Page 43 of Bluebird

* * *

I spent the rest of the day with my mum as promised. Dad was working out on the farm with Nate, and I only saw them when they came in for lunch, or when we brought drinks out to them.

Surprisingly, Mum and I were getting along pretty well. This was a rare occurrence, as we never really saw eye to eye in the past. As we prepared lunch, she brought me up to speed with the latest town news. Funnily enough, her stories totally contradicted the ones Luke told me the night before. The tabloids had nothing on small town gossip.

* * *

Later that afternoon, I strolled over to the barn to see the horses. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found Midnight, my old horse, eyeing me from the stables. The guilt of leaving her weighed heavily upon me. I rode her daily until the day I left, and then I just disappeared on her.

I took her muzzle into my hands and kissed her on the nose. “I’m sorry, girl. I’m sorry I left you,” I whispered.

I cautiously slipped into her stable and stroked her majestic black hair.

“I let her out for a run every day,” Nate said, appearing at the stable door. “And I ride her every other day.”

I lowered my eyes in shame. “Thanks, Nate. I’m sorry to add to your workload.” I cringed at the thought of giving him another job to do on the farm. He already did so much.

He shrugged, appearing unfussed. “Wanna go for a ride?”

I grimaced. “Yeah, I would love to…but it’s been a while.”

Ignoring my concerns, Nate smiled warmly and proceeded to saddle up my horse.

I nervously waited outside the barn, until my brother reappeared with both Midnight and his horse, Frankie, ready for our ride. He handed me the reigns and I reluctantly took them.

Laughing at my hesitation, Nate offered me his hand. “C’mon, Nat, get on the damn horse.”

I let out a frustrated growl and boosted myself up using his strength. As soon as I was straddling Midnight, my tension dissolved. Nate jumped up onto his horse with ease, and proceeded to give me the grand tour of the farm.

We chatted more like friends than siblings, which was new. Nate had matured a lot since meeting Amanda. He seemed ready to take over from Dad, and I think in most ways he already had. Dad was only doing smaller jobs now, which was a relief. It was about time the man had a break.

“So where will you and Amanda be living once you’re married?” I asked, as we were wrapping up the tour.

“We’re going to build a new place, here on our land,” he replied, apprehensively. “That’s okay with you, isn’t it?”

I furrowed my brows and turned to him. “Nate, as far as I’m concerned, this is your home. It hasn’t been mine for a long time, and we all know I wasn’t destined to be a farm hand…or a farmer’s wife for that matter.”

His shoulders eased. “Thanks, Natalie,” he sighed. “But this will always be your home too, whenever you need it.”

We were interrupted by the sound of our traditional ‘five-minute warning’ cowbell that meant dinner was almost ready. We rushed to get the horses settled into the barn and made our way back to the house. We entered through the back door, and Nate headed straight upstairs for a shower.

I followed my nose into the kitchen to see what smelt so great. My eyes grew wide when I found Luke carving up our roast, as my mum concentrated on the gravy.

“Oh, hey!” I hadn’t expected to see him again until the next day.

Luke glanced up at me with a friendly smile. “Hey, Blue. Nate’s given you the tour, I hear.”

“Yeah, the farm is looking great,” I said, and both Luke and Mum nodded in agreement.

“So…” I raised my eyebrows. “You’re staying for dinner?” I reached out to pinch a slice of meat, but Luke swatted my hand away.

I scrunched my face up at him and he returned a sexy smirk. Luckily, Mum was too busy fussing over the stove to notice.

“Luke has dinner here most weekends, Natalie,” Mum answered, as if I should have known.

“Oh,” I uttered, feeling out of touch with my family.

Luke nudged me as he walked past to set the table. “Is that okay?” he whispered.