Faith blinked. “Is she staying in town?”
“Nah, she’s going to video call me from Melbourne.”
Faith hoped that meant Sofia didn’t want custody of Lara. She’d ask Darcy later.
Lara studied her biscuit. “So, you like my dad.”
Faith flinched. The statement shouldn’t have surprised her. “Yeah, I do. He’s a pretty great guy.”
“He is,” Lara agreed. Then she asked, “But we’re still friends, right?” She met Faith’s eyes briefly before looking away.
Faith’s heart caught. “Absolutely.” She moved down the table to sit next to Lara. “Of course. Who else am I going to search for buried treasure with? I hope we’ll be friends no matter what happens between your dad and me.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“OK.” The phone rang and Lara jumped up to answer it. “Hey, Georgie. No, the fire’s out. Dad’s talking to Dot.” A pause. “I don’t know. Brandon’s talking to her as well.” Another pause and Lara rolled her eyes. “Amy’s in the shower. It’s only me and Faith here.” With a sigh, she handed the phone to Faith. “Georgie wants to speak to you.”
She wasn’t sure if she could help. “Hi, Georgie.”
“Faith, what the hell is going on out there?” Georgie demanded. “The first thing I heard when I got off the boat this evening was the fire truck was sent out to the Ridge.”
“The haystack caught fire,” Faith explained. “It was out by the time I got here and we spent a couple of hours moving the bales to ensure nothing was smouldering and to dry them.”
Georgie swore. “How much burned?”
“About a quarter.”
More swearing. “This is bad. The hay was all we’ve got left to feed the sheep.”
Faith frowned. “So what will they do?”
“I don’t know,” Georgie said. “Tell Darcy and Brandon to call me if I can help.”
She liked how supportive this family was. “I will.” She hung up and switched on the kitchen light. “Everyone’s going to be starving when they finish out there,” she said. “Shall we make something for dinner?”
Lara grinned. “Yeah. Amy was going to make a vegetable frittata.”
Faith could manage that with the help of the internet. “All right. Let’s get to it.”
***
Darcy waved goodbye to Dot and Nhiari, the effort of it just about doing him in. His entire body ached and the weight of the additional loss made him drag his feet.
“We’re going to have to factor this in,” Brandon said.
He nodded. “Yeah, but not tonight. My brain won’t focus on the numbers.”
Brandon clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll get through this. Danielle might be able to loan us some feed.”
He was right. Neighbours always looked out for neighbours. Matt drove into the yard and his friend hurried over. “What the hell happened?”
“Haystack fire,” Darcy told him. “Lost about a quarter.”
Matt swore. “I’ve got to stop visiting my parents. Shit always seems to happen when I’m away.”
Suspicion raised its ugly head and Darcy slapped it away. Not Matt. Never.
