portray them in a poor light.
It was Lara’s turn to jump again, and he watched, applauding as she made it over cleanly.
“She hardly needs pony club,” Kristy said. “She can do it all already.”
Darcy ignored her. Joining the pony club was the only thing Lara had ever pleaded for, and though money was tight, he couldn’t refuse her. She didn’t get to do a lot of after-school activities as she caught the bus home and no one near them had kids her age to carpool with. Lara didn’t have the advantages of siblings like he had growing up.
