Emily
The scent of poached eggs, freshly baked cranberry nut bread, and bacon drifted through the air, tickling Emily’s nose and eliciting a groan from her empty stomach. She carried the last platter of food into the dining room, checked that each guest had everything they needed, left Sondra in charge, and hurried back to the kitchen to begin the clean-up.
“It smells amazing in here,” said Ethan, coming in through the back door with a grin.
He walked over to her, laced his arms around her waist and kissed her soft on the lips. A shiver ran through her body, delicious and bursting with anticipation.
She wasn’t used to it yet, this closeness with him. It was new, unexpected and she’d woken that morning with a smile on her lips even before her alarm had broken the quiet.
“Good morning,” she said, with a shyness she hadn’t felt in years.
“Great morning,” he replied with another kiss, this one lingering and sending goosebumps up her arms and down her legs.
“Hungry?” she asked.
He nodded. “I don’t know what you made, but I can’t wait to try it. My stomach is almost inside out after my surf this morning; I’m so hungry.”
She laughed. “Surfing seems to do that to you.”
He followed her around the kitchen as she piled food onto two plates, then set them on the table. He sat next to her and reached for a fork.
After a mouthful of the cranberry bread, she decided that she’d have to add it to the regular breakfast schedule. With a thick layer of butter on one side, it melted in her mouth, bursting with savoury flavours and a hint of sourness from the berries.
When her phone rang, she shook her head. Of course someone would want to talk to her when her mouth was full and her stomach empty.
She answered around a mouthful of bread. “Hello?”
“Emily, how are you babe?”
Callum. She hadn’t seen him in so long she’d almost forgotten about the way he’d left her, the pain he’d caused. But for some reason, hearing his voice didn’t bring back that same sting it once had.
“Hi Callum, I’m great, thanks. And you?”
“Good… I’m glad to hear you’re going well. Have you thought about when you’ll come up to Airlie beach? I miss you, babe.”
She shook her head. “I’m not coming. I told you that, but I don’t think you were listening. As usual.”
“What?” his voice morphed into a snarl. “What’s going on with you? You’ve changed or something? This isn’t like you.”
“This is exactly like me, Callum. I don’t want to come up there; we’re finished. That’s all.”
“At least tell me where you are so I can come and talk to you about this. I hate doing it over the phone.” He huffed and for a moment she felt bad for him.
“I’m in Emerald Cove, but don’t come here. It won’t change anything.”
“Isn’t that where your family lives?” he asked.
She smiled. He’d remembered something she’d told him about herself at least. “Yes, that’s right.”
“So…why are you staying there? What about us, about me?”
She sighed. “Callum, I’m sorry—things between us aren’t going to work out. We don’t suit each other, we’re too different.”
“It didn’t seem that way when we were together,” he complained. “I don’t understand…”
“I saw the drugs, Callum. I found them in your jeans pocket right before you left. You told me you didn’t do drugs, that the others were involved but it wasn’t for you. You knew how I felt about it, how much I hated it. And you lied to me.”
He didn’t answer right away, she knew he’d be considering his words carefully. That was how he responded whenever he was cornered—carefully, slowly.
“They weren’t mine…”
“Don’t try that with me. I asked around. Turns out you were not only doing them, you were dealing as well.”
He laughed. “Well, I guess I couldn’t keep it from you forever, although it took you long enough to open your eyes. You were so clueless.”
Emily shook her head. How had she ever fallen for someone with so much disdain for her, someone who’d treat her that way? But he was right, she’d been naive for far too long. Perhaps she hadn’t wanted to see the man he was because she had no one else.
“You were my family for a long time, Callum. I loved you…or at least I thought I did. But it’s time to put that all behind us. I wish you only the best.”
He grunted. “Yeah, you too, babe. You too.”
She hung up the phone, leaning against the kitchen bench with a sigh, her eyes squeezed shut.
“Who was that?” asked Ethan in a soft voice.
She blinked, focused on his handsome face. “My ex. He wants me to move up to Airlie Beach with him; I told him no.”
“I heard,” he replied.
Ethan came to her then, and she rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped her up in his arms.
“I don’t know what I was thinking…I guess I didn’t think much at all when it came to Callum. I left my friends, my job, everything in Sydney to move to Coffs to be with him. But all that time he was a completely different person to who I thought he was.”
Ethan stroked the hair away from her face.
“I think I did it because I was still grieving over losing Mum, and I thought I was all alone in the world. That he was the one person left who cared about me, so if I didn’t have him—I didn’t have anyone.” She choked back a sob. “I wish…I wish I’d done everything so differently.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Grief can make any of us do things we wouldn’t otherwise do. It’s the one thing we have no control over in life—we can’t decide whether or not we want to grieve. It pushes through us one way or another.”
She smiled through a blur of tears. “Thank you for being here.”
He grinned. “You’re welcome.” Then he kissed her again.
Sarah
The cool wind whipped up over the jagged cliff tops. Moonlight reflected off the grassy yard and made the white walls of the cottage glow an eerie bluish colour. The moon hung overhead, low, and almost full, like a cozy night light.
Sarah lay beside Mick on the swinging bench seat, her head on his lap, a blanket nestled around her shoulders. He swung the seat slowly, thoughtfully, as he gazed out at the expanse of dark ocean that stretched away into nothing.
“What could be better than this?” he asked.
She smiled, watching him. “Nothing.”
He looked at her, caught her eye, his own sparkling. “This is the life.”
Below Sarah, under her seat, she heard the faint thud of a tail beating against the floorboards. Oscar liked to be close to her, as close as he could manage. She never thought she could love a dog as much as she loved him. He followed her around during the day, slept on her feet in the evenings and did his best to crawl into bed with her at night—but that was a line she hadn’t let him cross yet, instead insisting he sleep on his own cushion.
“Have you ever thought about tying the knot?” asked Mick.
Sarah sat up with a start, pulling the blanket tighter as she faced him. “Well…yeah, I was engaged once. Remember?”
He nodded. “I’d forgotten you two were engaged. So, you wanted to get married?”
“I thought I did.”
“And now?”
Her eyes narrowed. What was he asking? “Do you mean, do I want to get married now?”
“I’m curious,” he replied.
She pursed her lips. “I don’t know. I almost got married back in Sydney, and now I can see that would’ve been a huge mistake. I don’t entirely trust myself, after that. And rushing into that kind of commitment…it’s not something I’ll take lightly. Especially after everything that’s happened with Mum and Dad.”
Mick studied her, chewed his lower lip.
Her heart thudded against her ribcage. She didn’t want to upset him, to push him away. But she wasn’t ready to commit her life to someone. Not yet. What if things turned out for her like they had with Mum? Realising after forty years that she didn’t really know her husband the way she thought? Watching him run off with someone younger? What then? She hated to think of herself wasting away in a loveless marriage for the best part of her life.
“What about kids? Do you want kids?” he asked.
She smiled. “Yes, I definitely want kids.”
He grinned in response. “Me too.”
That wasn’t something Sarah had to think about. It didn’t scare her the way intimacy did. She knew she wanted children, as many as she could manage. She loved kids, always had. She couldn’t wait until she was ready for a baby. Something about the idea of it lit her up inside.
“What about you? Would you ever remarry?” she asked.
Mick didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I would. I want to.”
She loved the way he knew his own mind so well. Knew his desires, what he wanted from life. She was never as certain as him, always had doubts floating around inside her head.
What if? What about? Maybe…might…possibly…could…
She couldn’t stop the barrage of questions, concerns, and worries, whenever she thought about things like getting married, raising a family, changing careers, starting over. It was almost paralysing, until she was thrown into those decisions by something as impulsive as quitting her job or leaving her fiancé.
But seeing Mick’s resolve, his determination, and his love—bubbles of happiness welled inside her and drifted like balloons, growing as they rose.
She smiled. “I’m glad you’re so certain about it, and I love that you’re willing to jump in again even after you were so badly hurt.”
“Let’s get married,” he said, tracing a line down the side of her face with his fingertips.
The look in his eyes woke a passion inside her that built and grew with heat as its fuel.
She leaned forward, kissed his lips, revelling in their warmth, softness and the invitation that lay there.
“I want to…” she said. “But I can’t make that decision yet. I’m still…it scares me. I’m sorry. I have to know I wouldn’t be making the same mistake as Mum. She thought she knew…she loved dad and look what happened to them.”
Mick inhaled a sharp breath, stood, and combed hands through his hair, standing the dark blond locks on end, as his gaze returned to the ocean. “Fine. I get it.” He spun on his heel to face her. “But just so you know—I’m not your father. I’m not like him; I wouldn’t do that to you. I thought you understood me better than that.”