The Road to Hope
Page 31
‘We’ll miss you, Lauren,’ Helen grunted as she handed over a massive slice. ‘But I’m happy for you.’
‘Thanks, Helen.’ Lauren took her plate over to the semicircle of recliners, put it down on a coffee table and then knelt between May and Barbara’s chairs. ‘I hear you two are to blame for all of this,’ she said, feigning annoyance.
‘Damn straight, we are.’ Barbara smiled. ‘We probably won’t make it to the wedding in Adelaide, but we wanted you and Dr Lewis to know how much we care. We’ll miss you both.’
‘But especially you, my dear,’ May added, reaching out to pat Lauren’s hand. ‘Now eat up your cake. You deserve it.’
Lauren spent the next couple of hours moving from person to person, reliving memories of her time at the hospital. Everyone stayed until the very end, when she finally got to speak to Ellie and Flynn.
‘Thanks for coming guys.’
‘Wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ Flynn said. ‘You’ve been good to both of us.’
Ellie nodded. ‘I’m not sure I ever got the chance to properly say how much I appreciated you looking after Matilda.’
Lauren shrugged, remembering Ellie’s godmother. ‘It was my job.’
But Ellie shook her head. ‘No, it was much more than that. And I’ll always be grateful.’
Although Lauren appreciated the sentiment, it still felt slightly strange coming from Ellie, who until recently had been her archenemy. ‘Thanks,’ she said quickly before changing the subject. ‘Now, Flynn, I do believe we need to settle a bet.’
‘Huh?’ he raised an eyebrow.
Lauren cocked her head to the side and grinned. ‘About how long Whitney and Rats would take to reproduce.’
‘Oh that.’ Flynn laughed and turned to Ellie. ‘At their wedding, Lauren and I had a bet—she reckoned Whitney would be pregnant within a year, I bet longer.’ He looked back at her and smiled a silent acknowledgement of the something between them that had started but never got off the ground. ‘What do I owe you?’
‘The satisfaction of winning is enough,’ Lauren said, before glancing round the room to look for Tom. Her gaze came to rest on him chatting in the corner with Alf, who was almost ready to lose his cast. Oh yeah, she’d won all right…and it wasn’t just the bet with Flynn.
‘I’ll see you guys later,’ she said to Ellie and Flynn, and then walked across the room to her fiancé. She didn’t say anything, but as she sidled up beside him, he smiled down at her and pulled her close. His hand came to rest on her hip and she let her head fall against his shoulder.
It had been a long day. A good one. But with Tom, the best was still to come.
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ISBN: 9780857996152
Title: The Road to Hope
First Australian Publication 2015
Copyright © 2015 by Rachael Johns
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