Steele was working at his computer when he heard the vehicle pull up on the newly gravelled drive. He got up and walked out to the front veranda where he almost collided with Glenda Butler.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” he said with a smile.
“How are you, Clay?” Glenda asked.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
“I’m a bit on edge. I’m having some difficulties with Debbie. I’ve packed her off to my brother and his wife in Townsville,” Glenda said.
They walked into the kitchen where Glenda observed the pile of printed pages on the table. “You busy?” she asked and pointed to the sheet of paper in his hand.
“Writing. But I don’t have to conform to set hours, Glenda,” Steele said.
“Oh, good. I’ve brought something for dinner. Coral trout,” she said.
“How wonderful. You’re doubly welcome,” he said. “Would you like to have afternoon tea? I made some scones.”
“How clever. Do you have jam?”
“Strawberry.”
“Splendid,” she said.
“So, what’s the score with Debbie?” Steele asked when they were sitting down at the table.
“Debbie’s has a crush on you,” Glenda said bluntly.
“Good heavens, has she? Steele exclaimed.”Should I be worried?"
“It has all the symptoms of a serious crush. That’s why I sent her up to my brother. I thought she might do something silly, like coming here to see you.”
“You surely don’t imagine that I’d encourage her?”
“Clay, if you’d sat through the number of cases I have, you’d appreciate that there is no specific set of rules that governs human behaviour. My experience has been that a great many men can’t be trusted outside their front door. There are also men who prefer young girls, the younger the better. You’d have to admit that Debbie is a very attractive girl. Very desirable, in fact.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Except for one thing. I’m not interested in her nor would I ever be interested in any teenage girl. If she comes out here, I’ll send her packing. You have my word on that, Glenda. In fact, I’m more than a little surprised that you imagined that I’d do otherwise,” Steele said.
“Put it down to parental concern and the knowledge I’ve accumulated about teenage girls,” Glenda said.
“So, is that the sole reason for your visit?” Steele asked.
“Not the sole reason. I wanted to see you again. I thought that having Debbie here constrained our conversation to some extent. Don’t get me wrong, Clay. I thought you were very nice to Debbie but I felt you were reluctant to discuss some aspects of your life in her presence, and I don’t blame you. You don’t have to discuss them with me for that matter but a teenage girl is a very inhibiting factor. The thing is that I find you a very interesting man and there aren’t many men in this area that I can say that about. I like talking to interesting people. It’s a huge relief after the people I have to deal with in Court. Can you appreciate that?” she asked.
“Of course, I can appreciate it. I’m flattered that you think I’m ‘interesting’. The thing is that I’ve never been a great seeker of human company. Not en masse, I mean. I was never keen on team sports and although some people said I could speak well, I wasn’t keen on debating or public speaking either. I was never convinced that I could alter people’s minds by force of argument. I put my thoughts into my books or, more correctly, into the characters in my books,” Steele said.
“So, where do you see yourself heading in future? Will you stay here? Do you want to get married and have children?” Glenda asked. She was conscious as soon as the questions were out that she was behaving as the inquisitor she had so often been. “Sorry, Clay. I sometimes forget that I’m not in a Court of Law.”
“That’s all right, Glenda. I’m touched that you’re concerned enough about me to ask,” Steele said with a smile. “Yes, I see myself staying here if my health keeps good. No, I don’t see myself getting married and having children. I wouldn’t want to leave them without a father. Given my recent illness, that couldn’t be discounted. I wouldn’t rule out marriage if I were to find the right woman, a woman who’d be happy to live my kind of life, the life of a writer,” Steele said.
“I understand,” she said. She was hugely pleased that he was so frank with her and that their friendship had progressed so far so quickly. There hadn’t been another man she could talk to in such fashion for many years. Most men she’d met had been intimidated by her role as a magistrate and kept her at arm’s length. Or she met them in Court. But despite the rather slight difference in their ages, she felt very comfortable with Steele.
Glenda was amazed at how quickly the time passed while she was with Steele. She accompanied him on his evening walk along the creek and he told her about his travels after leaving hospital in America. And then, he told her about the book he was writing. By the time they returned to the house, the sun was going down.
“Would you like me to start getting dinner ready while you finish up with your writing?”
“Be my guest, Glenda. You know where everything is. Can I help?” he asked, as he stacked up his papers and put them aside.
“When you’re done, you can get out the plates and cutlery, Clay. I’ll do the rest,” Glenda said as she opened the door to Steele’s refrigerator.
When they’d finished eating, Steele thought it was one of the best meals he’d ever eaten.
“That was really something, Glenda. You did wonders, considering my limited larder.”
“It’s not that limited, Clay. Cooking isn’t very difficult if you do enough of it. The secret is in enhancing the flavour of food, not fighting it. Not that you can go wrong with coral trout. It’s a superb fish. There are a lot of great fish but coral trout takes some beating,” she said.
“I believe you. I’ll have to get some more of it,” Steele said.
She nodded. “What time do you go to bed?” she asked.
“When I feel tired. I don’t sit up as late as I did before my illness.”
“Would you like to go to bed earlier tonight?” she asked.
As the significance of her question hit him, he looked at her sharply. His first thought was that it was bizarre to imagine that this commanding female magistrate was offering to sleep with him. The second was that maybe Glenda had a need she imagined he could fill.
But one never knew with women. What he did know was that eventually he would have to face his moment of truth. If Glenda was offering what he imagined she was offering, and he chose to accept her offer, she would be the litmus test of his ability to have normal relations with women. He had a momentary qualm when he considered the possibility of failure.
While Steele’s concern was momentary, Glenda’s concerns had persisted for several days. It had been relatively easy to decide that she would sleep with Steele because she thought that a night of intimate relations would do them both good. But when it came closer to the time, many thoughts assailed her. Despite the fact she looked after herself, she didn’t have the same figure as she’d had when she was a young woman. It was also quite a different matter to sleep with a man one had never previously been close to in a physical sense, not even for a hug.
Glenda’s concern about her appearance was magnified by her awareness that Steele’s last girlfriend had been a very glamorous television personality whose figure, in bed and out of it, would have been incomparably better than hers. But in her usual pragmatic fashion, Glenda rejected that comparison in the knowledge that she couldn’t change her figure and in the final analysis, it wouldn’t matter.
“Glenda…” Steele began.
“I have a small bag in my car. I’ll go and get it,” she said. When she returned, she took his hand and led him into his bedroom. When she turned down the bedclothes, Steele’s double bed looked cosily inviting.
Steele looked at her as she began unbuttoning her dress. “You’re a very unusual magistrate,” he said with a gentle smile.
“How many female magistrates have you known, Clay?” she asked. “I didn’t make a vow of celibacy when they made me a magistrate. I was a woman before I obtained my law degree and I’m still a woman, one who knows what to do in bed, Clay,” she said.
Clay continued to watch her in a kind of wonder as she took off her clothes. “I realise, I’m not as luscious as my daughter these days but the essential bits and pieces are still in the same places, Clay,” she said with a smile.
When she’d discarded all but her underwear, she sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him. “Well, here I am.”
“Glenda, I haven’t been with a woman since I was ill. I don’t know if I’m… capable,” he said.
“You won’t find out if you stand there with your clothes on, Clay. You don’t want to die wondering, do you?”
“No, I don’t want to die wondering.”
“Come here, Clay,” she said.
When he stood next to her, she slowly unbuttoned his shirt then pulled the belt from his trousers. When she’d taken off his clothes, she moved his hands to her breasts then slid her hand down to his groin and smiled. “Ah, that’s promising. I think we can get into bed now, Clay.”
She drew up her legs, pushed them under the bed clothes and then lay on her side facing Steele. When he climbed into bed beside her, Glenda enveloped him in her arms, cocooning him in warmth and intimacy. Steele breathed out deeply and surrendered to the challenge. Together they caressed and cajoled until they merged, sliding into a world of passion that Steele had believed had been forever lost to him. And long after they’d both been satisfied, they remained entangled. Passion gave way to tenderness and Glenda rested her cheek on Steele’s bare chest. “Welcome back, Clay.”
“I’m relieved to be back,” Steele said thickly, trailing his hands across Glenda’s bare skin until she almost purred in his arms.
Glenda sighed. “Not bad, not bad at all,” she said at last. And then, after a little while she whispered in his ear, “You don’t have a worry in the world, Clay,” she said as she kissed him.
“It’s a great relief,” he said. “I didn’t want to disappoint someone as special as you.”
“Flatterer,” she snuggled against him. “Want to sleep now, Clay?”
“Please, Your Worship,” Steele said.
Glenda laughed into his ear and kissed him again. Steele felt the warmth of her lips against his then her breasts pressed softly against his chest as she snuggled closer.
As Steele drifted towards sleep, he’d never felt more at ease. The woman beside him had brushed away doubts that had plagued him and given him back what he thought he’d lost. He felt a sense of contentment that he hadn’t experienced for a long time.
When Steele woke, it was still dark. He rolled over and his clock read 4:00 a.m. It was usually light by five.
“What time is it, Clay?” Glenda murmured sleepily.
“Just after four.”
Glenda wrapped her arms round him and kissed him. “Billy will be here with you next time I visit, so there won’t be any intimacy then. Think you could go again now?”
Steele smiled through the darkness at her. “What a woman!”
Later, he leant on one elbow and looked down at her. “You’re a remarkable lady, Glenda Butler. A real surprise packet.”
“Thank you, Clay. You’re not so bad yourself,” she said.
Clay smiled down at her. “Honestly, Glenda, I think you’re amazing. It seems trite to simply say ‘thank you’, but ungracious not to because I’m hugely in your debt,” Steele said.
“Just so you don’t imagine that I do this kind of thing all the time, you should know that it’s the first time I’ve been with a man since my divorce. You’re one of the nicest men I’ve ever met, Clay.” She grinned at him. “You know, if we were nearer in age, I’d probably propose to you… eventually. That, I assure you, you can take as a compliment because I told myself that after the first disaster, I would never contemplate marriage again. I know you value your independence, but if it wasn’t for the age difference, I think we’d be good together,” she said.
“I believe we would,” he said.
“Of course, the idea is preposterous. You need a younger woman who loves you madly and who’d be prepared to live with you in a tent if needs be.”
“I walked away from a young woman who said she loved me madly. But she’d never have entertained the prospect of living in a tent. She owned a luxury unit with a view of Sydney Harbour and her furniture would have cost more than the restoration of this house,” he said.
“Was she gorgeous?” Glenda asked.
“I believe even an unbiased person would probably describe her as gorgeous. Shelley was a television presenter, and one with a brain. She had an Arts degree and had studied journalism. I can assure you that she wouldn’t be content to live here,” Steele said.
“Are you sure about that, Clay?” Glenda asked.
“I know that for a fact. Shelley wouldn’t even camp overnight in a place I used in the Blue Mountains. It was too primitive for her sensibilities,” he said.
“Was that why you left her?” Glenda asked.
“I thought there was a good chance I was going to die and I didn’t want her to remember me as an ailing and failing star. I use the word failing advisedly as she was a very demanding young woman,” Steele said.
“You’re all right in that department now,” Glenda assured him.
Steele twirled a lock of Glenda’s hair through his fingers. “What motivated you to come to me, Glenda?” Steele asked.
“You mean apart from wanting to go to bed with a man again?”
“That’s what I mean.”
“You would want me to be honest with you, wouldn’t you?” she asked.
“I would.”
“I thought that with the crush Debbie has on you, she’d try to see you. I had visions of her coming out here to fall into bed with you,” Glenda said. “I thought she might be too tempting to knock back, what with you having been woman-less for so long.”
“You didn’t have to go to this length to keep me on the straight and narrow,” Steele said.
“I thought ‘this’ might give me a bit of extra leverage, so to speak. Besides, I’ve been feeling very stressed lately. There’s nothing like a good climax to get rid of some of the knots in one’s system… unless it’s another one,” she said with a laugh.
“I wouldn’t have touched her, Glenda. I mean that. I wouldn’t have taken advantage of the way you say she feels about me, quite apart from the fact that I have too much respect for you to play up with your daughter.”
“I believe you, Clay. My problem is that my opinion of men has been too much influenced by a drunk ex-husband and the hundreds of men that have appeared before me. There aren’t many men who wouldn’t be turned on by a ravishing seventeen-year-old-girl. Especially a willing seventeen-year-old girl. If you get to see Debbie in a swimsuit, you’ll appreciate what I mean,” Glenda said.
“I’m not interested in having a relationship with a woman and most particularly, a young woman. If I’d wanted sex for sex’s sake, I could’ve gone and slept with Lilly; she offered as a kind of payment for what I’ve done for Billy. She was staggered when I knocked her back because no other man ever had,” Steele said.
“Well, I never. I feel so much better now you’ve told me that. You see, I’m hugely knowledgeable about female teenagers and the lengths they’ll go to snare a male. Men take advantage of their vulnerability. Would you hand me my handbag, please, Clay? There’s something I want to show you,” Glenda said.
Steele handed her the bag and she extracted a folded square of newspaper which she handed to him. “You should read that, Clay.”
Steele sat up in bed and looked at the article. It was headed, “Where is Clayton Steele?”
“Clayton Steele, regarded by many literary critics to be the finest writer of his time, has mysteriously vanished. All that is known of him is that he left Australia to seek medical treatment in the United States, but from that time, nothing further is known of his whereabouts. What is more, no new Clayton Steele manuscript has been received by his publishers…”
The article went on to detail Steele’s previous literary successes and even to quote his former girlfriend TV presenter, Shelley Carruthers, who said she’d received no word from Steele since his unannounced departure.
Glenda looked at him and smiled. “I realise better now why you grew the beard. Going to bed with a beard is a new experience for me. I’d much prefer you without it. If we were in a relationship, I’d ask you to shave it off. However, beardless, you might be altogether too much for Debbie to withstand, Clay. I had a look at the picture of you on the back of your second book. Phew! If we should never do this again, and I certainly hope we do, I shall always remember the night I went to bed with the great Clayton Steele,” Glenda said.
“I shall remember it, too,” he said.
“You won’t put me into one of your books, will you, Clay?” she asked.
“Now, that’s a very big temptation… If I could do you justice,” he said and smiled when he saw the look of concern on her face. “Only joking, Glenda. What we’ve had here was something special. I suppose I could describe it as my moment of truth, or a defining moment. It’s something to know that I’m all right and can function as a man again,” Steele said.
“That’s a somewhat inadequate description of your performance, Clay. And I must say, I feel a whole lot better too. No knots this morning,” Glenda said with a smile.
“So, you’re going to let me look after Billy?” he asked.
“I couldn’t think of anywhere he’d be better off than here with you, Clay. He can stay here while we see what happens about his mother,” Glenda said.
“Thank you. I shall do my very best for him,” Steele said.
“I know you will. Billy is a very lucky boy. In the ordinary course of events, I’d have to send him to a home. He’ll be much better off here,” Glenda said. She stretched and sighed. “As much as I hate the thought of getting up, I’ll have to. But if you keep playing with my nipples, I know what will happen and I can’t be late to work today. Now, throw me your dressing gown and I’ll have a shower then we’ll get some breakfast,” she said.
Later, before she left, he held her hands and kissed her. “Thank you for everything. You’re some woman, Glenda Butler. I believe you would be very good for me, and I wouldn’t give our slight difference in age five second’s concern,” Steele said.
“You’ll probably be my last fling, Clay. You’ll certainly make it tough for any other man to follow you,” Glenda hesitated. “You will let Debbie down gently if she comes here, won’t you?”
“You have my word, Glenda.”
“I’ll see you when I see you,” she said. She put her arms around his neck and her fingers lightly caressed him there. “If you had a phone, I could ring you when Debbie wasn’t around.”
“Yes, Your Worship. But people could look me up in the phone book, Your Worship,” Steele said, straight-faced.
“I think you’ve got a bit of devil in you, Clay.”
“I think you’re bringing it out,” he said. He gave her an affectionate tap on her bottom. “There, I’ve given a female magistrate a tap on her bottom. What’s the penalty for that?”
Glenda looked at him and shook her head. “You have got some devil in you.” But as she got in her car, she wiped away the errant tears that came quickly as she contemplated what her day would be like without him.
Steele leaned in through the window of her car and gave her a final kiss. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re the most remarkable woman I’ve ever known. Go get ’em, Your Worship.”
By the time she’d driven up the drive and out on to the road, she was weeping copiously. For the first time in her life, she wished she was several years younger.