Justin visibly started. ‘Really? In what ways?’
‘I know you and she have your issues, but she’s got the same sense of right and wrong. She would never walk away and leave an injured animal. She would always try to save it.’
‘But she risks her own life as she does it. And—’
‘And nothing. So do you. You risk your life when you’re fighting a fire. And look what happened to my face. We are all the same. We believe in something bigger than ourselves.’
Silence fell, except for the sound of the engine. When Justin spoke again, his voice was heavy with memories.
‘She used to take us. Ben and me. When we were kids too young to leave alone. She would bundle us into the car at all hours when she went to collect some rescued joey. She’d tell us to stay in the car while she did what she had to do. Sometimes we’d fall asleep, but there were times when we watched her through the windows. We saw the care and love she gave to those animals, which sometimes felt like more love than she gave us. Sometimes, when the animal was beyond help, we’d see her humanely kill it.’
‘That must have been tough for the two of you.’
Justin nodded. ‘It was even worse sometimes when she loaded an injured animal into the car and we drove to the nearest vet with the poor creature bleeding or crying in pain.’
Anna’s heart went out to the boy Justin had been. ‘That’s a lot for someone so young.’
‘It was. We never should have been there. When we were older, we wouldn’t go. We demanded that she leave us behind, which she did. Maybe we were a bit too young to be left alone without a babysitter, but I think we were better off. We had each other. We were twins, so we were pretty self-sufficient in many ways. After a while, we needed each other more than we needed her.’
‘I’m sure she regrets that as much as you do.’
‘She does. She told us so the night we left. The two of us. We left home when we were seventeen and never went back.’
‘Surely now you can forgive her.’
‘I can. I think I have. But Ben hasn’t. It wasn’t just that for him. There was something else. And I can’t tell you, because that’s Ben’s life, not mine.’
‘I understand. Will Ben be here tonight?’
‘No. He’s on standby back in Tamworth.’
‘I think Carol may come.’ She didn’t say any more. It was Justin’s decision if there was to be a rapprochement with his mother.
In town, cars were lined up on both sides of the road near the hall. Justin drove a little further to the fire station, where the driveway outside the big roller door was empty. So too were the spaces in front of the building. From force of habit, he backed the unit onto a space and turned the engine off. Facing the road like that, it could be on its way to a call-out in seconds.
They sat in silence for a while.
‘You know, before we came here, I can’t remember when Ben and I last talked about our mother. Or when I last told anyone what it was like growing up with her.’
Anna turned to look at him. His face was close to hers, his eyes gazing at her with an intensity that almost sent a shiver down her spine. Slowly, he leaned forward and kissed her.
It was a simple kiss, almost tentative. And he pulled away to look at her. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I saw you.’
Anna lowered her head, letting the hair fall over her face. ‘Because I look nice tonight?’
‘Not tonight. Since the moment I first saw you. The day after the fire. You are …’
She never found out what she was. He stopped speaking as he gently pushed the fallen hair back so he could see her face. She raised her lips to his and he kissed her again. She kissed him back, and this time it took much longer.
CHAPTER
31
Carol almost burst into tears when Justin entered the hall, Anna by his side. They were holding hands and smiling. This was exactly how she had always wanted to see her son. He looked happy and at ease with himself and the woman walking next to him. They stopped a couple of steps inside the door and Anna said something to make Justin laugh loudly enough for Carol to hear him. She eased back towards the wall where she wouldn’t be noticed as she pulled a tissue from her bag to wipe her eyes.
She had expected to see Justin. And to see him with Anna. The town grapevine, led by the knitting club, had made that clear. But she hadn’t expected this emotional reaction. If Justin found someone like Anna, then Carol would know he was happy. Even if they never spoke again, she could be content knowing there was love in his life.
From her hiding place, she looked eagerly around, hoping to see Ben. He wasn’t there and her heart sank a little. She didn’t believe that she would ever be part of his life again, but she hadn’t given up hope that her youngest son would forgive her enough to at least be in the same room as her. The town grapevine had let her know how often he’d been at the pub during his stay. How often he’d drunk too much and how often his brother had taken him home. If Ben was in trouble, it was her fault, but she was the one person who had no chance of making it better.
