Liam shook his head. ‘Do women really think that stuff makes a man look twice?’
‘Oh, button it, Liam.’ Jemima took a deep breath and Liam knew she was as nervous as he was about coming home. It had him beat how they had all jumped to Gran’s summons. Maybe it was because she’d never asked them for anything before. They both turned their heads as a black motorbike whizzed around the car, its rider crouched low over the machine.
‘Sebastian, if I am correct.’ Jemima started the car and they were both quiet as they followed the motor bike past the golden wheat paddocks that flanked the long drive to the farmhouse.
Chapter 7
Ralph stirred in his basket and the outside dogs barked on the dirt driveway past the lawn. Lucy jumped to her feet where she and Gran had been watching the news together in the lounge, both tired after a big day of preparing meals and cleaning up. The last round of sandwiches and fruit had been picked up half an hour ago and they were ready to fill the coffee flasks that would keep the night shift of contractors going as they cut hay all night.
‘Someone’s here.’ She glanced over at Gran from the door and the elderly woman held herself still as she lifted a handkerchief to her mouth before she pulled herself to her feet. She strode to the kitchen ahead of Emma.
‘Fool boy’s parked his motor bike on my lawn,’ she muttered and Lucy took a deep breath, feeling a measure of responsibility for talking Seb into coming. A low-slung black sports car, splattered with red mud, pulled up near the gate. As Lucy watched, Jemima uncoiled herself from the driver’s seat and despite the dusk light, dropped a pair of huge sunglasses over her eyes. A rush of emotion flooded Lucy as Liam opened the passenger door and stepped out of the car. She flew down the steps and launched herself at him.
‘Liam,’ she choked out.
‘Luce!’ He picked her up and swung her around before enfolding her in a bear hug. ‘God, I’ve missed you, pipsqueak.’
Lucy’s eyes were wet with happy tears. She and Liam had always been the pair to lead the two younger cousins into trouble. Jemima walked around the back of the car, and Lucy was engulfed in a cloud of expensive perfume as Jemima brushed a couple of air kisses in her direction.
‘Good to see you, Lucy.’ She pointed a languid finger to the car. ‘Liam, see to my bags, will you.’ She stepped back as one of the kelpies brushed past her. ‘Ergh. Look out, dog.’
Lucy looked over her shoulder. Seb was sitting on his bike, his helmet still covering his face. Gran was standing at the top of the steps and Lucy’s eyes pricked with tears as she saw how tightly Gran gripped the railing.
I’m always the peacemaker, she thought as she walked over to Seb and took his arm as he stepped off the bike.
‘Come on, I’ll help you get through this,’ she whispered.
Two hours later, Gran had rustled up the obligatory Sunday night baked dinner, and conversation around the dinner table had been polite, if stilted. The boys stacked the dishwasher while Gran took a shower, and Jemima and Lucy sat together out on the verandah. The only light in the solid darkness of the night was the distant headlights of the headers moving up and down the paddocks in the distance. The bug zapper hissed and spat as suicidal insects threw themselves at the purple light.
‘So I guess it’s the old room share.’ Jemima lifted her glass of iced water and sipped and Lucy noticed that her hand was shaking a little. She wasn’t as calm as she was making out. ‘You and me, Lucy.’
‘Yeah. I guess.’ Lucy looked over at her cousin. Her hair was immaculate, her nails painted a deep fire-engine red and her lipstick appeared untouched despite the meal. ‘You okay, Jemmy?’
‘I go by Jemima, these days.’
‘Okay, then. Are you alright, Jemima?’
She was answered with a sigh and Jemima put her glass down on the old scratched coffee table between the chairs. Gran had asked them to wait out here until she’d showered and she would begin the family ‘meeting’.
‘Yes and no. I hate the tension between everyone and I’m worried about what Gran is going to tell us. I can’t believe we all dropped everything and rushed out here.’
‘I guess we’re worried about Pop,’ Lucy said. ‘He’s always been such a strong, strapping man. I guess we thought he’d live forever.’
‘And Gran, too. She sounded so shaky on the phone, and I got such a shock. She’s aged so much. What can be so important that we all had to be here, while Pop is still in the hospital?’
Lucy shrugged as Liam and Seb walked onto the verandah. ‘I guess we’re going to find out soon. I have a feeling that it’s not good news though.’
The two men pulled up a chair each and the silence was thick. Liam’s jaw was set and Seb stared out into the dark. Lucy couldn’t stand it a moment longer. ‘For goodness sake, you pair. Would you stop circling each other like a pair of roosters? It’s awful.’
‘Ever the peacemaker, Luce.’ Liam glanced over at Seb and held his hand out. ‘I guess that’s the first time we’ve ever done the dishes here without having a blue, hey coz?’
‘Hard to blue without talking.’ Seb looked at him steadily before he took the proffered hand and they shook.
‘That’s much better,’ Lucy said. ‘Now be friendly. We’re all in this together.’
‘Whatever this is,’ Jemima muttered.
‘So how’s London?’ Seb turned to Liam.
‘Cold, noisy, busy.’ Liam leaned back on the sofa beside Lucy. ‘It’s nice to be out here in the quiet.’
Conversation filled the silence as they caught up with each other’s news and waited for Gran to appear.
Finally, Lucy stood. ‘I’m going to check on her, she’s been an awfully long time.’
She walked along the hall towards the bedrooms just as Gran closed her bedroom door and stepped into the hall. Lucy was hit with a waft of Lily of the Valley talcum powder and nostalgia flooded through her. She and Jemmy had always been allowed to borrow Gran’s talc when they were little girls. Gran caught her eye as she held her floral brunch coat tightly across her thin chest but her mouth was set and she was very pale.
‘Are you right, Gran?” Lucy took her arm and noticed how cold her skin was. ‘You’re not sick, are you?’
‘No. I’m fine. Just a bit het up.’
That was a big admission from Gran, and Lucy held her arm as they walked out to the back verandah. She smiled when the boys stood until Gran sat down. They might be a pair of tough guys but they remembered the manners that had been drilled into them all.
Liam sat back down and leaned forward with his hands dangling between his knees. Seb leaned back and stared out into the dark, and Jemima folded her hands in her lap as Lucy sat beside Gran. The silence was broken only by the distant sound of the headers in the far paddocks until Lucy cleared her throat.
‘So. Looks like we’re all here and ready to listen, Gran.’ Lucy kept her tone bright to cover the trepidation grabbing her chest. Was one of the grandparents ill? Were they in financial trouble? A dozen scenarios flashed through her head as Gran cleared her throat.
‘Thank you all for coming out. I appreciate it.’ She nodded to Liam. ‘Especially you, Liam, halfway across the world.’
Lucy ignored Seb’s muffled snort as Liam held Gran’s eye. He was the eldest grandchild and he and Gran had always been close.
‘We’ve not done well as a family. Tragedy dragged us apart and we all dealt with it in our own ways. Losing our three girls’—Gran’s voice was strong—‘almost destroyed Harry and me, but we’ve been remiss in letting you four go your own ways and losing touch with the land.’
She held up a hand before any of them could speak. ‘Oh, I know you’ve made your own lives and you are all doing well, but it’s time to decide what the future holds.’ Drawing herself up in the chair, Gran straightened her shoulders as she looked from one to the other. ‘This property has been in our family for one hundred and fifty years and the thought of it not being handed down breaks your grandfather’s heart.
And mine, but if that is the way it has to be, so be it.’ Again, she held up a hand as Liam and Lucy both tried to interrupt. ‘Wait, you’ll all have your turn to speak in a moment.’
Taking a deep breath, she looked past them. ‘While your grandfather is in hospital, I want a decision made. So when he comes home, it is a done deal.’
Seb caught Lucy’s eye and his face was set. ‘Okay, Gran. Cut to the chase. What do you want from us?’
Surprisingly her eyes were warm as she turned to Seb, the youngest of the cousins. ‘I want to know how strongly you feel about the future of Prickle Farm. How much connection you each have to our land. Oh, I know it’s been eight years since any of you have been out here, but it’s time to put that aside. We’ll always grieve for your mothers, but it’s time for the healing to begin. You’re the generation to make the decision. You four are the future of Prickle Farm.’
‘What decision, Gran?’ Lucy couldn’t help the worry creeping into her voice.
Their grandmother turned to look at each of them in turn. ‘I want to hear what each of you would have to say if I said I had an offer for the farm.’
A cold feeling ran through Lucy’s chest. ‘You’re going to sell it?’ she said with a frown.
‘No!’ Seb jumped to his feet. ‘You can’t sell.’
Lucy didn’t miss the fleeting smile that crossed Gran’s face as she looked at Seb and then turned to Liam. ‘Liam?’
Liam dropped his gaze to the floor and Lucy waited with bated breath until he lifted his head. ‘I’d hate to see the farm pass out of our family.’
A quick nod from Gran as she turned to Jemima. ‘Jemmy, what do you say?’
‘No. You can’t sell.’ Jemima’s face was set in a stubborn frown as she folded her arms.
Finally she turned to Lucy. ‘You probably need to know it’s Garth McKenzie who’s offered to buy it.’
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. Now she knew why Garth wouldn’t come over here for a visit. He wanted to buy the farm? She didn’t know how she felt about that. Knowing the Garth of old, surely it would be to help them out, but now, she wasn’t so sure. A lot of time had passed since then, and now as a landowner himself, maybe he wanted to expand his own property. She was cross that he hadn’t mentioned it last night.
Gran’s face was set and she stared at Lucy. ‘So Lucy? What say you?’
Confusion filled her and she shook her head. ‘Honestly? I don’t know.’
Her grandmother’s face creased in disappointment and Lucy rushed on. ‘I do know I would hate to see the property go out of the family. You’re right, it would break Pop’s heart, but I’m being realistic here. If you do keep it, how are you both going to look after it?’
Gran smiled and stood. ‘I’ve heard what I wanted to hear. Now I want you all to consider something and you don’t need me around to do it. Harry and I have discussed this and if you are all willing to agree, we’ll sign the property over to the four of you—equally—in one year’s time.
‘But there’s conditions attached. For the next year, each of you will spend at least three months living here, learning the ropes and working the farm. If you’re not prepared to do that—all of you in together and agreeing—as much as the idea sticks in my throat we’ll take up McKenzie’s offer.’ She smoothed her hands down her side and tuned to the door. ‘I’ll bid you all goodnight and see you in the morning. Bright and early please, there’s work to be done.’
Gran’s back was ramrod straight as she headed down the hall.
A stunned silence was all she left behind.
Chapter 8
It was Jemima’s idea for them to head to the hot bore down at the back of the property. They grabbed their swimmers and Liam pulled a six pack of beer from the fridge. As Seb drove the old farm truck down the dirt road and turned into the back paddock, they were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Lucy stared through the window as the lights of the McKenzie property glowed in the distance. The muted sound of the headers in the front paddock was overlaid by the rushing of the hot water from the pipe into the gravel-based bore. Jemima and Lucy slipped behind the trees and pulled their swimmers on. By the time they walked across to the hot pool, Seb and Liam were up to their waists, each holding a can of beer above the steaming water.
Lucy slipped into the hot water and floated on her back, looking up at the stars. This was her favorite place in the whole world. At night, the flies and dust and prickles could be put aside and the cattle didn’t come down here past the wheat paddocks. The sky was velvet black, pinpointed with a million pricks of starlight. In the city, you didn’t see the sky like that at night. Peace descended on her and the worry of the proposal she hadn’t worked on receded even further away to the back of her mind.
‘So, what do we do?’ Seb’s voice was deep and echoed across the large expanse of water. ‘She’s sure hit us with it, hasn’t she?’
‘What do you want to do?’ Liam’s lazy voice filled the night. ‘You were the first one to come out with the resounding no, so you must feel strongly about it. ‘
‘I do,’ Seb said. ‘But I don’t know if I want to put my life on hold to make it happen. Do any of you?’
Water rippled as Liam sank into the water and tipped his head back. His dark eyes were shadowed in the starlight and again Lucy picked up a sense that all was not well in his world.
But it was Jemima’s voice that brought the most surprise. ‘I’m in. I can take three months off and come out here. We can’t let Gran sell.’
Liam turned to Seb. ‘And if you want to make it happen, boyo, your life is going to have to be put on hold.’
‘Lucy?’ Seb’s voice interrupted the panic that was building in her chest. The decision couldn’t rest on her alone.
‘Okay, I guess so.’ How could she make a decision like that when she wasn’t sure? ‘But what happens then? We all spend three months here? Who looks after the place when we all go back to our lives? If we have to sell, it might as well happen now.’
‘Still got a soft spot for McKenzie, have you, Luce?’
She almost saw red as Liam’s words reached her. ‘How dare you, Liam. No, I’ve only seen him once in eight years and that was yesterday.’
‘So you already knew about his offer.’
‘No, I didn’t.’ Her voice quivered. She was on the verge of tears. It was so unfair of Gran to put this on them all with no warning. ‘And you haven’t said what you think yet.’
‘Leave her be, Liam.’ Jemima’s voice was quiet. ‘We have to support each other. It’s going to mean some huge changes for all of us if we take this on.’ She turned to Lucy. ‘Can you get time off work?’
‘I’m freelance. As long as I get to the office once a month for the meeting, I can work from anywhere.’
All was quiet apart from the hot water rushing from the wide pipe into the bore as they were each lost in their thoughts. A fat yellow moon hung low above the tree line, and an owl hooted as it flew over the bore. Lucy lay back in the steaming water and looked up at the stars. What did she really want to do? Could she live out here for three months to keep Prickle Farm in the family? And what if none of them wanted to stay?
But where would Gran and Pop go? Mum’s face came into her thoughts. Prickle Farm was the one place where she had solid memories of Mum and her two sisters—her aunts. In happier times. Family holidays, Christmas and many a weekend had been spent out here with the whole family and her three cousins. The three Peterkin sisters had stayed in Spring Downs after they had married. Lucy and her three cousins had all attended the town schools and had been inseparable.
Why had they let the accident drive them apart? Seb was the only one she saw these days. She lowered her feet to the gravel bottom of the bore and looked at each of them in turn. Jemima’s makeup had washed off and she looked like the Jemmy of old. Her cat-like eyes reflected the moonlight as she caught Lucy’s eye and smiled.
Sebastian was staring up at the sky and his mouth was set in a straight line. Lucy
knew him so well and she could sense his confusion from the expression in his eyes. He was the youngest of the four and he’d always been the one whose feelings were easy to read.
Liam’s eyes were hooded and he stared back at her as she looked at him.
‘I’m in. I quit my job to come home and I can work freelance from here for three months too,’ he said holding her gaze steadily. ‘What about you, Lucy. Are you in or not?’
She tilted her chin defiantly and nodded. ‘I’m in.’ Even as she agreed, dread rushed through her. It had been bad enough thinking of spending two weeks out here, how the hell would she cope with three months?
Two hours later, they sat on the grass beside the bore, planning and tossing ideas back and forth. Liam had pulled an old tarp from the back of the farm truck and spread it on the grass to cover the cat’s eyes prickles. The night was still and warm and a slight mist hovered over the water.
‘That’s a great idea, Jemmy.’ Seb’s voice had become more animated the more they had planned.
Jemima ignored the old name and continued with her idea. ‘If we do it in pairs, we’ll be here to support the other and it will be much easier. Three months on, three months off. Gran should be happy with that; she gets each of us for six months instead of the three she stipulated.
Lucy nodded. If there were two at once, it would be easier to deal with things. ‘What about Pop? I wonder why she asked us without him here.’
Seb scowled. ‘Knowing Gran, I’d say Pop knows nothing about it.’
‘No. She said he did and she wouldn’t make a decision like that by herself,’ Lucy protested.
‘She would.’ Liam nodded. ‘As much as I love the old stick, she wears the pants in the family.’
‘She’s worried about Pop,’ Jemmy said.
Lucy stood and put her hands on her hips as the trees rustled above. A slight breeze had come up but it was still hot, and perspiration ran down her back. ‘So who’s first?’ she asked. ‘And then once we’ve done the twelve months, what happens then? What do we do when the property’s signed over? Do any of you really want to live back out here where we grew up? Come on, total honesty, guys.’
Loving Lucy: A Prickle Farm Romance Page 4