He took a healthy gulp and let it burn his throat.
“I have milk and sugar in my house.”
“No. This is brilliant.” Even though Nathan was desperate for caffeine, that wasn’t just what made this cup amazing. It had a mocha flavor with a hint of spice. “This is really good. Pardon me. It’s really good as. Did I say it right?”
“Hard out. That means yes.” Liam’s smile sent a pulse of energy through Nathan. “There’s a coffee farm the next town over. I give him wool, and he hooks me up with beans.”
Life slowly came back to Nathan. Liam handed him a full water bottle.
“Drink that, too. You need to stay—”
“Hydrated.”
Nathan did as instructed. He didn’t know water could taste so good. He felt it cool his dry, salty insides. “Is it also from a farm?”
“No. I think you were just very thirsty.”
True. It had been a while since Nathan drank plain water. His hydration usually came from coffee and the mixers and fruit garnishes in his drinks.
“Keep drinking. I don’t need you passing out on your first day.” Liam watched with care as he drank the water. Nathan found it rare for people to be concerned about his wellbeing, and Liam’s gaze was both a welcome and uncomfortable spotlight. “You did a good job out there, eventually.”
“I’ve been told I have a talent for shoveling shit. Metaphorically and now literally. When do we stop working for the day?”
Liam smiled at the pure exhaustion in his voice, his full lips peeking out from his full beard. “We’ll have lunch soon, then a few more hours and we should be done. I like to work before the sun is strongest.”
“Cheers, mate.” He handed back the mug. Their fingers touched for a second, like an electric shock, before both pulled away.
“I’ll get you a refill of both.” Liam walked back to his house, and Nathan watched Farmer Tight-ass’s tight ass bounce around in those jeans.
Chapter 7
Liam
“How did today go?” Mark asked him that night. Liam helped his brother prepare dinner in the kitchen. He had offered to do the cooking, but Mark shot him down every time. He said that after a day in an office, he looked forward to working with his hands and crafting something.
“Today was...not terrible. Though not great, either. He had quite the attitude.”
It frustrated Liam all over again, but it also made the beginnings of a smile spark on his face. He didn’t know why. He knew there had to be a real farmhand out there who would’ve done the work without complaining and wouldn’t have shown up blatantly hung over.
“Dad!” Franny burst into the kitchen holding the remote control in her hands. “The remote is busted. It’s not working.”
Mark opened the back and checked the batteries. “Maybe they’re out of juice?”
“I thought we just replaced them.”
“We’ll deal with it later, Fran.”
Franny let out a perfectly teenage ughhhh then left.
“It’s going to be a very interesting next few years,” Mark said with a knowing smile. Liam felt like he was also raising some kind of child, having to follow Nathan around today.
“I don’t have the time to train the Brit. I have a farm to run,” Liam said.
“He’ll get the hang of it, just like you did. This is a new experience for him. It could get you some good exposure if his movie’s a hit. Until then, enjoy the free labor.”
“I couldn’t find any articles about a gritty Babe reboot being produced.”
“There will be once the movie comes out. I’m glad you’re looking up something else on your computer except your ex-girlfriend.” Mark tossed vegetables around in a wok.
Liam hadn’t been on social media at all today. And this was the first time today he thought about Kelly or Craig.
“He’s still on a probationary period,” Liam said.
A little bit later, they all sat down for dinner. Mark, Franny, and Walt took their regular seats.
“Is Nathan coming?” Mark asked.
“I told him about it.” Liam got up and knocked on Nathan’s door. Music blasted from the other side. “Nathan. Are you coming to dinner, cuz? Nathan?”
The door swung open, and Nathan stood in front of him dressed like a total gentleman. He wore a dark blazer, crisp white shirt, dark jeans, and shined black shoes. His rusty hair was combed to the side and the front strands fell into his bright green eyes. He should be at a fancy dinner in Wellington or London.
Liam couldn’t talk for a second. He became very aware of his accelerated heart rate. The man was lousy in the field but cleaned up damn well.
“Are you going out?” Liam asked.
“You said there was a dinner tonight.”
“It’s not a dinner. Just dinner. At the house. With the family.” Liam was having trouble speaking in complete sentences. He couldn’t believe this was the same guy puking on his property this morning.
“Oh, sounds lovely.”
“Nah yeah.” Blink, dammit. “We’re ready to start. Just waiting on you.”
Nathan waltzed past him, his musky cologne making Liam a bit dizzy.
“Sorry I’m late.” Nathan waved to the others. His hand dropped when he looked at Franny and Walt. Liam noticed a quick change overtake his face, shock mixed with something else, like a cloud passing over the sun. And then it was gone.
“Gidday!” Walt said.
“I’m Franny and this is my brother Walt,” his niece said.
“Cheers. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Nathan shook both of their hands. He was at his most polite, something Liam didn’t think he was capable of. “A family dinner. How quaint.”
“Wait!” Franny yelped. Nathan stopped himself from sitting down.
“What is it?” Liam asked.
“That’s…that’s Mum’s chair.” She and her brother looked to Mark. Nathan held onto the chair, but did not sit.
“I can move elsewhere.”
“It’s…wait one moment.” Mark went into the kitchen. He came back out with a folding chair. “I keep these for extra company. They’re a bit rickety, but should get the job done. That’s, uh, where their mum used to sit.”
Nathan put his hand up and kept the mood jolly. “Not a problem. I get it.”
He sat in the folding chair, but Liam noticed that his hand lingered on Mariel’s old chair.
Nathan
“Nathan, do you need a drink?” Mark asked.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Nathan wanted to scream out. His body was a garbage heap of sore muscles from the day that would not end. They had stopped working in the fields at three today, but it felt like midnight. He didn’t take a nap. He just lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, willing the pain to stop.
On top of that, he was sitting across the table from his half-brother and half-sister but couldn’t say a word. There they were! His siblings! All Nathan wanted to do was look at them, but he didn’t want to seem like a creep. He did notice that Franny dyed her hair. The red roots were leeching out. If she let them grow out, with her porcelain skin, her rust-colored locks would absolutely glow.
Oh, and he was sitting next to the chair where his real-life mother used to sit. It was all a bit much. Every part of him cried out for a handle of whiskey, but he didn’t want to make a bad impression in front of everyone. Liam had already caught him grossly hungover.
“We’re having a beer. Do you want one?” Mark held up his bottle, then nodded his head behind him at the kitchen. “They’re in the fridge.”
Nathan’s eyes darted the other way, to the liquor cabinet. He caught Liam looking at him with a suspicious glint in his eye. He probably wondered how the hell Nathan knew where the liquor cabinet was. He was like a bloodhound when it came to libations.
“I’ll stick with water. I need to stay hydrated.” Nathan glanced at Liam, who’d been looking at him a lot tonight. He was onto me. Liam went into the kitchen to get a beer for himself.
“There is no script. We’re improvising all of it. I’ll be doing actual farm work and portraying Farmer Hoggett.”
“How can they have animals improvise?” Liam swung through the kitchen door and returned with his drink.
“I will be reacting off of them. It’s how the director works. Anything goes. I’m very excited because as an actor—”
“What’s the director’s name?” Liam asked.
“Jasper Cort. His work has been mainly experimental.” Nathan met him out one night and knew he’d be able to cover for him.
“You’re so inquisitive, Liam.”
“You raise a heap of questions, Nathan.”
They locked eyes for an extra moment. Game on.
Nathan dug into his chicken and vegetables. “I am famished.”
“Stop,” Liam said coldly.
“What?” Nathan asked with a mouth full of food.
“We pray first.”
“Seriously? Are you part of a cult?”
“We say a prayer thanking the Lord for our dinner every night,” Walt said.
“Oh.”
“It’s a tradition Mum started. Would you like to lead the prayer?” Franny asked. “You get to make a new one.”
“Me? Just so you know, the last time I was in a church, I was on my knees but for completely non-religious reasons.”
Mark’s eyes widened in panic. Liam looked about ready to spit his beer out.
“Because I was cleaning the floors,” Nathan added. “Okay, let’s give it a whirl. Right, I see we’re all holding hands.”
Liam held Nathan’s hand and squeezed it tight to keep him on track.
“Um, Dear Lord,” Nathan began, absolutely at a loss for words. The only time he called out to God was during sex, and considering the lack of stamina of his last few sexual partners, the Lord was not listening. “Thank you for this food. Thank you for being…a friend. You’ve traveled down from heaven and back again. Your nutrients are true. Lord, you are a pal and a confidant.”
“Is that The Golden Girls theme song?” Mark asked.
“I…is it? I was just spitballing here.”
Liam rolled his eyes and turned to Nathan again. “Can’t you be serious for one—”
“We love that show!” Mark said. He and the kids laughed.
“How did you know we liked it?” Franny asked.
“Sofia’s my favorite,” Walt said.
“You watch The Golden Girls?” Nathan asked. “But you’re all so…straight. I mean, I didn’t know it was broadcast here.”
“I don’t watch it,” Liam said.
“I figured, since you have no sense of humor,” Nathan shot back.
The table got quiet. Mark and the kids shared a solemn look.
“My wife loved that show. They rerun it on one of the television stations, and she got us all hooked.”
“She even had a pillow with the characters on it. Is it still in the basement with her other stuff?” Walt asked his dad.
“Still there, son. My wife was a bit of a hoarder,” Mark said with a laugh.
“So is my dad. Was.” Nathan took a sip of water. “Your wife had great taste.”
He took it as some kind of sign. Maybe he and his mum could’ve bonded over watching episodes, like so many gay men and their mothers had in the past. He held up his glass. “For my prayer, let’s do a cheers to Mariel, shall we?”
“Hard out,” Mark said.
“To a wonderful woman, full of love and mystery and wonder. Mariel, if you can hear us, we think about you everyday,” Nathan said, with more seriousness than he expected. His voice got thick, and the table let out a solemn, uniform “Amen.”
He looked over at Liam, expecting to find the suspicious glint in his eye, but the farmer nodded warmly at him, his ice blue eyes twinkling in the light. It unexpectedly sent a shiver up Nathan’s spine.
“Let’s eat,” Nathan said.
Chapter 8
Liam
The next morning, Liam waited for Nathan on the farm. He checked his watch. It was four-thirty-five. No sign of Nathan. The first traces of sunlight cracked through the dark sky. It didn’t matter how much this mysterious stranger charmed his family last night. He had a job to do. And that job started at quarter past four in the morning.
Liam stormed across the field. Right before he reached the side door off the kitchen, it swung open, and Nathan popped out. It was a surprise to Liam, who thought he’d have to do the water trick again.
“Good morning!” Nathan said. He wore his jeans, which were matted with dirt and grass stains from yesterday, and a black v-neck shirt that hugged his chest, showing off lean muscles just under the fabric.
“You’re late.” Liam crossed his arms.
“I don’t know what happened. My snooze alarm never went off.” Nathan breezed past him to the farm.
“Did you hit the snooze?”
“You have to hit it?”
“Yes.” Liam clicked the side door shut. “It doesn’t snooze automatically. When your alarm goes off, you hit the snooze button—” Liam didn’t waste his breath. Nathan seemed like someone who was always fashionably late. He marched across the field, wobbling a little bit, but that seemed like normal tiredness and not inebriation. Liam clocked his perky bum in those designer jeans and did not mind the view.
Nathan waited for him outside his shed while Liam grabbed gloves. There was no front porch. Liam had put out two turned-over buckets. That was the extent of his outdoor furniture.
“We’re starting in the hoof house,” Liam said, handing him a pair of thick gloves he remembered from yesterday. “You’re going to scrape the hay off the floor, like you attempted yesterday.”
“Would it be all right I start off with a cup of coffee?”
“You just got here.”
“You’ve seen what I’m like without coffee.” Nathan cocked his eyebrows at Liam, as if he needed a reminder of the mess he was yesterday. “All I need is one cup.” Nathan seesawed his head. “Two cups.”
“All right.” Little did he know, but Liam already had a fresh pot going. He figured Nathan would need the caffeine jolt. But he chose to play the part of gruff boss.
Nathan pulled open the screen door, then front door, and sprinted to the kitchen. He picked up the empty mug next to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.
“This is the best coffee I’ve ever had.” Nathan took a whiff of the coffee before inhaling half of it. He picked up Liam’s mug from the sink. “Want a refill?”
“Sure. I’m glad you like it,” Liam said. Nathan handed over the mug and sat on the kitchen island, which should’ve annoyed Liam, but he let it slide. “I want to thank you for last night.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Mariel’s chair.” Liam thought about the prayer Nathan said for his late sister-in-law, how surprisingly heartfelt it was. There was more to Nathan than sarcasm, apparently.
“I get it.” A wave of seriousness washed over Nathan’s face as he shook off the nice words. “She sounds like the dog’s bollocks.”
“She was kind of a rebel. It’s not hard to be when your parents have enormous sticks up their arses.” Liam stood against the wall where the kitchen became the living room. “Speaking of…Mark told me, about your parents.”
“Right.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing. Well, not nothing. Just…in the past.” Nathan’s face went from normal to red immediately. Liam figured it was hard for him to hide with his light skin. He found it endearing. There was one part to Nathan that couldn’t be hidden in charm and bullshit.
“Mine carked it when I was a teenager. Two heart attacks, a year apart. Bloody strange.” It felt like yesterday still. Liam never stopped thinking about them. “Do you ever forget that they’re gone? Like, you’ll be doing laundry or something, and suddenly it’ll hit you all o
ver again.”
“Right,” Nathan said awkwardly. The pain seemed to be coming back to him, judging by the continued blush on his cheeks. Liam cursed himself for revealing that.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“You may want to work on your smalltalk topics,” Nathan said.
“I don’t find too many people in my position, so I try to connect with them when I can. I know how rough it can be.”
“I prefer not to talk about it, frankly.” Nathan poured himself another cup of coffee, walked into the living room, and sat on the arm of the couch.
“Finish up your coffee. We should get out there.” Liam put his mug in the sink, washed it out, and replaced it next to the coffeemaker in its rightful place. Clouds swirled in the dark blue sky as more of the sun made itself known.
“Why hello,” he heard Nathan say.
It was just then that he remembered that he’d left his laptop on the couch last night. After going on Facebook.
Fuck.
Liam darted into the living room and tried to pull the laptop out of Nathan’s hands, but Nathan realized that he’d hit on gold. Liam reached over Nathan, who held out the laptop away from him. Kelly’s face took up the screen.
“You really didn’t want me to see this,” Nathan said. “And it’s not even porn.”
“Just give it back. We need to get out in the field.”
Liam’s shoe slipped on the rug. He fell onto Nathan, and they both tumbled onto the couch. Liam was right on top of him and could feel the heat of his body. He could feel those lean muscles under that black shirt. He could smell the deodorant under Nathan’s arms. Their eyes met, and neither one of them moved for a second.
Kelly and Craig smiled at them from the screen.
Liam shut the laptop and sat up. “Time for work.”
Nathan
Nathan got to work cleaning the dirty hay off the hoof house floor. He was determined to be a better farmhand today, but the raging pain clanging inside his head was making this a challenge. Not drinking seemed to feel worse than drinking too much. He’d been through withdrawal before. He had to work through his pain with farm chores. Nathan wanted to do a good job, especially when he pictured his conversation with Liam about his parents. Here was a guy who legitimately lost his parents, and Nathan shat all over that with a fake story. Why did I have to say that lie to Mark? Because I wanted him to like me. How fucked is that?
Outside Looking In: A Browerton University Book Page 6
