Page 48 of Outback Reunion

The voice in his head was right, but the thought of leaving things like they were had Mark downing the rest of the next beer and heading to the fridge to grab the other two.

Many hours later, Mark woke to his phone ringing loudly on the coffee table beside him. The sun was up and he had a headache, which wasn’t surprising considering the last thing he remembered was opening a bottle of whiskey his dad had been gifted from the Ag Store for Christmas. The bottle—now half empty—sat on the table not far from his phone. Stretching over to retrieve the latter, he groaned when he saw it was his mum calling.

Not again.Didn’t she have anything better to do on holidays?

He contemplated ignoring it, but that would only worry her.

Worrying was all she ever seemed to do when it came to him lately.

‘Morning, Mum.’ He tried to sound awake so she wouldn’t suspect anything was up, but that was pointless because she already knew.

‘I’ve just had Eileen Brady on the blower,’ she said by way of a greeting.

‘Is that right?’ He glanced around, wondering where Rookie was. Had he put her back in her crate last night? This falling asleep on the couch was becoming a bit of a bad habit.

‘She’s very concerned about you fraternising with circus folk,’ Mum said with a chuckle.

Fraternising?Mark couldn’t help smirking. ‘Is she now?’

‘So, it’s true?’

‘Is what true?’

His mum let out an exasperated sigh. ‘That you were in the pub last night with a woman from the circus.’

How didbloodyEileen know about the pub? He swore she hadn’t been there. She must have spies. This fucking town.

‘Apparently you were all googly-eyed over each other.’

‘What?!’ Thank God Mum had no idea what had happened in his ute afterwards. Unless Eileen had eyes on the oval as well. He wouldn’t put it past the old biddy.

‘Who is she? This woman you’re cavorting around town with?’

Cavorting?Was she for real? ‘I thought you wanted me to start dating again.’

‘So you’redatingher?’ Her tone went from amused to excited. ‘What’s her name? Why didn’t you tell me about her?’

‘Her name is Gabriela, and no, I’m not dating her. She’s just an... an old friend.’

‘Friend?I’ve never heard you mention her before. You didn’t say anything when I told you the circus was coming to town.’

She’dtold him the circus was coming to town? He should pay more attention, but ever since he came home, she’d either been fussing over him, worried he was going to do something stupid, or encouraging him to put himself back out there. He was slightly ashamed to realise that he’d learned to zone her out.

‘I didn’t even know she was in the circus,’ he told her. ‘Gabriela and I met briefly eight years ago not long after I’d moved to Melbourne. This is the first time I’ve seen her since.’

‘Was there anything between you and Gabriela back then?’

There were certain things mothers did not need to know about their sons. Besides, he didn’t want to get her hopes up. ‘Men and women can be just friends, you know. Not everything is about sex.’

‘Pfft,’ she snorted. ‘You’ve obviously never seenWhen Harry Met Sally.’

‘What’s that old movie got to do with anything?’ He may not have seen the whole thing, but everyone knew aboutthatscene. There wasno wayGabriela had ever faked anything with him.

‘Watch it and you’ll see. So, is this Gabriela single?’

He shook his head. She was unrelenting. ‘Yes, but she’s not in the market for a relationship.’

‘Why not?’

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