The Dairy Farmer’s Daughter (Heart of the Hinterland #1)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

J ustin awoke to the distant mooing of cows and light shimmering into the room through the sheer old curtains. He had slept longer than he'd expected and felt refreshed and ready to face the day. Perhaps it was the clear Hinterland air. Whatever it was, he couldn't remember waking up feeling so good in a long time. If ever.

He climbed out of bed and practically skipped towards the kitchen, where he prepared himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of muesli before sitting out on the porch to eat his breakfast and watch the farm fully awaken.

He thought back on the night before, the people he had met and their seemingly easy way of life. Things up here seemed so much more relaxed and less chaotic than in the city. There was less pollution, less traffic, less noise, and less people.

How he would go back to his life now where he was always surrounded by strangers. He didn't even know the other residents in his apartment complex—everyone kept to themselves and minded their own business.

Here, everyone knew everyone and was always willing to lend a hand.

His father was still a mystery—however, his life made more sense now. This area was the only place he had ever lived. It had been his life even when his family had left.

Justin resolved to start sorting through boxes that weekend and see if he could find out anything more about the man who might as well have been a stranger. Perhaps answers to some mysteries would be uncovered. Perhaps he would just be left with more questions.

He finished off his cereal and coffee, cleaned up the dishes, then headed to the bathroom where he showered and dressed in more of his father's clothes.

He then opened the wooden doors of his father's closet, deciding it was as good a place as any to start. His father had been surprisingly tidy and didn't seem to own much of value.

Justin decided that if he put in a few long hours he could easily have the job over and done with by the end of the weekend.

When he heard the sound of a car pull up on the gravel driveway, Justin stood and stretched. His morning sorting things hadn't uncovered anything he hadn't already known about his father.

Walking towards the front door, he hoped that like yesterday, Freya had decided to call in unannounced.

She had said last night she wasn't ready to let him go, and he realised he felt the same way. That was why it was so easy for him to stay in Maleny. Because she was here. Because she made him want more.

Opening the sliding door, he poked his head out and was surprised to see his half-sister. The teenager climbed out of her fiery-red hatchback and threw him a wide smile. She shut the door behind her and jogged up the short path to him.

"Felicity? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come and see what you'd inherited. Plus, I thought you might want a change of clothes."

Justin and his brother and sister all had spare keys to each other's houses in case of emergencies. Felicity often turned up, unannounced, to crash on his couch when she needed a break from their parents.

"You brought clothes?" Finally, he'd be able to get out of the farm shirts and workwear that still had a faint smell of milk and manure—despite the heavy-duty washing. "Thank you. What about my razor?" He rubbed a hand along his jaw, feeling the rasp of stubble against his palm.

"Oops, sorry." Felicity shrugged. "But I like this look on you." She gestured to his face, then stepped backwards, and put her hands on her hips, taking in the plainness of the cottage. "Okay, I admit: I was expecting more."

"Just wait until you see inside." He opened the door wide and waved her in.

He boiled the kettle and brewed a fresh pot of coffee while she made herself at home and inspected the small house. Coming back, from her inspection, she sat in a chair and accepted her mug.

"So, what do you think?" he asked, as he sat next to her at the table.

"Well it could be worse. But it could also be better."

"I don't plan on keeping it."

"No. I can't imagine you as a dairy farmer. But there are plenty of other things you could do up here."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"You run your own business; you could do that anywhere. You don't have to be in Brisbane. In fact, I bet you would save a lot of money living up here, not having to pay that huge rent for your apartment in the city."

"The apartment you enjoy crashing at most Saturday nights." He waggled his brows at her.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "So, have you got a buyer for it yet?"

Justin sipped his coffee. "The neighbours next door want to lease it out. I'm just waiting for final approvals before I sign the forms."

"Lease? Wouldn't it be better to sell it and get rid of it, maybe use the money to buy something"—she looked around at the peeling wallpaper—"a bit more modern? Something redecorated in the last thirty years."

"I can lease it out to these guys, and then hope a sale comes up at some stage."

Felicity nodded. "Well, I saw it has a spare room."

"You want to stay the night? Here?"

"Might as well bludge off you while I can," she teased.

"You do that back home anyway."

As they were finishing catching up on each other's news, Justin saw an unfamiliar white hatchback rolling down the driveway.

"Expecting someone?" Felicity asked as she followed his gaze.

His eyes widened as he recognised the familiar face. Freya climbed out of the car with a plastic container under her arm.

Justin felt his sister’s gaze upon him.

"Good morning." Freya was only a few steps away and he felt the sparks between them as she watched him. Her face fell when she spotted Felicity.

“Freya, this is my sister, Felicity.” He watched as Freya looked from him to Felicity as though searching for familial resemblance then, seeming satisfied, she turned to the younger woman with a wide smile.

“So, you're Justin's sister. I'm so glad to meet you.” Her voice was warm.

Felicity, who never missed a trick, was also appraising the newcomer. “Great to meet you too,” she said, and leaned in for a friendly hug.

It suddenly occurred to Justin just how much these two would have in common. They were bound to be kindred spirits, both women having bubbly personalities and positive attitudes.

"I come bearing gifts," Freya said, holding out the plastic container. "I have sustenance from Greer. And boxes."

"Boxes?" Felicity raised an eyebrow.

"Packing boxes—we're into recycling over at Emerald Hills. Hardly anything ever gets thrown out, which means our shed is full of just about everything you could possibly imagine. Since you're packing up Boyd's things, you're going to need these."

Freya and Felicity chatted like they had known each other all their lives while they got the boxes out, taped them up, and then they all started to pack room by room.

Although not always participating in the conversation, Justin listened with an avid ear, picking up on things he hadn't known about Freya or indeed his sister.

They talked in depth about the latest social media trends, a big part of Freya's business.

“We should totally take a selfie,” Felicity exclaimed, grabbing her phone and waving Justin over to join them. With a pile of boxes for their backdrop, Felicity held the camera at arm’s length. “Come on, you two. Get a bit closer.”

Justin found himself squeezed between the two young women. He watched the phone screen as Freya tucked her head into the curve of his neck and felt the electricity fire through his body from being so close to her.

Felicity snapped a few photos before looking through them.

Justin turned to Freya, who smiled adoringly back at him. God, she was so beautiful. “Thanks for helping.”

“Of course, happy to. Although I was hoping you could help me with something later.”

He looked at her with a furrowed brow. “What exactly did you need help with?”

“The website. It's been driving me nuts, and you're an IT expert.”

“Oh, okay. What do you need help with?”

“It'll be easier if I show you. I have my laptop in the car. We can do it later.”

“I hope it's okay if I tag you two this photo?” Felicity said. “And Freya, I’ve just sent you a friend request.”

Freya slid her mobile from the back pocket of her jeans. A few taps later, she declared it done. She glanced at Justin. “I just sent you one too.”

He joined the party and pulled out his own mobile, swiping away all the unread messages and emails he would have to deal with eventually. Logging into his Facebook account, he accepted Freya's request, and couldn't help but quickly scroll through her profile.

Pictures of her around the farm, and around Maleny, filled her feed. Her natural beauty was emphasised even more by the green and brown hues of the Hinterland. There were other photos too, selfies of her with other people, laughing and obviously enjoying themselves.

He couldn't help but feel jealous whenever another man appeared in the pictures. He paused when he recognised the man with dreadlocks from Friday night. They seemed awfully close in the picture, one arm casually tossed around her shoulder, and their faces touching.

“Isn't that Shane from the other night?” He showed the picture to Freya.

“Yeah. We dated the last year of high school, before he turned vegan and got dreadlocks.” She shrugged off the comment, as though it didn't mean anything.

“I thought you guys were just friends." He fought to keep his voice casual.

“We are friends. We both grew up in Maleny and have known each other since childhood. We couldn’t give that up just because it didn’t work out between us.”

“Wow, I could never stay friends with an ex,” Felicity said. “Too much water under the bridge.”

“This is a small town. If we didn’t stay friends with our exes, we wouldn’t have many friends at all.”

The three of them went back to their work, but it suddenly bothered Justin that so many of the men he met around town, that were roughly their age, could have been men Freya dated. They could have been people she’d considered being with long-term. She could have even loved some of them.

It made him feel insecure and jealous. Two feelings he had very little experience with. He wondered about the past; why had Freya and Shane broken up? Why would anyone let Freya go when she was such an amazing person?

He really liked Freya. He more than just liked her. He really, really, really liked her. She was the sort of girl he wanted to change his Facebook setting to ‘in a relationship’ with.

“Are you going to take this back for Mum?” Felicity said holding a wedding photo of his parents.

He recognised it and shook his head. "She already has the exact one."

Shit, what was he thinking? She was a country girl; he was a city boy. As much as he really wanted a relationship with her, it wouldn't work. Would it?

“Oh my God, you are a lifesaver.” Freya clapped her hands and looked down at Justin.

After a delicious lunch courtesy of Greer, Justin had offered to fix Freya's website.

“You just accomplished in ten minutes what I've been trying to do for two and a half weeks.”

He swivelled his chair and looked proudly at her. “It was nothing,” he said humbly, but she knew it was a lie.

If it was easy, she would have worked it out. She knew her way around most technological aspects of the website and knew where to go for help, but this particular HTML code had been doing her head in.

“No, seriously, you know what you're doing, and I don't know how to thank you for that.” She placed both her hands on either side of his face and pressed a kiss to his lips.

It had meant to be a fun ‘thank you’ kiss, but as she pulled away from his mouth, and gazed into his eyes, she knew he wanted more. Just like she wanted more.

“Freya.” Her name was barely a whisper on his lips.

Her gaze darted to his mouth and back. She swallowed, lost in his hazel-coloured eyes.

Her laptop pinged, breaking the moment. She averted her gaze towards it and dropped her hands.

Justin turned in his chair and cleared his throat.

Noting it was just an incoming email, and nothing she needed to deal with straight away, she closed her laptop and tucked it under her arm. “I’m serious. I really appreciate that.”

“Anytime.” He smiled back at her. The impulse to grab him close and taste those lips again was strong.

Felicity chose that moment to walk in on them sitting at the dining room table. “I just taped up the last box.”

“We have more,” Freya said. “I can bring them over tomorrow.” She was happy for any excuse to come back and continue where they had left off.

“Another day packing? Can't we do something fun tomorrow?” Felicity slumped into the couch, looking tired and worn out.

“We'll talk about it tomorrow.” Justin stood from the table and glanced at the clock on the wall. “We better get ready for tonight's barbecue.”

Felicity sat up straighter, a smile spreading across her face. “Barbecue? What barbecue?”

Freya grinned at her new friend, thrilled that Justin's younger sister was such a fun, outgoing girl. The sort of girl Freya enjoyed hanging out with and chatting to.

“We won the meat tray at the pub last night, so we’re having a barbecue at our house,” Freya said.

“I can't wait to meet the rest of your family.” Felicity had been asking questions about Greer and her parents all day, and about Emerald Hills and how Freya was building their social media presence.

“There will be more than just my family there,” Freya turned to Justin. . “Mum was inviting a few of our friends; so many people want to meet you.”

The main reason they wanted to meet him was because he was Boyd’s son. The elusive offspring they had forgotten even existed. Being new was a novelty in town, and even though the gossip line was very active in Maleny, people always wanted first-hand reports. The fact that he was young, fresh blood, would also make him the favourite subject with any parents of eligible young women. Not to mention the young women themselves, who were always on the lookout for love.

Freya knew she would have to stay close to Justin tonight. If anyone was going to win his heart, it would be her. She squirmed inwardly. She couldn't stand the idea of him being with one of her schoolmates. Not when the attraction between them was so strong.

She thought back to earlier, when he had been checking out her Facebook page and had come across that photo of her and Shane. She was sure it had been jealousy flickering across his face.

And tomorrow he planned on leaving.

Unless she gave him a reason to stay, or at the very least, to come back.