Simone was woken abruptly by someone ringing her doorbell. She glanced at the bedside clock-radio and groaned. Not quite six o’clock and it had been after midnight when she finally got to sleep. Who on earth could that be at this early hour? The post didn’t come until much later.
Muttering, she threw the covers back and peered out of the bedroom window. It was Russ. He was jogging up and down on the spot, looking as if he’d been up for ages and was about to run a race. The sun was shining brightly, barely above the horizon still. It was the start of one of the lovely longer days they had here in England.
As she went down, the doorbell rang again and she flung the front door open, pretending to be angry. ‘What do you 188mean by waking me up at this hour, Russ Carden?’
She realised she hadn’t put a dressing gown on and he was eyeing her flimsy nightdress appreciatively. She should have been annoyed about that but she was decent enough – barely! – and it had been ages since any guy had looked at her like that.
‘You, um, said you were an early riser.’ He was still staring.
‘I am. Sort of. I had a phone message that worried me and it took me a while to get to sleep.’ She watched in amusement as he tore his eyes away.
‘We’ll sort out whatever your problem is later, Simone. For now, I’d really appreciate your help as quickly as possible.’
‘OK. I’m awake now.’ She was much more inclined to help Russ than try again to figure out what to do about Lance’s son, that was certain. He was staring at her feet now and she had a hard time not chuckling.
‘After I left you last night I was a bit restless, thinking about my new series, so I went out for a stroll down to the lake. I got talking to a local guy there, who said he’d seen some willow warbler fledglings in a nest near the fence by that bit of woodland on the far side of the water. He thinks the mother bird is encouraging them to fly so today could be the day it happens. That could make for some brilliant shots.’
‘Put the kettle on and I’ll get dressed.’
He grinned and held out an insulated mug. ‘I’ve got a mug of tea ready but you’re not getting it before we set off. Hurry up. I don’t want to miss a single move.’
And suddenly it felt like fun, something unexpected to start the day, something she’d never seen before.
‘Five minutes.’189
‘Three, or I’ll come and drag you out, ready or not.’
She laughed and raced up the stairs, coming back in four minutes precisely to find him holding the door open. She took the mug from him as they set off at a brisk pace, then took a welcome gulp on the move.
That was another thing that had been missing for a long time: giving in to a sudden impulse. What fun!
Russ was pleased at how briskly she walked but couldn’t forget the sight of her in that nightie. Phew! He had to forget about her long, bare suntanned legs, though, because he might catch some great shots this morning.
Adjusting his backpack which was full of equipment, he forced himself to concentrate on the task in hand, explaining what he was planning to do as they walked.
‘The guy I talked to tried to describe the spot and if it’s where I think, there are some bushes nearby. We can crouch behind them to check whether something’s going on. We don’t want to intrude on the birds unnecessarily.’
‘What do we do if something is happening?’
‘We’ll try to stay out of sight and I’ll move forward slowly, hoping to get some shots, however long that takes. Did I mention there’s sometimes a lot of hanging around when photographing animals?’
‘Why do you need me, though? Sounds as if the fewer people there are to upset the birds, the better.’
‘I want to get a shot of you watching them as well. If you can look excited and say so, I’d be grateful.’
She stopped for a few seconds to gape at him and he gave her a quick tug to get her moving again.
‘I didn’t sign on to become an actress, and I didn’t put 190any make-up on. Anyway I’m no good at pretending to feel excited about something when I’m not.’
‘I don’t like make-up, would much rather have you without it. Why women want to put gunk all over their skin beats me. You won’t have to pretend, believe me, Simone. It’s one of the most adorable sights there is, seeing little bundles of fluff learning to fly.’
‘Well, don’t blame me if my part of it comes out badly. It’d be better for me to film you explaining exactly what people are seeing.’
‘No. I can do that any time. I want to try the effect of someone to whom it’s all new sharing their excitement. Trust me, you really will be excited.’
‘Hmm.’
She supposed she’d quite enjoy it, but she’d never got wildly excited about birds before, so why did he want to film her watching them now? She stared into the distance as she walked, and it occurred to her that she hadn’t got wildly excited about anything much in the past couple of years, had settled into a pleasant but uneventful life after she got rid of rat man.
She’d been stupid. She should have looked for something exciting or fascinating to do.
Russ touched her arm to stop her moving, then whispered, ‘Aaah! I think we’re going to be lucky.’ He indicated where she should stand, dropped his backpack and got his camera ready.
She stared at the birds. Russ was right about one thing. The tiny creatures were adorable. They were sitting in a row on the branch next to their nest with a bigger bird, 191presumably the mother, keeping a watchful eye on them.
They were so small to be venturing out into a big, dangerous world, mere balls of feathers with bright eyes peeping out cautiously. They weren’t rushing to start flying.
She was a bit the same about her new life, she realised, sucking in a sudden breath – not rushing into anything. At that moment she began to feel truly glad she’d taken this opportunity to come to England, glad Libby had pushed her into it.
And whether anything came of her friendship with Russ, she was glad she’d met him too.
It had all brought bright new colour into her life.
She continued to watch the birds. If such tiny creatures could face the world and dive out into it, so could she.
Russ raised his camera and began filming, turning a couple of times to catch shots of the emotions playing across his companion’s face. ‘What were you thinking of just then, Simone?’
She turned to him, clearly forgetting she was being recorded. ‘I’m thinking how brave those tiny creatures are. Could you fly out into a world full of giants as they do?’
‘I think I could give it a go. Why not?’
Why not, indeed? ‘Oh, look!’ She gestured towards one little, bright-eyed bird and for a moment didn’t speak, just let its fluttering dive off the branch speak for itself. Then she added softly, ‘They’re beautiful as well as brave. I shall never forget this moment.’
He encouraged her to continue commenting as another little bird nerved itself to fly awkwardly to the ground.
When all the birds had safely flown the nest and were 192fluttering about practising their flying, he said, ‘That was perfect. Come on. There are a couple of other things I want to get shots of before too many humans start intruding on the scene.’
He set off, turning the camera onto the lake, then stopping again at a meadow full of wildflowers, masses of delicate colour, some just opening up. That section had been fenced off with a sign saying, Please enjoy the flowers but don’t trample on them.
Simone didn’t even notice when he turned to film her once more because she was staring at the meadow, clearly entranced. He waited, hoping she’d share her feelings again.
‘I didn’t know how beautiful wild flowers could be, Russ. There are so many different types here, some of them so tiny.’
‘There are too few meadows like this one these days.’
Her expression was radiant. ‘This is another sight I shall never forget.’
‘It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?’
She turned back to look at it, whispering, ‘So beautiful!’ her whole face alight with joy. ‘I love flowers anyway, but the mass of these, the colours, their rippling movements in the breeze – it’s absolutely stunning.’
When they got home, he took her inside his house and replayed his recording.
She smiled at her own enthusiastic face. ‘It lit me up, didn’t it, Russ? You were right.’
‘It lights me up every time I see something beautiful,’ he said simply. ‘Which is why I try to share my love of nature. Will you let me use those shots?’193
‘What? Put me in your programme?’
‘Yes. Your joy shines through. It’s far better than a commentary could ever be.’
She spread her hands in a helpless gesture. ‘If you’re sure anyone will want to see me.’
‘I think they will. I loved watching your reactions and the camera likes you, too.’
She gave him another glowing smile. ‘Well, thank you for sharing it with me.’
‘My pleasure. And we’ll share a lot more important moments with the people out there before we’re done filming this series.’
He put his arms round her and gave her a hug, rocking slightly. ‘We’re going to make a brilliant team, you and I.’ Then he pushed her to arm’s length. ‘Now, I’ve been very selfish this morning. Tell me what upset you last night.’
He hated to see the joy fade from her face as she explained about Kit’s phone call.
‘You’ve really taken a dislike to this guy’s father, haven’t you?’
‘Yes. I don’t trust him. Fern can’t stand Lance either. I didn’t take to him at all.’ She gave an involuntary shudder.
‘So what are you going to do about his son? Perhaps you should give him the benefit of the doubt until you’ve met him.’
‘Yes, I’ve just about decided to invite him and his wife to come here so that they can ask me about Australia. It’s good to help people, don’t you think?’
‘I do.’
‘But what if his father tries to join us? That’s what worries me.’194
‘My advice is to be honest with Kit about his father. Tell him you and Lance didn’t get on and he isn’t welcome at your house.’
‘I can’t do that. It’d be so rude.’ She broke off and frowned. ‘Yes, I can do it and I will. It’s my life and my house, after all.’
‘That’s my girl. Now, I’m absolutely ravenous. Let’s go and have breakfast at the hotel, a great big buffet meal. My treat.’
When they got back from the hotel, Russ said he wanted to download his shots and fiddle around with them and she needed to phone Kit, so she went into her own house.
She checked the time and rang the number he’d given her. A voice said, ‘Kit Mundy.’
‘It’s Simone Ramsay here. Sorry I missed your call yesterday. Is this a convenient time to talk or do you want to call me back?’
‘Now is fine.’
‘I’d be happy to chat to you and your wife about Western Australia. Would you like to come round here?’
‘Yes please. Would today suit you? The HR people want me to decide about Australia as quickly as I can, you see, so I’ll have no difficulty getting away from work for a couple of hours.’
‘I’m free any time. Why don’t you contact your wife and get back to me?’
‘That’d be good.’
He called back five minutes later. ‘How about we pop over to see you around eleven this morning? Mags can take an early lunch break.’195
‘That’s fine. Do you have my address?’
‘No. I was about to ask.’
Only when she put down the phone did she realise that she’d forgotten to mention his father. Well, she could do that when she saw them. It would be stretching coincidence too far for Lance to get in touch with his son during the couple of hours or so before Kit came to see her.
But she would tell him then that she didn’t want to see his father at any time.
She was annoyed at herself for forgetting to mention that. It was important to her to prove she could stand up for herself.
She hadn’t always been good at doing that. Hadn’t needed to with her husband.