Chapter 72
Several months later, the day of the shelter opening
Katie
I woke the day of the shelter opening with a start, glancing around me to see I was the only one in our bed.
“Shit…” I hissed, throwing the covers to one side. “Shit!”
Had I slept in? Was everybody here already as I was snoring my head off, oblivious. The room in the shearer’s cottage we had commandeered was completely empty. Not even Bronson had stuck around. It was then I heard the sound of the shower going, so I yanked an old t-shirt on and went to investigate.
“Morning.” Rhett stepped out of the shower, and whoa. All that damp, naked flesh shoved my fears to one side and had me refocussing on him. “I was just about to wake you up.”
“What time is it?” I asked, slapping my body as if that would summon my phone, so he looked down at his watch.
“Just gone eight.”
“Eight!” I yelped and then stripped off, jumping in the shower he’d just vacated. “I was supposed to be up at six!”
“And you went to bed at two am.” He grabbed me around the waist and held me close. “All your hard work has paid off. Everything is done.”
“The food—” I said, trying to wriggle free.
“Garrett is down at the main house chopping up onions with your grandmother. Your mum and dad are bringing down the sausages.” His nose wrinkled. “Including those weird vegan ones Mandie insisted on.” His arms went around me and their damp weight was comforting. “Rhys is up at the shelter with Bronson, feeding the puppies.” We’d gotten our first lot of rescue dogs. A litter of puppies were dumped at another nearby shelter and they offered them to us when it was clear they wouldn’t have the space to home them. “And I need to get in uniform.”
I looked up at Rhett then and smiled.
“First time in months. Are you excited? What kind of appliances is the Country Fire Service going to bring? Are they the cool ones?” I asked.
“They’re all cool,” he replied, stroking his fingers down my cheek, “and yeah, I’m excited. The transfer took a little longer than expected, but…” His lips pressed against mine. “I had this really cool chick to spend it with.”
“You could spend some more time with me.” I looked down, noting the way his body was responding. “Scrub my back?”
His lips twitched as he shook his head slowly.
“I want to. Like really, really want to, but I need to impress the boss and be there on time to show him where to set up. The volunteers need to be organised, and we need to review what we’re going to do for the kids…”
His voice trailed away at my grin.
“Rain check then.” I bounced up to give him another kiss. “Go and impress your new boss, and I’ll come and find you later. Maybe I can get in the front seat of the fire truck and toot your horn or something?”
That earned me a slap on my arse, forcing me to yelp as I scrambled back into the shower. Rhett didn’t leave immediately, standing in the doorway and watching me scrub myself clean.
“What?” I asked as I bent down to grab the shampoo.
“It’s all coming together, babe. Your dream, your vision. Take a moment to catch your breath and enjoy it.”
I blinked, considering his words long after the point that he left the bathroom.
The kitchen was insane.
“Not that thick!” Nan said to Garrett.
The two of them had a massive pile of chopped onions before them, the air making my eyes water.
“They need to be reasonably thick, otherwise they’ll burn on the barbeque,” Garrett countered.
He’d been initially a bit intimidated by Nan, and she was wary of letting him into her precious kitchen, but the two had developed a strange kind of camaraderie.
“If you keen them thin, they caramelise and it develops all the sweetness in the onions.” Nan held up the peeled onion she was about to cut. “These are lovely. I grew them myself.”
“Caramelisation happens at low temperatures.”
Knives were stabbed into chopping boards and they both went to square off on what would no doubt be yet another battle about food. I cleared my throat and entered the room.
“Look who decided to get up!” Nan came over and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Morning, darling. Are you excited? I could barely sleep a wink last night. I’ve been up since before the sun rose, baking fresh bread.”
“We had that bakery order,” I replied.
“Cancelled that.” She waved her hand. “The bakery is never going to be able to beat my bread.” As if to make a point, she sliced off a couple of pieces and handed it over, laden with bacon and eggs she had been frying on the stove. “Now get that into you. If today is like the local show, you won’t get a chance to take another bite all day.”
“Hey.” Garrett shot me a sidelong look as I walked over to his side of the kitchen island. Those dimples popped as he smiled. A soft, lingering kiss was pressed to my temple, then he pulled me in close. “Tell me how to deal with your grandmother, because the woman is a menace.”
“Heard that!” Nanna shouted as she went back to slicing onions.
Before I could answer, the door opened and in came my parents.
“Hello, love!” Mum said, bustling over as she carried bags and bags of supplies. “Morning Grace, Garrett. Got all the sausages you ordered.”
“Fancy ones from the butcher at the central markets.” Dad dropped his burden onto the kitchen bench. “Vegan ones from the vego place.”
The three of them started talking about grilling and proper temperatures as Mum rushed to my side.
“How’re we feeling?” Her hands went to my shoulders as she looked me up and down. “Nervous? Don’t be. Mandie’s GoFundMe thingo is going great guns. She’s already raised a couple of hundred thousand dollars.”
You can say a lot about my sister, but bad at marketing wasn’t one of them.
“Nervous?” I took a moment, my awareness turning inwards. Was that what this jittery feeling was? It didn’t feel anxious, though. We’d set ourself goal after goal the entire time we rebuilt the shed, and we’d smashed each one of them. This was just the finishing line. Get people in the door, involve the community, and see if we could raise a bit more money. “No, I’m…” Garrett stopped arguing with my family, somehow knowing this was the moment when he needed to focus on me. With a gentle smile, he nodded. “I’m happy, Mum.”
Oh no.
Her eyelashes fluttered frantically, her cheeks turning bright pink.
“Oh, Katie…”
“Mum.” I held out a hand. “Mum!”
Nope, too late, she had her arms wrapped around me and was holding me tight.
“That’s all I ever wanted, sweetheart. It’s all any parent wants for their children. I told you that not becoming a vet was just a setback.” She pulled back, holding me at arm’s length. “Because look at you now.”
Yeah, look at us now. A giggle bubbled up inside me as I watched Dad argue for slower cooking times on lower heat and Nan dismissed both him and Garrett as idiots. Arguing about a sausage sizzle seemed stupid, but that wasn’t what I was focussed on. We were all together, bound by bonds of love, and right now my heart ached with the intensity of it. Of course, I couldn’t say that.
“Um… I need to get up to feed the puppies. Did you want to come?”
“Oh, I’ll stay here, love.” Mum glanced back at the chaos. “Dogs are more your thing than mine, and I think someone’s going to need to arbitrate here.”
I shook my head and then went over to Garrett.
“Tell your grandmother that we are not running an American low-and-slow barbeque joint today,” he said with a huff.
“Yeah, right.” I pointed at the three of them. “I like eating food. You guys go nuts about it. Anyway, speaking of food, I’m off to feed the pups.”
“So I’ll see you later?” His tone dropped as he turned his back on the conversation, sheltering me. “I might have a sausage for you to put in your mouth.”
“Oh my god…” I looked around him to make sure none of my damn family caught that before skipping free of him. “I’ll come and find you later.”
The sound of puppies yipping filled the air as I slid off the ATV. They were so cute, but also so damn noisy. Why became evident pretty quickly.
“Hey!” Rhys was just closing the door of the fridge we kept the dog food in before turning and sweeping me up into his arms. “We didn’t wake you? You looked so cute when we snuck out this morning. Figured I’d get a jump on the feedings, and you know Bronson loves coming up to hang out with the puppies.”
Almost more than he did with us. He was the reason the puppies were so excitable right now. Bouncing around their enclosure, he had them following hard on his heels before whirling around to chase them.
Because it was now he had the opportunity to be a puppy himself.
You could almost see him grinning as he charged at the pups, sending them scattering, only for them to rally seconds later and launch themselves at him.
“Look how happy he is,” I said, my hand going to my chest.
“Look how happy we are.” When his arms went around me, I looked up, catching his warm smile. “This is a helluva lot more fun than bollocking out ‘roid heads for not putting their damn weights away.”
“So you like being out here?” I asked in a small voice.
They’d sold their house, Rhys had sold his half of the business and reinvested it in the shelter. I’d wanted someone to choose me, but in the end, they went far beyond that. Sometimes I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and then they’d realise what a mistake this all was.
“Never happier.” He snuggled in closer. “Not even pulling off a complete 2160 spin off a vert ramp could top this.”
“Even if Tony Hawk was watching?”
“Even if the entire 1980s era Bones Brigade was standing on the sidelines,” he replied.
I had no idea what that meant, but it was enough to have me turning back to the dogs. Part of me wanted to sit here for hours and just watch them go crazy, but?—
“There you are.” We looked up to see Pa had pulled up on the tractor. “Time to start setting up.” He nodded to the trailer attached to the tractor. We’d cleaned it up so kids could jump in and go for rides. “Young Rhys could drive us back down to the house, show me he won’t drive over your grandmother’s roses.”
“One time…” Rhys shook his head. “I did that one time.”
“C’mon, Bronson.”
When I called out to the dog, his head jerked up, and he went running over to the gate. I let him out, forced to keep the puppies from following us.
“Not this time, guys.” I was met with a chorus of yips of complaint, but I knew they’d be OK. We’d given them a purpose-built puppy pen that was safe and secure, out of the weather, had plenty of water and toys and dry food for them to eat. They were safe, and when they got a bit older, we’d trial them going on walks around the farm. “Alright, Bronson…”
I didn’t need to tell the dog twice. He was up and in the tray, paws planted on the railing as Pa dismounted. Rhys took over and revved the engine a little, just to make us stumble in the tray.
“Ready?”
When we got back down to the paddock, we’d collect all the food and supplies to bring up here. The CFS would need to be directed on where to come, as would the local band that volunteered to play. The opening day would begin in earnest and that had my breath catching in my chest. I nodded despite that.
“I’m ready.”
“Hey, I’m Mandie and I’m here at the Paws Dog Rescue up in the beautiful hills…”
My sister walked past me, talking into her phone, because apparently she was doing a live broadcast of the opening. She said it would help bring more people to the event, but I’m not sure we’d need it. Hours later there were cars, families, everywhere. Rhett and the CFS had created a mass of bubbles for the kids to play with, and still more were walking with their parents, meeting the puppies. Rhys had a clipboard in hand and was handing out applications for adoption.
None of the dogs were going anywhere until they were a little older and had their first shots, but it was good to have options. It was the savoury scent of a sausage sizzle that drew me closer. Nan was right. I’d barely stopped all day, and it was well past lunchtime. I went to join the line up in front of the food stall, but Garrett waved me forward.
“Milady.” He produced a sausage cooked to my exact specifications (not burned but not undercooked. Onions mounded on the top with sauce and mustard to follow). “How’s it going?” He looked out over the busy field outside the shelter. “I think by anyone’s standards, this has been a success.”
“Thank Mandie,” I said.
“Thank you.”
He looked suddenly serious as he put the tongs down and pulled me closer, but right as he went to kiss me, someone called out his name. An older woman approached with an apologetic smile on her face.
“I know you said you’re not interested, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give you my business card.”
“Business card?” I asked him when she turned to rejoin her family. “What’s that about?”
“Nothing.”
He was going to scrunch it up, but I pulled it from between his fingers. That smile was gone, his eyes wary as I scanned the details.
“She works at the local hospital in HR.”
“That’s why it’s nothing.” He plucked it from my grip, but I grabbed his wrist.
“No, it's not.”
“Katie—”
“What does…” I looked over at the card. “Anne want to talk to you about?”
“We got chatting.” He picked up the tongs again and turned the sausages over. “She asked what brought me down here.” His gaze softened as he looked at me. “I told her you. She asked what I did for a living?—”
“And you told her you’re a nurse.”
“Was a nurse.” He worked to turn a bunch of sausages over, then stir the mass of cooked onions before dumping them into another pan, ready to be served. “That’s what I told her.”
“Am a nurse.” I hated the way he looked at me, as if waiting for me to slap him down. That was never the way this was supposed to be. He was caught up in a toxic vibe at his old hospital, but I never once thought he would give up nursing for good. My hand went to his arm. “You love nursing.”
“I love you.”
We both went still at that. We’d said it a bunch of times now, but it still created a frisson of shock each time I heard it.
“I love you too, and the two things aren’t mutually exclusive,” I insisted. He just shook his head, turning back to the sausages. “I mean not having to work for Nora would be a massive bonus.” That had him snorting. “Would you have to work in the emergency department and do all those crazy hours still?”
“No.” He smiled at the customer who paid for a sausage, putting their order together and handing it over. “Anne said they’re mainly looking for ward nurses. Regular hours, predictable shifts. Most of the emergencies go to bigger hospitals.” I watched him shrug. “I explained that I had pretty bad burnout from the last job, and she seemed to think that they could work with me on that.”
“So…?”
I wouldn’t let up even though there were a million things that needed doing. Sometimes there are moments, special ones, and you need to step up to meet them or lose the opportunity forever.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Garrett insisted. “That giving everything you have means there isn’t enough left to survive. It’s seductive.” He set more sausages on the grill. “There’s this exhilaration that comes from total surrender of ego to the pursuit of healing. It’s this beautifully noble thing, but also really stupid. If I kept going as I was, I’d be left with serious mental health issues and the medical system would move on, finding new, idealistic nurses to take my place within a day.”
“So don’t do that,” I said. He frowned as he looked over at me. “Don’t give everything you’ve got.” Suddenly, I was a whole lot more confident, because this was familiar ground. “Work out what your boundaries are and stick to them no matter what. Don’t take responsibility for all the world’s problems, not when you need to focus on your own.”
“Just like that, huh?” He stepped away from the grill and towards me. Arms went around me, holding me tight. “And you think that’ll be easy? What about the shelter?”
“What about the shelter?” I replied. “That’s my dream, but I think nursing is yours.” I pulled back to look up at him. “You helped me make mine come true. Now it’s your turn.”
His hand went to the back of my head, tilting it to just the right angle to kiss me.
“I will love you forever, you know that, right?” he said. “It’ll be you and me and Rhys and Rhett, squabbling over how to cook the toast in our old age, just like your grandparents do.”
“Promise?”
This might not have been smart, but right now, I was so damn happy my dreams had come true, I needed everyone to share that joy. His lips curved in a grin.
“Promise.”
“So you’ll ring Anne on Monday?”
“I’ll ring Anne on Monday.” He pulled away to grab a bread roll and split it open, sliding three sausages into the space between. “Now, can I interest you in some more sausages? I’ve been told they feel really good when you put them in your mouth.”
“I’ve got just about all the sausage I can handle right now,” I said with a giggle, right before taking a bite.