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I close my eyes. ‘Why?’
‘Keith is best mates with Maggie’s husband, so he refused to serve him. Thankfully no charges were filed.’
‘Wow,’ I deadpan. ‘Things are really looking up for the Reed family.’
Tamsin laughs, but it dies quickly. ‘Yeah.’
I hate that Hunter’s getting into fights again. It says a lot about his mental state right now. ‘It’s ridiculous that Keith would refuse him service when he was in Brisbane at the time of the accident.’
She sighs. ‘Apparently Keith told Hunter that if he’d stayed on the farm like he was supposed to, then Kevin wouldn’t have driven drunk.’
‘That’ll do it.’
‘We’re flying back early for Maggie’s funeral. If you can get some time off, you could travel with us.’
I’m supposed to be working every day until New Year’s, but I know that today marks the end of James and the Imperial Tavern. I can’t go back there now. ‘It just so happens that I have some time off.’
‘Really?’ Tamsin asks, surprised. ‘You don’t even have to see your mum if you don’t want. You can just hide away with us.’
We finalise our plans, and when I hang up, I turn and find Bridget standing at the terrace doors. I can tell by her expression that she overheard.
‘You’re going back there?’ she asks.
I nod.
‘Oh.’ She hugs herself as though it’s cold. ‘When will you be back?’
I think of everything Hunter is going through and has ahead of him. ‘I don’t know.’
She nods and looks away. ‘I guess you won’t be returning to work, so you’ve all the freedom in the world.’
‘I’ll be coming back. I just can’t tell you when.’
She steps back from the doors. ‘Make sure you say bye before you leave.’ Then she walks off to her bedroom.
A moment later, I hear the door click closed. She thinks if I go home, I’ll never come back, like you only get one chance to escape. She thinks I’m abandoning her, but I’m not. I’ll come back. And maybe when I do, she’ll pull me into her arms and finally hug me.
