Chapter One Hundred and Nine

Havermouth, Five Years Before

There was another Ute parked next to Cameron’s outside of the river house when Heath pulled up. “Ah, good,” he said, as they got out of the car. “Luke is here. Just hang back and stay out of the way, Aislen, whilst we walk him through what we’re after.” He strode ahead of her, jumping up onto the balcony and calling out warmly to the man standing with Cameron and Rhett.

“Hey,” the man grinned. “Nice place. I haven’t had the opportunity to see it before. I can understand why it’s the hangout spot of the moment. This view is amazing.”

“Yeah, we’re lucky that Cameron came with advantages,” Heath laughed.

“The family farm here is just over two hundred hectares,” Cameron shoved his hands into his front pockets and rocked on his hips, looking out across the land with satisfaction. “With the house, and a variety of outbuildings. Dad has kept the fencing and outbuildings up to date, as he’s been using it as grazing land.”

“And you’ll inherit another four hundred hectares from your parents when your dad retires,” Luke whistled his emphasis. “Pretty sweet inheritance.”

“Yeah,” Cameron shrugged, as his cheeks pinked. “Well, you know, we’ve always been farmers.”

“Which explains the state of the house,” Heath finished for him.

“Some house, though,” Luke looked up at it. “It’s got character and with the budget you’ve given me, we can do some incredible things. I see you’ve already been doing some work.” As he looked down towards the balcony decking, his eyes fell on Aislen. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she edged around them and ducked into the house, aware of the warning look that Heath gave her.

“That’s her?” Luke said in a low voice once she had rounded the bend in the hallway. Aislen pressed herself against the wall, her heart racing in her chest. “She must be a damn good fuck for you to go to all this trouble.”

“Ah, well…” Heath laughed, and Aislen felt her cheeks heat.

“I remember being eighteen and letting my cock do all the thinking for me,” Luke snorted. “Well, wouldn’t want to be you. That’s pure trouble in a pretty package. I’d fuck it out of my system and move on if I were you.”

“You know we don’t get to choose about these things,” Rhett replied grimly. “It just is.”

“Fuck,” Luke sighed. “I’m sorry for that too. So, we’re keeping the balcony?”

“We’d like to extend it,” Cameron replied. “Make it a real outdoor space.”

“Sure, we can do that. It will mean a bit more of a drop, and might impact the view of the river from the kitchen.”

“It’ll be worth it.”

They moved inside, the strike of Luke’s boot heels loud on the floorboards. “French doors along here, Cam said. It’s a good move. Will let in a lot more light and join the extended outdoor balcony to the kitchen and dining space. We should be able to remove most of these walls. What’s above?”

“Attic space.”

“Might be nice to open up the roof a bit. Lose a bit of attic space but we could put in some amazing beam-work through here and have double-height ceilings. It will make the space feel really massive and airy.”

“There’s heaps of attic space, so, I like that idea,” Heath replied.

“Lots of pokey little rooms off this hallway.”

“Part of the original house,” Cameron replied. “There’s a decent sized cellar underneath too.”

“What do you want to do with it?” Luke was intrigued.

“Theatre room, storage space, maybe a sort-of man cave area.”

“That will be cool,” Luke was envious. “And these little rooms?”

“Well, we want to create six bedrooms down here, each with ensuites and walk-in-robes, so it’s a matter of what walls we can take out to extend into.”

“Having a cellar below means running new plumbing won’t be an issue, but it might impact head space and aesthetics below. Let’s have a look…”

As they moved towards the stairwell, Aislen crept down the hallway to the bedroom and laid on the bed. She pressed her face into the cushions and breathed in the scent that lingered there from the Triquetra’s soap and aftershave. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.

She should be overjoyed, she told herself. She should be excited. The scholarship was not only generous, it was also a life altering opportunity for her. She tried to imagine living away from her parents, having her own car, in Rideten… It was such a huge change. She would need to make new friends. She would be responsible for her own food, washing her own clothes, cleaning her own space, paying bills, and budgeting out of the allowance that they were paying her.

She would be eighteen and, in the city, free to go to pubs and clubs, to drink and party. And she would have no one to answer to, no parents wondering why she was home late.

So, why did it feel like she was grieving the loss of the Triquetra?

She sat up and searched amongst their possessions, locating a packet of cigarettes, a lighter, and a bottle of wine. She pushed open the window and climbed over it, walking out into the garden, amongst the overgrown flowerbeds where roses tangled with weeds. She sat down in a patch of sunlight, lit a cigarette, and opened the wine.

She couldn’t give up an opportunity like the scholarship for the Triquetra, she reasoned with herself. It was as Ms. Grace had asked – where did Aislen see this relationship going? They couldn’t just fuck around together forever… People grew up, got married, had kids, barbeques with neighbours, and children’s birthday parties… Hi Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I’m Aislen, Joe’s mum, and these are my three husbands…

Did she even think the Triquetra would contemplate that sort of future with her? If they were contemplating keeping her around, wouldn’t Heath have included her in planning the house out? Instead, he’d told her to stay out of the way whilst the Triquetra discussed their future house with the builder, making it perfectly clear that no matter what her feelings were about the Triquetra, to them, she was just another sex toy, easily replaced with the other human girls that went to school.

In university, their options would open further, so even if she made it through the holidays without being discarded by them in favour of some shiny new toy, once the university year started…

Her feelings about the Triquetra… She drew in a deep breath. She was in love with Rhett, she admitted to herself. Cameron and Heath, however… Things were more complicated there, but she felt something. It wasn’t the same as her feelings for Rhett, but it also wasn’t that different…

However, what would come of those feelings? She asked herself. Nothing but heartache for her. She had to take the scholarship, she told herself firmly, and if the relationship with the Triquetra lasted for those three years, she would come back and… well, what would happen, would happen.

“Hey,” Rhett sat down behind her, framing her in his legs. “Give me some of that,” he grabbed the wine bottle and took a swig before handing it back and taking out a cigarette. He lit it and blew out a slow stream of smoke, before wrapping his free arm around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. “You and Heath had some fun without us,” he teased, a smile in his voice.

“Yeah,” she leaned back against him. “It was fun.”

“We’ll have some of our own as soon as Luke leaves,” he replied. His mind was on un-fun things, however. The images of a man who shared his gorgeous bone structure, veins popping in his forehead, and spittle striking Rhett’s cheek as he yelled at him, and Rhett’s mother standing grim faced and silent in the background, unwilling to stand up for her son for fear of antagonizing Mr. Salem into staying for longer and upsetting her lover further.

“Are you okay, Rhett?” Aislen asked softly, carefully. “You seem… down.”

He sighed heavily and leaned his cheek against her head. “My father’s in town. He’s always… difficult. Mum just wants him to leave because Deborah’s blowing up her phone, demanding she divorce him for her, and mum just can’t do that… And dad knows something is up, and takes it out on me. My hair is too long, my clothes are wrong, I’ve got a damned ring through my lip, my attitude is bad…

“Nothing I do will ever be good enough for him, and I know that. It’s why I don’t even try to pretend anymore. I’ve got the trust fund my grandparents left me, and Heath and Cam, and the river house,” he stubbed out the cigarette and took the wine bottle from her again. “We’ll get the river house fixed up and move in as soon as we can. We’ll all be happier for it.”

He paused, turning slightly to watch as the builder’s Ute reversed and headed down the drive. “Luke’s gone now,” he said, rising to his feet. He offered her his hand up. “Let’s go fuck.”