Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
RHYS
O ne week.
One whole week she’s been gone, and I hate it.
I’ve barely been able to sleep, always waking up at the time her nightmares would take hold of her. And just like every other morning, I lay in my bed waiting for my alarm to go off. But this time it’s my ring tone.
“Morgan?” I answer, I probably should have checked who was calling, and probably should have not been thinking about her, because it’s fucking Shane.
“Why the fuck would my sister be calling you?”
“Sorry, sleep deprivation.”
“Yeah, that’s happening here, too.”
She must be having nightmares again. I don’t even know because when the whole friends with benefits agreement started, we were always in each other's bed, so they became infrequent and almost non-existent.
“Why are you sleep deprived? Thought you would be living your best life with Morgan being gone? ”
Yeah, I thought that as well. “Just am, is Morgan still having nightmares?”
He sighs a ‘yeah’. “How did you sleep through them?”
How the fuck do I answer that?
I must hesitate for too long.
“Rhys?”
“Yes?”
“How did you get through my sister’s nightmares?” He sounds sceptical. Rightfully so.
I rest my forearm over my eyes. “You’re not going to like that answer.”
“Fucking tell me!” he bellows down the phone.
Well, nothing like ripping the band-aid off, and it’s not like I’m telling him I slept with her… well not that way, not then. Plus, what is he going to do? Come here and kick my ass? “Hold her.”
“You held Morgan while she had a nightmare?” He doesn’t sound all that angry, maybe more puzzled. “Did she know?”
“Yeah, I found that lying next to her and holding her helped the nightmare ebb away.” No point hiding it. But I make it a point of not telling him that no, she didn’t know.
“Did. She. Know?”
I don’t reply.
“If you were standing here, I’d knock you the fuck out.”
“What would you have me do? Keep letting her be plagued by them?”
I’m met with a dial tone. Fair enough. I try to call him back because I’m not done with the conversation and selfishly, I want to know how she is, but it won’t connect. The asshole blocked my number.
Instead of waiting for my alarm like I would normally, I just get up and make my coffee.
When I open the door to exit the house, I’m not surprised to see Esky curled up on the blanket I leave out for her.
She has been doing this since Morgan left.
Every night Molly will take her to the homestead, and every morning I will find her at my doorstep. I should leave the door open for her.
When Morgan left, she didn’t just leave me; she left all of us. She wasn’t even here that long to put an impact on my life, but that’s what she has done.
I punched Beau in the face. Brent scolded me and sent me home giving me the rest of the day off. If Beau just shut his fucking mouth, then I wouldn’t have to hit it.
I’ve walked past the bedroom, her bedroom every morning and night. And every time, I stop at the door but force myself to walk past it.
But today is somehow different. Today I need her arms wrapped around me. I need her voice calling me “Cowboy”.
I need… her.
I push the door open, and I’m hit with her perfume. It’s like she’s still in here. For a minute, I close my eyes and pretend she is.
Esky walks in behind me; I turn to watch her walk to her Morgan’s bed and whimper. Picking her up, I place her on the bed and sit next to her.
“I miss her, too.” I scratch Esky’s head and look up to the desk.
Sitting there is my hat, the one I gave her the night of the rodeo.
The night I knew she was more than just my best friend’s sister.
More than friends with benefits. I was just too stupid to say anything; too scared of being rejected or some shit.
Walking over, I notice a bit of paper folded under it. I unfold it to find the Magnolia and snake she drew her first night here. Under it, she has written what I told her,
“We are not determined by how others see or treat us. We are determined by what’s in our heart.”
I scrunch up the paper. “Fuck you Morgan, fuck you to hell and back.” I throw the paper out the door, surprised when it hits Brent.
Bending down he picks it up and flattens it out, “This is pretty. Morgan?”
I grunt my reply.
“Have a beer with me.”
It’s not a request so I follow him outside.
I don’t even sit down before he gets stuck into me.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I open my mouth to reply, but he beats me to it.
“Punching your mate, snapping at everyone, and more importantly, not going after Morgan.”
I don’t answer him. I don’t want to talk about Morgan. I barely want to talk about punching Beau. He deserved it, kind of.
“Right, I’m going to be as blunt as I possibly can. Go get her.”
When I open my mouth to argue back, he holds up his hand.
“No but this, but that bullshit. You’re a fool for not following her. You don’t get love like you two often.”
Something passes through his eyes, he had love like that, and it was taken from him. Yet another reason not to fall in love.
“We didn’t love each other. It was just sex.” I take a swig from my beer bottle, not meeting his eyes.
“Fuck me, how dumb are you? Are you really going to deny having feelings for her?”
“I don’t do feelings.”
“You are twenty-nine, grow the fuck up. The way you two would look at each other, the way you always protected her. Must I remind you, you killed someone on my fucking property for her?”
I lower my head. Was it love? I know I liked her. Maybe more than like, but love?
“We live two different lives; she doesn’t want to live up here, and I don’t want to live in the city.”
“Because those are the only two locations to live? Look, I have a mate who lives south of Perth. He’s selling their property; it’s about five hundred acres. Farm down there. Agist part of it. Fuck, I’ll chuck my cattle on it between runs.”
“My own property?” I ponder it for a moment. What was I going to do, just manage this place for the rest of my life? Is that something Morgan would want?
“Why not, you run this for me, and it’s three times bigger. Buy the land and get the girl.”
I shake my head, “Morgan needs the city.”
He sighs. “Stop coming up with excuses. There is a small city about thirty, forty five minutes away. Hopeland Downs.”
What if she doesn’t want to?
“She will want to, I don’t see anyone else lining up to be with you.” I must have asked that last one out loud, or he can see the questions on my face.
“What about you? Who will run this? ”
He shrugs, “Davis.”
To be honest, he’d be my pick as well. As suddenly as he was here, Brent is standing, and he is finishing his beer, then telling me he has some calls to make.
“Wait…” but Brent is walking away. Looks like I’m moving south.
I pick up my phone planning to look into this property, how many five-hundred-acre properties go up for sale, should be easy enough to find. But I don’t do that, I jump onto social media, so I can see if I can find anything about Morgan.
That’s right, this is what she has reduced me to. One- getting social media, and two- stalking her on said social media.
But today is different, because I find more than one reason to finally go back to the place I used to call home.
MORGAN
The next week goes by, at a snail’s pace. Shane’s place isn’t too bad, he just works. A lot. He said the corruption is getting worse, and the cult is getting louder.
I’m grateful he cleaned out his spare room for me to stay in, and I’m glad I don’t have to stay with Mum and Dad. I asked Shane not to tell them I was back. Not just yet .
I throw myself into finding a job, but there isn’t much around; not around here anyway. There’s a couple in Rafter Falls, the town about an hour from us. Slightly bigger than here… okay a lot bigger than here. I also do my best not to think of them. Of him.
Today I get to see Paige. I finally reached out, and she was so excited to catch up. “Water under the bridge,” she said when I tried to apologise for dropping contact.
When I get to the café, I order myself a latte and a scone; which I nervously pick at while sitting at a table that has a direct view of the door.
I check my phone, and see it’s five minutes past when we agreed to meet.
Should I call her? I’m sure trying to get out with a baby is hard. Or maybe she changed her mind?
Just as I’m about to call her, in she walks with baby Sawyer on her hip, and a nappy bag slung over her shoulder.
As soon as she sees me, her mouth widens into that all too familiar smile; the one that can make anyone smile. I know that because I’m mirroring her expression. God, I’ve missed her.
I stand awkwardly, not sure what to do. We haven’t spoken in years or seen each other longer than that. But Paige knows what to do. She doesn’t hesitate and wraps her arms around me.
“Good grief I’ve missed you.”
“Ditto.” I wrap my own arms around her. Breaking apart, I look at Sawyer. “Paige, she looks so much like you.”
“She has Levi’s smile.”
And right on cue, Sawyer smiles the cutest toothless smile.
She sits down and we jump straight into conversation like we didn’t spend the last six years apart .
I fill her in about the shit show that was my relationship with Ethan. She tells me about things around here.
Almost everyone that left in our graduating year seems to have returned here or in Rafter Falls. Which is surprising because a lot of us wanted out. “Ethan is one of the only ones that hasn’t come back.”
And he won’t. “I hope he doesn’t, not until I’m gone.”
“You’re going to leave again?” Her cheerful demeanour changes, and I hate that I’m the cause for it.
I quickly back pedal. “I’m really not sure what I’m going to do. There’s nothing here job-wise. Plus, I didn’t hate being out west.” The last statement shocks not only Paige but myself.
She takes a sip of coffee before asking the obvious. “You liked out west, or you liked the company?”
“Oh please, Rhys hasn’t changed much. Still pissed me off to no end.” It’s my turn to take a sip of coffee. But because I’m trying to not give anything away, not to add theatrics to a question.
“I don’t know Morgs,” The nickname she called me in high school rolls off her tongue with ease; I’ve missed it, feels right. “Maybe you two should have just had sex.”
I choke on my coffee, and feel my cheeks flush.
“Oh my god! You guys totally did.”
I stir my coffee, suddenly finding that more interesting.
“Spill.”
When I look at her, she is practically rattling in her chair with excitement.
“We did, a few times. Friends with benefits situation. You cannot tell Shane!”
“And?”
“And what?” She gives me her oh please look .
Her phone rings, saving me from talking anymore on the Rhys subject.
“Hey babe—” She frowns. “Babe?” Her face goes from frown to shock. “Okay I’ll see you at home.” She hangs up the phone and starts to pack up her things.
“Everything okay?”
“Ah, I’m not too sure. He just said he needs me to meet him at home. He sounds off.” She picks Sawyer up from the highchair. “Sorry, I have to go, but I want to know more about you and Rhys. Call later?”
“Yeah no. We’ll chat later, but not about Rhys.”
She waves me off.
By time I do what I need while in town, I head back to Shanes; who is home. Strange. Since I’ve been back, he is rarely home this early. Unease settles over me.
I barely get in the door, when Shane is ushering me in. “Jesus what is going on?”
He takes the bags from my hands, looks at them, then back to me but doesn’t say anything. Just busies himself with taking them to the kitchen. Do I follow him or…
Once he places them on the bench, he tells me to sit down. This isn’t good news. I watch him pace, and my heart sinks deeper and deeper into a pit.
“Oh my god, Shane!”
He stops pacing and looks at me, he looks hesitant but still says, “Okay, um, you remember the Stone’s from school?”
I nod.
He runs a hand down the side of his face, “Yeah okay. Ah, Daniela, Paul and Ryland Hughes were found murdered. Zara Stone’s body was also located with them.”
“What? How? What?” I sink into the couch, murder ?
He rubs the back of his neck, if I thought he was hesitant earlier I was wrong. “They think Zara committed the murders, and then committed suicide.”
“But it’s Zara, she couldn’t have done this.” I might not have been home for a while, so things might have changed, but Zara adored her family; especially Ryland.
Shane runs his hands over his face again, like he’s trying to process the news himself before replying. “I know. But I told you the corruption, and that fucking cult were getting out of control.”
I know he mentioned it, but honestly I didn’t put much stock into it. How did one small town go from no violence, to murders?