“Get in, Mr Anderson and keep your mouth shut.”
What was her problem?He’d thought after all these years he’d get polite disinterest, or maybe surprise and a sharing of warm memories, but not anger.
She’d been the one to break up with him.
“Get in, or I’ll leave you behind,” Dot ordered.
Oliver blinked.The petite, dark-haired beauty who had captured his heart over a decade ago had developed a steel backbone.He slid into the passenger side, doing up his seatbelt as Dot did a U-turn and headed back the way she came.
“We need to get to town.There was a crash—”
“I know.Tow truck and transport are on their way to pick up your van and students.”
Of course.She would have driven past and seen them.He studied the woman next to him in the dim light of the car.Her hands clenched the steering wheel and she stared ahead, silently shouting,Don’t talk to me.
A faint scent of lemon myrtle filled the car, and he inhaled the memories.Getting ready for the day side by side in the cramped bathroom at Dot’s apartment.The tube of lemon myrtle moisturiser on the bench.Dot’s insistence on using it, and his insistence on helping her spread it on her body.The laughter and more which came with it.
He hardened and pushed away the memory.
That was ten years ago.From the glimpse he’d caught of her as he’d got into the car, dark bags hung under Dot’s eyes, suggesting she hadn’t slept in a while and had been under a lot of stress.What could a police officer in a sleepy tourist town have to be stressed about?He’d never understood why she’d wanted to return here rather than advance her career in the city.He opened his mouth to speak as they arrived back at the crash scene.“It’s good to see—”
Dot braked and got out of the car without a word, slamming the door behind her.
“—you.”Oliver frowned.What was she so angry about?Perhaps it was better she’d left him and broken his heart if this was who she’d become.
He climbed out and moved over to his students, who were talking to Dot.
“It’s over there.”Tom pointed into the bush.
“Thanks.”Dot returned to the police car, taking gloves and a shiny survival blanket out of a first aid kit.Then she took the lantern that was on the bonnet of the minivan and strode into the dark.
“What’s going on?”Oliver asked.
“The kangaroo we hit is over there,” Rajesh responded, stroking his moustache.“She’s checking if it has a joey.”
Andrew shivered and rubbed his arms.“It’s gross and freezing.Can I get back in the car?”
Oliver nodded.He hadn’t wanted to bring Andrew, because he was a first-year student who didn’t seem to enjoy maritime archaeology, but his father was funding the trip, so Oliver hadn’t had a choice.Andrew had complained the whole twelve-hour drive.
“I’ll see if she needs help.”Suzyn strode towards the light.
He should be the one helping, but before he walked more than a couple of metres, Dot was handing Suzyn a bundle wrapped in the silver blanket.Together, they walked back to the road.Dot pressed the radio on her shoulder.“I’ve got a joey.Can you call Donna and tell her I’ll bring it by?”
“Roger.What’s your ETA?”
Dot ran a hand through her hair.“Probably another two hours.”
She looked exhausted now Oliver could see her properly in the lantern’s light.He knew nothing about police rosters, but surely she shouldn’t still be working this late at night.
“You should all get back into the van where it’s warmer,” Dot said to the students.“It will be another half an hour before people arrive to help.Get some rest.”
“Are you leaving us?”Tom asked.
“No.I’ll stay until help arrives.”She checked the joey in Suzyn’s arms.“Keep him rugged up and close to your body.He’s still quite young, so he shouldn’t move around too much.”
“What about his mum?”Suzyn asked.“Can we save her?”
Dot’s face darkened.She shook her head.“She’s too injured.The best I can do is put her out of her pain.”
