The producers kept a lot of things close to their chests, but Spencer hadn’t known Emily had been close to leaving. Was that all this was, one big production for ratings? And if so, why was he still standing here instead of packing his bags and booking the first flight home?
The daycare car park was even crazier than usual and Clem almost didn’t see Hazel’s zippy little Volvo as she dodged the barrage of cars and strollers.
‘Clem! Hey! Wait.’
Tempting as it was to keep her head down and pretend she hadn’t heard Hazel calling out, Clem couldn’t keep avoiding her friend.
‘Alma!’ Indi squealed, waving with both hands before turning to Clem. ‘Mum, do you think I can hold itty bitty baby Cormac if I’m really, really, really careful?’
It was the exact opposite of Clem’s own reaction, but she followed Indi to the Volvo anyway and watched Hazel lift her new son from the car.
It’s a baby, not a ticking time bomb.She turned her attention to little Alma instead of Hazel’s new baby, who had arrived a month or so earlier.
‘Hey stranger, if I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought you were avoiding us,’ Hazel said, reaching out to draw Clem into a hug. ‘We haven’t seen you since the day you dropped off that magnificent picnic hamper when I got home from hospital. You didn’t even come inside, or steal him for a snuggle.’
Clem gave a tight laugh. ‘You know what the cafe’s like. Easier than the trenches of motherhood, but still hardly a moment to myself.’
Little Cormac stirred between them, and Clem stepped away, her pulse quickening at the soft whimper as his long, sandy-blonde eyelashes flickered. Hazel rocked from side to side, yawning. ‘He’ll be back asleep in about three seconds. After keeping me awake all darn night he’s trying hard to catch up on z’s. How sweet is your Indi though!’ Hazel said with another yawn.
Indi stood on her tiptoes and stroked Cormac’s fuzzy little head and wriggled her pointer finger until the baby gripped it with his tiny hand.
‘I’ll grab the pram,’ Hazel said, thrusting the bundle of baby and blankets into Clem’s arms. It was everything she’d been trying to avoid, and Clem stood rooted to the spot, like a rookie soldier holding a loaded gun for the very first time. Hazel’s running commentary about sleep cycles melded into Indi and Alma’s chatter about the baby dolls in the daycare centre’s pre-kinder room, and all the while Clem was silently urging Hazel to hurry up.
Just clip the bassinet to the damned pram base,she thought, sweat beading on her skin despite the crisp July morning.
‘Is Kev opening the cafe this morning? If you’ve got a moment, wanna grab a coffee with me and Cormac after drop-off and spy on the opposition?’
Hazel’s bassinet finally clicked into place and Clem lowered the baby, hoping her hurried handover wasn’t as obvious as it felt. The relief was instantaneous, and she quickly swiped a sleeve across her forehead to wipe away the sweat.
‘Tempting, but Brew Haven’s still closed with another sewerage pipe issue. Bubbled right back up their pipes and all over the bathroom and kitchen floors this time, apparently.’
‘Sounds like karma’s finally catching up with Marco Grubb,’ Hazel said, one hand on the pram handle and the other clasping Alma’s little hand as they weaved their way through the car park. ‘And before you run off, I’ve got a bone to pick with you.’
She saw it. She saw the way I basically dropped Cormac into the pram.Clem had never set out to hide her post-natal illness from the new friends she’d made in Penwarra, but it had never seemed like a good time to raise the subject.
‘Look, I’m sorry things have been—’
‘So you should be.’ Hazel grinned, interrupting her. ‘I haven’t seen hide nor hair of you in weeks. I know you’ve been liking my social media posts, and my gazillion photos of this little sleep thief, but I thought you’d drop by or hang out, that you’d want to see him in person. Admittedly, the baby brain and sleep fog don’t make for wild and witty conversation but I miss you gals. Especially with Mia away on her Gold Coast babymoon. Did you see the videos she sent in that bikini, with little Reggie on Jeff’s shoulders at the beach? I felt like a whale in my last trimester, but she’s got that cute preggy belly and a glow about her, don’t you think? We should totally get together when she’s back next week.’
Clem paused at the door to the girls’ daycare room, feeling more than a little guilty—she’d been avoiding Mia too. ‘Work’s all consuming,’ she said, signing Indi in as quickly as she could. ‘I wish I could, but it’s not easy right now.’
‘Gah,’ Hazel said, sanitising her hands on her way out. ‘You’re killing me, Clem. I suppose you’re rushing off now too?’
That had been the plan, but the desperate note in her friend’s voice softened Clem’s resolve. ‘We need more bread rolls from the bakery, I can walk and talk briefly?’
Hazel’s delight made her feel even guiltier. ‘I’ll take what I can get, then I guess I can harass the library team, see how they’re faring in my absence.’
Indi and Alma were already in the outdoor play area when they left. Both girls were so immersed in the sandpit they barely noticed Clem and Hazel blowing kisses from the footpath outside the daycare centre.
‘I need details aboutLove on the Land. I’m still having trouble picturing Spencer on the show. He’s a quiet one, and that program’s usually all about buff farm guys wrestling rams, fixing tractors and sweeping the city contestants offtheir feet. I wouldn’t have thought Spencer was hot enough to make the cut.’
‘He’s hot enough!’
Hazel snorted with laughter as Clem mentally slapped her hand over her mouth.
‘If you don’t mind an age gap,’ Hazel said. ‘He’s got a few years on us and I can’t help seeing him as the dorky English teacher, not the rugged rural bachelor they usually have on that show.’
Clem clamped her lips together to keep herself from voicing her strong disagreement.
