Return to Stringybark Creek

by Karly Lane

  ‘Is everything okay?’ Hadley asked casually.

  ‘I think so,’ Lavinia said, eyeing her daughter curiously. ‘Why?’

  ‘No reason,’ Hadley smiled, relieved that at least there didn’t seem to be any major crisis unfolding. Clearly Harmony was having some kind of meltdown; about what, she had no idea.

  Hadley couldn’t be bothered reading the rest of the messages, so she hit redial and waited for her sister to answer the phone.

  ‘Thank God! Hadley.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Hadley had never heard her sister sound so relieved to hear from her. Like … ever.

  ‘I tried to stop him, but he won’t listen to me.’

  ‘What? Who?’

  ‘Mitch. He’s on his way out to you.’

  ‘Out … here?’ Hadley asked, ending with a disbelieving shriek.

  ‘Yes. You have to make sure Dad and Griff don’t do anything to him.’

  Hadley had never heard her sister sound so panicked before. ‘Why on earth is he coming out here?’

  ‘I don’t know. He called me from the car and told me he was heading there to see you about something and he’d tell me about it when he got to my place. Hadley, Griff … Dad … they’ll kill him.’

  Hadley did actually roll her eyes at that. ‘Harmony, they won’t kill him.’ Maybe they’d maim him a little … ‘Stop being so melodramatic.’ God, the last thing she felt like was seeing Mitch face to face now … or pretty much any time in the near future to be honest.

  ‘I’m not being dramatic,’ Harmony screeched and Hadley pulled the phone away from her ear. ‘I’m on my way out there. Just make sure no one does anything before I arrive.’

  Can we do something after you get here? she was tempted to ask, not sure if she could be trusted not to do Mitch some bodily harm herself. The dogs’ barking alerted her to the arrival of a car and Hadley was at least grateful her sister had warned her of Mitch’s arrival. ‘He’s here.’

  ‘Oh, God,’ Harmony said, sounding as though she needed to breathe into a brown paper bag.

  ‘Calm down.’ She was liable to have a damn accident at the rate she was going. ‘It’ll be fine.’

  ‘I’m twenty minutes away.’

  ‘I wonder who that is?’ Lavinia said, coming through into the kitchen to look out the window.

  ‘It’s Mitch,’ Hadley said dryly. ‘I just got off the phone with Harmony. She’s convinced Dad will tear him apart. She’s on her way.’

  ‘Hmm,’ her mother said, eyes narrowing as she watched the tall well-dressed man unfold from his flashy gold Audi. ‘I’m not sure it’s your father Harmony should be worried about,’ she said pointedly, and Hadley bit back a grin. ‘What does he want?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘You don’t have to speak to him alone.’

  ‘I’d rather not cause a scene. The sooner he gets whatever it is off his chest, the sooner he can leave.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said, turning to walk away before pausing, ‘but maybe keep Dad occupied, just to be on the safe side.’

  ‘I can’t make any promises,’ she heard her mother mutter, and shared her annoyance, although her curiosity was well and truly piqued by his sudden appearance. This was not like Mitch and that alone made her uneasy.

  Mitch reached the bottom of the outdoor steps. ‘Hadley,’ he greeted in the smooth, deep voice that was his trademark. Audiences trusted a voice like his. They believed whatever he said, which was important for someone reporting the news. The network needed people to believe the news.

  ‘What are you doing here, Mitch?’ she asked, forgoing any polite greeting and staying at the top of the stairs.

  ‘I tried calling you,’ he said, and she bristled at the slight accusation in his tone.

  ‘My phone was off.’

  ‘Is there somewhere we can talk?’

  ‘I thought that’s what we were doing.’

  ‘Inside?’ he prompted.

  ‘What is it you want, Mitch? You can’t just turn up like this without any kind of warning.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have come all this way if it wasn’t important.’

  ‘Well?’ she said, crossing her arms, refusing to budge.

  Mitch gave a frustrated sigh, before planting his hands on his hips and looking down at the ground, seemingly composing his thoughts. ‘The network wants to do an interview.’

  Hadley’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

  ‘The thing is,’ he said and bit his bottom lip briefly, before looking up at her, ‘they want the three of us to do an interview.’

  ‘The three of us?’ she said dryly.

  ‘You, me and Harmony.’

  ‘Are you freaking kidding me?’

  ‘They want us to show everyone that it’s been an amicable decision. That it’s not the scandal everyone’s trying to make it out to be.’

  ‘You’ve lost your mind.’

  ‘Just hear me out,’ he said, climbing the stairs and taking hold of her arm.

  ‘Oi! What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Hadley saw Griffin storming towards them. ‘Get your hands off my sister!’

  ‘Griff, it’s all right,’ Hadley said, realising this had the potential to turn very ugly very quickly.

  ‘What the hell is he even doing here?’

  ‘Griffin, this is between your sister and me,’ Mitch said calmly.

  ‘You’ve got a bloody hide showin’ your face out here.’

  ‘Hadley, can we go somewhere private to talk about this, please?’ Mitch asked impatiently.

  The sound of an engine signalled the arrival of even more drama—Hadley spotted Harmony’s car approaching. All she’d wanted was a nice hot shower and a glass of wine. Was that really too much to ask for?

  ‘What the hell is going on out here?’ her dad’s gruff voice bellowed from the front doorway. ‘You?’ he all but roared as he spotted Mitch and charged across the verandah towards them.

  ‘Dad, no!’ Harmony cried as she ran from the car and threw herself between Mitch and her father theatrically.

  ‘Oh. Dear. God.’ Hadley groaned under her breath. This was more painful than a bad soapie.

  ‘Harmony, sweetheart, I told you I could handle this,’ Mitch said gently, trying to unlatch her hands from his arms. ‘We’re all civilised adults here. I’m sure your father and brother understand that I’m here to speak to Hadley—not to do anyone any harm.’

  ‘Not do anyone any harm?’ Lavinia repeated in disbelief, pushing past her husband to march up to her son-in-law. ‘Mitchell, I am so unbelievably disappointed in you right now. I thought you were better than this, I really did.’

  Mitch lost a little of his arrogance once faced with Lavinia Callahan—and it was almost comical to watch this celebrity, who had managed to charm presidents of foreign countries and warlords from Africa, lower his head in shame before a housewife from Rankins Springs.

  ‘Lavinia, I’m sorry—’

  ‘Not as sorry as I am. We welcomed you into our family. We treated you as our son from the very first moment Hadley brought you home, and this is what you do? I am not excusing Harmony in any of this, but we’ve already had that conversation—a conversation, I might add, that you should have been present for. The least you could have done was support Harmony instead of letting her come out here alone to face the family.’

  ‘You’re right,’ Mitch said soberly, nodding his head. ‘I’m not proud of the way I’ve handled things, but I intend to change all of that. Which is why I’m out here,’ he added, looking over at Hadley. ‘I want to stand beside Harmony now and tell the world our story. I want to explain to people how we fell in love.’

  Hadley almost laughed. He was such a pro at manipulation. He could turn any situation around to suit him and he usually did. Like now. Yep, the guy knew how to sweet-talk his way out of pretty much anything.

  ‘That’s why I’m here, Hadley. We need you to be there. We need to show people that th
is is real. They won’t believe us if you’re not part of the interview.’

  Harmony send a swift glance to Hadley, and gave a shake of her head. ‘Mitch, I don’t think that’s a very good idea. Hadley doesn’t want to get involved in all of this.’

  Hadley did a double-take. It almost sounded as though Harmony was trying to help.

  ‘If she doesn’t, I could lose my job, Harmony,’ he said, the stress in his voice making it sound husky and low.

  She saw Harmony’s eyes widen slightly at that, before she seemed to brace herself and take a calming breath. ‘If it comes to that, we’ll deal with the situation together.’

  ‘Harmony, this is my career we’re talking about,’ Mitch all but pleaded.

  ‘You’re Mitch Samuals,’ she said firmly. ‘If this network is crazy enough to fire you over something like this, then they’ll regret it when another one scoops you up. We don’t need to put Hadley through this. She’s been through enough.’

  Hadley stared at Harmony, a little dazed that her sister was sticking up for her.

  ‘But—’ Mitch protested.

  ‘No, Mitch. If they want an interview, we’ll do it, but we’re leaving Hadley out of this. They can take it or leave it.’

  Right at that very moment Hadley could have honestly said she’d never loved her sister more.

  ‘Finally. Someone with a bit of common decency,’ Bob put in with a glare at his ex son-in-law … potentially, one day, new son-in-law.

  ‘Go ahead and set up a time,’ Hadley said wearily. She couldn’t believe she was doing this.

  ‘What?’ everyone asked in varying tones of disbelief.

  ‘Mitch’s right. His career will be over. No other network’s going to pick him up if he gets fired,’ she told them bluntly. Mitch may have deserved it, but she couldn’t do that to her sister after she’d turned her life upside-down for this man. For all his faults, somehow Harmony really loved him.

  ‘You don’t have to do this, Hadley,’ Harmony said firmly.

  ‘I know,’ she shrugged.

  ‘Thank you, Hadley,’ Mitch said, making to move towards her again, before she sent him a look that halted him in his tracks.

  ‘I’m not doing this for you,’ she said coldly.

  ‘Hadley, I don’t understand. We agreed that things weren’t working out between us. I thought we’d parted on good terms?’ He actually looked confused, which would have amused her had she not been so angry at him.

  ‘You know, I always knew you were self-centred and ambitious, but I had no idea just how much of an arsehole you really were until all of this media attention began to unfold. Not once have you ever given a damn about how anyone else has been affected by all of this. It’s always been you and the network spinning it however it works best for you. I couldn’t care less if you were dumped by them,’ she added and took satisfaction from the shocked expression on his face. ‘But I do care about my sister and her children and they’re the only reason I’m agreeing to do this stupid interview.’ Well, that and the fact that once it was done, there’d be no more hounding from the rival networks to give an exclusive.

  She turned away. She was done. If she stood there a minute longer she’d quite possibly give in to the temptation to smack that dumbfounded look from his handsome face. God, the man infuriated her. Did he seriously believe that, after everything that had happened, she’d fall over herself to make sure he didn’t lose his job? That everything was fine between them? Harmony could have him and good riddance.

  Twenty-six

  The phone was ringing as she walked into the house.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Ollie asked before she could get in a hello.

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Is the bastard still there?’

  ‘How did you know he was here?’

  ‘Griff called.’

  Of course he did. ‘It’s fine. Everything’s under control.’

  ‘What did he want?’

  ‘An interview. It’s all good. I’ll do it and then it’ll be over.’

  ‘You’re doing it?’ he said, his voice rising.

  ‘Yes. I’m doing it. Harmony, Mitch and me.’

  ‘Because that’s completely normal. You don’t think sitting there with your ex-husband and your sister, who he cheated on you with, feels like some kind of reality show gone wrong?’

  ‘It won’t be like that. They’ll bring out someone with all the right credentials to turn it into a story.’ No doubt they’d bring in some other current affairs big name to lend credibility to the whole thing, she thought cynically.

  ‘That guy either has balls the size of rockmelons or he’s the biggest piece of sh—’

  ‘Safe to say, it’s not the first option. Look, I’m doing it for Harmony. I know she hasn’t been easy to get on with lately, but I think she’s really trying to fix things. If Mitch loses his job and it ends his career … she’s selling her house and moving her kids to another town … new schools. It’d be a huge mess. Who knows? He may still lose his job, but if sitting through a few minutes of questions is all it takes to help him keep it, then I’ll at least be able to say I did what I could.’

  She heard an irritated hiss of breath get released on the other end of the line and knew he wasn’t happy with her decision. ‘Did your dad at least hit him? Give me some good news.’

  Hadley chuckled despite herself. ‘Actually, I thought Mum was going to be the one we had to hold back.’

  ‘You should have let her at him. Want me to come over?’

  ‘You’ve got pool on tonight. I’m fine. It’s all over now.’

  ‘I wish it was, but somehow it always seems to flare up again.’

  She had to agree with him: every time she thought she was free of Mitch and Harmony, something always seemed to drag her back in. Well, not this time. After this she was done. No more Mrs Nice Guy.

  ‘Drink?’ Hadley asked her parents as they came inside. She held up the bottle of wine she’d just opened.

  ‘Are you sure you want to do this interview?’ her mother asked, taking a seat across from her.

  ‘It’s such a dumb idea,’ she laughed wearily. ‘But if they think the three of us sitting in front of a camera and not killing each other is what it’s going to take to end this thing once and for all, then I’ll do it. I just want it over.’

  ‘It feels like you’ve been doing a lot of the sacrificing in this whole bloody mess,’ her father said, leaning against the kitchen bench.

  Hadley shook her head sadly. ‘I’m not the victim in all this, Dad. Not really. I don’t think they should have gone about it the way they did, but now that I see how shallow Mitch has become, I’m just glad he’s out of my life,’ she said, then looked at her parents helplessly. ‘But I feel bad that he’s part of Harmony’s. I just don’t understand how she’s fine with him putting his career before everything.’

  ‘Harmony’s not you,’ her mother said simply. ‘She’s always seen the bigger picture in things. She took that old house and created a masterpiece,’ she pointed out. ‘She was always trying to push Don into bigger and better things. That’s just the way she’s always been. I think Harmony and Mitch see something of themselves in one another. If she’s happy, then all we can do is support her.’

  She supposed her mother was right. She usually was.

  ‘And what about you? Are you happy? It’s been so lovely having you here for longer than a week, not hurrying off someplace for a story. Are you sure you want to go back?’

  ‘I do want to go back to my job, Mum. I love it,’ she said honestly. ‘I also love Ollie,’ she smiled and her mother’s eyes lit up hopefully. ‘I need to go back and finish my contract for my own peace of mind. I want to make sure I use the time I have left to make a difference. Then I can come back and know that I’m ready for a new challenge. We still haven’t worked it out yet and that’s fine,’ she told her parents, who still looked a little doubtful. ‘It’s an adventure,’ she shrugged. ‘One I can’t wait to start.’


  ‘See how lucky you are to have me, Mum and Dad?’ Griff said from the doorway. ‘Aren’t you glad you were blessed with one uncomplicated normal kid.’

  ‘Normal?’ Hadley scoffed.

  ‘There’s a lot to be said for low-maintenance kids. We just plod along and keep the place moving while all the drama unfolds.’

  ‘Oh, because you’re so low maintenance,’ Olivia said, stepping into the room. ‘I missed the excitement apparently.’

  ‘Drama,’ Griff put in pointedly as he took an apple from the fruit bowl.

  ‘It was pretty uneventful, so you didn’t miss much,’ Hadley said, ignoring her brother.

  ‘And no one decked Mitch?’ Olivia asked.

  ‘Nope. All very civil,’ Hadley said, leaning back in her chair.

  ‘What a shame. I was looking forward to that.’

  ‘Hey! You were the one who told me I wasn’t allowed to touch him!’ Griff protested.

  ‘Since when do you ever listen to me?’

  ‘Because all we need is a new twist in the whole sorry saga when Mitch sues his in-laws for assault,’ Hadley pointed out.

  ‘Still,’ Olivia said wistfully. ‘Bet Ollie’s spewing,’ she added. ‘He would have loved to be here and had an excuse to punch Mitch Samuals in his handsome, two-timing face.’

  ‘Hey,’ Griff frowned at Liv, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘Well, he is very good-looking,’ she admitted, before eyeing the rest of the family, who were watching her with varying shades of curiosity, ‘in a completely cheating, arsehole kinda way, of course.’

  Hadley grinned and shook her head. ‘Of course.’

  Ollie watched the filming of the interview from behind the cameras set up in Harmony’s lounge room. He’d had his own reservations about the whole thing, but Hadley had been adamant this was what she wanted to do. He had refused to let her talk him out of coming along though. He was still annoyed that he’d missed being there when Mitch had arrived out of the blue. That would have been his one and only opportunity to deck the guy with Bob and Griffin’s blessing.