"Cool, so long as you are okay with it. Can I take the car?"
"Sure. Or you could walk through the paddocks and down through his vines. It was where he was working yesterday. Your call."
"Hmm, I might do that."
Garth got up to clear the table and do the dishes while Sami sat with her coffee pondering her brother’s interest in the farm next door. A knock at the door startled her out of her daydream and she tipped the cup, spilling coffee over the table. She cursed out loud and without saying a word Garth threw her the dishcloth.
"Is it safe to come in?" Tibby peered through the open back door.
"Sure, don't mind her. Tea, Tibby?" Garth grabbed a cup as the older gentleman nodded his head.
"Morning. Do you always creep up on people?" Sami glanced in her cup, disappointed most of her coffee landed on the table. She stood to get another one.
"Only those I know I can get a reaction from." He eased himself down into a chair and she wondered how on earth he had managed for so long. The signs of arthritis were obvious when she looked closer. His fingers were gnarly and he walked with a slightly hobbled gait. Just as well they were here, and she knew how to work a farm. He might be able to slow down a bit. So long as he was around to give advice she would manage.
"What's on the agenda for today?"
"Same as yesterday, if you are up to it. Hand better, is it?" he asked nodding her way, a small grin on his face.
"Just dandy, thank you. So more fencing. Down the same strip as yesterday?"
"Yes it is. I reckon with both of us doing it, we should get it all finished by the end of the week, then we can go and do other things happy in the knowledge Mason's grapes won't become cattle fodder."
"Yay. You can tell me what else is on after that then, while you drink your tea. Be nice if I can sort it out in my brain before I have to do it. Hate doing things rushed if you know what I mean."
"Well now, let me see. The cattle are already sorted out, the ones I think you should sell. They are all up in the top paddock; you need to call the stock agent to organize selling them off. The other cows will start dropping calves in the next week or two so we need them closer to the house to make life easier in case there are problems. If you want to, we can move some of them up later today once you've had your fill of fencing."
"Anything I can do for you?" Garth butted in.
"No. You do your own thing and deal with the meals and house. We'll be fine," Sami replied before Tibby could give him a job. "I can cope with the rest of it easily enough."
She finished her coffee and placed the cup in the sink. "If you give me the contact number for the stock agent, I'll organise for him to come over and have a look at the stock. May as well get them out of here if we don't need them. Right, let's go fencing." She grinned at Garth and headed for the door.
Tibby followed her outside and over to the tractor shed where the truck was parked. Checking their supplies, they both got in and headed to where they left off yesterday. He drove while Sami leaned out the window jumping out now and then to do the gates. They parked close to the fence line and got out.
"So, is Garth going to do anything on the farm or are you taking it all on your shoulders?" he asked reaching for the roll of wire in the back of the truck.
"Nope, not if I have anything to do with it. Apart from his asthma, he needs to think about finishing school. He missed out on so much because of Mum's health and everything. Now he has the chance to do something I don't want him stuck on the farm thinking he has to pull his weight. We should be able to cope without him, shouldn't we?"
"Yeah, I reckon. Don't see why not. Listening to him talk, he seems to be more interested in growing things anyway and getting a degree in agriculture."
"I'd like to see him get one too. The kid has brains, I figure he should use them." She reached for the fence strainers and got to work.
When they headed in for lunch there was no sign of Garth. Sami's car was where she had left it and she looked toward the vineyard, a small bout of anxiety prickling under the skin. She worried if he was out of her sight for too long.
"You don't want to be worrying about Mason doing anything to harm the boy." Tibby nodded his head and slammed the door of the truck.
"Did I say anything?"
"Didn't need to. So much like your grandfather, scares me already. Could read him like a book most days. His face told the story without the old fool even having to open his mouth." He laughed and opened the gate, waiting for her to follow.
"Don't appreciate being compared to someone I know nothing about and you consider an old fool, thanks."
"May as well get over it. I ain't gonna change now. Too damned old and set in my ways." He held onto the step railing, using it to pull himself up into the house.
Sami looked in the pantry for something to eat. She came out with a loaf of
