Romancing the Girl

by Camryn Eyde

  Justine held up her hand and glared at Aimee. “You’ve discussed this with my son without consulting me first?”

  “What? No!” Aimee’s eyes were wide and her breathing shallowed. Guilt at how easy and wonderful Aaron was making it sound invaded her chest.

  “You think you can just come in here and spring this on me?” Justine continued. “You stole my son away this morning to parts unknown, I might point out. I trusted you with him, and this is how you repay me?”

  “But—”

  “You don’t have the right to build up his hopes like that.”

  Aimee rapidly shook her head. “I didn’t, he—”

  “Is a thirteen-year-old impressionable child, who—”

  “Enough!” Aimee said, slapping her hand on the counter. “Yes, Aaron is keen to move to the station, but no, I didn’t discuss it with him. Like you said, he’s thirteen. He’s a teenager and they dream big. You need to remind yourself that he talks to Robbie all the time, who has obviously told him about what it’s like living out there. I would never encourage him like that. He’s your son, Justine. I would never interfere with that.” Aimee filled her lungs and stepped back after having her say. Aaron looked stunned but impressed, and Justine just looked angry. Aimee snatched her car keys from the end of the counter. “I know your life is here, and I also know mine isn’t.” Aimee heaved out an exhale.

  “Aimee…” Justine said, raising a hand towards her, but quickly letting it drop to her side.

  “I’m sorry,” Aimee said, and walked out of Justine’s house feeling as though her dreams had just died. Needing space, Aimee climbed into her car and left. With nowhere to go but Yarrabee Station or Armidale, she headed west out of the city. Pulling over for fuel at Richmond before traversing the mountains guarding the city’s western flanks, her phone beeped. It was a message from Justine.

  I’m sorry :(

  Aimee huffed out a breath and dialled her number.

  “Aimee?”

  “Hi.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Richmond.”

  “You’re heading home?”

  Aimee shut her eyes and brushed a hand through her hair. “Yeah.”

  Justine sighed at the other end. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I…I’m just sorry.”

  “It’s fine. It was bound to come up sometime, right? You have a job and a home in Sydney, and I belong at Yarrabee.”

  “And none of that matters to me. You matter.”

  “So, what, you plan to catch up every other weekend? I’m not going to be in Armidale anymore. This was the last weekend we really had. I can’t just take off at the drop of a hat.”

  “I was never going to ask you to.”

  It was Aimee’s turned to sigh.

  “Will you please come back?”

  Aimee rubbed her hand down her face. She had more than five hours in front of her to reach Yarrabee in the state’s central west, and Justine’s place was only an hour back. The afternoon sun glared at her through the front windscreen. “I never told Aaron you should move to the station.”

  “I know.” Justine sighed softly. “He told me rather frankly about what you talked about after you left. He’s not very happy with me at the moment.” She sighed again. “Please come back and talk to me? We still have tomorrow before you have to go back. I don’t want to waste it.”

  Pinching the bridge of her nose, Aimee relented. “Okay. I’ll be an hour or so.”

  “Thank you, Aimee. I…see you soon?”

  “Yeah.”

  ***

  She felt like a naughty dog walking back up the front path to Justine’s door. With a figurative tail wedged firmly between her legs, she knocked and waited.

  “Hi,” Justine said, smiling and holding the door open.

  “Hi.”

  “Come in.”

  “Thanks.”

  Uncomfortable with the formalities, Aimee crossed the threshold and waited for further instruction.

  “Wine?” Justine asked.

  “Something stronger, I think.”

  “Good call.”

  Walking to the kitchen, Aimee looked again at the cleaned pool now glowing under the spotlight.

  “Here.” Justine handed her a rum and coke and led them to the kitchen table. “Aaron went to a friend’s place for the night.”

  “Okay.”

  They gave each other a shy smile and sipped at their glasses, and Aimee grimace at the burn of the strong liquor on her tongue. Silence surrounded them for a while before Justine huffed and slammed her glass to the table top. “This is ridiculous. We’ve argued before. In fact, today was tame in comparison. Why does this feel so hard?” Justine’s frustration tapered off at the end and her voice sounded dejected.

  “I don’t know.”

  Justine put her elbows on the table and shoved her head into her hands, covering her face and sighing. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Aimee shifted to the chair closest to Justine and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Neither do I.”

  “We knew this was coming.”

  “I know.”

  Lifting her head, Justine looked at Aimee, making Aimee’s insides squirm with the intensity of it. “I’m in love with you, Aimee.”

  The oxygen evaporated from Aimee’s lungs and a strange burning replaced it. Eyes flicking back and forth between Justine’s, she had no idea how to respond. She had never said those words before. Not to anyone that wasn’t family. Feelings exploded within her, but she couldn’t make hide nor hair of them. She didn’t know what the protocol was but figured she needed to at least say something. Sucking in some air and about to respond, Justine stilled her lips with a finger.

  “It’s okay.” Justine shook her head slowly. “You don’t need to say anything.”

  Aimee’s gut twisted. She didn’t have the words, but she sure as hell had the feelings. Lurching forward, she pulled Justine to her and kissed the breath from her lungs. With an urgent need for oxygen, Aimee was forced to pull back a short while later. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”

  “Okay,” Justine said, nodding against Aimee.

  “Together?”

  Justine nodded again.

  Taking a deep breath, Aimee studied Justine’s face. Tucking her hair behind her ear without being hindered by the glasses she was so used to seeing now, Aimee let out a long sigh. “Christmas is just around the corner. We’ll see each other in a couple of weeks.”

  “I know.” Justine put a hand over the one Aimee left resting on her cheek. “And after that?”

  “After that, we make do. We figure it out as we go along. I…umm…I…” Aimee huffed, frustrated that the words she wanted to say remained on the tip of her tongue.

  Justine smiled at her. “I know, honey,” she whispered. Leaning over, she kissed Aimee. “I know.”

  Aimee shook her head. She was determined to get the words out this time. Cupping Justine’s cheeks, she made those amber eyes the focus of her attention. “I love you.”

  Justine seemed to melt beneath Aimee’s hands and they stopped wasting what was left of the weekend.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Summer apparently came early at Yarrabee Station. The green blush of the fields that Aimee had left behind a few months earlier had wilted and softened into a yellow dry blanket. Sheep and lambs dotted the hills happily grazing on the drying vegetation. Travelling over the dirt roads that took her home, she rolled down the window, inviting the smell of fresh air into the air-conditioned cab. Breathing deeply, she inhaled the comfortable heat and the fragrance of home.

  The familiar scents gave her hope. She was coming home, and here she would be able to cope with the loss of Justine’s company. Her mouth twitched up in a smile as she remembered their morning. Wrapped safe in each other’s arms, they had woken lazily and came together tenderly before Aimee reluctantly left their bed.

  As soon as Aaron finished the school term, they were coming to the station. “Just a few more
weeks,” she told herself.

  Arriving at the homestead mid-Monday afternoon with the new filly behind her in the horse float, Aimee emerged from her car and puffed out a breath of air. She was instantly set upon by a brown and white wiggling mass of fur.

  “Hello, girl. Miss me?” Aimee said, giving her dog an enthusiastic welcome. “Hey, girl? Miss me, did ya?” she said, rubbing the dog vigorously on the stomach when Mitsy rolled to her side and threw her legs into the air.

  “Aimee!” Sally said a second before enveloping her sister in a bone-crushing hug. “We’ve missed you!”

  “Aunty Mee! Aunty Mee!” Caroline called as she ran across the dusty yard.

  Laughing, she returned the hug to her sister then swung her niece high in the air. “Hi, Rolly.”

  “Did you bring presents?” the toddler asked seriously when she was returned to the ground.

  Sally rolled her eyes. “I swear, manners and my children are like oil and water.”

  Chuckling, Aimee reached into the car and pulled out a wrapped box. Reading the tag, she said, “This is addressed to a Miss Caroline Higson. Sally, do you know who that is?”

  “Me! Me! Me!” Caroline cried.

  “Oh, but I thought your name was Rolly?”

  “No, silly! It’s Caroline Rolly Higson.”

  “Ah. Well, then. I think this is yours.”

  Taking the gift, Caroline tore into it and squealed when a new doll was revealed. She sprinted across the yard, eager to introduce it to her collection.

  “You spoil her,” Sally said as she watched her daughter.

  “Nah.” Wrapping an arm around Sally, Aimee pulled her against her. “It’s good to be back.”

  “It’s good to have you back. It’s been…unusual without you around.”

  Smiling at her sister, Aimee let her go and attended to the horse float.

  “Who have we here?” Sally asked when the black-brown filly was revealed in all its skittish glory.

  “This…” Aimee said, struggling as the filly bucked and shied away from them. “Is Nameless.”

  “Nameless?” Sally crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “And why is does the horse that doesn’t have a name here?”

  “She’s my new horse…sort of.”

  Sally’s arms dropped to her sides. “You bought a horse?”

  “Ah…obviously.” Aimee shook her head at Sally and gently guided Nameless to the stables.

  “Does Joey know?” Sally called out.

  “Nope.”

  Grinning, Aimee entered the stables. The darkened interior spooking the filly even more than the long, bumpy ride in the float. “Hey…shh…” Aimee said softly, trying to rub the young horse’s nose. It flinched its head away and Aimee dropped her arm, but continued to soothe the animal with her voice until it stopped shuffling about in panic.

  “This is Kite. She’s old, a bit of a know-it-all and currently pregnant with her third foal,” Aimee said, introducing the young horse to her neighbour when she was finally able to coax her inside. “She’s a hussy, and I suggest you don’t take any romantic advice from her.”

  Kite walked over curiously, sticking her head over the front stall wall, and sniffed at the air filled with the scent of the new horse. The yearling reared back slightly, nervous that a large grey mare just snorted at the air around her.

  Chuckling, Aimee settled the horse into her stall and went to find Sally.

  “Here,” Sally said, handing Aimee a steaming cup of coffee as soon as she came into the kitchen.

  “Thanks.”

  “Come on, let’s sit,” Sally said, walking out to the side verandah. The south side was protected from the heat of the sun and afforded them a view over the rolling valley. As far as the eye could see was tall yellow grass, dark green trees and shrubs marking the lines of the valleys and watercourses, and a deep blue sky watching over them all. Throughout the day, the picture would saturate with colour, before being washed out by the brilliance of the midday sun, only to deepen once again into rich gold and green hues only the setting sun could supply. Their family had purposely avoided erecting sheds or fences on this side of the house so the beauty of the landscape could be appreciated on idle afternoons. With a sigh, Aimee soaked it in.

  “Where is everyone?” she asked her sister after taking a sip of coffee.

  “All over the place. Gav and Matt are out fencing the new paddock. The roos knocked down a boundary fence last week. We lost a few sheep through the hole before we realised, so Danny took Robbie out to track them down this morning.”

  Aimee nodded. Danny was a phenomenal tracker and knowing he was passing that knowledge on to Robbie made her smile. “I bet Robbie’s loving that?”

  Sally chuckled. “He was up and had the horses saddled by daybreak. Practically dragged his dad out of bed.”

  “How did Miss Gerhardt appreciate her student being snatched away?”

  Sally shrugged. “She’s not here. Robbie finished his exams last week and she asked for leave.”

  Aimee raised her eyebrows. “Really? She left the station?”

  “Apparently her sister is visiting and they’re meeting on the Gold Coast.”

  “Sister? I never knew she had family.”

  “You didn’t know her first name, so I’m hardly surprised.”

  “She will always be Miss Gerhardt to me.” Aimee looked around the immediate vicinity. “So where’s Joey and the new blushing bride?”

  “He went to Tracey’s wedding.”

  The cooling dark liquid Aimee had been swallowing came spraying from her mouth. Wiping her lips dry, she said, “He went to her wedding?”

  Sally nodded. “Yeah. He wasn’t planning to, but Amber convinced him.”

  “Amber?” Aimee shook her head. “So how long did their romantic dream last for? One week? Two?”

  “Joey proposed to her.”

  “They’re engaged!” Aimee looked wide-eyed at her sister, waiting for the punch line. None was forthcoming. “You’re serious?”

  “Very.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why is he marrying her?” Aimee gasped. “He knocked her up, didn’t he?”

  Sally refused to meet her eyes, which answered the question loud and clear.

  Aimee didn’t know where to go with that news, so she slumped back into the chair and cradled her mug. “Wow,” she said on a breath. “Wait. Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

  Sally bit her lip. “Joey asked me not to say anything. In fact, I haven’t. So don’t you dare let on that you know until you see him.”

  “But why? This is big news.”

  “Honestly? I think he’s embarrassed.”

  “Because he’s marrying a desperado?”

  Sally chuckled before she could contain herself. “No, and stop that.”

  “Well, why then?”

  Sally shrugged. “You’re going to have to ask him that.”

  So she did. Two days later.

  ***

  Her brother and his fiancée arrived just before lunch. Aimee noticed the plume of dirt announcing his return on her way back from checking the bores and troughs in the stocked paddocks. Smiling to herself, she clicked her tongue and urged her mount to hurry it along.

  “Joseph,” Aimee said, walking into her brother’s office.

  “Aimee. Hi.”

  “So…I see Amber is still here,” she said, having heard the woman heaving in the bathroom on the way through the house. “Is she car sick?”

  “Uh…” He shrugged.

  “So…” Aimee said, sitting on the edge of his desk. “She’s the one huh?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Nodding, Aimee fingered some of the paperwork on the desk. “And Tracey?”

  “Is now Mrs Chambers.”

  “I see.”

  Joey continued opening the mail piled on the desk.

  Aimee heard him grunt and looking over at the envelope he was holding, she saw the familiar
crest of Kevin’s horse stud. Oh, crap.

  “Well, I’ve got stuff to do. Catcha.” She slipped off the desk and made for the door.

  “Don’t you dare!”

  Aimee cringed and turned around.

  Joey held up the letter. “You bought a horse!”

  “Hmm?”

  He slapped the invoice to the desk. “Why are we now the proud owners of a filly?”

  About to explain why she bought the horse for Justine and admit to her brother that she wanted the woman in her future, she only managed to get out, “She’s an investment. I—”

  “Into what! Have you completely lost the plot! First, you send thousands of dollars down the drain when the stud covered Kite, and now you’re spending more than that on a bloody pedigree filly! What the hell, Aimee!”

  “Firstly, it’s not my fault Handsome Boy got out and mounted Kite. Secondly, you’re still getting a foal out of him, and thirdly, another pedigree stallion is coming to cover the other mares. Free of charge, I might add. So shove the attitude, Joe.”

  “Shove the…” Joey growled. “I’ve had it up to here with you,” he said, indicating a level with his hand. “Sending you off the property was supposed to help you grow up, not invite you to spend money we don’t have on horses we don’t need. And another thing!” he said, picking up a file buried under other documents on the desk. “What’s with the fuel bill? Armidale is a small town, so explain to me why you’re spending hundreds of dollars on diesel from places all over New South Wales.”

  “If you’d listen, I’d tell you, however, you’re too busy flipping out on a power trip.”

  “A power trip? Jesus. I’m not putting up with this shit anymore, Aimee. We can’t afford this. You’re taking that filly back right now.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  “Actually, I do.” With a deep breath, she said, “Take the money for the horse and fuel from my trust account. That’s what I had planned to do anyway, if you’d thought to ask like a regular person.”

  “What?” Joey blinked in surprise. The money Aimee set aside with regular payments over her lifetime was her nest egg. Her future. She had guarded her growing funds bitterly, refusing to touch them until they were large enough to fund a new breeding plan she had been planning for years.