8.00 am Wednesday
Makowa Lodge
Ellie woke alone in Kane’s bed, a light blanket thrown over her. He had simply held her as she had lain beside him and they’d talked until almost sunrise. Finally she had drifted off to sleep with his arms around her and her head on his shoulder. She felt safe and complete for the first time for a long time.
Friendship. That’s all it was. She wasn’t going to read too much into it. Yeah, it was different to the moves that guys like Mike and Steve tried. Friendship was good, but that still didn’t account completely for the lightness in her step this morning.
Back in her own apartment, she looked in on Heather but she was still asleep. She had a quick wash and pulled her khakis on, and then left a note asking Heather to call before she went to the medical centre. She left her car keys on top of the note so Heather wouldn’t have to take Bill’s old Cruiser.
Keen to get over to the hangar to see Kane, Ellie called into the office to pick up the scenic flight bookings for the day, and skimmed a quick glance down them. Another two had been added overnight, but she’d still be finished in time to catch up with Gina for lunch. The anticipation of going to Darwin with Kane buzzed through her.
‘The tourist season has begun with a vengeance.’ Jock’s voice interrupted her and she looked up at him with a smile. ‘You’re handling it okay with Jan sending some of the flights Cooinda’s way?’
‘So far, so good.’
‘You’ve got five on this morning?’ Jock rubbed his chin and smiled at her apologetically.
She glanced back down at the bookings. ‘Yep. Four couples, and then a guy on his own. All good.’
Ellie was pinning the schedule to the board in the hangar office when Kane strode in, dressed in his khaki lodge shirt and cargo shorts. She pressed the last pin hard to control the pleasant tremble that ran through her.
Friends.
He walked into the office with a smile and put his hands on her shoulders. The warmth of his fingers burned through the thick cotton of her shirt. He swooped down with a grin and kissed her briefly, and Ellie couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her own lips.
Okay, maybe more. The feeling fluttered to her lower belly and legs.
‘Sleep well?’ His voice was bright and she knew he was feeling the same buzz as she was.
She nodded.
‘How’s Heather this morning?’
‘Still asleep when I left. I’ll check on her later. I asked her to let me know when she goes to the medical centre.’
‘I called them. They wouldn’t tell me how Bill was but they did let me speak to him. He’s still insisting on going to Darwin today.’ Kane nodded at the flight schedule on the wall. ‘Busy morning ahead?’
Ellie glanced up at the schedule and nodded. ‘Not too bad. Two flights back-to-back and then I’ll have a break and go and see if Heather’s okay, before the last three.’
Kane brought his hands back to her shoulders and laughed when Ellie jumped. ‘Sorry, I could get addicted to having my hands on you.’
Her laugh was self-conscious. ‘It’s new to me.’
He inclined his head to the list on the board. ‘You okay to take that many flights up?’
‘Pfft. I’m used to it. You’ll be earning your pay in a few weeks.’ She realised what she’d said. ‘I mean, you’ll be checking the two machines ten times a day.’
The first couple had booked the short scenic flight over Ubirr Rock in the South Alligator region.
As well as being the highlight of a scenic flight, guided ground tours wound through the low scrub to the rock. The Aboriginal rock art gallery was protected and wonderful to experience, but for Ellie there was nothing to equal swooping over the river and the wetlands up to the high escarpment and then back to Ubirr Rock. It was one of her favourite flights and the tourists always enjoyed the experience. The traditional owners managed it jointly with the Territory government; it was another committee that Bill was on. Ellie frowned as she worried about what had happened last night, but the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and questions from the passengers kept her focused on the flight. Gradually a feeling of contentment filled her; it was the most settled she had felt for a long time. Knowing that Kane would be waiting when she brought the helicopter down added to her good mood.
After they had done the circuit, Ellie turned the chopper back towards Makowa Lodge. She took the eastern flight path, deciding to avoid flying over the old farm.
The next flight took her to the south of the park, and the early morning passed quickly. Ellie took a break before the next flight that was booked in for ten o’clock. She secured the bird – there was no sign of Kane – and headed back to her apartment, picking up two coffees from the bistro on the way.
Heather was sitting in the sun on the verandah. ‘I was just about to text you. You don’t mind if I borrow your car and drive into Jabiru to pick up Dad?’
‘That’s why I left my keys out for you. Is he ready to come home?’
‘Yeah. He’ll be ready in an hour. I’m sorry I snapped at you last night.’
‘No problem. Did he say anything else on the phone?’ Ellie probed gently.
‘Just that he’s ready to come home as soon as the doctor checks on him again.’ Heather pulled a face. ‘You know for a while I thought he’d gone back to his old habits.’
‘He gave us a scare, that’s for sure. What time do you start work?’
Heather glanced down at the phone in her hand. ‘I’m at the crèche from one-thirty, so I’ll have time to pick up Dad and bring your car back. He’s got to go straight to Darwin for a meeting.’
‘Will he be okay to drive?’
Heather shrugged. ‘You know what Dad’s like. Can’t be told anything.’ She shot Ellie a nervous smile. ‘Thanks for the bed, Els. I hope me being here didn’t . . . er . . . cramp your style.’
Ellie pulled a face at her. ‘No style to worry yourself about. Kane and I are just friends.’ She rolled back the cuffs of her long-sleeved shirt; the morning sun was hot. ‘He’s a nice guy, now that he’s got over trying to show his testosterone and establish his place in the pecking order.’
‘We’ll see.’
Ellie gave a noncommittal grunt and headed for the stairs. ‘Make sure you lock the door and pull it shut when you go. Leave the keys with Jan when you get back.’ Normally she wouldn’t worry too much about security but the events of last night had made her more than a little nervous. ‘I’ve got three more flights to take up this morning and then I’m having lunch with a friend.’ She flashed Heather a big smile. ‘And then I’m going to Darwin to help Kane out with some family stuff.’
On the way back to the hangar, Ellie detoured around the pool, looking out for Gina and the two children. She wanted to ask Gina to have an early lunch but there was no sign of them on the lawn; she’d send her a text between flights.
The hangar was deserted; Kane wasn’t in the work bays or out on the tarmac. Ellie frowned. He’d checked both helicopters before the first flights this morning, but she wondered where he’d got to now. Her next flight wasn’t scheduled for another twenty minutes, so she logged onto the computer in the office to check her email in the browser.
Sixteen messages including one with a multitude of attachments from Emma. Ellie nodded with satisfaction as she whispered softly under her breath, ‘Thanks, sis.’
She’d known Emma would get straight onto it. Em, always the steady reliable one. Ellie knew she was the dreamer.
Ellie scrolled through the file names, not wanting to download them on this computer. She was keen to open the attachments, but she’d have to wait until tonight. Newspaper articles, parliamentary minutes and a file named Fairweather. She flicked an email back to Emma: ‘Thanks for the stuff. Did you ask Mum about the Gmail account? Busy day ahead for me. Love Els.’
She glanced at her watch and peered out into the foyer, looking for her next booking. The guy was running late. Passengers were supposed to arrive fifteen minutes before the flight time to complete the mandatory paperwork before they went up.
She was about to give up when the sound of the office door opening broke the silence.
A tall, well-built blond man strolled through the door and his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of her. Ellie had to force the welcoming smile onto her face. Sometimes you could just pick a difficult customer.
‘Henry?’
He nodded and she picked up her clipboard.
‘Just some paperwork to fill out and we’ll get going.’
You had to take the good with the bad in this job.
Ellie skirted around the pool again on her way over to the office. Henry had been one of the most difficult passengers she’d ever had. The questions about the R44 hadn’t bothered her; it had been his insistence on taking over the T-bar so he could ‘fly the bird’ that had made it a difficult flight. In the end she’d given in for a few seconds when he’d become unpleasant. She hadn’t liked the way he’d looked at her either. Cold and calculating. When they’d come back down, there’d still been no sign of Kane, and she’d hurried the guy out even though he wanted to stay and chat. He made her feel uneasy; being in the hangar by herself was not on, and it was probably against some safety regulation anyway. They’d have to sort that with Jock. She frowned as she headed towards the pool. Kane was rostered on and should have been there.
Gina was sitting in the shade on a sun lounge, looking cool and elegant as she watched her two small children wading in the nearby baby pool. Despite her pregnancy, she wore a red bikini with a sarong tied over her bump. A floppy straw hat and huge sunglasses completed the picture. Ellie waved and called out to her as she hurried past. ‘I’ll be back soon. Just have to drop the keys off to the office and then get changed.’
Gina put down her Kindle and waved back with a smile.
The reception area was busy so Ellie went into the back room and hung the hangar keys on the board.
Jock wandered in as she was about to leave. ‘Kane asked me to tell you he had to leave for Darwin earlier than he planned.’
Disappointment rocketed through Ellie. ‘Oh, okay. Thanks, Jock.’
‘He’s had to go away for a couple of days, so we’ll sub flights from today till the weekend. I’ve organised for the Cooinda engineer to help us out for a couple of days. I’m not prepared to lose the bookings.’
Ellie’s head flew up and her eyes narrowed. That explained why he hadn’t been around since her first flight this morning. Maybe he’d changed his mind about her going with them.
‘Anything wrong?’
‘Yeah, his mother’s been taken to hospital and he’s gone across to be with her.’
A weight descended on Ellie’s shoulders as she remembered how sick and lonely Susan had looked on Monday. She knew that Kane would be worried about her and she made a snap decision. ‘Jock? Can I beg a favour?’
He cocked his head to the side and stared at her. ‘What?’
‘There’s no more flights booked today. I know I’ve got this afternoon off, but . . . do you mind if I take tomorrow morning too? I need to help someone out.’
‘I do owe you for the extra hours last week.’ Jock looked down at the roster on the side of his desk. ‘You can have the morning. Be back on duty at four tomorrow for the afternoon sunset flight. You can do a short afternoon shift. I’ll get one of the boys from Cooinda to do the once-over on the birds in the morning.’ He looked at her curiously. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Yes, I just need to be a friend.’ Ellie tore out of the office and hurried back to her apartment, hoping to catch Heather before she left for Jabiru. She’d need her car. She swung around the corner and stood with her hands on her hips, scanning the car park behind the building. Too late, her car was gone.
‘Shit.’ She’d have to wait until Heather got back before she headed to Darwin. She walked slowly back to the office and collected the keys from Jan.
She pulled out her phone and checked the time: eleven-thirty. She had almost two hours to kill before Heather would be back. Ellie flicked through her phone and found Gina’s number. Her fingers flew over the letters as she sent a text.
‘Ready to eat?’
The reply came back almost immediately. ‘Yes. Where and when?’
‘At the pool bar. Stay there.’ Ellie knew it would be easier for Gina if the children were somewhere they could play and the pool bar brought food orders in from the bistro.
She sent Heather a text to tell her to leave her car in the front car park when she came back from picking up Bill. She walked slowly up the steps, wondering if she should tell Kane that she was coming. But she couldn’t anyway; she didn’t have his number and she didn’t want to ask Jock for it. What she was going to do was private and nothing to do with them being workmates.
Ellie changed out of her khaki shorts and work shirt into a summer dress suitable for visiting at the hospital. She grabbed a light jacket, locked the door of her apartment and walked back over to the pool area. The gate squeaked as she lifted the childproof lock and pushed it open. Gina looked up with a smile, pointing to the phone she held against her ear. Ellie walked over to the children and crouched down on the grass beside the sandpit, giving Gina some privacy to finish her call.
‘Hey, guys. Want some lunch?’
Binny looked at her with green eyes identical to her mother’s. ‘Ice-cream?’
Andrew shook his head. ‘No, Binny. Hot chips, then ice-cream.’ Ellie laughed, sure she was being conned. Binny ran for the gate and Ellie jumped up to chase the little girl whose little legs pumped furiously as she covered the distance across the manicured lawn.
Ellie turned to reassure Gina that Binny was fine, and heard her laugh out loud and exclaim in what sounded like Italian. Her eyes were sparkling and her lips were tipped into a pretty smile. Gina beckoned her over when she finished her call.
Ellie held Binny’s hand as she walked over to Gina. ‘Hi, you look happy about something.’
‘I was talking to my mother . . . in Italy. She misses us all so much.’
‘Oh, that’s nice.’ Ellie pointed to the phone. ‘Hey, I love the phone cover.’
‘It is pretty special.’ Gina held it up with a smile. ‘If I tell you who gave it to me, will you promise not to think I am – how do you say it – big-headed?’ Her accent was more pronounced in her excitement.
‘Of course.’
‘The last time I worked a fashion show in Milan, Giorgio gave it to me to try to persuade me to stay. Isn’t it beautiful?’ She held it out to Ellie. ‘It’s a little big for my new phone but it’s too pretty to put away.’
‘Giorgio?’ Ellie picked it up and looked at it closely. There were hundreds of small crystals covering a silver leather flap.
‘Armani.’ Gina’s cheeks coloured and Ellie laughed.
‘Wow. That is pretty special. I wouldn’t be using it. I’d leave it in the bank!’
‘Giorgio couldn’t understand why I wanted to leave Italy in the middle of a good career. But my choice was easy. Modelling or David? No contest.’
Ellie wondered what it would be like to love someone so much. She’d had the occasional boyfriend at school but since Dad had died, she’d found it very hard to commit her feelings to anyone. She guessed – if she was honest – it had to do with a fear of losing someone else. It was easier not to get involved; then you couldn’t be hurt.
‘Ellie?’
She realised Gina was staring at her. ‘Sorry.’
‘Everything okay with you? You look sad.’
‘Yes, all good.’ She smiled over at the children who had climbed back into the sandpit in the shade. ‘So I hear it’s hot chips and ice-cream for lunch.’
‘Vegemite sandwiches is more like it. Come and sit with me for a while before we eat. I’m so pleased you ran into David last weekend.’ Gina chuckled and patted the empty lounge beside her, before her expression turned serious. ‘Do you have time to stay and chat for a while?’
‘I do. I’ve got a trip to Darwin this afternoon. I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up with you. It’s been madness here.’ Ellie sat on the lounge and kicked her sandals off, stretching her legs out. ‘How long are you here for?’
‘David will be back on Saturday and then maybe we have another week. Hopefully by that time he –’ Gina cut her words off and shook her head – ‘so a few more days of rest for us.’
Ellie looked at her curiously, but respected Gina’s privacy. David’s attitude had unnerved her a little last weekend. He was very serious and uptight about something, but it was none of her business. Em had always told her she was a soft touch, always taking on everyone else’s worries.
Is that what I’m doing with Kane?
She turned to watch the children digging in the sandpit; they seemed like such a happy little family.
‘Let’s order. I’ve got a couple of hours before I have to go.’ Ellie shrugged. ‘It’s been a bit of a complicated week.’
‘Want to talk about it?’ Gina put her hand on Ellie’s arm. ‘I’m a good listener.’
And she was a good listener. As they ate, Ellie found herself opening up to this woman she had only just met. Mostly family stuff, and how she missed her sisters; nothing about her fears.
Binny and Andrew squabbled around them as the two women ate their lunch. Ellie stretched her feet out on the comfortable day bed and yawned as she handed her empty plate to one of the bar staff.
‘It’s going to be a long drive to Darwin.’
‘Do you have to go?’ Gina leaned back on her chair.
‘No, but I want to.’
‘Anything to do with that good-looking guy I saw you with in the bistro last night?’
Ellie sat up. ‘I didn’t see you there.’
Gina laughed and warmth ran up into Ellie’s cheeks. ‘From what I saw when we left, you weren’t seeing much past the guy who was with you. Boyfriend?’
Ellie shook her head. ‘Just one of the guys from work.’
‘Hmm.’ Gina’s voice was soft. ‘He’d like to be. You should have seen the way he was looking at you.’
Ellie’s face burned as a small tendril of hope unfurled in her chest. ‘We’re just friends.’
Gina had a pretty laugh ‘That’s what I used to say when I first met David.’
‘Seriously, I’m not going to get involved with anyone.’
Gina grinned at her. ‘Can I give you a piece of advice? When you meet someone and you have that instant attraction, don’t let go of it. Life’s too short.’
‘I’ve only known him a week.’
‘I knew David was the man for me an hour after I met him.’ Gina leaned forward. ‘Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t fight it, Ellie.’
Ellie squared her jaw. ‘I’m not strong enough to get involved with anyone, Gina. I don’t think I could stand the pain of losing them.’
Gina reached over and took her hand and Ellie stared down at their joined hands. Gina’s were soft and nicely manicured, very different to her square-cut unpainted nails.
‘You’ve lost somebody in your life?’
‘My father. I don’t want to risk that grief again.’
Gina looked up, and her eyes were sad. ‘Life is one big risk, but if you don’t take that risk, Ellie, it’s not living.’