Chapter 9.
Richard was up early the next day, throwing himself into some destruction. He attacked a bricked up fireplace with a sledgehammer trying to divert his mind from the previous night's cowardice. His past would have to come out eventually and it would be a lot better coming from him. Part of him still clung to the hope it would all go away. He was sure most of it would but legal wheels turned slowly. Deep down Richard knew some of that stain would stick. It would follow him no matter how unjust. It wasn't about justice, it was the law or how others twisted it to their advantage.
The plan Richard made at the start of the day was to go and check out the truck at lunchtime in the hope of avoiding Peta. By mid-morning his arms and back ached from swinging the hammer and carting out the debris. It was time to face the music, he thought so he cleaned himself up and headed out.
Peta's morning was no better. She had rolled over with a groan as she heard the scuttling feet of Angus and Murray making their way up the hallway to the kitchen. Sitting up she grabbed a dressing gown from the end of the bed and shrugged it on as she followed her little men. With the boys crunching on their cereal Peta was looking out the kitchen window waited for the jug to boil.
Why had she kissed him last night? No, that wasn't the biggest issue, why had she chased him and kissed him last night? Fuck, was she that desperate? Blame the booze, a little voiced chirped in her head. Yeah right, four beers and they were only mid-strength.
"You okay mum?" It was Murray standing beside her, putting his empty plate on the sink.
"The jug's boiling."
Peta pulled him close.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking."
"About what?"
"Oh you know... about why I haven't got my morning kiss and cuddle yet." Peta said bending down puckering her lips aggressively towards the struggling boy.
Murray broke away shrieking and Angus joined in as Peta chased them around and around the kitchen table.
"What's all this noise..." a tired looking Marci shouted as she came through the door.
The boys took fright, ran to their mother and they all looked sheepishly at Marci.
"Oh, you're awake." Marci said with a quieter voice to her daughter. "I'm going back to bed then."
She turned and left. Peta took her chance and pulled both boys close enough to plant a sloppy kiss on both their cheeks. They moved away as soon as they were free wiping their faces with their sleeves.
After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, they all went out around the farm to check the stock. When they got back Marci was awake and having breakfast. The boys went to their room to do battle on the gaming console while Peta stayed outside weeding in the garden. She was about to go inside for some morning tea when she saw Richard's ute coming up the drive. He continued past the house, parking in front of the shed.
"Best get it over with," Peta mumbled to herself.
After washing her hands under a garden tap she headed over to the shed. When she got there Richard had the batteries in place and he was bent over under the truck tray connected the terminals. She watched him work for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say. Peta was pretty sure he knew she was there but hadn't acknowledged her presence.
"About last night," she started as Richard stepped back and straightened up to face her. "I don't normally... you know... throw myself at guys and..."
Richard cut in, "last night was last night. I think we both know it's not a good idea." He looked down and kicked at some dust on the concrete floor. "I mean... I'm extremely flattered that you did want to kiss me."
He looked up at Peta to gauge her reaction.
"You're a nice man Richard. We both know others might have taken advantage last night."
Peta shuddered at the thought of what Tony would have done if she had the same moment of madness with him.
"Friends, then?" Richard stepped closer and held out his hand.
"Friends," Peta said softly as she took his hands in both of hers.
The moment of awkwardness over Richard got in the truck and turned her over. She started on the second crank and roared to life. He let it run to build up the air pressure, let the brakes off then backed it out of the shed. Peta watched as he spent five minutes crawling over and under it, lifting the tipper, checking the hoist then letting it down before returning it to it's parking spot.
"All good?" Peta enquired as he walked towards her.
"Yeah, just like the harvester it's been looked after." Richard said as he rubbed his dirty hands on the back of his pants.
"Dinner tonight?" Peta offered but inside she was hoping he'd refuse.
"No, better get back. I'm hoping the plumber is going to turn up tomorrow so I've got some stuff to do." Richard said and they walked together towards his ute.
"When do you think we will start?" Peta asked as they went.
"There were still a few green heads in the oats we walked past yesterday so not before next weekend. I'll come over Saturday and have another look."
Richard got in his ute, waved goodbye and drove away. Peta watched him go. He was a nice man, really nice, but there was something else lurking there. A sadness, a betrayal, something of that nature. Something she recognized in herself. The past had a way of not letting you escape.
Peta meandered back to the house. She checked on the chickens, made sure the dogs had water then headed for the house. Marci was in the kitchen de-boning a leg of lamb in preparation for dinner that night.
"Have we got an extra for dinner tonight?" Marci asked and Peta could sense her disapproval.
"No, and he won't be here all week." Peta replied.
"Oh? I thought you two were very cosy last night."
"Jesus, Mum! He's helping us out. He hasn't even asked for money yet. Surely we can offer some hospitality." An exasperated Peta berated her mother.
"Did you ever think it might just be your "hospitality" he's hoping for?" Marci held her hands up making sarcastic quotation marks when she spat out the word hospitality.
Peta wanted to snipe back but she bit back a remark about the state her mother was in when she got home the previous evening.
"I'm not fighting with you, Mum. He's a nice man, who I asked to help out, and that's what he's doing."
Marci turned away grunting her disagreement as she did.
Chapter 10
Peta's life returned to normal for the next week. Get the boys off to school then general stock and farm maintenance duties. Her livestock agent did his monthly inspection on Thursday morning. They went around the paddocks together assessing the feed reserves before sitting down back at the house and planning any further purchases or sales. The technician came out and got the harvester's air-conditioning going on Thursday afternoon.
All week she put off paying Tony. She could have written a cheque and sent it through the post or done a direct debit but she wanted to do it face to face. Sitting in the office Friday morning, Peta unpinned his bill from her work board. She stared at it for a long time.
Finally, with a sigh, she opened her cheque book and wrote one out for the amount owing. Looking through the desk drawers for an envelope she spied the large A4 in the bin. The one he'd given her with the lease contract. An evil grin spread across her face.
Later that afternoon, Peta drove through the front gates of Tony's farm. The farm house was not far from the road, but she knew there would be no one there. Instead, she continued past it towards a cluster of large sheds and silos five hundred metres further along the drive way. A large, brown dog greeted her car as she pulled up in front of the workshop of the largest shed. If Toby, the dog, was here then so was Tony.
There were various different pieces of farm machinery parked in and around the sheds. A windrower was in the workshop with its engine cover off and a man standing next to it. It wasn't Tony but Peta surmised he would know where he was. As she got closer Tony appeared from around the front of the machine. He stood still for a moment. Peta was swinging the large envelope in her hand in an exaggerated fashion as she walked. When she got close enough she could see his triumphant smile.
"Come to your senses, Peta?" Tony said in a booming voice so the mechanic and anyone else within half a kilometre could hear.
"Yes," Peta said as she handed it to him.
It was her turn to smile as she saw the look of confusion appear when Tony realized the envelope didn't contain the lease agreement. He peered inside then turned it up side down and shook it. The cheque fluttered out onto floor and he stooped to pick it up.
"That covers all the sowing and spraying bill. I'd appreciate it if you'd remove my name from your debtors list." Peta spun on her heels and strutted back to the car.
"Wait, Peta. There's no need to... we can work something out..." Tony called after her but she kept going successfully fighting the urge to turn around and give him the finger by way of reply.
~~~
Peta was in the garden Saturday morning but her heart wasn't in it. She had picked the spot to weed very carefully as it had a great view of the main road and the driveway. Any noise that sounded like a vehicle had her lifting her head and scanning for a familiar old dual cab. Richard hadn't actually said a time and she had no way of contacting him except for driving to his place. That option was out of the question after the way she'd thrown herself at him the previous week.
After an hour on her knees in the dirt she gave up the pretence of weeding. Instead, she moved to sit in the shade on the front veranda out of the sun. Angus came scurrying around the corner closely followed by an angry looking Murray. Both pulled up quickly with guilt written on their faces when they saw their mum.
"What are you two up to?" Peta asked with a stern look on her face.
"Nothing," the two boys replied as a chorus.
Peta could see Angus and one hand hidden behind his back.
"What have you got?" Peta enquired trying to stop a smile.
"Nothing," Angus repeated while putting on show his most innocent face and twisting his arm further behind his back.
Just then Marci's voice boomed from the kitchen.
"Angus? Murray?"
Both boys cringed as they realized their plot had been discovered. Peta put her hand out towards Angus with her palm up.
