Chapter 108

Regan and Dylan pulled into Killarney to collect Grace and drop off Ben and Kelly. They passed a ute with a car on the trailer that looked like a crocodile.

Grace walked outside to greet them, she realized she needed to tell Regan about Gavin today, because after her breakdown with Stevie, she knew she needed as much support as she could get to help her through this. Trying to suffer through the pain alone was not necessary.

"Hey guys, change of plans, we need to help Stevie out. She has gone ahead with Xander and Rufus to give Rufus plenty of time to get acclimated. She needs us to take that to Fisher for her," Grace explained, pointing to the demo car.

"Who painted that thing? It looks wicked." said Dylan.

"Bobby did the hard part. Stevie, Moira, and I did the green basecoat." answered Grace.

"Who's Bobby?" asked Regan. "Oh and how is Moira?"

"Bobby is the Killarney field hand. I met him last night. He's a good guy, and clearly a talented artist. Moira's doing well. She is still with Phil, and still badass with cars," replied Grace.

"That's good, I'd like to see Moira." said Regan

"She'll be in Stevie's mechanics pit for the derby, so you can see her then. Well, shall we switch vehicles? Stevie got this all ready for us before she left," said Grace.

"Does anyone mind if I drive?" asked Dylan, "I like the idea of driving a croc car, even if it's only on a trailer."

"Sounds good to me, the keys are in the ute. That'll give Regan and I a chance to talk and catch up," said Grace knowing she had to share the news with her sister.

Getting to the fair required some planning for the team at Drovers Run. They had ten people and a Hot Pink Demo Car.

It was decided that Terry and Matt would take the ute with the demo car. Meg would take her pies and Meggie and Katie in another car, leaving Jodi, Tess, Claire, Kate and Russell.

"I think I'll ride with Terry and Matt if that's alright with you, we can have some bloke time." said Russell.

"Yeah there's room for Ironman," said Matt, "Come on in." Russell climbed into the back seat of the ute. He was hoping to get to know Matt a bit better since he was moving here and didn't have any close mates in his new home.

"That leaves the dream team, ladies!" said Jodi

"Alright, let's hit the road. I'm driving." said Claire.

"Oh you, very funny. Get in the back with your Mom. I'm driving," said Jodi.

"Fine, but I'm driving on the way home," teased Claire

"Oh hang on, I forgot something. I'll be right back," siad Tess as she ran out of the car and back towards the cottage.

She returned after a few minutes, holding a sheet all folded up. It looked like it had paint on it.

"It's a banner, I made it for Xander, I couldn't sleep last night," explained Tess.

Jodi reckoned she knew why Tess didn't sleep much.

"Why couldn't you sleep, Mom?" asked Claire.

"I guess I was just excited about the fair and the Demo Derby and Charlotte's party tomorrow."

Jodi knew Tess was lying, but now certainly wasn't the time to bring it up.

"It just says 'Go Xander! We love you!' I took one of the old bed sheets to make it," added Tess.

"Well I think it's great. Xander will feel the support during his competition." decided Kate.

The girls hadn't gone very far when they saw a Killarney ute with a professionally painted crocodile car attached pulled over on the side of the road.

"Thats a Killarney ute, pull over" said Kate

Jodi pulled the car over and all four women got out. To their delight, it was Dylan, Regan and Grace in the Killarney ute.

"Oh my God! Regan! Grace! Dylan! I'm so happy to see you! Do you need help?" said Jodi.

There was a big hug fest between everyone..

"Kate, I didn't know you were coming too!" said Grace

"I only found out about you yesterday. I was going to come to Killarney this morning to see you Grace, but I woke up puking and needed some sleep and more junk food. I hoped you were coming to the fair!" replied Kate "I'm so happy to get to see you."

"Dylan, what are you doing? Do you need a hand?" asked Tess.

"I reckon the tow hitch was just a bit loose. I could feel the trailer moving around a bit while I was driving. I just wanted to give it a few more turns to be safe and we'll be ready to go." explained Dylan.

"Righto! Well I guess we just got to have a little meet and greet then. How about we follow behind you to keep an eye on the trailer then?" suggested Jodi "At least for a few miles until we know that's all it is."

"Yeah, it sounds good."

The group exchanged another set of hugs and got back in their respective cars.

"So Mom, you're really not going to talk about your date the other night at all." Claire whined as they were another hour into their trip to Fisher.

"Claire, I told you I didn't want to talk about that stuff with you. I told you I was seeing him because I don't like sneaking around or lying to you, but I'm not talking about mine and Finn's relationship with you," explained Tess.

Jodi shot Tess a look through the rearview mirror.

"Claire, I'm not sure your mom even wanted people to know she was seeing someone at all. We have Kate here too." Jodi reminded her niece.

"It's okay. I've met Finn. I know who you're talking about. He is very good looking," Kate admitted.

"When did you meet Finn?" asked Jodi.

"Actually Kate knew about Finn before either of you did." explained Tess. "She and I ran into each other at the pub the first night I went out with Finn. I asked her to keep it to herself because it was a first date and I wasn't sure what I was going to do about it."

"Russell and I had just gotten to town. It was before you caught me at the clinic. I asked Tess not to say anything about me being in town because I was going to try to surprise everyone. That got foiled with the clinic visit. I caught Tess having a goodnight kiss at the end of her date. We kept each other's secrets, but there is no reason to anymore. You all know I'm in town and that Tess has been seeing someone. I hope it's going well, Tess." said Kate.

"How about we change the subject and talk about all the fun things we are going to do at the fair." responded Tess.