When Liam awoke, it was full-on daylight. Nine a.m. The day was already half gone, while back in Wellington, he would just be strolling into the office. He had let himself sleep in since his night was interrupted. Once Nathan left his house, Liam lay in bed for a while trying to fall asleep. He was angry at Nathan, but he still felt bad about what happened. Nathan had just collapsed to the ground so helplessly. Liam thought there’d be more of a fight when he told Nathan to leave, but he shuffled out, completely defeated.
He sat up and breathed in the peace and quiet around him. It was too quiet, though. He hadn’t set his alarm because he figured the sheep would wake him up with hungry bellies.Why weren’t they hungry?
Were they gone?
He put on a fleece since it was a bit chilly. Heavy clouds hung in the sky. Liam went outside. His sheep were still there, perfectly content. They muddled about the field and grazed.
Liam checked the water troughs and feeders, and to his surprise, they were all full. He walked over to the barn to check on the ewes, and on his way, he noticed there was no manure anywhere on the ground. He did his usual bobbing and weaving for nothing.They didn’t eat, drink, or shit. Did my livestock turn into robots?
Over the sounds of bleating, Liam heard Nathan’s voice inside the barn. He was talking to someone, and Liam heard his name in the conversation. He stopped at the door so as not to interrupt him. Liam figured he was on the phone.
“This is probably my last day here, and I wanted to say that even though our time together was brief, it was memorable.”
One of the sheep baaa’d.
“I don’t want to go, but…well, I fucked up. I fucked up real bad, though I appreciate your support Tilly.”
Liam recognized her familiar bleats.
“What? You don’t like your name? Tilly is a great name!”
Liam rested his head against the barn wall and kept listening.
“Are you nervous, Tilly? Very soon, you’re going to become a mum. That’s a big responsibility. You don’t want to be one of those mums who just leaves. Trust me, it’ll fuck your children up for life. And you’re going to have a big family. Lots of lambs. You’ll never be alone. It’s going to be wonderful.” Nathan let out a yawn. “You know, Till, you are so easy to talk to. If you ever get tired of the rural life, you should look into becoming a therapist.”
Liam smiled to himself. His foot slipped on hay and jerked back, kicking into the wall.Busted.
“Hello?” Nathan called out.
Liam strode into the room where Nathan laid with the ewes. As soon as he saw him, Nathan jumped up, his spine rigidly straight. Not a speck of attitude in his demeanor.
“Please don’t lay down on the hay. That’s for the sheep.”
“Right. I was just making sure they were doing all right.”
“It’s not your responsibility to worry about them anymore.”
Nathan nodded with his head down. Again, defeated. It made it harder for Liam to stay mad at him.
“You replenished the troughs and picked up the manure?”
“And I cleaned the feeders, scraped off old hay from the barn floors, and patched up a hole in the barn.” Nathan showed him where he nailed a piece of wood over a hole one of the sheep had kicked in.
“I didn’t know you were so handy.”
“I watched a few YouTube videos before doing so.” Nathan fought back a yawn, practically pushed it back down his throat. His eyes were all bloodshot, but there were still flickers of life behind them.
“You didn’t have to do this. I told you—”
“—to pack my things and leave. But I’m hoping you will reconsider,” Nathan cracked out. “Liam, I am so sorry about last night. I promise to do better. To be better.”
Liam exhaled a breath through his nose. “You apologized earlier this morning.”
“This time, I mean it.”
“I don’t know if you should be here.” Liam found the anger inside him slipping away, and a surging need to wrap Nathan in his arms took hold, a need he would never act upon. But still, it was there, lingering.
“I want to stay. I will keep giving you one hundred percent. One thousand percent. I can do the work. Let’s just pretend like last night never happened. If I mess up again in any fashion, I’ll go. But please give me another chance.””
