Family Farm by Fiona Palmer Read Free Book Online

her sheepishly. ‘I’ve been trying not to think of you that way for the last month and I just can’t take it any more. Being around you every day is driving me mad, Izzy.’
    Izzy shuddered at the memory of it all. One minute it’d been great, the next it had all turned to manure, and Izzy knew then that she had no choice but to flee and never look back.
    As Izzy glanced at Jean’s waiting eyes, she lowered her voice to a whisper and continued. Izzy felt uncomfortable even saying it. ‘He was a married man, for God’s sake! I trusted him. He was a good friend, as well as … I guess … a father figure. I looked up to him as a mentor, and in one moment he shattered everything.’ Izzy realised her hands were scrunched up into fists and tried to relax. ‘I couldn’t chance it happening again so I left and came home.’
    It had been a hard decision to make – to give up her perfect life on Cliffviews. She’d been in her little cottage chucking clothes into her bags and trying to stop the tears welling in her eyes when Alice appeared at her door.
    ‘Rob’s just told me you’re leaving, Izzy. I didn’t believe him but … it’s true?’
    Luckily, Izzy had already been thinking about what to tell Alice. She knew she couldn’t leave without saying a proper goodbye. ‘I’m so sorry, Alice. Something has happened at home and I have to go back.’
    ‘Oh, is it your parents? I hope they’re okay.’ Alice said it with such sincerity that Izzy found it hard to continue with her lie.
    ‘No, they’re fine. It’s just Dad needs me on the farm right now. He’s really struggling and this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I hope you understand, Ali. I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done and for embracing me into your family.’
    Alice began to cry. Izzy dropped her armful of clothes and held her tightly. She brushed Alice’s red curly hair back off her face and smiled. Alice was almost fifteen years older than her but they’d become close friends.
    ‘I’m dreading telling the kids,’ said Izzy, grimacing.
    ‘Well, here’s your chance.’ Alice’s blue eyes glistened with fresh tears as she heard a motorbike pull up outside. A few seconds later Emma and Chris came running inside, their cheeks flushed from the ride on the bike.
    Emma, the oldest, and the spitting image of her mum with flaming hair and a splattering of cute freckles across her cheeks and nose, got to Izzy first. ‘Izzy, you can’t go,’ she wailed with all the drama a thirteen-year-old could muster. She threw herself into Izzy’s arms and whispered into her ear, ‘Who will I have to talk to?’
    Many times Emma had snuck down to Izzy’s cottage for some deep and meaningful conversations on boys and other things she couldn’t bring herself to talk to Alice about. ‘I’ll be fourteen next month and you said you had a surprise planned. Can’t you stay till then?’
    ‘I know, and I’m really sorry. My dad needs me for harvest so I have to go now. You can still call me any time or email me. It’s not like I’m falling off the face of the earth.’
    The realisation that she could still talk to Izzy seemed to satisfy Emma. But now it was Chris’s turn. The gangly eleven-year-old, grazed from coming off the bike two days earlier, wrapped his bony arms around Izzy. She scruffed up his hair, as his blue eyes pleaded. ‘Who’s gonna play pool with me and take me yabbying and fix my bike after I stack it?’
    It was so hard leaving them but Izzy had set her mind on leaving. She hadn’t really wanted to, but she could see she had no choice. There was no way Rob would forget about her if she was still on the farm and in his face every day. And Izzy had always known that at some point she would return to Gumlea. Her dream of running it wasn’t going to happen while she was on the other side of the country. Perhaps this was a sign that it was time, anyway. It was a slap in the face, but it had helped her remember her