‘Hi,’ Nel said.
‘Shit!’Lauren exclaimed, shooting her a sharp look as though she suspected Nel had scared her deliberately.‘I didn’t realise you were here.’
Nel frowned.Where else would she be?‘I’ve been going through the photos,’ she said.
‘Oh, good.’Lauren held up a Tupperware container.‘Chicken curry from one of the girls at my bootcamp.You and Mum can have it for dinner.I’ll let it defrost in the fridge.’
‘Thanks,’ Nel mumbled, tossing the article in the bin under the bench and reaching for the kettle.‘Do you have time for a cup of tea?’
Lauren looked at her watch.‘It’ll have to be quick.I have a P and F meeting at two.’She took the jug from Nel’s hands and started filling it at the sink.‘I’ll make it.You get back to the photos.I’ll bring it in.’
Nel sighed and went back to the lounge room.A few minutes later Lauren joined her, giving the fire a disapproving glance.Sheset the mugs down then took a log from the wicker basket beside the fireplace.When she was satisfied with the state of the fire, she picked up an album and opened it in the middle.
For a few minutes, the only sound was the crackle of flames and the flipping of pages.Nel stopped at a photo of her dad, in his mid-forties she guessed, and met his blue-eyed gaze.He was handsome, broad-shouldered, with laughing eyes and a year-round tan.He stood inside a window looking out at the person taking the photo.Cath, she supposed.His expression was bemused, as though he was thinking about something funny that had just happened.Nel pulled it out of the plastic pocket and studied his surroundings, trying to work out where it was taken, but she couldn’t place it.
She passed it to Lauren.‘What do you think of this one for the cover of the booklet?’She spoke casually—no doubt Lauren would have a different idea—but when her sister looked up she was glassy-eyed.
‘It’s perfect.’
Nel smiled to herself, grateful for the small victory.
Lauren cleared her throat.‘Mum said she spoke to you about the clinic.Will you stay?’
‘Just for a couple of weeks,’ Nel said.
Lauren held her gaze for a moment, then looked back at the album.‘Well I guess that’s better than nothing,’ she muttered.
Nel ignored the comment.‘I think I saw Ryan Warner this morning at the lighthouse,’ she said.Noticing Lauren’s puzzled expression, she added, ‘I went surfing.’
Lauren shrugged.‘Well, he lives here so it’s hardly surprising that you’d see him.’She opened her mouth to go on, but then she seemed to change her mind and looked back at the album.
‘Does he still work for Warner Property?’
‘Yeah.He must be killing it.House prices have been bonkers ever since Daniel Hammond bought the old brewery and the boathouse at the wharf.’Nel mustn’t have looked impressed enough, because Lauren frowned and added, ‘Don’t you know who Daniel Hammond is?’
‘Yes,’ Nel said, irritated.The pub baron owned half the waterfront pubs in Sydney.
‘Well, Steve reckons house prices in Carrinya have gone up thirty per cent in the last year,’ Lauren said.
‘Gee, that’s good,’ Nel said, hoping she sounded awe-struck enough to satisfy her sister.Her thoughts turned back to Ryan.‘Does Ryan cycle?’
Lauren sighed.‘How would I know?’
‘You seem to know everything about everyone else.’
After a long pause, Lauren said, ‘What’s with all the questions about Ryan Warner?’
Nel shrugged.
Lauren pressed her lips into a thin line.‘The last thing this town needs is for you to reappear after all this time and stir things up.’
Nel glared at her.She knew she should probably drop it, but she couldn’t.‘The thing is, Lauren, you and Mum want me to stay, but you also want me to pretend that nothing happened.’Her voice was slow, her words deliberate.‘Well, I can’t do that, because somethingdidhappen and Ryan Warner had something to do with it.’Nel held her sister’s gaze.‘And he’s walking around here like he owns the place while I feel like a fucking fugitive.’
A long silence.
‘No one’s made you feel like a fugitive, Nel.You’ve done that to yourself.’
There was a crack from the fire.Orange sparks shot up from the flames.Nel glared at her, but Lauren looked back at the album and flipped a page.
