“Oh, my god. Seriously, that is good.”
“I told ya. They do the best coffee here. Chloe and I joke about getting a drone so we can call in our order, then fly the drone down to pick up our coffees.”
Jules laughed. “It’s not even a two-minute walk.”
“Yeah, but sometimes you want to have your coffee and lounge about in your PJs.”
“That’s fair.”
They were at Cargo, a restaurant shaped like a boat that jutted out over the water, with both port and starboard made up of wide floor-to-ceiling windows. Ash had taken the seat that looked back at the kitchen so Jules could have the view.
Jules took another sip—a flat white, it was called. Who knew such a thing even existed? In Boulder it was all “caramel mocha lattes with whipped and a pump of vanilla”. You couldn’t even taste the coffee. This was a whole new level—the best coffee she’d ever had. “You do realise that you’ve ruined me for life, right? With the coffee and the view.”
“The view yes—it’s Docklands. I love it. But the coffee? Come on. You’ve travelled. Didn’t you go to Italy a few years back with Chloe and Lucy?”
“Yeah, and the coffee was good. I mean, hello, Italy. But I stuck to espressos and they’re crazy strong—like, stand-your-spoon-up-in-it strong. Anyway, I’ve always thought of coffee as just a caffeine-delivery device. I’ve never thought of it as … as this.”
“Yeah, well, if I’m spending a thousand dollars a year on something, it’s gonna be good.”
“A thousand …? Oh, yeah, I guess that’s right. Four bucks a day.”
“Yep.”
Jules savoured the coffee and took in the view. In the middle of the harbour was a long pier with what looked like converted warehouses—bars and function venues, by the look of them. Across the water on the other side of the harbour were more buildings—a mix of businesses and residences, and each distinct. Some were mostly glass tinted in blue or brown, and one building had brightly coloured accents as though a child had decorated it. On their left was the marina, and Jules spied a family of ducks paddling among the boats in the murky water. It reminded her of Vancouver, and she adored Vancouver.
Could I live here?
She’d been dipping in and out of the thought for most of the day. Melbourne was certainly a beautiful city and huge when compared to Boulder, or even Denver, but would she want that? She’d spent most of her life living in what was essentially a large town. What would it be like to live among five million other people from all over the world? That was the other thing she’d noticed. Melbourne was a truly cosmopolitan city; she could hear several different languages being spoken at that very moment.
Ash looked over Jules’s shoulder and waved. Jules, putting on hold her ruminations about a life in Australia, turned to see who the recipient was. A grinning Matt walked across the restaurant. Jules shot a look at Ash, who seemed particularly interested in the contents of her coffee cup. What was she up to?
“Hey,” Matt said as he leant down to plant a kiss on Ash’s cheek. He did the same with Jules, as though they’d known each other for more than a day, then pulled up a chair. He signalled to a passing waiter and asked for a flat white.
“It’s my new favourite thing,” Jules said to him.
“Oh, yeah, this place is great. I always try to get here when I’m up.”
“Up?”
“Yeah, in Melbourne.”
Jules cocked her head in confusion and Ash added, “Matt lives down on the peninsula.” The furrow between her brows deepened.
“Sorry, just some Aussie shorthand,” said Matt. “I live on the Mornington Peninsula; that’s where the vineyard is.”
“Oh, that’s right, Ash said you made the wine you brought over.”
“I did.”
“We had some last night. It’s really good.”
“You cracked open the Christmas dozen?” Matt raised his eyebrows at Ash who threw her hands up in surrender.
“I would never. It was one of the pinots you brought last time.”
“You’re off the hook then. But you’ll want to get the whites into the fridge by tomorrow night.”
“I’m on it.”
Matt’s coffee arrived and he thanked the waiter with a smile. It was a small thing, but something that Jules noticed. If she was on a date and the guy was rude to the waitstaff—or ignored them entirely, which she considered just as bad—she’d make an excuse and leave early. She’d left a lot of dinners early.
“So, help me get oriented. Right now, I’m facing south?” Two nods. “And where is the vineyard from here?”
“South east.” Matt drew a nearly complete circle on the table with his forefinger. “So, this is Port Philip Bay—it’s not really round, but for argument’s sake, ’kay?” She nodded. “Melbourne’s here, and if you follow the east coast of the bay down here, this area is Mornington.”
“It’s beautiful down there,” injected Ash, “and not too far. You should go check it out while you’re here.” Yep, Ash was definitely up to something.
Jules would have ignored her, but Matt seemed to pick up on Ash’s suggestion. “Hey, yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll be heading back down on Friday. You two should come for the weekend.” She met his eyes and she could have sworn she saw a hint of flirtation. She hoped she did, in any case. God, he was hot. How was she going to subtly find out if he and Chloe ever dated? That was one line she definitely didn’t want to cross.
The offer to see another part of the state hung in the air and if she was honest with herself, it was just as appealing as the hot winemaker who’d made it. “You know what? That would be amazing, thank you. I also want to do some sightseeing in the city before I go home. Chloe put together a list—” She was cut off by a laugh from Ash.
“Sorry, sorry, just Chloe and her lists. She even has a master list of all her lists.”
“She is very organised.” Jules had travelled enough with Chloe to know what a powerhouse of preparation she was.
“I’m organised. You have to be in event management, but even in the industry, Chloe is kind of a freak. I love her, I do, but before she left, she wrote a list for our Christmas.”
“No way,” said Matt.
“She did!”
Jules could tell Ash’s remarks were said with love and she had a quiet giggle at her friend’s expense. “So, what exactly goes on the list for a Christmas you’re not even having?”
“Actually, it’s mostly about you.”
“Me?” She shared a look with Matt. He seemed intrigued too.
“It’s just all the things we have to do so you’ll have a proper Aussie Christmas, including the menu.”
“Sooo, we’re making fun of her for being a total sweetheart?”
“Yes. Sorry. Sometimes I can be a bit of a bitch.” She waved a self-deprecating hand in the air.
“Don’t say that. You’re not a bitch.” Matt’s voice was firm and Ash met his gaze, then looked into her now-empty coffee cup. Jules sensed there was some sort of story there.
“So,” Jules said brightly to Matt, “when you’re ‘up’, where do you stay?”
“Usually at our friends’ place—Callie and Thea’s. They live in Port Melbourne. Pretty much a straight shot south, right on the coast.”
“Oh, they’re the couple coming for Christmas, right?”
“Yep. They’re awesome.” Ash seemed to pep up at the mention of her friends. “They had the best wedding. So much fun. It was up at Daylesford. Sorry, I keep forgetting that you have no idea what that even means. Anyway, it’s this fab little town about … what do you reckon, Matt, three hours away?”
“Maybe less, but yeah, it’s a bit of a drive.”
“Anyway, we all went up for the weekend—a few of us rented a house and the wedding was at The Boathouse—god that place is divine—the food. That was the Saturday and the girls took off on their honeymoon on the Sunday, but we stayed another night, just hanging out, pretty caz.”
“When was this?”
“Only last month.”
“Oh, so this is their first Christmas as a married couple! That’s awesome.” Chloe hadn’t mentioned that, but an idea started percolating in Jules’s mind and she wondered if she could pull it off.
“Oh, that’s right, I didn’t think of that. Christmas is even more special now. Too bad you don’t make bubbles, Matt.”
“Now I believe you didn’t crack open the Christmas case.”
Ash’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t.”
“I did. Of course, I did. Special occasion.” He sat back in his chair casually, as though what he’d done was no big deal.
But apparently to Ash, it was. She “squeed”, then leant over the table and gave Matt a smack of a kiss on his cheek. Jules looked between them, waiting for the explanation, Ash’s delight making it impossible for her not to smile too.
“You are the best!” Ash added, beaming at Matt.
“I aim to please.”
“Matt went to Red Rock,” Ash finally explained. “It’s my favourite winery—except yours …”
“Uh-huh.” A wry smile appeared.
“And he bought my fave bubbles, lovely, lovely bubbles.” Ash was sing-songing, and Jules’s grin grew.
“Only four, so pace yourself.”
“Well, we can start with those and move onto the ones I got from Naked Wines.” She pressed her lips together until they disappeared, as though she’d said something bad.
Matt laughed. “I know you buy from Naked Wines. It’s not like I think you only drink my wine. For a start, I couldn’t afford it. I have to sell some to actual customers, you know.”
“Ha, ha. Hilarious.”
“Seriously, though,” he turned to Jules, “you’ve met Chloe. This one’s exactly the same.”
“Are you calling me a lush? On Christmas Eve Eve? I change my mind, you suck.”
Jules watched the banter play out across the table. They’re like siblings. She smiled to herself, letting her thoughts turn to Will. She had totally lucked out with her brother; she knew so many people who weren’t close to their siblings. She couldn’t even fathom that. Will was one of her best friends, and she didn’t have many of those. Three to be precise.
Maybe she was stuck in a time warp, only getting close to people she’d known since childhood. She’d had this conversation with herself before and she knew that if she dwelled on the thoughts too long, she’d end up in a labyrinth, going around and around, trying to self-psychoanalyse why she’d never been in love.
Now was not the time. Besides, she had a lengthy “to do” list to start on.
“So, I know I’m supposed to be making cookies, but do you think we could go to the beach first? You said Port Melbourne wasn’t far.”
Matt scoffed good-naturedly. “Don’t be like that,” Ash scolded.
“What? What did I miss now?” Keeping up with the shorthand between them was beginning to hurt her brain.
“Matt’s from Torquay.”
“And?” Jules pressed.
“And he’s a beach snob.”
“I’m not a snob.”
“What would you call it?”
“Well, it’s like this,” he faced Jules, “Port Melbourne is on the coast, but it’s a bay and really, if you want to go to a proper beach, like a real beach,” Ash rolled her eyes and Jules sniggered, “then Port Melbourne is not it.” From Ash’s exasperated sigh, it was obviously not the first time he’d made the same point.
“I see,” said Jules, attempting diplomacy. “Well, I’m from a landlocked state and I’m one of those unfortunate Coloradans who loves saltwater, so you see where I’m going with this, right?”
“She doesn’t care, Matthew. Take her to the frigging beach.”
“O-kay, Ashley,” retorted Matt playfully.
Jules grinned. “She is right, though. I don’t care. But what about you?” she asked Ash. “Do you want to come?”
“Meh, I’m from Melbourne. I’ve been. Plus, I’ve got a million things to do.” Jules doubted that but didn’t press. Besides, she would get to spend some time with the hot winemaker and maybe even see him in less than jeans and a T-shirt.
*
“I’ve taken the long way.” They had just turned onto an esplanade and the bay stretched out in both directions on the left side of the car. The bay was a lot larger than Jules had imagined and she could only just make out where the coast curved around on the far side.
She’d been watching the street signs and from what she could tell, they’d just left St Kilda and were heading towards Port Melbourne. Throughout the whole journey to the coast, she’d been mesmerised by the streets of Melbourne, especially the main streets, which were lined with stores and dozens of coffee shops. She wondered how people ever chose a favourite when there were so many.
“In case you were wondering,” Matt added.
“I was actually. You said it was close.”
“I wanted to show off Melbourne a little.”
“Well, you’ve done a good job. It’s a gorgeous city. I adored that suburb with the narrow houses.”
“Oh, the terraces? Yeah, most of them go back quite a ways. Some are even heritage listed, and you would have seen some with two storeys?” She nodded. “A mate of mine has one and he and his wife have done it up beautifully. It’s a lot bigger than it seems from the street.”
“Very different from Boulder. We like big houses and condos and not much in between. No, that’s not true, there are some cool converted warehouses. Anyway, I like the terraced houses. And the marinas. Seriously, how many do you have here?”
“Personally, zero.”
“Ha, ha.”
“I’ve never even thought about it, but I guess Aussies just love the water. We do have a lot of it, you know.” He was teasing her. She liked it. “But we don’t have the Grand Canyon or the Rocky Mountains—”
“You’ve got Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef!”
“We could probably have a really good argument about whose country has the best scenery.”
“But don’t you think it’s like what you said about the marinas? When you live somewhere, often things just recede into the background.” He seemed to contemplate the idea. “I think that’s why I like to travel so much—so that when I get home, I see it with fresh eyes, you know? A renewed perspective. Have you been to the States?”
“America? Yeah, actually, I was there a couple of years back. I took a bit of a sabbatical once the winery was in good shape and I could step away for a bit. My mate, Twoey—that’s my business partner—he kept an eye on things while I travelled.”
“Twoey?”
“Nickname. Long story.” He chuckled to himself.
Jules guessed she wasn’t going to hear it, so she went with the sabbatical. “So, how long were you away?”
“It was a couple of months—California, Oregon, Washington.”
“Oh, I love that part of the country. What time of year were you there?”
“Your autumn.”
“So, picking season, then.” He smiled. “Couldn’t stay away from the grapes?” she teased.
“Something like that—a working holiday.” They had slowed down, and Matt was searching for a parking spot, which was looking less and less likely. It seemed that everyone in Melbourne had left the markets and was now at the beach.
She kept an eye out as Matt continued. “Twoey and I had worked our asses off, see, and there’s so much more to it than the wine—the finances, the tax laws, marketing. All that started to get in the way of why I’d gone into it in the first place.”
Jules found herself nodding in agreement. She was due for a bit of a shakeup in her career.
“So, as I said, I took myself off to America, teed up stints at some wineries, and got mucky.” The word didn’t translate, and he must have seen that on her face.
“I got my hands dirty. I picked grapes, I sorted the berries from the stems, I worked beside the vintners, doing whatever they asked. A lot of it was menial to start with but once they realised I knew my stuff, we’d get stuck in, you know? Figuring out how to make the best wine from those grapes.”
“That sounds awesome.”
“It was. It reenergised me to come home and throw myself back into it. A bit like what you were saying before—a renewed perspective.” They shared a smile across the car. “Here we are.” She’d been so caught up in his story, she hadn’t even realised they’d pulled over.
Matt performed a perfect parallel park and as soon as they got out, Jules headed straight for the water, slipping off her sandals and stepping onto the sand. She took in a huge lungful of the briny air as she approached the gently lapping waves, and Matt came and stood beside her.
“What do you think?”
She grinned at him. “I can see what you mean about the beach thing,” she conceded, “but otherwise, I love it. Doesn’t it smell amazing?” She took another deep breath. “Hey, yesterday when I was walking along the marina in Docklands, I noticed it smelled really briny there too, but that’s a river, yeah?”
“It is, but it’s tidal. There’s backwash from the bay, so there’s usually a layer of saltwater on the top. That’s why it’s kinda murky too. It’s constantly churning up the silt on the bottom. Not the prettiest river, the Yarra.”
“I don’t know. I love the way the city is built around it. I mean all those bridges. I think it’s really pretty.” Matt looked at her in a way that made her wonder what he was thinking.
“So, are you coming in?” She unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her legs, then pulled her T-shirt over her head. She stood in her yellow bikini, hitting Matt with a look that said, “come on.”
He seemed dumbstruck—and as though he was making a concerted effort not to look at her body. She grinned at him. She knew she had a terrific body—she worked out nearly every day, even in the dead of winter.
“Well?”
He put his hand on the back of his neck and dropped his head, grinning. “Didn’t bring my swimmers. And it’s kinda cold.”
“Lame!”
“After you, then.” His arm swept in a wide arc of mock chivalry.
Jules strode into the water up to her mid-thigh, paused for a beat and swore loudly. Matt threw his head back and laughed as she spun around and jogged out of the water.
“How? It’s like ninety degrees today,” she laughed, her skin prickling with goose bumps.
Matt raised his eyebrows at her and grinned with an “I told you so” look. It was the first time she’d noticed he had dimples. She was still staring at them when he added, “Wait here. I have a beach towel in my truck.” He was gone less than a minute, but it was long enough for her to start shivering.
“Here.” He wrapped the striped towel around her. “You have to be a masochist to swim in the bay. The footy clubs send their teams down here to do laps when they lose.”
“Really?” She pulled the towel tightly around her.
“Nah.”
She laughed at her own expense but stopped as her teeth started to chatter. Concern etched his face. “Geez, you really are cold. Come ’ere.” He stepped forward and wrapped Jules up in his arms, rubbing her back through the towel.
It was completely unexpected, but it felt … what? It felt right.
After a moment, Matt stood back, the furrow of concern still between his brows. His hand lifted, as though he was going to tuck a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, but he hesitated. Then she watched as his eyes dropped from hers and settled on her mouth. For a moment she wondered if he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her.
“Well, your lips aren’t turning blue, so I think you’ll survive.”
Oh, so not a kiss then. Matt stood back and Jules felt the absence of him—something else that was unexpected. “Come on, pop your clothes back on. I want you to meet Callie and Thea.”
She composed herself, consciously slipping back into I’m-just-a-friend-of-a-friend mode. “Oh, sure,” she said, dropping the towel and stepping into her shorts. “Can we walk, or do we need to take the truck?” She slid the T-shirt over her head and picked up her sandals.
Matt retrieved the towel from the sand, then stood and pointed to a block of condos across the wide esplanade. “See the building with the dark blue tinted windows?”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“Well, then, let’s go meet the girls.”