Disclaimer: All characters depicted in this work of fiction are property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended. Some of the ideas in this story come from an Australian TV series called McLeod's Daughters, again no copyright infringement intended. If you haven't already seen McLeod's Daughters watch it, it's no longer running but went for eight seasons and was a delight to watch.
AN – I know it's been a long time and I feel bad because a few people have followed my story and I feel like I have let these people down. The story is all up there in my head it's just taking a bit longer to get out. Plus uni is killing me right now.
Anyway, on with the show. Enjoy :)
Kispers Ridge – CHAPTER 3
Bella POV
My back, knees, hamstrings and arms ached with every movement as I rose from the pile of canvas wool bags in the corner of the shearing shed. Three hours of sleep was all I was going to get last night so I didn't bother making my way to my bedroom. There was 11 hours before I had to deliver on my contract and nearly 400 sheep left to shear. My sisters were right, I don't think there is any way that I can deliver on time without help. My stomach reminds me that I am, in fact human, by rumbling very loudly. I was starving and had only eaten an apple for dinner last night.
As I made my way towards the house I could hear the distinct sound of Alice giggling. Its almost impossible not to smile when Alice laughs and I could feel the corners of my mouth twitching as I made my way towards the kitchen. As I walked through the doors I could feel the smile drain from my face. The state of my kitchen was disgusting. Nearly every bowl and saucepan, that were usually kept in the cupboards, were dirty or caked with something burnt and littered along the benches. Flour was spread all over the breakfast table and there were at least ten broken egg shells in my sink. To my dismay the culprit was standing pressed up against the stove, which held a smoking saucepan, by one Jasper Cullen.
"What on earth is going on!" I said loudly as I walked through the door.
Alice screamed a little and pushed a sheepish looking Jasper away. Alice placed a hand on her chest in fright before turning around to fix the smoking pan.
"Bella, you scared me!" she said.
"You should be scared, what have you done to my kitchen?"
"We made breakfast," she exclaimed in a happy voice.
I shake my head in frustration.
"You made a mess is what you made. Make sure its cleaned up!"
"Yeah, no problem," she says as she hands me a plate piled high with eggs, bacon, tomatoes, sausage and mushrooms. I hear my stomach rumble again, it actually smells edible. Really edible.
"The others are out on the porch," she informs me.
I frown at her. "Others?"
"Rose, Emmett and his cousin Edward of course," Alice says like its the most obvious thing in the world.
I am shocked to be honest. Alice and Rose know just how much work needs to be done and they decide to have people over for a social breakfast. I don't have time to entertain the Cullens.
"Alice, family meeting in the dining room, now!" I fume. "Bring Rose."
I turn and storm out of the kitchen.
As Alice and Rose enter the dining room behind me I turn and level them with an angry glare.
"I am way too busy to entertain your attractions to my friends. If you two want to mess around with the Cullen boys, do it when I don't have 400 sheep to shear!" I begin.
I can see Alice getting upset. "We were only trying to help Bella."
"Help! You think your helping me shear 400 sheep by inviting the Cullens over?"
"It was my idea Bella," Rose begins. "I asked the Cullen's over to help you shear in exchange for three great meals and a six pack each at the end of the day."
"What! You had no right, Rose. I need to do this myself, prove that I can run this place on my own," I said.
"You're not on your own Bella, you have us and the Cullens," Alice tries to reassure me.
"Plus, I had every right Bella, I own just as much of this place as you do," Rose adds.
"Fine! But you two better make sure they do actual work and not just get in my way," I said as I made my way out of the room in the direction of the porch.
As I walk out the first thing I notice is three large men sitting at the outdoor table and chairs shovelling breakfast into their mouths like it's their last meal. Edward looks a bit different than when I first saw him, more casual and relaxed. I walk over and stand between Edward and Emmett at the table. All three look up from their food.
"Edward, nice to see you again, I trust you made it to Weblers without a problem?" I greet Mr. Green eyes.
"No problem at all, you completely un-muddled me," he said with a wink.
I heard an ungainly snorting noise and blushed when I realised it was me. Emmett and Jasper proceeded to nearly die from laughter.
I grabbed my plate and started to stomp in the direction of the shearing shed.
"I expect you in the shed and ready to work in 5 minutes. Don't be late!" I said.
...
Three hours later and I felt a bit better about what we had done. 280 sheep left and then I could rest easy with a nice fat wool check. Emmett, Jasper and I were going well and getting about 40 sheep done per hour. Edward was helping the girls to class the wool and separate it for pressing. The six of us were working like a well oiled machine.
...
It was 3:30 pm and it was down to the wire. We had 15 more sheep to shear, class the wool and package by 4 pm.
"Were not going to make it people!" I yelled, "Someone go stall the truck."
Edward rushed out and I heard a car drive off in the direction of the front gate.
We cheered as I pushed the last sheep out into the yard, but the rush was still on.
"Alright finish the classing and pressing and I'll go get the paperwork sorted, we did it guys!" I yelled jogging out the door.
I jogged across the yard surprised that there was no truck in sight. Edward must be doing a great job at stalling the driver.
I reached the office and sighed. Memories flooding in of rainy days spent playing cards with Charlie the faint smell of coffee and tobacco making it feel like just yesterday. I sat down at the old desk and shuffled through the mess of papers looking for the wool contract.
I eventually found it in the mess and glanced through the document. I froze when I read a small section down the bottom that read date of pick up and glanced up at the calendar hung above the fireplace.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no," I groaned.
"Nooooooo," I cried.
"What's happened?" Edward said as he stood in the door way.
"Come in, shut the door," I lowered my voice.
"I got the date wrong," I confessed.
"Were too late?" Edward questioned.
"No too early," I groaned, "The wools due next Tuesday!"
"So let me get this straight, you worked everyone like dogs for 10 hours and the wools not due for another week?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes, you can't tell the others okay, they will hate me." I pleaded.
A deep rumbling laugh started and Edward tried to speak between laughs. "I think they might notice when the wool says in the shed another week."
"Oh nooo," I replied as I burst into giggles myself.
"They are gonna kill me!"
...
"Here's to good friends, back breaking work and being a week early," I toasted.
"Who is stupid enough to read the delivery date wrong," Alice grumbled as she knocked her stubbie against the rest of ours.
We had to tell the others what had happened with the wool. Edward spilled the beans when I couldn't keep a straight face when the others asked when the truck was arriving. Quite simply the others didn't find it quite so amusing until Edward pointed out that it was me who had stayed up all night.
Yeah, the others thought that was hysterical.
The boys went all mucho on us then, demanding we put our feet up and relax while they manned the barbie. We had a delicious meal of steak sandwiches and sausages in bread and all ate till we were nursing food babies.
"I can't believe I worked for hours with that greasy wool," Rose muttered grumpily. "Are my hands going to feel like this forever, I've washed them a billion times already!"
"Aww poor baby," Emmett teased. "You know I have heard that friction works really well," he continued, and with a crude hand gesture and a wink said, "I would happily supply something for you to rub them on."
"Its quite sad what you'd do to get anything but your own hand on your cock," Rose replied, a grimace painted on her features.
We all laughed at that. It was good to see someone that could give Emmett a run for his money. I looked around at us all while Emmett and Rose continued to snark at each other. Jasper and Alice had eyes only for each other and both looked like they hadn't heard a word for the past half-hour.
I smiled and continued to look around until my eyes met two very green ones. Edward was looking at me with an intense look in his eyes. It kind of felt like he was trying to figure me out.
I was snapped back to reality by the sharp sound of a deck chair rubbing against the wooden deck. Rose had stood quickly and was pointing her index finger directly at Emmett.
"I am not a Princess! I'll have you know I work bloody hard around this farm and Bella values me as a worker, and that's pretty bloody good seeing as the closest id come to a cow three months ago was eating beef! I will not sit here and let you judge me and act all holier than thou because I don't know much about farm work. Go to hell Emmett Cullen!" And with that Rose stormed away from the table and inside. We all heard her stomp up the stairs followed by door slam.
Emmett sat there stunned for a few minutes before breaking out into a shit eating grin.
"I think I'm in love."
Wow.
"And on that note, I think it's time for bed," I said as I stood and started collecting the plates.
"Oh let me help you with those," Edward quickly jumped up grabbing his, Emmett, Alice and Jasper's plates before they could even move.
I grabbed mine and Rose's plates and led the way towards the kitchen. There I just dumped the plates in the sink not bothering with the washing up for now, I'll do it in the morning.
Edward followed my lead and put the rest of the dishes on top of mine.
"You need a hand with them?" he asked, nodding towards the pile.
"Nah ill do them tomorrow," I explained. "I'm working on four hours of sleep remember."
"That's right you had sheep to shear," he said with a smirk.
"Oh shut it you, if my arms weren't aching so badly I would punch you right now," I threatened as I leaned back against the kitchen bench.
Edward didn't respond but shifted closer to me as his gaze dropped from my eyes down to my lips.
There was suddenly a honk from outside.
"That's the boys, id better go," Edward supposed.
"Yeah sure, ill just get the beer I owe you," I replied walking towards the fridge.
I opened her up and bent down to grab the three six packs on the bottom shelf. I heard Edward inhale sharply and turned quickly to see what was wrong. He quickly relieved me of the beer and stuttered out a thanks.
"No need, honestly. Tell the boys I said thanks and tell them if they need help shearing for Elders next month don't hesitate to ask."
I was so grateful honestly, if the wool really had been due today, there was no way I could have done it without them.
"Sure no problem. I'll see you around Bella," Edward replied.
"Goodnight Edward," I responded.
...
Later, after a long hot shower and after I had curled up on my soft bed and getting ready to tuck into some well earned sleep, my bedroom door swung open and bare feet padded across the hardwood floors. The right side of my bed sunk down as someone climbed in beside me.
"Bella, are you awake?" Rose whispered.
"No," I groaned.
"I need your advice," she continued.
"Rose go away, whatever it is can wait till morning."
"It can't," she pleaded.
"Fine," I sighed sitting up and turning on the bedside lamp. "It's not like I could sleep anyway, the silence was too deafening."
Rose looked at me strangely before shrugging. I must be too tired to pull off sarcasm.
"Emmett is a rude, sexist pig and I want to fuck his brains out," Rose was never one to beat around the bush.
"Oh lovely, a bedtime story."
"Oh ha-ha, very funny. What do I do Bella? I am disgracing women all over the world for even entertaining the idea of sleeping with him." Rose begged.
"Rose, I am going to be very blunt here. Do you plan on staying here for a while?" I asked.
"Yeah of course, you need me to get the farm up and running again." She answered.
"Well that could take years, and let me tell you, this place can get mighty boring without romantic prospects." I explained.
"Emmett can be a little full on sometimes, but he has a good heart and treats the girls he's with like princesses. You won't find anyone better within a 100 kilometre radius I assure you."
"You think?" Rose questioned.
"I've known Emmett for a long time Rose, and the way he looks at you..."
"What?"
"Well let's just say, women search the world looking for a man who would look at them like that."
Rose sighed and seemed lost in her thoughts for a while.
"Okay," she eventually said. "I will give in, eventually. But he's gonna have to work for it."
And with that she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before jumping up and practically skipping out of my room.
I reached over and shut of the bedside lamp. The moonlight streaming through my window made a strange pattern on my wall and I studied it for awhile, just thinking.
The way Edward looked at me was different to the way Emmett looked at Rose, but there was something...
There was something in those eyes that made me feel like maybe, just maybe, he might be interested in something more than friendship...
I laughed and rolled over. Maybe I was hallucinating from lack of sleep.
Aussie Slang:
Stubbie: beer in a can
Barbie: barbeque
Anything else you don't understand, let me know.
AN – Thanks for reading - d