The Start of Something New

by Stacey Nash

  Morgan’s heart stalled.

  Just like …

  He inhaled deeper than he’d ever breathed before and forced the air out bit by bit. This was different. She was happy now, not hurting.

  Chapter 7

  Schnitzel, chips ’n’ gravy. Lamb chops, medium, with veg. Hannah recited the order silently, saying it over with each new step. Schnitzel, step. Chips, step. Gravy, step.

  Her gaze caught on Morgan as she made a beeline for the kitchen. The guy looked as if he’d seen a ghost his face was so pale. Their eyes didn’t connect, and worry furrowed her brow, but she had to get the order in before the kitchen closed at eight. It was nearly that time now.

  Chops, step. Medium, step. Veg, step.

  She glanced back at Morgan then pushed through the swinging door and into the kitchen, where Ruby was already working on the first meal. Resting on the bench, Hannah scrawled the Bannisters’ order onto the order pad then tore it off and pushed the paper up under the overhead runner.

  ‘Order in.’

  Ruby grunted in acknowledgement, but Hannah didn’t wait around to see how far off Morgan’s steak was. Instead, she pushed back through the door and strode straight across the restaurant floor, slowing as she reached the bar. Whatever had caused Morgan’s lapse in friendliness seemed to have faded, for he looked at her with that lopsided grin that had caused her many a schoolgirl swoon.

  ‘Tell me, sis—’ He frowned. ‘Sis …’ He pursed his lips. ‘Sis …’ He tilted his head to the side. ‘Nope.’ He shook his head as if the old nickname didn’t sit right. She could have cheered. ‘Tell me, Hannah. What’s new?’

  ‘The cotton gin closed.’

  He lifted his drink and took a long sip. ‘Really?’

  ‘Really.’ She took a glass from the rack and wiped the beaded water from its side, working to keep the sarcasm out of her expression. ‘You wouldn’t believe the ruckus it’s caused. People with crops tied up inside. People who haven’t been paid. People who don’t know if they still have a job. Everyone’s scared.’

  ‘Sounds awful.’

  Hannah nodded then dropped her attention back to the gleaming glass, which she continued polishing. ‘And now there’s this guy who’s showed up all full of—’ she looked over his outfit—all city-like sexy with its suave tailored fit that came with brand names you just never saw in the country, ‘—gusto.’

  Morgan laughed. Actually threw his head back and laughed. Mrs Bannister spun around in her chair and stared at them, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. Instead, Morgan rested his hand on the counter, mere inches from where Hannah stood.

  ‘Remember the time me, you, Jase and Cooper went crayfishing?’

  ‘Yes.’ Hannah looked up from his hand. ‘You’re a dirty rotten traitor.’

  How could she forget? After they’d given up on snaring elusive yabbies Jase had tossed her into the river, clothes and all. Morgan had gone off at him, but then later, when the boys had all stripped down to their boxers and started swinging off the rope into the deep water, he’d done the same thing—scooped up her dripping self and jumped in with her.

  Being held against Morgan’s bare chest had felt nothing like her brother’s hold.

  Morgan tapped his fingers against the wooden counter, just shy of where her white-knuckled grip clutched the glass. Yikes. She set it on the bench before it shattered and plucked another wet one from the tray.

  ‘Then there was that camping trip. Me, you, Jase, Cooper, and who was that girl he was dating?’

  ‘Elsie.’

  ‘That’s right.’ He began tapping again, this time on the side of his glass. ‘You girls were so pissed off.’

  Elsie hadn’t been annoyed at all; she’d spent the entire weekend fawning over Cooper. It was she alone who Morgan had spent the weekend pranking. ‘Probably because someone moved us while we slept!’

  Morgan threw his head back again and Hannah waited, eyebrow raised, until he’d finished cracking himself up. When he’d fallen silent, she said, ‘I had no problem with waking up outside by the fire, cuddled into my sweaty brother.’

  ‘Damn lucky he didn’t get horny and think you were Elsie.’ Morgan shook his head as he smiled. ‘Do you still hang with her? She was your friend first, right?’

  Eyes alight with excitement, he waited for a response but the fun had faded from the conversation for Hannah. ‘I don’t have the time.’

  She dumped the glass on the bench with the other clean ones and left for the kitchen. Closing her eyes to push away the memories smashing her, she pushed through the servery door and sure enough, Ruby was plating up Morgan’s steak. The other meals mustn’t have been far behind, because their empty plates sat under the heat lamp too.

  ‘Kitchen’s closed.’ Ruby pushed the steak towards her. ‘No more orders.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Hannah scooped up the huge plate, careful not to spill any chips over the side, bumped the door open with her bum, then proceeded to place the meal in front of Morgan. She left him alone while he ate, making herself busy turning chairs up onto empty tables, ready for closing. By the time she’d delivered the Bannisters’ meals, there wasn’t much else to do, so she returned to the abandoned glasses.

  ‘What are you doing now?’ Morgan asked, gesturing with his fork. ‘Other than working here?’

  ‘Jase and I run the farm.’ She kept polishing. ‘I’m not long back from uni though.’

  ‘Yeah? What did you study?’

  ‘Agriculture. Well, a Bachelor of Rural Science.’

  They chatted away while she kept cleaning, Morgan’s empty plate pushed to the side as he leaned back on his stool. Somehow conversation came easy, almost like it had been for her in school when she’d had lots of friends. The Bannisters finished up, paid their bill, and left. Ruby exited the kitchen through the servery door, waved cheerio and headed home. Still, Hannah and Morgan kept talking—reminiscing about their teenage years, laughing about Jase’s antics—as if they were friends. As if five years hadn’t passed without a single word.

  It had just been the two of them for some time when Jonno, the barman, popped his head through the door that joined the bistro to the main bar. ‘Everythin’ all right in here, Hannah?’

  ‘Sure. I’m just finishing up.’

  Jonno held her gaze, weighing it, as if to double check. Hannah nodded. He nodded in return then retreated to his station in the main bar. Feeling a little guilty for lingering whilst on the clock, she piled all the clean middies in the rack underneath the counter and tossed her polishing rag in the wash bin. ‘I’m going to have to kick you out,’ she told Morgan. ‘The main bar will be open a while longer, so if you pop in there Jonno’ll look after you.’

  ‘That’s okay. I’m ready to hit the hay anyway.’ He stepped down off the stool and plopped his long-empty glass on her side of the bar, then moved to stand by the dying fire.

  ‘Night then.’ Hannah reached under the counter to grab her purse. She turned her back to flick off the lights, but frowned upon noticing Morgan still standing there, hands in his fancy-pants pockets and surround by upturned chairs.

  A strange warmth filled her chest, one that had been growing throughout the night. She plucked her keys from their pocket in the side of her bag. ‘Thanks for turning up the last two.’

  The fire was almost dead, just a few prods with the poker to break up the embers and she called it snuffed.

  Morgan moved towards the door and pulled it open, sweeping his hand forward to indicate she should exit. After Hannah emerged into the main bar, she kept walking slowly while he fell into step beside her. ‘You should drop by and see Jase. He’d love to catch up.’

  ‘I’ll do that,’ he said as they reached the main entry to the pub. This time she beat him to it and pulled open the heavy door, waving him through before her. Air rushed in the doorway, almost pushing Hannah back with its chilly force. As their feet hit the pavement, Morgan said, ‘Where’s your ride?’

  ‘Over there.’ Hannah
pulled her jacket around herself, nodding towards her ute, one of only two cars in the parking lot. ‘Night, Morgan.’

  ‘See you later.’ He didn’t budge, so Hannah made the first move, striding towards her lonely car, which she beeped open with the remote.

  ‘Hannah!’

  She paused, one foot inside the cabin.

  ‘It was good to see your smile.’

  Grinning, she climbed inside and rubbed cold-numbed fingers against her legs before forcing them to start the engine. A sneaky peek from the corner of her eye revealed Morgan frozen in place, watching her. She wasn’t sure if she should wave, or even if everything was okay. Maybe he needed a ride. Maybe she’d better ask. She pulled out of the parking space, ready to drive up beside him, but Morgan turned away and strolled down the street. The warmth in her chest spread even further.

  The drive home passed just as quickly as the shift. Sitting on her bed in her PJs, it felt as though Hannah had driven to work, blinked, and was now home, showered and ready for sleep. Time had never moved so fast.

  Yawning with abandon, she dragged herself up to turn out the light and there, sitting on her white-washed dresser, was Morgan’s shiny business card. If his number was in her phone she could pass it on to Jase. Nodding as if allowing herself permission, Hannah plucked the card and her phone off the timber bureau then shuffled back over to bed, where she flopped onto the soft mattress and entered his number as a new contact. Ever since he’d bounded through the front door of their home nine years ago, Hannah had wished for this very moment. The one where Morgan realised she was a girl, not just another one of the boys.

  It had been sometime around the middle of Jase’s high school years when Hannah had been in grade seven and Morgan had jumped off the bus right behind her big brother, announcing he was staying for the weekend. He’d barely left after that. The two of them had been good mates. Best mates. To this day, Morgan was probably the closest friend Jase had ever had. They hadn’t kept in contact after he moved though, so hopefully things wouldn’t be weird.

  She’d give Jase the card when she next saw him. Morgan was his friend after all.

  Chapter 8

  Hannah generally kept trips to town to a minimum, jamming all the errands into one of her biweekly trips. Yet lately, every time she had a few farm-focused days planned, something happened to disrupt them—an extra shift at the bistro, medication for Pop, sick sheep, a broken siphon. Some people would call it Murphy’s Law, but maybe it was really procrastination. A trip to town was far more appealing than balancing books that were dangerously close to the red.

  A plastic smell tainted the air of Mindalby Hardware. Walking down the aisle, Hannah found what she needed and picked up a piece of piping from a shelf that held only three lengths. Maybe she should take all of them for good measure. It couldn’t hurt to have a spare tucked away.

  ‘Hannah.’ Courtney Clifton clopped over to the counter from the far wall. ‘Is it nice out there today?’

  Hannah plastered on a fake smile. ‘It’s not bad.’

  Even though the woman had never been anything but pleasant, an unpleasant shiver slithered over Hannah. Just knowing she shared a bed with that creep … Resting a hand on the counter, Hannah pivoted to glance back down the aisle. ‘I need to grab those three five-metre lengths of one-point-six irrigation piping.’

  ‘Did you blow a few syphons?’

  Hannah looked back to the sales assistant. ‘Just the one, but you know how it is …’

  ‘That’ll clear me out.’ Courtney jammed her hand in her apron’s pocket. ‘Are you paying in cash?’

  ‘Just pop it on the account.’

  Shifting her RM Williams to rest one foot atop the other, Courtney answered, ‘We’re putting a stop on overdue accounts, sorry.’

  Hannah’s hand fell against her side. ‘It’s a hundred bucks worth of plastic. Come on, you know where I live.’

  ‘Burton Park has an outstanding debt. I’m sorry, Hannah. I can’t give away stock without payment.’ Frowning, Courtney bit her bottom lip. ‘With things the way they are around town, it isn’t in our best interest.’

  Hannah turned and walked right out the wide open glass door. Facing Courtney always made her feel as if she were looking across enemy lines. Surely the woman hadn’t imposed this ban just on her. Inside the ute, she pulled out her phone, scrolling to find Cooper’s number. Her brother picked up after only a few rings.

  ‘Little sis.’

  ‘I’m having troubles at the hardware store. You got an account here?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Can I …’ Closing her eyes, Hannah drew a calming breath. The crop was almost ready to harvest; fixing broken irrigation could wait. Cooper probably couldn’t afford to give her a loan, not with business being so slow. ‘Doesn’t matter.’

  ‘What’s wrong with your account?’

  ‘Don’t worry. I shouldn’t have called.’

  ‘Hannah, if you need it, get it.’

  ‘Coop—’

  ‘Now, li’l sis. Then call around with some tucker. I’m at a job on Burton Park Drive. You’ll see the truck as you drive past.’

  Returning for the pipes was a hit to her pride, but Hannah wasn’t about to let that affect the farm. When she reached the counter, she pulled every last scrap of cash out of her wallet and told Courtney Clifton, ‘Just the one today.’

  The other woman gave her a soft-eyed smile full of sympathy Hannah didn’t want to receive. After she’d rung the sale through Hannah lugged a length of pipe out to her vehicle. It seemed odd that someone nice like the sales assistant could wind up married to a scumbag like Andy Clifton.

  Hannah swung by the bakery and grabbed a few pies. By the time she found Cooper’s grey Hilux sitting out front of an old house, her thoughts about Courtney Clifton were swirling. She cut the engine and dropped her forehead onto the steering wheel, drew in a deep breath and—

  Flinched at a banging on the window.

  Her pulse jumpstarted to a quicker beat, and she cursed at the sight of Cooper peering in her window. Smelling like sweat and hard work, he opened the door and leaned across her, scooping up the grease-stained paper bag. She pushed his grossness out of her face and climbed out of the car.

  ‘Twin thing,’ he said before she could ask how he knew she’d arrived.

  ‘They blocked our account.’

  ‘You think it’s just Burton Park?’

  ‘Course not.’

  ‘Can’t lie to me, little sis. I can read it in your eyes.’ Cooper reached behind her and pushed the car door closed. ‘Come, hang while I work. I’ve gotta get this job done, and without half my tools it’s a bitch.’

  Hannah followed her brother into the restored Victorian. She’d walked past this old place plenty of times; it was perfectly gorgeous. Goodness knew what else could be left to renovate.

  ‘Watch out for the ladder,’ Cooper warned.

  Hannah stepped around a rickety stepladder. ‘Is that an antique?’

  ‘Funny,’ Cooper said.

  He led her into a high-ceilinged living room where Mick was hunched over a toolbox laid out on the polished cedar floor. He tossed a spanner aside. ‘The bloody volt tester’s in the good toolbox.’

  ‘Friggin’ hell. We can’t do a single bloody job without the proper shit. I’m over it. Don Carter better watch his back. The next time I see that bastard—’ Cooper clenched his fist, crumpling the paper bag.

  Hannah sighed. Sometimes it felt as though the entire town was suffering with the loss of the gin. Hopefully Coop would manage until things got ironed out. Her brother fished his pie from the bag and chowed down.

  ‘There’s one for you too, Mick,’ Hannah said.

  ‘Did you get what you needed?’ Cooper asked between bites. ‘What were you doing at the hardware, anyway? Doesn’t Jase generally handle that?’

  ‘Jase was busy.’

  Cooper nodded, his lips pressed together and eyebrows raised as if surprised.

 
‘What? I’m not some porcelain doll, Coop. I can handle seeing Courtney Clifton.’

  ‘And if her husband had’ve come in?’

  ‘I could’ve handled that too.’

  Coop scoffed. Hannah shot him a glare. It had been almost seven years since that party, she was definitely over everything about that night.

  ***

  Hannah walked into a mess. She shouldn’t have gone running off this morning when there was so much business to take care of, but she’d needed to replace that siphon. When she entered the house to get changed before heading out to check the sheep in the west paddock, she wasn’t prepared for what she found. Jase pacing around the twelve-seater dining table, where he had paperwork spread over its entire surface. Both the landline and his mobile phone were in her brother’s hand. Her mother sat at the table and Pop was noticeably absent.

  Hannah paused in the doorway, looking from her mother’s ashen face to her brother’s flushed one. Neither of them noticed her. She cleared her throat, but the silence cloaking the room was so thick not one or the other appeared to hear her.

  Jase’s phone rang. He stopped in his path then glanced at their mother before answering. ‘Jason Burton.’

  A short pause.

  ‘Ardmax, good to hear from you.’

  His expression flattened as he listened. Hannah’s mother met her stare with a pinched brow and pursed lips.

  ‘That’s a rumour. The place is set to reopen, and if it doesn’t that won’t affect your cotton. We—’

  Jase’s teeth pinched his bottom lip as he listened.

  ‘I’m sorry to hear that, but you have to understand, Rich, this is a direct sale agreement. You can’t just—’

  ‘Look, it may set us back a week, maybe two on the second half of your order. But the first one’s ready to go now. We’ll get it to you any day now. I promise—’

  Jase’s lips smacked shut; his eyes fumed. Kate dropped her head into her cradled hand. They all knew that Ardmax wasn’t getting his bales until the gates of Mindalby Cotton were unlocked. Both women waited in silence while Jase listened to whatever Richard Ardmax was saying. Hannah took the free moment to glance over the paperwork, and her heart dropped into her stomach at the sight of all their sales for the season laid out. Accounting for eighty percent of the crop, Ardmax was their biggest buyer, and his first shipment of bales were due in a week. She’d known the exchange date was looming, but crikey, seven days was impossible when half their harvest wasn’t even at the gin yet.