| |
––––––––
Pippa felt like somebody was kicking her in the stomach—hard—with spike-toed boots. She didn’t want to listen anymore but she felt frozen to the spot, listening as Megan continued, each word wrenching at her heart.
“Maybe that’s why Matt’s taken today off—because he’s planned this big romantic proposal or something. Maybe even down at that winery of his!” Megan sighed theatrically. “Wouldn’t that be so romantic?”
The winery. Pippa thought of the wonderful day they had spent together last weekend. Then she imagined Matt riding next to another woman, his arms around another woman, his hands tenderly cupping another woman’s face, his lips on another woman’s mouth... She felt sick. This couldn’t be true, could it?
She realised that Megan was still waiting for her to respond. Her face felt like a mask. She stretched her lips into the semblance of a smile. “Yes... really romantic.”
Megan nodded eagerly. “Imagine if they have the wedding down at the resort—that would be so brilliant! I’ve seen Matt’s ex a couple of times and she is absolutely stunning. Like a model. She would make the most beautiful bride...” She sighed dreamily.
Pippa swallowed down the nausea that was rising in her throat. Turning towards the big washing machine in the corner of the room, she said, “Where are the bedding and towels that need drying?”
“Oh, sorry... got sidetracked gossiping.” Megan grinned. She raised the lid of the washing machine. “There’s a load here. And actually, there’s another load in that basket there which is already washed. Do you think you can manage two loads? I can help you carry them over the road if you like—”
“No, no, I’ll be fine,” said Pippa hastily, pulling towels out of the washing machine and piling them into her laundry basket. She had to get away from Megan—she couldn’t bear to keep listening to more stories about Matt and his ex. As soon as the wet laundry was all transferred to her basket, she practically ran out of the clinic.
Her heart was hammering uncomfortably as she stepped back into her house and shut the front door behind her. Sparky came trotting up to investigate and followed Pippa as she took the basket into the laundry. The little kitten hopped into the basket and tried to play hide and seek amongst the damp towels as Pippa filled the dryer with the first load.
“Oh Sparky...!”
Pippa sighed in exasperation as she pulled the kitten out of the basket and shooed her away. But she was glad in a way for the kitten’s mischief. It helped to distract her from the despair that was looming like a monster behind the doorway, waiting to grab her. Once the dryer was started, though, and she had nothing else to do with her hands, Pippa was forced to make her way back to the living room where she curled up on the sofa and hugged a cushion to her chest. The despair engulfed her.
Was it true? Was everything Megan had said true? She thought back to Matt’s distant manner on the phone last night and felt her heart shrink in denial. He had mentioned “a friend visiting from Sydney” but he hadn’t told her it was his ex-girlfriend. Why? If the visit had been totally innocent, why hadn’t Matt shared it with her?
Because you’re nobody to him, a little voice in her head sneered. You were just someone to pass the time, maybe stroke his ego. You made yourself available enough—what man would resist? But you didn’t mean anything to him—you were just the rebound fling.
“No!” Pippa hugged the cushion closer, tears starting to her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe it! She thought back to their trip in the Hunter Valley—the tenderness in Matt’s eyes, the protective way he had held her, the passion in his kisses. Had that really meant nothing to him? Had it all been her imagination?
Pippa sprang up from the sofa and began pacing the room. She couldn’t keep still. She felt like ants were eating her up inside, gnawing away at her heart. She needed to see Matt. She need to ask him, face to face, just what was going on.
No. She whirled around and paced in the other direction. No, she wasn’t going to go running after him! She would ignore him from now on—not call him or make any effort to contact him. Let him come to her if he really cared.
But I can’t bear not knowing! Pippa whirled again and paced in a new direction. She couldn’t just sit here and spend the whole weekend brooding. She would go mad! She had to see him and find out the truth. But where was he now? With Justine? Pippa thought of the two of them having a romantic meal together and something inside her shrivelled and died.
No, no, she couldn’t go crawling up to them like the unwanted third wheel. She had her pride, didn’t she? She didn’t want to be “the other woman” that turned up and caused a scene.
But surely she deserved an answer? Pippa felt a surge of anger as she whirled and changed directions again. She bloody well had not imagined being kissed—and kissed very thoroughly. If Matt was going to kiss her, then the least he could do was make his intentions clear! She deserved that much from him.
No, but...
Pippa didn’t know how long she paced around the room, her mind feverishly going around in circles, swinging wildly between several extremes. Slowly she became aware of the time. She glanced at the clock on the wall. She was horrified to find that she had been pacing for nearly an hour. The dryer would have finished its cycle by now, she realised—she should really put the second load on. She looked out of the living room windows at the vet hospital across the street. There were still some lights on in there—maybe if she finished drying everything, she could take it all back tonight.
Pippa hurried to her laundry room. It was silly, she knew—there was no real rush and she could easily just drop the towels back at the clinic on Monday morning. But she needed something to do—something to distract her from her thoughts. She opened the dryer, feeling the warm air waft out to her face as she pulled the towels, hot and fluffy now, out of the circular drum. She carried them to her bedroom and dumped them on her bed—she could fold them later—then she went back to the laundry and filled the dryer again. Turning the dial, she set it for another forty minutes, then hit the START button and headed back to the living room.
Maybe she could send Matt a note instead? She could drop it off at the vet hospital, in a sealed envelope with the towels, for him to get on Monday morning. If she wrote everything down, then maybe she wouldn’t get so emotional and—
Pippa paused in her hallway. What was that muffled thumping sound? She turned, frowning. It seemed to be coming from her laundry room. She drifted back in there and looked at the dryer in puzzlement. The thumping was coming from inside the dryer... was there something in there...?
Oh my God—Sparky!
Pippa jumped forward and yanked the dryer door open. Towels spilled out of the spinning drum and in amongst their folds was one limp, furry shape.
“NO!” Pippa cried, scooping the kitten up into her arms. The little tabby was completely limp and felt unnaturally hot. “NO! NO!”
She was sobbing, screaming, crying as she held the kitten close, trying to see if there was still a heartbeat.
Yes. Very faintly.
Sparky was still alive. She was breathing. Just. But she was unconscious and there was a trickle of blood from her nose. Pippa’s heart felt like it was going to implode. She clutched the kitten to her and ran out into the living room. She had to get Sparky to a vet. Now. Immediately. There might still be a chance to save her.
The animal hospital.
The lights had been on when she last looked. Maybe they hadn’t finished filming—maybe Craig was still there and could see Sparky immediately. Pippa knew that there would be an emergency number to ring if the clinic was shut—and Charlie would probably answer since she was on-call this weekend, but what if she was far away? It would take time for her to get here—time that Sparky didn’t have. No, she had to hope that Craig was still there...
Pippa flung open her front door and ran out across the street in her bare feet, racing up to the vet hospital’s front door. It was locked—but she could definitely still see a faint light inside through the frosted glass. With her free hand, she hammered on the door.
“Open up! Please! I need help!”
There was silence for a moment—a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity for Pippa, standing there holding the limp kitten—and then she heard footsteps coming to the door. A second later, it swung open and a young vet nurse stood there.
“We’re closed now—oh!” She stared down in horror at the kitten in Pippa’s arms.
Pippa pushed her way into the clinic. “She’s hurt—she needs emergency care. Is Craig still here?” she asked wildly.
“No, he and the crew left about ten minutes ago,” said the vet nurse. “I was just closing up and about to leave myself. I can contact Dr Appleby—she’s on-call.”
“Yes, yes—call Charlie! Do it quickly!” begged Pippa.
The vet nurse ran to the phone on the reception counter, then paused and looked at Pippa. “Actually, I saw Dr Pearson walk past here earlier with a lady. They were going into the Laughing Kookaburra. Should I call him instead? He’s not officially on-call but he’s a lot closer—he’d be here in five minutes.”
Matt. Suddenly Pippa didn’t care about his feelings, their relationship, the truth about Justine—she just knew that he would do everything he could to save Sparky. “Yes, call him!”
The vet nurse dialled a number then thrust the phone at Pippa. “Here, you talk to him—give me the kitten. I’m going to cool her down and start treating her for shock.”
Pippa carefully handed Sparky over, then picked up the phone and placed it to her ear. She swallowed as she listened to it ringing. Please pick up, Matt, she thought. Please... I need you.
