My Aussie Guy - Liz Lovelock Page 0,56

too, honey. We’re always here for you, no matter what. We need, more now than ever, to stick together,” Mum says, taking my hand giving it a light squeeze.

Someone standing near us clears their throat. “Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. White?” We all turn to face a police officer standing before us. My heart sinks.

Oh, gosh, that punch has come back be bite me on the arse.

I look to Mum and Dad, who look concerned, as I’m sure I do too.

“Yes, that’s us,” my dad says formally. “Can we help you?”

The police officer looks really nervous as I watch small sweat beads forming on his brow. He looks young, maybe too young to be a police officer. Perhaps he’s a newbie. He has a strong build, about six foot tall, jet black hair, and bright green, sad but kind eyes. Maybe it isn’t to do with my incident.

“Ah… yes, I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am for your loss. I…” his voice catches as though he’s on the verge of tears, and he clears his throat, “… I knew Abby. I met her one day at the park. I was doing my normal rounds and I saw her sitting there alone… crying. I approached her and noticed bruises on her arms. We got to talking and I tried to get her to put out a Domestic Violence Order out on this guy and she said she would. I even gave her my number if she ever needed anything. I’m terribly sorry I didn’t do more.” He hangs his head in shame. Each word spoken is low and touches my heart.

I’m on the verge of tears and my mother has tears streaming down her face, but Dad stands tall and walks over to the young, handsome police officer.

“What’s your name, son?” Dad asks.

“Blake Johnson, sir.” His voice shakes from the emotion, or fear—I’m not sure. I do know my dad can be a scary person sometimes.

Blake is taken completely by surprise when Dad, who is not a hugging kind of guy, pulls him into a short, manly hug. A lump forms in my throat at the sight of two grown men shedding a few tears.

“You did what you could, son. Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s no one’s fault but that lowlife’s sitting in that courtroom now with a broken nose… hopefully.” He beams proudly at me. I give a weak smile.

“I know. I guess I will always think I could… no should… have done more to help her.”

“It’s all right. Just pick yourself up and go help those you can help now. Don’t live in the past.”

“Thank you, sir.” He stretches out his hand and Dad takes it. Blake then turns toward Mum and me. “You and your sister are both beautiful women. She talked about all of you that day, how much she loved you and appreciated all your support and encouragement. She was smiling when I left her,” he says with a sad smile of his own. “Again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

Mum and I are standing here with tears still flowing down our face. I’m so grateful he approached us. To know she felt our love and found this stranger to confide in makes me happy. Hearing she still had smiling moments lifts some of the weight off my heart.

We both hug this stranger and thank him for his kind words. He walks away looking a little more relieved than he did before he approached us. I leave feeling the first glimmer of peace since the night Abby disappeared.

Beep, beep. I hear my phone go off. I groan, rolling over, and reaching out for it on the bedside table. I open my eyes a little, noticing it’s still dark out. I groan again in frustration.

Who messages this early?

Squinting at the brightness, I try to see who the message is from through blurry eyes.

Mum: Hey, honey, good luck with the job interview today. I will call you later.

Love you!

Mum and Dad xo

P.S. Sorry, I know it’s early.

Trust Mum to message me at this time of the morning. Looking at the time and discover it’s five a.m. “Are you kidding me? Come on, Mum. You knew I would be sleeping.” Feeling a little frustrated, I know Mum’s working early shifts at the hospital, but she could have just rung me later.

It’s been a month since I moved to New York. I needed a change. Plus, I needed to get the bad memories of my