Olivia was up early. She’d packed Ollie off with enough food to feed a small army and made sure to tell him about the precooked meals in the freezer. Now she knew how Mum felt whenever she left Dad and Ollie alone to come and visit her in the city.
Ollie hadn’t batted an eyelid when she’d told him that Griff had volunteered to drive her to the airport. She’d been jumpy and nervous about telling him, but she needn’t have—he was too exhausted to muster more than a grunt in acknowledgement as he ate a late dinner.
She was packed and ready when Griff knocked on the door, doing a final scan of the kitchen to make sure she’d turned everything off. She turned as he crossed the room, barely managing a squeak of surprised protest as he swept her up in his arms and kissed her.
When they pulled apart, she realised they were headed down the hallway towards her bedroom. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Making sure you remember what you’re leaving.’
‘I’m going away for two days,’ she told him dryly as he placed her on the bed and kicked off his boots.
‘I know. And I’m not sure how I’ll cope,’ he said, shrugging off his shirt.
Olivia sat up, resting on her elbows as she watched the impromptu striptease with more eager anticipation than was quite proper. ‘I’m sure you’ll manage somehow.’
‘You’re still dressed,’ he pointed out, tossing his shirt on the end of the bed.
‘Silly me for being ready to leave for the airport,’ she muttered.
‘We’ve got plenty of time to get there.’
‘You wouldn’t be deliberately making sure I miss my flight, would you?’
‘Would I do something like that?’ he asked innocently. Unfortunately, innocent didn’t quite work on him and she narrowed her gaze. ‘I may have factored in a brief farewell when I told you what time I’d be picking you up,’ he admitted.
‘Oh really?’
He grinned at her droll tone. ‘Get naked, Dawson. You’re wastin’ time,’ he told her as he undid the button on his jeans.
Olivia followed the movement with eyes, finding it wildly distracting and suddenly forgetting why she was annoyed to begin with. Maybe she was a little happy he’d decided to get over here early so they had time for a proper goodbye. As he discarded the remainder of his clothing, her throat went dry. Okay, make that a lot happy.
‘You don’t have to come inside,’ she said when he made to open his door in the carpark of the Griffith airport.
‘But I’m going to,’ he said, pushing the door open and walking to the back of the ute to unclip the tarp and take her small overnight bag from the back.
He slung the handle over his shoulder and took her hand in his as they crossed the carpark and went in through the large sliding glass doors. She checked in and they sat down to wait for the flight to arrive.
Olivia gave a small rueful smile as she looked down at their entwined hands. If someone had told her only a few weeks earlier that she’d be sitting here holding hands with Griffin Callahan and secretly fretting that she had to leave him for two whole days, she would have laughed and called them crazy. His large hand, toughened by hard work and wrapped around her own, made her feel safe. Their hands rested on his thigh and underneath she felt the hard muscle, remembering the solid length of it against her own smoother skin only a short time earlier, making her wish they could forget everything and go back to bed.
She risked a sideways glance at him and bit her lip. He looked as miserable as she felt. ‘I’ll be home Sunday afternoon.’
‘I know and I’ll be waiting right here,’ he said, holding her gaze steadily. There was so much spoken in that long look—a promise that made her pulse quicken.
Outside the plane touched down and taxied to a stop on the tarmac.
Olivia got to her feet reluctantly, turning to face Griff. ‘I’ll see you Sunday.’
He didn’t bother answering, he merely stood up and kissed her. How had she fallen for him again so damn fast? The question swirled inside her head. The answer was simple—she’d never really stopped falling for him.
Olivia swore she could still feel the tingle of his lips on her own as the plane made the descent into Sydney two hours later. The older lady next to her smiled and said, ‘Home sweet home.’
Olivia nodded, distracted by the strange feeling the woman’s words inspired. Sydney was her home, it had been her whole adult life. Even though Rankins Springs would always be where she was from, it was Sydney she always thought of as home … until now. No. Not until now. This was her home, she told herself firmly as she merged with a sea of weary travellers moving through the airport. Everything was just out of kilter after her dad’s accident. It was a good idea to get away for a few days. Now she was back here, things would get back into perspective and she’d be able to think more clearly.
Griff pulled into a parking spot out the front of the hardware store. While he was in Griffith he needed to pick up a few things before he headed back home. He felt a kind of weary defeat hovering over him as he walked down the aisles of the large store. She was only going away for a few days, he reminded himself again. But it did nothing to shift the heaviness in his chest.
As he’d watched her walk out to that plane, he’d felt uncertainty grip him. It hadn’t been long enough. He needed more time with her. She was walking away, and he was standing there letting her go without putting up a fight. It didn’t matter that he knew she was only going to visit her father for a few days. Christ, she needed to go see her father; he was in hospital having almost lost his life. He felt like a selfish bastard wanting her to stay with him when he knew she needed to be with her parents right now, but still he couldn’t shake the feeling that he hadn’t had enough time to convince her that this thing between them could be something. He’d heard the wariness in her voice yesterday when he’d called. She was having second thoughts about it all.
He’d be having second thoughts about it too if he were smart. How could they go from years of being family friends to this crazy all-consuming desire that refused to let him think straight, all in a matter of days? If he were being honest, though, it hadn’t started a few days ago, it’d started months ago at Hadley’s wedding. How could one bloody wedding cause so much drama?
On Hadley’s insistence, Griff had stepped in to put a stop to Olivia’s attempt at tabletop dancing. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Olivia that drunk before, but in true Olivia style, when she put her mind to something she made sure she did it thoroughly and in style. As he’d carried her from the reception—by that stage she’d hardly been able to walk—the feeling of her in his arms, the warmth of her body against his chest and her scent swirling around him had hurtled him back in time.
‘What are you doing? she protested weakly.
‘Saving you from yourself,’ he muttered.
‘I don’t want to be saved,’ she wailed dramatically.
‘Too bad.’
‘I’m having fun. Isn’t that what everyone’s always telling me to do?’ she demanded. ‘You need to be more fun, Olivia,’ she mimicked.
‘Who tells you that you need to be more fun?’ Griff asked, trying to keep the amusement from his voice. He still couldn’t believe she was this drunk, but he had to admit she was kind of cute, in a dishevelled, indignant, lost-one-shoe kinda way.
‘Everyone,’ she said belligerently. ‘Hadley,’ she finally admitted. ‘She thinks I need to find a man and have lots of hot, nasty sex.’
He almost tripped and had to quickly right himself. ‘What?’
‘That’s what she thinks I need.’
He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
‘And Cash,’ she said bitterly.
‘Cash?’ Griff frowned. He wasn’t ready to be talking about the woman who’d rejected him—even if she had done it nicely. It still stung.
‘She can have any man she wants. Her name should be Jolene,’ she said and tilted her head slightly to look up at him. ‘Like that song? You know?’ and started to belt out a woeful version of the Dolly Parton classic. He winced, although he was unsure whether that was on account of the terrible singing or the fact she was a little too close to the mark with her assessment. Thankfully, they reached the house and she stopped mid-chorus as he carefully placed her back on her feet to open the door.
‘What are we doing here?’
‘I’m putting you to bed.’
‘Taking me to bed?’ she said, looking up at him surprised.
‘Putting,’ he corrected, wishing she’d stop looking at him with those big innocent eyes. ‘You need some sleep.’
She didn’t protest as he swung her back into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to his old bedroom and sat her on the edge of the bed. He gently removed her remaining shoe and handed her one of his football jerseys to put on. ‘You can wear this to sleep in. I’ll go get you some water while you get changed,’ he said, heading for the door and hearing the rustle of her bridesmaid dress as she tugged it over her head.
In the kitchen he filled a glass with water, reflecting on the day. He’d tried not to look at Cash today, but time and time again his attention had been drawn to her. Their last encounter, when they’d kissed, played on his mind. She’d kissed him back, he’d felt it. He’d seen a spark of desire in her eyes as he’d pulled away, before she’d told him she was seeing someone else. Shame washed over him as he recalled his reaction. He’d been angry. He hadn’t meant to demand to know who she was seeing like some possessive maniac, but he had been jealous. He was hurt and pissed off and frustrated, but it hadn’t been any excuse to act the way he had. He needed to find Cash and apologise. He didn’t want to carry this self-loathing around another second longer. She’d found someone else, and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt, but he needed to move on and he couldn’t do that until he said sorry for the way he’d behaved.
He lightly knocked on his bedroom door, opening it slowly when he didn’t hear a reply. He grinned despite himself at the sight that greeted him. Olivia had managed to get her dress off and climb into his shirt before it must have all got too hard and she’d collapsed against his pillows and fallen asleep on top of the covers.
He put the glass of water beside the bed and went back out to grab a blanket, not wanting to disturb her by trying to tuck her in. As he covered her, he swallowed hard at the sight of her shapely bare legs. He gave a start when she suddenly took his hand and tugged him down towards her.
‘I think I made a mistake,’ she murmured, half asleep.
‘Everyone has too much to drink now and again. You’ll be okay tomorrow … afternoon.’ He did not envy the hangover she’d be dealing with in the morning.
‘No, I mean with you. I made a mistake breaking up with you. You’re a good man, Griffin. I bet you’d know how to give a girl some hot, nasty sex,’ she added, her words slurring.
Griff gave a strangled chuckle. He really needed to have a word with his sister about the kind of advice she was giving to her friends. ‘Get some sleep, Liv.’
‘I’ve never found another man like you and I never will. I never stopped loving you,’ she said softly, tucking his hand under her chin and closing her eyes again.
Her words threw him off balance. Surely that was the drink talking? It had to be. How could she have loved him all this time and never said anything? Nah, she was just feeling nostalgic and her guard was down. He carefully untangled her hand from his and rose from the edge of the bed.
He looked down at her thoughtfully as she began to sleep peacefully. He’d come back to this once she was sober, he decided. Right now he had to find Cash and put that chapter to rest.
‘Griff?’ A voice brought him back to earth with a jolt and he realised he was standing stock-still in the same aisle. ‘Can I help you find something?’
‘Hey Gary, yeah.’ Griff cleared his throat. ‘I’m here to pick up our order, and I need some hundred mil ag pipe.’
Gary looked at him oddly. ‘No worries. The ag pipe’s over this way.’ He led him away from the gardening tools to the other side of the store. It was going to be a very long few days.