Family Farm (39 page)

‘So, you had a great time then?’

‘Hell, yeah. We could’ve talked all night.’

‘Tell me about it. Next time I’m staying home,’ said Izzy. But, she wasn’t offended. Instead she reached out and slapped Simone’s leg. ‘I’m really pleased for you, Simone.’

Simone sighed heavily. ‘Tonight was great. I’m so glad you came with me, and for giving us time alone. You’re the queen of tact.’ Turning, she fired up the car and drove out of the car park. ‘I feel so alive, like I could just fly. God, I hope this is the start of something good. I so want this one to work. When I was eighteen, I used to dream about us getting together in a house down the road from Mum and Dad. I’d better get my act together,’ she said, realising she was jumping the gun. ‘I might scare him off with talk like that.’ She looked quickly back at Izzy. ‘And you can’t mention any of this to Blake. Not yet anyway. It might go nowhere and I don’t want him yappin’ in my ear.’

‘No worries. But I think you’ll find he’ll be okay with it.’

As the night lights in town flashed past, Izzy could see the happiness all over Simone’s face. Izzy felt so pleased for her. It was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm, and she let it wash over her. They giggled like lovesick teenagers all the way home.

‘IZZY, wake up. It’s an emergency,’ whispered Blake as he shook her shoulders gently.

Quick as a flash she sat up, her eyes wide. ‘What’s wrong? What’s happening?’ Her hair, crinkled from sleep, hung around her face and her eyes felt like they were clogged up with glue. She was wearing Will’s trackpants and shirt, which she hadn’t been able to part with. They’d long since lost any scent of Will but she still found comfort in wearing them, if only to feel closer to him.

‘It’s Simo. She’s up already and she’s cooking breakfast. Do you think she’s lost the plot? What the hell happened last night?’

‘Oh, is that all? I can’t believe you woke me up for that.’ Izzy groaned and flung herself back into bed, pulling the covers up over her face.

Blake tilted his head, like a dog would when it was trying to listen. ‘What’s with you, anyway? Normally you’re up and running around by now, picking on us for missing the best part of the day.’

She yawned. ‘I didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all.’

‘What’s bugging your arse?’ demanded Blake, prodding her through her blankets. He sat back and waited for her to explain. He picked up the little framed picture on the bedside table, ran his hand over the engraved words ‘Tom’ before putting it back down. ‘Come on – spill.’

Izzy flopped back the covers as she watched Blake putting her picture back. She reached out and moved it a fraction to the right so she could see Tom more clearly. It was the only personal thing she’d managed to grab in her rushed exit from home. There were times when she wished she could have taken a minute longer and got the family one with Claire in it too, and her favourite soft pillow with her name sewed into the corner in blue cotton that her mum had made when she was eight. But she couldn’t turn back time, no matter how much she wanted to. ‘I couldn’t get Will off my mind. Playing things over in my head, doing things differently, dreaming of the way I wished it could be. You know – the same old stuff.’

‘One of those nights, hey? Well, get up and we’ll have some brekkie. It’ll make you feel better – I know how much you like to eat. Simo’s fried up some bacon too.’

‘Bloody hell. She’s gone all out.’ Izzy smiled before another yawn overtook her. She hauled herself out of bed as Blake left the room. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through her door, making her dress quickly. Soon she’d discarded her blue shorts and tank top and was crawling into a pair of jeans and a work shirt.

‘Good morning, sunshine,’ said Simone on seeing Izzy. ‘Gee, you don’t look so flash.’ Her brow knitted in worry when she saw Izzy’s tired face.

‘I don’t feel so flash either. But I’ll be okay after a feed.’ Izzy pulled her wayward hair back into a ponytail.

‘Righto. Here, sit down. I’m just about to serve it up.’

‘So, what has put you in such a good mood this morning?’ Blake asked curiously. ‘Did you get a bit last night?’ He looked to Izzy, searching for the answer. ‘Please tell me someone has offered to take her off our hands.’

Simone pointed her fork at him. ‘Don’t be mean. Anyway, you know you’d miss me. Besides, it’s none of your concern. Is it, Izzy?’

‘Leave me out of it. Can’t I just enjoy this meal in peace?’

‘No, you bloody well can’t. You’re part of our family now, and you live in our house, so whatever concerns us concerns you. Okay?’

Izzy shrugged, but smiled. ‘All right.’ Turning to Blake she said, ‘It’s none of your business.’

Simone gave her a knowing glance before cutting into her bacon. ‘So, what’s everyone got planned today?’

‘Well,’ said Izzy, ‘I thought I’d mow the lawn – after I fix the mower, that is. I think the blades are out of whack. Starting to think Blake ran over something.’

‘Sorry, I can’t help. I’m going to Mum’s this morning. She wants to clean out my old room and turn it into a sewing room,’ replied Simone.

‘I can help you, if you like. It might be fun – sort of,’ he said, screwing up his face.

Just then the phone rang and Simone jumped up to answer it.

‘Is she expecting a call?’ Blake asked.

‘Maybe, maybe not. I’m not telling you anything. My life depends on my mouth staying shut. So … um … . how did it go with Dean last night? Did you make any plans?’ Izzy asked.

‘Great. I’ll fill you in later. I’m so nervous just thinking about it.’ Blake jumped as Simone ran back into the room, her face drained of all colour.

‘That was Mickey. Jacko was out shooting with some mates last night and got shot.’ Simone said it so fast that it took a few seconds for them to catch on.

Blake bolted upright. ‘What? How the hell did that happen? Shit. Is he okay?’

Izzy looked from one to the other. ‘But I was only talking to him last night at the pub.’

‘I know. Mickey said he left early, not long after we’d seen him. Apparently, he was on the back of the ute when one of the others jumped down to finish off a wounded fox. As he landed on the ground his gun hit his knee and discharged. Mickey said it blew a couple of Jacko’s fingers away. He’s at the hospital with Jacko now.’ Simone put down her cutlery and picked up her bag from the table. ‘I’m going to head in right away.’

‘Shit.’ Blake swore again, completely shocked and bewildered. ‘Okay. Well, tell Mickey if they need anything, just to give us a call. I wonder which hand. Bugger it! That could stuff up his shearing.’ He ran his fingers through his hair.

‘Hope not,’ Simone replied, then added for Izzy’s benefit, ‘He’s one of the best shearers around. Jacko’s been to the Royal Show a few times to shear in comps, and he’s won heaps of prizes. Dad reckons he’s one of the cleanest and quickest he’s seen in years.’ Simone sighed, then turned and headed for the door, waving as she went.

‘We’ll come soon,’ Izzy called after her, then turned to Blake. ‘Don’t worry too much, Mac. Not until we hear all the details. He’s bloody lucky it didn’t get him in the chest or worse.’

‘When you put it like that, yeah, I guess he is,’ he said, sighing loudly, but Izzy could see the tension in his body.

Blake forced his fork towards his mouth, taking the bacon that had been waiting, but his appetite was long gone. ‘You know, they rang me and asked if I wanted to go with them, seeing as Mickey didn’t want to, but as you know, I had better things to do.’

‘Yeah, well life’s like that, you know. But how was it with Dean, anyway?’ she asked, distracting him from his concern for Jacko. ‘Was he keen to meet up?’ She watched the eagerness spread over his face, as he could finally fill her in on the details.

‘Yup, we’ve planned to catch up at the Obie this weekend. Izzy, he sounds just as excited as I am, but it’s a big deal meeting for the first time. I hope everything he’s told me is true. I couldn’t handle being disappointed.’

‘You’ll be fine. You just have to relax and take it easy. I’ll be there, until you give me the secret nod to head off.’ She smiled encouragingly.

‘There won’t be any secret nod.’ Blake said, laughing. ‘I’ll just tell you to piss off and leave us to it.’

Izzy shook her head as she collected their plates. ‘So, when are we heading up?’

‘Early Saturday morning. I’ve already booked us a room. My shout.’

‘You don’t have to do that, Blake. You’re not twisting my arm to come, you know.’

‘I know,’ he said, getting up and following her to the kitchen.

Izzy put their plates into the sink and began filling it with warm water. ‘Is it okay to have the weekend off?’

Blake nodded. ‘Dad’s fine with it as long as we get the tractors cleaned up and fix that broken pump. He also wants the sheep pampered a bit more with the sale coming up.’ Izzy smiled and it struck him just how beautiful she was – and what a good friend she was too.

‘I think we can manage that.’

It wasn’t until some time after lunch that Simone came home. For someone who’d been to see a bloke with missing fingers, she was looking and sounding rather chipper. Izzy couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Is Blake home?’ Simone said, as she looked around the room.

‘No, he’s gone into town to see Jacko and then he’s going back to Mickey’s place.’

‘You didn’t want to go?’

‘Nah. I’ve had my share of hospitals lately. Besides he’ll have his family and friends there. Don’t want to intrude.’

‘Fair enough,’ Simone replied as she put her mobile phone on the table and sat down next to Izzy, who was relaxing in front of the TV. ‘What ya watching?’

‘Just the midday movie. I wore myself out this morning hacking back that jungle of a garden.’

‘Yeah, I nearly didn’t recognise the place. The yard looks great.’

‘Well, you’d be amazed at how many nice plants and shrubs there were under those weeds. My back’s buggered, though. Anyway, what’s news at the hospital?’ Izzy asked.

‘Yeah, Jacko’ll be fine, but they can’t put his fingers back on – there wasn’t enough of them left. Apparently they were quite mangled. They operated on his hand and neatened it up. He’ll have two little stubs left, but he was lucky – it was only his pinkie and his ring finger.’

‘I suppose he won’t know how it will affect his shearing until he picks up a handpiece.’

‘Yeah, and that won’t be for ages. The doc reckons it will be sore and tender for quite a while. In typical male fashion, Jacko was laughing and joking about it. Mickey will have to keep a close eye on him, I think.’

‘Speaking of Mickey, Blake and I are going to Perth next weekend, so you’ll have the house to yourself,’ Izzy said. ‘Oh, but just one word of advice – don’t cook him dinner.’

‘Ha ha, funny. Well, seeing as you’ve worked so hard I suppose dinner’s on me, then. I think I can throw something nice together to say thanks for a job well done.’

Izzy gave Simone a smile as she put her feet up on the coffee table. ‘Just don’t make that tuna mornay dish again. Not even the dog would eat it,’ Izzy chuckled.

Simone rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, it really sucked, didn’t it?’

WHEN Will pulled up outside Bill’s house, the afternoon air was starting to cool and the sun was commencing its descent. He gave a couple of knocks on the flywire door and then let himself in, calling, ‘Hello.’

Jean popped her head out from the kitchen. ‘G’day, Will. He’s just about ready.’ She lowered her voice when he got closer. ‘Cheers for this. I can tell he’s excited to be going out. I think he really needs it.’

Will could sense that she was worried. He had been so busy between both farms that he’d neglected Bill a bit of late. To make up for it, he’d offered to take Bill to the Tree for a few drinks to catch up with the lads. Bill had jumped at the chance.

‘Don’t worry, Jean. I’ll look after him.’

She answered him with a smile before motioning to a chair. ‘Course you will. I know that. Grab a seat. I’m sure he won’t be long.’ Jean sat down next to Will and studied his face like she was trying to decipher a code. ‘Will, can I ask you something?’ She paused. ‘What happened between you and Izzy before she left?’

Will’s blue eyes flinched, his mouth moved but no words escaped.

‘It’s just that before the fight that started it all erupted I noticed she was wearing your clothes.’

Now Will smiled. ‘Really? I didn’t know. So that’s where my favourite pair of trackies went.’

‘You still didn’t answer my question.’

‘Izzy told me how quickly you pick up on things! Yes, something did happen between us, although she didn’t hang around long enough for us to figure out what.’

Jean put her hand on his for a moment. Her nails were short but neat and tidy. ‘But you know how you feel about her.’

Will’s dimple appeared as he smiled and replied, ‘Yes.’

‘Well, I know for a fact that she was affected by what happened too. She had feelings for you, Will, but she was still trying to understand them. Does she feel the same as you, do you think?’

He took a deep breath. ‘I really don’t know.’ Looking at Jean reminded him of Izzy, her eyes and the way she moved. It made his heart ache more. ‘I wish I did, Jean. I just wish I could be home next time she calls so I can talk to her.’

Just as Jean was about to speak, Bill’s voice came from the passageway. ‘Will, is that you?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Mate, you’ll have to help me with this contraption. I still can’t seem to get it going on this carpet.’

Bill came slowly down the passageway towards them. Will got up and took position behind the wheelchair.

Bill motioned to Jean. ‘Catch ya, love. Don’t wait up.’

It took Will a bit of manoeuvring to get him outside and then into the ute. He stashed the chair on the back and jumped in the front. ‘Ready to go?’

‘Ready when you are, boss,’ replied Bill.

Will pulled out a beer from his small esky, took the top off and handed it to Bill before driving away. ‘I’m glad we’re doing this. You’ve looked a bit down lately.’

‘I know. I’ve been dark on myself. It pains me whenever I think back to all the times I put Izzy down and shut her out. I feel bad that I can’t tell her how sorry I am.’