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‘Mmmmh. Yum!’ He echoed her earlier sounds, struggling to say the words through the mouthful of food, and she laughed.

They ate their bagels and drank their coffee, Hannah feeding Caleb bites every time he leaned a little closer in silent request, sometimes playfully biting at her finger. She managed to get him to agree to some music, although he refused to listen to the radio.

‘How about a playlist? I think I can pair my phone with the car.’ She was fiddling with the connection when Radiohead started playing loudly over the speaker.

‘Depress Sesh?’ asked Caleb, and she realised the name of the playlist had popped up on the large satnav screen, and was scrolling happily along. Depress Sesh: Breakup songs for the broken-hearted.

‘Ah! No, we don’t want to listen to that!’ She scrambled to turn it off. She’d found that particular playlist after breaking up with Patrick. An oddly cathartic act of wallowing in her windowless bedroom, listening to depressing music on repeat while she cried over a guy who posted videos of himself lighting his own farts.

‘Erm, how about this?’ Coastal Drive Playlist scrolled along the screen. ‘Dog Days Are Over’ by Florence + The Machine started playing. Hannah sank back in her seat, certain she was now sweating profusely.

‘Good choice,’ said Caleb, tapping his fingers to the beat on the steering wheel. A wave of peace washed over her and she grinned, lightly slapping her palm against her thigh in time to the song.

The sun crested over the horizon as they joined the Pacific Motorway and left Sydney behind them. Tall trees were on either side of them for a long time, with only the endless blue sky ahead. Hannah sipped her sweet coffee and decided she was more than happy to keep him company. She glanced at Caleb. Broad-shouldered, sexy, sword-wielding, thoughtful, fancy-coffee-buying Caleb, and she realised she was more than a little tempted to pick up Schrödinger’s ball.

After all, what was the worst that could happen?

She wouldn’t allow herself to go down the Depress Sesh road or humiliate herself by being uptight and desperate for something serious again.

She stared at his big hands and his relaxed grip on the steering wheel. His concentration was focused on the road, but he drove with an easy confidence, as if secure in the knowledge that he could handle anything thrown his way.

Perhaps, for once, she could sit back and enjoy the ride?

Chapter Thirteen

At their first gas stop, Caleb had dug out the script for Hannah. She’d then read it to him for the next couple of hours of the journey. Initially, she’d put on silly voices for each of the characters, but after a while, they’d both become engrossed in the story. By the end of her read-through, they were equally convinced the film would be a massive hit.

They’d done nearly five hours on the road since their early start. But he was desperate to take a break and stretch his legs.

As if she could read his mind, Hannah asked, ‘Shall we come off soon?’

‘Sure. See what’s coming up.’

But he should have known Hannah was already one step ahead of him. ‘Well, we’re not far from Port Macquarie. There are plenty of beaches and the Tacking Point Lighthouse is meant to have a nice coastal walk…’ She paused with a sweet smile, and he could already guess what she’d prefer to do. ‘Or, we could head to Guulabaa – the Place of Koala. It’s mainly for kids, but you can’t come to Australia and not see a koala. And you’ll definitely want to see the big koala – it’s a statue.’

Unable to resist teasing her, he gestured to the satnav. ‘Put in the coastal walk.’ Her face fell. ‘Nah, I’m kidding. Let’s go see the koalas.’

Hannah made a squeal of excitement that made him think of something far more interesting than a big koala, but he was glad to have pleased her all the same.

At Guulabaa, Hannah managed to convince another young couple to take a picture of them beneath the big koala statue, in exchange for taking one of them. She’d been delighted by the picture, while he’d been delighted at the way she’d shyly pressed against his side during the taking of the photo. The giant koala was bright yellow and hand-painted with eucalyptus leaves and mini koalas. Caleb and Hannah stood between its paws, an arm wrapped around one another as their photo was taken.

They passed on the kids’ big adventure nets in favour of visiting the breeding and rehabilitation centre to learn more about the conservation work.

They spent a pleasant hour wandering the timber walkways and forest viewing decks of Guulabaa, watching the rescued sweet-faced marsupials as they ate and slept in the trees. Caleb wasn’t sure what was cuter: the teddy-bear koalas or Hannah’s enthralled face as she watched them dozing amongst the leaves and trunks of their home.

‘Eucalyptus is poisonous. So, they basically eat, sleep off the toxins and eat again.’

A disturbing sound drew his attention. ‘What the hell was that?’

Hannah giggled. ‘Yeah, they make grunting sounds during mating season. But aren’t they adorable?’

‘Well, they are certainly cute, but the sounds they make are freaky.’

‘They’re adorable!’ Hannah said firmly, before adding sadly, ‘Can you believe they could be extinct in the wild by 2050?’

He didn’t like to see her sad, even if it was about an endangered species he could do very little about. ‘They’re doing great work here to help, so I’m sure they’ll change that. Let’s buy something to eat before we go – I’m starving.’

Hannah nodded in agreement. ‘Remind me to donate before we leave though.’