Chapter Sixteen
I jump when, shaking out the dress that’s been folded in my bag since I arrived, Alex sends a message: I’m here already. See you at the bar.
After booking a table in the pub’s beer garden, I’d arranged to meet Alex on the footpath outside.
We’d likely see Julia while walking through the pub to our table or in the beer garden, and they could have a chat about the GP role and what would be involved.
Then we’d leave Julia and her family and friends in peace.
Family and friends. Should I have let Cameron know I’d be at the pub after all, and why? Or would that be making too much of his invitation? He’d asked me to join Julia and the others for dinner. It’s not like he asked me out on a date.
The foggy bathroom mirror blurs my edges as I brush my hair. I always wear sunblock and a hat, but my skin has more colour than usual. A brush of mascara to darken my eyelashes. Pale pink lip gloss. My sleeveless dress with buttons down the front is neat but not dressy.
‘I don’t want to stand out, and it’s all I have anyway.’
The cabin’s Christmas lights shine brightly as I step into my ute. My phone rings. ‘Amelie.’ Maggie’s voice is unusually shaky. ‘It’s Rocket. Can you come?’
Maggie is standing at the open front door when I arrive and I follow her through to the sunroom.
Rocket is curled up on a mohair blanket in his cage.
When he opens his eyes, closes them again and then stretches out, Maggie explains, ‘I know he’s not supposed to come out of his cage, but I’ve been popping him on my lap at night while I watch the telly, just so he gets a bit of variety.
He’s been such a good boy, sitting on my lap until I put him back in the cage. ’
‘Let me guess. He went for a wander.’
‘He jumped off my lap and ran into the kitchen quick as a flash.’ Maggie’s voice rises with every word. ‘When I found him, he was on the bench, so I wrapped him up in his blanket and put him back in the cage. I’m frightened he’s hurt himself again.’
‘Did he yowl when it happened? Any sign of pain?’
‘He didn’t make a sound, but his leg was a funny angle.’
‘Let’s take a look.’ Rocket sinks his claws into his blanket and drags it out of the cage as I pull him through the gap and lay him on the floor.
A bumpy ridge marks the fracture at the top of his leg.
‘Next week, I’ll bring a portable X-ray to have a better look, but it feels okay.
’ When I press gently but firmly, Rocket continues to purr.
‘He hasn’t broken it again?’
‘No, but we’re only three weeks in.’ I run a finger along the ridge again. ‘It’ll be another five weeks at least before he’s safely climbing trees or bolting over fences.’
‘I won’t let him out again, Amelie.’ She shakes a finger at Rocket before I put him back in the cage. ‘Mark my words.’
Whatever it is that Maggie is cooking smells good. My stomach rumbles. ‘I’ll let myself out.’
‘You’re very pretty tonight. Where are you off to? Has some lucky young man asked you out?’
The more I think about meeting Alex, the less I like the idea of it, but tempting as it is to make excuses and cook cheese on toast for dinner, I owe it to Julia and Summerfield to do what I can to find a doctor to work here.
As the pub is only a few hundred metres away, I leave the ute where it is.
Before I push open the pub’s heavy timber door, I check my phone.
It’s almost eight o’clock but there are no messages from Alex so presumably he’s found a barman to—
Alex, dressed city casual in an ironed shirt and navy pants, is sitting at a tall table on a bar stool. Julia is on one side of him, elbow on the table and listening intently to whatever it is that Alex is saying. Cameron, hair darker than usual because he’s had it cut, is on Alex’s other side.
Jimmy, sitting opposite, sees me first. ‘Oi! Amelie! About time you got here!’
After kissing both cheeks, Alex rests his hand at my waist. ‘I found Julia all by myself.’
‘Sorry I’m late.’ I step out of Alex’s hold. ‘Maggie called and I stopped by to see Rocket.’
‘Maggie is terribly attached to her cat,’ Julia says. ‘Is he all right?’
‘He should be.’ I look past Jimmy to Cameron. He’s not only had a haircut, he’s cleanly shaven. I’d like to take his hand and lead him away. Then what? I cross my arms, uncross them. ‘I made it after all.’ I give Alex a stiff smile. ‘Ready to eat?’
‘We lost our table thirty minutes ago,’ Alex says. ‘Julia invited us to join hers.’
I’m not sure whether I’m relieved or not when I discover Julia’s table is a long, narrow trestle and there are already six people there. Audrey, who apparently lives next door to Julia, is wearing the red tinsel headband she wore when she visited Maggie.
Milly the hobby farmer waves from the other end of the table. ‘Benedict stayed behind to keep an eye on Belle,’ she says, holding up crossed fingers. ‘The calf should arrive any day now.’
I feel obliged to follow Alex as he walks around the table and introduces himself to everybody.
I’d forgotten how sociable he was. Did I like that about him, the way I was pulled along in his wake?
I don’t much like it now. We meet four people I haven’t met before and he jokes that, by the end of the evening, he’ll know more people in Summerfield than I do.
The woman seated next to Audrey smiles as she holds out her hand. ‘Dr Flanagan. How delightful.’
There’s not much room at the end of the table. Alex holds out Julia’s chair and, with a smile of thanks, she takes a seat and I sit next to her, with Jimmy next to me. Cameron and Alex sit opposite.
‘It seems you think Summerfield will suit some of your doctor mates,’ Jimmy says to Alex. ‘Do you think you could live here too? What do you think of the place?’
Alex laughs. ‘How can I answer that with Summerfield locals at the table?’
‘Amelie too,’ Jimmy says. ‘She was raised in Summerfield.’
After counting slowly to three, I push the menu aside. ‘When my family left, I was twelve.’
‘Old enough to be country at heart,’ Jimmy says proudly.
‘I always thought you were city at heart.’ Alex is incredulous. ‘How did I not know this?’
‘She might not have happy memories.’ Jimmy grimaces. ‘Got a fair bit of bullying, she did.’
Cameron stiffens. ‘We order at the bar.’
‘Amelie?’ Alex is concerned. ‘Why were you bullied?’
Jimmy is pointing to my eye when Julia cuts him off: ‘I’m having the schnitzel.’
‘Amelie?’ Alex again. ‘Why?’
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
‘She was academically gifted,’ Cameron says. ‘That made her different.’
Alex nods. ‘Ahhh.’
‘Those parents of yours wouldn’t have helped either.’ Jimmy sips his beer.
‘Let’s move on to happier times.’ Julia smiles nervously. ‘A doctor and a vet. How did you two meet?’
‘We were at university together,’ I say.
‘We met at an awards ceremony, didn’t we, Am? You were Dean’s Scholar in vet science, I was Dean’s Scholar in medicine.’
‘How long were you together?’ Julia asks.
‘Two years.’ Alex smiles. ‘A long time but not long enough.’
Jimmy nods wisely. ‘Good to see you’ve stayed friends.’
Could I ever be friends with Cameron? I’d always want more.
I spring to my feet. ‘I’m hungry.’
As everyone else gets up, Alex looks at Cameron. ‘Did you go to school here?’
‘Mostly.’
‘I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere. Where did you finish your schooling?’
A slight hesitation. ‘I got a scholarship in Sydney.’
‘Sydney Grammar!’ Alex slaps the table. ‘You were two years ahead of me. Captain of the cricket team and Dux in Mathematics!’
Jimmy drifts off to the bar as Cameron, Alex and Julia, equally knowledgeable and articulate, discuss country–city politics, healthcare and the environment.
Alex, increasingly jocular, drinks four glasses of wine to Julia’s one, while Cameron nurses a beer.
When they bring me into the conversation, I keep my answers short before going back to my meal.
An enormous bread roll. A tomato and halloumi salad.
A mineral water with two shards of lemon bobbing on the ice.
When clouds obscure the moon and the wind picks up, I stack my plates and stand.
‘I had an early start this morning and have bookings in the surgery tomorrow.’
‘Breakfast before I head home?’ Alex says.
‘A coffee should work.’
‘As soon as you’re back in Sydney …’ He smiles as he takes my hand. ‘We’ll have our dinner for two.’
After I make my way through the crowded bar to say goodbye to Jimmy, I get stuck with his goat-farming mate who wants to debate the merits of different footrot treatments.
I’m trying to escape when Cameron walks past, barely a metre away but with his gaze fixed firmly on the exit sign above the door.
‘Cam!’ Jimmy calls out. ‘Come and have a beer, mate.’
Without breaking his stride, Cameron shouts over his shoulder, ‘Gotta be up early.’
Alex suggested he and I might get back together, even though our relationship ended two years ago.
It was only a week ago I kissed Cameron, but he welcomed Alex as a visitor to Summerfield.
He was unfailingly polite. If he cares for me only five percent as much as I care for him, that would have been difficult.
When Alex asked why I’d been bullied, I would have stammered a reply.
Cameron, telling the truth but not all of it, defended me like he always has.
‘Night, Jimmy,’ I shout over the laughter and chatter.
‘It’s almost Christmas,’ Jimmy says. ‘Have another drink.’
I wave my hands in agitation. ‘I have to find Cameron.’