Outback Sisters (5 page)

She shrugged one shoulder and half-smiled.

‘All right, I'll be honest. I signed up for Rural Matchmakers simply because I couldn't get a proper look at the site without being a member. Until then I'd never contemplated meeting potential partners on the internet.'

‘Me either.' She made a face and then added, ‘Until recently I mean. Go on.'

‘I like to be thorough in my research, so I uploaded a photo and filled in my details. I didn't really expect to get much response, but the next morning I woke up to literally hundreds of messages. I deleted most of them—it's amazing what you can tell about a person from what they say online—but something about you stood out.' He shrugged. ‘I couldn't help myself, I responded and … well, you know the rest. I feel like I know you almost as well as I know some of my oldest friends; probably better than I know my family.'

Her cheeks flushed and she glanced down at her wine glass. Shit, maybe that admission was a little creepy; he didn't want to scare her off.

‘Too full-on?'

‘No.' She licked her lips and smiled at him.

‘To be honest, I also started investigating the whole online dating thing because of Angus.'

‘Your …' She sounded as if she'd forgotten who he was. Poor girl was obviously nervous.

‘My brother,' he clarified. ‘As I've said, he's been single a long while now and I think it'd be great for him to get out there again. I thought if the online dating thing worked for me, then maybe I could convince him to consider it.'

Simone opened her mouth as if to say something, but they were interrupted by the arrival of their meals.

‘Hi Simone, Hi …' The young waitress's voice trailed off as she put two plates down on the table and looked to him. ‘And who are you?'

‘Logan,' he offered with a smile. ‘Nice to meet you. This fish looks amazing.'

‘Wait till you taste it.' She flicked long brown hair that probably should have been tied in a ponytail over her shoulder and grinned at him. ‘Enjoy. And let me know if you guys need anything else.'

‘Thanks.'

‘Yeah, thanks, Tegan,' Simone added as she picked up her fork. She looked back to him as the waitress retreated. ‘So, are most of your articles light-hearted like the rural dating one? When you said you were a rural reporter I was thinking about things like the live-export trade crisis and the closure of Aboriginal communities.'

‘I've covered both of those stories extensively. I even flew to Indonesia when the live-export problems were rife. But I like to mix up the serious with the human interest stories.'

‘That makes sense. I'll be honest, I rarely listen to the news or read the papers because most of what I see when I do depresses me.' She twisted some strands of fettuccine around her fork and lifted it to her lips.

‘I know what you mean. To be fair though,' he continued, ‘the outback dating one was more serious than it sounds. So many rural towns are shrinking rapidly and many have way more men than women, which is a real problem—not only for communities as a whole but for men's mental health. Online dating might seem a little desperate to some, but it's the only hope many of these isolated farmers have.'

She nodded seriously. ‘I've seen that first-hand. Until recently I was worried about my cousin Adam becoming one of those statistics. And it's not just men. I've been widowed for ten years and it's hard enough to meet people, let alone when you have kids. Add living in a small town to that and it can make things nearly impossible. And then there's my younger sister, Frankie.'

‘She's single too?' The question slipped out before he knew what he was saying. He hoped he didn't sound too eager.

‘I guess the right man just hasn't come along yet, but she's so great. A new cop came to town last year and I thought maybe … but he hooked up with a friend of ours.' Simone sighed. ‘At least she's in a social job, being in the café, and could in theory meet new people there.'

‘Yes, whereas, since his engagement ended, Angus is practically a hermit. We could be living up north on some remote station and he'd probably meet more people than he does currently.'

‘Not a social butterfly then?' Simone asked, smiling as she took another sip of wine.

Logan shook his head. The only new women Angus ever met were the roustabouts or wool classers who came to their property with the shearing teams and even if he wanted to make an effort, they'd probably be too young.

‘So Frankie and Angus
both
need to be more proactive.'

‘Like us you mean?' He couldn't help looking at Simone and thinking how different she seemed in person to online. It wasn't a bad thing … he liked this Simone as well, but she'd been a lot more chatty over the internet. A lot more forthcoming.

‘Exactly.' She slipped another forkful of creamy pasta into her mouth, reminding him he too should start on his meal before it went cold.

‘This is better than I imagined,' he said after a few mouthfuls.

‘Told ya.' Simone smiled victoriously. ‘What's the most recent article you've written?'

‘I've just submitted a big feature to
The Australian
on wind-farming.'

Her eyes lit up. ‘Ooh, now that's a contentious issue around here at the moment. I hear there's a big renewable energy company trying to lease land off local farmers. I'm fascinated. Are you for or against?'

While finishing his mouthful, Logan deliberated what to say. He'd had numerous arguments with Angus over the last few months about this very issue and he didn't want to get into another one on a first date. Having said that, he wasn't the type of guy to hold back his opinion.

‘I don't think it's as black and white as some people want to believe,' he began. ‘As with most things, there are advantages and disadvantages, but in this case I think the benefits far outweigh the negatives. The turbines can provide an additional income for farmers, which can help in times of drought. There's also community benefits—employment and ongoing maintenance. Not to mention tourism.'

She smiled and nodded.

‘Sorry, I'm probably boring you half to death.'

‘On the contrary.' She lifted her wine glass to her lips and took a sip before adding, ‘I'm enjoying myself immensely. You don't know how starved I am for adult conversation. Most of my time is spent stopping my teenage daughters from killing each other.'

Logan chuckled, recalling all too well the numerous fights he and Angus had gotten into as teenagers—neither of them backing down until blood was spilled, bones were broken or one of their parents physically dragged them apart. Like most siblings, they had a love-hate relationship. Angus was both his best friend and his worst enemy.

‘So what do
you
think about wind farms then?' he asked, trying to forget about Angus and enjoy Simone's company. Just because his brother was intent on living the life of a recluse, didn't mean Logan should feel guilty about getting out and enjoying himself.

‘I actually think the turbines themselves are rather beautiful,' Simone confessed, ‘but to be honest I don't know enough about them to make an informed decision. I have heard they can be damaging to local wildlife or even hazardous to humans. Do you think there's any truth in that?'

‘I've interviewed people on both sides of the fence and I visited a few of the more established Australian wind farms and, in most cases, from what I saw, the livestock weren't affected at all. In fact, cows seem to love wind turbines.'

She raised her eyebrows but her smile said she found this amusing. ‘You're a cow whisperer as well now, are you?'

‘No.' He laughed. ‘But I have got photographic evidence of cows and their love affair with wind turbines.'

‘Show me,' she demanded, leaning forward and giving him a glimpse of her cleavage.

‘With pleasure.' He swallowed and then whipped out his phone, scrolling back to some of the photos he'd taken while researching the story. They leaned towards each other as he showed her his favourite shot of a black and white heifer rubbing herself affectionately against the great pole of a wind turbine.

‘Aw, she's adorable,' Simone said, her voice full of warmth. ‘Still, no offence to cattle, but how would they know if the turbines were affecting their health? They're not exactly the smartest creatures on the planet, are they?'

‘If I was a cow, I'd take offence to that.' With a grin, Logan put his mobile back in his pocket. ‘Plenty of scientific studies have been conducted around wind as a renewable energy and there's not yet been any evidence found to link the turbines with adverse health effects on humans or animals.'

‘It certainly sounds like you've done your research. Maybe you should become a politician, you can be very persuasive.' She smiled at him as she twisted some more pasta onto her fork.

He laughed. ‘If I can't persuade my own brother to consider wind-farming on our property, I doubt I'd ever be able to convince strangers of the benefits.'

‘You want to lease
your
land for wind-farming?'

He simply nodded. In addition to all the reasons he'd listed to Simone, his recent diagnosis meant he had other personal reasons for pursuing an alternative source of income for the family farm, but he wasn't about to share that with her yet.

‘And why is your brother so opposed to it?'

Logan shook his head. ‘Fuck knows why Angus does or thinks anything.' Then he cringed and hit her with a sheepish smile. ‘Sorry. Language.'

She laughed. ‘It's okay. I've been told I swear worse than a shearer.'

‘But I bet no-one cares when someone as gorgeous as you curses.'

She blushed. ‘My mum cares. She reminds me constantly that I'm not too old for her to wash my mouth out with soap.'

He grimaced at the thought, almost able to taste the soap himself. ‘She never actually did it though, did she?'

‘Hell yeah, she did. First time I was about seven. All I said was “bloody” and she marched me into the bathroom and practically shoved the whole bar of Lux into my gob. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson but I can't help it. I like the way curse words sound on my tongue. Didn't yours ever do the same? Or were you a good boy with a clean mouth back then?'

He couldn't reply; he was too busy laughing at the image of a feisty little redheaded girl with a whole cake of soap in her mouth.

‘It's not funny,' she protested, although her tone said she disagreed. ‘In fact I think it constitutes child abuse.'

‘I'm sorry, you're right,' he conceded, shoving the last piece of his fish into his mouth to stop from cracking up again.

‘Thank you.' She nodded her approval. ‘So do your parents still live on the farm as well then?'

He almost choked on his snapper. ‘My parents are both dead,' he reminded her when he'd swallowed. They'd had the family discussion quite early on in their emails. Simone had shared hilarious tales about her sister, her two daughters, her runaway father and her mother, who'd finally found love in a second marriage and now lived in Perth. And, in turn, he'd spilled his whole sorry life story as well.

‘Right. I'm sorry.' She blinked, her cheeks turning crimson. ‘I knew that. I feel terrible for bringing it up. It's just—'

‘It's all right. Easy mistake.' He forced a smile, trying to relax her again. ‘We've covered a lot of ground in a short time. Can I get you another glass of wine?'

‘Yes, thanks. That'd be great.'

‘I'll be right back.' Silently cursing himself for making her feel bad about her faux pas, Logan pushed back his seat and headed off to the bar. The fifteenth anniversary of his mum's death had passed a couple of months ago and his dad had been dead well over a decade, but whenever someone asked him about his parents, he still felt a sharp spear of grief to his heart. He guessed it might always be that way.

He ordered another chardonnay and then, vowing to get the conversation back on track, he returned to the table and smiled at Simone as he handed her the glass.

‘So … why'd
you
join online dating?' he asked.

* * *

Frankie had finally succumbed to sleep on Simone's couch, but woke just after eleven o'clock to the sound of the front door opening. Her nieces had deserted her but the television still flickered in the corner. Lifting the remote, she muted the already low sound as her sister walked into the room. One look at Simone's face told Frankie the night had been a success.

‘Hi, little sis,' Simone said, throwing her handbag onto the floor and squeezing in next to Frankie on the couch. ‘Good night?'

‘Not as good as yours by the sound of things.' Frankie sat up, yawned and psyched herself up to hear about Simone's night. How the tables had turned. Simone had married her high-school sweetheart young and already had Harriet by the time Frankie started flirting with the opposite sex. So many times, Frankie had called her big sister in the early hours of the morning and shared the highs and lows of her relationship rollercoaster, desperate for Simone's sage advice. Not that it had helped in the end.

‘Were the girls good?' Simone asked, also stifling a yawn.

Frankie nodded. ‘We ate and then Harriet went off to her room and Grace and I watched a few episodes of
Outlander
. I must have fallen asleep and I guess she went to bed. I'll go check on them.'

Simone grabbed hold of her arm as Frankie attempted to stand, pulling her back onto the couch. ‘They'll be fine. They're not babies. I'll check in a moment. Sit with me a while. I'm too psyched to sleep just yet.'

‘Okay.' Frankie didn't really want to hear her sister rave about Logan. Any other guy and she'd be over the moon that Simone was getting herself out there again. Ten years was a long time to be alone and just because Frankie was in an extended dating drought, didn't mean she didn't want her sister to find happiness. Guilt tightened her chest.