Romancing the Girl

by Camryn Eyde

  “Make yourself useful and give Sally a hand. She’s got the rotisserie on.”

  Aimee forgot everything at those words. Joey’s mismanagement could wait. “What? Why wasn’t I told?” Nothing was better than a rotisserie meat in her mind, so grabbing a beer, she made haste to the barbeque on the side verandah, laughing when she saw Mitsy was already there soaking up the heavenly smells.

  “Sally, my beautiful sister,” she cooed as she followed the heavenly scent.

  “Oh, hello. Joey told you what’s for tea I’m assuming.”

  “Oh, yes.” Draping an arm around her shorter-statured sister, Aimee gave her a kiss on the temple and sniffed at the cooker.

  “Did you see Brittney then?”

  “She looks like a map of the stars.”

  Sally chuckled. Moments later, her two kids came screaming past on their bikes. Robbie led on the BMX, and little Caroline came flying past on her trike looking very determined. “Hey! Try not to run anyone over!” Sally screamed at them.

  “Yes, Mum,” came the chorus in response.

  “So, how are the love interests going?” Aimee asked. “Did you know one got bitten by a sheep this morning?” Aimee shook her head. “Idiot.”

  Sally laughed. “Well, one has a bruise on their backside, one is covered in bites, and I can only presume the other is faring well enough.” A scream greeted them, and moments later, Robbie came around the corner on his next lap. “Robert James Higson! What just happened?”

  The boy came to a sudden, but sheepish stop. “Umm…Rolly kinda road-killed a bimbo.”

  Sally’s eyes flew wide and Aimee tried not to laugh too loud. Sally swung on her. “Do you hear that? Bimbo! That’s your bloody fault. As for you!” She rounded on Robbie. “Call anyone a derogatory name again, and I will make sure you can’t sit down for a week your backside will be so red. Both of you,” she said, giving Aimee a glare for good measure. “Robbie, go and make sure Caroline hasn’t killed the poor woman. I told you kids to slow down.”

  “It wasn’t our fault. She fell down in front of us.”

  “Fell down?” Aimee asked.

  “Yeah. She came out of the sunroom and tripped over them big spikes she walks on and Rolly ran her over. Bam. It wasn’t our fault,” he repeated in a whine.

  “She tripped on her heels?”

  Robbie shrugged. He was twelve, so to be fair, he probably didn’t care what the hell the woman was walking on.

  “Look after this, will you?” Sally said to Aimee before stalking off to assess the damage.

  “Did she really just fall down?” Aimee asked him.

  “Like a shot rabbit. Rolly hit her straight in the face.”

  Aimee laughed and patted her nephew on the head. “Run away before Mum catches you.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Smiling at her nephew, she watched him bolt for the water tank. His favourite playground.

  “What’s the damage?” Aimee asked when her sister returned ten minutes later.

  “Tiffany is now sobbing in Joey’s arms with a bag of peas on her fat lip.”

  Aimee’s shoulders shook with silent laughter, and after glaring at her for a moment, Sally joined her. Soon they were doubled over with tears streaming out of their eyes.

  “What a circus,” Sally said through her laughter.

  Wiping her eyes as Sally basted the meat again, Aimee caught sight of Justine walking from the shearer’s quarters. She had unfinished business with that woman though she had yet to decide whether she needed to offer an apology or demand an explanation, after all, she hadn’t been the one to instigate that kiss.

  Justine paused when she noticed Aimee’s attention was on her and the two women had a brief staring contest. Justine wrenched her gaze away and continued towards the TV trailer and soon disappeared inside it. Feeling both dread and a spike of excitement as Aimee contemplated the woman inside the trailer full of TV’s and equipment, she downed the remainder of her beer.

  “I better go freshen up. Need beer. Stay, Mitsy.” She caught Sally’s curious look before hurrying away.

  ***

  “What happened out there?” Danny asked as walked in from the carnage in the patio. “One woman was covered in bites, one has an ice pack on her arse, and the other has a bag of frozen peas on her face.”

  “What do you care?” Sally snapped as she threw things into the sink.

  “Bloody hell, can’t a guy ask a simple question?”

  Sally took a deep breath and glared at the dishes, daring them to wash themselves. They didn’t. Yet another disappointment in her life. With a huff, she spoke to the man who had disappointed her the most. “Joey took one of them to the old yards and she was bitten by swarms of bugs. One was bitten by a sheep and the other was run over by your daughter.”

  “In the face?”

  Sally turned to find her husband looking confused. “The woman fell down in front of her. Caroline drove straight into her.”

  Danny looked shocked for a second before bursting into deep laughter. Sally smiled at him. How she had missed that sound. As he fetched a beer from the fridge, Sally looked him over. Still firm and muscly despite his growing age, the man looked exhausted. Dark bags hung under his eyes and his greying whiskers were longer than he usually kept them. Sally was pretty sure she looked just as haggard.

  Popping his beer bottle open, Danny leaned against the kitchen bench. “How are you?” he said quietly.

  Sally shrugged. “As good as I can be, I suppose.”

  He gave her a sad smile. “Look, about what happened, I—”

  “Who ordered rotisserie lamb?” Joey yelled as he came into the kitchen carrying a giant tray of meat.

  Thankful for the interruption and not willing to listen to yet another apology, Sally leapt at the distraction. “I did. Put it over here.”

  Joey put it down, grabbed himself a beer and stood beside Danny. “Where’s Aimee? I thought she’d be hovering over this thing like a blowfly.”

  The three of them looked around to find nothing but silence and their own company.

  “Weird,” Joey said, sipping her drink. “All the more for us, though!”

  Sally shook her head with a smile and instructed the men to carry various bowls out to the patio. Once alone, she looked out the kitchen window to the loft. Surely her sister wouldn’t be too far away.

  Walking back to the kitchen after depositing a plate of pasta salad on the long table on the patio, Justine came in with a faraway look on her face.

  “Hey, you’re just in time,” Sally said.

  “Hmm?”

  “Tea’s on the table.”

  “Oh. Sorry, I was in a world of my own.”

  Sally nodded, raising her eyebrows as she piled sauce bottles and other condiments on a tray. “Did that world have Aimee in it?”

  “What?” Justine said rather defensively.

  “Aimee. Were you plotting her demise?”

  “Oh. No. No plotting for me.”

  “Where’s the lamb!” Aimee yelled as she barged through the kitchen door.

  Sally watched on as the two women gave each other a stiff, awkward greeting. She was certain Aimee just blushed.

  Sally’s frown deepened as her eyes flicked from one woman to the other. She didn’t have time for whatever game they were playing now. “Well, don’t just stand there, make yourselves useful,” she snapped a moment later. Pushing the condiment tray at Justine, she shoved another one at Aimee and braced her hands against the kitchen bench when she found herself alone. Hold it together, she chanted in her head. Patting down her apron, she took a deep breath followed by long, purposeful steps into the fray.

  ***

  “So you’ve got shearing on Thursday?” Sally heard Justine ask her brother when she placed the potato salad on the table between Justine and Aimee. She briefly scanned the area for weapons in case the two women decided to start another battle.

  “Yep. Those sheep don’t like being trapped up for too
long, so we shear as soon as we can. Five o’clock start tomorrow to get the rest of them in the yards.”

  Justine nodded and brought a piece of lamb tentatively to her lips. “So, I was thinking in that case, we could have the film crew in the sheds and maybe get the girls doing some shearing before the real shearing starts?” Justine asked after swallowing her mouthful.

  “Oh! Shearing!” squeaked one of the girls. “I would love to cuddle a sheepy.”

  Sally rolled her eyes as she walked around the table to find herself a plate. Brittney was truly a ditzy child.

  “Not me,” grumbled Amber.

  “I’d like a go at shearing a sheep,” said Tiffany.

  “Out of the question,” Aimee said, answering Justine as her brother indulged the contestants with a smile.

  “I wasn’t asking you,” Justine said, sounding defensive for reasons Sally didn’t understand. Judging by the dark look crossing her sister’s face, it had something to do with Aimee.

  “Well I’m telling you, it’s out of the question. They’re likely to cut the sheep up and I, for one, don’t fancy spending all day stitching them back together. We need to dip them soon, and we can’t do that if they’re injured. I’m not running the risk of any of the pregnant ewes getting an infection. It’s not going to happen. Tell her Joey.”

  Joey cleared his throat. “Maybe they can have a small go, but,” he said loudly over Aimee’s objections. “But Aimee is right. We can’t afford to stress or injure the flock, so they can mostly do skirting and baling.”

  “Thank you.”

  Aimee poked her tongue out at Justine.

  “Mature,” Justine muttered with a scowl.

  “Do we have to go up there at five in the morning? I’d have to be up at three if I want to make myself look presentable,” Tiffany whined around the peas she insisted on keeping on her nose.

  Joey shook his head. “I’ll ask Aimee to take you up after her water run.”

  “What? No.” Aimee shook her head with vigour.

  “Aimee,” Joey growled out, giving her a clear warning to play along.

  “Water run?” Justine asked.

  “She’s checking the bores and troughs in the stocked yards along the western fence to make sure they’re still full and working,” Sally answered for her brother as he conveyed signals to Aimee to cut it out.

  “Oh? Is that something we can film the girls doing?”

  “Sure,” Joey said loudly after Aimee scowled at him.

  Sally froze. What was Joey playing at?

  “No, Joe,” Aimee said, cutting her brother a glare.

  “Unless they know how to ride horseback, then that’s probably not a good idea,” Sally said, widening her eyes at her brother. He gave her a curious frown.

  Justine nodded and looked thoughtfully at Aimee. “Can I come? I can scout potential scenes for the next few dates.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Joey said. Aimee began shaking her head at him, but he chose to ignore her. “There’s some beautiful country out that way.”

  “Can I come too?” Robbie asked from Sally’s side.

  “Joey,” Aimee and Sally said in unison as Joey answered: “Yeah, mate, you can.”

  He frowned at his sisters. To Justine, he said, “Aimee could show you the old ruins.”

  “No,” Aimee snapped.

  God Almighty, Sally fumed. Was his head completely void of thought? Did he not know what tomorrow was? “Joseph Trent Turner!” Sally shouted, cutting in over the top of everyone. Sally screwed up a napkin and pegged it at her brother as everyone else froze. The sudden silence was dizzying.

  “What? What’d I do?”

  “Think real hard brother-dearest.”

  Aimee shoved her plate away. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, it does,” Sally said putting a hand on her shoulder.

  “Shit,” Joey mumbled as realisation dawned on his face. Getting to his feet to lean across the table, he said, “Aimee, I’m—”

  “No. Don’t worry about it. Robbie and I can show the producer the sights. You want me to play nice, then fine, I’ll play nice.” Aimee fixed Justine with an angry look before pouting down at her beer bottle.

  “What is your issue?” Justine snapped.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aimee muttered.

  “You’re acting like someone is trying to take your toys away. Grow up and stop being such a princess.”

  Sally sucked in a breath of air and held it.

  Some of the contestants sniggered.

  The various farm hands and shearers averted their eyes and found a great deal of interest in their beer bottles, for most knew exactly what the significance of tomorrow was, which was more than Sally could say for her brother.

  Aimee pushed back so hard her chair slapped the cobblestones making Sally cringe. Here it comes, she thought. Nuclear Aimee.

  Sally almost fell over with surprise when Aimee whispered, “I’ve had enough. Goodnight.”

  Joey stared up at her looking guilty. “Aimee, I’m sorry, I forgot.”

  “Whatever,” she mumbled, glancing at Justine as she made to leave.

  “Aimee—”

  Aimee held up her hand. “I’m fine. See you in the morning.”

  What was going on with this pair? Sally thought. One minute they were awkward and blushing, the next they were at each other’s throats, and now, now was just weird.

  Rushing to see Aimee before she had a chance to escape, Sally caught her at the kitchen door and said, “Honey, you sure you’re okay?”

  “Oh, I’m just wonderful. He’s letting them shear sheep and he practically ordered me to take sight-seers on to the ruins tomorrow. Tomorrow, Sal!”

  Sally rubbed her hand up and down Aimee’s arm. “You know he understands, okay?”

  Aimee shrugged her touch away. “Yeah, I know.”

  “He just wants you to show her around. Don’t read too much into it, okay?” She was positive Joey had forgotten about the significance of tomorrow’s date thanks to his hormonal urges to mate.

  Aimee took a deep breath and she sagged her shoulders. “Am I really being a princess?”

  Sally rubbed her arm. “Yeah, you are, but tonight, you had a pretty good reason.”

  Aimee took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

  Sally smiled and kissed her cheek. “Go rest up. Maybe you’ll be back to your normal grouchy self in the morning.”

  “Ha, ha,” Aimee said, shaking her head at her sister.

  Watching Aimee leave without barely touching her meal, Sally swung around and scowled at Joey, who shrunk into his seat guiltily. Beckoning him to her with a curl of her finger, she waited in the kitchen for him.

  “Are you insane?” she snapped the moment he entered.

  “Hey, I forgot, okay? It’s been hectic around here.”

  “It’s hectic around here on a daily basis. God, Joey. You know how important tomorrow is to Aimee.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know.” Joey scratched at his short-cropped hair. “It’s been seventeen years, Sal. Don’t you think it’s time she moved on?”

  Sally sighed sadly. “It’s her thing, Joe. It helps her. I can’t imagine what it must be like.”

  Joey was silent for a moment. “Do you think she still has the nightmares?”

  Sally shrugged, recalling how they took it in turns to nurse their young sister in the depths of the night after the death of their parents. “She hasn’t said anything.” Sally shook her head. “Look, Joe, I know you’ve got this romance thing going on, but try not to forget the important things.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not the one you should be apologising to.”

  “Should I tell Justine and Robbie to stay behind tomorrow?”

  Sally gnawed at her lip. “No.”

  “No? Really?”

  Sally nodded, frowning at the curious exchanges she had witnessed behind Justine and her sister. “Yeah. Leave it. Maybe
you’re right. Maybe she needs to start finding a way to move on and I think having Robbie and Justine there will help her.”

  “I get the Robbie thing, but Justine? Aren’t they more likely to go at each other with a pointy stick?”

  Sally chuckled. “Probably.” Searching the fridge for a beer, she handed one to Joey. “How was the date today? I didn’t get a chance to ask with all the damaged noses and swelling bites.”

  Joey glanced at the door leading to the patio and he leaned in close to his twin. “Horrible. I’m not sure Brittney is all there, you know? She told me to burn down the old yards because they’re ugly.”

  Sally chuckled and shook her head. “So who’s next?”

  “Tiffany.”

  “You taking her to the creek again?”

  “Ha. Ha. No. Maybe the sunset over the old shearing shed on the hill. Might get Aimee to take Justine up there tomorrow arvo.”

  That was a nice choice. “Well, good luck to you then.”

  “Cheers.”

  “And don’t forget to apologise to Aimee,” Sally shouted after him as he returned to dinner.

  Chapter Six

  After managing to only coax Kite from the horse paddock and stabling her, Aimee headed to her loft and made headway into organising the next few weeks to take up Joey’s slack. A soft knock on her door made Aimee rise from the couch and had Mitsy wiggling herself inside out with glee and the arrival of a visitor. She opened her door to find Justine on the other side with a jug in her hand.

  “Hi. Is it okay if I come in?”

  Aimee paused for a long time as she considered the wisdom of letting her pass. Mitsy was making a nuisance of herself and kept knocking her backside against Aimee’s knee as she greeted Justine with an overwhelming happiness only a dog could feel. Justine smiled at Mitsy and gave her the attention she craved. Watching the way Justine petted Mitsy relaxed Aimee, and she decided to take the risk and moved aside so Justine could enter.

  “Look, I’m sorry about earlier,” Justine said after putting the jug down and facing Aimee. “I’m not really sure what happened, but judging by the reactions from your brother and sister, it was something profound.”

  Aimee took a deep breath and let it out with a rush. “It’s not your fault my brother is an arsehole. An irresponsible one at that,” she added, looking over at the list of jobs that needed immediate attention.