A smiling senior citizen had just thwarted her plan.
She spun in her seat, faced the lady and christened her Busybody Betty. Every place had one – small town and big city alike. Over the years Poppy had met dozens. She gave a friendly smile. She’d win no favors and make no friends if she came across as rude or snobbish. Not that she intended hanging around long enough to make friends with people in Birrangulla, but there was no point being rude.
“My mother just moved here,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “but unfortunately she’s unwell and now she’s in hospital in Orange. I’m only staying until I get her settled into a nursing home.”
“Oh. You’re not staying?” Busybody Betty asked.
Poppy could tell from the looks she was receiving that everyone knew precisely who she was. She wasn’t simply the daughter of the mad woman, she was the estranged daughter of recently deceased local hero William McDonald.
“No. I don’t think so. I’m heading back home at the end of the month,” she said.
“Home?”
“Yes. Back to New York. That’s the plan anyway.”
That piece of news was passed slowly around the room as if on a platter. People sat forward in their seats, waiting for Poppy to give them the first line of chapter two.
“Plans can change,” Kelly murmured.
Another woman spoke up from her position at the sinks. “I heard your mum moved into Cooinda.”
“That’s right,” Poppy said.
“Cooinda means happy place,” she said. “It’s an Aboriginal word.”
Poppy raised her eyes to meet the woman’s gaze. The irony of the name wasn’t lost on her. “I didn’t know that.”
“Have you met the owners?” Betty asked.
“Yes, I have. They seem lovely,” she said.
“I heard you’ve met Liam O’Connor too. He’s single, you know,” Betty said. “Although good luck trying to tame him. He usually only goes for blondes.”
Someone snickered. Poppy swiveled around and saw Sonia with her head down, blonde hair hanging across her face, sweeping the floor.
Kelly tapped Busybody Betty on the shoulder. “Margaret, it’s your turn at the sink now.”
The old woman slowly extracted herself from her chair and hobbled across the room to the sinks, her arm resting on the hairdresser’s. She stopped at Poppy’s chair and placed gnarled fingers on her shoulder. “What did you say your name is?”
“I didn’t,” Poppy said. “It’s Poppy. Poppy McDonald.”
“Well, Poppy, welcome to Birrangulla. I reckon you’ll love it here and you won’t end up leaving. Especially once you get to know our Liam.”
Poppy raised her eyebrows. “Is that so?”
There was another titter from Sonia. What was her problem?
“Mark my words.” Margaret smiled. “It’s lovely to meet you, Poppy. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you around.”
A woman entered the salon, carrying a toddler on her hip. The toddler was sniffling and snuffling, on the verge of more tears. The Chupa Chup in his mouth was helping matters. Just.
“He’s had his needles today,” the woman explained, addressing the room. “He’ll settle down soon.”
Margaret walked past the still sooky toddler on her way to the sink and patted him on the head. “Levi is looking more and more like his father every day, Belinda.”
For the next ten minutes the noise level rose again as the conversation picked up, then ebbed and flowed around Poppy. While Kelly cut her hair, Poppy used the time to people-watch.
Kelly had just picked up the blow dryer when a woman’s frantic cry pierced through the chatter. Poppy flew to her feet and turned to see Belinda on the ground, her curly-haired blond son cradled lifeless and listless in her lap.
Sonia screamed hysterically.
“Anaphylaxis,” Belinda shouted. “Someone find his EpiPen.”
Poppy sprang to action. “Where is it?”
“Nappy bag.”
Poppy’s hands shook as she pulled clothes and diapers and snacks from the bag in search of the lifesaving adrenaline. Levi’s little lips were turning a dusky blue. Poppy couldn’t tell if he’d stopped breathing. Finally she spied the yellow plastic tube and closed her hands over it in relief. Grabbing it, she twisted off the blue end and jammed it into the boy’s chubby thigh without a moment’s hesitation.
Moments later – it felt like minutes – Levi started crying. Everyone in the salon heaved a sigh of relief.
“Has he ever had a reaction to immunizations in the past?” Poppy asked Belinda.
She shook her head. “Never. And I don’t think this was from the needles. They were over half an hour ago. It must have been something he ate. One minute he was sucking on his lollypop and the next he went floppy. I thought he’d fainted.”
“He’s pinking up nicely now,” Poppy said.
“Thank God. And thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Poppy replied. “All in a day’s work.”
Belinda stared at her. “Are you a nurse?”
“Yeah, I’m emergency trained. I’ve been working in the States for the past five years.”
“Do you have a current AHPRA registration?”
Poppy frowned. “Yes. Why?”
“I’m the director of nursing at Birrangulla Base. If you’re looking for a job …”
“Oh, I’m not staying in town,” Poppy interrupted before Belinda could get any ideas.
“Really? That’s a shame. Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”
Although Poppy shook her head, something stirred in her heart. While Kelly finished drying her hair she asked herself if it would be so bad to change her mind and stay. Even for a little while longer. It’s not like it would be that difficult to change her flights.
Chapter 28
The sun hadn’t even risen when Poppy woke the next morning. Outside her bedroom window a magpie warbled. Moments later she heard the sound of its mate singing in reply. She hesitated before slipping out from under the warmth of the covers. The floorboards would be icy cold. Pushing open the curtains she peered out the bedroom window into a blanket of fog.
She shivered and contemplated calling Liam and saying she’d overslept and he could go without her, but she didn’t want to lie to him. The day before he’d asked her to join him for a run around the river and she’d stupidly accepted, even though she wasn’t a runner and could think of a million things she’d prefer to do. Like go back to bed. At that moment, that option was number one on her list of priorities.
As she dressed in her warmest clothes, she had second, third and fourth thoughts about what she was doing. Was she stark raving mad? Who got up at this time of day to go for a run in the middle of winter?
She forced herself into her car with promises of hot showers and hot chocolates when it was all over and drove slowly into town. The fog was a pea-souper and it took almost half an hour until she arrived at the car park Liam had described. She was running late and hoped Liam didn’t think she was standing him up.
A Toyota Land cruiser was the only other car in the carpark. She pulled up beside it and smiled when she saw Liam peering out the driver’s window. She gave him a little wave and hopped out into the icy stillness.
A woman stepped out of the passenger side of the other car at the same time and smiled. “You’re obviously Poppy. I’m Kate.”
“Hi,” Poppy said.
Who’s Kate?
Liam opened his door and got out. Poppy frowned. Something about him seemed different.
Kate must have seen the look on her face. She burst out laughing. “Didn’t Liam tell you he has an identical twin? This is Joel. My husband.”
Her cheeks blazed. “No. He forgot to mention that.”
“G’day Poppy.” Joel shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m surprised my brother hasn’t told you he’s the better-looking one. That’s usually one of his first lines when he’s trying to pick up women.”
“Nice t
o meet you,” Poppy stammered. “Wow. You even sound alike.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“Do people get you confused?”
“Not as much these days, although since Liam cut off his mop of hair the other day we probably do look more alike, I suppose.”
“If it’s any consolation, Poppy, it took me a while to work out who was who, but once Liam opens his mouth, he usually puts his foot in it so that’s how to tell them apart,” Kate said.
Poppy laughed. “That’s so true.”
“I guess you’ve already worked out what a flirt he is,” Kate said.
“Flirt or fool? I’m still trying to decide.”
Kate laughed. “He can be both. One day ask him to tell you about what happened when we first met. And about the boys’ secret code,” Kate said.
“Code?”
Joel groaned. “For the record, the code was Liam’s idea, not mine. And we were about twelve years old at the time.”
“Do tell,” Poppy said.
“They made this stupid promise that if one brother asked a girl out, that meant the other brother could never ask the same girl out. When I met Joel we had just started seeing each other but we weren’t officially dating. Joel was really sick in hospital when I met Liam and Liam asked me out first which made Joel back right off. I almost lost the love of my life because of their stupid code.”
“Very interesting. Is there anything else I need to know about Liam?”
Kate scratched her jaw and pretended to think. “Hmmm. Where would I start?”
“He’s an open book,” Joel said.
Kate nodded. “That’s true. What you see is what you get with Liam.”
“And he wears his heart on his sleeve,” Joel added.
“Oh, and if he tells you he’s happy being a bachelor, don’t believe a word of it,” Kate said. “He’s desperate to find the woman of his dreams.”
“Why hasn’t he?” Poppy asked.
Joel shrugged. “He’s too picky. That’s what I keep telling him.”
“No, it’s not that,” Kate said. “He’s been hurt before and he doesn’t want to get involved with someone who isn’t prepared to be upfront and straight about everything. Like I said, Liam lays it all on the line. You never have to wonder where you stand with him. If he says he likes you, then he does. He might be loud and come across as a womanizer, but once you get to know him you’ll see it’s a front.”
“Oh. Okay. Good to know.”
“So, are you much of a runner?” Kate asked as she grabbed her ankle and began stretching her legs.
“Not at all. In fact I’m not even sure why I agreed to this.”
Kate smiled. “Don’t worry about it. If it gets too much for you we can walk and talk and the boys can run ahead. I’m only getting back into it after the babies.”
“Babies?”
“Liam didn’t tell you that either?”
Poppy shook her head.
“I’m surprised. Joel and I have a six-year-old daughter called Annabel and four-month-old twin boys. Angus and Oscar. Liam is smitten with them.”
“Are they identical?” Poppy asked.
Kate nodded. “Hysterical, isn’t it?”
“Who’s looking after them now?”
“Lorraine – Joel and Liam’s mum. Wait till you meet her. She’s gorgeous. You’ll love her too.”
Kate and Joel continued stretching while Poppy stood rubbing her arms and wishing she was anywhere but here. Why had she agreed to this? These people were obviously athletic.
Seconds later Liam’s car pulled into the carpark and he jumped out and loped over to them. Poppy glanced appreciatively at his fine physique barely hidden by the singlet top and tiny running shorts he wore. How was he not freezing?
“Morning everyone. Sorry I’m late. I presume you’ve all been talking about me.” He greeted his brother with a handshake then pulled him into a hug. It was obvious to see they were close, not only in appearance.
“Morning, Liam.”
“Kate.” Kate received a brotherly hug then Liam surprised Poppy by wrapping his arms around her in a tight bear hug.
“Don’t believe a word they told you,” he stage whispered.
“Is that right?” she whispered back.
He nodded. “So, how are you doing?”
“I’m cold, I’m nervous and I’m regretting saying yes to this running business.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “At least you’re honest.”
“You said we’d go for a gentle jog.” She glanced at his shoes then at Kate and Joel’s. “Look at you. You even have the right running gear.” She waved a foot in the air. “My runners cost me twenty dollars from Kmart.”
“Relax. This is supposed to be fun. I love getting out in the fresh air and thought you might enjoy it too.”
“Freezing air you mean.”
“You’ll warm up once we start running, I promise.”
“Running?”
“I mean jogging. Relax, Pop, you’ll be fine and you might even enjoy yourself.”
And with that, Liam took off.
Poppy sprinted to catch up, feeling the rush of adrenaline hit her legs. Within minutes she was breathing heavily and struggling to catch her breath. Thankfully, without her needing to ask, Liam slowed his pace to match hers. Poppy heard the rhythmic sound of Kate’s and Joel’s feet as they crunched on the gravel behind them.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go faster?” she panted.
“I’m happy to walk if this is too much for you.”
“Just. Don’t. Expect. Me. To. Talk.” Her words came out in staccato, punctuated by heavy breaths. How had she become so unfit in such a short amount of time? She used to walk around Central Park every day for exercise and even jogged on the odd occasion, but since arriving in Australia she hadn’t walked further than the front door. She needed to do something about that. Starting now.
They jogged in silence for a bit longer and Poppy finally found her rhythm.
“How’s your mum?” Liam asked.
Poppy groaned. “Not good. Leg. Ulcer. Amputation.” She wasn’t making it up. It was impossible to talk and run at the same time.
Liam grabbed her arm and slowed to a walk.
“Forget about the run. Tell me what’s going on.”
Kate and Joel came up to them. “Everything okay?”
“All good. You two go ahead. We’re going to walk a bit. We’ll catch up with you when you loop back around.”
Poppy felt her face flame. “It’s okay, Liam, if you want to run, I’m happy to walk.”
He stopped and it took her a few more paces to realize he wasn’t going to catch up with her. She turned to face him. The expression on his face was serious.
“Poppy, I love running, but I didn’t ask you to join us to make you feel bad because you’re not a runner. This is Kate’s one chance to get out of the house without the kids and she doesn’t care whether she walks or runs – she’s happy to spend time with Joel without kids hanging off her. As for me, I can run anytime. I simply thought you might enjoy this. Plus I wanted you to meet Kate and Joel.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Can we walk a bit while I tell you what happened when I went to see her? Then if you want, we can run again.”
He reached for her hand and squeezed tight. They started walking and Poppy was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t let go.
“I’m all ears.”
Poppy inhaled deeply. “You’ve seen her. She’s one of the unhealthiest people you’ll ever meet. You only have to take one look at her and you could rattle off her comorbidities.”
“Morbid obesity, diabetes, vascular disease,” Liam said.
“That’s on top of her psych issues and that’s probably merely scratching the surface. I checked her Webster pack of medications and on top of her asthma and COPD she’s being treated for gout and GORD. Also, I found a letter from a renal physician when I was unpacking. She has stage four kidney disease. Next s
tep is dialysis. And I hate to think what her lungs look like after years of smoking.”
He cringed.
“Yeah. A picture of health.”
“So they want to amputate her leg?”
“Yeah. Next week. She has a diabetic ulcer on her ankle that’s gangrenous and with her vascular issues they don’t think it will ever heal.”
“How old is she?”
“Seventy-two.”
“There’s no way she’ll be able to go home.”
“No. She’ll need full nursing care. They told me that.”
“A nursing home?”
“Yeah. I’m not hanging around to take on the role of her carer. I didn’t become a nurse to get stuck doing that.” She let out a whoosh of air. “Sorry, that probably sounds like I’m the most uncompassionate, inconsiderate and selfish person you’ve ever met.”
“No, it sounds like someone being honest.”
Poppy sighed again. “So they want to book her in for surgery next week once her anti-psychotic meds have kicked in. On Monday I figured I’d call the Salvation Army and arrange for them to pick up all her stuff. I hope Nathan and Mackenzie won’t be upset when I break the lease.”
“Hang on. Why do you have to break it?”
She looked at him. “I’ve told you. I’m only staying until she’s had her surgery and I’ve arranged a nursing home. After that, there’s not much point in me staying in Birrangulla.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “What’s to keep me here?”
There was a heartbeat of silence before Liam answered.
“Me.”
*
Poppy stopped walking and stared at him. “What are you saying?”
He swallowed. He hadn’t expected to be wearing his heart on his sleeve so soon but he couldn’t come up with a single idea to get her to stay. “I’m saying I’d like you to stay so we can get to know each other better.”
“Really? Rumor says you’re happy being a bachelor.”
He could tell she was teasing him, but for once, he was serious. He stubbed at the ground with the toe of his shoe. “I was,” he said softly. “Until I met you.”
Critical Condition Page 20