His brothers each called him this week to find out what he was deciding. Callum messengered over a hard copy of the proposal to move things along, even though Liam said he was still deliberating.
“It’s not with Grates. It’s with Musket Development Group. I’m assuming they’re a subsidiary,” Nathan said, perusing the e-document.
“Nah yeah, probably,” Liam said with complete uncertainty. He had perused the contract while on the toilet the other day. Not his most professional moment.
“Take it from someone who’s had to read theatrical and representation contracts where the whole point is to screw over the actors: make sure you know what you’re signing. If you wind up signing.” Nathan handed back his phone.
Lambing season went well this year, but would it translate to better wool sales? Would he be able to do this next year if Nathan wasn’t around?
“It’s a very good offer,” Liam said. “I could get a swanky condo in Wellington.”
“You want to move back to the city?”
“I could also purchase a cottage in the country. I’ll have options.”
“Do you want options?”
Nathan was damn quick with the questions.
“I don’t know.”
They reached the harbor. Docked boats wobbled on the choppy water as others plowed into the sea. Liam looked to the water, hoping it could give him the answers.
“I think you do.” Nathan’s eyes beamed at him. “You have to get out of bed before dawn seven days a week for long slogs of manual labor. You’re constantly corralling sheep and dealing with their shit, no pun intended. And you love every minute of it.”
I love it even more when you’re working beside me.
“I don’t know if it’ll ever be profitable. My family struggled our whole lives. I can understand why my brothers hate the farm. Being the youngest, I wasn’t there for the really tough times. What if I can’t hack it?”
Nathan grabbed both his arms and stared straight into Liam’s eyes, making Liam swallow a nervous lump in his throat.
“You can. I’ve seen you out there. You work hard, and you care about the work you do. I reckon you can sell this land and make bank, but what will you do then? Will anything light a fire in you the same way sheep farming does? There are plenty of people with plenty of money who are miserable. They spend their days redecorating their apartment for the umpteenth time and wasting away at resorts and getting smashed at pubs because they don’t have what you have. They don’t have something that fills their soul.
“If you wanted a condo in Wellington, you would’ve stayed in visual effects. Even after what happened with Kelly, you could’ve gotten a job at another design firm. But something inside you called out for a different life. Your parents may have given you the farm, but youchoseit.”
Nathan turned on his heel and returned to Cuba Street, leaving Liam gobsmacked behind him.
* * *
At the restaurant,thanks to Nathan charming the hostess, they got a table by the window. It wasn’t worth coming to a place on the water if one could not see the water.
“Wellington faces east, so we don’t get the best sunsets,” Liam said of the view.
“I love it.”
Flecks of waning sun still managed to dance on the water. There was no such thing as a bad sunset, Liam thought.
“I prefer sunrises,” Nathan said. “It’s like God giving us another chance. No matter what kind of shit we got ourselves into the day before, the sun wipes our slate clean. I was used to seeing them when I stayed up all night.”
“Now you’re beating them.”
“The sunrises here are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The light coming over the mountains, then across the fields. They literally take my breath away. Or that may be residual lung damage from my cigarettes.”
Nathan hadn’t smoked since lambing season begun, as far as Liam could tell. When he first started on the farm, Liam had either caught him with a quick cigarette or found butts hidden in the trash.
“What’s been your favorite ocean?”
“My favorite…” Nathan tapped his fingers against his scruff. “Right. Um…I’d have to go local and say Brighton, in England. There’s no place like home. And there’s tons of puffs there, so theWizard of Ozreference is especially apt.”
