The Falls

by Cathryn Hein

  She kept looking at her plate, fork twisting in her rocket salad. ‘I don’t really know that much about pasture management up here though.’

  ‘Oh, darling, don’t be silly. Clever girl like you would have that worked out in no time.’

  They waited while Teagan considered. Lucas’s stomach felt tight. A single yes would mean she’d stay on, at least for a while. And he wanted her to. Badly.

  Her fork went down. She reached for her wine and drank, then looked from her aunt to him. A slow, cautious smile eased across her mouth.

  ‘I suppose I could give it a try.’

  Teagan slumped on a fencepost and blew out a breath. Her first day on the job and she was already carrying an extra load thanks to Elsa deciding to take an impromptu day off.

  To give him his due, Nick had been pitching in as well, but with sixteen stables to clean, checks of all the paddock-agisted horses, plus change of rugs for those owners who’d paid for the extra service, feeds to be doled out and an enormous yard to be swept, the work felt never-ending.

  And Teagan didn’t mind a bit.

  Charged by two glasses of wine and Vanessa’s and Lucas’s encouragement, she’d phoned Nick back that same afternoon to accept his offer. When he’d asked if she’d mind starting the next day, Teagan had hesitated for several seconds and, unable to think of a reason not to, had responded with an ‘Okay, sure. Why not?’ Words that had earned her a smothering hug from Ness and an intense eye-meet from Lucas that had given her heart a momentary attack of the hiccups.

  As Ness claimed, Nick had so far proved to be a decent man. He had a calmness that came from being around flighty horses and even more temperamental owners. Nothing seemed to faze him, although when, after an hour of waiting, it became clear that Elsa wasn’t going to show, he’d succumbed to a fit of swearing, followed by a hefty kick at a hay bale. Teagan had looked on warily until he’d glanced up, saw her watching and grinned.

  ‘Sorry. Had to get that out of my system.’

  Teagan had nodded, still cautious, but with his temper relieved Nick simply got on with it.

  Belgravia was nestled in a pretty part of the valley on four hundred acres of rolling countryside. The stable-kept horses were generally sweet-natured, with only Diablo and one other acting like prima donnas. Most were smaller types. Little been-there-done-that horses and ponies purchased at great expense by doting, well-off parents for their offspring to ride on weekends. The paddock-agisted horses tended to be owned by locals or people from the encroaching suburban swathe who loved horses but couldn’t afford their own acreage.

  Much of the area around the stables had been levelled, with the historic homestead overlooking the yard and front paddocks from its perch on the hill like a grand old lady. A magnificent garden formed a colourful skirt below that was, according to Nick, Stacey’s pride and joy. Apart from baby Oliver who, despite only being capable of pooing like a scouring foal, howling like a demon, projectile milk vomiting like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, and depriving even Stacey’s deaf old fox terrier of sleep, had somehow now become king of their world.

  The comment had been made with an edge to Nick’s voice that had made Teagan look at him sharply. But the bags under Nick’s eyes suggested he was indeed suffering deep, new-father fatigue, a situation not helped by his staff problems. Given the circumstances, he was coping better than Teagan thought most men would.

  There were two full-sized arenas, one spanned by a large steel open-sided roof, the other laid out with multi-coloured showjumps. Nick was a qualified instructor and coach, who’d had a solid career as a professional showjumper in Europe before meeting Stacey and returning to Australia to set up stables and training facilities on the property she’d inherited from her grandfather.

  Some owners also paid a premium to have their horses exercised during the week. Nick employed riders for that, who usually rode a mount while leading one or two others around the property’s trails. When the first had turned up, wearing worn jodhpurs and chaps, Teagan had experienced a twinge of envy. She missed riding. She missed the feel of wind in her hair and the sheer heart-bursting exhilaration of directing half a tonne of powerful animal. Nick had suggested she might be able to ride once she’d proved herself, but Teagan didn’t hold out any hope. There was too much other work that needed doing.

  Although she was meant to knock off at twelve, Teagan hung around to help Nick with the last of the paddock feeds and rug changes. Work kept her mind off Pinehaven and the worry about what was happening with it. All the things she was missing, the life she’d lost. It also stopped her thinking about Lucas Knight and her confused feelings for him. Feelings she was trying her hardest to suppress.

  ‘Who’ll help you with the evening feeds and rugs?’ she asked as Nick rubbed his brow and stared morosely towards the stables.

  ‘Toby usually helps,’ he said, referring to one of his owners who received discounted rates in exchange for work around the farm.

  ‘I could come back if you need.’

  He shook his head. ‘You’ve put in enough today. I can’t have Vanessa thinking I’m exploiting you. She’d have my balls.’ He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. ‘Not that I’d say no if she asked for them.’

  ‘I’m sure your wife would have something to say about that.’

  At Teagan’s tone he held up his palms. ‘Just kidding.’

  Sure he was. Joke or not, there was no escaping the desire in his voice. Half the bloody valley seemed to lust after her aunt. Why should he be any different? She threw the last of the hay to a dish-faced pony whose mane and tail seemed to take up more space than her body. ‘Same time tomorrow?’

  ‘Yep.’ He regarded her seriously. ‘And thanks. You’re a lifesaver.’

  Teagan drove back to Falls Farm with her stomach rumbling. They’d barely had time to stop for a drink of water, let alone morning tea, and thanks to her staying late it was getting close to two. She’d promised Ness to check the mail on her way home and planned a quick stop, but one look at the bakery had her stomach growling even more. Kathleen Ferguson might be a pain in the bum but she knew how to make a meat pie. And the carpark was thankfully empty of Colin’s Ford.

  There were new posters in the windows of the chemist and doctor’s surgery. Angry yellow lettering on a harsh black background. ‘Save The Falls From the Wall’ read one. ‘Keep The Falls Family’ read another. The bakery’s poster was three times the size of the others, almost covering the entire window. Teagan read the outraged message, ‘The Falls Is for All, Not Just the Rich’, with its call below to join the Falls Union Progress Association, and rolled her eyes.

  ‘I hear you’ve found yourself some work up at Belgravia,’ the old lady remarked without so much as a hello to precede it.

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Nick isn’t a bad fellow for a blow-in. Wife’s family has been here for over a hundred years, of course. Young Stacey knows what’s what.’

  Teagan took that to mean that Stacey wasn’t in favour of the Wellness Centre’s expansion. ‘Could I have a plain pie, please. And a sausage roll.’ Saffy adored them. Ness swore she only suffered the bakery because her dog had a terrible addiction to Kathleen Ferguson’s sausage rolls, but Teagan knew her aunt felt the same as Lucas. Without local support, they wouldn’t have any shops in the village.

  ‘Suppose that Domenic has been visiting?’

  Teagan shrugged. She wasn’t going to get into this game. Anyway, she hadn’t seen Dom since the barbecue.

  Kathleen gave her a pucker-mouthed look. ‘Like I said before, all you young people care about is yourselves.’

  Teagan regarded her coldly. ‘You don’t know anything about me, Mrs Ferguson. But I’ll tell you something. Right now I’m hungry and would like some lunch. If you can’t accommodate that simple request I’ll truck across the carpark and buy something from the takeaway. Up to you.’

  Kathleen’s expression turned sour but she snapped open a paper bag and plucked up a pair of tongs. The pie
and sausage roll ready, she laid them on the counter and held out a wrinkly hand for Teagan’s note.

  ‘You know,’ said Teagan, handing it over, ‘you really would do better if you bothered being pleasant.’

  The change was slapped onto the counter in surly silence.

  ‘You didn’t!’ said Vanessa, not knowing whether to hug or scold Teagan.

  ‘I did.’ Despite her laughter, her niece at least looked contrite about what she’d done. So she should. There was enough hostility trembling through The Falls without Teagan adding to it. ‘Sorry. I know I shouldn’t have, but she’s been rubbing me up the wrong way.’

  ‘She does that to a lot of people.’ Despite her misgivings, Vanessa smiled. ‘You never know, it might actually teach her to be nicer, although I doubt it. I fear our Kathleen simply isn’t made that way.’

  She sank back and put her feet up. The weather was gloriously lazy and it was nice to sit on the verandah and chat after the morning she’d had. It seemed every year her investments grew more and more complicated. That was the trouble with owning commercial property when you lived halfway around the world. It would be so much easier to sell the lot and consolidate her holdings, but with the eurozone in the state it was she’d take too much of a loss. Besides, the properties remained good earners.

  ‘So what’re you going to do for the rest of the day? The pool will be lovely after all the sun it’s had.’

  Teagan took another bite of her pie and sent a cascade of flaky crumbs over her front. She chewed, eyes narrowed as she looked past the shed. ‘I asked Nick about that weed. He said it’s wild tobacco. Nasty stuff apparently. I thought I could start cutting it back.’

  ‘I think you have to spray it, too. Or paint the stems. I remember Lucas offering to take care of it for me.’ Vanessa kept her voice innocent, though her gaze slid slyly to Teagan. ‘He’s such a sweet boy.’

  Teagan studied the thick gravy of her pie and didn’t say anything for a while. She peeled a bit more paper down but didn’t eat. Instead, she picked at a few crumbs and dropped them on the verandah to a delighted Saffy. ‘He’s nice, isn’t he? I mean, genuinely nice.’

  ‘Very. Which is interesting, isn’t it? You’d think he’d be one of those men who think they’re God’s gift, but he’s not like that at all.’

  ‘He must have faults though.’

  ‘Of course he has faults. Everyone does.’ Vanessa thought for a moment. ‘I’m just not quite sure what Lucas’s are yet.’ She smiled. ‘But I’ll leave that for you to find out.’

  Teagan put the half-eaten pie down on the table and rubbed her face. ‘I don’t know if I want to go there.’

  ‘Why on earth not? Darling, you said yourself he’s nice. And, let’s face it, he’s hardly tiring to look at.’

  ‘But that’s the thing, isn’t it? What does a bloke like that want with me? I mean, look at me.’ She indicated her face and body. ‘I’m not exactly you.’

  ‘And nor should you want to be!’ Vanessa wanted to growl in frustration. Her niece seemed to have no concept of how attractive she was. ‘Vive la difference, darling. You’re beautiful in your own right. Lucas certainly seems to think so. He couldn’t take his eyes off you yesterday.’

  From Teagan’s expression she didn’t seem convinced. ‘It’s just a thing. He’s not serious.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  Teagan picked up her pie again and inspected it, then sighed, peeled off the paper and handed the remaining half to Saffy, who sucked it in so fast it was as if she’d inhaled it. ‘I don’t know.’

  Vanessa waited for her to elaborate but Teagan remained silent, stroking a grateful Saffy’s head. Her stare had a hollowness that worried Vanessa deeply. As though her niece’s thoughts had disappeared into somewhere so abyssal she couldn’t climb out.

  ‘Teagan, darling. What is it?’

  ‘I just don’t feel like I can trust anyone these days. I mean, look at all the married blokes who come round here. Remember my friend Jasmine? She’s having her heart torn inside out because the man she thought was single turned out to be married, and now she’s too in love to let him go. Even this morning Nick made a comment. The man has just had a baby, for God’s sake.’ She looked aside, biting her lip. Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears. Vanessa resisted the urge to leap up and crush her to her chest. Talk was the only way to uncover Teagan’s terrible malaise.

  ‘That doesn’t mean Lucas is the same.’

  ‘How can I believe that when the man I trusted most turned out to be the biggest liar and cheat of them all?’

  ‘Oh, sweetheart. Not all men are like your father.’

  Teagan said nothing.

  ‘I know you’re heartbroken by what happened, darling, but that will pass in time. Please don’t let it stop you from finding happiness.’ When she still didn’t respond, Vanessa tried another tack. ‘Lucas is a good man, an honest one. He’d never hurt you.’

  ‘Come on, Ness. He had women and men throwing themselves at him yesterday.’

  ‘And did he respond to any of them?’

  Teagan looked away.

  Vanessa spoke gently. ‘I think your answer lies there. Give him a chance, darling. Let him make you smile again.’

  Teagan’s only response was a tight, ‘I’ll think about it.’

  The conversation left Vanessa troubled and unsure how to proceed. Going through life carrying so much hurt, not trusting anyone’s motives was a terrible way to exist. Rotten, rotten Graham. Vanessa could have cried for the damage her brother-in-law had caused.

  The problem kept her occupied through to the next day without a solution. Her only hope was to play a little matchmaking.

  At five-thirty on Friday, Vanessa prepared a jug of margarita and took it outside along with a series of heavy tumblers, before heading back for a dish of warmed olives. She smiled at the arrival of a car, hoping it was Bunny. A few minutes of her unique company would put things to rights. Her friend never minced words, and Vanessa could do with some no-nonsense womanly advice.

  ‘What a day!’ exclaimed Bunny as she clomped into the kitchen and flopped down onto one of the stools. ‘I love my job, I really do, but it seriously challenges my faith in humanity. This idiot brings his boxer in, tells me it was straining to shit for about two days. So he gets it into his head that it’s constipated. What does he do? Buys a pack of chocolate laxatives from the supermarket, doles them out and leaves the dog to it. Wanders back outside later for a look and wonders why the dog’s just about dead.’

  ‘And was it?’

  ‘What? Dead? No, but he’s going to wish he was when he gets the bill.’

  ‘I meant constipated.’

  ‘No. Bloody thing had diarrhoea! Nothing was coming out because there was nothing to come out.’ Bunny sprawled forward, pressed her cheek to the bench and let out a long frustrated breath. ‘What a fucktard.’

  Vanessa stroked her hair. She really was the funniest lady. ‘Some people shouldn’t have pets.’

  ‘Tell me about it.’ Bunny let out another sigh and sat up. ‘Is it drinky time yet? I’m a woman in need.’

  ‘Give me one minute.’ As Vanessa pulled the warming olives from the stove and poured them into a terracotta tapas dish, a soft knock sounded at the front screen door. Guessing who it was, she called out for him to come straight in.

  Heavy footsteps sounded on the timber floor. Bunny suddenly sat up straighter, cheeks blooming with coy colour as she spotted Mark Dunkerton. ‘Cherub. I didn’t know you were coming.’

  Mark blushed almost as deeply back. He nodded hello at Vanessa. ‘Vanessa invited me. How’s work?’

  ‘Fine. The usual. Had an interesting case of herpes.’

  Vanessa put her hand over her mouth to stop her choke of laughter as the blush drained from Mark’s cheeks.

  Bunny continued, oblivious. ‘Owner nearly fainted when I told her. Let her hang on it for a while before I clarified it was canine herpes. I swear she thought her husband ha
d been having it off with her pedigree Sheltie. How’s our eleven coming along?’

  Mark had to clear his throat before answering. ‘Only nine.’

  ‘But that’s excellent news,’ said Vanessa. ‘You only have a couple to go.’

  ‘Yeah, but there’s no guarantee we’ll make it.’

  Deciding it was time to move the party outside, Vanessa lifted the bowl of olives and indicated the verandah. Mark held the door for her as she stepped out. She placed the olives on the table, noticing it took Bunny and Mark a fraction longer to emerge than it should have.

  Pretending not to see that their cheeks were once more pink, she poured tumblers of margarita, and handed them over. They toasted one another before Vanessa settled down. Mark and Bunny stayed at the rail, arms brushing as they inspected the yard.

  ‘Got a spare boot?’ asked Bunny over her shoulder.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘Blanche is terrorising Betty and Wilma again.’

  Mark tugged off his left Blundstone and tossed it. There was a yowl and within seconds Blanche was curling around Vanessa’s ankles, throwing dirty looks at Mark. But he and Bunny were too busy laughing to care. For a vet, Bunny sometimes had a remarkable way of dealing with animals.

  Mark disappeared to fetch his boot, leaving them momentarily alone.

  Bunny eyed Blanche as the cat sooked in Vanessa’s arms. ‘Good home for rescues, Falls Farm,’ she said in that deceptive tone Vanessa had heard before. ‘Just so happens —’

  Vanessa held up her hand. ‘Whatever you’re going to ask the answer is no.’

  Bunny carried on as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘— I’ve heard of another animal in need. Sweet little thing. Shetland. Barely comes up to my knees. Local rescue found her. Terrible state. They’re full up though. Would be awful if she had to be put down.’

  ‘Surely it’s not that drastic,’ said Vanessa, her heart already softening as it always did when she heard about suffering animals.