Page 129 of Sugarloaf Ridge Lies

“Hey, I haven’t been any better. What are you up to this weekend?” As much as I want to get straight to the point, Steph is good people, and I want to know how things are going for her up north.

“Sweating my butt off and doing some fishing.”

“Fishing?” I laugh. “Since when do you fish?” With her always perfectly manicured hands, I can’t imagine her cutting up bait and sitting for hours in a boat trying to catch something.

“Since there’s an extremely good-looking fishing charter operator that I’ve kind of hit it off with.”

“Nice, well I hope he’s worth the smell of bait on your hands.”

Her laugh echoes down the line. “It’s a short term sacrifice I’m willing to make. So, how are things teaching in Sugarland?” She says it so tongue in cheek. She knows the name of the town.

“Ha, it’s Sugarloaf Ridge. And it’s good.” I sigh.Good yet complicated.

“Why do I get the feeling there’s a big ‘but’ coming?”

I swallow hard. “I kinda need your help with something.”

“’Course. What do you need?”

My heart hammers in my chest with memories of scrambling hands and deep thrusts that took my breath away. “I need to get in touch with that guy.” I clear my throat as heat rushes to my face. “The one I hooked up with that night.”

Silence stretches between us. “Kurt?” she finally says.

“You remembered his name?”

She laughs. “Don’t you remember me giving him shit, calling him Captain Kurt?”

“Oh, my God, I do now. He shot you down.”

“I was sure it was Kurt, not Kirk. So, you planning on a cheeky visit back to Canberra? Setting up a bit of nooky with the Captain, huh?”

“Ah.” I huff out a breath. “Not exactly.”

“O-kay.” The line goes quiet.

I glance around the café, content that no one I know is around. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh. Wow.” She sighs. “Are you okay?” We’d talked about having our own families one day, but we both agreed we owed it to ourselves after slogging it out at Uni to give our careers a kickstart first. Get a few years in, get permanency, and then see where we were relationship wise.

I smooth my hand over my bump. “Yeah, I am. I’d thought about not telling him because I’m happy, I’ve met someone, but—”

“You want him to know.”

“Yes. And to be clear, I don’t want anything from him. But I owe him the truth.”

“Babe, I’ll be discreet. See what I can find out, okay? Get back to you as soon as I have some info.”

We say our goodbyes.

I don’t know whether I want her to succeed in her quest.

At the very least, I hope I have the luxury of time before facing him.

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