Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,280

speakers.

Fuck. I don’t flick.

Instead, I recall Mum singing it one lonely night on the back deck. The song hit the charts years after Dad’s death. Immediately, Mum decided it was a song that resonated when sitting on the back verandah at night and looking up to the night sky. Somehow she felt connected to Dad.

It fucking broke me watching her sing the song, and yet she did it with love in her heart. Not sadness. She was never bitter or asked why me? Why us?

I visualise the farm.

The shed.

The tractor.

I’m returning home for the first time in a long while, and I still don’t have the balls to go near that shed.

Another hour passes, and the sky turns to orange and pink like water paint with splashes of colour low in the horizon.

I’m only a half-hour from home.

Bright lights blind me from a vehicle speeding along in the opposite direction. “Turn your high beam down dickhead,” I mutter.

Not so many years ago that dickhead was me.

How my mother put up with my shitty teenage behaviour is beyond me. What’s more impressive is she managed it by herself. Coming home messes with my head, but fuck, I’ve missed her. The dark shadows of night prevent me from seeing the farm with only the moon to light up the land. My headlights highlight the long shadowy rows of apricot and orange trees. Fire destroyed some of our orchards eight years ago. Where has that time gone?

I reduce my speed since the entrance to the farm is not well lit. Two old tractor tyres, ten-foot apart, are landmarks to the dirt driveway. I veer off the main road, switch off my music and sit in silence for the seconds it takes to reach the primary residence set off the main road.

There are no other cars parked near the house, so I assume Rhett’s car is in the shed alongside Mum’s car. It’s time we updated her wheels. Attempt to negotiate why she needs to sell Dad’s old Ford station wagon, again.

I chuckle as I turn off the engine. I know where I get my stubbornness.

Flicking the switch to the trunk, I grab my bag and head toward the back porch.

“You’re here.” The warmth of my mother’s voice comes from a chair. She’s sitting in the dark with only the moon casting light on her silhouette.

I take the steps two at a time and drop my bag to hug her tightly. She buries her face into my chest. “It’s so good to have you home. I’ve missed you, my darling.”

She smells of lavender and citrus, probably from making orange juice ready for our breakfast in the morning. “I’ve missed you, too.”

She keeps one arm around my waist as she opens the sieve wire door, and we step into the kitchen. She flicks on a light, and I smile. “I see Rhett and Tori have been renovating.”

“Yes. I had to choose the colours, and I tried to keep it simple, except your brother insisted on the expensive appliances.” She shakes her head. “Do you like it?”

“I do.” I smile at her, and she beams her bright smile back at me. Only this time, I notice the deeper lines around her eyes and in her forehead, and how her hair is much greyer than the last time I was here. “How are you, Mum?” I ask in a serious tone.

“Better, now you’re here,” she says, and those lines near her eyes deepen again with a genuine smile.

I lean down to kiss the top of her head. “Talking of my brother, where is he?”

“In town grabbing some things. Both Tori and he worked all day. It’s the best crop of apricots we’ve had since the fire, and we’ve had orders from fruiterers in Adelaide wanting locally sourced stone fruit. “It’s going to be a good Christmas, Dusty.”

“I hope so.” I look around the kitchen, impressed by Tori’s design ideas—black, grey, and white cabinetry with hints of timber to give it a country touch and black appliances with shiny copper finishes. I walk over to the black sink with copper tapware. “Do you like these colours? I mean, I do, and Tori has done an outstanding job, but do you? Are these colours you would’ve chosen?”

“Darling, I have no idea about modern things. I was happy with my old oven. Your brother wanted to do this. I like it, and I can work out how to operate everything easy enough. I wanted nothing fancy but to be user-