Ridge Creek (29 page)

“Inverters,” Luke says looking through the doorway and
towards the boxes on the wall.  “They convert the power down and feed it into
the batteries.  And
yes,
I will.”

Lowering the camera for a moment I study his face for a
moment and decide that he looks serious about his threat.

Damn.

Disappointed, I sigh and lift the camera back to my eye
before rolling off another half dozen shots.

“That should do,” I mumble as I turn to exit the shed
again. 

Luke steps aside and turns to face the house.  Pointing 
towards the roof he and says, “The panels face north.  This is the best side to
get a picture of them.  The turbine is on the other side of this shed, in a clearer
area to make sure it catches the most wind.  Take a photo of the panels and
then we’ll do the turbine.”

Nodding I set about photographing the panels.  My camera
clicks widely as I move about, adjusting the lens to take various shots at
different angles.  Surveying the panels through my lens I note there are lots
of them.  Every square inch of the roof is covered in panels to make sure the
maximum amount of solar energy is collected. 

“During the day, as long as the sun is shining, everything
runs straight off the roof.  Excess power not used at the time feeds into the
batteries for storage.  It’s a bit different with the turbine.  It just turns
and generates power whenever there is enough wind.  The power produced goes
straight to the batteries.  The good thing with the two systems is that
generally the batteries are full all the time because there are not many dead
calm, cloudy days in a year.  We have enough battery storage to run the setup
inside for about a week if no power is generated.  So far, we’ve never run out
of power.”

“Wow,” I’m impressed.  A truly standalone green energy
setup.  “Would this setup run an entire household under normal circumstances?”

“Depends on the size of the family and their power usage. 
Mostly, yes it would.  The family would need to consider low energy devices
however such as LED televisions and laptops that could run standalone some of
the time.”

“I’ll have to get you to write some of this information up
for me for the site,” I drop the camera again and turn in the direction of the
turbine as I announce, “Turbine next.”

A short walk, and a few short minutes later I have run off
several different shots of the turbine.  I have also taken some video footage
of it turning in the gentle breeze that is blowing softly in from the paddocks
surrounding us.

As I flick through the screens on the camera to check that I
have enough good quality photographs to finalize Luke’s new website, I hear his
mobile phone ringing.  From the corner of my eye I watch as he pulls it from
his jeans pocket, looks at the screen and then answers the call.  Turning his
back on me, he starts to walk away.  “Yo,” I hear him greeting his caller as he
disappears around the side of the shed and out of sight.

Deciding I should give him his privacy, I finish flicking
through my photographs.  I turn off my camera and slide it over my shoulder,
hanging it gently behind my back.  Then, as one always does when they are
waiting for something to do, I pull my mobile phone from my pocket.   
Realizing that I don’t even have a Facebook page to scroll through, I am
suddenly at a loss with what to do with myself.

Staring blankly at my phone, the past weeks come crashing
down on me like a tidal wave.  The harsh reality that I now have no past that I
can reach into for comfort slams me for a six.  Feeling my knees buckle beneath
me, I drop to the ground and start drawing huge breaths as images of my school
friends, parties, fun road trips and work colleagues flash through my mind. 
People I will never see again, people I can no longer keep in touch with.  Not
even via Facebook. 

I don’t exist.

Who will I be able to celebrate my birthday with?  What will
I do at Christmas when everyone else goes home to catch up with family and
friends?  Emma might be able to hide from her family for a year or two, but she
still plans on going back to her old life and when she does, what will I do?

Visions of me sitting in my room behind the Harley shop,
alone while everyone else celebrates Christmas with their loved ones hit me and
I feel the first prickle of tears burning at my eyes.  Dropping my phone into
my lap I lean forward and let my head fall to my hands.  As soon as my palms
contact my face, a flood of tears pour from my eyes and I start sobbing
silently.

Fuck.

A wave of grief hits me and my body lets go.  Pouring all of
my energy into tears and sobbing, I lose track of time as my mind flies over
all the horrible events in the past few weeks.
Finding out Tony was cheating on me.  Finding out what he was doing with my
website.  Being attacked and beaten.  Tony dying. 
My life ceasing to exist.

“Fuck.”  I startle at Luke’s voice behind me and I hear his
heavy steps crunching through dry grass as he hurries over.  “What the fuck?”

Ducking down in front of me, I feel his arms instantly wrap
me tight as he pulls me forward into his lap.  My senses are assaulted with his
warmth and his warm woodsy male scent.  I instantly feel comforted.  “Jesus
Arianna.  What’s wrong.  Are you
that
upset that I won’t take you
inside?  Fuck.”

With my face planted firmly against his chest, my sobs turn
to stilted chuckles. 

“Fuck.  I’ll do it.  You can have a fuckin’ tea party in
there if you want.  Pick a plant.  We’ll hit a bud with a blow torch and dry it
out.  You can mellow out.  Whatever you want.  Just don’t fuckin’ cry.  I hate
it when women cry.”

Sniffing and drawing a deep breath, I work hard to control
my chuckle sobbing as I register what he is saying and how good it feels
wrapped safely his in arms.

Damn.

Pushing away from his chest, I look up to see two, very
blue, very concerned eyes.  “Mellow out?” I ask with a hiccup and another sob
chuckle.

Sliding his hands from my back he moves them to my shoulders
to hold me at arms-length in front of him. “What the fuck ever.  Jesus Christ,
what’s wrong?” His eyes scrunch up and the look of concern on his face nearly
undoes me.

“Psycho woman blow out,” I mumble looking away from him and
trying to focus on a point to his right.

With a soft shake he draws my attention back.  “Huh?”

His eyes burn into mine as he waits for me to explain. 
“It’s just…”

God.  Do I even want to tell him this? 

Does he need to know I’m being a pansy about having no
life?  After all that these people have done for me, why am I losing it?  At
least I am alive.  Which considering I bought this whole thing on myself by not
keeping my mouth shut, is a miracle.

“Jesus Ari, just tell me.  I can’t help fix whatever the
fuck it is if you don’t tell me,” Luke urges as his eyes search my face looking
for clues.

“I’m alone,” I announce as my bottom lip starts trembling
and I feel the sting of fresh tears again.

“Huh?” He looks even more confused.

“I know it’s stupid,” I mumble as I look away again and try
to wipe the fresh tears away from my face with the back of my hand.  “I just
had a bit of a blowout thinking about all that I’ve lost and all that’s
happened over the past weeks.”

I glance back to his face just in time to see realization
hit.

“Shit.  We’ve all been waiting for this,” he mumbles as he
drags me back to his chest.  His hand slides to the back of my head and dig
into my hair.   He scrunches his fingers softly, massaging the back of my
head.  It feels good and I sigh. 

“Why you had to choose today when neither Jake nor Emma are
here beats me,” he continues as his second hard starts rubbing gently at my
back.

We’ve all been waiting for this.

Stiffening as I register his words, Luke senses my change
and stops rubbing.

I push against his hands to make eye contact with him
again.  “What did you say?”

He looks confused again.  “I said, why you had to choose…”

“Before that.  We’ve all been waiting for this.  Waiting for
what?”

His face softens.  “For you to crack baby girl.”

For me to crack?  Baby girl?

With gentle fingers, Luke lifts a hand and swipes some more
tears from my face.  “Don’t think for a second that no one noticed.  You
freaked out about your safety for a while, and Emma said you cried for a bit
when you found out about Tony, but you never really… cracked.  You just kept on
going and seemed to resign yourself to your new living arrangements without a
backward glance.  That was always going to come crashing down on you
eventually.”

Oh my God. They were expecting this?

Putting a finger to my chin he tips my face up and studies
me intently.  “What set you off?”

“Something so fucking stupid…” I murmur as I drag my eyes
away from his yet again.

“Stop looking away Ari, you’re okay.  I’m your
friend.
 Just
tell me.”

A fucking good friend.

With a sigh, I look back at him.  “My stupid phone.  I was
thinking about looking at Facebook and…”

“Gotcha,” he says with a nod.  “Emma researched this shit
already and warned us something would crack you eventually.  I just wish she
was here right fuckin’ now because I’m not so sure I’m equipped to deal with
this shit.”

“You’re doing just fine,” I give him a small smile and wipe
my eyes again.

He grins at me as his eyes brighten.  “Bet I can do better.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask giving him a skeptical
look as he pushes away from me and stands up, offering me his hand.

“We’re going in!” He chirps as he tugs my hand and leads me
towards the house. 

“What about plausible deniability?” I ask as I let him tow
me along and we approach the back door to the house.  “That was Jake on the
phone.  He told me it was your choice.  So…”

‘We’re going in!” I giggle excitedly as he lets go of my
hand to fish his keys from his front jeans pocket.

Luke glances back and rolls his eyes at me before he shakes
his head, inserts the key and opens the door.

AAA

“This shit is
good,
” I mumble before I dip the white
plastic teaspoon back into the tub to swirl it around enthusiastically before
lifting another mouthful of goodness to my mouth.

Luke’s lips lift in a tiny smirk as he shakes his head for
the hundredth time before setting his eyes back on the road.

“Wha…?” I mumble as I jam the spoon in my mouth.  “It is.”

We are on the way home and I’m having the time of my life. 
I’ve kicked my shoes off and have my feet hanging out the passenger side window
of Emma’s Maserati.  The feel of the hot wind on my toes is
amazing. 
I
am now heightening my pleasure sensors to another level by eating.

And it all feels
good.

 “Fuckin’ glad Emma made us bring her car.  Not sure how I
would have dealt with you on the back of my bike,” Luke mutters as his mobile
phone starts ringing from its cradle on the dashboard.  Excited to receive a
phone call (who cares that it’s not even my phone), I squeal as my eyes lock on
his phone.  Looking at the name flashing on the screen, I squeal again.

Jake.

My eyes swing to Luke to see him wincing.

Uh oh.

“Fuck,” he mutters as he reaches to accept the call. 
Pausing to hesitate before he accepts the call, he slices me with a stern
look.  “Not a fucking peep.  Keep quiet.  Listen but don’t say a fuckin’ word. 
If Jake finds out I gave you pot while he’s not around, he’s gunna lose it.” 
He quickly checks the road ahead before swinging his stern eyes back to me. 
“You hearing me?”

I blink innocently at him, grin, nod my head and return my
attention to swirling my spoon through the deliciousness in my hand.  Luke
rolls his eyes and draws a long breath before accepting Jake’s call.

“Why’d you take so fuckin’ long to answer?” Jakes voice
booms through the speakers in the car.

“I’m driving,” Luke responds calmly as he turns to skewer me
with another warning look.  I bat my eyes at him innocently as I lift another
spoonful of green and white heaven to my mouth.   “We are about thirty minutes
out.” 

“I was expecting you an hour ago, what the fuck took so
long?” Jake booms again.

He sounds pissed.

“It just took a bit longer than first expected,” Luke
replies lifting an eyebrow at me as I pop the spoon in my mouth, pulling it out
slowly as I savour the flavours on my tongue.

“Mmmmmmmmm” I moan softly as I swallow another piece of
heaven.

“What the
fuck
was that?” Jake growls in a tone that
leaves me no doubt that if he wasn’t pissed off before, he is now.  Luke
flashes me a venomous look and snatches for the phone in the cradle.  Realizing
what he is about to do, I slap his hand aside as I call out exuberantly, “Hey
baby!”

Luke’s hand vibrates midair as he sighs and shakes his head
before dropping it back on the steering wheel with a thud.  I look up at him
confused and see that he is counting silently backwards from ten as he stares
at the road.  The muscles in his jaw are twitching and I his whole body has
stiffened.  Even aware that I am the reason he is so unhappy, I cannot help but
admire the lines of his jaw and the way his long muscular arms and powerful
hands rest against the steering wheel.  

Yum.

Musing that I’m higher and far more easily distracted than
is normal, I startle when I hear Jake yell, “What. The. Fuck!” Through the
speakers.

“Sorry man,” Luke mumbles as he tips his head back briefly
to stare at the roof of the car before setting his eyes back on the road.