Summer 2010, the Beach House, Dennes Point, Bruny Island
The beach house had been in Jude’s family long before he was born. It was more of a shack, and he’d told her that more generations than anyone could remember had lived there. These days, it was a meeting place for cousins and siblings. It was relaxed and far enough away from Hobart for you to feel as if you were in another country.
Relatively new to the Rawlins family, Nina had only been there a few times, usually when it was someone’s birthday or on other special occasions. Now, it was the summer holidays and the perfect time to relax at the beach.
Jude and his brother were messing around, pretend-fighting, and Nina laughed with the others. When Murray gave Jude a shove and he fell off the little jetty and into the water, their mother finally spoke up.
‘Boys! For God’s sake, behave.’
Mrs Rawlins, a thin woman, drawn and ill-looking, was seated in her deck chair under the shade of an umbrella. Her daughter, Mandy, sat beside her, headphones on as she listened to her music. Nina knew that Jude’s mother suffered from a serious heart condition and her children were all very protective of her. She’d had to give up her job with the public service last year, and now they were relying on their paternal uncle Colin’s help, along with some government payouts.
Jude had dreams of being a journalist, and Nina knew he worried those dreams might never come to fruition. If the family needed him to earn money now, then he would have to do it, even if it meant giving up his future. Murray was training to be a qualified solicitor and barrister, and had a job lined up in his uncle’s firm, while Mandy was still at school.
The Rawlinses were the sort of family who planned years ahead, and now that Angela was ill, everything seemed on the verge of heading off course. It was causing them a lot of stress. Lucky that Colin had stepped in, although Nina sometimes wondered how much of his help was to do with family feeling and how much was because it suited him. There was a coldness in his eyes, a pragmatic air about him, that she didn’t quite trust.
She knew that Jude’s dad had left them when Mandy was very young. He’d run off with another woman, leaving his wife to support all three children. Colin had stepped into the picture then, angry with his brother, agreeing to pay for the children’s education. But … there was always a ‘but’ with Colin. He expected them to do as they were told, and Murray was going to be the heir to childless Colin’s law practice. Colin had big plans for him, it seemed.
Jude was wading out of the water, trying to avoid a group of kids with boogie boards. One of them must have said something, because he laughed and then pretended to lose his balance and fall backwards into the waves. Lis went to help him, flapping her hands like a worried duck. She got on his nerves, Nina knew, and wasn’t surprised when he caught her and tossed her into the water. Lis squealed, and when she climbed out, shivering, went straight to Mrs Rawlins, who gave her a towel and a hug. Nina watched as the two of them sat close together, whispering. Lis was the daughter of a friend of the family, and Mrs Rawlins had taken her under her wing when it became obvious that the friend was more interested in her own life—late nights and partying—than caring for her daughter. Nina knew Mrs Rawlins liked Lis and didn’t like her, it was obvious from her suspicious stares, but Nina didn’t really let it bother her because all that mattered was whom Jude liked. And that was Nina.
Nina’s family wasn’t anything like the Rawlinses. No one would have expected her to give up her dreams if one of her parents fell ill. Anyway, they were comfortably off and she was an only child. They held liberal views about her living her own life and they theirs, but she had thought they were reasonably close until she met Jude’s family. They were so close it was almost stifling. No one had any secrets, and every decision was argued over and discussed at length. She would hate to live like that, and sometimes she thought about how she would manage if she and Jude stayed together. How she would juggle her feelings for him, which grew deeper every day, with her ambivalence for his family.
‘Lazy bones.’ Jude sat down beside her, shaking his wet hair like a dog and chuckling when she flinched away. His dark eyes slid appreciatively over her pink bikini and she couldn’t help but feel a warm blush of pleasure. From the first moment they’d met at the canteen at Hobart University, there’d been a connection between them. A definite spark, as if someone had struck a match, which was still burning. These days they were inseparable, or would be if she didn’t fight to put some distance between them. And that was only because she thought it wasn’t healthy to be in each other’s pockets all the time. And yes, his family didn’t like them pairing off so emphatically. No doubt Colin had some nice, perfect girl lined up for Jude.
Well, too bad.
Jude had told her that he wanted them to travel when they’d finished uni. Take a year off before they found jobs. Of course that was dependent on his mother, Nina knew, so she wasn’t committing herself to his plan. Eventually, he wanted to get into travel writing. Nina’s future was more conservative. Find a job, possibly in administration. She was good at planning and organising people. She and Jude were very different when it came to their personalities, and maybe that was a good thing. She liked to think she reined him in, while he freed her.
Uncle Colin came and stood over them, throwing a shadow as he lit up another cigarette and blew out a cloud of acrid smoke. He was a big man, his hair greying, his blue eyes piercing. Nina found he intimidated her more than she wanted to admit. He was a barrister and she could imagine him in court, putting the fear of the law into the witnesses for the prosecution. He would have liked to be a QC, but that honour had eluded him.
‘I have a place for you in the firm, Jude, if you change your mind. Scribbling is all very well, but there’s no money in it.’ It sounded as if he was picking up a conversation they had had earlier.
Jude shrugged. ‘I know. I still want to give it a go.’ He looked up, wary. Nina felt the tension in his bare shoulder as it pressed against hers. ‘Besides, isn’t Murray going to be the QC in the family? I wouldn’t want to take the gloss off him.’
Murray, sitting opposite, raised his beer. ‘Too right,’ he said with a smirk. Lis cuddled in beside him, and he put an arm around her, but his gaze was on Jude and Nina. These days it always was.
Mrs Rawlins called out to her brother-in-law and he moved away, and Nina sighed in relief. Jude reached for her hand and squeezed it. His breath was warm against her ear. ‘Let’s get out of here after dinner,’ he said. ‘I need some alone time with you.’
She smiled, ignoring Lis’s jealous glare and Murray’s smirk. ‘Sounds good,’ she whispered back.
* * *
Nina’s eyelids moved as she dreamed. The past she tried so hard to bury was there in brilliant technicolour and there was nothing she could do about it.
Outside, the sea whispered and the wind moaned and the island slept while the lighthouse watched on.
Rumours currently abound in Hobart. Our readers will remember that in January three ships of the Imperial Russian Navy were in port. Although their visit was friendly, it brought into stark focus the current lack of protection against attack from foreign forces in our fair state. Forts and batteries from the early days have fallen into utter disrepair. Now gossip has begun to circulate that the visit in January was a precursor to a further, far more hostile, visit by these foreign forces. Our state is unprotected, and despite reassurance from the Tasmanian Government, fear has reached fever pitch.