Page 77 of Down the Track
‘A crate of hand tools. Some food and the shade tarp. A proper esky with the dry ice—that’s pretty heavy.’
‘Me and the kid could go get it,’ he said.
The boy’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped like one of those carps who swam in tanks in old-fashioned restaurants. ‘Oh, Mum, yes, yes,pleaseyes.’
‘But, Luke, you’ve never been in a helicopter.’
‘Exactly. And there’s a first time for everything, right, Mum? Anyway, you’re the one who said we were here for an outback adventure.’
‘True. I did say that. I’m just not sure if I should check with your dad before I let you go.’
‘Dad won’t mind.Please, Mum.’
‘He might mind. A lot. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be the one getting in trouble, it’d be me.’
Perhaps he shouldn’t have offered. Or … perhaps he could make this a little easier.
‘Look, Jo, my licence is current to take passengers, and my helicopter is in service. Today’s flying conditions are excellent. But if it’s a big deal, no drama, I can load the gear without help.’
She looked at her son and must have made her mind up, because she nodded. ‘If you’re happy to do that, we’d love the help. The gear especially, but if you can see a road we could use to access this site, either from where we’re parked now or via the homestead, that’d be ideal. I could move the vehicle tomorrow.’
The kid punched the air. ‘Thanks, Mum.’
Hux gave him a lookover. ‘All right, then. If you’re going to be the copilot, you get the important job.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Looking after Possum. You up for that?’
The kid grinned. ‘Sure. I love dogs. Especially three-legged ones. Possum! Here, boy!’
Hux smiled. ‘Looks like we’re off. See you soon.’
CHAPTER
30
Fourteen years ago
Under the shade tarp on a dig site outside of Winton, dreaming
Jo tried to tell herself to stop daydreaming and start working.
Yeah, okay, the helicopter pilot had been all smiley and cute with her the few times he’d been out to the site, but she’d probably mistaken his interest.
She was stuck out here in the Never Never and she was single; of course a hot guy in aviator sunglasses was going to wake up her hormones. She scraped the tooth fragment she was working on with her fine-blade tool. He was probably being friendly in an outback kind of way. Passing the time by having a chat with a stranger before he flew back to town and scrolled through his contact list brimming with girlfriends.
She tipped a mug of water over the tiny fossil and smoothed away the extraneous sandstone grit. He probably hadn’t even remembered her name.
‘Hi, Joanne.’
She nearly rammed the blade into her thumb. Keep it casual. Do not gush! ‘Oh, hey.’
Hux’s shirt was plaid today, and he was in the grey felt hat that made him look more like a saxophone player in some funky inner-city jazz club than an outback pilot. He was also way more good-looking than she remembered.
‘Got something for you.’
She squinted up at him. ‘You have?’
