Red Dirt Heart 3 (14 page)

Travis laughed. “Sure.”

“Travis bought him a new bed and everything,” I told Ma, not that she was overly interested right then, but I wasn’t the only one spoiling Nugget.

Trav snorted out a laugh. “I bought him that so he’d sleep in his own bed, not ours.” He lifted up one of his legs. “The little shit chewed on my boot.”

Ma chuckled and immediately winced, her hand going straight to her lower stomach. “Oh, don’t make me laugh.”

George and Trav jumped to their feet, and the three of us were quick to fuss all over her. “Are you okay?” we all asked at the same time.

Ma was still smiling. “I am,” she told us. “I love that nothing’s changed.”

A nurse walked in and went to Ma’s side, near George. She read some machine, checked the fluid bag, and then she looked at me and her mouth fell open. “Is that a wombat?” she asked in disbelief.

“It’s not what you think,” I said, giving her the best smile I could. I held Nugget under one arm, pulled his beanie-pouch out of the backpack and helped him into it. I carefully put him back into the bag and zipped it up.

The nurse was still staring at me when I leaned down and kissed Ma on the forehead. “We’d better get going.”

Trav walked over to Ma, and leaning down, he kissed her too. “I’ll look after him for you.”

Ma smiled, and although she was tired, it was the best she’d looked in a long while. Then she remembered something. “Oh, Charlie. George told me Laura was here. I wasn’t sure if you knew…”

“I spoke to her yesterday, just for a minute,” George said quickly. “She works here, for the time bein’ anyway.” He looked at me. “She just asked how Katie was going, and that was all. She didn’t say anything else.”

I smiled at George and squeezed Ma’s hand. “I saw her yesterday too,” I told them. I didn’t want Ma to worry about any of that. “But she’s not my concern right now. You are. So you just worry about getting better. We’ll be back in five days to get you, yes?”

“If you’ve got time,” George said. “You’ll be busy, so we can work something out if need be.”

“We’ll be here,” I promised him. Travis helped me put the backpack on carefully, and even with the still stunned nurse staring at us, I gave him a quick kiss. And if she wasn’t shocked before, she was then. It was a true testament to how far I had come—the old Charlie Sutton would have never done such a flippant thing. But this Charlie Sutton didn’t care what anyone but Travis thought.

We said goodbye to Ma, and I told George I’d be calling every day for updates. He told me he was real glad we’d been here with him, and I told him it was about time I made up for all the times he was there for me. With a slow-spreading smile and fatherly hug from George, we left.

Walking out of the hospital that time was a much better feeling than it was walking in the first time. We were both smiling as we crossed the car park and headed toward the ute, when someone a few rows of cars over called out to me. “Charlie?”

It was Laura. Again. She was getting out of her car, dressed for work. She was right about one thing. She had the worst possible timing. Travis groaned, and I knew it wasn’t just my mood that took a nosedive.

She walked toward us and looked at her watch. “I start in twenty minutes,” she said. “You guys heading off?”

“Heading home,” I corrected her. “Ma has another five days here, and we’ve got a lot going on right now back at the station.”

“Well, I’m glad I saw you,” she said. Then she looked at Travis. “Both of you.”

I nodded and smiled, not really sure what else there was to say. Travis said nothing.

Clearly uncomfortable, Laura looked at a passing car and tried to smile when she looked back at me. “Can I call you?” she asked. “I told you that I told Sam about you. Well, after the shock of it all, I guess, he said he wanted to know more about you, so if you’re interested…”

“I don’t know,” I answered reflexively. “Maybe. I’m really busy right now with work and home, and now Ma.”

She nodded, but the disappointment was clear on her face. “I understand.”

“I’m not saying no,” I told her. “But you can’t just dump this all on me and expect me to deal with it on your time schedule. I’m sorry for sayin’ it like that, but it’s how I feel.”

“That’s fair enough,” she said. She almost seemed pleased by my answer.

“How long are you here for?” I asked. I knew she’d told me but I couldn’t remember.

“Another six weeks.”

“Then let’s work on that,” I told her. “We’ll talk again before you leave. That’s all I can do right now.”

She smiled. “Sounds great.”

We left her at that. After we got back into the ute, I put Nugget into his bed box, and when I looked up, Travis was starin’ at me. “What’s up?”

“I’m so proud of you,” he said quietly.

I sat back in the seat, letting my head loll back, and sighed. “It’s all I can give her right now.”

Trav held out his hand, which I took immediately. He sat kinda side-on. “It’s more than enough, Charlie,” he said. “You’re getting good at this whole talking about feelings and stuff.”

“I had a good teacher,” I told him.

Trav leaned halfway over and licked his lips, wanting a kiss. I leaned in, of course, and his eyes closed as I almost pressed my lips to his. But instead of kissing him, I gently nudged his nose with mine and pulled back. His eyes shot open. I laughed at him before I leaned over and kissed him for real.

He scowled at me, clearly trying not to smile. “Take me home, Charlie.”

We hadn’t got too far out of town before he’d leaned against my shoulder, put his feet up on the window and closed his eyes.

There really was no feeling quite like coming home. The smell of my house, the sounds of the creakin’ floorboards in the hall, being inside familiar, comforting walls. There wasn’t anything like it. Hell, even the feel of Ma’s worn wooden table in the kitchen felt like home.

After we’d told everyone everything we knew about Ma and then of the news Blake had given me, we ran through what had been happening at the station for the last two days.

The roof was covered and secured, just like I’d asked. Some cows had started calving, though with four check-ups every day, all was well so far. “No abandoned calves yet, none stillborn,” Ernie said.

Nara was doing okay as the station cook. She said the food wasn’t nothing special, but it kept ’em fed. She kept Ma’s veggie garden watered and only harvested what she needed, and there was a confidence in her as she moved around the kitchen. By the way she kept about her work, dismissing us by saying dinner would be in about an hour, I knew she was gonna be just fine. Some people might have called me crazy for takin’ on some troubled kid at the station, but in hindsight, I was real happy I did. Nara had found her feet here, and I was proud of playing a part in that.

I’d already put Nugget’s things in the lounge room and fed him, and when he was happy to wander and play, I took our bag into our bedroom and started to pull clothes out of it.

Everything was just as it was, as it should be. The station had been not just without Travis, but without Ma, George, and me. And everything was still perfect. Not one thing went wrong, and if it did, it was dealt with quickly and rectified. I sighed loudly.

“What’s up?” Travis asked. I hadn’t heard him come in behind me.

I shrugged. “I dunno. I just…”

“You just what?”

“We’ve been gone for two full days.”

“So?”

“Not just us,” I said. I threw some dirty shirts into a pile on the bed. “But George and Ma as well. This place has never been left without one of us, at least.”

“And…” He trailed off, waiting for me to finish.

“They did a good job. Everything ran smooth without us.”

“That’s because you run a good business,” he said, putting his hand on my back. “If the wheels fell off the whole show, it would mean otherwise. You should be happy and proud.”

I pulled a rolled-up jumper out of the overnight bag, not really wanting to say what was on my mind.

Travis took the sweater from my hands and put it on the bed. He lifted my chin and made me look at him. “Charlie, tell me.”

I took a deep breath. “I just thought maybe…” I shrugged because it was stupid. “Maybe something would’ve went wrong.”

Confusion flickered in his eyes. “What?”

“I just thought this place couldn’t run without me or George. But it can. If I were to disappear off the face of the earth tomorrow, this place would still run.”

“Charlie,” he said quietly.

“Like it wouldn’t matter, you know? If I were gone, it wouldn’t make a difference.” I felt stupid for saying it. “It’s silly, I know. I should be happy. And I am. I’d really expected nothing less of those guys, because they’re the best. I just thought—” I shrugged again. “—maybe one thing would stop if I were gone.”

Travis held my face. “I would stop,” he said. “It would matter to me.”

I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek into the palm of his hand, taking comfort in the warmth. “Thank you.”

He lifted my chin again and kissed me. “Charlie, you’ve got a lot going on in that head of yours right now.”

“I do,” I said, looking at him. “I guess I just thought I’d have more to take care of when I got home. I mean, we have enough to do, don’t get me wrong, but I thought I’d have to fix something or redo it or just… something.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes at myself. “I told you it was stupid.”

Travis chuckled, a deep throaty sound. “It’s not stupid,” he said and kissed me again before pulling me against him. “How about I do all this laundry and you make a start on your office work.”

I pulled back and looked at him, shocked. “You? Do laundry?”

He pushed my shoulder. “Shut up. It’s a one-time offer, so take it or leave it.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice, I almost ran out the door, but I got to the hall and stopped. I walked straight back into our room, grabbed his face and kissed him. “Thank you.”

He was surprised, but happy. “What was that for? It’s just laundry.”

I shook my head. “Not for washing clothes. For listenin’ to me prattle on with the bullshit in my head and for not makin’ me feel like a dickhead.”

Travis laughed. “Well, you’re still a dickhead, but I’ll listen anyway.”

“I was being nice to you,” I said, pushing his shoulder this time.

He laughed some more, then with that Travis-is-horny kind of mischief in his eyes, he lowered his voice. “You can be real nice to me later. Twice, if you want.”

“Not sure I should, ” I teased. “You know, After the dickhead comment and all.”

He smiled that damn smug smile of his and scooped the dirty laundry off the bed. “Yes you will,” he said with a casual certainty. He leaned in and whispered slowly, “Like you could ever say no to me.”

I was about to argue the point, I most certainly could say no, but the aching draw in my balls said otherwise. I tried to say something, but in the end, I gave up and shrugged.

He chuckled all the way down the hall.

* * * *

I lost of track of time in my office. By the time Nara called me out for dinner, Travis had the fire going, Nugget’s bed was set up in the lounge room, and all the washing was done.

There wasn’t much chatter around the table as we ate. The food was good, and even though Trudy was quiet, she ate everything on her plate. I assumed she was feeling better, and when I had a moment alone with her, I’d apologise for oversteppin’ that boss-worker-mind-your-own-damn-business line I seemed to have crossed when asking her if she was feeling okay.

It was different now. Twelve months ago, there’d been no line-crossin’ at all. I was just their boss. If they had problems or weren’t feeling well and needed time, I gave it. I didn’t ask questions, I didn’t dare tread that personal-information tightrope. I never saw a reason to.

But now, since Travis got here, this station was run more like a family. And while that was great in some regards—I loved them like I would a family—I couldn’t help but wonder where the boss part of me began and where it ended.

Just something else to add to my already full mental list of things to get through.

After dinner, I went back into my office. Taking a deep breath and trying to clear my head the best I could, I started at the beginning. Again.

I sorted the mail, putting most of it in a will-get-to pile and binning the rest. Next were emails. I prioritised the work-related ones, read through the two from Allan regarding the upcoming Beef Farmers Association meeting, printed off some invoices and statements, and confirmed an order of feed through the co-op. I didn’t even bother opening the two emails from the university about my upcoming assessment.

“You look stressed,” Trav said, leaning against the door frame.

“I’m okay,” I told him.

“Everyone’s gone, the fire is stoked, your wombat is asleep,” he said, walking around to my side of the office and leaning against the edge of the desk. “I’ve just spent the last twenty minutes in the bathroom, if you know what I mean.” He leaned down and kissed me. “And you look like you need some stress relief.”

“Is that right?” I said, liking where this conversation was going.

Trav sat back on my desk, his legs spread wide. “Remember when I introduced you to the guy who gave Sutton Station a buyer’s contract? And you said you owed me something big?”

“Yeah?” I answered cautiously.

“Remember when you said you’d never had desk sex?”

I smiled. “I think I recall…”

“We have the whole house to ourselves.”

“Travis…”

He let his head fall back, and he groaned. He was totally acting it. “Yes?”

I considered telling him no. I thought about telling him we really shouldn’t fool around in my office; we had a big, comfy bed for that. I even considered just rolling my eyes and not answering him at all.

But then he pulled the travel-size bottle of lube from his pocket and put it on my desk. He palmed his dick, his jeans doing little to hide the bulge. I looked up at his please-fuck-me eyes, and instead of telling him no, I said, “Lock the door.”