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‘Josh? You’re wool-gathering, mate.’

‘Sorry, Han. Okay, did you know her aunt’s taken a fall? She’s elderly, a resident at Connolly House. I was with Vera when she found out.’

‘I didn’t even know she had an aunt. Is she a local?’

‘I don’t think so. I think they moved up here together.’

‘You don’t know?’

He shrugged. ‘Vera’s not exactly Miss Chatty. Thing is, Han, I’ve called her to ask how her aunt’s going … being neighbourly, you know … and she hasn’t returned my call.’

‘Joshua Cody, ignored by a female. Remind me to buy a lotto ticket.’

‘Very helpful. Thing is, if Vera really didn’t like me, I’d know. I wouldn’t bother her. I’m not a total stalker.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘But she does like me, I know it.’

‘You sure that’s not your ego speaking?’

‘Han, my ego hasn’t had a say in what I do since Poppy was born.’

‘That’s true. I’m sorry, Josh, sometimes I’m a little too snarky.’

He grinned. ‘You think?’

‘Maybe this isn’t about you. Maybe she’s got stuff of her own going on, and she doesn’t have room for a handsome daddy-vet hero from Snowy River in her life. We both know people keep secrets about themselves. Especially in a small gossip-hungry town like this one.’

Yeah. He did know. ‘There’s definitely something going on. She almost told me on the trail ride the other day, before she got the phone call from Connolly House.’

‘She almost told you?’

‘Yep.’

Hannah took a breath. ‘Persevere, then, Josh. If she wants to tell you, she will. Maybe it’s just taking her a while to build up the courage. Although, I gotta tell you, she still doesn’t seem your type to me.’

Hannah was so wrong. Vera was the only type he wanted. ‘When I look at her, I recognise myself.’

‘No way. You’re such a sunny person, Josh. So … happy. Vera seems a little, I don’t know, stiff? Aloof? Cold? Are you sure she’s the one?’

Talking this out with Hannah had been the right thing to do, he realised. Because hewassure, and Vera was so not cold. He’d had his lips on hers, and the heat of that moment had spiked at about a thousand degrees Celsius. No, Vera may look cool and aloof on the surface, but there was an inferno of need and loneliness and vulnerability boiling away beneath the surface, and that’s what called to him. That’s what spoke to his heart.

Being sunny and happy was a strategy he’d mastered over the years to cover his regrets and salve his pride. He turned to it now. ‘And boy,’ he said, ‘she’s easy on the eye, isn’t she?’

Hannah made a small gagging noise. ‘Point of order. That was a clear contravention of Clause 16B. Icky stuff.’

‘Legs that never end. Eyes the colour of up-country moss after the spring rain. And when she wears that plum-coloured sweater? With the V-neck that plunges just a little low in the—’

Hannah dragged two of the cushions up out of the trolley and pressed them to her ears. ‘La la la la la la,’ she said.

He grinned. ‘Yeah. Okay. Good talk.’

His sister pursed her lips. ‘Can we get coffee now? And we should be heading back to the clinic. We can’t both go AWOL just because you’ve got yourself a bad case of the unrequiteds.’

He dragged the cushions off her, then started pushing his trolley down to the check-out. ‘You’re such a romantic, Han.’ He’d convinced himself he knew what he wanted. Now all he needed to do was convince Vera.

Josh pulled the last tray of instruments into the autoclave and set the timer to cook, then picked up his final patient for the day and headed out to the reception area.