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"What did you do about the bathroom situation?" Linus asks, helping himself to another Tim Tam from the open packet of biscuits laid out on the table. I'm sure that packet was full when he set it out a few minutes earlier.
I bring the mug up to hide my face to cover my shame a little. "I left it for Gran."
Linus stops mid-chew. "Maaate. That's fucking feral."
"That's me!"
More roaring laughter from the guys. Even Ryde can't help himself this time.
In my defence, I did offer to clean it up when she arrived, but she knew the deal. "Then I'll be cleaning up two lots of spew," she hedged correctly.
Gran, my mum's mum, is the absolute best woman in the world. There's no way I'd survive without her. None of us would. We all depend on the old chook.
Life out here is tough at the moment.
In addition to my family's financial nightmare, Scuttlebutt hasn't had a drop of rain in almost three years. When there's a drought, it doesn't just dry up the land, it dries up funds. People stop going out, buying as much, spending money basically, and in a small town like ours, the financial flow-on from that affects everyone. People, especially farmers, still require vet services, but even they scale back to just the essentials. Everyone's tightening their belts. That's why we're drinking shit coffee.
A lot of businesses, a lot of families, including ours, are on the brink of going under.
It's fucking depressing.
But this is the only place I've ever lived, and I love it here. My family. The farm. My job here. These nincompoops. Thewhole batshit town. Call me crazy, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. I can't imagine living anywhere else.
"Wait til everyone gets a load of this at karaoke tonight," Muir says, eyes gleaming.
"Oh, puh-lease." Fitz waves his hand in the air, his sparkling purple glitter nail polish catching in the fluorescent white light. "This'll be all over Scuttlebutt by lunchtime."
"Fuck. Karaoke." I sit up straight. "That tonight?"
"Yes," Muir replies, and wags a finger my way. "And you are not skipping it this time."
"Look at the time, I have to go," Ryde announces, getting up. "Got an appointment."
I lift my coffee mug. "Catch ya later, mate."
He smiles shyly at me, takes another look at Linus, who's too oblivious to notice the attention our newest recruit is giving him, then leaves.
"Ryde's got a massive boner for you," Muir tells Linus once he's gone.
Linus's eyes widen comically. "Ryde's my best mate's son."
"So?" Fitz and I chip in at the same time.
"The dude blushes every time he looks at you," I say.
"And he looks at you a lot." Fitz backs me up. "He's got a crush on you."
Linus's brief good mood evaporates, and he scowls, scratching his beard like the grouchy bastard we all know and love. "You're imagining things. Besides, I would never…get unprofessional. I'm his boss, and as you all know full well, after Kane, Neal, and Oliver left for the big smoke, we need all the help we can get 'round here. Ryde's still green, but he's a fast learner and a good addition to the team. Anything else is just nonsense you boys are making up. So quit it."
Muir and Fitz nod their agreement, while guilt pricks my chest. Linus is a tough bastard, so if he's openly admitting things are tough, then things are fucking tough.
"I'm sorry I can't be doing more," I say.
"Mate, I'm grateful for what you are doing." He sends me a grateful look. "Especially given everything you're dealing with at the moment."
"Yeah, but still…" I swill the coffee around in my mouth. I hate feeling like I'm not pulling my weight.
Unlike the others, I only work at the clinic part-time. Mustering takes me out twice a year, from March to June and then again between September through until November. On top of that, I've got a disappearing sister whose kids have become my responsibility and a cattle farm with ten thousand head of stock to run, because my other sister, Emma, who is normally in charge of that, is running around the freaking country tracking down Katrina.
