"You have got to be kidding me," she said, as she saw the amount of hay bales stacked on the back of the Ute and the trailer. "All of them? Are you feeding an entire third world country with this?"

Tristan just looked at her, completely unimpressed. "Because people eat hay, and all," he said sarcastically, as he opened the huge doors to the shed so Jake could back the Land Rover and trailer in.

When Jake got out of the car, he immediately came over to Kira, shook her hand and re-introduced himself – a no-fuss type of man. He didn't look overly much like Jake, even though they shared the same hair colour and almost the same eye colour. Jake's skin had gotten a leathery quality from being out in the sun for so long and he was a wiry man, dressed in overalls. She couldn't really remember him from when she'd been younger, just remembered his kind face and being allowed to ride in his tractor with him.

He had three crazy, whippet-thin dogs – they looked like Kelpies. All of them seemed to have enormous amounts of energy as they raced around the truck, barked at the horses in the paddock over and tried to jump up on Kira. Of course, she was not allowing them to get their dirty paw prints on her, and kept ducking to the side whenever they raced near her.

"Tristan, you can be up on the trailer, passing the bales down to us. I don't want you stressing out that shoulder any more than necessary and the doctor said that you're not allowed to raise your arm above shoulder height."

Tristan's face went sour and he huffed out a breath. "I know, dad, I'm taking care of it."

Jake turned to Kira with a smile on his face. "He isn't taking care of it. But now you're here, my girl, you can help him out!" He gave her a friendly pat on the back and then got straight to work. Kira took out the gloves that were hanging in her waistband with distaste. They were old and crusty, probably with sweat.

Yuck.

But looking at all that itchy hay, she reluctantly pulled the gloves on, trying to gag as her fingers touched the crusty sides.

"Come on, my girl, we've got to get all this done within the hour. Can't beat around the bush, here."

And so, with great unwillingness, she became hauling up the heavy bales of hay and stacking them up with the others on the side of the shed. She remembered when she was younger; she used to love it up here. The huge stacks of hay had always fascinated her and she'd loved to climb up and around them, despite the threat of spiders or snakes. Now, she stepped ultra cautiously, on the look out for any kind of snake or lizard or spider or cockroach or… the list of all the creepy-crawlies that inhabited this farm went on for a while.

And so, because she was taking her time being cautious, Jake ended up moving about twice as many hay bales. And by the dirty look Tristan was giving her, he noticed. It was exhausting work and the bales got heavier and heavier the more exhausted she became. Eventually, she was too tired to even check out Tristan's muscles or his butt when he bent over – and that was saying something, since he was so very good looking.

It felt like ages until Kira placed the last hay bale on the pile, wiping her forehead of the sweat. She hadn't thought she'd be doing anything too strenuous, so hadn't thought to wipe off her makeup. Now, she could basically feel the foundation caking on her face and was glad that at least her mascara was waterproof.

Yet it was only 3pm.

"So, what's on the agenda next?" Kira asked weakly, hoping that one of them would suggest a break. She was sure she had sweat patches on her shirt and she wanted to at least change. Maybe even have a shower and wash all this hay and dirt and sweat off.

"Alright, do you two want to go fill up the waters for the horses out the back and I'll give some hay to the ones out the front," Jake said, then whistled for his Kelpies who had run off after only a few minutes. They came racing back, jumping onto the back of the Ute when Jake patted it. "Once we've unhooked the trailer and put on the one with the water tank, you two can take the Ute and I'll use the tractor."

The ride out to the back paddocks was both nerve-wracking and awkward. Nerve-wracking, because the dirt road had weathered away so there were deep ruts that Tristan skilfully managed to avoid. Kira was sure that if she'd been driving, they'd already have crashed. It was awkward because no matter how hard she tried to find out more about him, she kept hitting a stonewall. He seemed to like to answer in one-word responses, when he wasn't grunting. He clearly wasn't happy to be stuck with her, but she was going to take full advantage of being trapped in the Ute with him.

"So where did you grow up?"

He looked over at her with a frown and as much as Kira loved to look at his pretty hazel eyes, she wished he would look at the pothole-ridden road instead.

"With my dad. On his old farm on the other side of town." At her blank face, he continued on in exasperation. "He said you'd been there a few times before it was sold?"

She didn't remember, but she pretended she did. "Oh, uh, yeah, I kind of remember. How come I never met you then?" She was going out on a limb here, assuming that she'd never met him before. But neither his father nor her mother had given any indication otherwise.
"Boarding school."

She looked at him in surprise – something they had in common!

"That's cool! At which school?"

"The Scots College, in Sydney."
Her eyebrows went right up. "Really?"

She was astonished, since she knew quite a few boys from Scots and had been to rugby games at his school quite a few times, yet had never bumped into him. Or maybe she had and she wouldn't know, though surely she would've remembered someone that looked like him.

He was frowning at her again, but damn did he have a sexy pout.

"I was on scholarship." She frowned in confusion as to why he'd offered that information then realised that he'd thought that she thought he didn't have enough money to go there or was the type of person. It was, after all, one of the most exclusive boy's schools in Sydney. But she hadn't been thinking that – it hadn't even occurred to her, actually. She hardly knew him – though not through lack of trying – and he could be a complete genius for all she knew. Which, since he got a scholarship, he apparently was.

She wanted to rectify the situation but when she saw the stubborn set of his jaw, knew it would be in vain.

"I went to Kincoppal," she offered instead.

"I know." She opened her mouth to ask how in the world he knew when he continued with, "Your mother told me. She talks about you all the time."

She understood his connotation – that he was here all the time yet she hadn't stepped foot on the farm for about seven years. But it wasn't like she hadn't seen her mother in all that time. Anna did own the house in Bellevue Hill that Kira lived in, so when she came up on business or to just visit, Kira saw her. Plus, she'd been at her graduation only a few weeks ago. She just didn't like the farm. Not only was it in the middle of nowhere and felt like she had gone back in time, it reminded her of painful things that she didn't want to remember. And because she didn't want to go into that, she dropped this too.

She started a new line of questioning.

"What did you do after school?"

He shifted uncomfortably.

"Went to university. For law."
Her eyes went wide – she hadn't expected that answer. She'd expected something like coming back to work on the farm, or going to agriculture college or even TAFE. Most definitely not law! He really was a genius.

"Wow, that's amazing! I wouldn't've minded getting into law, but my marks were nowhere near good enough, so it was an Arts course for me."

"I thought you were going to do vet science," he said, still frowning. "The entry marks are pretty much the same."

Okay, it was getting pretty disconcerting how he seemed to know everything about her yet she knew nothing about him – she didn't even know the details about his accident, and she'd already been told them!

"I decided that was a bit of a childish dream."

"Your mother didn't seem to think so. I remember her being shocked when she found out you weren't doing vet science."

Now she was sure he was trying to annoy her. He must've noticed how uncomfortable she became when he knew so much about her and therefore kept pushing it so she'd back off. It'd take a lot more than that to get her to back off. He obviously didn't know her that well then.

Two could play at this game.

"So if you have a law degree, why are you working with your dad?"

She knew it was bound to annoy him – and by the flashing in his hazel eyes, it sure did – but he was just so gorgeous all angry and flustered!

"I didn't finish it," he muttered.

"That's sad." She paused. "Why not?"

"I think you missed your calling," he growled. "You should've done journalism."

She ignored that, only replying with, "So? Why not?"

"I decided to move back home and help dad out once we lost the farm," he said eventually, thin-lipped.

Kira made a faint 'oh' sound, feeling a bit guilty and awkward that she'd pushed him so much. She didn't have time to say anything, though, as the Ute stopped in front of a gate and he made her get out and get it. Once she'd closed the gate, she turned around to get back into the Ute but it was already down the road.

She barely resisted stamping her foot, swearing instead and saying, "You have got to be kidding me!"

The Ute eventually stopped but it still took Kira ten minutes to trudge over there in her uncomfortable, few-sizes-too-big gumboots. She was fuming when she got there to see Tristan sitting on the back of the trailer, the hose that connected to the water tank in one of the buckets on the ground.

"Yeah, very funny," she sneered. "What are you in, kindergarten?"

For the first time, he smiled at her, and it was gorgeous. Maybe even better than him looking angry. Maybe she'd have to re-think her approach, try to get him to smile more. She could feel her anger slipping away, but she held on to the remaining tatters of it.

"Made me feel better," he said simply, leaning back against the water tank so his Akubra dipped lower across his face.

"Well my sweaty and blistered feet thank you," she snapped, taking off the cap Anna had given her last minute and fanning herself with it.

"You could do with a bit more exercise; I'm just helping you out."

Even though she could barely see his eyes under the shade of his hat, she knew they were dancing. He was just having a grand old time annoying her.

She gasped in outrage. "Are you saying I'm fat?" Because she sure as hell wasn't! She ate healthy and even though she didn't go to the gym overly often, she didn't hear any of the guys she'd met complaining. She had a flat stomach and a gap between her thighs – she was not fat, goddamit!

"I'm saying that you could use a bit more of the outdoors."

But he still didn't deny her being fat.

"I do get outdoors. See this?" She hiked up her flannel sleeve, pointing at her skin there. "This is a tan, from being outdoors."

"The beach hardly counts. All you do is sit there all day and try to get skin cancers. I bet you don't even swim."

She pressed her lips together, frustrated because he was right. Screw trying to make him smile, she wanted to make him angry all the time. If the homestead weren't so damn far away, she would've already stormed off.

She couldn't think of anything to say, so she folded her arms and said, "The water's overflowing. Aren't we supposed to be in a drought or something?"

He jumped up straightaway, jogging over and putting the hose in another of those half-barrels while she just stood there and watched.

"We're not in a drought anymore – do they teach you anything in university?"

She ignored the dig. "Then why are we filling up these waters? Isn't there a creek or something over there?"

He settled himself back onto the trailer.

"Because there's no water in it," he said, in a 'duh' kind of voice. "It dries up all the time."

Well. She wasn't getting far with this, apparently. Sick of standing in her gumboots with the sun warming up the material to unbearable temperatures, she hopped up onto the trailer next to him and kicked off her gumboots. She crinkled her nose up at her wet socks. Tristan looked over at her disapprovingly but didn't say anything.

"I am going to get the worst farmer's tan," she muttered as she settled back and began observing the paddock. She'd been too busy being furious earlier to take much notice of it, but it was actually quite beautiful. Not nearly as nice as the beach would be, but for country standards, it could be classed as pretty.

The paddock was pretty massive, the fence line going halfway up the mountain and was bracketed by trees on another side. It was covered in green grass, with only a few weeds poking up. Most of the hills in the distance were either covered in trees or grass, but some were coloured purple by some kind of weed. They were halfway along a big flat area, where most of the horses were as well. She couldn't really pick out the difference between the mares and the stallion at this distance, but she could see a few tiny little foals peeking out from behind their mothers' rumps. All of them were tottering around on their too-long legs, not quite stable yet.

She gasped in delight, shaking Tristan's shoulder. "Look at how cute and little they are!" she exclaimed. "How old would you say they are?"

"A few weeks, probably," Tristan grunted, clearly annoyed at being disturbed.

"They are so adorable! Oh, my god, I wish I'd brought my phone. I could've taken so many cute photos!"

Tristan just sighed but otherwise ignored her as he stood up once again and moved the hose into the last tub.

When he was coming back, he said, "I thought you hated everything on this farm."
She gave him a strange look. "No, I hate the snakes and the creepy-crawlies. Horses are completely different because, for starters, they don't have poisonous fangs."

He came to jump up onto the trailer then jerked and stumbled back. "Holy shit, snake!"

The world seemed to freeze for a moment as her heart went racing, her mind flooding with images. Memories came rushing back to Kira: the tall, brown tussock, swaying in the wind; sprinting through as it whipped against her legs, a cry…

With a choked scream, she flung herself away from the Ute, whirling around and trembling so badly she could barely focus. The sound of Tristan's deep laugh jolted her out and she turned to face him, wide-eyed.

"I didn't think you'd actually fall for that," he said, wide grin on his face. "Your face!"

Her surroundings slowly began to come back as she realised what was going on. Her gumboots were still off, so the grass felt prickly against her damp feet. Her trembling began to die down before it started up again, this time with anger.

"You callous asshole," she hissed, fists clenched so tight that her nails bit into her palms. She opened her mouth to tear him a new one but was just too furious for words. Instead, she gave way to the urge to storm off. The stones bit into her feet but she was too angry to care.

"Kira, what the—aw, Kira, come on! It was just a joke!" Tristan called after her. "Don't walk off!"

She kept going. She heard him swear and then fiddle with something on the water tank. She was halfway to the gate when she heard the roar of the Ute starting up and beginning to drive towards her. She walked faster and made it to the gate, making sure to lock it behind her.

"Kira, stop being such a brat!" she heard as she climbed the hill. She looked back and saw that Tristan was opening the gate, running back to the Ute. She smirked at this small success, even though she was still furious.

Eventually, of course, he caught up with her. The Ute crawled slowly along beside her as she steadfastly ignored him.
"C'mon, Kira, just get in the Ute. You have no shoes on; you can't walk all the way back to the house like that." She ignored him. He tried another route. "Stop being such a brat and get in the Ute. We don't have time for this." She continued walking. "Alright, what do you want me to say? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for pretending there was a snake there, though I don't understand why you're taking this so personally. It was just a bit of fun, for Christ's sake."

He was right, he didn't understand. And she didn't particularly want to enlighten him. And her feet were beginning to hurt. So instead of explaining herself, she stopped walking and when the Ute halted, climbed in on the other side. They sat there in silence as he drove.

They were almost to the house when he said, "So you're not going to say anything?"

"No," she said, arms crossed stubbornly. "I'm not. It was a massive dick move and I'm just going to pretend it didn't happen."

"Well that's healthy," he muttered.

"I don't care," she shot back. The second they pulled up, she grabbed her gumboots, jumped out and headed up to the house.

"We still have to feed some horses, you know!" he called after her, but she just stuck her middle finger up at him and kept walking.

"I'll consider this part of your apology," she called back, stomping into the house. Anna looked up from where she was stirring something on the stove.

"What are you doing back so—"

"I'm going to have a shower and none of you are going to stop me!" she said vehemently, not waiting around to give her mother a chance to reply.

OOO

The thing about Kira's anger was that it didn't last very long. Yes, she could chuck a tantrum with the best of them, but once it flared up it died down pretty quickly. Sometimes she wished she could hold onto grudges better, but once she thought about the situation for a while, turned it over in her head, she decided that she just didn't care enough to hold onto any anger. However, when she sat down to dinner, Katrina and Anna on either side of her and Tristan across from her, it was fun watching him squirm. He obviously thought she was still angry with him and she couldn't bring herself to tell him otherwise. Plus, she was exhausted. Katrina and Anna were chatting about the young horses that Katrina had been working with all day. From what she could gather, all Katrina really did was walk some horses around the yard and pat some other yearlings down with a towel, since they were barely touchable.

Kira couldn't help but be jealous. Katrina's job sounded much more enjoyable and fun than what she'd been doing for half the day. Unfortunately, she was getting the impression that she was supposed to be following Tristan around all day and helping him. Things just kept getting better and better.

"So, Kira, how was your day?" Anna asked.

"Just great," she mumbled in reply, pushing the potatoes around her plate. "I had so much fun following Tristan around."

Tristan studiously avoided everyone else's eyes.

"Wait, but I saw Tristan putting some of the hay out by himself," Katrina said.

Kira stared at her – was she seriously trying to get her in trouble? With her mother? She felt as if she were in primary school again, with kids trying to gain favour with the teacher by dobbing others in.

"I went to have a shower. Is having a sense of hygiene allowed around here?" Kira asked, staring at Katrina steadily. Although she was sitting next to her, Kira had scooted her chair over towards Anna because Katrina was still in her work clothes, smelling as if she rolled around in the cattle yards. Kira did not want any horsehair or dirt flaking off Katrina's clothes and into her meal. Ew.

"But you're supposed to be helping Tristan," Katrina said, though she sounded a bit more uncertain now that she'd gained the attention of the entire table.

"Lucky I'm not being employed here then. I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart—" and because her mother wouldn't stop bugging her "—so if I want a shower, I'll take one."

"Alright, who wants dessert?" Anna exclaimed, standing up and beginning to collect everyone's plates.

"I'm fine thanks," Kira said, pushing back from the table and still staring at Katrina so she knew exactly whom she was talking about. "There seems to be a funny smell in here that's made me lose my appetite. Good night, everyone."

Anna opened her mouth to protest but Kira was already outta there.

OOO

A/N: If you don't understand some of the Aussie slang, feel free to ask! And Scots and Kincoppal are real schools in Sydney.

Thank you to my lovely anon reviewers:

-One of the 'Guest's said they were just starting year 12, so good luck! It'll be fun! (loljks social life went down the drain).

Is anyone else completely and utterly freaked out by snakes? I sure as hell am! (Really not living in the right country).