Lucy went to bed but she tossed and turned as she thought about what Liam had said. But his well meaning advice didn’t change her mind. The lights of Gran and Pop’s Lexus flashed along her window and she climbed out of bed and slipped a pair of loose long pants on over her pyjamas.
‘Hey, Luce. You’re up late.’ Pop was almost as sprightly as he had been years before as he crossed the kitchen and topped up the jug. ‘Cuppa?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘Everything okay, love?’ Gran patted her hand as she sat at the table beside her while Pop rattled around the cupboards reaching for cups and saucers as the jug came to the boil.
‘Gran, I have a huge favour to ask.’ Lucy managed to keep her voice steady.
‘Anything, pet.’ She looked up at Pop as he took the milk from the fridge. ‘Harry, there’s some of that lattice slice in a Tupperware container on the bottom shelf. I think Lucy needs some cheering up.’
She waited until Pop joined them at the table and Gran pushed the slice over to her. Lucy shook her head. ‘No thanks. I’m putting on weight with all this country cooking. My clothes are getting tight. Too much good food and not enough exercise.’
‘Well, I’m having some.’ Pop picked up a piece of slice and smiled at her as he chewed. ‘So what’s the favour?’
‘I know we changed what Gran had asked for originally, and said we would stay for three months and then come back after the others had their turn, but I need to go back to Sydney.’ She rushed on quickly. ‘I need to go back and do some work. I’ll come back later in the year and I’ll stay longer after Jemmy and Seb go back.’
Pop and Gran exchanged a knowing look.
‘You really don’t need me here. All I’m doing is cooking and filling cake tins and helping’—she picked up her cup and took a sip of tea as her voice threatened to break—‘and helping Garth get his garden in order. And that wasn’t really part of the deal, and I’m not pulling my weight anyhow, and you really won’t—
‘Lucy.’ Gran’s voice was firm and she took Lucy hand. ‘You can do whatever you want. We’re not going to hold you to that silly idea I had. I was so worried none of you would even come back, I was too hard on you all setting conditions. Pop and I know you all want to keep the place, and whatever happens we’ll work it out.’
Tears filled Lucy’s eyes. ‘Oh, Gran, really?’
‘Really.’ Gran looked at her with shrewd eyes. ‘Although I’m surprised. I really thought Jemmy would be the one to go. I thought Garth McKenzie would be the one to keep you here.’
Chapter 20
Lucy stood on the corner of King Street and Enmore Road waiting for the pedestrian light to change to red. She was on her way up to the Enmore Theatre to meet with the director about some flyers for the upcoming production of Hamlet. The traffic roared past along the busy road to her right and the roar of the trains mingled with the sounds of the cars in sensory overload. She closed her eyes and opened them straight away as someone jostled her from behind and almost pushed her into the traffic speeding past.
‘Watch it,’ she snapped. But the guy had his phone glued to his ear and didn’t even acknowledge her warning.
The traffic fumes mingled with the greasy smell of the McDonalds on the corner and she put her hand to her mouth as her stomach roiled. Ever since she’d come back to Sydney her stomach had been sensitive, and she’d been Googling water parasites, convinced she’d picked up a bug or something in the dam at Prickle Farm. The light changed and Lucy stepped out with the crowd of people to hurry across the road. Horns blared and water splashed up her legs as a motorbike rider wove his bike illegally through the red light and hit a puddle as he passed her.
‘Moron.’ She shook her fist, shaking at the near miss. She reached the footpath and turned left heading for the theatre. As she passed the Turkish pizza place a few shops along, her stomach churned again as the strong smell of garlic wafted out. This time, her breakfast rose to her throat and she rushed to the gutter, bending over as she lost the contents of her stomach.
‘Ugh, gross.’ A couple of schoolgirls ran past and giggled as Lucy clung to the light post, her head spinning.
She pulled her water bottle from her back pack and took a swig when the nausea had passed. That was it; she wasn’t getting any better. She needed to see the doctor as soon as she could get an appointment. Awful pictures of tape worms, hookworms and roundworms had stayed in her mind since she’d researched farm parasites on Google.
Lucy sighed as she turned into the foyer of the theatre. She’d been back at work three weeks and her motivation was non-existent. Seb had tried to get out of her what was wrong but she wouldn’t be led down that path.
‘Just the weather,’ she’d said when he told her she was looking peaky. He’d been surprised when she’d bowled into the office as soon as she came back from the farm, and he was full of excitement about his upcoming stay out west. He was sitting on the chair in her cubby hole when she came back from the theatre and threw her bag on the bench that ran along the wall.
‘Bloody traffic is horrendous today,’ she muttered.
‘You’re in a good mood.’
Lucy pushed her hair back from her face. Her fringe had grown and she didn’t even have the energy to make a hair appointment. ‘It’s just so hot and noisy out there.’
Seb leaned back in the chair. ‘I was talking to Liam last night.’
Lucy’s head flew up.
‘He said you’ve barely called them since you rang to say you were back in Sydney safe and sound,’ Seb said.
‘No need,’ she said shortly.
‘He said Garth was asking after you when they did some cattle work together yesterday.’
‘That’s nice,’ she said as she booted up her laptop and turned her back to Seb.
‘Aren’t you in touch with him either? I thought you were great mates.’
‘No. I’m back in Sydney and I’m busy. Gran’s quite happy the way things worked out, so I don’t need to live in their pocket.’
‘It would be nice to keep in touch with them.’
‘I’ll ring tonight. Now if you don’t mind I’ve got some flyers to knock up for the theatre.’
Seb stood and put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Whatever happened to the advertising campaign for the lingerie firm? The photos I took of Garth?’
‘They decided to go with beach shots instead.’ Lucy’s voice was short. There was no need for Seb to know that she’d pulled the pin on the proposal and had handed it over to one of the other copywriters. The last thing she wanted was for Garth to come to Sydney and interfere with her process of getting over him. The getting over that wasn’t happening at all. He filled her thoughts day and night.
‘Fair enough.’ Seb turned back to her as he reached the door. ‘So you haven’t talked to Gran?’
‘No. Why?’
‘She’s hoping everyone will go home for the Australia Day weekend.’ Seb stared at her and Lucy’s fragile emotions spilled over. ‘She’s just forgiven you for not going home for Christmas.’
‘It’s not home,’ she cried as tears filled her eyes.
‘It is for some of us, as strange as it may seem. Think about it.’ Seb stared back at her. ‘I’m going to Prickle Farm. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take my ute.’
‘What ute?’ Lucy sniffed and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes.
‘The ute I bought for when I go up there next week.’ He looked at her intently. ‘When I go, I’m staying there for good. I think you need to know that.
##
Lucy lay in bed in her small flat in Newtown listening to the never ceasing roar of the traffic; she hadn’t even had the energy to go over to Jemmy’s place. Where were so many people going at three a.m.? She rolled over and punched her pillow as the blare of a siren drifted through the open window. Even though she was tired, she hadn’t been able to sleep. She closed her eyes and visualised the quiet paddocks at Prickle Farm; the problem was every time she got the
quiet scene embedded into her thoughts, Garth McKenzie strode into the picture. And then of course the picture moved inside to his bedroom.
Lucy sat up and put her hands over her eyes. Leaving without saying goodbye to Garth had been the cowardly way out but she’d been scared that if he’d held her, she wouldn’t be able to leave.
And back then, she was certain she’d wanted to come back to Sydney. The last three weeks had begun to change her mind. She’d been a cow to get on with at work, and she owed Seb an apology or three for how short she’d been with him. Not only in personal conversations but when they’d been out on a couple of photo shoots together too. Her emotions were seesawing like her stomach. The traffic and the noise that she’d never noticed before contrasted so much with the silence of the farm; she closed her eyes and longed for the serenity of the bush. Maybe it was time she admitted to herself that she loved Prickle Farm.
Almost as much as she loved Garth McKenzie.
Lucy let a smile cross her face as she came to a decision. It was time to go home.
##
‘No! No way.’ Lucy shook her head as she stared at the doctor in horror.
He nodded with a frown. ‘I’m afraid the results are conclusive, Ms Peterkin.
‘But they can’t be.’ Heat ran up into Lucy’s face, followed immediately by a chill that began in her chest and ran into her limbs. She jumped to her feet and bright lights starred her vision.
Her stomach roiled again and she closed her eyes as her vision faded. The last thing she saw was the doctor grabbing for her as she slipped to the carpeted floor.
Chapter 21
Garth pushed the gate closed behind Liam and Seb as they led the last of the straggling cattle into the back paddock.
‘Thanks, guys. Appreciate the help.’ He lifted his hat and wiped the sweat off his brow. Even though they’d left moving the cattle until late afternoon, the heat rose off the dry parched earth in shimmering waves.
The cattle gathered immediately around the dam and Liam nodded slowly. ‘That looks like a damn fine idea to me. Want me to grab some beers and we’ll meet you down at the back dam for a swim?’
Garth shook his head. ‘Got some things I need to do, I’ll take a rain check.’
He was aware of their hushed conversation as he called Jack and strode over to his ute parked on the other side of the fence. He was grateful for the help that the Peterkin family was giving him lately but he found it too hard to spend time in their company. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d knocked back Helena and Harry’s invitation to come over for a meal.
He couldn’t get damn Lucy Peterkin out of his head, no matter where he went. He was surprised she hadn’t even come home for Christmas. Maybe she had a new guy down in Sydney.
Garth clenched his jaw as he started the ute. The thought of Lucy with anyone else made his blood boil. As he drove along the track he wondered how the hell he could get her out of his head once and for all.
It was time to make a move or he’d be mooning about for the rest of his life.
##
Liam and Seb high fived each other when Garth turned up at the dam with a six pack and a request for them to keep an eye out on the property while he went to Sydney to see Lucy.
‘She’s bloody miserable, mate,’ Seb said as he took the beer that Garth held out.
‘And too stubborn to admit she’s wrong. So don’t give up too easily.’ Liam looked pleased when he heard that Garth was leaving first thing in the morning.
‘Are you sure she’d not seeing anyone?’ he ventured.
‘Seeing you in her dreams, I’d say. No one else would put up with her, she’s been like a bear with a sore head.’ He frowned as he tipped his beer up. ‘She’s had a tummy bug since she’s been home. Been Googling cattle-borne diseases.
Garth groaned. ‘Another mark against the country. I’ve got no hope.’
‘She’s all right. Been at the office every day for three weeks, keeping herself busy,’ Seb said.
‘Persevere, mate.’ Liam lay back and his voice was soft as it floated over the water. ‘I’ll bet twenty bucks that she’ll come back home with you.’
‘I wish I was so sure. ‘Garth stared into the distance as the setting sun sent a flare of purple into the evening sky. His future depended on it.
##
Just on sunset the following day, Garth stood in the narrow foyer of an old apartment block at the back of King Street. He wrinkled his nose as the sour smell of beer-soaked carpet and mould assailed him. Seb had warned him that Lucy’s apartment was in a dodgy part of Newton when he’d given him her address.
God, if he’d known she lived in such a dive, he would have been down here weeks ago. It wasn’t safe for a woman to walk alone in this part of town. He’d passed a pile of syringes on the footpath as he’d looked for her apartment building and he’s been offered two drug deals between parking his ute and reaching the main street.
The noise of the weekend traffic was so loud, he could barely think and it had been a pleasure to step into the building where the noise lowered to a muted roar. God, if Lucy preferred living down here in what she had called a civilised environment maybe there wasn’t a chance for them? Maybe they were two different people who were just sexually compatible?
No. If he believed that, he wouldn’t be here. He pushed open the glass door at the bottom of the steps and walked up to the third floor and stood outside the door marked Apartment Nine. Garth took a deep breath and raised his hand to knock.
Chapter 22
Lucy stood with the freezer door open debating whether to take out the frozen packet of Satay Chicken or Spaghetti Bolognaise. The spaghetti won; ever since she’d fainted at the doctor’s surgery this morning, the nausea had gone.
She’d frightened the hell out of it. Now that she knew what was wrong with her, she had some big decisions to make. Her initial reaction had been to flee straight home—because she admitted now, the Pilliga Scrub was home, no matter how the city had sucked her in for those few years. It had been a way of coping with Mum’s death and the six weeks at Prickle Farm had woken her up to that fact. She’d been totally miserable since she’d come back to Sydney but even though she’d admitted that to herself, her visit to the doctor had dispelled any possibility of going back to Prickle Farm and Garth.
The doctor left her with some pretty heavy decisions to make and a few brochures to read but she’d thrown them onto the coffee table next to the sofa, not wanting to face the problem. She opened the door of the microwave and shoved the frozen dinner on the glass plate just as someone knocked at the door. She frowned and wondered who it was; Seb was out of town. Company was the last thing she wanted tonight. Seb was back at Prickle Farm for the weekend, and most of her girlfriends had gone to see a movie. She’d been invited but had declined—too much thinking to do.
Lucy crossed cautiously to the door and listened, jumping back as the door rattled when someone knocked again.
‘Who is it?’ she called.
‘It’s me. Garth. Open the door, Luce, it stinks out here.’
Joy, confusion, panic, happiness, and dread fought for precedence as she flicked the lock over.
Garth? She was thinking about him and he’d come knocking at the damn door?
The door opened and she peered around it. The joy surging through her pushed away every other feeling clamouring inside her. She stepped back and Garth stepped into her apartment.
She stood back and drank in the sight of him as her stomach fluttered and jumped. With a gasp, she put her hand on her belly.
Garth stared at her, his beautiful lips breaking into a broad smile. ‘Hello, Lucy-Lou, he said softly. ‘Do you know how much I’ve missed you?’
Lucy took a step back, her hand still on her stomach as it fluttered softly like butterfly wings. Disbelief filled her and she put her other hand up to her mouth as Garth took a step closer.
He put his hand on her shoulder and his eyes were intent as he looked down
at her. ‘When I move to Sydney, we’re going to have to find a better place to live.’
‘When you move to Sydney?’ She parroted his words but her voice was shaking as much as the rest of her.
Garth raised his other hand and cupped her cheeks in his palms. The rough pad of his thumb rubbed gently over her lips. ‘If that’s what it takes to be with you, that’s what I’ll do.’
Lucy closed her eyes as his words washed over her.
‘I love you, Lucy. I’m not letting you go. No matter what it takes.’
The butterfly movement in her stomach intensified and she opened her eyes and met Garth’s loving gaze.
‘No matter what it takes,’ he repeated. ‘I can get work down here.’
‘You mean you would move to the city for me?’ Joy pulsed though her body in time with the fluttering in her stomach.
‘I’ll do anything to make you happy.’
‘You don’t have to do that. I was going to come home anyway.’
‘Home?’ His voice held a smidgeon of hope.
‘Home to Prickle Farm.’ She shook her head. ‘No, not Prickle Farm. Home to our place.’
‘Are you sure, Lucy?’
‘I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I love you, Garth.’ Lucy took his hand from her cheek and placed it on her tummy where their child had just made his presence known for the first time. ‘And besides, I want our baby to grow up on our farm, not here in the city.’
She caught the look of love on his face just before his lips took hers in a kiss that sealed her future.
Their future.
Epilogue
Jemmy made Lucy sit at the table to shell the peas from Gran’s veggie patch for the minted green pea salad.
‘Liam, will you go and pick me a lemon,’ she called out to the verandah.
Loving Lucy: A Prickle Farm Romance Page 11