Hunter
The same bitter wind has been blowing up from the south all week, making winter feel eternal. I’ve just put Tess back on the chain when I hear Sammy’s car pull up out front. He climbs out and shrugs his coat on before heading in my direction. He came to me looking like a city boy, but he’s every bit the farmer now.
It was supposed to be temporary, until he found his feet. No one expected him to fall in love with this life. Now he’s moved in permanently and earns a full-time wage as a farmhand. It’s taken his parents some time to adjust to the fact that he’s chosen a much simpler life than the one they had planned for him.
‘Did you hear the Wilkons are selling the milk bar?’ Sammy says when he reaches me.
I throw some kibble into the rusted food bowl. ‘No. You know why?’
‘Marg at the supermarket told me they’re heading to the peninsula.’
I lean against the shed wall, nodding. ‘So they’re selling the house too?’
‘Why? You interested?
I shake my head.
Sammy studies me a moment. ‘Wait. You asking about the house or their horse?’
I start walking towards the house. ‘Why would I care about their horse?’
He follows. ‘Because if my memory serves me, they bought that horse off Dawn Wilson a few years back—after you tried to buy it.’
‘That was a long time ago.’ When we reach the bottom step of the veranda, I turn to him. ‘Don’t you have work to finish?’
He crosses his arms, seeing through my deflection. ‘You spoken to her since New Year’s?’
‘Nope.’
‘Then maybe you should give her a call, use the horse as a conversation starter.’
The last thing I’m going to do is disrupt her life right now. I ran into Tamsin last month, who informed me that she’s kicking arse up there at the moment. Annie’s officially launched her jewellery business, Entwined. Not only does she sell at markets but also to local boutique stores in her area.
‘The best thing I can do for Annie is continue to stay out of her life,’ I tell Sammy.
He rubs his forehead. ‘So I guess you can throw away that arm band you still wear.’
I give him a tired look. ‘I said I didn’t want to mess up her life, not erase all memories of her.’
He stuffs the keys into his pocket. ‘Years have passed, and still I can’t say her name without you looking like a kicked puppy. Your feelings haven’t changed one bit. Why do you assume hers have?’
‘I don’t assume anything, but I know nothing good’ll come of me reaching out to her. Nothing has changed. I’m still stuck here, and she’s all the way up there. And for now it has to be that way.’
‘What about when your dad’s out? It doesn’t have to be that way then. I’ll stay on here, and you can go wherever you like.’
‘That’s two and a half years away. It’s the time we’ve both served all over again.’ I rest my hands on my hips. ‘I want the next few years to be easier for her.’
Sammy doesn’t speak for a long moment. ‘Okay. If that’s how these things work, then I guess the next few years will be easier for you too.’
I climb the steps and go inside, slamming the screen door so hard that one of the hinges pops off, leaving it hanging at an awkward angle.
‘Things feeling easier yet?’ he calls through the broken door.
I snatch up my keys and kick it open with my foot on my way out, jogging down the steps and past a smirking Sammy.
‘Where are you going?’ he asks. ‘To see a man about a horse?’
I unlock the ute and slide into the driver seat. ‘Door needs fixing while I’m gone.’