Mr Right Now

by Karly Lane

  ‘You can be as snarky as you like. It’s my duty as a friend to check on you.’

  ‘Twice a day is a bit extreme, even for you, Liv.’

  ‘All right, I may cut it back to once a day from now on then.’

  ‘Whatever shall I do with myself?’

  Her friend’s sarcasm was at least an indication that she was getting back to her old self, which was a relief.

  ‘So I had an interesting conversation with my brother this morning,’ Hadley continued, and immediately Olivia was on edge.

  ‘Oh?’ she said, trying to sound indifferent.

  ‘When were you going to tell me?’

  Olivia gave a small wince, hearing the slightly miffed tone. She was rather relieved she wasn’t in the same room as her friend at this moment. ‘Tell you what?’ she said, trying for a nonchalant tone.

  ‘Don’t even …’ Hadley’s tone lowered. ‘Griff already spilled the beans. Why exactly did I have to learn about you and Griff getting back together from him and not from you?’

  Yeah, she was definitely miffed. ‘It didn’t seem important in the grand scheme of things,’ she said gently. For goodness sake, the woman had just revealed she’d lost a baby. It had hardly been the right time to announce the news, never mind that she hadn’t wanted to tell her in the first place.

  ‘So it’s true?’ Hadley almost yelped. ‘Oh my God, I thought he was joking … You and Griff are back together?’

  Olivia touched her forehead. This was why she hadn’t wanted to tell anyone. Everyone was going to have them walking down the aisle before they even had time to work out what they wanted themselves. ‘When did Griff tell you all this exactly?’

  ‘Earlier today. I’d been trying to get through to both of you this morning and both your phones were busy. I jokingly asked if he was busy sexting you or something and he said you were … I thought he was kidding. Am I the last to find out?’

  How could Griff do this? It was too late to try to put all those worms back in the can now. ‘As far as I know, you’re the only one who knows about it. Other than Ollie, and I didn’t tell him either.’

  ‘I guess if Mum and Dad knew, they would have told me about it,’ she surmised. ‘You two must be pretty good at covering your tracks. My mother’s usually a super-sleuth.’

  ‘It hasn’t been easy,’ Olivia said wryly.

  ‘So … details,’ Hadley instructed.

  ‘Really?’ Olivia asked doubtfully. ‘This is your brother we’re talking about.’

  ‘Oh. Yeah. Good point. Eww, what’s wrong with you?’

  ‘Like he’s any worse than some of the talent you’ve brought home over the years,’ she chuckled.

  ‘Yeah, well, that was different. Besides, I’m married now. I can’t believe you two are back together!’

  ‘Well, back together is maybe not quite the correct terminology.’

  ‘What terminology would you use, exactly?’ she asked warily.

  ‘I don’t really know … I’m still trying to figure it out.’

  The silence on the other end of the line felt heavy. ‘I’m not sure he can handle too much more heartache after last year, Liv,’ Hadley said softly, but there was a pointed message in there: Don’t hurt my brother.

  ‘I know. I’m just … I don’t know what I’m doing any more, Hads. I don’t know where to go from here.’

  ‘Stop overthinking everything, Liv. Just let go and trust yourself.’

  ‘And then when it’s time for reality to intrude?’

  ‘Maybe you’ll have your answer by then,’ she said simply.

  It was so easy for a free spirit like Hadley to let go and live in the moment, but Olivia needed structure and a plan and organisation. It wasn’t in her nature to wing it and hope for the best.

  ‘Just this once, Liv, let your heart lead, not your head … see where it takes you.’

  Long after the phone call had ended, Hadley’s words hung in the air around her. Where would it take her, she wondered. What if it took her somewhere she couldn’t return from? What then? Even now her head continued to call the shots, but she could feel a restlessness in her heart and she knew that, maybe, there was something wise in Hadley’s advice after all.

  Maybe.

  The days were getting hotter and this morning it was building to be another scorcher. Olivia was on the chaser bin today, taking over from Marty. She’d already made her first two loads and it was barely ten in the morning.

  They were keeping an ear out for radio updates on the weather conditions. Once it got above thirty-five degrees, the risk of fire increased significantly, so there was a general rule that harvesting was stopped until the temperature dropped, at around seven or eight at night, unless the Rural Fire Brigade declared it too much of a risk to continue even then. It was frustrating and it caused delays, but it was better than putting their crop, not to mention their neighbours, at risk if a fire got out of control.

  ‘I’ll be ready after this next run, Liv,’ Ollie said over the radio, and she swung her gaze across to watch her brother coming up at the end of another long row.

  ‘Roger that, Ice Man,’ Olivia answered.

  ‘I told you, I’m Maverick,’ Ollie said, picking up their old game over the two-way radio. It had always driven their father crazy when they were growing up. It’s not a flamin’ toy, you kids. It’s a radio, he’d say gruffly.

  ‘You, sir, are no Tom Cruise,’ Olivia replied. ‘Besides, Ice Man’s a cool handle.’ There was always a battle over the best names inspired by the Top Gun movie. Over the years Ollie and the Callahan boys, upon rediscovering the hit of the eighties, had worn the movie out from watching it so many times.

  ‘Whatever, Goose.’

  ‘Goose! No way, I’m Viper.’

  ‘Actually, Cougar probably suits you better nowadays.’

  ‘Hey!’ Olivia yelped in protest. ‘I’m not old enough to be a cougar just yet, thank you very much.’

  ‘Won’t be long,’ Ollie said in a singsong voice.

  ‘Bite me,’ she retorted.

  ‘Now there’s an invitation if ever I heard one.’ Griff’s voice came across the radio and Olivia lurched, giving a small squeak of surprise inside her cabin.

  ‘Who said the neighbours could use this channel?’ Ollie demanded.

  ‘Just checkin’ in on you lot,’ Griff answered. ‘Makin’ sure you were taking care of my girl,’ he added. ‘Hey, babe.’

  His girl? Olivia gave a splutter, halfway between a laugh and a scoff. Okay, well, that was kinda cute. ‘Hey, handsome,’ she said, more for her brother’s benefit than Griffin’s.

  ‘Oh, gross. Can’t you two just use the phone like normal people?’ Ollie cut in.

  ‘So, what you wearin’ …’ Griff added, just to make sure they really got her brother’s goat.

  ‘Dude, that’s my sister you’re talking to, and hello … I don’t need to be hearing this.’

  ‘How about you all knock it off and get back to work,’ a fourth voice cut in, and Olivia pictured all three of them instantly clamping their lips together.

  ‘Sorry, Mr Callahan,’ Olivia said, but she could picture the gruff Callahan patriarch smirking on the other end of his radio.

  ‘Just keepin’ an eye on things.’

  ‘We’re working diligently, sir, if you’re reporting back to Dad,’ Ollie answered.

  ‘I’m sure you are. Keep an eye on that temperature,’ he added before signing off.

  ‘Roger that, Silver Fox,’ Olivia said after a few moments of radio silence.

  ‘You know he’s probably still listening,’ Griffin said.

  ‘Well, he is a silver fox. It suits him.’

  ‘Okay, Liv. Come pick me up on the way past,’ Ollie said, indicating he was ready to dump a load into the chaser bin she was driving. It was time to get back to the task at hand.

  Eighteen

  Olivia glanced up at the sky early the next morning. They were forecasting rain within the next week. Ollie had staye
d out past his usual shift yesterday for the third night in a row, and Liv knew he was concerned about the weather. Sixteen- to eighteen-hour days were the norm during the season but it took its toll.

  ‘Why don’t I see if we can get a contractor in?’ she’d suggested after broaching her concern about how tired he looked.

  ‘I wasn’t being entirely honest before—we can’t afford it this year, not after last season. Besides, you wouldn’t find anyone available now anyway. I just have to put in the hard yards for a few more weeks till it’s done.’

  ‘Then at least let me do a few night shifts for you,’ she said.

  ‘Liv, I know you’re trying to help, but I’ve got it under control.’

  It was frustrating, to say the least. Added to that, she hadn’t managed to get together with Griff over the last two days either. Everyone was having a hard time staying on top of the workload. The heat didn’t help.

  Now, as she drove the chaser bin to the end of Ollie’s next run, Olivia wiped the sweat from her forehead. It would be another day of watching the temperature. Inside the airconditioned cabin you could be fooled into thinking it wasn’t that hot—if you didn’t take into consideration the heat haze that shimmered on the horizon. It was almost hypnotic.

  She exchanged a few text messages with Griffin to pass the time and hoped to goodness he would never lose his phone after the suggestive conversation they’d been having. She couldn’t help but smile though. This was a grown-up version of their rather innocent teenage romance and, as different as it now was in many ways, there was still a familiarity to it. She liked this adult version of Griffin. He was still the sweet guy she’d loved back then, but now there was more depth to him. She loved the intensity he had about everything, particularly whenever he talked about Stringybark and his plans for the farm. He’d always had dirt running through his veins, even as a kid.

  Olivia took her phone out and thumbed through the weather forecast app—it was currently thirty-eight. Just then her phone beeped and she read the message with a growing sense of alarm. The Rural Fire Service had just texted that they were putting out a harvesting ban.

  ‘Ollie, did you hear?’ she called over the radio.

  ‘Yeah, I saw the text. I’m just going to do these last few runs.’

  Olivia frowned. They were supposed to stop harvesting … like, now.

  She waited in the chaser bin. Ollie would have to unload once he came in, so she couldn’t head home yet. Thank goodness for airconditioning, she thought as she sat back in the rather uncomfortable seat and waited. Her mind wandered to Griff and a smile broke out on her face. A cease-work would mean he would have the rest of the day off too. She was picturing them spending a lazy afternoon in the pool together when her phone beeped and she saw a message from Griff.

  Wanna do something?

  You read my mind.

  See you in half an hour?

  I’m still waiting on Ollie.

  He’s still going?

  He just wanted to finish the last few runs. He’s stressing about not getting it in before the thunderstorm they’re predicting.

  We’re all under the pump, but it’s not worth risking a fire. I’ll give him a call.

  Olivia was busy typing a reply when the radio burst into life.

  ‘Liv. Get the water truck. Now!’ Ollie’s voice snapped her gaze from her phone to the front window and she stared, frozen, at the lick of yellow flame and smoke coming from the header in the middle of the paddock. ‘Liv!’

  She scrambled for the radio. ‘I’m coming.’ She dropped it in her hurry to jump out of the cabin and run across to the ute with the water tank on the back. Thank God she’d moved it closer earlier. She’d looked at it this morning and had a niggle of worry that it was too far away, so had come back to move it closer to where they were working.

  She sprinted across the uneven harvested ground, stumbling a few times before reaching the ute. Her usual caution went out the window as she roared across the paddock, the bumps throwing her about the cabin, her grip on the steering wheel making her knuckles go white. She pulled up close to the harvester, grateful to see Ollie was out of the cabin and had the fire in the harvester under control with an extinguisher. But the flames had already spread to the paddock. Ollie ran to the rear of the vehicle, starting the generator and unrolling the hose. Within a few minutes the fire was out, leaving behind a large blackened patch of burnt canola about half an acre in size.

  Olivia was still in shock as she turned a small circle and surveyed the damage. Thank goodness it had burned away from the header, but even she, an uninitiated mechanic, could tell there was substantial damage to the machine. Still, it could have been so much worse. Only the season before, a farmer in a nearby district had had a fire in his header that ran out of control and burned through thousands of acres, taking his neighbours’ crops as well as the majority of his own with it. She closed her eyes against the sick sensation that washed though her at the thought. If they hadn’t contained this fire … she couldn’t bear to think any further. It was too terrible.

  ‘Are you okay?’ she finally asked, crossing to where her brother stood, breathing heavily.

  ‘Yeah, I caught it early, thank God,’ he said, walking back to the header. ‘Burned out the damn fuel tank though.’

  ‘Is it bad?’ she asked nervously.

  ‘It’s not great. I’ll have to order a new one. It’s going to take a couple of days though.’ He swore loudly and ran one soot-blackened hand through his hair.

  Olivia turned at the sound of an approaching vehicle, and a surge of relief went through her as she realised it was Griff.

  ‘I saw the smoke. Jesus, you okay?’ he asked Ollie, striding across to them.

  ‘Yeah, the bloody fuel tank burned out though.’

  ‘You must have been on the ball—you got it out pretty fast.’

  ‘Yeah, glad I saw it when I did. Another few minutes and it would have got away from me.’

  Olivia knew it only took about ten minutes before a fire in a header was unable to be put out; after that the whole thing went up and would be unsalvageable. She walked across to the water tank and sat down. They’d been so lucky.

  ‘You okay?’ Griff asked, squatting down in front of her, a hand resting on her knee.

  Olivia managed a quick nod. ‘Yeah.’ She looked up—endless blue stretched across the sky. ‘What if we hadn’t been able to put it out?’ she said quietly, then dropped her gaze back to Griffin. ‘We could have lost everything … it could have spread to Stringybark.’

  ‘But it didn’t. Listen,’ he said, making her look at him, ‘it’s okay. You and Ollie stopped it. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You were prepared and you took every possible precaution. That’s why you stopped it so fast.’

  ‘I should have made him stop sooner.’ She glanced across at Ollie who was on his phone, pacing as he spoke.

  ‘Everyone’s under a lot of pressure. It’s understandable he didn’t want to stop.’

  ‘Yeah, well, this is going to put him back even further now,’ she snapped. Olivia didn’t want to blame her brother, but she was still shaken by how close the whole thing had come to being a major catastrophe.

  ‘Don’t be too hard on him,’ Griff said quietly as Ollie finished his call and walked towards them.

  ‘How did it start?’ she asked, ignoring Griffin’s warning glance.

  ‘I don’t know, probably a build-up on the engine.’

  ‘Aren’t you supposed to clean it out at the end of the day?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ollie said, rubbing the back of his neck, ‘but I don’t know, Liv, maybe at the end of an eighteen- or nineteen-hour day, spending another hour or so blowin’ down a header isn’t at the top of my priority list in the middle of the bloody night.’

  ‘Then you should have asked me to do it. I’ve been trying to help you, Ollie, but you think you have to do everything on your own.’

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe that’s because I need
to make sure it gets done right.’

  ‘Really?’ she asked, throwing out her hand towards the blackened earth around them. ‘How’s that working out for you?’

  ‘I don’t need this shit right now,’ he said, striding across the paddock towards the work ute.

  ‘I know!’ Olivia snapped when she looked up and saw Griff’s face. ‘I know it doesn’t help matters but, damn it, he’s so stubborn. I told him he was working too long and he needed to get rest, but would he listen to me? No, he would not,’ she added in case Griffin didn’t know the answer. ‘He won’t let me do anything around here.’

  ‘He’s got a lot on his shoulders, Liv,’ Griff said simply. ‘You don’t understand the whole father–son thing … in that respect, Ollie and I have a lot in common. We always feel like we have to prove ourselves worthy or something.’

  ‘Worthy?’

  Griff gave a small sigh and straightened to look out across the paddocks. He waved his arm, ‘All this, Liv, it’s a big responsibility. We’ve had generations behind us farming this land. No one wants to be the one who blew it all. It’s always hanging over our heads, that pressure not to stuff up and do something to destroy all the years of hard work and sacrifice that have gone into this place. It’s our turn now, only our dads are still here, hovering … It’s hard for them to let go and allow us to make mistakes, because mistakes out here are expensive. Worst case, we can cost ourselves a year’s income—more, depending on how badly we stuff up,’ he said with a grimace. Ollie was lucky, the damage wasn’t too bad, but a burnt-out harvester would be more than a year’s wages to replace. ‘There’s a lot of pressure to prove ourselves worthy of making decisions and taking charge.’

  She did understand. She saw how it was between her father and brother. Ollie had been thrown into taking everything on and she knew how desperately he wanted to succeed and have their dad be proud of him—to prove himself.

  ‘I know he’s doing his best,’ she said wearily. ‘He just scared me. He could have been trapped in that thing.’ She fought the squeeze of pressure around her chest at the thought.

  Griffin stepped up and wrapped his arms around her tightly. ‘But he wasn’t and we need to keep moving. Harvest isn’t finished yet, and we can’t sit around blaming each other when we need to get it done.’