What Rosie Found Next Read Online Free
Author: Helen J. Rolfe
They prefer to hide away from their predators.’ He nodded towards the rocks where Bertie had found his sanctuary.
Rosie wasn’t sure which unexpected guest had frightened her the most in the last twelve hours: Bertie or Owen.
Her heart rate returning to normal, she looked over at the pool where the cleaner was chugging away, stuck in a corner. ‘Isn’t that thing supposed to move around in the water?’
Owen frowned, took another gulp of coffee and then trotted down the steps towards the pool, calling over his shoulder, ‘That thing’s technical name is a Kreepy Krauly, and you’ll get used to seeing it stuck in this corner.’ He plunged his forearm into the water, wrestled with the hose for a minute or two and then headed back up to the deck as the Kreepy Krauly chugged merrily around the sides of the pool once more, sucking up all the debris along the tiles. ‘Sometimes it needs a bit of encouragement to get moving.’
The Owen of last night would’ve laughed about Bertie the blue-tongue and how scared she’d been. The Owen of last night would’ve left her to fix the Kreepy Krauly. But this morning he was surprising her more and more.
He tipped his head back to get the dregs of coffee in his mug. ‘If you think you can cope with the wildlife of Magnolia Creek, I’ll take a shower and then we can talk.’
‘Sure.’ She stayed outside on the covered deck while Owen disappeared upstairs. She drew her legs up onto her chair, hugging them in close in case Bertie decided to take another wander, and only when she heard a strange buzzing coming from the kitchen did she move from her spot.
On top of the galaxy-black kitchen bench was a pager, doing a merry dance as it vibrated and tried to get her attention. She called up the stairs to Owen, but she had no idea whether he’d heard her or not. She wondered what kind of job relied on a pager, but she wasn’t about to pry and see what it said.
She reread the bushfire escape plan and checked the FireReady app on her iPad that Jane had recommended for instant updates to Magnolia Creek and the surrounding areas. There was low fire danger for today, which was a relief, and the only incident was some twenty-five kilometres away. And rather than making her jittery about fires as she’d thought it would, the app reassured her that all was fine. Jane Harrison had also told her there hadn’t been an incident here in more than twenty years. She was safe.
Seconds later Owen appeared in the kitchen and lifted up the pager. ‘Was this buzzing?’
‘Yes.’ She tore her eyes away from the towel wrapped around the bottom part of his torso, but looking at his naked top half with droplets of water still snaking their way down his chest and back was no less distracting. She tried to lose herself in the FireReady app even though she’d seen as much as she needed to.
He charged out of the kitchen but not before she saw the full tattoo on his arm, the intricacy of the design a surprise. It was a rose, roughly the size of a baby’s fist and almost like a ghost of the flower with a hint of red within the light and dark grey shading.
She was still thinking about the tattoo when Owen raced back down the stairs, yet again, wearing grey tracksuit pants and a black T-shirt with a loose hem at the bottom. ‘Can our chat wait?’
He didn’t leave her with much choice because he grabbed his keys and left. To where was anybody’s guess, and now she was stuck in limbo again. She liked to know what was happening and when. She hated having to wait for things to unfold for her.
Perhaps she should call the house-sitting agency and let them sort this mess out. She went upstairs and pulled out her house-sitting contract and leafed through the pages, scanning for clauses in her favour, but as she got to the end of the paperwork she realised that in a peculiar way – discounting their introduction in the middle of the night – she’d enjoyed interacting with Owen today. Having
Rosie wasn’t sure which unexpected guest had frightened her the most in the last twelve hours: Bertie or Owen.
Her heart rate returning to normal, she looked over at the pool where the cleaner was chugging away, stuck in a corner. ‘Isn’t that thing supposed to move around in the water?’
Owen frowned, took another gulp of coffee and then trotted down the steps towards the pool, calling over his shoulder, ‘That thing’s technical name is a Kreepy Krauly, and you’ll get used to seeing it stuck in this corner.’ He plunged his forearm into the water, wrestled with the hose for a minute or two and then headed back up to the deck as the Kreepy Krauly chugged merrily around the sides of the pool once more, sucking up all the debris along the tiles. ‘Sometimes it needs a bit of encouragement to get moving.’
The Owen of last night would’ve laughed about Bertie the blue-tongue and how scared she’d been. The Owen of last night would’ve left her to fix the Kreepy Krauly. But this morning he was surprising her more and more.
He tipped his head back to get the dregs of coffee in his mug. ‘If you think you can cope with the wildlife of Magnolia Creek, I’ll take a shower and then we can talk.’
‘Sure.’ She stayed outside on the covered deck while Owen disappeared upstairs. She drew her legs up onto her chair, hugging them in close in case Bertie decided to take another wander, and only when she heard a strange buzzing coming from the kitchen did she move from her spot.
On top of the galaxy-black kitchen bench was a pager, doing a merry dance as it vibrated and tried to get her attention. She called up the stairs to Owen, but she had no idea whether he’d heard her or not. She wondered what kind of job relied on a pager, but she wasn’t about to pry and see what it said.
She reread the bushfire escape plan and checked the FireReady app on her iPad that Jane had recommended for instant updates to Magnolia Creek and the surrounding areas. There was low fire danger for today, which was a relief, and the only incident was some twenty-five kilometres away. And rather than making her jittery about fires as she’d thought it would, the app reassured her that all was fine. Jane Harrison had also told her there hadn’t been an incident here in more than twenty years. She was safe.
Seconds later Owen appeared in the kitchen and lifted up the pager. ‘Was this buzzing?’
‘Yes.’ She tore her eyes away from the towel wrapped around the bottom part of his torso, but looking at his naked top half with droplets of water still snaking their way down his chest and back was no less distracting. She tried to lose herself in the FireReady app even though she’d seen as much as she needed to.
He charged out of the kitchen but not before she saw the full tattoo on his arm, the intricacy of the design a surprise. It was a rose, roughly the size of a baby’s fist and almost like a ghost of the flower with a hint of red within the light and dark grey shading.
She was still thinking about the tattoo when Owen raced back down the stairs, yet again, wearing grey tracksuit pants and a black T-shirt with a loose hem at the bottom. ‘Can our chat wait?’
He didn’t leave her with much choice because he grabbed his keys and left. To where was anybody’s guess, and now she was stuck in limbo again. She liked to know what was happening and when. She hated having to wait for things to unfold for her.
Perhaps she should call the house-sitting agency and let them sort this mess out. She went upstairs and pulled out her house-sitting contract and leafed through the pages, scanning for clauses in her favour, but as she got to the end of the paperwork she realised that in a peculiar way – discounting their introduction in the middle of the night – she’d enjoyed interacting with Owen today. Having
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