“You liked Skycliff that much?” he asked.
“No, I need to go home,” I told him.
“Where is home?” He turned to face me.
Where before I was self-conscious, a calmness now fell over me and it helped that he kept his gaze upon my face and didn’t let it wander any lower. “It’s a place called Yarington.”
“Yarington? I’ve never heard of it. How far have you travelled?” he asked.
“I can’t begin to imagine,” I said. “I was hoping you could show me where you’re storing my balloon so I can make sure it’s working fine.”
“I can assure you it’s safe and it received no damage,” he said.
“So, can I see it?” I asked.
“You should probably have your breakfast and get dressed first.” He laughed, rising from his seat. “You eat and I’ll organised some clothes for you.” He made his way to the door.
“Lukah,” I said.
“Yes, Olivia?”
I opened my mouth to tell him I wanted my balloon back. That I needed to go home. Instead, I said, “thank you. For everything.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He left me to finish my bath.
16
Lucy
BILSTONE, AUSTRALIA
Wrapped in my oversized hoodie, I sat on the bench seat on the veranda, book in hand, but not soaking up the words. Frustrated, I put my bookmark between the pages and sat it beside me, picking up my phone. No message from Suzan or Becca. And no message from Dylan. The sun was still trying to rise over the hills in front of me, so they were all probably still fast asleep. At least I hoped. Becca had been so sick. I hoped her mum wouldn’t ground her for life. Movement sounded inside the house and I assumed it was Dad getting ready for the day. I didn’t want to think about him. Dylan, on the other hand…
I’d dreamt of Olivia’s story, a fantastical circus on a flying pirate ship, but in place of her mysterious ring leader was Dylan. His smile made my tummy flutter and the warmth of his hand in mine was so real that when I woke much too early I was annoyed it was over. I’d tried to go back to sleep, sink back into my dream, but I gave up and made my way outside to watch the sun rise over the hills despite the icy chill in the air.
Dad walked through the doorway and stepped into his boots, pulling them on.
“Morning,” I said, wondering if he hadn’t noticed me.
“Morning,” he said in a short tone. “Skye!”
Skye bound out from her warm spot in front of the fireplace inside and ran to me for a quick pat before returning to him.
“I’ll be busy most of the day. I have a truck coming tomorrow to pick up some of the cattle.” He didn’t look at me as he spoke.
“Okay,” I replied.
He whistled for Skye to follow and made his way down the stairs.
Was he that ashamed of me he couldn’t look at me or talk to me properly? Is this what having friends meant, I couldn’t have a relationship with my dad?
I swallowed back the tightness forming in my throat as my phone chimed. It was a text from Suzan.
Becca feels like death, but her mum came and got her. She’ll be fine. Why are you up so early?
I could ask you the same. I hope Becca’s ok. I couldn’t sleep.
Too many dreams about Declan? Did he msg?
No, maybe he had too much to drink last night and he’s regretting it today.
Not a chance. He’s been asking about you for the past few weeks. He’ll msg. You like him, right?
I wanted to say, ‘Yes. He’s so cute and sweet and I just want him to hold my hand again.’ Instead I replied, Maybe? I don’t really know him.
“Morning.” Olivia leaned against the wall wrapped in a fluffy pink robe, a steaming mug in her hand. “How’d it get so cold so fast?”
“Welcome to the outback. Melts your skin off in summer and freezes you to death in winter,” I replied.
“Who are you texting?”
“Suzan, she’s just letting me know Becca’s not well, but she’s home,” I said.
“Did you see your dad this morning?” she asked.
“Yes, he couldn’t even look at me. Imagine if I’d had a drink?”
I moved over and placed my book on my lap so she could sit beside me.
“He knows he can trust you. I think he’s got more going on than we realise,” she said.
“I wish he’d talk to me,” I said.
“Maybe you need to tell him that?”
I sighed. “Maybe.”
“She’s my daughter and if I say no in the future, it means no.” Dad growled into his phone.
The cold had crept in as the sun disappeared, but he’d taken the call outside on the deck.
“Should we go into my room?” offered Olivia.
Part of me knew I shouldn’t be hearing the conversation between him and Catherine, but I wanted to make sure he was okay. Since Olivia had pointed out something might be wrong, I couldn’t help but worry. I’d been so caught up with my own life I hadn’t realised Dad might be struggling.
“I want to make sure he’s okay,” I said.
“I’ve got enough going on in my life right now, Catherine. I can’t deal with this,” he said. “I’m not yelling at you. I’m just telling you I’m her parent and from now on I don’t want you interfering with decisions I make. It’s not your place.” A pause. “Don’t cry. Of course I trust your judgement. I know you were trying to do the right thing…”
For a moment I’d been proud he’d stood up to her but as he grovelled and bent to her manipulation, my body tensed and I couldn’t hear any more. “Let’s go to your room.”
Olivia nodded and we made our way to her bedroom, Dad’s voice fading away.
“How does she have so much control over him?” I asked.
“Your dad’s a nice guy and he doesn’t like to upset people.” Olivia sat on her bed and patted the spot beside her.
“He’s quite okay with upsetting me,” I said.
“I don’t think he likes upsetting you. I think he’s struggling to work out how to parent you now you want to go out and live your life.”
I flopped back onto the mattress. “How did everything get so weird and complicated?”
“My entire life is complicated,” she said. “Magical time travelling hot air balloon remember?”
“Have you heard how it’s going?” I asked, realising I also hadn’t checked in on Olivia for a while. How had I become so self-involved?
“No word, but that’s okay. It’s giving Luke time to get his head around it all.”
“How has he been?”
“Better, we had a big talk about what it could mean and what it means for us.”
“What does it mean?” I asked, chest tight.
“I don’t know. I haven’t made any decisions yet. I’m going to wait until it’s fixed and see if there’s a decision to make. If there’s no pull, no magic, then there’s no point in stressing about the ‘what if’s’. At this point, if I have to spend the rest of my life here with you guys and Luke, I’m happy.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you and Dad lately,” I said.
She lay down beside me. “It’s normal for a teenage girl to be wrapped up in her own life.”
“I feel like I’ve let you both down somehow, especially Dad…”
“You two talking about me?” Dad poked his head around the corner.
“All good things,” said Olivia.
I swallowed hard.
“Can we talk Luce?” he asked.
“Of course,” I said.
Olivia patted my knee as I sat up and followed Dad into the lounge where the heat from the fireplace relaxed some of the tension in my limbs. He took his usual seat in the recliner and I nestled into the lounge chair.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t angry at you, I was angry at myself.”
“Why?” I asked.
He shook his head. “For letting you go. That could’ve been you, drunk and s
ick…”
“But it wasn’t, because I followed your rules,” I said.
“I’m also angry at myself for letting Catherine get into my head so much. I love you and trust you, and for some reason the things she says make me second guess myself as a parent and I shouldn’t. The more I listen to her the further away you get.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I sat in silence.
“See, this is weird for us, not to talk. It’s been the two of us for years and we got along fine but now there’s all of this tension and awkwardness.”
“Maybe it’s part of being a teenager?” I suggested.
“Maybe it’s because instead of listening to Catherine, I should be listening to you. You’ve been telling me what you want and need this whole time, but I’ve been doing the opposite because it’s what Catherin said. From now on, I promise I’ll listen.”
My shoulders relaxed and my eyes dampened. “I’d like that. I miss hanging out with you, helping on the farm and joking around. Everything’s so serious all the time. I don’t mind being girly every now and then, but I love helping you out in the shed and around the farm.”
“I know. I’m so sorry Champ.”
I rose from the chair and walked over to him, sitting on his lap like I used to when I was a little girl and hugged him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Suzan approached me wide eyed and full of excitement when she climbed aboard the bus Monday morning. She slid into the seat beside me. “Sam and Dylan want us to sit with them at lunch.”
I hadn’t heard from Dylan since Saturday night and my plan had been to avoid the guy not hang out with him. “You mean Sam wants you to sit with him and you want me to hold your hand?”
“No, Dylan messaged me as well as Sam.”
“So, he messaged you, but not me?”
“He’s not sure how you feel about him so he messaged me so if you don’t like him he can hear it from me and not be embarrassed by hearing it from you.”
“What’s the difference?” I creased my eyebrows.
“I don’t know? They’re boys. They make no sense. You think Becca and Rachel will want to sit with them too?”
Becca had spent the rest of the weekend in bed, and her parents had indeed grounded her for the rest of the year. “I’m not sure Becca will want to see them after the weekend and they aren’t exactly Rachel’s crowd.”
“You’ll come right?” She pouted her bottom lip and raised her eyebrows.
She did really like Sam, and just because I hadn’t heard from Dylan didn’t mean I hadn’t thought of him all weekend. “I’ll think about it.”
“I’m taking that as a yes.” She bounced on the seat.
“What’s so exciting?” asked Mike from across the aisle.
“None of your business,” spat Suzan.
I shrugged at him and he faced the front.
I was right about Becca and Rachel not wanting to sit with the boys. Suzan texted them before we arrived at school and both replied with a very clear ‘no way.’ Suzan had begged me all the way into the school to meet her and I’d agreed. I’d spent the remainder of the morning doing my best to ignore the queasiness in my stomach and the lump in my throat which grew larger the closer I got to the building where I’d told Suzan I’d meet her.
She spotted me approaching and jogged over.
“I thought you might ditch me,” she said.
“So did I,” I replied.
“You wouldn’t do that to me… or to Dylan.”
“Please don’t make it weird,” I begged.
She crossed her heart with her finger. “Promise.”
Taking my hand, she squealed and I shook my head as we approached the group of boys sitting on the grassy hill beside the oval under the shade of a wide Poinciana tree.
“Hey, you came.” Sam stood dusting the grass from his shorts and flipped his fringe from his eyes.
“Of course. I said I would,” replied Suzan.
My eyes landed on Dylan who was facing away from us, talking to Ethan, and everything inside me told me to run. Instead, I stood dead still.
“Lucy?” Sam’s voice cut through the panic.
“Sorry.” I forced a smile. “What’s that?”
“Did you have fun Saturday night?” he asked.
Dylan turned, his warm eyes meeting mine and my stomach fluttered. “Yeah, it was good.”
“Until Becca got drunk and started vomiting,” called out Ethan.
Dylan laughed and fake boxed Ethan who did it in return.
“Come sit down,” said Sam.
Suzan sat beside him on the hill and I took my bag off, placing it at my feet as I sat beside her. I missed Becca and Rachel already. The relaxed banter. The joking about the teachers and the kids in our classes. Instead, I sat in silence, trying not to eavesdrop into Suzan and Sam’s conversations and trying to make sense of the fake boxing and tackling going on between Dylan and Ethan. Both of them said nothing to either me or Suzan. In fact, Dylan was doing everything in his power to avoid eye contact with me, so I ate my sandwich, a packet of salt and vinegar chips and my apple without a word.
I sighed aloud with relief when the bell rang and I packed my stuff into my bag and rose to my feet.
“You’re keen to get to class,” said Sam.
“Yeah, want to get a good seat,” I said.
“I’ll walk with you.” Suzan rose to her feet.
She exchanged a quick kiss with Sam and I averted my eyes to where Dylan and Ethan were passing their bags to each other like footballs. I’d been so stupid to think he’d like me. Suzan probably made up the whole ‘he’s been asking about you for weeks’ so she could hang out with Sam. Why would he want a tomboy from the bush anyway?
“Ready?” I asked Suzan.
“See you next break?” she asked Sam.
“I’ll be here,” he said.
Suzan and I turned to walk away.
My phone pinged in my bag and I dug it out to find a message from Dylan.
I turned to find him looking my way, his face flushed.
“Who’s it from?” asked Suzan.
Dylan ran his hand through his shaggy, dark brown hair and looked to Ethan.
“Dylan.”
“What did it say?” she asked.
We made our way to the concrete path and I opened his message.
Would you like to go see a movie this weekend?
I swear my heart stopped for a moment. Not just skipped a beat, but stopped. He’d ignored me the entire lunch hour and now he was asking me to a movie. Boys made no sense.
“He wants to see a movie with me.” I quirked an eyebrow.
“See, I told you he likes you,” said Suzan.
“I’m so confused,” I admitted.
“What’s so confusing? Dylan asked you to the movies. A date. You should be excited, doing cartwheels, squealing or something. You look like someone just killed your dog.” She linked my arm with hers and started leading me towards class.
“He didn’t speak to me all lunch. I didn’t get a message from him all weekend. But now he wants to go on a date?”
“Boys are a weird species. You’ve met my brother, right?” she said.
Yeah, I’d met Mike. And we had conversations and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. The same emptiness in my stomach I got every time I thought of him now he was with Charity made me nauseous so I swallowed hard.
“Fingers crossed Dad says I can go,” I said.
“Is he freaking out over the whole Becca thing? I know my parents are,” she said.
“He was, but I think he’s okay now.”
“Let’s hope he says yes,” she replied.
“So, I can go?” I asked Dad as we sat at the dinner table with Olivia.
“Yes, but there’s one condition,” he said.
“Which is?”
“Olivia and Luke have to go with you,” he replied.
“I think I can handle that,” I said.
Olivia winked at me across the table, still dressed in her work uniform. “It’ll be fun.”
“And that way Olivia can tell me if this Dylan boy is good enough for my little girl,” he said.
“Dad, I’m not little anymore,” I reminded him.
“You’ll always be my little girl, no matter what age you are.”
The light had come back into his eyes and it warmed my heart to have my dad back.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said.
“And, as payment for me being such a great father, you can do the dishes.” He passed his empty plate across the table to me.
“Of course.” I plastered on the fakest smile I could muster. “I’d love to do the dishes.”
“I’ll help,” said Olivia.
“I’ll go jump in the shower.” He rose from his chair and kissed me on top of the head before leaving.
Olivia piled up the plates. “It’s good to see you two getting along again.”
“It’s good to have my dad back,” I said.
“How do you feel about Dylan?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Confused? He didn’t message me all weekend and didn’t speak to me through either break but wants to take me to a movie. Is that weird?”
“Boys are just weird in general,” said Olivia. “It took ages for Luke to ask me on a real date. Before that he always pretended he needed to check up on me every day even when we both knew I was feeling better. Maybe he’s nervous?”
“He’s making me nervous,” I said.
“And Mike?” she asked.
“What about him?” I asked with a defensive tone.
“Do you still like him?” she asked.
“He has a girlfriend.”
“I didn’t ask that.”
“I don’t know. I’ve pretty much been avoiding him so I don’t have to think about it.”
“Dylan will be a good distraction.” She wriggled her eyebrows at me. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
17
Lucy
Bilstone, Australia
Circus in the Clouds (The Balloonist Chronicles Book 3) Page 13