‘Hey Hope’ I forced a smile. ‘Bet you weren’t expecting to see me today.’
She groaned. ‘Oh God Jack. What have you done?’
‘Mind if I come in Sis? I feel a bit conspicuous out here.’ She stepped aside. ‘I could murder a coffee right now,’ I told her hopefully.
She filled the kettle. ‘So,’ she sighed. ‘You broke out of prison.’
I shrugged in an embarrassed way. ‘That sound’s way too dramatic. They were taking me back from the hospital and one guard went for a pee and the other was texting his girlfriend, so I just kinda wandered off.’
‘Why were you in hospital?’ she asked in her big sister voice.
‘Asthma attack. It’s fine now.’
She shook her head. ‘You have to turn yourself in.’
‘I’m not going back,’ I assured her. ‘I’ll get to Canada, start over.’
‘How?’
‘I don’t know. I’ll live in the wild if I have to. Like Grizzly Adams.’
She put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Jack,’ she said softly. ‘You can’t even fish. And what about the asthma? Stop being a fool.’
‘Fine!’ I relented sulkily. ‘Can I at least have that coffee first?’