Luke and Nicky

Luke rolled his eyes and watched as the traffic moved in front of him. He hated being in the city. The tall buildings and lack of any luscious green grass made his head spin. He longed to be back home at his farm in rural Tasmania. Even though Hobart was a relatively clean aired city it still smelt like smog to him.

Traffic made him anxious and he nearly ran into someone when they stopped suddenly in front of him. He swore and ran his hand through his think dark brown hair. The only reason he was in town was to visit his mother who was in hospital. He pulled his Nissan Patrol ute into a parking spot and turned off the engine. Luke sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. He tried to forget all the jobs piling up back home and tried to focus on the reason he was here. He grabbed a bunch of yellow sun flowers off the seat and got out. He went straight into reception and asked where his mum was, even though they told him, he still got lost and had to be helped by an orderly. Luke felt like a duck out of water, and looked like one too. He found his mums room and quietly walked in.

Glenda stirred at the sound of her sons footsteps and she smiled when she saw his face.

"Honey, you didn't need to come all the way in. I know you're busy on the farm."

Luke bent down and kissed her on the cheek before handing her the flowers.

"It's ok, I needed to make sure you are being looked after."

Luke and Glenda spoke for a little while before he noticed she was getting tired. He said goodbye to her and walked back down to his ute. He thought back to three days beforehand when he got a call from the nursing home to say his mum had been rushed to hospital. They thought she was having a stroke but it turned out to be a bladder infection. He pushed the thought of her passing away to the back of his mind. There was only he and his mum left, Luke was an only child and his dad had passed away when he was only 18. Life had been tough for Luke after that as he had to take over the running of the farm. Even if he wanted to do something else there was no choice, now he longed to find someone to live by his side on the farm. There was little chance of that happening as well, he only had broccoli, pigs and sheep on his farm, no women.

Luke made his way safely out of the city and opened his window to take in the fresh country air as he started on the backroads to his farm which was out the back of a town called Kempton.

Nicky stepped out of the airplane and into the cold air. She pulled her thin jacket tighter around her body and ducked her head when she was hit with a blast of cold wind. Nicky had been moved to Tasmania by the company she worked for. She was grateful for the promotion but not for the move. Why couldn't she stay in sunny Queensland and do the job?

Nicky found her luggage and then the hire car she was using until her company car was ready. Eager to find her rental house and start unpacking she got on the road to drive to Hobart. Because her flight was so last minute and her bosses secretary was a complete bitch Nicky had been forced to fly into Launceston. She set her GPS to the address she had been given and got on the road, it was 4pm in the afternoon and she wanted to get at least half way before nightfall.

As she zipped down the midland highway she found that she was too late. It was already getting dark and it wasn't going to be too long before the night settled in. What made things worse was that it started raining hard and even her flashy Lexus windscreen wipers weren't any match for the wild Tasmanian weather. Rather than risking her getting tired concentrating so hard Nicky saw a sign for a bed and breakfast and followed the arrow. It wasn't long before she was completely lost and when she blew a tire it was the last straw. She saw a lovely little farmhouse with it's lights still on and eased her way into the driveway. Nicky hoped the farmer wasn't going to be some old grumpy man with a gun.