Sophie got home.
She had showered and changed into shorts and a strappy tank top and was sitting at the kitchen table with a pot of tea in front of her when Sophie exploded in through the back door. There was no other way to describe it, Soph only ever seemed to have one pace and that was full steam ahead.
‘You made it! I can’t believe you’re actually here,’ she squealed. ‘I heard about the plane trip. Thank God it didn’t crash.’
Emma didn’t know what else you’d call it when a plane dropped from the sky and slid along a runway on its belly instead of its wheels, but she agreed it could have been worse, much worse, so she wasn’t about to argue.
‘I’m so sorry I was late. Are you really okay?’ Sophie looked her up and down.
‘I’m fine.’
‘You’ve got a bit of a fat lip.’
Emma touched her lip self-consciously. It was tender but it was hardly a catastrophe. She started to stand but Sophie had enveloped her in a hug before she could get out of her seat. ‘I’m fine, really. All in one piece and delivered safe and sound to your door.’
‘I can’t believe you’ve met Harry already. How did he know who you were?’
‘He didn’t at first. He was on the landing strip when we were all evacuated from the plane. He sort of appeared from nowhere through the dust—’
‘Did you collapse into his arms and make him carry you to the terminal?’
Emma shot her cousin a withering glare. ‘No.’
‘Pity,’ Sophie said with an exaggerated sigh. ‘That would have been so romantic.’
Emma ignored that comment. She happened to agree with Sophie but it would have sounded ridiculous to say so. ‘He had his arms full already.’
‘With what?’ Sophie asked.
‘With a nurse called Lisa,’ Emma said, keen to see Sophie’s reaction to that bit of news.
‘A short, curvaceous, blonde?’
Emma nodded, unsurprised that Sophie knew her. She was fast realising that anonymity was hard to find in this town.
‘What happened to her?’
‘She broke her wrist. Harry carried her off to the ambulance. He asked if I was okay and sent me to the terminal by myself.’ Emma left out the part about the tingles and the light-headedness as in her opinion it was far better to play down the events of the afternoon. ‘But when I was waiting for you, and the terminal was just about empty, he came and helped me again.’
‘I still think it would have been better if he’d swept you off your feet instead of Lisa but never mind—isn’t he fabulous?’
Gorgeous, Emma thought, but she wasn’t going to say that until she had more information. She knew from experience that things were not always as they seemed. ‘He seems nice.’
‘Nice! He’s better than that. If I wasn’t madly in love with Mark, I’d chase after him.’
‘He’s single?’ That surprised her. In her experience men who looked like that weren’t often single. ‘What about Lisa?’
‘They’re just friends. Harry’s single but he’s never single for long. He has a bit of a reputation as a ladies’ man. Luckily for him, Broken Hill is a very transient place, which means lots of the women with broken hearts are just passing through and don’t stay around to cause him grief. It seems to suit Harry. I’m sure his motto is “plenty more fish in the sea”. I bet he’d be happy to help you get over Jeremy.’
‘I don’t need help. Distance is all I need. I think I’m done with dating for a while.’
‘We’ll see.’ Sophie laughed.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I’ve never known you to be without a boyfriend for more than a few months and it’s been, what? Four months now?’
‘Five.’ Not that she was counting. But Sophie was right. She was never single for long and didn’t actually like being on her own. She’d spent too much time on her own as a child and because of her nomadic upbringing she’d never really had a chance to form close female friendships that stood the test of time so boyfriends had filled that gap. But Emma did intend to take a break from dating.
She needed time to find out who she was and what she wanted, without any complications. ‘I’m not looking for a boyfriend.’
‘That’s okay,’ Sophie said, refusing to be put off. ‘I doubt Harry’s looking for a girlfriend but if you have an itch that needs scratching, he’d probably be happy to help you out.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Emma replied, even though she knew she had no intention of getting romantically involved with anyone for a long time, no matter how gorgeous they were.
Not even if his touch had sent her hormones into overdrive?
Surely that was only because it had been so long since she’d had sex. Five months was a very long time so was it any wonder her hormones were a little crazy? But before Sophie could make any more helpful suggestions, their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Sophie’s housemate.
Grace was a petite woman, short and fine boned with jet-black hair cut in a bob. She was almost the perfect opposite of tall, blonde, Nordic-looking Sophie, and seeing them standing side by side as Sophie introduced her made Emma smile.
Grace’s arrival was closely followed by Harry’s reappearance and as he let himself in through the back door and despite her vows of celibacy, Emma found herself wishing she’d changed into a slightly more attractive outfit. She had an enormous bag stuffed with pretty clothes and she’d gone for comfort over style. But at least her hair was freshly washed and blow-dried and she was no longer covered in red dust.
Not that Harry even seemed to notice, he was too busy regaling Grace with his version of the drama of the plane crash while Sophie played hostess. Somehow Harry managed to make the plane crash sound almost exciting and if Emma hadn’t been intimately acquainted with the events of the day she would certainly now feel as though she’d lived through it. He was an entertaining storyteller and Emma imagined that anyone listening to his version would be sorry they hadn’t seen it for themselves, Harry made it sound as though it had been something not to be missed.
Grace asked Emma a few questions and Emma added her comments as best she could, but she was no match for Harry’s engaging style and she preferred listening to him while they waited for delivery of the take-away pizza Sophie had ordered.
‘Lisa’s broken wrist is a complication we don’t need at the moment,’ Harry said as he munched his fourth piece of pizza. Emma wasn’t surprised that a man of his size had a hearty appetite.
‘Why is that?’ Sophie asked.
‘She’s supposed to be taking a locum position with the flying doctor service while Kerri is on maternity leave. She was due to start next week but she’ll be out of action now.’
