Outback Dreams

by Rachael Johns

  ‘Thanks,’ Faith called back.

  Mrs O’Neal returned to the desk, waved a bunch of papers in the air, and then handed them to Monty. ‘These are what you’ve been waiting for.’ She rummaged in a box labelled ‘Pre-ordered Books’ and passed a small pile to Faith. ‘And these are for you.’

  Faith glanced down at the pile. ‘Actually, they’re for Monty.’

  He looked up from where he’d been checking over the contract.

  ‘They’re a bunch of books on cattle farming,’ she explained, still not quite meeting his gaze. ‘I asked Mrs O’Neal to order them in last week, the day Mack told you about the property.’

  ‘They came quickly,’ Mrs O’Neal added.

  A lump formed in Monty’s throat at the gesture. Typical Faith—always thinking of other people, doing things to make them feel like the most important person in the world. Had he always taken her for granted?

  She misread his silence and dumped the books back on the desk. ‘If you don’t want them, Mrs O’Neal can send them back.’

  He snatched them up and then pulled her into a hug. ‘I do. Thank you.’ The scent of her shampoo wafted up into his nostrils as her silky hair slid against his cheek. He ignored the physical reaction that welled up deep inside him. ‘I’ll read every single one.’

  The hug lasted a little longer than normal, and finally Mrs O’Neal cleared her throat. ‘Are we going to sign these papers or are we not?’

  Faith extracted herself. ‘Go on. This is what you’ve worked so hard towards.’

  They crossed to a vacant table in the non-fiction section. Monty spread the paperwork out in front of him and quickly finished scanning the information to ensure it was as Mack had discussed. Satisfied everything was in order, he picked up the pen Cara had delivered and leaned over to sign his life away. Mrs O’Neal happily played witness then they all got stuck into the tea and scones.

  ‘We’re going to miss you here,’ Mrs O’Neal said with a sniff.

  Cara snorted. ‘Yeah, who else will fix your house up at the drop of a hat?’

  ‘I promise I’ll check everything is in order before I leave.’ Monty offered the older woman a smile. He’d miss her Anzac biscuits almost as much as she’d miss his hammer.

  As Cara cleared away the mess and Mrs O’Neal tottered off to check a book out for someone, Faith wiped a little cream off her lip and asked, ‘So, are we going out to celebrate?’

  ‘Maybe tomorrow night or Friday?’

  Her face fell. ‘You already have plans tonight?’

  He nodded, hating to disappoint her. ‘Ruby’s making dinner.’ Why was that simple statement so damn hard to get out?

  ‘Great.’ He could tell her smile was forced. ‘Are you going to take her down to see Clancy’s Breakaway soon?’

  ‘We haven’t discussed it yet. It’s just early days.’ Talking about Ruby with Faith still felt awkward. ‘Besides, I’m going to be pretty busy up until settlement, what with seeding at Adam’s place and everything.’

  ‘Of course.’

  Once Faith would have asked him about the plans for seeding and if there was anything she could do to help, but instead another horrible silence descended between them. There was nothing he hated more than standing next to Faith, racking his brain and being unable to think of one thing to say.

  He gathered up his papers. ‘Well, I’d better get these faxed back to Mack.’

  ‘Yes. Congrats again.’ Faith smiled. ‘Call me if you want to get the gang together on Friday.’

  Monty watched as Faith farewelled Cara and Mrs O’Neal. He couldn’t tear his eyes away as she opened the door and headed out onto the street. He kept looking through the window as she jogged down the pavement and climbed up into her four-wheel drive. The tension between them made his chest ache but he didn’t have a clue how to fix it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  On Friday night, Faith feigned a headache. The emotional rollercoaster of the last few days had more than taken its toll. She’d self-prescribed lots of baking and early nights and even bought a natural calming tablet from the chemist—anything for some quality sleep in which she didn’t toss and turn thinking about Monty.

  Much to her surprise (and relief), the torrid dreams had ceased. During the day, she often thought of that night in the tent, but at night she merely lamented her lost friendship. No matter how often Monty insisted they could remain friends, she couldn’t see a way to make it work.

  ‘You not coming into town?’ Ryan asked as he entered the kitchen, where Faith was loading her baking efforts into containers for the freezer. He nabbed a square of caramel slice and shoved it in his mouth.

  ‘Nah, got a bit of a headache.’

  ‘What about Monty’s big celebration? He’ll miss you.’

  ‘I guess.’ Although she wasn’t so sure. He’d text-messaged her with the details the day before. Texted. He couldn’t even make the effort to call. ‘I celebrated with him when we went to see his new farm.’ Boy oh boy had they celebrated!

  ‘Suit yourself.’ Ryan stole another piece and surveyed the full containers littering the kitchen bench. ‘You’ve gone above and beyond with this year’s seeding cooking. Is that so Dad will have no excuse not to give you a turn on the tractor?’

  Ironically, that hadn’t even crossed her mind. The conversations with her father were still few and far between, but she’d barely spent a moment worrying about him or the farm since returning from down south. ‘Something like that. You have a good night.’

  She wanted Ryan to take his good mood elsewhere so she could get back to wallowing. This would likely be his last night out for a while. The weatherman had predicted rain in the next week and that meant all the local farmers would soon be glued to tractors and burning the candle at both ends.

  ‘Will do.’ Ryan doffed an imaginary hat and all but swaggered out of the house.

  Faith continued boxing up her cakes and slices, keeping one ear on the ABC news her father was watching in the other room. She piled all the plastic containers into a big cardboard box and took it out to the spare freezer on the back verandah. Returning to the house, she peeped into the lounge room and saw her dad, leaning back in his armchair, his feet on the coffee table and a travel brochure in his hands.

  She watched him for a few moments, wishing the television was off so she could see his expression reflected in the glass. He’d been so sad, so angry, so different since her mother had died. She hoped he’d find something in those mags to snag his interest.

  When she could hold back no longer, she tiptoed into the room and slid onto the couch, glancing surreptitiously at the brochure in his hands. Tibet looked to be the country of choice.

  His voice seemed to come from nowhere. ‘I suppose these are yours.’ He didn’t even bother to look at her.

  Undeterred, she forced a smile. ‘I got them for you actually, Dad. You and Mum used to talk about travelling one day. Anything there spark your interest?’

  In reply he hurled the brochure across the room, missing the waste paper bin and knocking an ornament off the mantelpiece. The statue—an ugly ceramic emu given to Ryan by one of his many admirers—smashed on the floor. Silence filled the room.

  ‘You might have time to waltz around the countryside organising fancy fundraisers, going away with your friends and travelling the world, but some of us are too busy for that.’ He huffed and folded his arms. ‘Some of us have to earn the money to put bread on the table.’

  She stared at the broken pieces on the floor, her jaw locking in place. She couldn’t stand it anymore. Couldn’t stand him.

  ‘And whose fault is that, Daddy? If you would just let me help around here, maybe you wouldn’t have to work so hard,’ she shouted. Then, in much the same manner as he’d hurled the brochure across the room, she stood and hurled herself out of it.

  So much for things improving between them.

  She stormed into her bedroom, slammed the door and had only just collapsed onto the bed when her phone st
arted ringing. Thinking it was probably Monty wondering where she was, she checked the caller ID.

  Jenni Montgomery.

  Part of her longed to talk to her friend, but she also worried that Monty’s mum would hear the sadness and anger in her voice and would then wheedle things out of her that she didn’t want to share.

  After taking a deep breath, Faith cleared her throat and pressed answer. ‘Hi, Jenni.’

  ‘Hello, love. Sorry to bother you tonight, are you already in town? It’s so exciting, isn’t it? My boy, finally buying his own place. You must be looking forward to a big night.’

  ‘No.’ Faith adjusted the pillows behind her and tried to find comfort under her doona. ‘I gave it a miss.’

  ‘Are you not well?’ Concern radiated from Jenni’s voice.

  ‘I’m fine.’ Faith rushed to allay the other woman’s worries. ‘I’m simply exhausted with everything that’s been happening lately and swamped with organisation for the ball.’

  ‘Ah, that’s why I’m calling,’ Jenni said. ‘I’ve got some friends heading up with us for the weekend, and we’re all incredibly excited. But I’ve also been thinking about what I can do to help from down here.’

  ‘You don’t have to do anything. Coming, and bringing extras is more than enough.’

  ‘But I want to. I know you are doing this for Will as much as for yourself and I appreciate the tribute. I’d like to help raise some money, and I wondered how you’d feel about me setting up a flower essence stall?’

  ‘Um…’ Faith wondered if anyone up here would even know what flower essences were. She knew a little about flower material used in natural remedies, but only because whenever Jenni discovered a new passion, she tended to be so excited that everyone around her heard about it too.

  Jenni laughed. ‘Lots of people are very interested in the benefits of essences, you know. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I thought I could donate all the money raised to the ball. And I’ve got a couple of friends who would be happy to donate their services too. Between us we can do essences, tea leaf reading, palm reading and fortune telling by the cards. Please say yes.’

  Faith hesitated another moment, but then thought, why not? Who was she to turn down any extra ways of raising funds?

  ‘How could I not? It actually sounds like a great idea.’ After a few drinks, people would likely be flocking to have their fortunes told.

  ‘Fabulous. Well, I’ll let you get to bed, but promise you’ll call if there’s any other way I can help.’

  ‘I will. And speaking of Will, how is he?’

  ‘Ah, he’s great.’ Faith could hear the smile in Jenni’s voice. ‘He’s loving his new job, and this lady friend is becoming quite a feature in his life too. He wants to bring her to the ball.’

  ‘That’s the best news I’ve heard in ages.’

  ‘Isn’t it just? And give that other boy of a mine a hug for me next time you see him. I don’t think we’ll get up there before the Barking Ball now.’

  ‘Sure,’ Faith lied. The truth was, she could barely handle being in Monty’s company right now and she definitely couldn’t trust herself to hug him.

  Taking another sip of his beer, Monty turned his head at the sound of the door opening. When the silhouette of a burly farm worker solidified into a man he’d worked alongside a few times, a claw of disappointment wrapped itself around his heart. This was supposed to be a happy night, but getting in the celebratory mood was hard without Faith’s smiling face to cheer him on. She’d been there for every other momentous occasion in his life. Why couldn’t she just move on like he was trying so damn hard to do?

  He glanced at his watch and took another slug as Ruby returned from the ladies’. Swallowing, he forced a smile onto his face, not wanting his foul mood to sour his time with Ruby. ‘Can I get you another drink?’ he asked as she sat on the seat beside him.

  ‘Thanks. A white wine, please.’

  Downing the last drops of his beer, he stood and headed for the bar. While waiting to place an order, he glanced back to the table where Ruby sat with Adam, a few of his other mates and Ryan Forrester. Ryan arriving and announcing Faith had a headache and couldn’t make it had been a real kick to the balls, but he hoped no one had noticed his disappointment.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Over the next few weeks the town of Bunyip Bay was in full swing, seeding mode. Except for Faith and her small committee, who were busy with the Barking Ball, precious little else was on anyone’s mind. For once she didn’t mind not being allowed to help with the seeding at Forrester’s Rock. In fact, she didn’t know how she would have fit it in.

  Rain fell hard and fast from the sky, which meant farmers remained at work on their properties and their wives and girlfriends ventured into town only rarely to top up with supplies. Hard-working Monty was a sought-after commodity, and Faith had seen little of him. He’d popped into one committee meeting and updated them on his progress organising transport to and from Geraldton, but other than that, he’d been glued to a tractor.

  According to Ruby, who sat across the table from Faith now as they waited for Simone to join them, she’d seen very little of him either. Faith found some satisfaction in this fact.

  Frankie, the café owner, who also happened to be Simone’s sister, brought over a hot chocolate for Faith, a green tea for Ruby and the latte they’d ordered for Simone. ‘Sure I can’t get you a slice of something as well?’ she asked, glancing at the cakes sitting on the front bench. ‘I’m going to have to throw them out if they don’t get eaten today. Such a waste.’

  Throughout seeding and harvest, Bunyip Bay was like a ghost town, and local businesses always suffered. No one seemed to remember that if the farmers had a good season, townie businesses would boom for the rest of the year. The way Faith saw it, this awesome wet start to the season meant that hopefully the farmers—most of whom had already booked their tickets for the ball—would be happy post-seeding and generous with their donations on the night.

  ‘Oh, go on.’ Faith pointed at the caramel mud cake. ‘You twisted my arm.’ Although she still had a freezer overflowing with sweet treats at home, food had been one of her few solaces lately, and Lord knew it always tasted better when somebody else was doing the cooking.

  ‘Shall I get a slice for you as well?’ Frankie looked to Ruby.

  ‘No thanks,’ she replied.

  Faith noticed a contented glow in Ruby’s face that hadn’t been there last time she’d seen her. Was Monty responsible for it? Her heart clenched at the thought.

  As Frankie turned to fetch the cake, Faith tried not to look obvious about scrutinising Ruby’s face for signs. She’d said she’d barely seen Monty, but that indicated that she had seen some of him.

  Logic told her that if Ruby and Monty had been officially seeing each other since that night in Geraldton, they’d more than likely have slept together by now. Suddenly she didn’t think she could eat a mouthful of cake, no matter how good it might taste.

  The café door opened and Simone rushed in looking frenzied.

  ‘Kids. Don’t have them,’ she announced as she dumped her oversized handbag on the floor and slumped into a chair. ‘Sorry I’m late. Harriet decided she didn’t want to go to school, and she’s such a conniving little thing I almost gave in, but then Grace said she didn’t want to go either. They are both perfectly well, so no way was I going to have them squabbling around me all day.’ She spied the latte and grinned as she lifted it to her lips. She took a sip, sighed, then added, ‘Thanks for this. You gals are the best. Now what did I miss?’

  ‘Nothing yet,’ Faith answered, trying to banish the image of Ruby and Monty in bed from her mind. The jealousy was eating her up. Every time Faith looked at Ruby, she thought about admitting what she and Monty had gotten up to down south. It wasn’t guilt that made Faith want to confess, but rather the hope that doing so would cause an irreparable rift between the lovebirds.

  That night with Monty had meant everything to her,
and his ability to simply dismiss it and continue seeing Ruby was breaking her heart.

  ‘Oh, good.’ Simone took another long, satisfied sip, and then dug into her handbag for a notebook and pen.

  That was Faith’s signal to stop obsessing over Ruby. She opened her clipboard and glanced down at the spreadsheet timeline that had become their bible. If anyone found it, they could be forgiven for thinking it was trash, so prolific were the annotations, red pen lines and highlighted sections. But it held the key to everything that would make their fundraiser the best.

  ‘Okay, let’s go through the checklist,’ Faith said. ‘Then you can both fill me in on where you’re at.’

  ‘You go first.’ Simone glanced at Ruby, who’d taken control of sourcing quotes from caterers. ‘I need another coffee before I’m ready.’

  ‘Okay.’ Ruby smiled and switched on the iPad, where she kept all her notes and a calendar that looked far more organised than Faith’s paper one. ‘I’ve received quotes from two catering companies in Perth and one from Geraldton. Frankie decided against putting in a proposal as she wants to attend the ball.’

  ‘Sorry, Faith,’ Frankie piped up from behind the counter, ‘but I’m desperate for a good night out.’

  ‘You’re just desperate,’ Simone retorted.

  Frankie poked out her tongue. ‘Don’t come crawling to me next time you need babysitting.’

  ‘Lucky my girls think they’re too old for babysitters now.’

  ‘Anyway,’ Ruby said, loud enough to draw everyone’s attention back to the task at hand. She pulled two sheets of paper from a cardboard folder and handed one each to Faith and Simone. ‘I think we should go with this company. They suggest a buffet, which means guests will have a greater choice. And they also happen to be ten per cent cheaper.’

  As food and beverages would be their biggest expense, any kind of discount appealed. ‘Do we know if they’re any good?’ Faith asked.

  ‘They’ve provided references from five other functions they’ve recently catered of a similar size and tone to ours.’ Ruby took another piece of paper from her folder. ‘But even better is the option for us to head into Geraldton and have a taste test.’