Page 28 of A Home Among the Snow Gums
Was Vera—?
Had Josh and Vera—?
Was there a little Cody growing underneath that corduroy skirt?
‘Hannah, my love!’ Kev had seen her and broken off his conversation to come and give Skipjack a pat. ‘Fifty-one points and a successful cut out! It’s an excellent start.’
She tried on a grin to see if she was still feeling happy. Nope. The grin felt totally fake, but Kev was looking chuffed and she couldn’t wreck his moment. ‘Skipjack and your training did it mainly, Kev.’
‘He’ll be getting a carrot fresh out of the veggie patch. I’m gonna go grab us some food now the excitement’s over. You hop off and cool him down.’
She flung a leg that was beginning to feel like jelly over the back of her saddle and was on the ground and stumbling when large hands gripped her waist.
Not Josh. Josh didn’t turn her rib cage into an accordion or smell so damn fantastic. Tom.
If she could have said something when she turned to face him, she would have. Like,Stop looking at me with those eyes, darn it.
Tom cleared his throat. ‘Josh was called out to a job.’
‘Uh-huh.’ That weirdness was back. Weirdness she’d caused and needed to fix. She’d known Tom since she was a preschooler, for heaven’s sake, and she couldn’t avoid him forever. ‘Um, look.’ She shot a glance over at Vera, because she didn’t need an audience for this, but Vera was still oblivious to the world around her.
He raised an eyebrow.
She dropped her voice. ‘About … you know.’
‘The thing you made me promise never to talk about?’
Did he have to be so specific? ‘Look, I’m sorry about the way I … overreacted.’
‘Okay.’
‘And about the way I’ve been acting ever since. Could we put this behind us?’
He blinked. ‘No worries there. Already done.’
Already?‘Good, great, excellent.’
CHAPTER
10
Tom forced himself to peel his hands off Hannah’s hips.
What was he doing? This was like the stables all over again, forgetting about his injury just because Hannah in her braids and riding gear was reminding him of the girl he’d once known.
He tried to peel his eyes off her, too, but she’d turned to her horse and started unbuckling the saddle, and it was hardnotto look. She was short and fine-boned, and looked more so here amidst the crowd. She wore snug-fit jeans that curved about her in a way he should not be ogling, and she was smiling at Vera who’d come over to help—a big wide grin that made her eyes twinkle and her cheeks dimple and made him feel sad and nostalgic. She didn’t smile enough; if only he knew why.
Kev Jones returned with sausage sangers for everyone and Hannah put her arm around the man’s scrawny shoulders and smacked a boisterous kiss into his cheek. The old bloke looked delighted.
‘Extra sauce for you, Hannah, since you did so well,’ said Kev. ‘And I grabbed a program for you. A memento of your first draft.’
‘You’re an angel. Where’s Kylie?’
‘Saw her chatting up some bloke on a bay gelding. Didn’t look like she was in a hurry to leave.’
Music ripped through the speakers, followed by an announcer’s voice. ‘You’ve got about two minutes, people, to make your way back to the arena and we’ll be awarding places for the maiden A rounds. We’ll be drawing today’s lucky door prize, too, and don’t forget the barbecue starts at six. Live music tonight will be the River Dogs.’
Hannah turned to Kev. ‘Let’s go see who won. I was so nervous before my race I couldn’t keep track of the scores. You coming, Vera?’
