“Fuck. Not now,” cursed Dusty.
“What?”
“Bloody bearing broke.”
He pressed his lips together to stop himself from asking what a bearing was. Based on Dusty’s reaction, it meant it was obviously a very bad thing to break.
“I’m sure Bluey will come out in the morning and fix it.” Dusty sighed heavily.
Blaise wanted to go up to her and put his hand around her waist to pull her into an embrace. He didn’t dare. He wasn’t sure if right now she was about to explode or not. Instead, he tried to think of something to say that would calm her down.
“You’ll be out in the paddock in no time, I’m sure.”
Dusty ran her hand through her hair. “This is bad.”
“How bad?”
“Bad. I don’t know if I’ll finish before Christmas now.”
Blaise thought she was jumping to the wrong conclusion, but he kept quiet. “Can you ring Bluey now?”
“I want to.” She inhaled slowly, looking at the combine.
Blaise wasn’t exactly sure what at. “But…?”
“Too late tonight.”
“In the morning then.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “A breakdown like this is going to be a big cost, not just money, but time, too. I can’t afford either right now.”
“Dusty, I’m sure he’ll fix it, and you’ll be back on the combine before you know it.”
“Sometimes machinery isn’t so easily fixed.” She put her hands on her hips.
“How about you finish up here, come inside, and we can talk about it over dinner.”
She glared at him, and Blaise immediately knew he’d said the wrong thing.
“Don’t you want to spend time with me?” The words were said before he could filter them in his mind.
“No… I mean, yes.”
Blaise felt his chest tighten. “What way is it, Dusty?” He was fast losing his patience.
“You’re right. Dinner with you tonight will be good. I need a break.”
His breathing eased.
“I need to do the jobs first.”
“Done.” Blaise squared his shoulders proudly.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I was heading back from shutting up the chooks when I saw you coming into the yard.”
“Thank you.”
