Maybe you could fill me in on the truth.
Love, your friend,
Alice xox
A tear fell from Izzy’s nose and landed on the bottom of the page. Alice was such a loving person and Izzy couldn’t understand how Rob could do this to her. But the letter had lifted a weight off her mind. Tonight after she’d met with Rob she’d write her a letter back. Smiling, she began to read the letter again.
It was exactly five minutes to seven when Izzy opened the glass door to the pub. She had deliberated over what to wear and decided on jeans and a black singlet with a high cut and wide straps. She didn’t want anything too nice or revealing. Tonight was not going to get out of hand. Oh, how she hoped Rob was going to behave. She paused inside the door to look around and saw him sitting at the bar with a beer. There were four blokes further down the bar from him, ones she recognised from the local shearing team. Rob, sensing eyes on his back, turned and gestured to her to join him. He was in his usual jeans and T-shirt. As she walked towards the bar she saw Rob order her a beer.
‘I’m glad you came, Izzy. I still wasn’t sure you’d turn up.’ Rob’s nervous smile greeted her.
‘Yeah, well I said I would. Shall we go and order some food – it might take a while.’
Rob nodded. Izzy grabbed her beer and they headed to the large area to the left of the bar where tables and chairs were set up, stopping by the hole in the wall to order.
Izzy followed Rob to the nearest table and they sat down, both taking sips from their beers as they did so, neither of them really wanting to start the conversation.
Eventually Rob began. ‘So is it good to be home, Izzy? Has much changed?’
Izzy smiled, pleased to be able to latch onto a topic that would be easy to talk about. ‘It’s great to be home. Not much has changed, except the farm looks more run-down. Dad isn’t getting any younger so he could really use the extra hands. But I love everything about home – it’s where I’m meant to be.’
‘It must be. You look great, Izzy. It obviously agrees with you.’ Izzy’s heart skipped a beat and she looked cautiously at Rob to gauge his mood. Seeing her reaction, he added, ‘I’m just speaking the truth – don’t stress. You just look healthy and happy. So what else has been happening?’
Izzy began filling him in on last night’s barbecue and the day’s harvest, and how her dad was still as stubborn as ever. She quizzed Rob on Alice and what stuff the kids were up to as their dinner arrived, both of them keeping the topics of conversation neutral and out of dangerous territory.
‘Oh, and Chris stacked the quad bike again on the weekend,’ said Rob with a mouth half full of steak.
Squeezing some more tomato sauce over her chips, Izzy’s eyes grew large. ‘My God. Is he all right? What did he break this time?’
Rob laughed. ‘You know him so well. Well, he was lucky this time – just a heap of skin missing from his elbow and his knee. He’s had worse.’
Izzy nodded. That boy had nine lives, she was sure of it. As she ate the last of her steak she contemplated telling Rob about Alice’s letter. She swallowed her mouthful and cleared her throat.
‘Ah, Rob … are you going to tell Alice why I really left?’ She saw the change in Rob; his body stiffened.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know yet. She probably suspects something’s going on with me. I haven’t been myself lately, but I still love her – I know that. I never stopped. It’s just that my feelings for you made it all very hazy, you know?’ He pushed his empty plate away from him. ‘It’s just something that started building up in me. First, it started with me enjoying working with you, your company, our laughs together. And you are gorgeous so it would be hard for any bloke not to want to spend time with you. So anyway, all this just kept growing in me and niggling until I felt like I needed more of you. I couldn’t wait to see you or be near
Love, your friend,
Alice xox
A tear fell from Izzy’s nose and landed on the bottom of the page. Alice was such a loving person and Izzy couldn’t understand how Rob could do this to her. But the letter had lifted a weight off her mind. Tonight after she’d met with Rob she’d write her a letter back. Smiling, she began to read the letter again.
It was exactly five minutes to seven when Izzy opened the glass door to the pub. She had deliberated over what to wear and decided on jeans and a black singlet with a high cut and wide straps. She didn’t want anything too nice or revealing. Tonight was not going to get out of hand. Oh, how she hoped Rob was going to behave. She paused inside the door to look around and saw him sitting at the bar with a beer. There were four blokes further down the bar from him, ones she recognised from the local shearing team. Rob, sensing eyes on his back, turned and gestured to her to join him. He was in his usual jeans and T-shirt. As she walked towards the bar she saw Rob order her a beer.
‘I’m glad you came, Izzy. I still wasn’t sure you’d turn up.’ Rob’s nervous smile greeted her.
‘Yeah, well I said I would. Shall we go and order some food – it might take a while.’
Rob nodded. Izzy grabbed her beer and they headed to the large area to the left of the bar where tables and chairs were set up, stopping by the hole in the wall to order.
Izzy followed Rob to the nearest table and they sat down, both taking sips from their beers as they did so, neither of them really wanting to start the conversation.
Eventually Rob began. ‘So is it good to be home, Izzy? Has much changed?’
Izzy smiled, pleased to be able to latch onto a topic that would be easy to talk about. ‘It’s great to be home. Not much has changed, except the farm looks more run-down. Dad isn’t getting any younger so he could really use the extra hands. But I love everything about home – it’s where I’m meant to be.’
‘It must be. You look great, Izzy. It obviously agrees with you.’ Izzy’s heart skipped a beat and she looked cautiously at Rob to gauge his mood. Seeing her reaction, he added, ‘I’m just speaking the truth – don’t stress. You just look healthy and happy. So what else has been happening?’
Izzy began filling him in on last night’s barbecue and the day’s harvest, and how her dad was still as stubborn as ever. She quizzed Rob on Alice and what stuff the kids were up to as their dinner arrived, both of them keeping the topics of conversation neutral and out of dangerous territory.
‘Oh, and Chris stacked the quad bike again on the weekend,’ said Rob with a mouth half full of steak.
Squeezing some more tomato sauce over her chips, Izzy’s eyes grew large. ‘My God. Is he all right? What did he break this time?’
Rob laughed. ‘You know him so well. Well, he was lucky this time – just a heap of skin missing from his elbow and his knee. He’s had worse.’
Izzy nodded. That boy had nine lives, she was sure of it. As she ate the last of her steak she contemplated telling Rob about Alice’s letter. She swallowed her mouthful and cleared her throat.
‘Ah, Rob … are you going to tell Alice why I really left?’ She saw the change in Rob; his body stiffened.
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know yet. She probably suspects something’s going on with me. I haven’t been myself lately, but I still love her – I know that. I never stopped. It’s just that my feelings for you made it all very hazy, you know?’ He pushed his empty plate away from him. ‘It’s just something that started building up in me. First, it started with me enjoying working with you, your company, our laughs together. And you are gorgeous so it would be hard for any bloke not to want to spend time with you. So anyway, all this just kept growing in me and niggling until I felt like I needed more of you. I couldn’t wait to see you or be near
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