Page 36 of Jump Start

One thing I knew that I would never want to fade from this relationship was the banter and jokes. We wouldn’t be us without it.

***

The drive up to Nelson Bay was filled with phone calls from Echidna Racing, Mum, and my brothers. I knew my dad was okay, and was relieved about that, but I wanted to get there as soon as I could for Mum.

Navigating our way to my family’s house, Thomas commented on the area.

“You never said it was right on the beach. This is so cool!” he said, and he put his driver’s side window down. We pulled up at the house to see both of my brothers barrelling out the frontdoor.

“Harps!” Andy yelled before Brendan opened my passenger door and pulled me out, sandwiching me in a group hug.

“Guys, wow, okay, thank you!” I said, releasing myself from their grasp. “I didn’t realise you were both here.” I stood back to look at them. Andy spoke first.

“Yeah, soon as Mum called us, we were able to get onto a last-minute Air Force flight to Williamtown.”

Thomas exited the car and walked towards the bonnet to face us all.

I smiled. “Andy, Brendan, this is my boyfriend, Thomas.”

Resting his sunglasses on the top of his head, Thomas grinned and walked over to my brothers to shake their hands.

“Andrew, Brendan, great to finally meet you,” he said pleasantly.

“Mate, great to meet you. We have watched you race for years!”

“Harps, I thought you hated this bloke?” Brendan asked playfully, punching my shoulder. Thomas laughed.

“Don’t worry, she still does.”

Thomas retrieved our bags from the car and followed us inside the house.

“Is Mum at the hospital?” I asked Andy as he guided me to my room.

“She was. She’s just picking up a food shop. There was no food in the house. We offered to go, but she wanted us here to greet you guys.” Typical of my mother, always thinking of everyone else. It was her greatest and worst quality sometimes. I’m sure a food shop would have served as a welcome distraction for her, though.

The boys left to give Thomas and me a minute in my room. I sat down on the bed and looked out the balcony window of my bedroom. Gum trees swayed in the wind, with the sound of crashing waves in the distance. It was a beautiful day and if I had been here under normal circumstances, I would have been changing to go straight to the beach.

“Are you alright?” Thomas asked, standing in front of me. I looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah, I just want to see Dad. Then I will feel better. Thank you for coming with me. I’m glad you’re here.”

Leaning down, he kissed my lips lightly and pulled me up into a hug.

There was no denying it now. He loved me and there was now no doubt in my mind that he always had.

Seventeen

Thomas

Istood on the balcony of Harper’s parents’ house with her two brothers on either side of me, keeping my eyes on her as they reversed out of the driveway.

“You’ve done amazing, mate, she seems to be doing alright,” Brendan said as he placed his hand briefly on my shoulder.

“We love our Harps, and we can tell you do too, mate. You’ve actually got it pretty bad, don’t ya?” Andy agreed with his brother.

I nodded and laughed. “Yep, you got it.” Both made a sympathetic face.

“She won’t let you get away with jack shit, and that’s a promise.” Brendan laughed and gestured for us to follow him. “How about a few beers and some fishing?” he asked in my direction. To be honest, that sounded great. I hadn’t seen my own brother in the flesh for almost a year due to our schedules, and I missed him. Maybe after this trip, Harper’s brothers could turn into new friends, even if they lived on the other side of Australia.

“Let’s do it,” I agreed, which was followed by Andy promptly grabbing a beer each for all of us. Chris would not be happy to hear I was drinking a beer halfway through the season. I would only have a couple, though.

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