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‘You had us worried for a moment there,’ Janet said as Indy eased herself out of the older lady’s too-tight embrace.

‘Not that we thought you’d stolen anything,’ Theresa piped up from the other side of the room, where she was loading clean plates onto the trolley. ‘But we didn’t know what was going on.’

‘I didn’t do anything, but I wasn’t sure how far that guy had gone to set me up,’ Indy said, grabbing a plastic container from the stash under the sink.

‘I’m going to grab an early lunch take-away style today, if that’s okay?

I don’t really feel like sitting in a roomful of people who saw me leave with a cop this morning. ’

‘Completely understandable, sweetheart.’

Indy started scooping the chicken pasta bake into the container. She was pressing the lid on top when a scream came from the dining room.

‘Indy!’ Emery ran through the kitchen door at top speed, skidding to a stop in front of Indy and wrapping her in a bear hug that did a solid job of squeezing all the air from her lungs.

‘Are you okay? Did they use police brutality on you? Did you have to ask for a lawyer? I swear I’m going to kill that stupid assistant coach. I’ll stick a brown snake in his room.’

‘Whoa, Em. I really appreciate the enthusiasm, but I’m fine. Everything’s fine.’

Emery pulled back and shook her head. ‘Sorry, I need to cool it with the murder talk. Carter said Constable Williams was probably ready to tap my phone and get a warrant to access my Google search history.’

‘Come again?’

‘We went down to the police station to get you, but you’d already been released and were on your way back with Sarge.’

‘Why were you and Carter coming to get me?’

Emery cringed. ‘Okay, so the long of it is, when you were arrested—’

‘I wasn’t arrested.’

‘Fine, when you left with the police o?cer, Carter and I ran outside after you in time to see you drive off. Nova was standing with Ray and Jonathan. It looked really bad, Indy. I knew Ray was lying and Carter clued on pretty quick when I brought up how you rejected Ray yesterday. Why didn’t you tell him? ’

‘It wasn’t on purpose, it just didn’t come up. Continue with what happened, please.’

‘Right, so we knew it, but no one was listening to us. Not until Carter … vouched for you.’

Trepidation sped up Indy’s pulse. ‘He vouched for me. What does that mean?’

Emery’s gaze darted towards the ceiling then met Indy’s. ‘He told them there was no way you did it because he was with you last night … in your cabin, until after midnight.’

Indy nodded slowly as warmth and despair battled in her chest. Warmth that he’d finally stood up for her when it mattered and in front of his stepfather. Despair because standing up for her meant everyone now knew the truth about them. Shit.

Despair definitely got the upper hand.

‘Carter alibiing you was the only reason Jonathan searched Ray’s room.

If he hadn’t, you’d probably still be sitting down at the cop shop,’ Emery continued, her words running into each other like they always did when she was worried.

‘And who knows what would’ve happened? I mean, Carter was really calm the whole time and I was a mess.

He was sticking his own neck out too, Indy.

He didn’t say it as a bragging thing and there wasn’t any hint that he was ashamed of it or anything. It was actually really sweet.’

‘Chill, Emery. I get it.’ And she did. Kind of. ‘Is there any chance Nova wasn’t there or didn’t hear it?’

Emery hesitated then shook her head.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit . Indy’s stomach twisted painfully. It’d be okay. It had to be okay. ‘Are we still heading out to check on the stock?’

Emery shook her head again. ‘I ran into Nova waving off the auditor. She said we can have the rest of the day off, given all the drama. She wants to catch up with you, though. Said she’d meet you at your cabin when she gets the chance.’

It wasn’t unexpected but it also ramped up her despair into devastation.

‘Okay. Think positive, right? That’s what you always say.

Maybe Nova will be so relieved that I didn’t steal anything that she’ll forget the whole Carter thing.

Or she could’ve had a tiny stroke that made her only forget that and otherwise left her unharmed? It’s possible. Right?’

‘Yeah, I guess.’ Emery’s tone convinced no one.

Indy handed her the lunch container. ‘You eat this. I’m not feeling so hungry anymore.’

Indy stood at her kitchen table and folded the last pair of socks from her laundry basket. Janet would be proud that it was actually empty for once. She popped the piles back in the basket and took it into her bedroom.

‘Knock, knock,’ Nova called as she opened the door and walked in. She held up a gold watch. ‘I borrowed this, I guess to prove that it did exist. You always did have good taste.’

Indy paused in her bedroom doorway and eyed the item. ‘I didn’t take it. Even if I was still picking pockets, I wouldn’t waste my time on a fake.’

Nova looked at it more closely. ‘It’s a fake?’

‘A Bali or Thailand knock-off is my guess.’ She took a couple of tentative steps into the lounge room.

‘But that’s not the point, is it? I didn’t know that telling Ray no would lead to false allegations that would get the police involved the morning the auditor was due.

Nova, you’ve gotta know that I don’t steal anymore. ’

‘No, I know you don’t,’ she said, pocketing the watch. ‘But apparently you still lie.’

Indy winced. That stung. ‘That’s a new thing,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Not as sorry as I am.’ Nova went to the table and gripped the back of a chair with her hands.

‘You’re a good worker, Indy. The best I’ve had, but you broke the one rule I can’t look past. I almost wish you had stolen the watch.

That, we could’ve worked through, probably with a lot of trough cleaning time.

But sleeping with a guest?’ She rubbed the stress lines between her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, but you’re out.’

‘I’m out?’ The words sounded foreign, as if they were a different language. ‘Come on, Nova, don’t do this. I’ve got nowhere else to go.’

‘Then why would you risk it? What were you thinking? Sleeping with Carter Hendrix? He’s Carter Hendrix !

’ Nova’s eyes were wide with the impression of just how crazy she thought the whole thing was.

‘You let your entire future on the mountain go for what, Indy? So you could brag about sleeping with a sports star? I thought this place meant more to you.’

Nova may as well have stabbed her in the chest. The pain was the same. ‘It does. And why not Carter Hendrix? It wasn’t for bragging rights. There are real feelings involved.’

‘Oh, please, Indy. I didn’t think you were that na?ve. Did he promise to marry you or something? That you’d be together forever? You got completely sucked in and for what cost to him? Nothing but a good time. For you? You’re now unemployed and homeless.’

Indy swallowed hard. She knew how the situation would look to other people.

Jonathan’s accusation of her being a gold-digging cougar still rang in her ears.

But copping this from Nova, the person she’d always admired, looked up to and who had found enough worth in Indy all those years ago to give her a chance? Her world was shattering.

‘You still see me as that messed-up kid from the rough side of town, don’t you? Never going anywhere or making anything of myself.’

‘If I do it’s because that’s how you still see yourself.

’ Nova pulled an envelope from her back pocket and put it on the table, then she turned and headed for the door.

‘That’s your final pay and any leave owed to you.

I want you off my property by five. Emery can drop you into town but no further.

’ She strode from the cabin, slamming the door behind her.

Fuck! Indy’s mind was frozen, her body numb.

What was she going to do now? She crumpled to the floor as if a giant had pressed down on her shoulders.

Curling herself into a ball like she had when she was a child trapped in the dark.

Crippled with the same helplessness. Her world was no more.

Emptiness collided with disbelief. This wasn’t happening.

She couldn’t be leaving the only real home she’d ever had.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. Where was she going to go? How was she going to survive away from the mountain? She didn’t even own a suitcase.

Stop, Indy. Breathe.

She didn’t have time to completely fall apart. One step at a time. She needed to figure out how she was going to get her shit out of here.

On shaking legs, she went to the kitchenette, opened a drawer and pulled out a roll of garbage bags. Raw devastation slammed into her like she’d stepped in front of a road train. She really hadn’t come as far she’d thought she had.