‘No, of course I’m not. I don’t know Emily that well.’
‘Thank God for that.’
‘My sister’s the bridesmaid.’
Ryan’s eyes opened smartly. Hannah could have sworn she saw something like a flash of fear. Far more likely to be horror, she decided. He disliked her so much that the prospect of being a partner to her sister was appalling? That hurt. Hannah couldn’t resist retaliating.
‘My twin sister,’ she said. She smiled at Ryan. ‘We’re identical.’
Ryan shook his head. ‘I don’t believe this.’
‘It is a bit of a coincidence,’ Hannah agreed, more cheerfully. Ryan was so disconcerted that she actually felt like she had control of this situation—an emotional upper hand—and that had to be a first for any time she had spent in Ryan’s company, with the exception of Monday night. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. ‘So, how come you know Mike so well?’
But Ryan didn’t appear to be listening. ‘There are two of you,’ he muttered. ‘Unbelievable!’
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their food. Hannah was hungry enough to get stuck into the delicious hot croissants and jam she was served. Ryan was only halfway through his fruit salad by the time she had cleaned her plate and he didn’t look as though he was particularly enjoying the start of his meal.
Hannah had to feel sorry for him but she couldn’t resist teasing just a little. She adopted the same, slightly aggrieved tone he had been using only a short time ago.
‘You didn’t answer my question.’
‘What question?’ Ryan wasn’t being deliberately obtuse. He looked genuinely bewildered.
‘How do you know Mike? The groom at this wedding we’re both going to.’
‘Oh…I was involved in training paramedics in the armed forces for a while, years ago. Mike was keen to add medical training to his qualifications as a helicopter pilot, having been in a few dodgy situations. We hit it off and have stayed in touch ever since.’ Ryan stirred the contents of his bowl with the spoon. ‘I was really looking forward to seeing him again,’ he added sadly. ‘The last real time we had together was a surfing holiday in Bali nearly three years ago. After he got out of the army but before he took himself off to the back of beyond.’
‘Crocodile Creek does seem a bit out of the way,’ Hannah had to agree. Besides, thinking about geography was a good way to distract herself from feeling offended that Ryan seemed to think all the pleasure might have been sucked from the upcoming weekend. ‘It was easy enough to hop on a plane to Brisbane to spend a day or two with Susie.’
‘I got the impression you never took time off.’
‘I don’t take rostered time off.’
‘Unlike me.’ Ryan said it for her. ‘’Cos you’re not lazy.’
Hannah wasn’t going to let this conversation degenerate into a personality clash. Here was the opportunity she had needed. ‘I never said you were lazy, Ryan. You work as hard as I do. You’re just more inclined to take time off.’
‘For the purposes of having fun.’
‘Well…yes…’ Hannah shrugged. ‘And why not?’ Would this count as an apology, perhaps? ‘All work and no play, etcetera.’
‘Makes Jack a dull boy,’ Ryan finished. ‘And Jill a very dull girl.’
Was he telling Hannah she was dull? Just a more pointed comment than Jennifer telling her she was an ED geek? If he saw her as being more fun—say at a wedding reception—would he find her more attractive?
Hannah stomped on the wayward thought. She didn’t want Ryan to find her attractive. She didn’t want to find him attractive, for heaven’s sake! It was something that had just happened. Like a lightning bolt. A bit of freak weather—like the cyclone currently brewing in the Coral Sea, which was again causing a bit of turbulence for the jet heading for Cairns.
The two cabin-crew members pushing a meal trolley through to economy class exchanged a doubtful glance.
‘Should we wait a bit before serving the back section?’
‘No.’ The steward who had been responsible for Hannah’s upgrade shook his head. ‘Let’s get it done, then we can clear up. If we’re going to hit any really rough stuff, it’ll be when we’re north of Brisbane.’
Hannah tightened her seat belt a little.
‘Nervous?’ Ryan must have been watching her quite closely to observe the action.
‘I’m not that keen on turbulence.’
‘Doesn’t bother me.’ Ryan smiled at Hannah. Or had that smile been intended for the approaching stewardess? ‘I quite like a bumpy ride.’
Hannah and Ryan both chose coffee rather than tea. Of course the smile had been for the pretty redhead. Likewise the comment that could easily have been taken as blatant flirting.
‘I don’t know Emily,’ Ryan said. ‘Maybe you can fill me in. She’s a doctor, yes?’
‘Yes. She’s Susie’s best friend.’
‘Susie?’
‘My sister.’
‘The clone. Right. So how long has she been in Crocodile Creek?’
‘About three years. She went to Brisbane to get some post-grad training after she finished her physiotherapy degree and she liked it so much she decided to stay.’
‘I thought she was a doctor.’
‘No. She started medical school with me but it wasn’t what she wanted.’
‘How come she lives in that doctors’ house that used to be the old hospital, then?’
‘She doesn’t.’
‘That’s not what Mike told me.’
‘Why would Mike be telling you about my sister?’
‘He wasn’t. He was telling me about his fiancée. Emily.’ Ryan groaned. ‘We’re not on the same page here, are we?’
‘No.’ And they never would be. ‘Sorry. I don’t know much about Emily either, except that she’s a really nice person and totally in love with Mike and his parents are thrilled and hoping for lots of grandchildren.’
Ryan was still frowning. ‘If you don’t know Emily and you don’t know Mike, why have you been invited to their wedding?’
‘As Susie’s partner, kind of. We haven’t seen each other since Christmas.’
‘That’s not so long ago.’
Hannah shrugged. ‘It seems a long time. We’re close, I guess.’
‘Hmm.’
Ryan’s thoughts may as well have been in a bubble over his head. As best man, he would have to partner Hannah’s clone. Another woman who wouldn’t be on the same page. Someone else who would think he was shallow and lazy and a liability.
Hannah opened her mouth to offer some reassurance. To finally apologise for losing it on Monday night in such an unprofessional manner. To suggest that they would both be able to have a good time at the wedding despite having each other’s company enforced.
She didn’t get the chance.
Her mouth opened far more widely than needed for speech as the plane hit an air pocket and seemed to drop like a rock. The fall continued long enough for someone further down the plane in economy to scream,