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

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

J ustin spent the next day working on his laptop at Meredith's café. It was quieter than usual, with most of her clientele spending the day at the show. She paused to ask how he’d found the show, and he told her emphatically how much he’d enjoyed himself.

Then, as the night fell and the air grew crisp, he drove to the showgrounds and found Freya waiting for him at the gate, her hands full with blankets. She kissed him and led the way through the crowds that gathered on the hills surrounding the grassy arena, until they finally spotted Greer and set up their blankets next to her so they could all watch the rodeo and fireworks.

“Is it just me, or is it colder than usual?” Justin turned up the collar of his sweatshirt, wishing he had brought another jacket.

Greer smiled at him. “Show weekend always marks the start of the cold season.” She threw him a blanket, which he pulled around his shoulders, offering an arm to Freya who readily snuggled in against him.

"Aww, look at you two." Greer pulled a face at her sister.

The riders rode into the arena and were introduced. One by one, they participated in events such as calf-roping, barrel-racing and camp-drafting.

Greer, Justin, and Freya took turns buying food and drinks, and chatted to friends who wandered over. After the rodeo, they lay back on their blankets as the fireworks shot into the dark, wintry night, while country music blared from the speakers, barely audible over the cracks of the display.

Freya nuzzled in closer to Justin, who tightened his arm around her.

"Pretty cool, huh?" she asked as it finished.

"This town just keeps on impressing me."

"We aim to please." She raised her head for a kiss, which he happily gave her. "Thank you for an amazing week," she said as he cradled her in his arms.

"No, thank you. I wouldn't have known any of this existed if it wasn't for you."

Hope, trepidation, and plain desire pounded through him, and as he kissed her again he wished the night could last forever.

After breakfast the next morning, Freya set up her laptop opposite Justin's, and they both attempted to get some work done. He opened his emails and frowned when he saw one from his lawyer that he had missed on Friday afternoon. He clicked on it and read the lawyer’s note advising an official offer had been made on the property.

He glanced at Freya who was concentrating hard while uploading videos from the weekend.

As the documents downloaded, he read over the terms and conditions before coming upon the amount offered.

Holy shit.

It was a lot of money. More than he had expected, even in his wildest imagination. It was enough to pay off his student loan, his sister’s student loan, his parents' house, and still buy himself a new one. Hell, he could buy himself a house in Sydney with that amount of money.

This was a complete game-changer. This was life-altering.

He finished reading through the contract, searching for a reason not to accept it, anything that made it too good to be true, but he couldn't find anything that raised any red flags.

All he could think about were the dollar signs, and that these developers obviously really wanted the property.

He re-read Stephen's email, which asked him to call him at any time over the weekend for any reason. He picked up his phone and told Freya he had to make a business call. Then he went out the front door—he didn't want Freya to overhear this conversation.

The lawyer picked up on the second ring.

"I only just saw your email, or I would have called you earlier."

"No worries. What did you think? All pretty straightforward?" Stephen sounded calm and relaxed, while Justin's heart was hammering in his chest. It was like he had just won the lotto.

"Yes, I just can't believe the amount. That's a lot of money."

Stephen chuckled. "I think they will go even higher."

"Higher, seriously? I'm having trouble wrapping my head around that figure."

"They are really serious," the lawyer said. "And they want an answer by the end of this week."

"They've done all the due diligence already?"

"Yup, they are dead-set serious and ready to settle as soon as possible."

"Okay," Justin sighed into the phone, his mind still spinning with possibilities. "I'm going to need to take a few days to think about this."

"Of course. Let me know when you're ready."

He hung up the call and put his phone in his back pocket. Then he stared out onto the fields of his father's property.

He couldn't deny that the landscape all around the Hinterland was incredibly beautiful, and the people were the friendliest he had ever met. But with that amount of money he could travel the world. He could see and do things that most people never had the opportunity to do.

But what would the developers do with this land? They would build those tiny little houses on those tiny little blocks. Concrete slabs would cover the fertile grounds that had been in his father's family for generations. They would cut and dig into earth that had never had more than grass grow on it. They would pull down the dairy and the house and all the sheds and buildings and replace them with roads and sewers and power lines.

Eventually this might be the way it had to be. But did he want to be the one to give in to commercialism?

He squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands behind his head.

It was too much. Too much depended on this one decision.

Freya.

She had said she would stand by him, whatever he decided, but would she really? What would she think of him if he sold out? Would she still be willing to be with him?

Freya smiled as she finished editing the last video from the show. It had been an amazing, busy time, and she had loved every minute of it. Being able to share the event with Justin had made it even more memorable.

He came back into the house from making his phone call, and she could sense a shift in his mood. "Everything alright?"

"Yes, fine. Want a coffee?" he asked, flicking the kettle on to boil.

"Sure." She stood and went to him.

He wrapped his arms around her. His touch rippled through her, electric. She couldn’t stop the heat that rolled through her body, jolting every nerve and synapse with pure desire.

With deft fingers, she unbuttoned his shirt, and he looked at her with hot desire written into every line of his face.

"Take me to bed?" she whispered.

He swept her into his arms and kissed her with a fierceness and urgency she hadn't felt before.