4. Flynn
4
FLYNN
“How’s it going?”
“Shit!” I jerk in fright when I round the corner of the tractor and find Katie leaning up against the back wheel. The running hose in my hand jolts, and I somehow get soaked.
“Oops. Sorry,” Katie says, only looking about five per cent apologetic. The rest of her looks highly amused. She’s in jeans and work boots, a faded grey sweatshirt and the cap Dallas was wearing a few minutes ago when he walked down the driveway with Abigail and Sadie. Now I understand why he volunteered to get a lead rope they probably don’t even need.
“I should get you,” I grumble, shaking my now wet hair out of my eyes. “Why the hell are you hiding behind the tractor?”
“I’m not hiding exactly. More just, preferring not to be seen.”
“Why? Dallas clearly knows you’re here.” I gesture toward her head, then glance back over my shoulder where I can just make out Dallas and Abigail standing at the fence, Sadie balanced on the railings between them. “Oh. You’re spying.”
“I am not. I’m making myself scarce.” She sighs and slumps against the tractor. “I didn’t realise they’d be coming down here. I wanted to give Abi a chance to hang out with Sadie without me around. Figured meeting the ex’s new girlfriend on the same day as her daughter might be a little much.”
“That’s remarkably considerate of you,” I say, then tauntingly flick the hose towards her, yanking it away just before the water hits Katie’s boots.
“I’m a remarkably considerate person, thank you very much.” She scowls at me, then redirects her attention. “So, how’s it going?”
I glance back at the trio standing at the fence. Do I tell Katie about the panic attack Abigail had earlier? Is it even relevant? Maybe it’s a one off and it was purely because she knew she was seeing Sadie for the first time in years.
I shrug. “Fine, I guess. Sadie seems excited. I hope Abigail doesn’t let her down.”
Damnit, that sounded more angsty than it was supposed to, I know it the moment Katie’s attention, which has been mostly focussed across the yard, snaps to me.
“I know it’s everyone’s biggest concern. But Dallas is sure Abi’s in it for the long haul.”
“That’s good,” I say, finally returning my focus to washing down the tractor, trying to avoid the rest of this conversation.
“You all good, Flynny?” Katie’s voice is soft, just like the hand that lands on my arm.
“Yep. Just tired. It’s been a long day. ”
She purses her lips, but doesn’t push. For that I’m grateful.
“Are you coming to Vi’s for dinner tonight?”
I roll my eyes. “Katie Kat, when am I not at Violet’s for dinner?”
She laughs. “This is true.”
Violet is Olivia’s mum and the owner of Wildflower Ridge. She’s technically my boss, though Olivia is the one running the show around here, with her mum’s full support. Violet has always had an open-door policy at the main house, for as long as I can remember.
My mum was her best friend, so I’ve always been around Wildflower Ridge. I learned to ride a motorbike on the driveway with my dad, Olivia, and her dad, Henry. I fell asleep on the worn couch in the living room more times than I could ever count. I met Katie on the front porch of the house, a boring old day that ended up changing my life in a way I didn’t expect.
I worked at Wildflower Ridge after school, on weekends and every school holidays and went full-time straight out of high school. These days it’s home too.
Violet’s kitchen is always open, and she always cooks enough dinner to feed an army, so most of the time I eat there, rather than cooking for myself. Dallas, Sadie and Katie join us sometimes, though less often now they’re their own little family.
Aside from my brother, who lives in a somewhat grimy flat above the mechanic’s workshop he manages, all of my family is at Wildflower Ridge.
When my parents died, this is where we came, into the loving care of Violet and Henry, until legalities were sorted and Hunter and I moved back to our home in town, my barely eighteen-year-old brother my legal guardian.
I hose down the tractor, using a soft brush to clean off any mud, while Katie stands and watches me. “You could help you know.”
“Or I could watch you.” She pokes out her tongue. “Oh, they’re leaving. I can go feed the girls now.”
Dallas, Abigail and Sadie are making their way back up the driveway. I guess they forgot I’m here, or just didn’t bother to say goodbye. It’s not like Sadie, but I guess she’s got things on her mind right now.
As they disappear over the hill, Katie heads back to the barn and a moment later is out in the paddock, checking over the horses and giving them their dinner.
Once I’m finished with the tractor, I park it in the huge implements shed beside the barn.
It’s really too early to finish work for the day. I have a list of things to do a mile long. But I wasn’t lying to Katie when I said I was tired.
I can’t stop thinking about Abigail and the way her green eyes looked up at me, pleading, while filled with tears. I don’t know how I made it through that moment, I don’t know how I managed to talk her through it and calm her down. I felt anything but calm, and now, I feel completely wrung out.
I need to get out of my head, and there’s only ever two things that help me do that. One is sleep, but considering the time, if I sleep now, I’ll never sleep tonight, and the second is a ride.
I should just go for a quick blast down the farm. I could check the cattle while I’m out there. It would be a better use of my time.
But I need something more today.
I wheel my bike out of the shed, load it onto the back of my ute and strap it down. My riding gear is already in the backseat, so after sending a quick text to Violet to let her know I won’t be there for dinner after all, I head out.
I roll my windows down and turn up the music as I pull out of the Wildflower Ridge gate. I love this time of year. It’s coming into summer so the days are getting longer, the temperature’s warmer and there’s a bit more sun in my life. Though I’m grateful for the sun now, soon I’ll be cursing it when it makes my freckles run rampant.
This is exactly what I needed. The wind on my face, a little bit of freedom. Not that Wildflower Ridge is stifling. Except when it is.
Sometimes the itch under my skin gets to be too much and I need to get away. Fortunately for me, the perfect spot for my escapes isn’t too far from home.
It’s a long stretch of beach that borders the neighbouring farm to Wildflower Ridge.
Constellation Station is another place I know like the back of my hand. The owners George and Clarissa Sheridan were also friends with my parents, and their twin sons are the same age as Olivia and me.
Max and Toby were my best friends through primary school. Toby died a few years ago, and Max had a personality transplant somewhere around the age of sixteen, so I have very little to do with him these days. I don’t know what he’d say about me accessing the beach through his property, but I doubt he’d stop me. Being the orphan child of Trent and Isla Woods occasionally has perks, and people not wanting to say no to me is one of them.
I’m singing along to the music at the top of my lungs when I round a sweeping bend in the road. Pulled over on the narrow shoulder is a silver sedan, its hazard lights flashing.
I pull in behind the car and stride up to the driver’s side window, knocking on the glass.
A muffled shriek comes from the person in the driver’s seat, and a moment later the window rolls down.
Abigail stares up at me, her eyes wide and shocked. And teary. Really, really teary.
As I stand staring at her, a tear slips down her cheek.
“You gave me such a fright,” she says, gasping down a breath.
I almost ask her if she’s okay. I manage to stop myself before I let the words out. Of course she’s not okay, you idiot. She’s crying on the side of the road.
“What’s wrong?” I manage to ask instead.
“Nothing.”
“Let me guess, you’re fine?” I arch an eyebrow at her.
“Yes.”
“You’re crying in your car.”
She sniffles, then wipes at her face, smudging mascara along her cheek. “They’re happy tears.”
“Happy tears?”
“Yeah, you know when something’s amazing and you can’t help but cry? ”
“Can’t say I understand the feeling actually,” I say, running a hand through my hair, before reaching it towards her. “You’ve got a little …” I pause, my hand lingering in the air between us.
She doesn’t move, doesn’t tell me to stop, so I touch my fingers to her skin and swipe away the smudged makeup. She exhales at my touch and I feel her breath ghost over my skin.
I pull my hand back and she blinks a few times.
“You’ve never happy cried?”
“Nope. But I take it that means things went well with Sadie?”
Abigail nods, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders with the movement. Her smile dims though when she looks back at me. “Did you tell anyone about earlier?”
The panic attack. “No.”
“Are you going to?” She bites down on her bottom lip. I try to focus on her eyes, not her mouth.
“Is Sadie at risk?”
“Never.”
I let out a long exhale, thinking. “Then no. I won’t tell anyone. Not unless I have to, for Sadie’s sake.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “I should go.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Then she pulls back out onto the road and drives away, leaving me standing there with the biggest, stupidest, most embarrassing crush to ever exist.