Chapter 88
Kate had left the conversation with Dave and told Meg she wasn't feeling well enough to be out with the sheep. She went back to the house and stayed inside with Katie until Meg returned and she went to lie down in the shearers quarters. The good news is that she wasn't nauseous. She had kept the lamingtons down all day. She decided that her junk food only plan would continue.
She felt awful about the way her conversation with Dave had gone. She hadn't expected him to carry so much anger at her for so long. Especially because he had found love somewhere else. She started to worry that he might still have feelings for her. That would be a problem. She didn't love Dave anymore and she didn't want Dave to love her. She just wanted to be able to be around each other without weirdness.
Russell came to check on her when he finished with the muster. He was sore, but said he felt like he had done okay, and at very least didn't hold anyone else up. He gave her a quick kiss and went to his workshop to work on the drone.
Dinner wouldn't be for another hour or so, but since she knew Dave had gone, she decided to head toward the big house, thank Meg, and see if Jodi was around for a talk.
Kate found Jodi in the stable with Claire.
"Did you see what your mom was wearing tonight? Did she look good when she left?" Kate overheard Jodi ask Claire.
"Yeah, she looked good. I hope she has fun with Finn tonight. I'm happy she likes him," Claire said.
So Tess is seeing the mystery American man again, but now Jodi and Claire know about it. Good for Tess, finally dating again, thought Kate.
"Hi girls. How did the muster go? How did Meggie do?" asked Kate as she walked into the stable.
"Meggie did really well. I was proud of my little cuz. Her first muster! I hope we have a toast to her at dinner. She looked proud of herself," gushed Claire.
"That's wonderful. A girl's first muster is a big deal," Kate replied.
Jodi recognized that Kate wanted to talk from her body language.
"Claire, would you mind going and helping Meg with dinner? Kate and I can handle the horses," said Jodi.
After Claire left, Jodi leaned closer towards Kate.
"So what happened with Dave this time? Meg told me you offered to help with the vet checks, but came back after fifteen minutes saying you weren't up for it."
"Well, I actually am feeling better nausea wise. I'm eating only junk food, and it's working so far, but, yeah, I wanted to have a conversation with Dave to clear the air. It didn't go well," confessed Kate.
"Uh Oh. Do we need to request Ingrid only for vet services now?"
"No, of course not. Dave is a professional and would never put an animal in danger over an ex girlfriend. I apologized for hurting him. I told him about Riley and how I was still hoping he was alive at the time. I told him I would like to get to a place where we can be friendly together. It felt good to get all of it off my chest, and to sincerely apologize, but Dave wasn't interested in hearing it. He told me we would never be friends and that everytime he sees me it brings back the pain I caused him. He told me he couldn't eat or sleep for months after that and that it took him a longtime to feel human again. He said he had to move back to Africa for another year because of it. He told me if I care about him, as I said I did, I should just leave him alone. So I did. I went and asked Meg to cover it and I hid in the house until he was gone," explained Kate.
"Wow. I wouldn't expect Dave to have such a strong reaction," said Jodi.
"Me either. Especially since he's married with kids. I figured he had moved on and found love as I did. Dave is someone who at one point in my life, was the most important person in my life, but that point is long over. He's a good person and I still care, but that level of reaction was much stronger than I expected. Especially when you consider we had been broken up for over a year when he came to see me, and I had ended it that time too."
"It makes me wonder if he still has feelings for you," said Jodi.
"I've been worrying about the same thing. I don't love Dave. I'm not trying to get back together. I just want to be in a place where we can be in social circles together and both of us be comfortable, friendly maybe. If he still loves me, there will be some real problems," said Kate.
"Yeah. Problems starting with his own marriage. I really hope that's not the case," said Jodi.
"So, anyway, I'm going to give him a wide berth as he requested. I'll figure out what to do about vet services when I actually have animals and a property. In the meantime, can you just give me a heads up if he is scheduled to be around? I'll make myself scarce," said Kate.