This week the spotlight shines on
Pamela Cook
and we’re showcasing Close to Home

Read an excerpt below.

A captivating story that shows that the only thing harder than letting go is moving on.

Orphaned at 13 Charlie Anderson has been on her own for over half her life. Not that she minds – she has her work as a vet and most days that’s enough. Most days. But when she’s sent to a small town on the New South Wales south coast to investigate a possible outbreak of the deadly hendra virus, Charlie finds herself torn between the haunting memories of her past, her dedication to her job and her attraction to a handsome local.

Travelling to Naringup means coming face to face with what is left of her dysfunctional family – her cousin Emma, who begged Charlie not to leave all those years ago, and her aunt Hazel, who let he go without a backwards glance. But it also means relying on the kindness of strangers, and when she meets local park ranger Joel Drummond, opening her heart to the possibility of something more …

As tensions in the country town rise, can Charlie reconcile the past and find herself a new future in a town she left so long ago?

Excerpt from Close to Home by Pamela Cook

Charlie’s eyes watered as she stared at the ribbon of road unfurling in front of her. It had been almost eight hours behind the wheel after a restless sleep in the motel. And that wasn’t counting the four and a half hours she’d done the previous night. Alex had been right when he said a flight would be more practical, but even this horrible driver fatigue wouldn’t be enough to convince her to step through the doors of a plane. So, four cups of coffee, a barely edible burger and two headache pills later, she still hadn’t arrived in Naringup. She checked the screen of her TomTom – thirteen minutes until she reached her destination.

‘Hallelujah,’ she muttered.

Operating from memory alone she wouldn’t have had a clue. She’d only made this trip twice before – once when she was twelve, leaving Sydney, and once when she returned to the city at age eighteen. And nothing in between – no visits to friends left behind, no holidays, no shopping trips. A clean break. It was ‘for the best’ they’d said, and she’d had no choice but to fit in and toe the line. What else could she have done? She’d only been a child, at the mercy of adults who made all the decisions. Her old life was swapped for another, completely different world.

A churning began in her stomach and she wasn’t sure if it was the takeaway food she’d eaten or her current thought pattern that was doing the damage. Either way she needed to get her mind focused on something else.

The scenery – always a good option. It was certainly a beautiful part of the world. Miles of tall, thin gums, grey bark peeling away to reveal the white flesh of trunks stretching skywards. Giant grass trees, their knobbly stumps sprouting headfuls of spiky green hair, brown spears standing to attention. And in between the stretches of state forest, acres of rolling farmlands dotted with cows and horses.

Horses. All over the place, just as Alex had said.

If his suspicions were right, and this developed into a serious outbreak, it could be as bad as – or worse than – what had already happened in Queensland and northern New South Wales. In the early days, before the sort of research she and her colleagues had undertaken, horse owners had no protection against the virus. But since the vaccine had been made available they had the choice to safeguard their animals – and themselves. So why did so many choose not to? Yes, the vaccine was relatively new and there was a cost involved, but wasn’t saving lives the priority?

It is for me, Charlie thought, but obviously not for a lot of people. If the horses could speak I know what option they’d take.

She stifled a laugh. She’d always thought animals had more sense than humans. It was why she’d chosen to study veterinary science rather than medicine.

According to the Google search she’d done last night in the motel, Naringup was now full of tree changers, possibly ones who weren’t into vaccinations of any kind – no matter the species. She’d added that observation to the notes in the file she’d made, skimming the reports Alex had emailed her and making a plan for when she arrived in the town.

There’s probably been a lot of other changes too, she thought now, slowing down to take a tighter than expected bend. Then she saw the town up ahead, the faint glint of the river spanned by an arching steel bridge. She was almost there.

And that’s when her stomach started to cartwheel rather than just spin.

Get a grip on yourself, Charlie.

Taking her own advice, she pushed back her shoulders, sat taller in the seat and started mentally reviewing what she knew of the case. Possible hendra – with the emphasis on possible – one dead horse, and a vet who could have a bad cold or who, looking at a worst-case scenario, could be dead within a matter of days. From what she’d been told and read on email, he was the best person to interview to try to glean more information. She hoped to god he was willing – and well enough. Hard evidence was the only way she would be able to determine what they were dealing with – tests would have to be done, people questioned, quarantine measures undertaken if it came to that – so she needed everyone involved to cooperate.

The vet, Walter Murray, lived on the same site as the surgery, so that was going to be her first stop. She knew from past experience that the disease could progress rapidly once it took hold, so it was crucial she speak to him sooner rather than later. The quicker she sorted this thing out, the faster she could get her job done and leave.

Again.

Close to Home is available in eBook and paperback from good retailers
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Read more about Pamela and her books on Meet Pamela Cook here on ARR
Or visit Pamela on her website PamelaCook.com.au
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