“That’s good, but that still doesn’t answer my question of why you’re here? Not that I mind you visiting, but in the middle of the day it’s unusual.”
Scott sighed and he noticed that his brother looked stressed. The lines around his mouth and eyes seemed to be etched a little deeper than usual. “The review is winding up. I needed to get away from the questions. I swear they’ve asked the same thing five times over, just phrased it differently. I said I had to visit Ryan’s practice. They didn’t complain.”
“Hey, there you are. I was surprised when I walked in and you weren’t behind the bar.” Sindy came in and then stopped when she spied her twin. “And Scott too. What’s going on? Why are you here?” she asked suspiciously.
“Good to see you too, sis. And there’s nothing nefarious going on, I just needed some time away from the hospital. Told them I needed to see Ryan about the practice.”
“So you lied. I’m surprised you’d do that.”
Scott shrugged and Jonas watched the byplay between his twin siblings. He was sure since Sindy and Ryan had gotten together the bond between the two had gotten stronger. The fact Scott was experiencing morning sickness symptoms like Sindy, was proof of his theory. He’d never been jealous of their connection before, but today, he wouldn’t have minded someone knowing what he was thinking and feeling, when he didn’t want to admit it to himself.
“Jonas, why are you here and not in Sydney with Pandora?” Sindy’s question shocked him out of his musings.
“What?”
“You heard me; why aren’t you with Pandora, supporting her?” Her sister plonked herself down on the chair beside Scott. All he needed now was Ryan to come in and the intervention would be complete.
“I have a pub to run?” It came out as a question instead of a statement. “I can’t just drop everything and run off at the drop of a hat.”
Sindy slow blinked. “I don’t know if you’ve read any of the stuff that’s floating around the internet. Knowing you, probably not, because since you returned here you’ve stayed off all social media, but her parents are throwing her under the bus with glee. I can’t believe it. I want to … well maybe it’s best you don’t know what I want to do.”
“I heard from everyone at Molly’s what was happening.” Another stab of guilt hit him that he hadn’t said yes to going with her to Sydney. Hadn’t he already thought her parents were awful people for not supporting her?
“Don’t you care that she’s being hurt?” Scott asked.
Jonas huffed out a breath and if he could stand and start pacing he would. Pacing always helped him clear his mind and sort out his thoughts. Only with both his siblings in his office, the space was limited. “Of course I care that she’s being hurt.” He closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair and groaned. He’d done everything wrong. He was no better than her parents, making her face the wolves by herself. “She asked me to go with her to Sydney and I said I couldn’t.”
“Yes, you’ve already said—because of the pub,” Sindy and Scott said together.
He sat forward. “Yes, because of the pub. I can’t just walk away. I don’t know why you both don’t understand that, especially since you’re the CEO of a busy regional hospital and,—” he pointed to Sindy “—you and Ryan run the practice here. You all have jobs you can’t just walk away from at a moment’s notice.”
“But if we had to close the practice for an emergency, whether it be a medical one or family one, everyone would understand. Just like they’d understand if you did it today and followed Pandora,” Sindy countered.
“And if I have to drop everything, I have staff to back me up. Just like you do,” Scott said in his big brother tone.
They didn’t understand the situation. “Well, she’ll be fine. She doesn’t need me. She’s a supermodel, for God’s sake. Her life isn’t here, it’s in the big cities all around the world.”
“Is it, though?” his sister countered. “She looked pretty happy to be here.”
“She expects everyone to fix her problems. I’m not doing that again. I’ve done that with every girl I’ve dated. That’s the reason she wanted me to go with her today.”
Sindy looked at him like he had sprouted another head. “What on earth gave you the impression that she was shallow like that?”
“Yeah,” Scott chimed in. “Someone who wanted others to do things for her wouldn’t have come to the hospital every day to see a person she’d just met.”
“Jonas, I saw Pandora the day she arrived and I saw the stress surrounding her. In two days of being in town she looked relaxed and she fit in with everyone. She doesn’t seem the type of person who would expect you to fix her issues, nor not fit in here. Everyone in town loves her.”
Jonas wanted the conversation to end. His brother and sister were talking out of their arses. It wasn’t possible for Pandora to be totally happy living in the small town of Bunya Junction. She was too city for them.
Or was she?
The cloud of assumption was beginning to lift the more he stopped focusing on himself and really looked at the bigger picture. Focused on the things that were right in front of his face. He thought back over the last few minutes with his siblings, over all the time he’d spent with Pandora, and everything was becoming clearer now.
Like Sindy said, she’d fitted right into country living, unlike Gina who’d shuddered at the thought of being hundreds of miles from the best restaurants, clubs and shops. Pandora hadn’t needed to go somewhere all the time. She’d been happy to sit and chat with the locals. Even in the few days she’d been working the bar, she’d got to know them enough to ask about their kids. Gina would never have done that.
Had he been wrong about her?
Yes, he had. He’d been wrong in everything he’d thought about her. Most especially since he handed her her phone a few hours ago.
He’d jumped to conclusions over parts of conversations he’d overhead. Such a juvenile thing for him to do, believing he knew everything about her. And Scott was right, someone selfish or shallow, who would expect him to solve their problems, wouldn’t have cared about Ray or visited him.
He’d rejected her when she’d asked something simple of him. Again the memory of her eyes pleading for him to join her slammed into him.
He looked around the office. Scott and Sindy were watching him closely, as if they could tell he was having a mental battle with himself about what he was going to do.
He could deny the truth all he wanted, but it wouldn’t change how he felt. He wanted Pandora in his life. She made his life so much brighter and happier than it had been. As Scott had said, she’d made an effort to visit Ray every day when he was sick. A selfish person wouldn’t do that. She’d done what anyone would do when you cared for and loved someone. If he asked her to go with him somewhere, she wouldn’t hesitate. She’d drop everything and follow him. He would do it for his siblings if they needed him, how could he not do it for the woman he loved with his whole heart?
He’d been so wrong. So very, very wrong. He’d let her down when she’d needed him the most. He wouldn’t do that to his sisters or brother, or even Ryan. Not to mention any of the folks in town. Why had he done it to Pandora? The woman who’d claimed his heart?
“Shit,” he mumbled.
“I can see everything’s falling into place,” Scott chuckled.
“Yeah, I think it is.”
“Whatever you need, we’ll help you. The whole town will. You know that. You just have to ask, Jonas. Surely you can’t have forgotten that about Bunya Junction?” Sindy reached over the table and squeezed his hand. “Go. We’ll take care of the pub for however long you’re away. You know Pete will come in and open up if he’s asked. And Patricia has been with you for years, you can trust her to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
Both Scott and Sindy were right, if he needed help all he had to do was ask. He didn’t have to be an island in a town where everyone would do anything to help each other.
H
ow had he forgotten that? And why had he?
Hadn’t he seen that firsthand when they’d all rallied around Pandora and given her everything she’d needed? And they hadn’t even met her. She could’ve been a right bitch and it wouldn’t have mattered to them at the time. All they’d heard was that someone needed assistance and they’d given it.
Had he felt the need to prove to the town that he could run the pub as well as the Baxters? Maybe subconsciously he had, for whatever reason. However, at the end of the day he didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. The town accepted him for who he was, just as they’d accepted a runaway model in a wedding dress.
Urgency to be by her side built inside of him. “I need to go to her.”
“Yes, you do,” Scott responded emphatically.
As fired up as he was, he had no idea where Pandora was headed. “I don’t know how or where to find her.”
Sindy laughed. “It’s just as well you’ve got a tech savvy sister. Give me a few seconds and I’ll be able to find out everything you need.”
Now that he’d made the decision to go to her, he wanted to be there now. Pity Ryan didn’t own a plane.
“Okay, here we go,” Sindy crowed triumphantly and held her phone aloft before she brought it back down so she could read it. “Supermodel Pandora Sebastian will be facing media to answer questions about her lie to the public at the Park Hyatt on Sydney Harbour at six this evening. We’re anxious to see how she gets herself out of this one. The public is not happy with her falsely—”
“That’s enough, I don’t need to know any more.” He glanced at his watch. The trip to Sydney would take him four hours, or longer if he hit traffic. It was one thirty now. “I don’t think I’m going to make it. And how can I get into a press conference without any credentials?”
“Just say you’re from Horse and Hound magazine. That will get you in,” Sindy quipped. Beside her, Scott snorted.
“Yeah, bro, that will definitely get you in.”
Jonas looked at his twin siblings, totally missing the reference. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Sindy clutched her blouse as if she’d been shot. “How can you not know what I mean? Haven’t you watched the movie Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant?”
“If there’s no action in it, I’m not watching it. But can we stay on the subject of how I’m going to get into the press conference?”
Sindy came up and patted him on the arm. “Trust me, do what I said to get in. Then when you’re with the other reporters and they ask for questions, raise your hand. When they call on you, say you’re from Horse and Hound and you’ll be gold. Even though Pandora’s young, I guarantee she’s caught this movie on television. Or on a girls’ night. It’s an iconic romantic comedy.”
Jonas wanted to argue her point about how she could be so sure Pandora would recognise the reference, but he had more important things to worry about—like getting to the city in time. “I’ve got to go.” He pushed away from the desk and gave her a hug. “Thanks for everything, sis.”
She squeezed him back. “Anytime, and don’t worry about a thing. Between Scott and I we’ll keep the pub lights on.”
His brother stood and slapped him on the back. “She’s right, go get your girl.”
As he rushed out the door, he hoped like hell that when he got there, Pandora didn’t slam the door in his face.
Chapter Seventeen
Nerves the size of elephants trampled through her belly like it was an African savanna. The moment she arrived at the venue for the press conference, Pandora had taken control. She told them what she was going to say and said she hoped it fitted in with what they had planned. If it didn’t then they would have to change their narrative to fit hers. Fortunately, they’d been open to her ideas and now they had a firm plan of action.
While she was taking charge, all she wanted was Jonas by her side, but that dream wasn’t going to happen. He’d made his feelings about her clear when he’d told her that he wasn’t going to fix her problems. And also put the importance of his pub before her.
It had hurt so much that he didn’t think she could face her problems. What had she been doing since she arrived back in the city?
What cut the deepest was that he’d abandoned her when she’d asked him to do one thing for her.
Stop it.
She couldn’t think about Jonas now. The next hour was going to make or break her career. That’s what she had to focus on—not what might have been with a man she barely knew.
She’d sat and eaten something—even though she didn’t want it she’d forced herself, so she didn’t pass out at the press conference—and read her parents’ interview.
Their comments were so outrageous she would’ve laughed if she hadn’t been so shocked by what she was reading. They called her a liar. That she’d lied about everything. They’d said she’d cut them off and all their efforts to contact her had been rebuffed.
What a joke. It had been the other way around.
According to Laura, the gossip site that broke the story had paid her parents a pretty penny for their story. Their betrayal cut deep and she couldn’t understand why they’d do that to her. She couldn’t believe that they were still harbouring a basket load of disappointment over the fact she hadn’t completed her university degree, or that they were willing to sabotage her career.
The evidence didn’t lie—she would always be a major disappointment to them.
When it was all over she planned to talk to her parents and ask why. Why did they not love her anymore? Whether they agreed to meet with her and give her any answers remained to be seen, but at least she’d have some sort of closure. She didn’t want to cut them out of her life, but she would if that was what they wanted. She couldn’t make them be involved with her life if they didn’t want to be.
“Ten minutes till we need to face the press. How’re you feeling?” Laura came into the room and sat on the couch next to her. Her agent had been amazing through the whole process. In fact, Pandora had been surprised at how Laura was handling the bonfire the situation had turned into. Laura was going to face the media with Pandora and had agreed to explain the reasoning behind the press release and how the lie had come about.
Fortunately, her agent had been in touch with all of the brands Pandora represented and, while most of them had initially been upset with the turn of events, they hadn’t cancelled their contract. Only one had, but she’d been due to renew with them in the next couple of months and she’d already decided she didn’t want to sign on with them again. So it wasn’t a big hit to her career.
Pandora sat straighter and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I’m feeling nervous, but also confident. I know what I did and how I acted was wrong, and I’ll own that.”
Laura tapped her lip. “You know, this could end up being a good turn of events for you. Your face and name is now front and centre; the perfect time for clients to get you to be the face of their products.”
Ahh, there was the business side of Laura, never lurking far from the surface. “Maybe, but I meant what I said before, I want to have more of a say in what I do now. I know my time being at the top of the game is limited and, while I want to make the most of it, I also don’t want to burn myself out.”
“I think that’s sensible and I can work with you on that. I know we made a major mistake and I appreciate you not dumping me on my arse, when you had every right to.” A humble Laura was another side of her agent Pandora hadn’t seen before, but she liked it.
“Just like you had every right to dump me when I walked away from the shoot. You’ve been good for my career, Laura.”
Her agent leaned forward and studied her face, as though she had a giant splotch of mascara on her eyelids, which she knew she didn’t because the makeup artist had been flawless in her product application. “You know, you seem different. Happier and more at peace with yourself. I don’t know what happened in Bunya Junction, but I like the changes. Subtle but effect
ive.”
Pandora shook her head. She wasn’t happier at all, but she was glad she was hiding it from those around her. “I’m still me. And I’m not sure I’m more relaxed. Not right now.”
Before her rapid departure from the town, she’d spent the last couple of days tossing around how she could change her life so that her home base was in the small town and not Sydney. But that had been a pipe dream smashed to pieces when Jonas had more than made it clear that he wouldn’t stand by her.
How had she picked a man who seemed exactly like her parents?
No, that wasn’t fair. Jonas wasn’t like her parents. He would do anything for his family, and those he loved. He just didn’t love her. Her heart ached at the thought. On the drive to Sydney she’d had plenty of time to think. The love she felt for Jonas hadn’t died because of the things he’d said to her during their last conversation.
She worried that her feelings would never die. That Jonas was her one and only, even if she wasn’t his one and only.
“Yes, you are more relaxed, but I think it’s more than that. But anyway, it’s showtime. Let’s go.” Laura’s words focused her attention back to where it should be—on the press conference.
*
The chatter of the gathered reporters petered out once she and Laura took their seats behind the desk on the raised dais at the front of the room. Taking a deep breath she pulled the microphone toward her. “Thank you all for coming this evening, especially on such short notice.” The crowd shifted in their seats, waiting for the moment they could pound her with questions. Well, not just yet.
“I have a short statement and then Laura, my agent, will address you. Once we’ve finished speaking the floor will be open for questions.” She paused, waiting for the acknowledgement of the reporters. Once she was sure she had it, she began. “First, I’d like to apologise to my agent, Laura, and to my two fellow models, the amazing photographer Raoul, and all the hair stylists and makeup artists associated with the photo shoot for Australian Bridal. I’d also like to apologise to the magazine editor for my actions on that day. To the companies and their products that I’m proud to represent, thank you for your continued support. I won’t let you down again.
Runaway to the Outback Page 17