Outback Sisters

by Rachael Johns

  Sighing at that unhelpful thought, he waited for Logan to finish the clip and swing the lamb around. This one was a male, so when Logan was finished, Angus used the elastrator, making sure he had both balls in the rings before letting them go. Over the years, the brothers had tagged more sheep than Angus could remember and they didn’t need to converse while doing so. They worked like a factory line—sheep in the cradle, ear clipped, balls rung off if necessary, vitamin injection and finally the tag pierced onto their ear; start all over again with the next lamb—but usually Logan kept up a steady stream of conversation. He’d prefer Logan to be badgering him about his renewable energy ideas than this odd silence but since they’d last fought about that a week ago, Logan hadn’t raised it again.

  Sometimes Angus got annoyed with Logan’s excessive chatter, but today, his silence made him nervous. It was like their roles had been reversed, and Angus didn’t like it one bit. As he crunched an ear tag onto the bleating lamb, he racked his brain for some kind of small talk.

  ‘Remember when Liv wanted to get her ears pierced?’ he asked eventually.

  Logan made a noncommittal grunt and Angus raised his eyebrows.

  ‘She pestered and pestered me, remember? Sarah said I should just let her have it done—that lots of little girls got their ears pierced when they were younger than her—but I kept thinking of how it felt to crunch an ear tag on a lamb and couldn’t bear the thought of the pain Olivia might feel.’

  Logan made a half-hearted attempt at a chuckle and his lips lifted slightly at the edges. ‘So that’s why you made me take her in the end?’

  ‘Damn straight. Did I never tell you this before?’

  Logan shook his head as Angus lifted another lamb onto the cradle. This time a female, which made the process marginally quicker. ‘You generally don’t tell me much at all. Man of few words is what you are.’

  ‘As are you today,’ Angus noted as Logan clipped the lamb’s ear. ‘Any reason for that?’

  ‘Nah. Just exhausted. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends.’ As if to prove his point, he yawned and then swung the lamb back to Angus.

  ‘What are you writing at the moment?’

  Logan shrugged and then wiped sweat off his brow. ‘This and that.’

  ‘Or have you been up late talking to Simone?’ Angus couldn’t help being curious. The distance between Bunyip Bay and Mingenew meant it wasn’t easy for them to catch up in person, but he’d heard Logan on the phone the last couple of nights and it had been obvious who he’d been talking to.

  ‘That too,’ Logan said, finally cracking a smile.

  ‘So you really like this one?’

  ‘What’s not to like?’

  The answer to that question was nothing, but Angus kept that to himself. ‘I’m happy for ya,’ he said instead. ‘Maybe that online dating palaver isn’t as ridiculous as I first thought.’

  Logan froze, the clippers in midair. ‘You think you might give it a go?’

  Angus laughed. ‘Let’s not get carried away. I’m merely conceding that maybe I was wrong about you not meeting someone that way. I see now I was wrong about you not being serious about settling down.’

  Logan smirked. ‘Apology accepted.’

  Stifling his own chuckle and glad to have Logan a little closer to his usual self, Angus said, ‘I never said I was sorry. When are you seeing her again?’

  ‘I’m gonna try to meet her for lunch in Gero sometime this week. When you can spare me?’

  Angus gestured to the pen of lambs. ‘We’re flying through these little guys. I can probably do without you later in the week.’

  ‘Goodo.’ Logan tossed him an appreciative smile. ‘And while I’ve got you in a good mood …’

  Here it comes, thought Angus.

  ‘Simone and I were wondering if you’d come to the wedding with Frankie, her sister?’

  ‘What? You’ve asked her to marry you?’ He hadn’t been expecting that. Thoughts of wind-farming sidelined by Logan’s request, Angus continued, ‘What’s the damn hurry?’

  ‘No.’ Logan gave him a look of horror. ‘Not our wedding. That would be fast. Their cousin is getting married in Kalbarri in a couple of weeks. I’m going with Simone and her sister doesn’t have a date.’

  ‘Why not? What’s wrong with this Frankie?’ Angus had visions of her being the ugly sister, because let’s face it, no-one would ever outshine Simone.

  ‘Nothing,’ Logan said a little too emphatically. ‘She’s gorgeous. I think she’s just too busy to meet anyone—she runs the café in Bunyip Bay.’

  ‘I know it.’ Angus had stopped there a couple of times with Olivia and he had to admit the food was good. Better than good.

  ‘Well, there you go. Nothing wrong with her. If anything, it’s the men in the area that need their heads read. So you’ll come?’

  ‘Sorry. I don’t have anything suitable to wear.’ Angus turned to grab hold of the next lamb and gave it a scratch with the scabby guard vaccine.

  ‘Not a problem,’ came his brother’s quick response. ‘I’ll lend you a suit. I don’t think it’s an overly fancy wedding anyway. They’re going to Kalbarri rather than having it in Bunyip Bay, to keep it intimate.’

  Intimate. That sounded like a good idea. Logan’s wedding to Loretta had been a mammoth event. Mingenew wasn’t a big place, but it had felt like every man and woman in town had attended, along with their dogs and extended family—and look how that had turned out. Man, he hated weddings.

  ‘Won’t it be weird going to a wedding of people we’ve never met?’ he asked, trying a different tack.

  Logan shook his head. ‘Of course not. At most weddings the guests only know the bride’s or groom’s side well. I’ve gone to heaps where I’ve only known my date and I’ve had fun at every single one of them.’

  The tone of Logan’s voice and the way he wriggled his eyebrows told Angus exactly the kind of fun he was referring too. But even if Frankie were that way inclined, they’d have to think about the fact that if Logan and Simone kept seeing each other, a one-night stand could be awkward afterwards. They could even end up related. ‘You’ve got an answer for everything, haven’t you?’

  ‘Pretty much.’ Logan looked unashamedly proud of this fact and for some bizarre reason, Angus found himself wavering.

  ‘Come on,’ Logan continued. ‘I’m not asking you to give up your hermit existence permanently, just for the weekend. If that thought pains you too much, put yourself in Frankie’s shoes. No girl likes to go to a wedding alone.’ And then he hit him in his soft-spot. ‘Imagine if it was Liv. Wouldn’t you want some knight in shining armour to rescue her?’

  Angus groaned, rubbed his jaw and raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m no knight in shining armour.’

  ‘Maybe not, but it could be fun,’ Logan said, sounding like he was running out of arguments.

  And then Angus had an idea. ‘Tell you what,’ he said, ‘how about we make a deal? I’ll go to the wedding with Simone’s sister if you agree to stop trying to convince me to attend the renewable energy meeting. I’m not interested and I know this farm is both of ours, but I don’t want any other party coming in and telling us what we can and can’t do on our own land.’

  Shock flashed across Logan’s face. As he deliberated, Angus prepared himself for another argument. If past discussions were anything to go by, no way would his brother back down on this. He knew Logan didn’t want to be so tied to the farm anymore and that he saw this as the perfect way to achieve his goal.

  ‘Okay,’ Logan finally breathed, defeat etched across his face.

  Angus almost lost his grip on the lamb he’d just grabbed. ‘Okay?’

  ‘Yep. You’ve got yourself a deal.’ Angus could see it physically pained his brother to agree, but it was a testament to how Logan felt about Simone that he did. ‘Looks like we’re going to a wedding!’

  ‘I suppose you want me to get a haircut as well.’

  ‘You really should,’ Logan conceded. ‘And that
beard could do with a trim.’

  Angus gave Logan the finger, rubbed his beard affectionately and then got back to the sheep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Simone gave each of her daughters a kiss goodnight and practically threw them at Jason’s parents, who’d agreed to look after them while she attended Stella’s hens night. She waited until she was out of view of the old farmhouse and then pressed her foot down on the accelerator, red dust flying up behind the Pajero as she drove towards the main road. Joan and Eddie McArthur lived about fifteen kilometres east of Bunyip Bay and thanks to the girls dilly-dallying to pack their overnight bags, Simone was already running late. The phone coverage was crap out this way, so she couldn’t call Frankie or the others, but they never expected her to be early anyway.

  She passed the time bopping along to The McClymonts and as she entered the outskirts of town, her mobile started ringing on speaker phone.

  ‘Hey Mum,’ she said as she accepted the call.

  ‘What are you and my darling girls up to tonight?’ Ruth asked by way of a greeting.

  ‘I’ve just dropped them off at the farm. It’s Stella’s hens tonight at Ruby’s, I’m heading there now.’

  ‘I’ll bet that will be a bit of fun. Do Jason’s parents know about your new man?’

  Simone frowned as she turned off the highway into town. ‘How did you know about Logan?’ Although it was a stupid question; the Madden girls talked. ‘Frankie, Harriet or Grace?’

  ‘Harriet—she seemed quite proud of herself for setting you up.’

  ‘She’s lucky I didn’t kill her. And I haven’t told Joan and Eddie yet but I think they’d be happy if I found someone else. They’ve said on more than one occasion that I should put myself out there again.’ She shuddered at that awful expression—but that’s the way people spoke, as if she was some product that had been returned and needed to be re-shelved for purchase.

  ‘Will their financial support continue if you and this Logan fella get serious?’ Ruth asked, her tone anxious.

  When Jason died, Simone had used his life insurance to buy a house in Bunyip Bay. Although owning her own home had meant she’d never been in dire financial trouble, the McArthurs continued to pay her an allowance from the farm, wanting to look after their son’s wife and children. ‘Mum, I have no idea, but it wouldn’t matter either way. You know I’ve saved that money for the girls. We’ve never relied on it; we get by okay on what I earn.’

  Ruth sighed and Simone hoped she wasn’t going to pry into how much she earned from her art. She’d always got the impression Ruth and Graham, and even to an extent her real dad, didn’t take her art seriously, but plenty of other people were prepared to pay good money for her creations.

  ‘That’s good then. You know I can’t help worrying.’

  Simone turned into Ruby and Drew’s driveway and smiled at the sight of Faith Forrester’s ute up ahead. ‘I know. It’s a mother’s prerogative.’

  ‘Anyway, tell me about this Logan fella. I’ve heard he’s tall, blond and quite a looker.’

  ‘Harriet said that?’ Simone’s cheeks burned at the thought of her mum and her daughter discussing her love life.

  ‘Yes, so what else is he like?’

  ‘He’s a journalist and also helps his brother out on their farm,’ Simone said as she parked between Faith Forrester’s ute and Frankie’s hatchback in front of the impressive house that used to be Ruby’s parents’ place.

  ‘I don’t want his resume, I want to know what he’s like? Does he make you laugh? Does he make you … scream?’ Ruth giggled like a teenage girl.

  ‘Mum!’ Simone gripped her fingers tightly around the steering wheel.

  ‘What? You’re an adult now. You have two teenage daughters. I know you’ve had sex and we’ve all been hoping that one day you’d have some again.’

  Oh. My. God! Simone swallowed, unable to believe they were having this conversation. She and Logan had kissed again in Geraldton—and whenever his lips touched hers, her heart skipped a beat, but it felt more like nerves than anticipation. Truthfully, she was afraid her body had forgotten how to feel those things, terrified her hormones had grown sick of all those years waiting and up and left. ‘It’s early days, but I’m bringing him to the wedding next weekend. You’ll get to meet him then.’ She hoped this news would distract her mother’s inappropriate thoughts.

  ‘I can’t wait. And I’ve got an idea!’

  By the time Simone disconnected the call and climbed out of the Pajero, she’d somehow agreed to her mother’s crazy plan. And maybe it was for the best. Maybe she just needed to jump in, head first, so she didn’t have time for the crippling fear that consumed her every time she thought about being with a man again.

  As she headed up the garden path towards the house, she heard the sounds of Taylor Swift’s latest album inside. Considering that, like the wedding, Stella’s hens night was going to be a small affair—only her closest friends and soon-to-be cousins-in-law in attendance—the party sounded in full swing.

  Poor Stella was estranged from her own family, but Adam’s parents had welcomed her with open arms. It was hard to believe they’d barely even known each other a year. She hadn’t replaced the little girl they’d lost all those years ago, but Esther and Dave loved Stella like a daughter and Heidi as if she were their granddaughter by blood.

  Hitching her overnight bag up on her shoulder, Simone lifted her hand to ring the bell but the door was flung open before she could do so.

  ‘What took you so long?’ Ruby asked as she reached out and dragged her inside.

  ‘Teenagers cannot be rushed,’ Simone replied as she kicked the door shut behind them.

  ‘Harriet and Grace take after their mother,’ called Frankie from somewhere further inside the house. ‘Simone can’t be rushed either.’

  Simone stuck out her tongue in the direction of the voice and Ruby laughed. ‘I love you two,’ she said, threading her arm through Simone’s. ‘I always wanted a sister.’

  ‘They have their uses,’ Simone conceded. ‘The girls and I would likely starve to death if it wasn’t for Frankie.’

  ‘Wait till you see the feast she’s conjured up for tonight.’ Ruby led Simone into the lounge room where Stella, Faith and Frankie were draped over the leather couches, glasses in hand.

  She waved at her sister and then bent down to envelop Faith in a huge hug. Faith had grown up in Bunyip Bay and although she and her long-time best friend, now fiancé, Daniel Montgomery—better known to his mates as Monty—had come back for a visit just after Christmas, they were once again busy with their new lives on their property down south and everyone missed them. ‘Look at you,’ Simone exclaimed. ‘Pregnancy suits you. Monty must be looking after you.’

  Faith grinned. ‘I have no complaints. The man is a saint.’

  Simone smiled and then glanced at the coffee table in front of them, laid out with a mouth-watering array of homemade dips and nibbles, all beautifully displayed in Frankie’s trademark style. Although her stomach rumbled at the sight, it was the glistening bottle of bubbly Simone was interested in. She thrust her index finger towards it. ‘I need me a glass of that. Now.’

  The perfect host, Ruby slipped her arm free of Simone’s and turned to fill the empty glass that sat on the table.

  ‘Sorry we didn’t wait,’ Stella said apologetically. ‘I was a little nervous about leaving Heidi for the night and Frankie thought this might help.’ She held up her crystal flute.

  ‘No worries.’ Simone sat down on the couch next to Stella and patted her knee.

  ‘There isn’t much a few bubbles won’t fix.’ Frankie lifted her glass and took another sip.

  Simone took her glass and downed about half of it in one mouthful. She let out a sigh of contentment as she felt the tension caused by another fight with Harriet ebbing away. ‘That stuff is good.’

  ‘Only the best for our bride.’ Ruby winked at Stella as she topped up everyone’s glasses.

  Poor Faith
was sipping on a glass of mineral water. ‘I would kill for some of that,’ she said, flicking her long brown hair over her shoulder and frowning.

  ‘Surely you can have one glass,’ Stella said.

  Faith shook her head. ‘One glass is never enough. Better if I abstain. It’s only nine months, right? Less now.’ She placed her hands on her growing bump and looked from Stella to Simone and back again. ‘And it’ll be worth it in the end. Right?’

  ‘Totally.’ Stella nodded, her smile wide.

  Simone raised an eyebrow and took a slug of her drink, then, ‘No comment. If it weren’t for my delightful little angels I wouldn’t have been late tonight. You’d think they were packing for a month-long cruise, not a weekend away.’

  Frankie snorted. ‘So what was your excuse for the nineteen years before they came along?’

  Simone glared at her, pretending to be annoyed.

  ‘Where are the girls?’ Faith asked. ‘I’m hoping to catch up with them and the rest of the gang sometime this week.’

  ‘The gang’ referred to the netball team Faith used to coach before she and Monty moved to Mount Barker. As key players in Adam and Stella’s bridal party, Faith and Monty had returned for the wedding and the fun and frivolity leading up to it.

  ‘They’re staying with Jason’s folks on the farm for the weekend.’

  Frankie chuckled. ‘Bet Harriet is pleased about that. She’ll miss another footy match because I can’t see Mrs McArthur bringing her all the way into town to see her boyfriend.’

  ‘No, the guys have a bye this weekend, thank God, and the boyfriend’s gone to Perth with his parents,’ Simone explained, taking another much-needed sip.

  The other women laughed, recalling what it felt like to be sixteen and in love. Simone and Stella had both ended up pregnant to their first loves. She shuddered at the thought, thinking she really needed to try to talk to Harriet about contraception again—she was not old enough to be a granny yet.