Page 47 of A Home Among the Snow Gums
He bent down so he was looking at her through the open space and his mouth was behind the glass. Blue eyes stared into hers for a long moment and she shivered. From the cold, obviously, because there was nothing in that stare to make her shiver.
Certainly no URST.
‘When I said it had been an emotional week,’ he said, ‘I was talking aboutmyemotions.’
That was unexpected. ‘Go on,’ she said magnanimously.
He may have done an infinitesimal eye roll—it was hard to tell with her door seal in the way.
‘And when I said people blurt out stuff without thinking from time to time, I meant that I had just blurted something out without thinking. Something hurtful. I’m sorry, Hannah. You took me by surprise and …’ He sighed and her car window fogged over. ‘I reacted in a bad way. For personal reasons. I’m sorry.’
She put her finger on the button and pressed it so the window went zzzzzzzh slowly down into its socket until they were looking at each other in silence but for the whip and flap of the wind lifting receipts and chocolate wrappers on the passenger seat.
‘So. You don’t think I’m nuts for wanting to have a baby.’
He bit his bottom lip. ‘No.’
‘You don’t think I’ll be a horrible mother.’
He closed his eyes. ‘No.’
‘But you’re saying no to my proposal anyway.’
‘I am.’
‘Well.’ Her fingers twisted in the keys dangling from her ignition and they jangled like tiny church bells. ‘I guess I’ll be off then.’
‘You want to try not reversing over Bruno’s flower bed this time?’
‘Shit. Did I—?’
He smiled. ‘No. Are we okay, Hannah? Because we seem to be having this fighting/not fighting dynamic going on and it’s messing with my head.’
‘We’re okay, I guess. Bye, then.’
And she’d barely got over the cattle grid when he was on the phone reminding her that they never even got to talk about what he had invited her up to discuss, so they’d better meet for coffee the next day.
‘You shouldn’t have made me mad,’ she said.
‘It’s not all about you, Hannah.’
She could hear the smile in his voice when he said it, so she answered in kind. ‘Worst apology ever.’
The next morning at the clinic, Hannah was still mulling over her unsettling evening at Tom’s. His behaviour towards her was just so darned confusing.
‘Letter for you, Han. Looks like another of those fancy ones you keep chucking out,’ said Sandy when Hannah ducked into reception to grab a patient file. The receptionist lifted it and gave it a shake. ‘I’d be opening it over a waste bin if I were you. Could be one of those annoying missives that sprays glitter confetti everywhere.’
Hannah huffed out a theatrical groan. ‘Pass it over.’
‘I’ve put Toby and the guinea pigs into Room One,’ said Sandy, handing her the envelope. ‘There’s a dog in Room Two with social issues. Knock before you go in so the owner can get her in a headlock.’
Hannah stared at the fancy cursive on the envelope. Sandy was right. This did seem like one of those annoying missives. It also looked familiar. ‘Is it the doberman from Eucumbene?’ she asked. ‘I’ll take the muzzle in with me.’
‘Worse. It’s a chihuahua called Teddy who identifies as a velociraptor.’
Hannah slid a finger into the thick cream envelope, broke the seal and looked gingerly inside. Sandy’s instincts were correct … confetti. She pulled out the card.Mr & Mrs Gregory Flemington and Mr Bob Varma cordially invite Hannah Cody plus one to the wedding of Dr Karen Flemington and Raj Varma at The Shaw Winery, Lake George on February …
Hannah stopped reading the stiff card and turned to the loose-leaf note clipped to its back. Karen Flemington, one of the few friends she’d made in the brief and ill-fated semester she’d spent at uni in Sydney had sent her another invitation to her wedding? How many times did she have to say no?
