Second Chances Pt. 02

Chapter 9.

Richard was up early the next day, throwing himself into some destruction. He attacked a bricked up fireplace with a sledgehammer trying to divert his mind from the previous night's cowardice. His past would have to come out eventually and it would be a lot better coming from him. Part of him still clung to the hope it would all go away. He was sure most of it would but legal wheels turned slowly. Deep down Richard knew some of that stain would stick. It would follow him no matter how unjust. It wasn't about justice, it was the law or how others twisted it to their advantage.

The plan Richard made at the start of the day was to go and check out the truck at lunchtime in the hope of avoiding Peta. By mid-morning his arms and back ached from swinging the hammer and carting out the debris. It was time to face the music, he thought so he cleaned himself up and headed out.

Peta's morning was no better. She had rolled over with a groan as she heard the scuttling feet of Angus and Murray making their way up the hallway to the kitchen. Sitting up she grabbed a dressing gown from the end of the bed and shrugged it on as she followed her little men. With the boys crunching on their cereal Peta was looking out the kitchen window waited for the jug to boil.

Why had she kissed him last night? No, that wasn't the biggest issue, why had she chased him and kissed him last night? Fuck, was she that desperate? Blame the booze, a little voiced chirped in her head. Yeah right, four beers and they were only mid-strength.

"You okay mum?" It was Murray standing beside her, putting his empty plate on the sink.

"The jug's boiling."

Peta pulled him close.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Oh you know... about why I haven't got my morning kiss and cuddle yet." Peta said bending down puckering her lips aggressively towards the struggling boy.

Murray broke away shrieking and Angus joined in as Peta chased them around and around the kitchen table.

"What's all this noise..." a tired looking Marci shouted as she came through the door.

The boys took fright, ran to their mother and they all looked sheepishly at Marci.

"Oh, you're awake." Marci said with a quieter voice to her daughter. "I'm going back to bed then."

She turned and left. Peta took her chance and pulled both boys close enough to plant a sloppy kiss on both their cheeks. They moved away as soon as they were free wiping their faces with their sleeves.

After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, they all went out around the farm to check the stock. When they got back Marci was awake and having breakfast. The boys went to their room to do battle on the gaming console while Peta stayed outside weeding in the garden. She was about to go inside for some morning tea when she saw Richard's ute coming up the drive. He continued past the house, parking in front of the shed.

"Best get it over with," Peta mumbled to herself.

After washing her hands under a garden tap she headed over to the shed. When she got there Richard had the batteries in place and he was bent over under the truck tray connected the terminals. She watched him work for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say. Peta was pretty sure he knew she was there but hadn't acknowledged her presence.

"About last night," she started as Richard stepped back and straightened up to face her. "I don't normally... you know... throw myself at guys and..."

Richard cut in, "last night was last night. I think we both know it's not a good idea." He looked down and kicked at some dust on the concrete floor. "I mean... I'm extremely flattered that you did want to kiss me."

He looked up at Peta to gauge her reaction.

"You're a nice man Richard. We both know others might have taken advantage last night."

Peta shuddered at the thought of what Tony would have done if she had the same moment of madness with him.

"Friends, then?" Richard stepped closer and held out his hand.

"Friends," Peta said softly as she took his hands in both of hers.

The moment of awkwardness over Richard got in the truck and turned her over. She started on the second crank and roared to life. He let it run to build up the air pressure, let the brakes off then backed it out of the shed. Peta watched as he spent five minutes crawling over and under it, lifting the tipper, checking the hoist then letting it down before returning it to it's parking spot.

"All good?" Peta enquired as he walked towards her.

"Yeah, just like the harvester it's been looked after." Richard said as he rubbed his dirty hands on the back of his pants.

"Dinner tonight?" Peta offered but inside she was hoping he'd refuse.

"No, better get back. I'm hoping the plumber is going to turn up tomorrow so I've got some stuff to do." Richard said and they walked together towards his ute.

"When do you think we will start?" Peta asked as they went.

"There were still a few green heads in the oats we walked past yesterday so not before next weekend. I'll come over Saturday and have another look."

Richard got in his ute, waved goodbye and drove away. Peta watched him go. He was a nice man, really nice, but there was something else lurking there. A sadness, a betrayal, something of that nature. Something she recognized in herself. The past had a way of not letting you escape.

Peta meandered back to the house. She checked on the chickens, made sure the dogs had water then headed for the house. Marci was in the kitchen de-boning a leg of lamb in preparation for dinner that night.

"Have we got an extra for dinner tonight?" Marci asked and Peta could sense her disapproval.

"No, and he won't be here all week." Peta replied.

"Oh? I thought you two were very cosy last night."

"Jesus, Mum! He's helping us out. He hasn't even asked for money yet. Surely we can offer some hospitality." An exasperated Peta berated her mother.

"Did you ever think it might just be your "hospitality" he's hoping for?" Marci held her hands up making sarcastic quotation marks when she spat out the word hospitality.

Peta wanted to snipe back but she bit back a remark about the state her mother was in when she got home the previous evening.

"I'm not fighting with you, Mum. He's a nice man, who I asked to help out, and that's what he's doing."

Marci turned away grunting her disagreement as she did.

Chapter 10

Peta's life returned to normal for the next week. Get the boys off to school then general stock and farm maintenance duties. Her livestock agent did his monthly inspection on Thursday morning. They went around the paddocks together assessing the feed reserves before sitting down back at the house and planning any further purchases or sales. The technician came out and got the harvester's air-conditioning going on Thursday afternoon.

All week she put off paying Tony. She could have written a cheque and sent it through the post or done a direct debit but she wanted to do it face to face. Sitting in the office Friday morning, Peta unpinned his bill from her work board. She stared at it for a long time.

Finally, with a sigh, she opened her cheque book and wrote one out for the amount owing. Looking through the desk drawers for an envelope she spied the large A4 in the bin. The one he'd given her with the lease contract. An evil grin spread across her face.

Later that afternoon, Peta drove through the front gates of Tony's farm. The farm house was not far from the road, but she knew there would be no one there. Instead, she continued past it towards a cluster of large sheds and silos five hundred metres further along the drive way. A large, brown dog greeted her car as she pulled up in front of the workshop of the largest shed. If Toby, the dog, was here then so was Tony.

There were various different pieces of farm machinery parked in and around the sheds. A windrower was in the workshop with its engine cover off and a man standing next to it. It wasn't Tony but Peta surmised he would know where he was. As she got closer Tony appeared from around the front of the machine. He stood still for a moment. Peta was swinging the large envelope in her hand in an exaggerated fashion as she walked. When she got close enough she could see his triumphant smile.

"Come to your senses, Peta?" Tony said in a booming voice so the mechanic and anyone else within half a kilometre could hear.

"Yes," Peta said as she handed it to him.

It was her turn to smile as she saw the look of confusion appear when Tony realized the envelope didn't contain the lease agreement. He peered inside then turned it up side down and shook it. The cheque fluttered out onto floor and he stooped to pick it up.

"That covers all the sowing and spraying bill. I'd appreciate it if you'd remove my name from your debtors list." Peta spun on her heels and strutted back to the car.

"Wait, Peta. There's no need to... we can work something out..." Tony called after her but she kept going successfully fighting the urge to turn around and give him the finger by way of reply.

~~~

Peta was in the garden Saturday morning but her heart wasn't in it. She had picked the spot to weed very carefully as it had a great view of the main road and the driveway. Any noise that sounded like a vehicle had her lifting her head and scanning for a familiar old dual cab. Richard hadn't actually said a time and she had no way of contacting him except for driving to his place. That option was out of the question after the way she'd thrown herself at him the previous week.

After an hour on her knees in the dirt she gave up the pretence of weeding. Instead, she moved to sit in the shade on the front veranda out of the sun. Angus came scurrying around the corner closely followed by an angry looking Murray. Both pulled up quickly with guilt written on their faces when they saw their mum.

"What are you two up to?" Peta asked with a stern look on her face.

"Nothing," the two boys replied as a chorus.

Peta could see Angus and one hand hidden behind his back.

"What have you got?" Peta enquired trying to stop a smile.

"Nothing," Angus repeated while putting on show his most innocent face and twisting his arm further behind his back.

Just then Marci's voice boomed from the kitchen.

"Angus? Murray?"

Both boys cringed as they realized their plot had been discovered. Peta put her hand out towards Angus with her palm up.

"Come on, before Nan gets here."

Angus deferred to his brother who nodded his head. His hand appeared from behind his back clutching a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie.

"Murray took it," Angus looked down as he laid the blame on his older brother.

"Then you grabbed it off me and ran out the door." Murray hissed as loud footsteps could be heard advancing towards them.

Angus dropped the biscuit into Peta's hand. She lifted it to her mouth and had just taken a bite as Marci wheeled around the corner with a look of thunder on her face.

"Mmmm, nice biscuits, Mum," Peta began.

"Err, ummm," Marci spluttered, temporarily stuck for words as the tirade she'd prepared for two naughty boys was no longer appropriate.

"I could smell you were baking so I asked them to get me one." Peta said taking advantage of her mother's silence.

"Well they should have asked." Marci finally got something out. "They are for bowls tomorrow."

"Sorry," Peta said with a broad smile as she took another bite.

Just then the dog started barking and moved off down the driveway. All their heads turned to see Richard's old ute turning off the main road.

"Looks like your boyfriend's back," Marci added before she went back to the kitchen.

The sarcasm of Marci's remark was lost on the boys. They looked at their mother searching for an explanation.

"Is he going to be our new dad?" Angus asked with the innocence only a child could muster.

"No, no, Nan's just teasing." Peta replied.

Peta broke what was left of the biscuit in half and shared with it her sons.

"Next time I won't save you." Peta cautioned as she stood.

Going back inside the house Peta ditched her gardening gloves on a table in the hallway. Looking up she checked her reflection in the mirror. Taking off her hat she ran her fingers though her hair and wondered if she should book a visit the local hair salon. As quickly as the idea appeared she dismissed it. What's the point, she thought as she pulled her hat back on.

"Do you want some lipstick?" Her mother chirped from the kitchen doorway.

Peta whirled around feeling the colour rise in her face, partly from embarrassment, but mostly anger.

"Jesus, Mum! Will you just keep your smart-arsed, know-it-all comments to yourself for one day?"

Marci stepped back into the kitchen as Peta advanced down the hallway. She half expected her daughter to follow her and continue her rant but she kept going to the backdoor. She heard the door open then slam shut. Marci knew she'd overstepped the line. What's more when she'd first spotted Peta preening in front of the mirror it had bought a smile to her face. It was probably the first time since Fred's death she'd seen her with even the slightest care about how she looked.

Chapter 11.

Peta stormed out into the sunshine cursing softly.

"Why the fuck is my mum such a bitch?" she muttered, as she made her way towards Richard's ute parked near the back gate. He was on his mobile having a very animated conversation. As she opened the door and listened to one side of the exchange his rage became apparent.

"Meanwhile I've got a fucking great trench running right along the back of the house!"

"Well, when is he coming?"

"You've known about this for two weeks. Why didn't you organize for him to be out there yesterday?"

"For fucks sake! Can't we just send him some pictures?"

"Don't worry I will be. And when he turns up you'd better be hot on his tail."

He pulled the phone away from his ear and thumped the end button before yelling,

"Fucking tradesmen!" as he flicked the phone up onto the dashboard in disgust.

"Not been a good week?" Peta asked, not sure she really wanted to know.

"I don't want to talk about it." Richard said in a gruff voice. "We'll go up and see if the oats are ready."

Peta got in as Richard started his truck and they were on their way. For someone who didn't want to talk about his troubles, it was all Peta heard about on the way up the hill.

"...and then the electrician came Wednesday, worked for two hours said he had an emergency at the mill. He disappeared and I haven't seen him since. The fuckwit plumber turned up yesterday, dug up half the back yard, laid some pipes then tells me he has to leave it all open till it's inspected by council. Where the inspector? I asked, dickwad hasn't even spoken to him...fuck!"

Peta couldn't help but laugh which got her a sideways glare.

"What's so funny?" Richard asked through gritted teeth.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it?" Peta replied with a mocking smile.

"Yeah," Richard replied quickly, then after her smile had had time to work on him, continued, "Yeah, sorry. I haven't had anyone to vent at this week."

"It's okay, your kinda cute when you swear."

"Cute?" Richard questioned, taking mock offence as he pulled the ute up at the gates to the paddock.

"Okay, maybe not cute, but it was funny."

Peta's eyes flashed as she smiled at him and then she opened the door and got out. Hearing someone else's problems had made her own disappear for the moment.

In the crop Richard stripped the grain from some oat heads with his hands. Then he rubbed his hands together, opened them flat and blew lightly to remove the chaff. All that remained were plump grains in their fibrous husks. He inspected them closely, moving his hands occasionally so the grain moved from one to the other.

"I think they are ready." He said holding his hands out for Peta to have a look.

"What about that green one?" She asked pointed at one seed.

Richard picked it out and dropped the rest. He squeezed it between his thumb and forefinger so the naked grain slid out of its fibrous coating.

"The grain inside is the right colour. Just a bit swollen. It will shrink and be like the rest once it's harvested." He said flicking it away. "I suppose we'd better make a start."

Peta almost felt sick. Her stomach was a knot of nerves as she contemplated whether she and Richard could really pull this off. In the end, the main emotion of the day was frustration. It took much longer to get ready then she expected. A flat tyre on the trailer that carried the harvester front meant they didn't get it out of the shed till lunchtime.

After a bite to eat, they took it to the paddock then returned to get the harvester. It had to be fuelled up and Richard rechecked the oil levels along with the belts and chains. The sun was well on the way to the horizon before they had the front on the harvester.

"We'll just give it a run before we set off," Richard said as he motioned for Peta to get in the cab. He followed her up and once she was seated explained what to do. "Right, first clutch in. Then key on, press the button next to it. That's the starter." 

The motor whirred then caught so Peta let it settle back to idle.

"Pushing that lever next to your leg forward. It engages the main drive. I'll get down and when I give you the thumbs up push the lever. When I give two thumbs up, push the throttle up to operating speed." Peta gave him the thumbs up and he was about to back out when he added. "There will be lights flashing on the console and a warning alarm when it's going slow but they should stop once you speed it up."

Once on the ground Richard gave her the signal and she pushed the lever forward. She watched as he walked around looking and turning his head to listen as the machine slowly turned over. Then came the two thumbs up. She ran the throttle up to the operating mark, the harvester started rocking slightly as it built up speed and the lights flashing above her head blinked out. Richard did another circuit before climbing the ladder to the cab.

"It's show time!" He said loudly to make himself heard above the din.

Peta got up from the seat so Richard could take her place. She closed the door and stood slightly hunched over so her head didn't hit the roof.

"Okay, now header driving 101. Your speed is governed by how much crop you are taking in the front. The more stuff in, the slower you go. So the aim is to set your cutter bar height just below the lowest heads. This button here on the side of your forward/ reverse control lifts the front up and down."

To demonstrate he flicked the button down and the front lowered into the crop.

"Let's go, I'll try and explain bits and pieces as we go but ask any questions you like. There are no dumb questions."

Richard pushed the hydrostatic control and they moved forward. Peta watched as the knife cut the crop, the reel pushed it back to a large auger that moved it to the centre where the machine swallowed it up. Richard manipulated the height and gradually began moving faster. He seemed so relaxed as they moved along the fence line. Richards eyes flicked between the fence that looked only inches away from end of the front and the dials, buttons and levers in the cab.

Richard touched Peta's leg to get her attention then pointed at a digital readout.

"That's your drum speed. It's a good way to work out how fast you can go. In oats you want it around 900. As I go faster, keep an eye on it."

Peta watched the numbers as the harvester sped up. The blinked at 900 then dropped to 880, then 870.

"See how it's dropped?" Richard asked and Peta nodded as he slowed the machine down.

They continued up the fence line to the end of the paddock where Richard turned the harvester around. Once he had it back on course he slowed to a stop and put the machine out of gear. They both got out and checked the grain in the tank, before getting down to walk around the harvester again.