The stables held the last of the afternoon heat, pressing against the timber walls like a held breath. Elara moved down the aisle with a water bucket in each hand, the handles creaking in rhythm with her steps, and the horses turned their heads to watch her pass—ears pricked, curious, hopeful.
She emptied the first bucket into the trough in the corner stall, water sloshing against galvanised steel. A hoof thudded against packed earth farther down the aisle. One of the geldings shifted impatiently, already anticipating the evening feed.
The stable door opened behind her.
“You’re checking water again,” Grant said. “I filled them an hour ago.”
“You filled the ones in the middle aisle.” She tipped the second bucket into the next trough and straightened, wiping her hands on her jeans. “These ones were low.”
Grant laughed, low and warm. “And you think I don’t know the difference?”
“I think you filled the easy ones and called it done.”
The corner of her mouth lifted as she carried the empty buckets back towards the tack room. Grant followed at an easier pace, running a hand along one of the stall doors as he passed.
The place was ready. Elara knew that. The horses were fed, the tables were out, food waited inside and drinks had been packed into ice hours ago.
Still, she found another halter out of place and fixed it.
Grant leaned against the stall door and watched her.
“You’re thinking.”
Elara glanced at him.
“Dangerous, I know.”
“Terrifying.”
She smiled and ran her hand along the leather strap before letting it fall.
Their daughter was engaged.
Even after a week, the thought still had an odd weight to it.
“Fast,” she said.
Grant knew what she meant.
“She does everything fast.”
“That doesn’t worry you?”
He considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
“Sometimes.”
Elara looked down the quiet aisle.
“Mmmm.”
Bryce had been moving through their lives for so long that somehow the engagement felt less like something new and more like something finally being named.
Voices carried faintly from the house. Saige’s laugh rose above the others, followed by another younger voice.
Grant glanced towards the door.
“How long do you reckon they’ll keep it secret?”
“Saige?”
“Good point.”
Elara laughed.
“Mum!”
Saige’s voice carried across the yard.
“Mauve’s here!”
Grant pushed away from the stall.
“There goes the peace.”
⸻
Mauve stood on the deck with a cheesecake balanced against one hip, her sandy-blonde hair loose around her shoulders.
“There you are.”
“Just finishing up.” Elara took the container from her. “Caramel?”
“Obviously.”
“You can stay then.”
“Ha ha. You were never getting rid of me anyway.”
Mauve started towards the house, then slowed.
Several of Saige’s school friends had gathered at the far end of the deck.
She frowned.
“Didn’t we just do her birthday?”
Elara smiled.
Mauve looked from the younger group to her.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing.”
“Suspicious.”
Elara carried the cheesecake inside before Mauve could ask anything else.
The kitchen was warm, the bench already crowded with bowls, platters and things waiting to be carried outside. Saige was moving between the fridge and the table with considerably more energy than the work required.
Her ring caught the light.
Even after a week, Elara still noticed it.
Saige smiled and looked down at it herself.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m allowed to.”
“Don’t be so obvious. You’ll give it away.”
Elara stepped in behind her and wrapped her arms around Saige’s shoulders.
“I’m just happy for you.”
She kissed the top of her head.
Voices sounded outside as more people arrived.
Saige leaned back against her for a moment, then glanced towards the deck.
“Do you think anyone’s guessed?”
“Mauve knows something’s strange.”
“She always does.”
“She thinks it’s your friends.”
Saige grinned.
“Well, technically she’s right.”
The screen door opened and Adele came through carrying a bowl.
“Where do you want this?”
“Anywhere you can find room.”
Ethan’s voice sounded outside, already caught in conversation with Grant.
Adele set the bowl down and waited for the door to swing closed again.
“Elara.”
Something in her tone changed the room.
Elara looked at her.
Adele lowered her voice.
“We need to be a bit careful.”
“Why?”
“Ethan.”
Adele nodded towards the deck.
“I think he’s suspicious.”
“Of what?”
Adele gave her a look.
“You know what.”
Elara glanced through the window. Ethan stood beside Grant with a beer in one hand, listening to something Grant was saying.
“Has he asked?”
“Not directly. But he watches more than he used to. Asks where I’ve been. Who was there.”
Elara nodded once.
“Alright.”
“I’m not saying there’s a problem.” Adele touched her arm. “Just… careful.”
“Careful.”
Adele gave her a small smile and carried the salad outside.
⸻
By the time Bryce’s ute came up the drive, the deck had filled.
Mauve had already opened the wine. Ethan was talking with Grant. Tessa sat near the end of the table, strawberry-blonde hair loose around her shoulders, laughing at something one of Saige’s friends had said.
Bryce climbed out in a clean dark shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows.
Saige was off the deck before he had properly shut the door.
The change in his face when he saw her was immediate.
She met him halfway across the yard and kissed him, one hand resting against his chest.
Mauve watched from beside Elara.
“Those two are disgusting.”
“You’re jealous.”
“Obviously.”
Elara laughed.
Mauve sighed. “To be young and in love again.”
Bryce and Saige came towards them together, her hand tucked into his. Saige managed not to wave the ring under anyone’s nose immediately, which Elara thought showed remarkable restraint.
Drinks were poured. Music played quietly from the speaker. Conversations broke apart and reformed as more chairs were dragged into whatever space remained.
Saige lasted perhaps ten minutes.
She had barely made it across to her friends before one of them caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
Saige grinned.
“Is that new?”
Saige held her hand out.
The reaction was immediate.
“No!”
“Oh my God.”
“Let me see.”
Saige laughed as they crowded around her, turning her hand beneath the deck light.
The noise drew attention from the table.
Mauve looked over.
“What are they carrying on about?”
Adele followed her gaze.
“No idea.”
One of Saige’s friends hugged her. Another grabbed her hand again.
Mauve stared.
“Pregnant?”
Adele leaned slightly to see.
“Surely not.”
Mauve looked at Bryce.
Then Saige.
Ethan frowned. “What?”
Mauve was already smiling.
“Nothing.”
Around them, the questions started.
“What’s going on?”
Grant picked up his beer and stood.
“Alright. Since apparently my daughter is incapable of keeping anything quiet for more than five minutes—”
“I wasn’t trying to,” Saige called.
That got a laugh.
Grant raised his glass.
“Bryce and Saige got engaged last weekend.”
She held up her left hand.
For half a second, nobody reacted.
Then Mauve stood.
“Oh, fuck off.”
Saige laughed.
“Surprise.”
The place erupted.
⸻
Adele reached Saige first, followed immediately by Mauve, and within seconds her hand had disappeared into a crowd of women wanting a closer look.
Ethan crossed to Bryce and offered his hand.
“Congratulations, mate.”
“Thanks.”
Someone clapped Bryce on the shoulder from behind. Questions started coming from several directions at once—when, where, how long had they known—and Bryce looked increasingly like he would have preferred to repair a fence in front of an audience.
Saige, by contrast, was enjoying every second.
Tessa stayed where she was.
Her smile came a fraction later than everyone else’s.
Elara saw it.
Grant did too.
Tessa raised her glass towards Bryce when he caught her eye.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Tess.”
There was nothing false in it.
Grant found Tessa near the deck rail a few minutes later and settled beside her, saying something that made her roll her eyes.
“You alright?”
Tessa gave him a look.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you’re drinking wine like it insulted your mother.”
That pulled a laugh from her.
“Maybe it did.”
Grant wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
“Come on. It’s a good night.”
“It is.”
He said something else too low for Elara to hear.
Mauve joined them soon after, stealing Grant’s beer straight from his hand.
“Oi.”
“You were talking instead of drinking.”
Tessa laughed again, easier this time.
Grant tried to retrieve the bottle. Mauve held it away from him, grinning.
“You’ve got another one.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
Grant leant closer to take it.
Mauve smiled over the neck of the bottle.
“Careful.”
Tessa watched them, amused.
Grant looked at her.
“No help?”
“Absolutely not.”
His grin widened.
Across the deck, Adele caught Elara’s eye.
⸻
Dinner unfolded in the familiar chaos of too much food and too many conversations happening at once.
Someone had brought bread. Adele’s salad disappeared quickly. Mauve’s cheesecake remained under guard until after the main meal because Grant had already tried to cut it twice.
Bryce sat beside Saige, close enough that their shoulders touched whenever either of them moved. The ring remained a topic of conversation, Saige showing it off whenever someone decided they hadn’t inspected it properly.
Eventually Grant stood again.
The noise died more slowly this time.
He raised his beer.
“To Bryce and Saige.”
Saige immediately lifted her own glass.
Grant looked at her.
“Apparently waiting patiently wasn’t an option.”
“Correct.”
Laughter moved around the table.
Grant’s expression softened.
“But they’re happy.”
He looked at Bryce, then back at his daughter.
“That’s enough for me.”
He raised his beer higher.
“To both of you.”
Glasses followed.
Bryce accepted the attention with visible discomfort until Mauve pointed across the table.
“Speech.”
“No chance.”
That came quickly enough to make everyone laugh.
Saige leaned against him and kissed his cheek.
“Leave him alone.”
Grant grinned.
“Saved by the fiancée.”
Bryce looked at Saige.
“Apparently.”
Elara smiled into her wine.
Across the table, Tessa did the same.
Grant reached for the bottle between him and Mauve and topped up Tessa’s glass before his own.
Tessa watched him.
“Trying to get me drunk?”
Grant tilted the bottle.
“Would it work?”
“Probably.”
Mauve laughed.
“Amateur.”
Grant’s eyes moved to her.
“Challenge?”
Mauve’s smile answered for her.
Elara watched him settle back into the conversation, animated now, attention shifting easily between the two women.
Adele caught Elara looking and reached for Ethan’s hand beneath the table.
⸻
The evening stretched on after dinner.
Music played from the speaker while people drifted between the deck and the yard. Saige’s friends left in small groups after more hugs, photographs and unsolicited opinions about what sort of wedding she should have.
Ethan was among the first adults to mention leaving.
Adele looked towards Elara.
Only briefly.
“I’ll grab our things.”
Ethan nodded and finished his drink.
As Adele passed, her fingers touched Elara’s arm.
Adele went inside.
Grant was still at the other end of the deck with Mauve and Tessa. Mauve sat on the edge of the table, one foot hooked around a chair leg. Tessa leaned against the rail beside Grant, laughing at something he had said, her hand resting briefly against his forearm.
Bryce and Saige sat together on the steps.
Saige’s head rested against his shoulder while she turned the ring idly around her finger. Bryce said something too quiet for Elara to hear.
Saige smiled.
Elara took a drink.
Grant caught her watching him.
He smiled.
She smiled back.