‘Sharky, Sharky, Sharky,’they called as they chased him.
Fin laughed, his heart light as he zoomed all around the field, followed by a stampede of kids. At one point he had to leap over Sweeney, who was on the ground snapping all the action, as he swept by her position. He was like the Pied Piper of Ballyshannon right now and it feltgood.
Eventually he slowed enough for the kids to catch him and they crowded around him as if he was a rock star, each of them wanting a high five or a fist bump, which he eagerly supplied. Once all the hand slapping had been delivered, he called the training to a close and the kids reluctantly went to find their parents. There’d be no more training now until Monday, but he was confident that when they next gathered, he’d be on the front foot.
Even conscious of the fact they were on a tight timetable with Sweeney’s imminent departure, it still took fifteen minutes to extract himself from parents and bystanders, which meant that when he joined her at the sideline, they were already running behind. They were supposed to be at Connie’s five minutes ago.
‘That was much better,’ he said, still unable to wipe the smile off his face.
But she was busy scrolling on her phone, all her camera gear still out, the only stationary person on the ground as kids and parents made the mass exodus, car doors shutting, headlights glowing as the night started to draw in. Normally she was all packed up and ready to go when he was done, but not tonight.
The night that was already pretty tight timeline wise.
He was going to ping her on it, but then he saw her face scrunched in concentration as she stared at the screen, and a hot spark of alarm shot up Fin’s spine.
Something was wrong.
‘Sweeney? Everything okay?’
She shook her head as she glanced at him. ‘A volcano has erupted in Indonesia.’
Ten
Sweeney did not get on her flight. In fact, the flight was cancelled, along with several others leaving from Australia for Indonesian destinations. Instead, she spent several hours on the phone at her mother’s house with her employer and the airline. Neither of them could tell her anything definitive, given the situation was still evolving in Indonesia, but both hoped things would be clearer in the morning.
Thankfully no one had been killed in the latest eruption from the rather tempestuous volcano, which had misbehaved several times over the last decade. But the resultant ash cloud made aviation unsafe and grounded flights.
There was nothing Sweeney liked more than photographing the stunning array of scenery the planet offered, but Mother Nature could be a real bitch sometimes.
And now Sweeney had nowhere to be and wasn’t likely to be booked on another job until the situation with the Indonesian one became clear. Which meant there was no reason to rush out of the country.
No reason to rush out of Ballyshannon.
‘Do they know when flights will resume?’ her mother asked as Sweeney hung up from DFAT, who had issued a travel alert a few hours prior. They’d informed her they were monitoring things and that, as soon as it was safe, flights would be running once again.
‘No. Apparently meteorologists are working on weather models to figure out wind patterns and the like, but even if there’s not another eruption, it’ll probably be a few days before things are clear enough to open air space.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame,’ Connie said over her glass of red wine, doing her best to look crestfallen.
‘There was that one a while back somewhere near Bali, I think?’ Rhonda added conversationally. ‘It took up to three weeks before flights were allowed through that area again. I do hope it’s not that long for you, dear.’
Fin winked at her over his mother’s head and Sweeney suppressed a smile. She didn’t blame her mum for being a little gleeful that she’d be sticking around for longer than planned given she so rarely came home. Or Rhonda for being happy that her best friend was going to get to spend some unexpected time with her daughter.
But neither of them should give up their day jobs for acting gigs.
And surely they both had to realise that this development did not bode well for the big fat engagement lie. Their mothers might suddenly be excelling at deception, but neither Sweeney nor Fin were comfortable with the situation, and their chances of accidentally letting the cat out of the bag increased exponentially the longer they had to perform publicly.
‘How were the photos you took today, sweetie?’
Glad to think about something else other than the logistics of reorganising her calendar, Sweeney nodded. ‘Better, I think. Thanks to Fin’s suggestion I got down really low to take most of the shots, and I think it worked well.’ She’d been pleased with them through the viewfinder, at least. ‘I won’t really know until I look at them on the laptop, though.’
‘That sounds positive,’ Rhonda said. ‘Can’t wait to see what Mai posts later.’
*
An hour later, back at Rhonda’s house with Fin watching the news on the couch beside her, Sweeney confirmed her gut feeling. Theywerebetter.Muchbetter than she’d thought.‘Fin!’Her pulse tripped at the gold on the screen as she scrolled.
His eyes met hers and it must have been written all over her face because he grinned and said, ‘Good?’
