Page 22 of The Dairy Farmer's Daughter

"Packing boxes—we're into recycling over at Emerald Hills. Hardly anything ever gets thrown out, which means our shed is full of just about everything you could possibly imagine. Since you're packing up Boyd's things, you're going to need these."

Freya and Felicity chatted like they had known each other all their lives while they got the boxes out, taped them up, and then they all started to pack room by room.

Although not always participating in the conversation, Justin listened with an avid ear, picking up on things he hadn't known about Freya or indeed his sister.

They talked in depth about the latest social media trends, a big part of Freya's business.

“We should totally take a selfie,” Felicity exclaimed, grabbing her phone and waving Justin over to join them. With a pile of boxes for their backdrop, Felicity held the camera at arm’s length. “Come on, you two. Get a bit closer.”

Justin found himself squeezed between the two young women. He watched the phone screen as Freya tucked her head into the curve of his neck and felt the electricity fire through his body from being so close to her.

Felicity snapped a few photos before looking through them.

Justin turned to Freya, who smiled adoringly back at him. God, she was so beautiful. “Thanks for helping.”

“Of course, happy to. Although I was hoping you could help me with something later.”

He looked at her with a furrowed brow. “What exactly did you need help with?”

“The website. It's been driving me nuts, and you're an IT expert.”

“Oh, okay. What do you need help with?”

“It'll be easier if I show you. I have my laptop in the car. We can do it later.”

“I hope it's okay if I tag you two this photo?” Felicity said. “And Freya, I’ve just sent you a friend request.”

Freya slid her mobile from the back pocket of her jeans. A few taps later, she declared it done. She glanced at Justin. “I just sent you one too.”

He joined the party and pulled out his own mobile, swiping away all the unread messages and emails he would have to deal with eventually. Logging into his Facebook account, he accepted Freya's request, and couldn't help but quickly scroll through her profile.

Pictures of her around the farm, and around Maleny, filled her feed. Her natural beauty was emphasised even more by the green and brown hues of the Hinterland. There were other photos too, selfies of her with other people, laughing and obviously enjoying themselves.

He couldn't help but feel jealous whenever another man appeared in the pictures. He paused when he recognised the man with dreadlocks from Friday night. They seemed awfully close in the picture, one arm casually tossed around her shoulder, and their faces touching.

“Isn't that Shane from the other night?” He showed the picture to Freya.

“Yeah. We dated the last year of high school, before he turned vegan and got dreadlocks.” She shrugged off the comment, as though it didn't mean anything.

“I thought you guys were just friends." He fought to keep his voice casual.

“We are friends. We both grew up in Maleny and have known each other since childhood. We couldn’t give that up just because it didn’t work out between us.”

“Wow, I could never stay friends with an ex,” Felicity said. “Too much water under the bridge.”

“This is a small town. If we didn’t stay friends with our exes, we wouldn’t have many friends at all.”

The three of them went back to their work, but it suddenly bothered Justin that so many of the men he met around town, that were roughly their age, could have been men Freya dated. They could have been people she’d considered being with long-term. She could have even loved some of them.

It made him feel insecure and jealous. Two feelings he had very little experience with. He wondered about the past; why had Freya and Shane broken up? Why would anyone let Freya go when she was such an amazing person?

He really liked Freya. He more than just liked her. He really, really, really liked her. She was the sort of girl he wanted to change his Facebook setting to ‘in a relationship’ with.

“Are you going to take this back for Mum?” Felicity said holding a wedding photo of his parents.

He recognised it and shook his head. "She already has the exact one."

Shit, what was he thinking? She was a country girl; he was a city boy. As much as he really wanted a relationship with her, it wouldn't work. Would it?

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