A Boy in the Hand is Worth Two in the Head

Chapter 18

The ride back to my house in the car with Will was odd. It wasn’t uncomfortable, even though the knowledge that I wanted to lean over and kiss him until his lips were numb was ever-present. I managed to put that fact to the back of my mind as soon as I saw his smiling face, looking somewhat lost and belittled in such a busy place. Of course, he’d been to the city before, but it wasn’t a regular occurrence recently, and even the train station in the early hours of the morning had left him a little shocked.

Even still, it was the wonderful sexist country boy, with the crook in his nose and only one dimple who smiled when he saw me, and seemingly forgot that stealing bags was more common here when he dropped them to wrap his arms around me. I’d not needed to remind myself that he was too good for anyone on the entire planet, or that even though I knew that, I still wanted to be in with a chance. The former had been there in my mind for a long time, and the latter for over half a day, consciously at least. At that moment though, those thoughts ran themselves, and I was able to turn back into the girl who was his best friend, and would punch him when she had to. If I was honest, even though the two states of mind clashed horribly, they both coexisted quite easily.

By the time we’d made it back to the car, Will of course moaning in appreciation over Mum’s baby which she’d so kindly loaned me, I’d fallen into a routine of having thoughts that hopped between adoring Will, and liking him far more than I should.

His window was wound all the way down, though the air conditioning would have worked perfectly, and it wasn’t even hot. He’d claimed that he needed to smell the ‘fresh air of the city’, with his sarcastic smile of course.

I laughed to myself as I imagined Will being cast into an actual city, like New York, or even Melbourne, instead of boring old Easton. The sheer number of people would have horribly overwhelmed him.

He’d just finished gawking at a statue in front of the library, when he finally spoke again, pulling me from another of my inappropriate thoughts. Little did he know he was being mentally ravished.

“Getting better at driving stick there, honey,” he grinned, nodding towards the smoothest gear changing he’d ever seen me do. I smirked.

“That’s because this car is wonderful, and I don’t have to dislocate anything to drive faster than forty.” He frowned at my insult to his ute, but was only slightly miffed, as I pulled into my street.

“So we’re still going to visit dear Papa today then?”

I indicated into the drive, and he leaned forward expectantly for a first glimpse at the house I’d been living in for the latter years of my life, before I’d gone to The Plains. I neglected pointing out the dent in the fence. Luckily, Mum hadn’t had this car then; I would have died, otherwise, from either guilt, or her murderous glares.

“Well I am, you don’t have to,” I told him. He scoffed, as if he wouldn’t have thought it any other way. To be honest, I was somewhat pleased. Either, he cared enough to not want me near someone who could hurt him, or he enjoyed spending time with me so much that he was willing to put up with it. Either way, it was good. “But we’ve got the cattle market this morning, and Mum insisted that you drop your stuff off before we go. She’ll probably try and force some concoction of food into you.”

I pulled open the door, and had shut it before Will whistled at me to get my attention over the roof. “And is she where you inherited your cooking skills from?” I rolled my eyes as he laughed, and made my way up to the front door, as he carried his bag on his shoulder. I held the door open for him, and he passed through. As I locked it behind me, I heard the predicted sounds of Mum greeting him rather excitedly. I sighed, and joined the joyfulness that would probably involve embarrassment on my part of some kind. Completely accidental if it was Mum, not so much if Will said it. Before they could progress to chatting about me, or get any further than initial greetings, I interrupted, introduced them again, and directed Will towards my bedroom, as I waited with Mum.