Page 23 of Outback Reunion

‘I wouldn’t want to gatecrash your girls’ night.’

But Faith was already grabbing his hand. ‘Don’t be silly.’

‘Mark’s joining us for a little while,’ Frankie announced when they arrived at the table.

‘Hey, Simmo. Hi, Stella.’ He kissed both their cheeks before taking a seat. ‘Congrats on the new baby.’ The tiny thing sleeping on Stella’s chest was only a couple of weeks old—she’d gone into labour right here in the pub just before Christmas.

‘Thanks.’ She beamed down at the newborn.

‘So, which one was your friend?’ Faith asked as Mark took a sip of his beer. ‘We’ve been taking bets.’

He mentally groaned.

Frankie began pouring the wine. ‘I reckon it’s the hula-hoop woman. How good was she? She has moves I didn’t even have as a kid.’

‘She’s old enough to be my mum!’ Mark scoffed.

‘Or was she one of those contortionists with the camels?’ asked Faith. ‘I can barely dance at all—never mind balance on the back of a camel while doing it.’

‘What about the little girl and those dogs?!’ Frankie exclaimed, her hand pressed against her chest. ‘She was so cute. I thought my heart was going to explode.’

Mark was appalled. ‘Yeah, she was talented but slightly too young for me. Did anyone think she looks familiar though? She reminds me of someone... maybe on a TV show or something?’

They all shook their heads, then Ruby said smugly, ‘Your girl was the talent on the tightrope, wasn’t she? She has more flexibility than the Barbies I had as a kid.’

‘How’d you guess?’ he asked.

Ruby smiled knowingly over the top of her glass. ‘I was watching you from across the tent and you couldn’t keep your eyes off her. So go on, tell us, what’s the story?’

He shrugged. ‘There isn’t really one. She’s just someone I met once in Melbourne. We barely know each other.’

‘Uh huh,’ said all five women at once, their smirks letting him know they didn’t buy his story.

He felt heat rising on the back of his neck. ‘Where’syourbaby tonight?’ he asked Simone, not subtle in his attempt to change the topic.

‘Angus took her back to Mingenew to the farm and I’m staying at Frankie’s tonight.’ She downed almost half her wine, then added, ‘You can bet your bottom dollar I’m making the most of a kid-free night.’

The women laughed and clinked their glasses together, then Faith turned her gaze on him.

‘How are you going, Mark? After... you know... everything?’

Of course he bloody well knew. As if stuffing his knee so that he could never play again wasn’t bad enough, Tahlia deciding she didn’t want to move back to the farm with him had thrown salt on the wounds. Not to mention what had happened next.

Why did women always want to talk about emotional baggage?

‘I’m fine,’ he lied, glancing towards the door. Where the hell was Gabriela?

‘Are you still in touch with your old teammates?’ asked Simone.

‘A couple.’ It was hard when his friends were also on the same team as the man who’d slept with his wife. They still had to play with Alex, so picking sides wasn’t as simple as it normally might be.

Frankie smiled. ‘And how’s your injury? Your mum told mine you were getting physio in Gero?’

He nodded and automatically stretched his leg out. ‘Yeah, it’s not too bad, when I bother to do my exercises.’

Everyone laughed.

‘That’s great to hear,’ Frankie said, leaning forward a bit, ‘because... we may have had an ulterior motive inviting you to join us.’

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