She led them across the driveway to the clinic, opened the door and stood back as Justin carried the dog in. Tania followed close behind.
In the treatment room, Anna said, ‘Put him down on the table.’
With the greatest of care, Justin did.
The door at the rear of the surgery opened and Anna’s nurse Shea appeared. The girl took one look at the animal and the people, and swung into action. ‘Let’s give Anna room to get to work,’ she said.
Anna cast a glance at Justin. Their eyes met briefly and he nodded. Then he turned to the distraught woman.
‘Let me take you outside and find you somewhere to sit down.’
‘This may take a while,’ Anna said. ‘Give your details to Liz, my receptionist. Then you can go home, if you like.’
‘No. No. I can’t go home until I know. My daughter Matilda. She’s only ten. She loves this dog so much. I need to be able to tell her he’ll be all right when she comes home from school.’
‘I’ll do everything I can.’
CHAPTER
26
Carol’s hands moved restlessly on the steering wheel as she approached the town. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making a horrible mistake. But there was always a chance she was turning her life around for the good. The important thing was that she had finally mustered the courage to try.
It was make or break time.
The contact she’d had with the twins in these past weeks had proved two things to her. One was that there was a chance to make amends. Justin was more willing than Ben, but where the older brother led, the younger had always followed.
And the second thing she had discovered was that she had to try. She would never forgive herself if she didn’t. It might work or it might not, but at least she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life regretting her own lack of courage.
There were a few cars in town as she drove towards the pub, then turned right past the hall and the post office. There were no cars at the fire station. She pulled up outside and stared at the big roller door that was firmly shut and, she guessed, locked. Disappointment settled on her shoulders as she got out. Still, she could wait until the twins came back. She’d made it this far. She wasn’t going to give up.
That’s when she noticed the sign on the inside of the window that faced the street. The words swam into focus as she walked over.
THIS FIRE STATION IS NOT CURRENTLY MANNED.
TO REPORT A FIRE, OR IN AN EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL OUR HOT LINE.
THIS NUMBER SHOULD BE USED ONLY IN EMERGENCIES. TO CONTACT THERFSFOR ALL OTHER MATTERS, PLEASE USE ONE OF THE NUMBERS LISTED BELOW, AS APPROPRIATE.
A list of numbers followed.
They were gone. Her sons had left once more and this time she hadn’t even tried to stop them.
Her failure crashed down on her. Again. She slumped back against the building and closed her eyes. Luck, or perhaps Fate, had brought the twins to this town she’d made her home and given her a chance to right a great wrong. They hadn’t been pleased to see her. Or Ben hadn’t. She hadn’t pushed him. Either of them. She had wanted them to come to her. They hadn’t and now it was too late for her to go to them.
And it was her own fault. Her own cowardice. She hadn’t reached out. Had waited for them to contact her. She should have gone to them and begged forgiveness. And now they were gone from her life again.
She stood until the feel of the sun burning her face swept her regret and pain away and helped her to focus. All was not lost. She had Justin’s phone number, but the things she had to say couldn’t be said over the phone. She knew they were based in Tamworth. That was only a couple of hours’ drive away and even her old clunker could get that far. But she couldn’t go to them at the fire station. She wouldn’t be welcome. What she had to do and say was private. She needed to talk to them at their home. She didn’t know where they lived, but she knew someone who might.
Feeling a lot more hopeful, she got back into the oven that was her car and set off again.
***
The car park at the vet clinic was empty, although Anna’s car was parked under an awning beside the building. Carol left her car in the shade of a tree, got out and walked towards the door before she could change her mind. She knew that Anna and Justin had become friends, or possibly more than friends. The knitting club’s grapevine worked well. Carol had known Anna for a while but they weren’t exactly friends. Carol didn’t really have friends. But she got on well enough with Anna. It would be embarrassing to ask Anna about contacting her own son. But that was something she was prepared to face for the chance of seeing him again.
She opened the door of the clinic and walked in before she could chicken out.
The receptionist looked up. ‘Hi, Carol. Have you brought us another patient?’
