Page 60 of Where the Heart Is

She huffed out an annoyed breath, but her expression softened. ‘Fine. But if you say one thing about the mess, I’ll clobber you with a cricket bat like I did when we were kids.’

He laughed at the memory, even if he’d bawled at the time. She’d been painting her toenails, probably to impress a boy at school, and he’d snuck up on her with a frog in his hands. She’d screamed, smeared her polish, picked up the closest weapon—his cricket bat—and whacked him on the arse, hard.

As he followed her into the house and down a hallway towards the kitchen, he noted the faded wallpaper, the peeling cornices, the dusty skirting boards. But contrary to what Allison had said, the rest of the place was tidy, and as they entered the kitchen, the simmering casserole in a slow cooker filled the air with tempting aromas of garlic, rosemary, and onion.

‘Dinner’s on because the kids always want me to help them with their homework when they get home.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘They’d love to meet their uncle, if you want to stay for dinner.’

The last thing Sawyer felt like doing was spending the entire afternoon talking to his sister, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he said, ‘I’ve got other plans for dinner, but I’d love to meet Brett and Aimee.’ He brandished the bag in his hand. ‘I’ve got something for them.’

‘Bribery will get you everywhere with those rascals. Want a cuppa?’

‘Yeah. Coffee. Black please.’

Guilt swamped him again that he’d stayed away so long his own sister didn’t know how he liked his coffee.

‘I’m assuming you came to town for Mila’s wedding?’

He nodded. ‘Will got Covid and couldn’t travel from London, so he asked me to attend in his stead.’

‘London, huh?’ She picked up a knife and started slicing the apple tea cake. ‘The last time I made it anywhere near a city was when I was in Melbourne for Dad’s funeral.’

He didn’t know what to say to that, so he changed the subject. ‘How’s Mick?’

‘Good,’ she said, a little too quickly, as she deposited the sliced cake and saucers on the table. ‘He’s doing handyman work these days.’

‘Uh-huh.’

Henry hadn’t been able to hold down a steady job and took on odd jobs when he could, calling himself a handyman. The only thing their father had been handy with was a beer bottle.

Sawyer would hazard a guess that’s why Allison had dinner cooking too. Mick would breeze in, asking‘What’s for dinner?’before scoffing the lot and abandoning the family to plonk himself in front of the TV. Of course Alli would be the one to help the kids with their homework. Mick would be too ‘tired’ to help, despite probably spending more time at the pub than he had doing actual physical labour.

‘So what happened with Mila’s wedding? I heard it got called off.’

‘Yeah.’ Though it wasn’t his place to elaborate. ‘Heard from Phoebe or Jocelyn lately?’

Sadness clouded her eyes, and she shook her head. ‘We all lead very different lives these days and the few times we chat, we’ve got nothing in common anymore.’

He understood. It’s exactly how he’d felt about all his sisters his entire life.

‘What about Mum?’

Allison shrugged. ‘She calls occasionally, and she sounds happy, so that’s enough for me.’

Alli didn’t have to add,‘after all she put up with’. If anyone in this world deserved happiness, their mother certainly did.

‘What about you? Anyone special in your life?’ Allison placed steaming mugs of coffee on the table and sat opposite him. ‘Please tell me something, anything, that’s more interesting than my part-time job at the supermarket or navigating parent–teacher interviews at the school.’

‘No one special,’ he said, unwilling to reveal a snippet about his burgeoning relationship with Mila. She’d be living in this town long after he left and the last thing she needed was more gossip about her romantic life. ‘Not that I’d tell you if there was.’

She laughed at his wink. ‘I assume you’re staying at the motel? Unless Shazza chased you off for that stunt with Simone.’

‘This town has a long memory,’ he said, with a smile. ‘As intimidating as it was running into her again, I have been staying at the motel.’

‘Have been? You’re leaving?’

Damn, maybe he should’ve lied to his sister about his new lodgings, but how would that look if she found out?

‘Actually, Mila said I could stay at the homestead.’

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