Instead I walked back out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind me.
“There’s a flight that leaves in five hours,” Charlie said, not even looking up from the screen. “An hour drive from here to Melbourne?—”
“How?” I asked, unable to speak a full sentence.
“Are you OK to drive?” She glanced over at the joey. “I’d take you, but I’m stuck here with this little guy.”
“I… Yes.” I said that far more definitively. “But what car am I supposed to take? The hire car was returned months ago, and the place isn’t likely to open for hours.”
“Take the 4WD.” She held out a set of keys, then pressed them into my palm. “Leave the keys in the glove box and parkthe car in long-term storage and I’ll go up with one of the boys to pick it up.”
Boys… I glanced back over my shoulder.
“I… I should go. Shit, tickets.”
Pulling out my wallet, I walked over to the screen to see it was already paid for.
“Charlie…” I said.
“Consider it a bonus for being such an amazing wildlife carer.” When her arms went around me, I sank into her embrace, needing that human touch right now. “You can teach people about the business, but only people with the heart for it really understand what it takes.” Her hand squeezed my arm. “You’ve got that heart.” Her eyes stared intently into mine. “Look after it back in the States.”
“Right now I need to look after Mom’s,” I said, then glanced over my shoulder again. “I don’t want to wake Troy up.”
“Makes sense. He’s always a grumpy in the morning, but he’s twice as bad when he gets woken up,” she replied with a wry smile.
“This was always only temporary.” So why was my voice catching on my words? “Just casual.”
“Of course.”
My lips pressed together as my muscles trembled. Run out the door, half of me insisted, even as the other half was sure I needed to stride down that hall, kicking the door open before throwing myself into Troy’s arms.
“I’ll send him a voice note.” Gripping the handle of my bag, I took a step in the right direction. “Explaining everything.”
“Do that,” she replied with a nod. “But not until you get safely to Melbourne. Driving at night?—”
“Means keeping an eye out for kangaroos and koalas,” I said. “I remember.”
“Remember this as well.” Her eyes creased at the corner. “You’ve got friends and family in the States, but… You’ve got one here in Australia, mate.”
“I’ve gotta go,” I croaked out, my eyes filling with tears and without another word, I walked outside. Throwing the bag into the back of the 4WD, I turned the engine over when I got behind the wheel, only to sit there. Twin rings of golden light illuminated the bare expanse in front of the main house, the tree trunks bleached white.
The next eucalyptus trees I’d see would be those that grew alongside the roads at home. That gave me no pleasure, because it was now that my eyes started to fill with tears. Because I was leaving, because of why I was going.
Because none of this was what I wanted, but I was a grown adult. The world didn’t pay me no mind and it wouldn’t now.
But Nugget would.
Right as I put the car into gear, a flash of movement had me looking up, just in time to see the wombat trundle out and into the car’s path.
“Nugget,” I said, waving my hand, but of course, the wombat didn’t budge. Winding down the window, I yelled out his name, but those beady little eyes just stared me down. Grabbing my seatbelt, I unclipped it and then went to get out of the car, only to find the marsupial had trotted off into the darkness.
Which meant there was nothing else to keep me here. Reminding myself of that fact, I drove down the driveway and hit the road.
“When you get this, I’ll be gone.” I winced against the pink and orange of the dawn skies as I spoke into my phone. I’d set it up on the centre console of the car, ignoring Charlie’s very sensible advice. “Just know…” My sigh came from the depths of me, so much more than air rushing out with it. “Just know I’ll never forget my time on your farm.” My eyes creased, myvision starting to get blurry as I swallowed furiously. “I’ll never forget you, Troy. I came to Australia to escape my old life, but I found so much more.” I couldn’t hold back my sad little laugh. “Heaven, that’s what the last few months has been and apart from the animals, you were the best part, you belligerent asshole…”
Hours later, I was sitting in the international lounge of Melbourne airport, staring at the screen that showed all the departures. My fingers clutched the handles of my carry-on bag, right up until they announced that passengers were invited to board. One last look at the panoramic view of Melbourne shown through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and then I was walking down the gangway and onto the plane.
The flight was long, draining, and the nervous tension that thrummed in my body didn’t ease. Not when I got off the plane and collected my luggage. Not when I caught a taxi, going straight to the hospital Mom was staying in. Not even when I strode down the bright white corridors, glancing around until finally I found the nurse’s station on Mom’s floor.
