‘Oh my god,’ she breathed.
‘What is it?’
‘I’ve just realised—’ She broke off. This was her brother she was talking to. There was only one person she needed to be having this particular conversation with, and that person was Tom. ‘I’ve got to go to him.’
Josh raised an eyebrow. ‘To Wollongong? Hannah, are you sure?’
‘I’m sure.’ She patted his arm. ‘Let’s get back to town. You right to cover for me while I’m gone?’
‘Of course. But Han—I don’t want to talk you out of this. If you need to go and be with Tom, I am one hundred per cent supporting you. But will you be okay? Let’s not forget how the Dalgety Showgrounds turned out.’
She shook her head. ‘I went to the Adaminaby Picnic Races and it was a doddle.’
‘What about the wedding in Lake George?’
‘That was Charlie who upset me, not being in a new place.’
She walked around to the driver’s side and turned the key in the ignition until the diesel engine rattled into life.
‘But it upset you alot.’
True, she thought, as she crunched the gearstick into first and roared out of the farmyard. Okay, so there’d been some crying in the gutter. Some misery and shame and heartache. She blew out a breath. She could barely recognise that poor, deluded Hannah who’d fallen apart by the roadside.
She was different now. And it was time for the secrets to be over and the truth to be lived, no matter what. Her secretsandTom’s.
CHAPTER
47
She’d make the midday plane if she hurried. She barely knew what she was throwing in her duffle bag. Underwear, check. T-shirt, jeans, boots … she had all those on her body currently, so maybe a spare t-shirt. Socks? A veterinary journal to read on the plane would be both educational and an excellent reason to make eye contact with exactly zero people. Eye mask, another winning idea. She spun on her heel and checked the surfaces of her bedroom, looking for inspiration. What did one take on a mad dash to hold the hand of the man one loved through the darkest hours of his life?
Her gaze fell on the open door of her closet, where all the clothes Kylie had rummaged through the other week bulged from the hanging space. Her breath quickened. Oh, yes. That would beperfect.A grand gesture that would say it all.
Five minutes later, she was running out the back of the vet clinic to her car. The engine caught, fired, then cut out.
‘Come on, car. You know you want to,’ she muttered, turning the key again and pounding on the accelerator. The motor under the faded hood whined in a half-hearted complaint then fell into silence. ‘Crap,’ she whispered. ‘Crap, crap, crap.’
The fear and turmoil she’d been covering with action since she’d learned what Tom was facing broke through and a sob escaped her. She leant her head on the wheel and gripped it while the tears flowed.Think, she urged herself.Think.
Josh had rounds to do, so she couldn’t steal his truck. Sandy had kids who needed her to drive them to karate. Kylie! She dived for her phone and hit the speed dial.
‘Come on,’ she said as the phone rang and rang.
‘Hanrahan Mechanics. We can’t come to the phone right now because we’re busy fixing cars. Leave a message, and we’ll get ba—’
She stabbed the phone silent. An answering machine was no darn use at all. Who, then?
A thought struck her and she grabbed her duffle from the passenger seat and took off across the square. The Billy Button Café was usually filled with customers sitting around stuffing their mouths with cake. Most of them were usually super keen to stick their nose into her business. Today one of them could give her a ride.
She shot through the doors and Graeme looked up from his treasured machine.
‘What’s up, honeypie?’
‘Graeme. I’ve got to get to the airport at Cooma but my car broke down.’
‘Not the green machine?’
‘I don’t have time to laugh. Not today.’
