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Conversation petered out then as we watched them. “Aren’t they going in the wrong direction?” Craig asked, voicing the question I didn’t want to.
“They are, but they've lived on this land all their lives. They know it better than anyone and they’ll often camp out, especially on nights like tonight.”
“Is Ally okay?” I asked, unsure of whether I was stepping over a line that shouldn’t be crossed. “She seemed upset.”
Scottie nodded. “Me and my big mouth, s’all. I didn't mean to piss her off, but yeah....” He shrugged, but it was obvious that he was playing down his concern from the tense set in his shoulders, the crease in his forehead, and his lips pressed together. “You blokes right to make your way back to your cabin?”
We were. Even if we weren't, Jono was still with us. As the head stockman, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t get us lost in the hundred metres or so to the workers’ cabins. We said our goodnights and Jono expertly led us in the darkness to them.
As soon as we got away from the light of the fire, which Scottie was dousing, I looked up at the stars. A blanket of glimmering diamonds in the sky, and like the precious gems, there was an array of hues. Some pink, others red. Some more yellow and a few blue, all against the purest black backdrop. Untouched by city lights or pollution, the depth of night was all the more intense with the lack of a single cloud in the sky. Mother Nature was at her most perfect.
“God, look at that,” Craig whispered reverently from next to me.
I turned to him and watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed and looked with wonder up at the sky. Warmth spread through my chest and the urge to take his hand into mine swept over me. I shook my head, startled at my thoughts, but the niggle of curiosity lingered. I dismissed it, knowing I was just happy he was having good vibes about this place too, because of every person in the world, he felt like mine. He’d been with me through every important step in my life, unconditionally supporting me. He’d walked away from every long-term job offer we’d had, putting his own life on hold—or at least it felt that way—when I’d turned down offer after offer. None of them had been right. But this land was speaking to me, telling me to stay. I didn’t even have to ask Craig what he thought of it. His attention had been captured the moment he’d spotted the sign for Pearce Station hanging off the old timber post. He’d been utterly captivated the moment he’d seen Ally dismounting ‘Tella.
We walked inside the tiny two-bedroom cabin, and I hesitated at the door to my bedroom. It was going to be strange to not share a room with him. I could count on one hand the amount of nights we’d slept in separate rooms. Most of the stations we’d worked at had two singles to a room and when we’d camped, we’d always either slept around the campfire or shared a tent. “So, I’ve been thinking,” Craig hedged, hesitating until I’d acknowledged him. “Scottie said we were welcome to watch the telly in the main house if we wanted, but we could rearrange these rooms without too much drama. It’ll give us a bit more space to watch TV.”
“Whaddya have in mind?” I tried to picture the options but there was only one solution I could think of.
“Bedrooms are a little small, but if we had both beds in one room and the wardrobes in the other, we could use the spare room as a lounge room. Move the couch in there, pop the tele on one of the shelves in the cupboard. Might even be able to open up the room by taking out a wall. Could give us more space in the kitchen area.”
“We’d be back to sharing a room.”
“Feels kinda weird knowing we won’t be in the same room to be honest. We’ve lived in each other’s pockets for the last decade.” He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. A flush rose, staining his cheeks, and I was charmed by his embarrassment. “And it’s not like we’re doing anything in there. Just sleepin’.”
Those words… they lit a fire inside me, my curiosity igniting and morphing into something stronger. My hands itched to pull him to me, and I licked my lip, chasing the taste from the ghost of his kiss from all those years earlier. It may as well have been a lifetime ago, but the memory tingled through me like a current, electrifying me. I wavered, leaning closer to him without conscious thought and found myself reaching for him. Our eyes locked together and the heat I saw flare in his scorched me.
He blinked and startled, looking away. The spell I was under released its hold, the moment vanishing into the ether. Realizing I was still reaching for him, I dropped my hand, unsure whether I was grateful that I didn’t get to touch him or disappointed.
I cleared my throat, shaking out of the pull my body had to him and willed my scrambled brain to come up with something—anything—to break the tension between us. “Yeah, I was kinda thinking it’ll be strange not having to listen to you mumble in your sleep and snore from right next to me.” I smirked at him, pleased I’d managed a coherent sentence, and he playfully punched my shoulder.
“Shut the fuck up, idiot.” He laughed and I eyed the cupboards, motioning to the closest one.
“Think they’ll be heavy?”
“Probably, but when has that ever stopped us?” This time Craig grinned at me and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He was absolutely right.
We tried to be quiet, but there was a lot of shuffling, grunting, a few stubbed toes, and a lot of swearing as we shifted the wardrobe into the smaller of the two rooms just off the kitchen, and moved the second bed into the bigger bedroom. By the time we’d finished, I was wrecked. Exhausted from the long drive, the late night around the campfire, then two hours of shuffling around lifting heavy-arsed furniture without punching holes in the walls or making so much noise that Jono would be in here wondering what the hell we were doing.
After we’d each managed a two-minute shower, and I was stripped down to my jocks waiting for Craig to finish brushing his teeth, I was ready to hit the sack. Craig was wavering too, half nodding off as he finished up his night-time routine. It sounded ridiculous, but having him next to me soothed something inside me that wanted to be close to him. Maybe it was borne of a decade travelling together, of always being in each other’s pocket. Whatever the reason was, the need to consider it faded when I stretched out on the surprisingly comfortable mattress. Brand new pillows and soft bedding had me sinking into sleep.
I didn’t even remember turning out the light.
