Page 15 of Jump Start

I considered briefly how he must have felt after his win. I could hear the pride in his voice and couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to go. I’m about to arrive at my parents’ place for the weekend,” I said, feeling a slight sense of disappointment at the thought of hanging up.

“Oh sure, no worries. Maybe I can give you a call later on?”

“Sure thing! Have a good weekend,” I replied and hung up.

I was unsure about why he called. Did he want to try to be friends? Maybe he’d had a crisis of conscience after being such an asshole?

Either way, I was suddenly looking forward to seeing his name appear on my phone soon.

As I pulled up to my parents’ house, I saw my dad and brothers on the front balcony with beers in their hands, wavingme in. I couldn’t wait to spend time with them all. I had missed them so much. My brothers gave me about two seconds after getting out of my car before they picked me up and Andy threw me over his shoulder, just like he used to do when I was kid.

“Okay! Great! Put me down!” I yelled, struggling to keep a straight face. Andy did as I asked, and Brendan went to fetch my things out of the car. Moments later, Mum and Dad came out and hugged me.

“So good to see you, darling,” Mum whispered in my ear.

After the welcome party had died down, I took my bags to my room and lay on the bed for a few minutes. After a full day of work, and then a lengthy drive, I was feeling sufficiently exhausted.

I was happy for my parents, that they were finally settling in one place. It couldn’t have been easy for my mum. Being the wife of a military member required a lot of sacrifice, forgiveness, and a certain level of sanguine in times of chaos. Their retirement had been nothing short of busy, which was typical of my parents. They went on an overseas trip for almost a year straight after their joint retirement party, and now lived in their dream home by the beach.

My story on Echidna Racing and Thomas was well received. I had a barrage of text messages and congratulatory emails come through shortly after the article was released online Saturday morning. I was proud of the story and considering the short amount of time I was given to both write and finalise the story, I was also impressed with how well I’d done under pressure. Chris sent me a very kind message, which I read out to my family over breakfast. I felt a sense of contentment as I looked around thetable, surrounded by my entire family smiling back at me, proud of my efforts.

“Harper, we have just read the online version of your story. Thank you for painting the Echidna experience as honestly and thoughtfully as you have. Thomas is our rising star, and you emulated his likeness perfectly. You’re always a part of our family. Chris.” I smiled thinking of the team at the racing headquarters. I wondered what Thomas had thought, or if he had even read the article.

Could that be why he called?

***

I enjoyed the weekend with my family. It was always hard to say goodbye, though, especially to my brothers as I knew I wasn’t going to see them for a while.

“Take care of yourself, Harps,” Andy said as he pulled me in for a quick hug.

“Love you, sis,” Brendan said, messing up my hair.

After we’d all said our goodbyes, I hopped into the car and tried to hold onto my tears just long enough to be out of eyesight. Sometimes, I wished we weren’t all so spread out, but I could say with confidence that my family were all incredibly happy where they were. They all lived the life they wanted, and with that knowledge, it was hard to stay sad for long.

Just as with the drive up, I had a phone call around two hours into my journey as I neared the outskirts of Sydney.

‘Thomas Henry-Jackson (Prick)’ was callingagain.

“Thomas,” I answered.

“Hey, Harper, how’s it going?” His voice was chirpy and much clearer this time.

“I’m alright. Soon to hit Sydney traffic,” I said as I noticed the cars in front of me starting to slow down. This was going to be the worst part of the drive.

“I believe I have some grovelling to do,” Thomas stated through my car speakers.

“Oh, is that so?” I responded, trying to sound disinterested.

“Harper, your story on our team was brilliant, and you didn’t make me seem like a prick, even though I was one to you the whole time. Thank you for that, by the way. It was great.”

His genuine apology took me by surprise. I looked ahead as the traffic came to a grinding halt. “Well thanks, Thomas. That’s nice of you to say. I’m glad you liked it. Chris sent me a message as well.”

This conversation was all very polite, but I was still feeling a little baffled as to why he was randomly calling me, twice in the space of so many days.

“When you’re back, would you like to get dinner?” he asked out of the blue.

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