Chapter Thirteen
The next few days passed in a haze of detachment and April avoided leaving the house. She tried to drown her sorrows by spring cleaning in the middle of winter but unfortunately, her home wasn’t big enough or dirty enough to fill up much of her time. Her house was a simple two-bedroom stone cottage, with a small combined kitchen and dining room and a separate lounge with a fireplace. The style was typical to the streets of the old outback town, and didn’t take much to clean.
John came around, but sensing April wasn’t up for talking, he’d kept his visits short and none of the other locals disturbed her peace. With so much time available, Lachlan consumed her thoughts during the day and her dreams at night.
By the time Wednesday morning came, April knew she’d have to go into town. Marie would be coming home from camp that afternoon and she had used up all her pantry supplies. She wrote a list of everything she would need and planned the outing carefully, she didn’t want to linger in town, she didn’t trust herself not to break down and cry in the middle of the supermarket.
Mercifully, as she wandered up and down the aisles, the place was virtually empty. A couple of older locals who usually kept to themselves waved as she went past, but neither were the kind to stop for a chat and April continued on uninterrupted. She made it to the checkout in record time and her luck continued because chatterbox Mary was on a break so only Alfred, the store manager, was manning the tills and he wasn’t the type to talk about more than footy to the blokes and the weather to the ladies.
Later that afternoon when she headed off to the high school where the bus was dropping the students, April was pleased with herself. Not only had she made it through the shopping trip without any drama, but she hadn’t cried all day. She felt strong enough to face Marie.
Her phone rang just as she arrived at the school, but by the time she pulled into the car park it had stopped. She pulled the handbrake, fished her phone out of her bag and looked at the number. It was Lachlan. It beeped in her hand and a message telling her to call voicemail appeared on screen.
April quickly tapped out the number just as the bus pulled to a stop in front of the school. She reached for the door handle but froze the moment she heard his voice.
“April. I really need to talk to you about something. Please call me back. It’s urgent.” There was a long pause and then, “I miss you.”
When Marie threw her bags in the back and climbed into the passenger seat a few minutes later, April was just barely holding it together.
“You wouldn’t believe what happened on the bus…” Marie began as soon as she sat down but stopped the moment she saw her sisters face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I need to go home,” April whispered and then put the car in reverse. The drive home was mercifully quick. In small towns everything is only a short drive away. Especially home.
When they were in the house Marie dropped her bags on the kitchen floor and wrapped her arms around her sister. Despite her misery, April was surprised to notice her little sister was now slightly taller than her. Eventually, she pulled out of the embrace and Marie flicked her long auburn hair over her shoulder and guided her to the table and into a chair before sitting down beside her.
“So what’s wrong?” Marie asked gently, her green eyes creased in concern.
“I met someone in Sydney,” April’s voice trembled as she spoke. Despite never being able to tell Marie all her problems, just having her sister home made her feel better, and even though her pain was all consuming, all it took was one look at her sister and April knew she’d made the right choice. Marie had to come first. Marie had always come first. It felt good to be with her again.
Marie sat, patiently waiting for her to continue, and April was surprised again because Marie was never patient. For the first time, it occurred to April that Marie was no longer a little kid, she was rapidly becoming an adult. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“And?” Marie finally asked, drawing April’s attention back to the conversation.
“And, it didn’t work out.” Her throat constricted on the words and she couldn’t say any more.
“Did you sleep with him?” April nodded, tears standing on her cheeks. “What was his name?”
For a long moment, she couldn’t speak through the ache in her chest until finally his name whispered past her lips. “Lachlan,” she breathed. “His name is Lachlan.”