Family Farm (5 page)

Bill’s eyes became dry and he felt his jaw spasm and his muscles clench.

‘No, and she’s not going to know either.’ His heart began to heave in his chest at the thought of Izzy finding out the secret he and Will had managed to keep quiet all this time. ‘There’s no need to go upsetting her. Let’s just keep it this way, okay?’ Bill knew he sounded gruff. ‘Please,’ he begged, trying a different tactic.

Will sighed and began playing with the label on his stubbie. ‘But I hate it, Bill. She’s still so angry. I want to go back … back to the way it all was when we used to be good friends. I need all the friends I can get out here. You know how hard it’s been. Especially without Claire,’ he finished sadly. ‘She reminded me so much of Claire at the sale, especially with her “all guns blazing” attitude. Claire always spoke her mind.’

Bill studied his young protégé’s freshly shaven face. He saw the pain still buried in his eyes. Will masked it well, but Bill knew him better than most. ‘I’m sorry, mate, but please do this for us and for Izzy. She’ll come around eventually, you’ll see. Who could resist your charm anyway?’ Bill joked, trying to lighten the situation.

‘I’m damn sure Izzy can.’

Will smiled and Bill knew their secret was safe, for the moment at least. He followed Will’s eyes to his daughter. Lifting his arm, he waved and beckoned her over.

For a split second Izzy thought about ignoring him, but it was too late. He knew she’d seen him.

‘Isabelle, come say hello to Will. She’s home for good now,’ he said, turning back to Will. ‘All finished over east. We’ll have to find her a job closer to home this time,’ he concluded, as she reluctantly joined them.

‘Hey, Izzy. How are you?’ asked Will.

Izzy’s eyes ran up his tall, lean frame to his tanned face and all she could muster as a reply was, ‘Fine.’ He wasn’t getting a polite conversation out of her.

She looked down at the ground, anything to avoid eye contact, and became engrossed in his black-and-white, double-plugged thongs with his sock tan standing out like a pink arse on a black baboon. It was common enough when you worked outside a lot. Izzy glanced at her own stylish sock tan, but luckily her legs looked gorgeous and brown against the blue of her dress. Hopefully that was enough to keep the eyes above her ankles.

Bill cleared his throat, trying to cover Izzy’s dismissive reply. ‘Will’s been helping me out a fair bit on the farm lately.’

‘Which reminds me, Bill. I have that Honda pump for you. I’ll go chuck it on your ute so it’s not forgotten,’ said Will, cutting in.

That would be right, thought Izzy. Trying to help the charity case no doubt. Dad must be getting old if he was accepting help from the Timminses. He always used to complain that they bragged about their big trucks and headers, rubbing their money in people’s faces. She knew they always made her dad feel like he lived in the gutter.

Bill put his arm out, stopping Will. ‘Cheers, mate. But you stay here, drink up and enjoy. I’ll grab it.’ Clearly, he was trying to get them to spend time together. Izzy was having none of that. ‘I’d better go and help Mum,’ she muttered, as she turned on her heel and left Will standing alone.

‘I’ll see ya later,’ he said into the warm air, but his words never reached her.

Izzy managed to avoid Will for most of the evening, but she noticed how much time her dad spent with him, chatting as if they were best mates. She watched them closely. Will’s long, lean arms and large hands moved constantly as he talked to her dad. Every now and then, he ran his hand through his short, mousy-brown hair. Jeez, she thought, he used to do that when he was younger. She had to admit he was pleasant looking. Hell, he was gorgeous and she couldn’t deny it, but he knew it too. When he was nineteen, he thought he was so hot with his ute, and all the girls fussing over him. He thought the sun shone out of his arse. But what made it worse was that back then Izzy actually believed it did. She used to follow him and Claire around like a lost lamb. When they had been young kids they’d all played together, but when Will and Claire hit the teenage years, they deemed her too young to join in their fun. Will never teased her though. It was always Claire who’d tell her to go home if they wanted her gone. It wasn’t until she had turned sixteen that they really let her hang out with them. Izzy figured it was more for their enjoyment. Watching her get drunk and sending her on little pranks.

Bill started heading towards the beer fridge, so Izzy took the opportunity to corner him on his own. ‘Hey, Dad. Havin’ a good time?’

‘Of course, sweetheart. You?’ He paused as he clutched the long metal door handle on the old fridge.

‘Yep, but what’s going on with Will? How come he’s here?’

Bill sighed. ‘A lot has changed since you’ve been gone, Isabelle. Will has been through a lot. Claire’s death changed his life too. He was pretty broken up and very lost. He ended up leaving the farm for a while and did some soul-searching. He grew up and came back a different bloke, and since then we’ve been helping each other to heal. He’s really a great guy once you get to know him.’

‘Yeah, you think so? I haven’t noticed a change yet.’ Izzy tucked her loose fringe back firmly behind her ear. ‘You must be getting soft in your old age, mixing with Will and taking the Timmins’ charity. There’s no way I’m letting him sweet talk me around like he’s done you. I haven’t forgotten about him and Claire.’ Izzy gave her dad the look of a stubborn Simpson, then turned on her heel and left.

What would Dad know anyway? she thought. He hadn’t been the one left comforting Claire while she’d cried of a broken heart.

It had been a shock seeing Claire like that, as she wasn’t one to cry. Not like that anyway. She’d always been strong and carefree, had always looked on the bright side of life. To see her crumpled miserably in a heap on her bed had torn at Izzy and left an image in her mind that she’d never forget – or forgive.

Bill just shook his head as his daughter walked away, then grabbed a cold beer and passed another to Jim.

‘Izzy sure is looking great. Whatever she’s been doing must have agreed with her,’ Jim said, as he screwed off the cap and took a sip. ‘Is she still trying to work on the farm?’

Bill growled. ‘Yes. But Izzy knows my answer to that. A farm’s not a place for a young girl. She could do a whole lot better for herself.’

‘Come on, Bill. She’s hardly a young girl any more,’ said Jim.

‘Don’t I know it. You know, we took a drive around the place today. She was asking me heaps of questions about the farm and sticking her nose in, like usual. She talked me into taking a sample off in the top paddock. Bugger me if she wasn’t right. It turns out that the moisture was just under the limit. So it’s all go tomorrow morning.’

‘You’d better put that beer back then!’ chuckled Jim. ‘Or you could always hand it over to me.’

The phone ringing caused them to pause. Jean called out for Izzy, who was somewhere on the crowded verandah.

Izzy walked over to her mum and took the phone from her.

‘Hello?’ For a moment Izzy listened and then she exploded. ‘I told you not to call me!’

A few people in the vicinity looked her way. She took her hand off her hip and waved it about like she was shifting stupid sheep. ‘Just piss off, will you? Leave me alone and don’t bother calling back.’ She punched the end call button with such force that she almost dropped the phone. Now she had everyone’s attention. Feeling eyes on her back, she quickly went inside to hide and sat down at the dining table. Izzy wasn’t upset this time, just bloody mad.

A hand touched her shoulder, causing her to jump.

‘Mum, you scared the crap out of me.’

Jean looked at her daughter carefully. ‘Is everything all right?’

Izzy sighed. ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine.’

‘Who was he?’

Izzy glanced at her mum. Why did she have the feeling her mum knew it all anyway? Mums have a sixth sense, Izzy was sure. Sighing again, she answered slowly, ‘Rob.’

Jean didn’t open her mouth in shock. Instead she remained composed. ‘Rob Radcliff, your boss?’

‘Ex-boss.’ Izzy patted the dining chair next to her. ‘You’d better sit down.’

She waited for her mum to sit before she began. ‘You know, everything was going great and I loved what I was doing on the farm. Rob was such a great teacher and we worked so well together. That’s why this whole thing sucks!’ Izzy covered her face with her hands. ‘We were fixing the tractor one day, and he leant across and tried to kiss me,’ she said through her fingers.

‘What did you do?’ Jean asked quietly, trying not to let her disappointment and concern show.

Izzy lifted her face out of her hands. ‘Slapped him, of course.’ Taking a deep breath, Izzy tried to block out the memory that had been haunting her for the last week but it came back with a vengeance.

It had been a normal day, just like any other. They were both in the shed and had been there for two hours even though it was still only seven-thirty in the morning. The air was crisp and her fingers were so cold they’d gone numb. Not that it bothered her. It was just how it went. Rob was not far from her in the shed. His two-day-old stubble, which was starting to go grey, prickled against the cold along his narrow jawline. There was also a hint of grey through his black hair giving him a George Clooney look. He was a bit on the scrawny side, always needing a belt for his pants, but he could do the work of a strong man. On this day they had been looking over the John Deere tractor Rob had just bought, checking everything before they began getting it ready for farm work. Izzy inspected the level and condition of the transmission and hydraulic oil and found it rather low. The oil smelt burnt and was quite discoloured, not to mention the tiny bits of grit that she could feel in it between her thumb and finger.

She wiped the mess off her fingers onto a dirty rag nearby. ‘I don’t think your new pride and joy is really going to cut the mustard. She’s been worked over and neglected a bit. I think you’ve got a lemon,’ she said.

Rob scoffed at her. ‘Nah, don’t you go knocking my new baby,’ he replied, then went to check it himself. She stood behind his tall frame and watched as his shoulders slumped a fraction. He’d seen the evidence too.

‘You never know, maybe with some TLC she’ll come good.’ Izzy tried to cheer him up. Rob then turned around and held up his oily fingers and wiggled them. Laughing, Izzy went to step back away from his threatening hands but he reached out his long arms and wrapped her up unexpectedly.

‘No, don’t you bloody dare. I’ll quit,’ she joked, holding her head back as far as it would stretch, while trying to escape his grasp. But with mad glee in his hazel eyes he teasingly pressed an oily finger to her forehead, leaving a smudge the length of his little finger. Izzy thought it had all just been in good fun, until Rob’s hand started caressing her cheek. Izzy felt the air around them change. She started to feel nervous, like being cornered in a pen with a charging ram heading straight for you. She tried to yell out a warning, tried to break the weird moment, but it somehow got stuck in her throat. All that came out was a raspy, ‘Rob, no.’ She tried to scramble backwards, to get feeling to her feet, but she was in a state of shock.

She didn’t think he’d heard and began to panic when she saw the swirling emotion in his eyes – something she’d never seen before. In the next instant he kissed her. Izzy’s lips remained shut tight, like the lid on a coffin, and her eyes were so wide they were beginning to water. She felt his hold on her relax, and in that moment she leant back and smacked his face. Her hand connected so well that the smack echoed throughout the shed like one of his kids’ cap guns.

Rob stumbled, reeling with shock, and held the side of his face. ‘Izzy, stop,’ he said as she moved away. ‘Please listen to me. I’m sorry. I’ve tried to stop this, but I can’t. I really like you.’

Izzy just about died on the spot.

‘Don’t you feel it too?’ he asked.

‘No, Rob. I don’t. How could you even ask that? Alice …’ She was too stunned to continue. ‘But you still love her, right?’

She could see Rob searching inside himself for the answer. ‘Yes, of course, she’s the mother of my kids. But you, I can’t stop thinking about. I just want to hold you and taste you.’

Izzy cringed at his words. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Rob,’ she said, trying to sound businesslike. ‘It’s just lust. You don’t really want to wreck your marriage by doing something stupid now. It was just a heat of the moment thing, right? It’s not going to happen again.’

Rob looked at her sheepishly. ‘I’ve been trying not to think of you that way for the last month and I just can’t take it any more. Being around you every day is driving me mad, Izzy.’

Izzy shuddered at the memory of it all. One minute it’d been great, the next it had all turned to manure, and Izzy knew then that she had no choice but to flee and never look back.

As Izzy glanced at Jean’s waiting eyes, she lowered her voice to a whisper and continued. Izzy felt uncomfortable even saying it. ‘He was a married man, for God’s sake! I trusted him. He was a good friend, as well as … I guess … a father figure. I looked up to him as a mentor, and in one moment he shattered everything.’ Izzy realised her hands were scrunched up into fists and tried to relax. ‘I couldn’t chance it happening again so I left and came home.’

It had been a hard decision to make – to give up her perfect life on Cliffviews. She’d been in her little cottage chucking clothes into her bags and trying to stop the tears welling in her eyes when Alice appeared at her door.

‘Rob’s just told me you’re leaving, Izzy. I didn’t believe him but … it’s true?’

Luckily, Izzy had already been thinking about what to tell Alice. She knew she couldn’t leave without saying a proper goodbye. ‘I’m so sorry, Alice. Something has happened at home and I have to go back.’

‘Oh, is it your parents? I hope they’re okay.’ Alice said it with such sincerity that Izzy found it hard to continue with her lie.

‘No, they’re fine. It’s just Dad needs me on the farm right now. He’s really struggling and this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I hope you understand, Ali. I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done and for embracing me into your family.’