Learning to Love

Chapter 8

Matt took note of Kadence’s stiff back and fidgeting hands as he slid into his seat and turned over the ignition. He found himself somewhat stumped for what to say to ease the tension, so went for the obvious, “Mind if I put on the radio?” he said reaching towards the knob to turn it on.

“Not at all,” she stated and sat back, hands still fidgeting.

As soon as he hit the button, ‘Meant to be’ by Bebe and Florida Georgia Line came through the speaker instantly making him tense, hoping it didn’t make her anymore on edge than she already was, but knew if e changed the song it would make things even more awkward, so he cleared his throat and eased into gear.

“So,” he began and paused. He’d already forgotten what he was going to say and accidentally just blurted out the words that crossed his mind, “well this is awkward.”

Kadence whipped around and looked at him seriously for a moment, then burst out laughing and he felt himself relaxing just from the sounds of it, making a mental note to work on making her laugh more just so he can hear that beautiful sound. “You don’t mince your thoughts, do you?”

“Not at all,” Matt laughed gruffly back, happy to see the tension had left her shoulders and she was sitting more comfortably. “Have you been out to a farm before?”

“Sure have… when I was 6.” She grinned at him, “I even fed a cow a bottle of milk.” She announced proudly.

Matt grinned back at her infectious enthusiasm, “Well then you’re well accustomed to these parts ‘round ‘ere.” He added with a southern drawl, making Kadence wince mockingly at his poor performance.

“That was a terrible impersonation,” she laughed at him, “Especially since you forgot the y’all in there.”

“So, you’ve been to America?” he queried.

“No, but I had a student who’s family moved over from South America and I spent a lot of time correcting him from saying y’all all day.” She recalled with a smile.

Matt caught her soft smile and thought out loud, “You really do love your job, don’t you?”

Kadence smiled without a second of doubt and looked into his eyes, “Don’t you?”

If he wasn’t driving he could easily get lost in those deep blues, but he quickly turned his attention back to the road. “Of course, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t love what I do. But somehow, I don’t feel like it’s on the same deep level of passion you seem to have for your line of work. It must be rewarding, seeing them grow up and put into practise the things you learn?”

“I had this one little boy a few years ago when I was straight out of college; you try not to get so attached but he quickly became my secret favourite.” She admitted quietly as thought someone else may hear, “His parents didn’t seem to have a lot of time for him, both working in high level jobs, with their high-level pressure to perform and he just seemed to get missed a lot of the time.” She said sadly, “Don’t get me wrong, they loved him and when I finally got an appointment with them, we all cried as they realised what had been happening and all they’d missed out on while busy living their own corporate lives.” She cleared her throat, voice catching a little as she tried to rein in her emotions, “I used to come to school a little earlier and sit with him during before school care and we’d talk about all sorts of things, go for walks to the library but detour past the creek to see what we could discover and listen to the birds and crickets in the trees, sometimes just be there.” She shrugged but Matt could feel the connection and obvious love she had for this little boy and wondered why she hadn’t had children of her own yet.

 “Anyway, this year was his first year in high school and they start a week after my little Preppies begin. On the first day of school, I had just finished pinning name tags on all the bright-eyed, fresh faces when a knock sounded on my door. I thought it was a late-comer, a parent who finally got through the hoards and got a park, but it wasn’t; it was Nick, all gown up and in his high school uniform, holding a bouquet of flowers.” She paused as a tear escaped her and Matt had trouble keeping his emotions in check. She released a slow breath before continuing, “He wanted to show me he was all grown up now and I didn’t need to hold his hand anymore; but hugged me and thanked me for getting him there; for all the guidance and extra hours I put in to show him he was worthwhile. He got down and sat on the floor with the children and helped them with their sing-along learning about putting their hands up and sitting with their legs crossed. He asked if he could be a mentor too.” She forced herself to look out the window and heard Matt clear her throat from her story.

“Wow. I hadn’t really thought about how much teachers change lives, I guess I’ve just each teacher I’ve ever had for granted.” Matt rubbed a hand across his face.

“We never expect a thank you because we teach for the love it, not the credit,” Kadence placed her hand on his thigh, then quickly removed it, realising its inappropriateness. “Besides, it’s the kids who have done the hard yards, not us. I don’t think I could go back and redo high school anytime soon.” She shuddered remembering seeing some of the maths homework one of the older teachers showed her from her son’s school.

“I honestly don’t remember any of my teachers going the extra mile like that, or perhaps I just never saw it because I didn’t need it, but I think going to school wouldn’t have been a much of a drag if I’d had a teacher like you.” He smiled, “I wasn’t exactly the best behaved because I never wanted to leave the farm.”

“It must be like that for a lot of children around here,” she asked, “Born to heir their families farm and school just being an unnecessary step in the road.”

“Most farms around here have been in the families for generations, so there’s an awful lot of pressure on the kids growing up to learn and succeed. I know some parents pull kids out of school to help out on the farm when they are low on staff, so don’t be surprised if some weeks your class size shrinks.”

“Hmm, that’s good to know, thank you.” She replied and Matt looked over to see her chewing on her nail, deep in concentration; cute little frown lines creased between her brows.

“Looking awfully serious there,” Matt stated.

“Oh, sorry, old habit.” She pulled her hand away from her mouth, “I wonder if any of the farmers around here would be interested in adding a bit of farming into the lesson plans once a week, so children can learn their trade and see how they can put the things they learn in class into practice while on the farm….” She drifted off and Matt could see the cogs running wildly in her mind. He didn’t have the heart to tell her she’d have trouble getting permission for the girls to join in, most families around here are still of the old school thinking that the boys are the ones to take over the farm. He was so busy he almost missed the question she directed at him.

“So, would you be interested?” she asked, lip between her teeth.

As if he could say no to her when she looked at him like that; like he was the only one who could ever solve any of her qualms. Did she even realise how sexy she looked with her white teeth biting down on that luscious lip? He wished it was his teeth there instead but had to shake the thought out of his head before his imagination went wild, “I suppose if you got permission from all of the families I could try and work something out.” Knowing he didn’t really have the time but not wanting to disappoint her either, he would make it happen regardless of how much later he had to work to get the jobs done.

“Really?” she practically squealed, eye wide with glee. “You are amazing, if we weren’t driving I would hug you!”

“Well, we are about to pull into the farm,” he nodded ahead as tall mahogany polished posts holding up a sign that said ‘Havelock’ came into view. She wondered why the posts were so tall but didn’t want to sound stupid if it was just an ego thing, so just took in the breathtaking view of the sprawling hills in the backdrop and the grand house that sat pride of place towards the front of what she felt was a very big property.

When the pulled up out the front, Kadence couldn’t help but think she’d never seen such green grass and wondered what his secret was, but the house quickly wiped away all thoughts as she took in the wide wrap-around veranda, the tall windows that spilled gorgeous light throughout household making it feel even bigger.

“Wow,” was all Kadence could say and Matt felt his chest swell with pride. He thought the same thing when he woke up and looked out on his holdings every day wondering how he got so lucky. And he was one of the lucky ones; his family had put all sorts of plans in place that if one part of the farm wasn’t doing so well, another part could always carry him through. They didn’t have all their eggs in one basket like a lot of other properties around here that weren’t doing quite so well.

Matt stepped around to open her car door and noted the surprise on her face clearly so taken in by the view she didn’t realise he’d moved, “Come on in and I’ll give you a quick tour, then I’ll show you your new baby.” He nodded towards a set of sheds behind the house.

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude on anymore of your time,” she said unconvincingly as she was distracted again by the sound of a horse galloping up to a fence near them. “Oh, my goodness, look at you,” she coo’d to the horse, “You’re beautiful.” Stepping towards the shiny black coated horse with a white star on his head just before his mane, “Is he, she friendly?” she tossed her head around to ask Matt hopeful. The horse tossed his head and whinnied in return as though answering the question for him.

“Starstruck, is one of my best. He won’t bite.” Matt said but she had already lifted a hand to his forehead to stroke her hand down his face.

Starstruck responded by taking an additional step closer and nuzzling her neck and a giggle escaped her as he leaned over trying to search her pockets for hidden treats.

“My, my, aren’t we a cheeky mister,” she said affectionately and gave him an extra squeeze.

Matt rubbed his hand down Starstuck’s his neck, “I think he’s smitten.”

“Well, it’s mutual buddy.” She gave him one last pat and turned back to Matt, “Sorry, you’re probably busy and I had better get back into my lesson plans.” She said and Starstruck shook his head one more time. “If you don’t tell anyone else, I’ll sneak you some sugar cubes next time.” She whispered conspiratorially to him, grinning at Matt.

“Don’t spoil him or he’ll never forgive me when you leave,” Matt commented, reminding both himself and Kadence that she was leaving in a few months’ time.

Matt felt the mood shift from light-hearted and fun to all business and wished he could take back those poisonous words, but it was too late now and at her guidance, he led her towards the homestead. Matt kicked off his boots at the door and when he saw Kadence go to do the same, he advised her it wasn’t necessary, his were just covered in dirt from all the yard work around the school, but she ignored the comment and took them off anyway, choosing to walk in socks.

The first thing Kadence noticed when she walked through the beautiful wooden doors with the rainbow lorikeet’s hand painted on the glass panels, was the collection of photos aligning the walls. Mostly old and weathered photos of the station back from the first generation to the most recent photo being one of, she assumed, a younger Matt with his parents.

“What special memorabilia for your walls,” she commented as she slowed to look at each photo in detail. “It must be a great motivator in hard times to see the legacy up on the wall like this.”

Matt stopped at the end of the hall and made his way back towards Kadence who was staring at a photo of his great grandparents holding shovels and leaning on a freshly planted fence post. He’d been so busy and on autopilot, it was like he’d even forgotten they were there; but he guessed she was seeing this place with fresh eyes, whereas he’d grown up here his whole life.

Reaching up to trace a finger around the frame, almost embarrassed by the amount of dust he’d let collect on these old photos, he said, “Life on the farms always so busy, you often forget to stop and smell the roses every once in a while.”

Kadence just watched him for a moment, then moved on to the next image and started laughing, “My goodness, technology must come a long way since then.” Pointing at the old man scrubbing a post with a toothbrush with raised brows.

“Ahh, yeah, something like that.” Matt laughed with her and recalled the story to her, “Apparently my great great-grandmother didn’t take any nonsense and my great great-grandfather rode home from the pub one night after a few too many and rode the horse right through her prize-winning roses. So, she made him polish all the posts in the west field with his toothbrush as punishment.” He began laughing and Kadence couldn’t help but join in.

“She sounds like a character, I bet he never did that again.” She joked

“From what I heard, he never touched another drink in his life,” Matt looked at her eyes sparkling with laughter and couldn’t help the words that escaped his lips, “You have a beautiful laugh, I hope I get to hear more of it.” Then at her shocked face he gestured for her to continue down the hall and into the open living room with full length windows across the whole back wall, providing an invitation to the most gorgeous backdrop she’d ever seen.

Rolling green hills framed what seemed like a never-ending field of flat land sprinkled with trees. Stepping forward to get a better view she saw machinery sheds to the right and a rose garden still intact and wondered if that was his late great great-grandmothers as a gentle breeze encouraged them to softly sway. Looking back out towards the hill, she spotted a small building like structure and wondered if someone actually lived up there, “Does someone live up in that little cottage?”

“Nah, that’s for when we head out mustering the cattle, so we have someone dry to crash, it’s a long day and it would be too much to bring all the cattle back here on the same day. It may not look like it, but it’s a fair trip out to those mountains and the terrain can be deceiving.”  

“I feel like I’ll be learning something new every day out here,” she remarked, then turned her focus back on the job at hand, “Sorry, I’m being rude, you probably have a lot of work to do.”

Matt watched as the sunlight danced across her skin and ached to feel it’s silky smooth touch, warmed by the midday sun streaming through, then shook his head surprised by his almost immediate attraction to this woman; he’d never let anyone in since Jillian and he wasn’t prepared to go through that kind of heartache again.

“Right, let’s get you that truck.” Matt clapped his hands and felt her follow his lead.

Kadence hesitated as she drew near the ‘truck’ with the big bulbar on the front and the words ‘heavy-duty’ sprang to mind. The white ute was lifted, probably due to the various potholes she guided her little red around on her way into town or the wildlife. After driving her little car, she almost felt intimidated by its size.

“All good over there?” Matt asked as he eyed her cautiously, “You can drive a manual, right?”

“It’s not the gear system I’m worried about, it’s parking.” She laughed nervously. “I haven’t had a car this big before, but I’m sure I’ll adjust.” And be grateful she said inside her head.

“Did you want to do a couple laps around the farm, get comfortable?”

Inside she was screaming, absolutely, but knew she couldn’t take up anymore of his time, “Thanks, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. You have insurance though, right?” she kept her poker face straight until she saw his eyes widen in hesitation. “Kidding.” She laughed at him and he threw her the keys.

“Thanks again for letting me borrow your ute,” she said climbing up into the drivers’ seat and started the car, “I won’t go far, and I’ll return it as soon as I get my car back.” She promised right as his phone started to buzz with a phone call.

“I’ll leave you with that,” she gave a wave, and Matt raised his hand in return before swiping across to answer his phone.