Hartley's Grange

by Nicole Hurley-Moore

  Lily looked up as she neared the Tornado, the ride that Holly had wanted to go on earlier. She smiled when she spotted her niece, Violet and Mac already on board. The passenger cars spun around and then the heavy metal arms lifted them high off the ground in a seesawing motion. Lily noted that her sister looked far from comfortable, but Holly and Mac were grinning from ear to ear and laughing.

  She grabbed a coffee from a food van and sat down on one of the wooden benches that ran around the circumference of the oval. It was dark but the floodlights illuminated the grounds, as did the bright lights from the sideshow. She was glad that she’d brought a jacket because as soon as the sun had gone down there was a definite bite in the air.

  She had just settled in to watch the first round of the woodchopping competition when Flynn Hartley appeared by her side and shoved a polystyrene box into her hands.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘A hamburger with the lot. I saw you over here while I was in the queue and thought you looked cold. Do you mind if I sit?’

  Lily shuffled along the bench to give Flynn enough room. ‘Thanks for the hamburger.’

  ‘Not a problem. The kindergarten has put on a hamburger and sausage sizzle. They’re trying to raise money for new playground equipment.’

  Lily opened the lid and took a bite. ‘It’s good.’

  ‘Yeah, it is,’ Flynn said after he’d taken a bite of his own. ‘So, why are you sitting here all by yourself?’

  ‘I could ask you the same question.’

  Flynn shrugged. ‘I came in to see how my fleece went in the wool competition.’

  ‘I haven’t made it down to the wool shed yet. Were there a lot of entries this year?’

  ‘Yeah, heaps, which is great. About five or six years ago we’d have been lucky to get a handful. Mr Alison, who’s been running it for donkey’s years, thought that interest around here was dying out and he’d have to shut the whole thing down. But this year we got about twenty farms entering into the different sections.’

  ‘And how did you go? No, wait – don’t tell me. I’ll go and have a look after I finish this.’

  Flynn gave her a smile. ‘So, you still haven’t answered my question.’

  ‘I’m giving my sister and your best friend a little space to enjoy the night and each other.’

  ‘Hey, I’m sure they don’t think you’re in the way.’

  ‘No, they probably don’t, but sometimes I feel like I am. Anyway, I think I’ll head off home – that is, after I check out the wool pavilion.’

  ‘The woodchop isn’t your thing?’

  Lily wrinkled her nose. ‘Honestly, I only sat down here so I could drink my coffee,’ she said in a half whisper.

  Flynn let out a laugh. ‘Well, your secret is safe with me.’

  They both fell into silence as they tucked into their burgers. The next lot of competitors lined up in front of the massive logs, but Lily was too distracted by the proximity of Flynn to take much notice. There was a space between them but every now and then his shoulder would innocently brush against hers, which made her acutely aware of how inadequately small the wooden bench was.

  The countdown sounded and the noise of axes hitting wood and cries of encouragement filled the air.

  ‘You know that you’re setting a precedent, don’t you,’ Lily said as she glanced up at Flynn.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘Every time we run into each other lately, you give me food.’

  ‘Twice, Lily, it’s happened twice,’ he grinned. ‘Besides, it’s always been my ultimate weapon. Some men bring flowers, me, I bring hamburgers.’

  ‘For which I’m grateful,’ Lily said as she stood up.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To the wool pavilion.’

  ‘In that case, I reckon I’ll tag along,’ he said, standing up as well. Without another glance at the woodchopping, they walked to the treed end of the sportsground.

  She could smell the lanolin when she walked through the door. The long trestle tables lining the room were filled with big fluffy fleeces. She wandered along them until she spotted Flynn’s name printed on a card.

  ‘You got third!’ Lily said as she pointed to the green rosette.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said as he looked at his boots. If she didn’t know better, Lily would think that he was embarrassed.

  ‘Congratulations – that’s amazing.’

  ‘Thanks. Maybe next year I’ll be able to beat that one.’ Flynn pointed to the fleece with a large blue ribbon across it.

  Lily walked over and read the card. ‘It’s Mac!’ she said with surprise.

  ‘Of course it is,’ Flynn said with a smile. ‘Mac’s sheep are legendary around here. It’s not often that he doesn’t get a prize or a place for his product. The big plan is that one day the Grange’s sheep will rival those at McKellan’s Run.’

  ‘That wouldn’t hurt your friendship?’

  Flynn looked at her strangely. ‘I don’t know where you’d get a crazy idea like that from. Of course he wouldn’t mind – he’s my mate.’

  ‘Sorry, it’s just some people would feel threatened.’

  ‘Not Mac – he’s got nothing to be threatened about. If it weren’t for him and his dad, my place would have gone under long ago. Mr McKellan taught me everything I needed to know to manage a sheep run, and Mac has always been there to lend me a hand when I needed it.’

  Lily looked back at the wool. She felt as if she’d said the wrong thing. All of a sudden she was that awkward, tongue-tied teenager again.

  ‘Well, I think I might call it a night – thanks for dinner,’ she said quickly.

  Flynn looked at his watch. ‘You’re going before the fireworks? I always thought they were the best bit of the show.’

  ‘Um …’

  ‘Come on, they’re going to start in an hour. I’m sure we can find something to do until then.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Another crazy question – because I like hanging out with you, that’s why. Stay, and I’ll take you on a ride and buy you some fairy floss. And then after that, you can win me one of those big stuffed toys.’

  Lily chuckled. ‘I’ve never won anything in my life.’

  ‘Well, tonight’s as good a time as any to start.’ He held out his hand and, after a moment’s hesitation, Lily took it.

  True to his word, Flynn plied her with fairy floss and took her on the dodgem cars and then on the old carousel. She sat on a painted dapple-grey and he on the black horse next to her. Lily held onto the gilt-painted pole as the horse went up and down, trying to ignore the curious looks from some of the nearby parents. She glanced over to Flynn and he winked back at her, which made her smile and her insides go a little tingly. The earlier awkwardness was forgotten and Lily realised just how much she liked being around Flynn. He made her smile and laugh, and Lily was pretty sure she could do with more of that in her life. There was an easiness between them, and that was something that she hadn’t felt with a guy for a while, and certainly not on her date with the nice, safe Johnno.

  They wandered through the sideshow together, stopping every now and again to try their luck on one of the games. It turned out that Lily sucked at throwing darts at balloons and didn’t fare any better with the lucky numbers. Much to her surprise, she won a small orange beanbag toy on some evil-looking clowns and handed it to Flynn. ‘It’s not one of the big toys but it’s the best I can do.’

  ‘See, you did win something after all. What, I’m not sure,’ he said, turning the toy over in his hand.

  ‘Maybe it’s an octopus?’

  ‘I think it’s one leg short. But nevertheless, I will treasure this poor deformed octopus and call it Monty.’

  ‘Monty?’

  ‘It’s a great name,’ he said as he took her hand again and tugged her along. ‘Come on, let’s go on the Ferris wheel.’

  They climbed into a seat and Flynn put his arm along the back of the seat; Lily didn’t pull away but di
dn’t lean into it either. She suddenly felt awkward and fourteen again. The ride began and she turned sideways to look down at the crowd of people below. She’d forgotten how much she loved riding on a Ferris wheel. In another minute they were transported from the noise and congestion of the busy carnival and into their own little world, the whole town just specks below them. Flynn’s arm seemed to brush closer to the back of her neck and she shivered involuntarily.

  ‘It’s pretty up here,’ she said, trying to sound casual. ‘I can’t remember the last time I was on one of these.’

  ‘Then it’s obviously been far too long.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess it has. Oh look, the lights around the oval have gone out. I wonder why … ah, of course,’ Lily said as the first boom went off. A firework whistled up into the night sky and exploded into a shower of blue sparks.

  The Ferris wheel kept rotating slowly around and around as more fireworks were let off. Lily and Flynn were almost at the top when a series of red, gold and blue lights exploded in the sky.

  ‘Oh, it’s beautiful,’ Lily said, turning back to Flynn with a wide smile.

  ‘Yeah, beautiful,’ Flynn said as he lowered his head and kissed her.

  Chapter 12

  Lily sat on her bed and hugged the ridiculously large teddy bear that Flynn had won for her at the show. It was crazy: after she’d been kissed by Johnno she remembered wanting fireworks, and then tonight – well, tonight she’d got them literally, physically and, hell, even emotionally. There was no way that Lily could sit there and not admit that Flynn had an impact on her – he’d rocked her world with just a kiss and they both knew it.

  She’d dodged Johnno’s question the other night about seeing each other again with a not so graceful change of subject. But after tonight, she’d have to sit him down on Monday and explain that she wouldn’t be able to see him again – at least, not in a romantic way – because if she did she wouldn’t be being true to herself or to him. Her grandmother always said that you can’t flog a dead horse, and Lily had thought it was an awful sort of saying, visualising some poor dead pony. But tonight she finally got what it meant, without the visual aid. There was no point trying to make anything between Johnno and herself because there wasn’t anything there.

  The next day, Lily found herself back at the oval again, sitting on the hard wooden benches that circled the showground along with Violet, Holly, Sarah, Mac’s brother Dan and, of course, Flynn. They were waiting for Mac and his little blue heeler, Razor, to take their turn in the sheep dog trials. In bigger towns, some of these competitions went from dawn to dusk for days on end, but here in Violet Falls each year showed a decline. There were generally only a handful of entries in the trials, so they had been added to the agricultural show instead of having their own separate event. Mac was worried that the whole thing would die out so he’d decided to enter for the first time and show his support.

  The sun had come out and Lily felt a sense of family as she sat on the sidelines with the people she cared about, clapping as the dogs rounded up three sheep at a time. Flynn sat close beside her and subtly pressed his hand against hers.

  ‘Look, there’s Mac!’ Holly said, standing up and pointing.

  Lily raised her head just in time to see Mac walk onto the oval and stand at the appointed starting point, called the casting peg. Razor sat a few metres behind Mac and waited for the sheep to be released further up the field.

  ‘Go on, Razor – get around,’ Mac called out as the sheep were freed. Razor ran in a wide arc and started moving them towards Mac in a straight line. Mac whistled as Razor ran backwards and forwards, drawing them in closer and manoeuvring them around the casting peg in a counter-clockwise direction.

  Mac started walking towards the first obstacle and Razor held and balanced the sheep, stopping them from breaking formation and running in different directions. Mac whistled again and Razor herded the sheep through the first obstacle, then the second and third until finally he’d ushered them into the pen. When Mac shut the last gate, the whole clan jumped to their feet and clapped. Mac gave them all a wave before he and Razor left the field.

  ‘Oh, they did so well,’ Sarah said with a grin.

  ‘Do you think they’ve taken off many marks?’ Violet asked. ‘Because I didn’t see any mistakes, did you?’

  Dan shook his head. ‘Nope, only for a split second at the bridge when the lead sheep tried to run.’

  ‘Yeah, but Razor was on it,’ Flynn said.

  ‘Sorry, what do you mean about taking marks off?’ Lily asked as she glanced up at Flynn.

  ‘That’s how they judge it. Each section of the trial has marks attached to it. The cast, when the dog runs in an arc towards the sheep, the lift, when he moves them in a controlled manner, and the draw, when he brings them to Mac. The next bit is how well he gets them through the obstacles and overall general work. There’s a hundred points to begin with and then marks are deducted with every little mistake.’ Flynn finished the explanation with a shrug. ‘Mac’s been talking about it a lot over the past couple of weeks.’

  Mac wandered out with Razor and sat down next to Violet.

  ‘You were brilliant,’ she said as she gave him a kiss.

  Holly hugged Razor. ‘You’re the cleverest dog ever.’

  They sat there for another hour while the last few competitors took their turns. When the contestants were called back to the arena, there was much clapping and yelling when Mac managed to take the second prize rosette.

  After that, Lily and Flynn surreptitiously broke away from the others – they weren’t exactly hiding their hesitant new feelings for each other, but they weren’t flaunting them either. It was all still so new. They drove to the falls on the other side of town and walked along the green banks, which were sprinkled with moisture from the water mist in the air. It was good to be alone again, away from the noise and laughter of the showgrounds. They walked hand in hand, enjoying the sound of the running water and the cool air. It really was a beautiful place, and for the first time Lily didn’t associate it with the untimely demise of her ancestor. On this visit she was too filled up with Flynn and the effect he had on her to think about anything else. Lily was keenly aware of how his hand felt warm and strong in hers, and how she wished above all things that he’d kiss her again.

  Flynn tugged her along the path until they came to a small lookout opposite the waterfall. She lifted her head up and smiled as he brushed a strand of hair back from her face.

  ‘It’s good to get away from everyone,’ Flynn said. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love them but I just wanted to have you to myself for a while.’

  ‘Me too.’ Lily turned her head and glanced over at the water which gushed along. She drew in a deep breath before turning back to Flynn. ‘It’s always so peaceful here, I think it’s one of my favourite places.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s pretty special but I always forget that until I’m standing here.’

  ‘I try and run here once a week.’

  ‘Really? I didn’t know that,’ Flynn said. ‘That’s quite a way from your place.’

  ‘Which is why I only make it once a week,’ Lily answered with a grin.

  Flynn took a step forward, he was close now and Lily could feel the heat of his body. She reached up and pulled him down, until their lips touched. An instant fire sparked inside of her as her mouth moved under his. His hands spiked through her hair and anchored her to him. The sound of the waterfall receded and all she was aware of was Flynn, the warmth of his body and the slightly spicy scent of his aftershave. As the kiss deepened, Lily’s hands travelled slowly from his shoulders and up the smooth skin to the nape of his neck. He moved and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her so close that there was not even a breath of space between them. And yet, Lily knew she wanted more.

  She always knew that kissing Flynn Hartley would be dangerous, she just never realised how devastating it would be.

  ***

  On Monday morning, Lily went to the shop earlier tha
n usual. She wanted to talk to Johnno – she needed to address the whole second date thing.

  Lily braced herself against the open doorway of the kitchenette.

  ‘Um, Johnno, could I have a word?’

  Two other guys on his team gave him a smirk as he walked over to her.

  ‘Don’t you clowns have something to do?’

  Taking the hint, they hightailed it out as quickly as possible.

  ‘So, what’s up, Lily?’

  ‘Um, it’s about the other night,’ Lily said nervously, as she ran a hand through her hair.

  ‘I had a great time,’ Johnno said with a widening smile.

  Lord, this wasn’t going to be easy.

  ‘I had a lovely time as well but, well, I can’t go out with you again.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I like you, Johnno, I do … But I have to be honest with you: I kind of went out with Flynn as well. I didn’t plan it but it happened, and now …’

  Johnno sighed. ‘And now you’d rather be with him, right?’

  ‘I’m really sorry. I hope you’re not mad with me.’

  Johnno shook his head and shrugged. ‘Nah, these things happen. It was one date, Lily, not a lifetime commitment.’

  ‘Thanks for being so understanding.’

  ‘No worries. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a shop to finish,’ Johnno said with a small smile as he turned away.

  ***

  Later that day, Lily sat at her sewing machine as Flynn filled the doorway. She had spent the last five minutes trying to explain why they shouldn’t rush into a relationship.

  ‘So what are you saying, you don’t want us to be together?’ Flynn asked as he leant against the doorframe and locked eyes with her.

  ‘No, that’s not what I mean,’ Lily said with sigh. ‘I guess I’m not explaining myself very well.’

  ‘I guess not.’

  Lily got up and stood in front of Flynn. ‘I like being with you. I like how it feels and I like how it’s generally – okay, granted, maybe not right at this moment – but generally how easy it is between us. All I’m saying is, let’s take it slowly. We’re not in a hurry, are we?’