Page 14 of Back in the Saddle

She pointed with her mouse. “The fuel truck put 2100 litres in to fill the tank. These are all the entries from the book when everyone got fuel, they don’t add up to 2100.”

Ciaron and Niamh were still making their way back. With luck, they might stop to look at something.

“I’ve double checked all of my entries,” Fran said, shaking her head.

I scanned the screen for anything unusual. Everything looked OK. “Have you checked if any of the usuals didn’t get petrol this month?”

Fran nodded.

“Let me read the entries to you.” I read the names and numbers out at top speed while watching Ciaron and Niamh make their way up the hill.

“Stop,” Fran called out.

I reread the last entry.

“That’s it,” Fran said. “The numbers are transposed.”

Ciaron pulled up at the front of the office. I clenched my fists. For fuck’s sake. Fran said she’d double checked the entries. If she’d double checked, how did she miss it? I shook my head. No. That wasn’t fair. We’d all done the same thing at least once. That’s why we worked as a team.

I stood up straight. “Great”

Before she could say anything else, I made my way to the door. “Gotta go.”

As my hand reached out, the door swung open. Fuck, I’d missed my escape. I stepped back. Ciaron entered, followed by Niamh. So much for avoiding them. His eyes widened as he stopped inside the door. Niamh nearly walked into him. Ciaron and I stared at each other.

He turned to Niamh. “Taylor, this is Niamh. She’s joined us for night watch.”

I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. Welcome to Diamond Firetail Farm.”

“Thank you.”

I stared at him. My heartbeat galloped as I waited to see how he was going to introduce me. He couldn’t refer to me as the kids’ mother this time.

“Taylor is my partner. She is the general manager.”

My stomach plummeted. He’d intentionally called me partner, not even stumbling on the word. How long had he been thinking of a way to introduce me? I forced my shoulders to stay high and my chin elevated. Then I moved aside so they couldpass. “I’m needed down at the hospital barn. Thanks for joining our team.” I hurried out the door.

Partner, huh? As in business partners? Like we both had a stake in the farm? This farm had been in my family for generations.My family. I had no idea what would happen to it if he staked a claim. I suppose I would need to find a way to pay him out, but in a drought, that would be near impossible. Then again, if it was valued now, it wouldn’t be worth as much.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Could anything be worse than losing my best friend, my husband, my family and the business?

7

Ciaron

Ismiled, remembering the conversations I had with Niamh. The first one, naturally, revolved around the weather. Then where we were from. I hadn’t met anyone yet that knew any people I’d known. The horse scene and city pub scene were two different things.

I never wanted to go back there to live. No matter how much my mother thought I should. And it wasn’t just the miserable weather. I loved the farm and my family. Even if my marriage was over, it didn’t mean I had to leave. My life was here. I didn’t love the farm just because of Taylor; I loved it because it was a part of me.

I couldn’t be in the same room alone with her without feeling the loss, the emptiness. I’d once been proud to call her my wife. Now I referred to her as my business partner. But even that word was used loosely. We had two separate jobs on the farm and these days we rarely overlapped, on purpose.

“Aunty Lorraine,” Fran said from the central reception area.

Why was Lorraine here? She was supposed to be with a friend in Queensland. She hadn’t told us she was coming home. There were lots of hurried footsteps. I imagined Fran coming around her desk to give Taylor’s mum a hug. I walked to my office door.

Fran and Lorraine were holding hands. Lorraine’s once brown hair was now grey and short. She didn’t care about the grey or her wrinkles. She said it was a privilege to have them because not everyone got older.

“You have no idea,” Fran said. Her head whipped to me and then to Taylor, who was standing in her doorway. “I’ll go make you a tea.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and hurried off to the kitchen.

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