Page 65 of Special Delivery
‘Her midwife, right,’ said Henry, brow furrowing as he worked through the implications of that. He returned the handshake. ‘Thanks for bringing Maeve into the world. We can’t imagine life without her.’
Poppy glanced at Henry quickly.We?
A slight crease of his forehead told her James had noticed too.
‘Henry is an old schoolfriend who’s moved back to Orange,’ she explained. ‘His office is around the corner so Maeve and I bump into him a lot when we’re here.’
‘Bit of a ritual for us,’ Henry said in a deeper voice than usual.
God, he was being soweird.
‘Henry’s engaged to a paediatrician actually. Willa Prescott. Do you know her?’
‘Oh yeah.’ James brightened. ‘I know of Willa. I haven’t met her, but the other doctors rave about her. Her referrals are the best apparently; very detailed. She’s been away for a while, though, right?’
A muscle tensed in Henry’s neck. ‘Yes, tying up some loose ends with her job in Brisbane. She’ll be back soon.’
Poppy glanced at Henry in surprise. He hadn’t mentioned that.
The two men looked at each other for a second too long.
‘I’d better be going,’ said James suddenly. He turned to Poppy. ‘Are you going to the races this weekend?’
‘Yep.’ Poppy nodded, feeling Henry’s eyes swivelling between them. ‘Mum is booked in to babysit.’ She turned to Henry. ‘Dani is coming down too.’
‘Great,’ said Henry in that weird deep voice. ‘It will be good to see her.’ He turned to James. ‘Another old friend,’ he explained.
James nodded. ‘I’ve heard lots about her.’
Henry’s jaw tightened.
‘Nice to meet you, mate,’ James said to Henry. ‘Great to see you, Poppy. I’ll call you.’ He leaned over to kiss her cheek goodbye. ‘Thanks for not rejecting me again,’ he whispered.
‘What?’ Poppy spluttered.Hehad rejectedher!
‘So glad we’re friends again.’ James smiled then left them, striding into the blizzard outside with the sharp-shouldered confidence of a Marvel hero.
‘What was he talking about?’ asked Henry, his voice back to normal, if not a tad too high.
Poppy stared at James’s disappearing silhouette. ‘No idea,’ she muttered truthfully.
CHAPTER 29
Dani was disproportionately excited about their impending trip to the races. ‘Should I bring my Scanlan and Theodore or my Sass and Bide? Is Sass and Bide a bit, I dunno,spanglyfor Orange? I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard. Like, I have done country races before, I am not a novice. I need to give off a hot-but-not-novice vibe. Do you think there’ll be heaps of cute country boys there? Bloody hell, my uterus feels like I’m twenty-two again!’
‘Dan, literally no-one will care what you’re wearing. The fanciest shop we have here is Sportscraft and it’s designed for the sixty-plus market, so you’ll look banging in anything. How does Sam feel about you having a weekend off to chase cute country boys?’
‘He’s pumped. After he takes his mum to some appointments, he’s got lots of plans with Nella. They’re going to the zoo, apparently. Good luck to them. He’s most worried about me having a hall pass to sleep in—aka get a hangover. I don’tthink I’ve been drunk in eighteen months. He’s made me promise not to drunk dial him. I tried to explain I’d be way too busy shimmying on the dancefloor with some hot belt-buckled twenty-somethings and helaughed in my face. Well, little does he know: Dani is back for one night only and it’s going to be wild.’
Poppy laughed. Dani’s enthusiasm for attractive members of the opposite sex was only surpassed by her obsession with her husband, who was a favourite topic when she was a few wines deep.
Meanwhile, Poppy’s mum would be babysitting Maeve for awhole twenty-four hours. Not only would Poppy be able to go out with her best friend, she’d also be able to wake up and eat a cafe breakfast baby-free. The prospect of being able to eat with a forkand knifewas making her giddy with anticipation.
The whole town seemed to be going to the races and Facebook was abuzz with people desperate to buy last-minute tickets. A few girls from the mothers’ group were going (also sans babies) and had been eagerly texting all week with questions and advice on everything from dresses conducive to sneaky mid-races breast-pumping sessions to the best after-races venue (unanimously agreed to be the Royal Hotel dancefloor).
‘Just remember to bring your coat, Dan. Honestly, this weather is the devil.’ Poppy looked outside to see the rose branches being battered against the window.
‘Already packed, girlfriend. I will see you in less than seventy-two hours. Put the champagne on ice!’
