Harvesting was a strange time of the year. As a farmer’s daughter Olivia had lived through many harvesting seasons and she knew the strain involved for not only the farmers but the entire household. Around-the-clock shifts were commonplace. Olivia could remember barely seeing her father for weeks on end during harvest. If he wasn’t out on a harvester, he was catching a few hours’ sleep before her mum sent him off again with a kiss, an esky of food and a thermos.
Over the years the technology and the machinery had made the job a lot more comfortable, but the hours were still crazy and the stress still high. There were always concerns. Would they get enough quality yield? There were so many factors to worry about, weather being the biggest. Rain could cause delays and affect the quality of the produce; wind could cause damage to delicate seedpods and reduce the yield and value of the crop. Would they meet the quota needed? Would a machine breakdown delay harvest and cause the crop to spoil by over-ripening? The farm’s viability depended upon ensuring the harvest was a success. No wonder it was always an incredibly stressful time of year.
Olivia drove the water tank out on the back of the ute and parked it near the paddock Ollie was working in. Fire was always a concern during harvest. The huge machines heated up, and accumulated dust and material on hot engine parts were a fire hazard. When you were this far out of town, it paid to have water on standby, and the tanks on the back of the farm ute were always kept full, just in case.
Olivia took out her phone and called Hadley’s number. Since seeing her in Sydney, she’d taken to calling to check in a few times a day.
‘Yes, I’m still okay,’ Hadley answered the phone dryly.
‘You can be as snarky as you like. It’s my duty as a friend to check on you.’
‘Twice a day is a bit extreme, even for you, Liv.’
‘All right, I may cut it back to once a day from now on then.’
‘Whatever shall I do with myself?’
Her friend’s sarcasm was at least an indication that she was getting back to her old self, which was a relief.
‘So I had an interesting conversation with my brother this morning,’ Hadley continued, and immediately Olivia was on edge.
‘Oh?’ she said, trying to sound indifferent.
‘When were you going to tell me?’
Olivia gave a small wince, hearing the slightly miffed tone. She was rather relieved she wasn’t in the same room as her friend at this moment. ‘Tell you what?’ she said, trying for a nonchalant tone.
‘Don’t even …’ Hadley’s tone lowered. ‘Griff already spilled the beans. Why exactly did I have to learn about you and Griff getting back together from him and not from you?’
Yeah, she was definitely miffed. ‘It didn’t seem important in the grand scheme of things,’ she said gently. For goodness sake, the woman had just revealed she’d lost a baby. It had hardly been the right time to announce the news, never mind that she hadn’t wanted to tell her in the first place.
‘So it’s true?’ Hadley almost yelped. ‘Oh my God, I thought he was joking … You and Griff are back together?’
Olivia touched her forehead. This was why she hadn’t wanted to tell anyone. Everyone was going to have them walking down the aisle before they even had time to work out what they wanted themselves. ‘When did Griff tell you all this exactly?’
‘Earlier today. I’d been trying to get through to both of you this morning and both your phones were busy. I jokingly asked if he was busy sexting you or something and he said you were … I thought he was kidding. Am I the last to find out?’
How could Griff do this? It was too late to try to put all those worms back in the can now. ‘As far as I know, you’re the only one who knows about it. Other than Ollie, and I didn’t tell him either.’
‘I guess if Mum and Dad knew, they would have told me about it,’ she surmised. ‘You two must be pretty good at covering your tracks. My mother’s usually a super-sleuth.’
‘It hasn’t been easy,’ Olivia said wryly.
‘So … details,’ Hadley instructed.
‘Really?’ Olivia asked doubtfully. ‘This is your brother we’re talking about.’
‘Oh. Yeah. Good point. Eww, what’s wrong with you?’
‘Like he’s any worse than some of the talent you’ve brought home over the years,’ she chuckled.
‘Yeah, well, that was different. Besides, I’m married now. I can’t believe you two are back together!’
‘Well, back together is maybe not quite the correct terminology.’
‘What terminology would you use, exactly?’ she asked warily.
‘I don’t really know … I’m still trying to figure it out.’
The silence on the other end of the line felt heavy. ‘I’m not sure he can handle too much more heartache after last year, Liv,’ Hadley said softly, but there was a pointed message in there: Don’t hurt my brother.
‘I know. I’m just … I don’t know what I’m doing any more, Hads. I don’t know where to go from here.’
‘Stop overthinking everything, Liv. Just let go and trust yourself.’
‘And then when it’s time for reality to intrude?’
‘Maybe you’ll have your answer by then,’ she said simply.
It was so easy for a free spirit like Hadley to let go and live in the moment, but Olivia needed structure and a plan and organisation. It wasn’t in her nature to wing it and hope for the best.
‘Just this once, Liv, let your heart lead, not your head … see where it takes you.’
Long after the phone call had ended, Hadley’s words hung in the air around her. Where would it take her, she wondered. What if it took her somewhere she couldn’t return from? What then? Even now her head continued to call the shots, but she could feel a restlessness in her heart and she knew that, maybe, there was something wise in Hadley’s advice after all.
Maybe.
The days were getting hotter and this morning it was building to be another scorcher. Olivia was on the chaser bin today, taking over from Marty. She’d already made her first two loads and it was barely ten in the morning.
They were keeping an ear out for radio updates on the weather conditions. Once it got above thirty-five degrees, the risk of fire increased significantly, so there was a general rule that harvesting was stopped until the temperature dropped, at around seven or eight at night, unless the Rural Fire Brigade declared it too much of a risk to continue even then. It was frustrating and it caused delays, but it was better than putting their crop, not to mention their neighbours, at risk if a fire got out of control.
‘I’ll be ready after this next run, Liv,’ Ollie said over the radio, and she swung her gaze across to watch her brother coming up at the end of another long row.
‘Roger that, Ice Man,’ Olivia answered.
‘I told you, I’m Maverick,’ Ollie said, picking up their old game over the two-way radio. It had always driven their father crazy when they were growing up. It’s not a flamin’ toy, you kids. It’s a radio, he’d say gruffly.
‘You, sir, are no Tom Cruise,’ Olivia replied. ‘Besides, Ice Man’s a cool handle.’ There was always a battle over the best names inspired by the Top Gun movie. Over the years Ollie and the Callahan boys, upon rediscovering the hit of the eighties, had worn the movie out from watching it so many times.
‘Whatever, Goose.’
‘Goose! No way, I’m Viper.’
‘Actually, Cougar probably suits you better nowadays.’
‘Hey!’ Olivia yelped in protest. ‘I’m not old enough to be a cougar just yet, thank you very much.’
‘Won’t be long,’ Ollie said in a singsong voice.
‘Bite me,’ she retorted.
‘Now there’s an invitation if ever I heard one.’ Griff’s voice came across the radio and Olivia lurched, giving a small squeak of surprise inside her cabin.
‘Who said the neighbours could use this channel?’ Ollie demanded.
‘Just checkin’ in on you lot,’ Griff answered. ‘Makin’ sure you were taking care of my girl,’ he added. ‘Hey, babe.’
His girl? Olivia gave a splutter, halfway between a laugh and a scoff. Okay, well, that was kinda cute. ‘Hey, handsome,’ she said, more for her brother’s benefit than Griffin’s.
‘Oh, gross. Can’t you two just use the phone like normal people?’ Ollie cut in.
‘So, what you wearin’ …’ Griff added, just to make sure they really got her brother’s goat.
‘Dude, that’s my sister you’re talking to, and hello … I don’t need to be hearing this.’
‘How about you all knock it off and get back to work,’ a fourth voice cut in, and Olivia pictured all three of them instantly clamping their lips together.
‘Sorry, Mr Callahan,’ Olivia said, but she could picture the gruff Callahan patriarch smirking on the other end of his radio.
‘Just keepin’ an eye on things.’
‘We’re working diligently, sir, if you’re reporting back to Dad,’ Ollie answered.
‘I’m sure you are. Keep an eye on that temperature,’ he added before signing off.
‘Roger that, Silver Fox,’ Olivia said after a few moments of radio silence.
‘You know he’s probably still listening,’ Griffin said.
‘Well, he is a silver fox. It suits him.’
‘Okay, Liv. Come pick me up on the way past,’ Ollie said, indicating he was ready to dump a load into the chaser bin she was driving. It was time to get back to the task at hand.