An hour later the kids were watching YouTube in the lounge room, tummies full of Hawaiian pizza, while the adults sat at the dining table among the empty boxes.They toasted Rob as they started a second bottle, a nice pinot that Cath had selected from his makeshift cellar under the house.It felt like a fitting tribute to her poor dad who had died with an extensive wine collection he would never get to enjoy.
The conversation swung between heaviness and lightness, tears and laughter.
‘How about when he got roped into being Santa at the primary school Christmas concert and the kids mobbed him?’Lauren said.
‘They pulled off his beard!’Steve laughed.‘I had to escort him to the staffroom, like a bodyguard.’
‘Poor Rob, he was quite shaken.Who would have thought a bunch of little kids could be so terrifying?’Cath said.
They all laughed.Nel smiled, picturing the scene, and felt suddenly overwhelmed with regret.She’d missed so much.Why had she assumed there were decades ahead?She excused herself and went to the bathroom where she splashed water onto her face.
As she walked back down the hall towards the dining room, she could see Lauren looking intently at their mother.
‘… you need to ask her, Mum,’ she was saying in a forceful undertone.
Nel stood at the doorway, listening.
‘Not yet,’ Cath replied.
Lauren sighed.‘When, then?’
‘Leave it, Lauren,’ she heard Steve’s deeper voice say.
Nel cleared her throat and stepped into the room.‘What do you need to ask me?’
Cath shot Lauren a look, clearly annoyed.‘Nothing.We’ll talk about it later.’
Chapter 5
Nel’s old childhood bedroom had been repurposed as a tastefully decorated spare room, with any sign of her previous ownership eradicated.A needlepoint that saidHome Sweet Homehung where once there had been a dog-eared poster of Robert Pattinson in hisTwilightera.The wardrobe now stored Cath’s summer clothes.Apparently Nel’s remaining possessions had been relocated to boxes in the garage.Only the ornate ceiling with its roses and looping ribbons was the same.
She piled half the decorative cushions on a cane chair in the corner to make space on the bed, threw back the floral quilt and crawled under the covers, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.
How strange it was, being back here in this room.In this town.For years, this day—the day she returned to Carrinya—had loomed in her future, vague but inevitable.When she left at eighteen, escaping the whispers and rumours that followed her wherever she went, she’d never intended to stay away for so long, but the anonymity of life in Sydney had been such a relief.It was as though she’d been trapped underwater those last few years here, suffocating.Reaching Sydney was like breaking through the surface of the water.She was finally able to breathe.
Each semester as the holidays approached, her mum would ask if she would come home, but the thought of subjecting herself to the scrutinising glare of Carrinya was more than Nel could manage.And there was always a good excuse.A casual job.Travel plans.Upcoming exams she needed to study for.
When she’d finished her internship, the opportunity to do her general practice training in Ireland presented itself and she jumped at it.Who wouldn’t?But as the years passed and she’d returned to Sydney, it became harder and harder to go back.Her family passed through the city often enough that she didn’t need to go down to see them, so there had just never been a good enough reason to make that five-hour journey.Until now.
There was a knock and the door opened a crack.
‘Can I come in?’Cath stepped into the room without waiting for an answer and sat down on the bed.She looked weak, drained.The delicate skin under her eyes was swollen.
‘I need your help, Nel.’She spoke steadily.‘I’m going to have to sell the clinic, but potential buyers will want to see that it’s operating at capacity.’Nel held her breath, sensing what was coming.‘Would you consider running it until I can sell it?’
‘But …’ Nel faltered.‘But that could take six months.Possibly longer.’
Cath shrugged.‘Steve thinks it shouldn’t be too hard to find a buyer.Carrinya’s a good spot for families.’
Nel looked away.Being back here for a week or two was one thing.Committing to months at the clinic was another proposition entirely.
‘There’s a new medical centre opening in North Carrinya,’ Cath went on.‘They did a letterbox drop across town last week.’Cath stared at her, waiting for an answer.Her pitch rose.‘Please, Nel.If we have to close the clinic, even for just a few weeks, we’ll lose patients.’
‘But I’ve got a lease—’
‘We can cover that.’
‘I don’t know how much leave I can get.’
