“Thanks, Ross. Love you too. Drive safe.”
I ended the call and immediately put the tractor in gear, my head already buzzing with what I needed to do.
While I knew they were fire prepared, fire wouldn’t be bargained with or sweet-talked into being stamped out.
I packed up quickly before hightailing it out of my place and travelling towards my folks’ property. About fifteen minutes in, my phone rang. I clicked my wheel, opened up the Bluetooth app, and registered my brother’s name on the console.
“Craig,” I greeted. “All good?”
“Yeah. You on the way to Mum?”
“About twenty minutes out,” I said when I took in my surroundings. While I was driving carefully, the roads were clear, and I was hovering a fair bit above the speed limit.
“Good.” I heard a noise in the background—the sound of an engine and voices and the distinct rumble of Dan’s voice that had my heart hammering harder. “We’re done here. Dan and I will meet you there. Dad shouldn’t be far behind us.”
My gut tightened, fear making my heart stutter. “So the threat’s serious?” It seemed crazy asking that aloud, especially with so much destruction further south, with land, homes, and lives being taken, and while small bushfires weren’t that uncommon, we’d never been under real threat before.
The closest I’d come was when I stayed at my aunt’s down south when I was a teenager. The memory had left its mark.
“Seems that way. Hopefully the wind will calm so the Bulla Creek division can get on top of it their end, but we wanted to come just in case.”
“And Dan?” I rolled my eyes, knowing he’d already told me Dan would be coming by to help, but honestly, I had no excuse other than my head was buzzing with information and dread made it difficult to process.
I didn’t think I was cut out for this level of disaster.
I was a school librarian, for Christ’s sake. It was the summer holiday, and that was the reason why I’d been able to keep on top of my small ten acres. The rest of the time, I let my cows and my two goats, Bessie and Benji, do the work.
I could wrangle three school classes in the tight confines of the library, no worries. I could even spot a shifty student trying to sneak their phone out of their bag, but this level of threat, it was the real deal. But now was not the time for freaking out. There was no time for that.
“Dan’s safe and coming with,” he answered, amusement in his voice. The arse knew I’d been crushing on his best mate since the time I discovered internet porn, even though I’d never said a thing and we’d never actually discussed it.
“I can make sure he’s prepared for you to check him over thoroughly when we get there if you don’t believe he’s okay,” he joked, surprising me. It had been a while since he’d teased me about Dan. “Remind him you’ve got farm-roughened hands despite all the hours you spend with books.” His laughter was loud, making me smile and easing some of my panic. If he was laughing, it couldn’t be as bad as I feared, surely. “I’m sure he’d appreciate a neck rub.”
“Piss off.” I shook my head, allowing a slight grin. I followed with “See you soon,” just as I heard Dan ask, “Ross knows how to massage?”
I quickly hit the Cancel button on my wheel in horror. There was no doubt I would have closed my eyes and perhaps slammed my head against the wheel a few times if I wouldn’t likely crash in the process. Once this was over, and my parents and their place were safe, I was kicking Craig’s arse.
Plus, massage?
Okay, that thought had merits.
While my fingers would ache in probably five minutes, they’d be five minutes well spent if I could get my hands on Dan’s naked skin.
