Page 121 of A Home Among the Snow Gums
‘Okay, honey. Let me get Vera. One of us can take you, for sure.’
‘Thanks.’
He gave her arm a squeeze then hurried into the kitchen and came out with Vera on his heels.
‘Hannah? Is everything okay?’
‘Can I tell you on the way to Cooma? I don’t want to miss my plane.’
‘Sure.’ Vera pulled a set of keys from under the till. ‘Let’s go.’
Graeme shoved a box of tissues and a cupcake into her hands. Now that was a man who understood a crisis. ‘You need me, you call me, Hannah. Any time.’
She blew him a kiss over her shoulder as she raced out the door after Vera. She loved this town.
But she loved Tom more. Strapping herself into the front seat of Vera’s tidy little car, she gave herself a moment to think. She had money. Correction … she had credit cards that weren’t totally blown out, and that counted as money, didn’t it? She had a plane ticket barcode saved in a photo file on her phone. And she had a great, welling lump of fear settled around her heart that wasn’t going to ease until she saw Tom for herself.
Vera shot over the cattle grid at the bottom of the mountain and made the turn at the airport sign. ‘You ready to tell me what’s going on?’
‘I’ve been a fool, Vera.’
A hand gave hers a pat. ‘Been there, done that, honey. How have you been a fool?’
‘You know I’ve been running around making a great moonling of myself over Tom Krauss?’
Vera winced. ‘I try to tune out all the gossip I hear at the café, Hannah. I try really hard. But yes. Me and everyone else in town knows that.’
‘Thing is, Vera, I’ve been getting these mixed signals.’
‘From Tom?’
‘Yep.’
‘Seemed like the green light from my side of the counter. The guy looks at you like you’re icing on a cake.’
Hannah nodded. ‘That’s what I thought, but he kept pushing me away.’
‘Men. What idiots.’
‘Well, that’s a given, but I just found out he had a reason for pushing me away.’
‘You’re saying that in a way that’s scaring me,’ said Vera. ‘Is that why we’re racing to the airport?’
‘Yeah. He’s in hospital. And it’s bad, Vera.’ Her voice broke. ‘It’s really bad.’
The carpark at the airport was half empty, but Hannah directed Vera to the drop-off zone. ‘I’ve got to run if I’m going to make the boarding call.’
‘You want me to wait in case you miss it?’
‘No, it’s fine.’
She buried her head in Vera’s neck for a moment as the woman brought her in for a hug. She smelled like vanilla and plums and growing baby. ‘Thanks for the ride.’
‘Any time. Go be with your man.’
The airport was quiet but for the departure queue lined up at gate two. Incoming travellers were streaming through the gate as she ran up, and her duffle slapped into a woman and a man and nearly knocked over a stroller.
‘Sorry,’ she called out to all the eyes that turned her way. ‘Sorry!’
