CHAPTER FOUR

Sky came hurrying downstairs, checking she had everything. She saw Kerry and Scotty loitering in the hall. "Come on, get in the car,"she told them, before turning to Lana. "Did Callum's mum pick up Claire all right?"

Lana nodded. "I've got the house to myself for a bit, once you've got out of it."

Sky put on a mock hurt expression. "It almost sounds like you want to get rid of me."

"Never,"Lana promised her.

Sky gave her wife a quick kiss. "Love you,"she said before ushering Kerry and Scotty out.

Lana headed into her study but it was only a few minutes later that she heard a noise at the door. She went out into the hall and found the post had been pushed through the door. She ripped through the envelopes, until she came across one containing a bank statement for their joint account. She examined it and one item stuck out. A card payment to Cairns Holiday Inn. Something was strange about it but Lana couldn't work out what for several seconds until it struck her. The amount paid was much too low.

Almost as if Sky hadn't paid for the whole room herself.

Boyd fingered his phone. He was in the staff room at the hospital, taking a short break. And he was thinking about Sky. He hadn't spoken to her in the two weeks since they'd last met up. And he was missing her, perhaps more than ever. Maybe he was getting old. The truth was she was the closest thing he'd had to a serious relationship since he'd left Erinsborough. There'd been other women of course, mostly colleagues who'd needed someone to unwind with outside of work, but nothing long-term. Somehow, it hadn't felt like he needed anything. After all, he had a family. They just happened to live in another state and not know about him.

"Doctor Hoyland?" A young nurse put her head around the door. "We've got a trauma coming in."

"I'll be right there." Boyd put the phone back in his pocket and followed the nurse out. He was happy to leave that one for another day.

Lana really didn't know what she was doing, and liked what she was doing even less. She'd only been married a few months. She should trust Sky, shouldn't she? Yet there was some niggling thought eating away at her and she needed to find out. She dialled the number.

"Holiday Inn,"came the voice at the other end.

"This is Sky Mangel,"Lana answered. "I stayed with you two weeks ago, I want to double-check that the payment for my room went through okay."

"Can I have the details, please?"

It wasn't hard for Lana to answer all the questions. She had the details in front of her: Date, account number, reference…

"Yes, that payment's gone through."

Now time for the bit she didn't have confirmation of. "Did the other payment on that room go through?"

There was a pause as the person on the other end checked. "Yes, Doctor Hoyland's payment has gone through as well."

"All right, thank you." Lana just about kept it together as she ended the call. But her mind was whirling. She didn't know what she'd been expecting but it hadn't been a sucker punch as big as that. Doctor Hoyland? Boyd?