Anna had stepped further into the room and was close enough for him to forget they had an audience. When she was this close to him, all he knew was that she was beautiful. And her voice was like a soft caress. And her smile was as bright as the sun. Her eyes even brighter. He should say something to her about this mix-up. But he couldn’t compose a sentence in his head.
‘Um …’ Bree interrupted them. ‘Why don’t you both take a seat? Ladies, can you find a place for them?’
There was the shuffling of chairs and Justin found himself being guided into a seat next to Anna. The space opened for the new chairs was minimal at best, and as they sat, his shoulder and hers touched, her thigh brushed his. A few more minutes of chaos ensued as tea and cake in generous quantities were produced, giving Justin a chance to remind himself he was here as part of his job. Professional Justin began to emerge, but seemed to get lost again every time he looked at Anna. When they were all seated and provided with tea, Justin found himself the object of intense scrutiny. They were waiting for him to start talking about bushfires. At least, he hoped that was it.
He reached for the tote bag he’d been carrying and pulled out some RFS pamphlets to pass around the table. ‘I brought these for you to take home and show your families,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of information there about being prepared for a bushfire. I know most of you have had fires before and we can be certain there are more ahead this summer.’
He noticed a couple of faces cloud over. He’d seen that before and had been well trained for it. They were people who had suffered bushfire losses in the past. His job was to try to stop that happening again.
‘Now, there’s four things you need to think about. First of all, making it more likely your home will survive a fire. Secondly, that if the worst happens, you will be safe, even if you can’t evacuate in time. You also need to think of others. Make sure the fire is less likely to spread to your neighbours. And finally, make it easier for us to help if fire does reach your home.’
‘Will you come and rescue me?’ red-headed Val asked, batting her eyelids in a most disconcerting fashion.
‘We try to keep everyone safe,’ he said firmly.
‘You can keep me safe anytime.’
The comment was whispered breathlessly and Justin wasn’t sure who had spoken.
He glanced sideways at Anna. Her shoulders were shaking with barely controlled laughter. He took a deep breath and started again.
‘You know, a bushfire doesn’t have to come all the way to your fence line for your property to be in danger. Embers from a fire some distance away can be blown by a strong wind. So I’m going to start by talking about clearing away flammable materials around your house. Clearing the gutters. That sort of thing.’
Justin talked for an hour. After those first few minutes, his audience settled down and listened intently, while their hands moved swiftly and surely at their craft. Beside him, Anna had taken needles and wool and, with a bit of help from Bree, was knitting something that might have been a scarf. She seemed to be enjoying herself.
At last he paused. ‘Has anyone got any questions?’
A couple of hands shot up.
‘Before we get into that,’ Bree said, ‘I think we should give our guest a break and another cup of tea. There are some rather nice lammies, too, Justin, if you’d like.’
‘That would be nice. Thank you.’
‘And I think everyone knows where the loos are.’
There was general movement and Justin wandered over to the table set for tea and coffee. Deb from the pub was pouring. She was in full swing when she stopped and examined the tabletop intently. ‘There’s no milk. Justin, would you be an angel and get some for me, please? The kitchen’s through there.’ She nodded at a door.
‘Sure thing.’
When he went into the kitchen, Anna and Bree were there, laughing together.
‘Oh. Sorry. Am I interrupting? I was sent to get milk.’
Bree laughed again. ‘Of course you were.’ She waggled her eyebrows at him and, still laughing, left the room.
Justin frowned. ‘Is there something going on that I don’t know about?’
‘Seriously? You haven’t noticed?’ Anna was holding her side against her laughter.
‘Well. I did, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions …’
‘The Wagtail Ridge Knitting Club—’ she was struggling to get the words out, ‘—might otherwise be known as the Wagtail Ridge Matchmaking Society.’ Anna was laughing again.
Her laugh was lovely. So joyful and real. He didn’t even mind that he was the one she was laughing at.
‘Bree was just telling me how she and Matt were victims.’
‘Victims?’
