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The woman had small, light-blue eyes, and when she narrowed them they glinted like ice chips. ‘Who are you?’
‘Kirsty Fox,’ she said, offering her hand.
The woman ignored it. ‘Where’s Joey?’
‘He—’ Well, actually, she had no idea. She’d slipped out the back door in the grey light of dawn and he’d been fast asleep under his doona. ‘Is he not in the house?’
‘No. Well, too bad.’ The woman turned to the dog who was sitting on her foot, panting happily. ‘Well, my grubby boy, have you packed your bandanna? Are you ready to come with Mummy?’
Mummy?Of course, Joe had said he co-parented his dog with his ex-girlfriend. He just hadn’t mentioned that his ex-girlfriend looked like a dress-shop mannequin for one of those snooty stores she’d always avoided.
‘Joe didn’t mention anything about Gus leaving.’ He’d be heartbroken without his dog. Hell,she’dbe heartbroken, and who would eat her toast crusts with Gus not around to share her breakfast?
The woman gave a cold smile. ‘Joey doesn’t mention a lot of things. You get used to it. Come along, Gus.’
Oh, this was not good. ‘Maybe you’d like a cup of tea,’ she said. ‘A sandwich? I’m sure Joe won’t be long, and he can, um—’ What? What could she say to make this woman hang around?
‘I’ve called Joey, countless times. Either he’s ghosting me, or his phone got repossessed along with his Bondi apartment and his car.’ The woman must have seen her surprise. ‘Oh, he didn’t tell you he’s broke? That the bank took away all his pretty things? Better make sure you hide your savings under your mattress before he gambles your livelihood away, too.’
Gambling?She felt chilled to the bone. She knew he had a loan with the bank causing him grief, but— ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Oh,’ said the woman, ‘I’m sure it’s not my place to tell you about Joey’s financial dramas. About how he took a really big punt andlost everything that mattered. About how he was so disgraced he had to quit his job and come hide up here among the gum trees.’
A really big punt.
The warm mushy feeling she’d woken up with had turned to sludge. ‘I have to go,’ she said through lips that felt stiff. ‘Please don’t take Gus without waiting for Joe to come back.’
‘I have a custody agreement that says different. Come on, Gussy boy.’
Kirsty turned for the stable. She’d get her landlord’s number from the whiteboard and text him to let him know his ex was about to dognap Gus, but then she was packing her duffle and getting the hell gone. Joe … agambler.
Thank god she’d found out before she got any more caught up in those freaking Farmer Joe dimples. Her phone and duffle collected from the house, her research stuffed any-old-how into her backpack, she headed for her ute just in time to see Kim and her sleek little car roaring back down the gravel drive to the road.
From the passenger window hung the great boofy head of the groodle, his pink tongue flapping in the breeze.
Ex-girlfriend Kim has collected Gus. Wouldn’t wait to see you, she typed, then hit send.
That’s all she needed to say, wasn’t it? She dithered over the keypad for a second more. She needed that plane, which meant she couldn’t cut ties completely.
Yet.
Also, I’ve moved out.
