Chapter 10
CHAPTER
‘She was there. Again.’ Ben’s voice was clipped and tense.
‘Who was?’ Justin kept his eyes on the road as they drove back towards the Ridge.
‘Our mother. I guess you didn’t see her.’
That wasn’t strictly true. Justin had seen the car and guessed who the driver was. He’d been a distance away, and wanted to give Ben and their mother a chance to meet. Just the two of them. In the hope it might make things easier. Obviously, that hadn’t happened. ‘Did you talk to her?’
‘No. I did not. She got in the car and drove away again. Best thing, too. I don’t want to talk to her.’
‘Don’t you think it’s time to forgive her? I think it would be good to talk to her, at least.’
‘You want to talk to her, you go right ahead. I don’t care. Just as she never cared for the two of us.’
‘Come on, brother. That’s a bit strong.’
‘Is it? Think of all the times she wasn’t there for us. Think of how she lied to me—to both of us—for seventeen years.’
‘She did care for us. But life wasn’t easy for her. As for the lie … that was a long time ago and it wasn’t a huge lie. Not really. Only the matter of a few minutes.’
‘Not for you, but those few minutes would have changed so much for me. My whole life started with a lie because of her. Everything could have been different.’
‘So your life now is bad. Is that what you are trying to tell me?’
‘No. But … I don’t know what might have been different, all I know is I didn’t get a chance to decide for myself. That’s what I can’t forgive.’
They drove in silence the rest of the way into town. Justin parked the vehicle and turned the engine off. ‘I’m going to see her.’
In the passenger seat, Ben tensed. ‘Fine. That’s up to you. But don’t expect me to come.’
‘I don’t.’
‘And afterwards, don’t talk to me about it. I don’t want to know.’
Ben got out of the car, but instead of going inside the building, he turned and walked in the direction of the pub.
Justin watched him go. He was beginning to worry about his little brother.
Ben had always been the wild one. When they were kids, that mostly involved getting into scrapes at school, sneaking out of the house at night to meet girls and occasionally drinking alcohol when no one was looking.
Pretty harmless kid stuff. But since the night he’d learned about his birth, and the lies their mother had told, he’d been angry.
That anger had shown itself in too much drinking and the occasional fist fight.
And while he took his job seriously and did it well, Ben’s personal life involved a devil-may-care attitude that one day was going to get him into serious trouble.
There was only so much Justin could do to protect him from himself.
As for knowing their mother was nearby, that was only going to make him worse. Unless …
Maybe it was a good thing they had this chance to let their mother back into their lives. Maybe it would help Ben. Of course, it could just as easily push him over the edge into a course of real self-destruction. All Justin knew was he had to try to fix this.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the recent calls, looking for the one Ben had answered.
He found it, but the caller’s number was hidden.
That wasn’t a problem. The vet, Anna, was a good contact point.
He’d see if she would help him. It meant seeing Anna again, too, and that thought gave his heart a lift.
He started the ignition and reversed out of the shed.
When he arrived at the vet clinic, there were three cars parked outside.
He walked towards the clinic door, noting from the sign that this was a time for small animal appointments.
He should have called ahead to see if Anna was free.
He only needed a couple of minutes of her time, so he entered the clinic hopefully.
‘Can I help you?’ The young woman behind the reception desk was wearing a nurse’s uniform. In a small independent clinic, she probably performed both roles. The badge pinned to her collar said Shea.
‘Yes. Hi. I’m Justin Turner. RFS. I was hoping to get a quick word with Anna.’
‘She’s with a patient now, and we have other appointments booked.’
‘I’m sorry. I should have called ahead. I’m happy to wait.’
The door to the treatment room opened and Anna appeared, holding a squirming white and black puppy in her hands. She laughed softly as the puppy tried to lick her face. The girl standing next to her laughed too.
Justin found his lips curling into a smile too. Anna was so beautiful, and her face glowed as she placed the puppy back into the little girl’s arms.
‘He’s fully up to date with all his shots for now,’ Anna told the woman who was standing behind the little girl. ‘The next thing will be to neuter him.’
‘About six months?’ the woman asked, casting cautious eyes on the little girl to see if she was listening. She was too wrapped up in the puppy to pay attention to the adults.
Anna nodded. ‘About then. But give me a call if you have any questions.’
‘We will. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. Bye, Leanne. Bye, Rufus.’
‘Bye, bye, Dr Anna,’ said the little girl.
Anna then turned to look for her next patient, revealing the left side of her face and once again, Justin saw that puckered scar that ran from her chin, up her cheek, barely missing her eye, and onto her forehead. His heart clenched at the thought of the pain that wound must have cost her.
Anna’s eyes caught his and she looked surprised. ‘Oh. Justin. I wasn’t expecting you. I didn’t know you had a pet.’
‘I actually don’t.’ He took half a step towards her. ‘I need to talk to you about something else. I can see you’re busy. I’m more than happy to wait.’
‘I have one more patient,’ Anna said, smiling at the only other person in the waiting room, a woman with a wicker cat basket on her lap. ‘Hi, Kelly.’
Justin recognised the woman immediately. She’d served him at the shop when he and Ben had gone looking for groceries. He nodded to greet her.
‘If nothing else comes up, I can see you after Kelly,’ Anna said. ‘It shouldn’t be too long.’
‘That’s fine.’ Justin took a seat, his smile still firmly in place. Even in their short exchange, he’d felt it again—the attraction of that first encounter. He would be more than happy to wait for a chance to talk to her again.
A faint and plaintive mew issued from the basket as the woman got up to follow Anna into the treatment room.
***
Anna closed the door behind them and immediately turned to her computer. ‘Let me look up my notes from her last visit.’
‘Of course.’
Anna had no need to check her notes. She knew all her patients well and had checked these exact notes about an hour ago.
What she needed was the time to recover from the shock of seeing Justin in her waiting room.
She had been thinking about him since their meeting.
A lot. And that flare of uncontrolled attraction she’d felt from the moment she laid eyes on him hadn’t diminished.
In fact, if the way the butterflies going crazy in her midsection right now were any indication, it had only become stronger.
In the brief exchange in her waiting room, she’d wanted nothing more than to take his hand and lead him away to some quiet corner where—
Anna closed her eyes, but that only gave her imagination more room to create images that would never come true. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on the screen in front of her. This cat needed attention. She was a professional and it was time she started behaving like one.
‘Anna, shall I get her out of the basket for you?’
‘What? Oh, sorry, Kelly. Yes, please.’
The rather unhappy-looking and extremely chubby white cat wailed her objections as she was lifted out of the basket. She glared at the vet with glistening yellow eyes and Anna remembered why she had written the word feisty on the cat’s records.
‘It’s her vaccinations, isn’t it? And a general check-up.’
‘Yes, thanks. She’s fine, aren’t you, sweetheart?’ Kelly tickled the cat under the ear. It rubbed its head against her hand then turned back to give Anna a baleful glare.
‘Was that one of the firefighters in the waiting room?’ Kelly asked as Anna prepared the injection. ‘He’s gorgeous. And I hear there are two of them stationed here now. They were in the crew that was here for that fire a couple of weeks back.’
‘He seems nice.’ Anna kept her voice carefully non-committal. ‘Now hold her for me.’
With Kelly’s arms around the cat, Anna grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and quickly inserted the needle. As the cat was released, she took a swipe at Anna, leaving a short scratch across the back of her hand.
‘Anna, I am so sorry. I don’t know why she does that. She’s normally such a sweetie.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Anna. ‘Keep holding her while I listen to her heart.’
The examination proceeded smoothly, the cat appearing content now she had drawn blood.
‘She needs to lose some weight,’ Anna said firmly.
‘I know. You say that every time. I am feeding her less, but she doesn’t seem to get any thinner.’
‘It’s not good for her to be fat.’
‘I hear you’re coming to the next knitting club meeting.’ Kelly changed the subject forcefully. ‘To talk about looking after our animals in the bushfire season. And what to do if we find any injured animals in the bush.’
‘I am,’ said Anna, rinsing her hands in the sink. ‘Just don’t try to get me knitting. Not my thing.’
Kelly chuckled. ‘You never know. Anyway, you’re always welcome if you change your mind, but that’s not why we invited you.’
The check-up done, Kelly put her cat back in its carry case and left.
Anna spent a couple of minutes cleaning up.
She wiped the examination table and disposed of the used syringe.
She even put some antiseptic on the scratch on her hand.
The sting made her wince, and the skin on her face tightened across the scar.
She’d been out in the sun yesterday, working with some horses, and the light sunburn made her face feel even stiffer than usual.
She ran a finger over her cheek and then reached for a bottle sitting on her desk.
The oil inside had been recommended by her plastic surgeon to keep the skin around the scars soft.
She’d used it for a while but finally stopped.
Nothing was going to make those scars any less than they were.
That bottle, like the one in her home, hadn’t been touched for weeks.
She unscrewed the lid and let a few drops of oil fall onto her fingertips.
She rubbed it into her face. The oil was absorbed almost immediately.
It wouldn’t make any difference to the way she looked, but it gave her a few more seconds to prepare herself before going back into the waiting room.
Half of her hoped a new patient needing her immediate attention had arrived. The other half hoped they hadn’t.
Justin was still sitting patiently in the plastic chair. He smiled when she entered and the butterflies in her stomach did a few loop the loops. She glanced at Shea, who was watching Justin with open interest, not even trying to pretend she was working. Anna couldn’t blame her.
‘How can I help you?’ Anna asked Justin.
‘It’s about that card I gave you the other day. The one for the koala woman. She rang me but I missed the call. I was wondering if you could put us in touch again.’
The butterflies plummeted to the ground. He hadn’t come to see her. Of course he hadn’t. Why did she think he had?
‘She brought in another injured animal last night.’ Anna was aware that her voice sounded flat. Disappointed. ‘I was on my way to check on it. Why don’t you join me?’
She crossed to the door and pushed it open. The scratch on the back of her hand was still bleeding a bit.
‘That from the cat?’ Justin asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘Cats don’t like me either.’
‘I usually get on fine with cats. It’s just this one. She loves the whole world, except me. I have no idea why.’ As they stepped outside, Anna pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped away the blood. ‘I’ve had worse.’
She could have instantly kicked herself. Those words were an invitation to him to ask about her face. She never talked about the scar. Never. And she didn’t want to now. And refusing to talk would drive a wedge between them. Not that they had—or were—anything, but …
‘Cats are fickle creatures,’ Justin said with a smile. ‘We have a station cat in Tamworth. No one knows where it came from. It just moved in one day. Still, it keeps the mice down. At least, I think it does. It’s fat enough.’
Anna forced a small laugh to hide her relief. Justin really was something else. His extraordinary looks seemed matched by an empathy and respect for others that was something special. The butterflies were starting to rise again.
‘Carol is looking for you,’ Anna said. ‘In fact she asked me …’ She stopped speaking as a familiar red car turned in her gate. ‘Here she is now.’
But it seemed Justin was already aware. He’d stopped in his tracks and was staring at the woman in the driver’s seat as the car came to a halt in front of him.