‘What are you doing here?’ Drew smiles, surprised but clearly pleased to see her. He leans in for a kiss and hugs her. She lets herself soak up the embrace for a few moments. After what she’s got to say he won’t want to hold her like this again.

He pulls back and begins moving into the kitchen, expecting her to follow him.

‘Is your mum around?’

With a shake of the head he says, ‘Still at church.’

Darcy feels relieved at this.

‘I’m just getting ready to go around to Lauren and Scott’s for a barbecue. They’ll be stoked to see you.’ He’s got an esky on the bench. He opens the fridge and pulls out a six-pack of beers.

She thinks of Lauren and Scott’s place and knows her feelings of confinement are in opposition to Drew’s wistful longing for a life like theirs. ‘I can’t stay.’

This gets his attention. ‘How long are you here for?’

‘I have to get back tonight.’ It’s already the afternoon. ‘Ty’s got a guest spot on Good Morning first thing tomorrow and Alice wants me there.’

‘You’ve been working ten days straight.’

She shrugs. ‘Reality TV doesn’t fit into nine to five.’

A groan vibrates in the back of his throat. Drew’s a traditionalist and Sundays should be nothing but a day of rest. ‘So, what, you’re here for twenty minutes, an hour at the most?’

Pretty much.

‘Geez, Darce. Why did you even bother?’

Darcy remembers reading a saying once. Be with someone who would drive five hours just to see you for one. Maybe they were that couple once, but they’re not now.

‘Drew, we need to talk.’ She recoils as the clichéd words spill from her lips. She’d practised hundreds of alternative opening lines during the car trip here.

But those few words say it all and he’s quick to shake his head. ‘Darce.’ Don’t.

She’s surprised and wonders if he already knows what she’s going to say.

‘I shouldn’t have pushed you about setting a date,’ he says, quickly addressing the tension from their phone conversation. ‘If you don’t like the idea of a New Year’s wedding we can come up with something else.’

‘Drew, it’s not just the wedding date.’

He looks up at her, his eyes a mixture of dread and fear. ‘We’ll figure things out,’ he tells her, but he quickly averts his eyes as though looking at her might reveal a truth he doesn’t want to see. ‘Only a couple more weeks and I’ll be back in Sydney.’