Mr Right Now

by Karly Lane

  ‘I know,’ she said, sounding weary. ‘I just … I’m not sure.’

  ‘About what? Talk to me. If we don’t get all of this out in the open we can’t deal with it.’

  ‘It’s such a big … step.’

  ‘I know what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted. You. A life together here, working the farm, raising our kids, growing old together. It doesn’t have to be complicated.’

  He saw her lips twist slightly in response. ‘Anything can be made to sound uncomplicated. It’s when you have to apply it to real life that it gets messy.’

  ‘So tell me. Tell me what’s complicated.’

  ‘Well, for starters, a life here,’ she said bluntly.

  ‘But you love this place, you said yourself coming home was always the best feeling on earth.’

  ‘Yeah, it is, but that’s because it was my home and it holds all my childhood memories. I haven’t lived here for over a decade … my adult life has been in the city. That’s a lot to walk away from, Griff.’

  ‘You haven’t been happy for a while now, though, right?’ She glanced at him, then away again. ‘Me either. I’ve known something was missing for a long time. It’s the same with you—deep down you know you want a change. Maybe it’s time to come home.’

  ‘It’s easy for you, you’re not the one giving anything up.’

  ‘But if you’re giving up a life you’re not happy with, then it’s not exactly a bad thing, is it? There has to be a way to combine being out here with your work. The whole world is online now. It’s not like I’d be expecting you to give up your career.’

  ‘I’m not sure I’m ready for … this,’ she said, throwing her hands up and letting them fall back to her sides dismally. ‘When I was thinking of a change, I was thinking more along the lines of travel and adventure. I look at Hadley and I feel like I’ve done nothing with my life except study and work.’

  His heart sank at her words. If she wanted adventure and excitement, this was probably the last place on earth she’d want to move to. Disappointment flooded through him. He’d really thought she’d want a life with him the way he wanted one with her. ‘I don’t think Hadley’s life is as rosy as it looks from the outside,’ he said listlessly.

  ‘No. Probably not. I mean, I’d never want to be a war correspondent, but it would be nice to see a bit of the world.’

  They lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts, until he forced himself to make a move and get home. He could have stayed the night, but his heart wasn’t in it. He felt bruised and battered. He couldn’t compete with the life she wanted, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to change that.

  Twenty-four

  Griff looked up as the screen door opened, squeaking slightly in the still night. His eyes had adjusted to the dark while he’d been sitting out on the verandah. He saw the small figure of his sister easing the door shut so as not to wake anyone inside.

  ‘Can’t sleep?’ he asked quietly, and bit back a grin when he saw Hadley jump and swear in a low, harsh whisper.

  ‘What are you doing out here?’ she demanded, coming over to take a seat across from him, tucking her legs up.

  ‘Not tired.’

  ‘I thought you’d still be over with Liv.’

  ‘Nah. I’ve got an early start in the morning.’

  He heard Hadley scoff lightly. ‘Yeah, right, like that’s ever stopped you before.’ After a few minutes she nudged his foot with her own. ‘Come on, spill. What’s going on?’

  What the hell, he was going crazy trying to sort out the whirl of thoughts by himself. ‘I thought we were both on the same page. I wanted to find out what she was thinking about the future and she pretty much ruled out anything long-term happening between us.’

  ‘What?’ Hadley frowned. Her surprise at least made him feel a bit less crazy. ‘Did she actually say she didn’t want a relationship with you?’

  ‘She may as well have,’ he said gloomily.

  ‘Hang on, what did she say, exactly?’ Hadley asked, her attention fixed firmly on him.

  ‘She said she wanted more excitement and adventure in her life. She wants to travel. She wants her life to be more like yours,’ he said, swinging his gaze to his sister accusingly.

  ‘What’s that look for? I’ve never told her she needed more excitement.’ She gave a humourless laugh. ‘And I can assure you my life is nothing to aspire to.’

  Griff frowned and opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but she hurried on, not giving him the chance.

  ‘So she didn’t actually say she didn’t want a relationship, then?’

  ‘Well, no, but she pretty much ruled out giving up her life in the city to come here.’

  ‘It’s a big step, Griff. Maybe she just needs a bit more time?’

  ‘We’re running out of time, Hads. Once harvest is over, she’ll go back and get caught up in her important job in the city and forget about everything out here. I can’t compete with that. Besides,’ he said irritably, ‘if she gets all bent out of shape about seeing Cash, how’s that going to work? I get that things were a bit awkward with Cash and me at Christmas, but I thought Liv and I had moved on from that. I thought she knew how I felt about her. Then she left the table after the baby announcement and …’ He let out a frustrated sigh. ‘I get the feeling she’s not telling me something. It’s doin’ my head in. I’ve tried to ask her about it and she just … clams up.’

  ‘About that,’ Hadley said, sounding unusually hesitant. ‘It’s my fault she won’t talk about that night.’

  ‘Your fault?’ Griff frowned across at his sister.

  ‘I asked her not to tell anyone.’

  ‘Hads, what are you talking about?’

  ‘The baby announcement,’ she started, then followed with a long, reluctant sigh. ‘It caught me off guard and I left the table before anyone could see that I was upset. Liv came to check on me.’

  ‘Why would you have been upset?’

  The fact his usually opinionated sister was uncharacteristically lost for words warned him that whatever was going on was serious.

  ‘Because I recently had a miscarriage. I don’t want to make a big deal about it,’ she said quickly when she saw Griff’s reaction. ‘And you are not to tell anyone, especially Mum and Dad! Promise me, Griff, or so help me God I will kick your arse.’

  ‘Yeah. All right,’ he said impatiently. He didn’t really give a toss about telling anyone, he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact his little sister had just lost a baby. ‘Hads, I don’t know what to say.’ He felt completely helpless.

  ‘There’s nothing to say. I’m only telling you now because that’s why Liv left the table the other night. To make sure I was okay.’

  ‘So she knows about it?’

  ‘Yeah. It happened when she was down in Sydney. I’m kind of glad she was there, actually. I thought I could deal with it on my own, but it was pretty awful.’

  ‘So Mitch wasn’t there?’

  ‘No. He doesn’t know about it either.’

  ‘What the hell, Hadley?’

  ‘Don’t,’ she said, putting both feet on the ground. ‘Don’t start. I already told Liv, and I’m telling you. This is my decision and I’m not telling him. It’s over and done with.’

  Griffin stared at Hadley, floored for the second time in the space of as many minutes. ‘I’d want to know, Hads. If it was my baby, I’d want to know.’

  ‘I’m not even sure Mitch would care, to tell you the truth.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We had a fight before he left. I don’t even know why he came, he hates it out here. We should never have got married.’

  ‘I’ve never been married, but I’m guessing there’d be a pretty steep learning curve involved. Maybe you just need some time?’

  ‘I think he’s having an affair.’ Her tone was so hollow that at first Griff wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.

  ‘That’s … wow. What makes you think that?’

 
‘I overheard a phone call a while ago. He said it was work, but the way he was talking … I couldn’t hear what he was saying exactly, but it was his whole demeanour … I just know he was talking to a woman and it wasn’t work related. And there’ve been other things—times he’s said he was on assignment but I know he wasn’t, other bits and pieces that just don’t add up.’

  ‘Have you confronted him about it? Maybe there’s a good explanation?’ He really didn’t know Mitch; he certainly hadn’t warmed to the bloke, but he didn’t want to see his little sister’s marriage break up.

  ‘It’s just a feeling.’

  ‘Well, I’m no marriage counsellor, but I reckon this is something you need to talk about with him.’

  ‘Maybe I don’t want to know,’ she said, staring out into the inky blackness.

  ‘Why wouldn’t you want to know something like that?’

  ‘Because then I’d have to deal with it, and quite frankly, Griff,’ she said, turning her head to look at him solemnly, ‘I don’t think I can do that right now.’

  Griff wished he had some words of wisdom for her, but he was way out of his depth with this one. He didn’t understand the kind of relationship his sister and brother-in-law had, but it sounded a lot more complicated than he was equipped to deal with. So instead, he reached out and held her hand and kept his mouth shut.

  Christ, and he thought his life was complicated.

  Olivia looked up from filling the ute from the bowser and watched as Griff ambled towards her.

  ‘Hi,’ she said cautiously.

  ‘Hadley told me why you left the table the other day.’

  Her hand holding the pump jumped a little, and she checked to make sure nothing had spilled.

  ‘I’m sorry about going off at you the way I did that night. You were just being a good friend.’

  ‘Can we please stop talking about it?’ she asked wearily.

  ‘I just wanted to tell you that I know what was behind it all. But I wish I’d known then. I would have understood a bit better.’

  ‘It wasn’t my place to tell you.’

  ‘Yeah. I get it.’

  ‘Is she okay?’ It wasn’t like Hadley to be talking about it voluntarily, so something must have happened.

  He sighed, then ran a hand through his short hair. ‘The hell if I know.’

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Look, you know how to talk to her. I think she really needs you right now. She’s got stuff going on with Mitch.’

  ‘Mitch? What stuff? What did she say?’ Olivia wished she could take back the words when Griffin eyed her warily.

  ‘What do you know?’ he asked slowly.

  ‘Know?’ she said, trying to downplay her reaction.

  ‘Liv,’ he said, eyeing her sternly. Far too sternly for the laidback Griffin.

  ‘Nothing. You were the one who brought it up.’

  ‘She thinks Mitch is having an affair.’

  Olivia’s eyes widened despite her best attempt to keep her expression neutral.

  ‘It’s true?’ he asked, sounding shocked.

  ‘I …’ She opened her mouth and closed it again as she searched for something to say.

  ‘Olivia!’ he snapped. ‘Tell me what you know.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘You can,’ he said in a tone that had ice running beneath it.

  This was such a mess.

  ‘It was that night,’ she said stiltedly. ‘After our fight. I was heading back to the car and I saw … them.’

  ‘Who?’ His clipped question sounded harsh.

  ‘Mitch.’

  ‘Jesus, Liv … and who?’ he demanded impatiently.

  Olivia shook her head quickly. She felt ill. ‘I can’t, Griff.’

  ‘Who was he with?’

  Olivia had never heard Griffin sound so furious. The cold look in his eye frightened her and she didn’t know what he’d do once he heard the truth.

  ‘Liv!’

  Her hands shook and she forced herself to replace the bowser pump before she dropped it and spilled diesel everywhere. ‘I don’t think it’s any of our business,’ she said and heard the tremor in her voice.

  ‘Tell me who he was with, Liv.’

  ‘I can’t, all right!’ she shouted. ‘I won’t do it.’

  ‘Why the hell not?’

  ‘Because it’s going to destroy your family.’

  ‘What?’ he frowned at her. ‘Mitch is no great loss. All I care about right now is Hadley.’

  ‘Then if you care about her, you’ll just back off.’

  ‘Back off?’ he repeated, sounding astonished that she’d be asking such a thing. ‘Look, if you knew this was going on, why the hell wouldn’t you tell Hadley? She’s supposed to be your best friend.’

  ‘That’s why I haven’t told her, because she is my best friend. She just lost a baby, Griff. I can’t throw this at her too.’ ‘She already suspects he’s having an affair. You need to tell her.’

  Olivia wrapped her arms around herself and fought back nausea. Maybe he was right. If Hadley did suspect something, then maybe she did need to know. ‘Fine. I’ll tell her.’

  He still seemed angry, but she saw some of the tension leave his jaw. ‘I’ll take you.’

  ‘I can do it by myself,’ she snapped. Damn it, she wasn’t the one in the wrong here—why was he treating her like she had something to do with it all?

  ‘I want to be there.’

  ‘I’m not sure you should be.’

  ‘She’s my sister.’

  ‘She’s not going to want everyone knowing,’ Olivia warned.

  ‘I’m not everyone. Come on. Let’s get it over and done with.’

  The drive seemed to take forever, and yet it went too fast. She still had no idea what she was going to say and now that they were pulling up in front of the Callahan house, she felt sick again.

  They walked upstairs and found Hadley lounging on the settee in the warm morning sunshine, reading a magazine with a cup of coffee on the table beside her.

  ‘Hey, you two. So have you kissed and made up?’ she asked, sitting up as they approached. When she caught sight of their faces, her smile slipped and a frown creased the centre of her forehead. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Olivia drew in a breath and chewed the inside of her lip. ‘Griff was telling me that you were worried about Mitch … that you thought he was … having an affair,’ she said finally.

  Hadley sent a glare across at her brother and Olivia sensed Griff stiffen behind her. She almost felt glad that he was in trouble. After all, he was the one who had put her in this position.

  ‘Thanks a lot, brother,’ Hadley said scathingly.

  ‘The thing is,’ Olivia continued, threading her fingers together and fidgeting a little, ‘I think you may be right.’

  ‘What?’ Hadley stared at her, barely moving.

  Olivia swallowed painfully and wet her suddenly dry lips. ‘I was walking from Griff’s house the other night, past one of the sheds, and I heard Mitch. He was with someone. At first I thought it was you two messing around, but then I realised he was with someone else.’

  ‘Who?’ Hadley asked, her voice losing all emotion.

  ‘It was Harmony,’ Olivia said quietly.

  There was a long moment of stunned silence before Hadley gave a dismissive snort. ‘Harmony? No way.’

  Olivia eyed her friend warily.

  ‘Little Miss Perfect? No way. She’s not even Mitch’s type.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Griffin asked Olivia quietly. He seemed almost as stunned as his sister.

  ‘I know what I heard.’

  ‘But you didn’t actually see them?’ Hadley pressed.

  ‘I didn’t want to see them,’ Olivia said, recalling the unmistakable sounds of two people in the midst of making love.

  ‘Then how can you be so sure it was them?’ Hadley said, and there was an unmistakable edge to her voice that was only a heartbeat away from desperation.

  ‘Because
I heard Mitch say her name.’

  ‘No.’ Hadley shook her head decisively. ‘You had to have heard wrong … or misunderstood what was going on. Maybe they were just talking.’

  Olivia knew her friend was struggling to accept that her sister and husband had both deceived her, but the fact remained that she knew Harmony and Mitch had been together that night. ‘I didn’t want to tell you so soon after the baby, but when Griff said you were worried about Mitch … I figured knowing the truth would be better than stressing over suspicions.’

  ‘No, you’re wrong, Liv. I don’t believe you. This is all some big misunderstanding.’

  ‘Maybe you’re right,’ Olivia said finally. There was no way Hadley was in the right frame of mind at the moment to accept what Olivia was telling her. She needed time for it to sink in. Olivia had told Hadley what she’d heard, now it was up to her friend to decide what to do with the information. ‘I need to get back home,’ she said, turning to Griff.

  He seemed torn, looking between his sister and Olivia, unsure what to do.

  ‘Give me your keys, I’ll bring your car back later. You stay here,’ she said, holding her hand out. Someone needed to stay with Hadley.

  Griff handed over the keys, and she knew he wanted to say something, but Hadley was still sitting frozen on the settee. ‘I’ll come over later,’ he said as she turned away. ‘Liv …’ He touched her arm.

  Olivia turned her head to look up at him. He didn’t know what to say and truthfully neither did she. She was angry that he’d forced her hand, and disappointed too. After all the worry about what Hadley would say when she told her, she hadn’t expected that she wouldn’t believe her.

  ‘I’ll see you later,’ she said, walking away and not looking back.

  Twenty-five

  Olivia sat in the small coffee shop and closed her eyes as the strong brew hit her system. She’d taken a drive into Griffith to clear her head. She should be sleeping—they’d worked late last night, and she was on shift again tonight—but she couldn’t get the morning’s events out of her head. She’d jumped in the car and headed somewhere she wouldn’t bump into anyone she knew. Which was why when she glanced up as the door opened, she almost dropped her cup. Of all the people who could have walked into the café, the last person she expected to see was Cash Sullivan.