Page 28

Indy reached back to tie her hair into a ponytail as she walked along the dining hall verandah after dinner. The air had turned humid but wasn’t too unpleasant. Still, she’d give anything to be back down in the creek water. Maybe with Carter. Just the two of them.

She rounded the corner and caught sight of a familiar figure climbing from a car. ‘Ted?’

He grabbed a bag and slung it over his head. Then he pulled out a box and set it on the roof.

‘Hiya, Indy.’ The lanky redhead greeted her with an incredibly husky voice but a big smile and a hug.

Indy hugged him back, glad she was finally used to the way one sleeve of his shirt hung loosely.

When she’d first met the town’s local hero, she’d struggled to stop staring.

Now, it was something Ted liked to pay her out about.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘So much better, thanks to a strong dose of steroids for my lungs and antibiotics that came with a warning not to go out into the sun much while taking them. Felt like a vampire.’ He gave an exaggerated shudder that matched his smile.

Indy had always found herself wishing she shared Ted’s constant good mood, but tonight it seemed contagious. Or maybe that was because of how she’d spent her Sunday off.

‘I got a call from the coach for the Scorpions, Jonathan something,’ Ted continued, ‘about coming out to talk to the players. I can only do tonight because I’m heading into Sydney tomorrow.’

Indy picked up the box from the roof of the car. It was heavy and she had no idea how he carried it with only one arm. ‘Do you need a hand setting up?’

‘Yeah, I reckon three’s better than one.’

Indy laughed with him, and they headed for the meeting rooms near the dining hall. She switched the lights on in the one the team had been using for most of their meetings.

Ted studied the room. ‘Maybe if we can get rid of those tables and just gather the chairs together in the middle of the room? Facing the wall so I can put the PowerPoint up.’

Indy put the box on the table up the front as Ted slipped off his bag and pulled his laptop out. He coughed several times in a row and she crinkled her nose in empathy. Poor guy still sounded terrible.

‘You set up the tech shit and I’ll flip the tables and push them against the wall,’ she said.

‘Deal.’

Indy headed to the first table, feeling underneath for the pull handle that released the top and allowed her to prop the flat surface on its side.

She popped the brakes off and pushed it over to the wall before going to the next one.

‘I’ve only ever heard the talk that you give to the schoolkids at the expo each year.

Missed you on Friday, by the way. But I can’t see how that talk would impact grown footy players in the same way. ’

Ted’s chuckle turned into another coughing fit. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. ‘Sorry. You’re right, I’m not using that talk. They’ve asked for one about having a strong mindset.’

Indy pushed the third table against the first one and crossed the room for the last. ‘You’re definitely the right guy for that.’

‘This is true.’ He grinned at her before turning his attention back to the cords joining his computer to the giant screen on the wall.

Emery was good with that stuff, but she’d be down in the breakout room by now, feeding Blossom and getting ready for the ultimate battle of pool they’d planned on having.

With the final table in place, Indy quickly moved the chairs to make sure they were all facing the front, finishing just as footsteps shook the floor and players started filing in through the door.

Burgess smiled at her as he walked by with a couple of men she didn’t recognise.

She went to skirt around a big guy, but he stepped to the same side as her, blocking her path.

Her head tipped down. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered, and moved to the other side, but he did too.

A deep chuckle drew her gaze up and into the face of the guy who’d shoulder barged Carter the other morning, then taunted him. Something about signing a statement and the police. She was frozen, staring at him.

‘Do you want to dance with me, sweetheart?’

Her eyes narrowed and her spine straightened. ‘I’m not your sweetheart.’

Pushing the chair next to them aside, she walked past him but got caught behind another chair as more giants blocked the path.

The stream seemed endless until Carter appeared.

He moved to the side, holding the rest of the team behind him and allowing her enough space to slide past. She got a whiff of his aftershave and when he winked at her, her cheeks heated. This talk better not go for too long.

‘Indy, can you grab those books out of the box and set them up along the front table so they’re standing, please?’

She rushed to Ted’s side and did as he asked.

Several books on leadership, mind over matter and the power of the brain made up his collection, along with a few autobiographies of famous sportspeople.

Indy grinned more broadly, watching him open the box his Paralympic medals sat in to complete the display.

Ted rubbed his hand against his jeans and looked across the players.

Indy’s gaze followed his. They were all still moving around, grabbing chairs and grouping together.

The guy who’d blocked her path approached Carter, who was sitting beside Ethan with his arms crossed over his chest. Indy was too far away to hear what he said but judging from the smug grin on his face and the tightening of Carter’s jaw, it wasn’t friendly.

His eyes flicked to hers as the guy said something else.

Fire flashed in their depths. His arms dropped and he went to stand, only to be stopped by Ethan’s hands on his shoulder.

Ethan leant over to speak to the intruder.

‘Thanks for helping to set up.’

Indy jumped a mile and turned to Ray with wide eyes and a hand on her chest. ‘Geeze, Ray, you scared me. And no problem.’

He smiled at her as Ted stuck his hand out and introduced himself.

‘We’re ready to get started whenever you are,’ Ray said.

‘That’s my cue to leave. Good luck, Ted. You’ll be great.’

‘Thanks, Indy.’

She headed for the door as three claps sounded behind her and Ray’s voice broke out over the din, calling the players to take a seat and pay attention.

Standing beside the door was Carter’s stepfather, Jonathan.

His hands were clasped together in front of him, his back was straight and his face was set in a serious expression.

His dark eyes watched her. Indy tried to smile but the tension radiating off him made it too di?cult.

Instead, she nodded slightly and ducked out the door.

It closed with a soft thud behind her. She released her breath.

‘That was intense,’ she muttered, setting off at a brisk pace towards the gully track.

The night was more pleasant than the last few had been, no rain clouds visible and no humidity preceding them.

She breathed the air in and looked up at the unmasked view of the stars in the night sky.

She smiled. The dark plagued her nightmares, and some might argue that being outside at night with no streetlights or torch would feel the same, but it didn’t.

Stars as brilliant as these made it impossible to feel alone.

Besides, bad things had never happened to her outside, night or day.

No, that was a fresh hell that’d been reserved for when she’d been alone in her bedroom at night, the curtains drawn and all lights off.

The door locked. Pains from her empty stomach ricocheting around her small body.

Indy climbed the steps to the breakout room and went straight for Blossom’s pen.

Mara and Emery had been sharing bottle duty over the last few days and Indy missed the baby deer.

She leant over the side of the makeshift pen and Blossom uncurled her legs from her blanket to come over.

Running her fingertips through the deer’s soft coat, Indy laughed lightly when she nuzzled her arm in response.

The clinking of balls and laughter carried from inside. Indy could make out every voice in there—the women of Windale. The familiarity was comforting, but it wasn’t their presence she was craving tonight.

‘Is that you out there, Indy?’ Janet’s voice called.

‘It’s me. Coming.’ Leaning down further, she pressed a kiss to the top of Blossom’s head. ‘Good night, gorgeous.’ Then she slid the door open and stepped into the sound of raucous applause and cheering.

‘You’re finally here!’ Emery exclaimed, holding out a pool cue to her. Nova and Mara stood on the other side of the table, clutching identical cues. Nova had a beer in her hand.

‘Let the pool game begin,’ Mara said. Her smile was much brighter than it had been prior to her tumble over the cliff.

Indy noticed her eye liner was lighter and her fringe was pushed out of her face.

Mara leant over the table with her arm outstretched and a quick glance to Nova, who nodded.

Indy remembered being like that, wanting Nova’s approval for everything she did.

It’d only happened after Bonnie had died and Indy decided to really make a go of it in Windale.

She tended to do it less now, but the assurance she got when it was given was weighted just as heavily.

Guilt washed over Indy as Mara smacked the cue into the white ball and sent it careening into the neatly stacked coloured balls. Nova wouldn’t approve of what she was doing after hours with Carter.

‘Bad luck,’ Emery said, nudging Indy. ‘You’re up.’

Indy chalked the end of the cue and lined up her shot, choosing a ball full of colour near the left centre pocket. She drew the cue back. ‘Hey, Nova, is there any news from our kick-arse lawyer about the council investigation?’ Her hand shot forwards and she sank the ball perfectly.

Mara groaned and Indy grinned at her before lining up the next shot. She pocketed two more balls before setting up a block for Nova.

‘That’s not nice,’ the boss lady said lazily, then sank two balls with one shot. ‘But also not mean enough.’

Indy rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, yeah … the investigation?’

‘Not really, there’s not been an outcome or an update. Louisa just said to sit tight.’ She took another mouthful from her beer can. ‘Word is Barty was walking around the showgrounds on Friday with the auditor. Do you know anything about that?’

Indy frowned as she thought back a few days. ‘I avoided Barty, but I do remember some weedy guy with a clipboard with him when they came to watch the demonstration. If I’d known it was the investigator, I’d have—’ she paused, ‘—buttered him up.’

They all laughed. Loudly.

‘You mean you would’ve threatened him with cutting off a certain part of his anatomy if he dared to give anything less than a pass,’ Emery said with a smirk.

Nova laughed. ‘You know it’s true. You’re not exactly the softly spoken type.’

‘Screw you all! I could’ve flirted with him a little and made him all swoony. Promised him a date if he gave us a pass.’

Emery and Mara looked at each other and spluttered out their amusement.

‘Mmm hmm,’ Mara hummed.

‘If he was weedy and carried a clipboard there’s no way he’d be brave enough to date your snappy arse.’ Emery made a heart with her pointer fingers and thumbs, aiming it at Indy, who responded with her best withering stare. ‘Exactly.’

‘Did the boys from the Scorpions talk to Barty at all?’ Nova asked, the pool game seemingly forgotten.

Indy worked to keep her breathing even but let a smile lighten her face. ‘They did and gushed about what a good time they were having and how they had everything they need here. But they did better than just talk to him.’

‘What was it?’

‘Tell us.’

‘What’d they do?’

‘Come on, Indy.’ Theresa’s voice cut above all of them from where she sat on the couch next to Janet, crocheting what Indy hoped was a blanket, because if it was a scarf, they’d need to find a giant to wear it. ‘Spill the beans.’

Indy looked at Nova, wanting to see her reaction. ‘They pinned up a sign to their shade tent that read, “Brought to you by the women at Windale Mountain Station”.’