‘Sort of.’
‘I’ve turned the barbecue on to cook the remainder of the steak. Want to join me?’ He was keeping himself in check, speaking as he would to anyone, not with the verve and love he usually had for her.
She could do the same, friendly but careful. ‘I’ll make a salad or butter some bread.’ Standing up, she slipped her feet into the turquoise sandals by the bed. She wasn’t going around in the dark with bare feet. Next she tugged a lightweight jersey over her head.
In the kitchen, Cole started quickly emptying the fridge of everything they might need for dinner so that they wouldn’t open it again and lose what cold air was inside.
Vicki tried not to get more uptight. The power could be off for many hours with the electricity supplier already busy with other outages, and she going to have to get through the night without relying too much on Cole. That wouldn’t be fair after what she’d said. Placing her torch on the bench, she reached for a lantern and struck a match to light it. After setting it on the table, she lit the second one. ‘These’ll make me feel cosier.’
‘The rain’s definitely lightened a lot. We might see the end of this by the morning.’ Cole carried the oil and steak out to the deck.
Vicki followed him, and looked out over the yard. She shivered. ‘Mum and Dad are lucky. The lawn will dry out fast enough, and the house hasn’t been affected.’ Cole would know she was trying to fill the threatening silence. Awkward. ‘I’ll make a salad.’
Inside, she went about preparing a green salad, taking regular peeks at Cole as he stood by the barbecue, waiting to cook the steak. What was he thinking? He probably wanted to get out of here as soon as possible but she doubted he’d leave while there was no power to light up the place. Despite being cross with her, he wouldn’t do that.
After shaking dressing over the salad she pushed the bowl to the side. Done. Now to butter some slices of bread. Basic but good food. Her favourite. And Cole’s.
The silence grew as they ate, and Vicki couldn’t relax. Her skin felt cold, her head pounded. She’d told Cole to go back to Sydney, but here he was, sitting opposite her having a meal. So normal and yet completely abnormal. Should she try to talk some more about his plans for joining the medical centre? But what more could she say without repeating herself?
‘Relax, Vicki. I’ll be out of your hair first thing in the morning.’
Her fingers tightened around her fork. Now that he’d put it into words she wasn’t so sure she wanted him to go. But he had to find out if he’d got the position, and think about what he really wanted before they could talk about them. If they did. ‘Your flight’s in the afternoon, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, but I’ll try to change it. If I can’t then I’ll fill in the hours in town.’
He hated wondering aimlessly around shops, could only stop for a coffee for a short time before he became restless. ‘I’ll drive you in.’
‘We’ll see.’
It wasn’t as though he had a lot of choices. Taxis were most likely thin on the ground with the weather bomb playing havoc with the roads. Refraining from pointing that out, Vicki said instead, ‘I’ll boil some water on the barbecue for tea.’
‘Let me do that.’ He was up and finding a pot before she’d moved.
‘Fine.’ She’d rinse the plates, and try to find something else to keep her busy. It wouldn’t be the ironing or watching TV. Picking up her phone, she checked for messages. ‘At least we’ve still got phone coverage.’
‘What about internet?’
‘Not strong, but it’s there.’
Molly had texted.
You all right?
No power but otherwise okay.
She’d call tomorrow and fill Molly in on the landslide and their role in helping the family.
What about Cole?
Molly wasn’t letting her get away with just mentioning the storm. He’s returning to Sydney tomorrow. Which was sad, but necessary if he was to figure how to go forward.
Tapping another text, she replied to her mother’s query about how the storm had affected Palm Beach.
Saturated and no power, otherwise unaffected.
Joe from the medical centre had also sent a message.
You all right up there?
Yes. Been busy helping injured people, but we’re fine, thanks.
Liar, liar. Not telling Joe her position with her husband.
‘Gumboot or strawberry tea?’ Cole asked.
‘Gumboot, thanks.’ Her gaze wandered to the glass door leading onto the deck, and the red and yellow floral painted gumboots standing just outside, and she smiled. She loved them. They beat the plain old black variety most people wore.
‘Here.’ Cole placed her mug on the table and went through the pantry until he found a packet of chocolate biscuits. He joined her and checked his phone. ‘Nathan’s texted.’
‘Molly did, too.’
They were good friends. Nathan had always been, and Molly had fitted in perfectly. She’d turned Nathan’s life around, had given him a second chance at happiness, as he had for her. He’d won her over by showing her not all men were abusive, didn’t use their fists to prove a point. She was very happy for the pair of them. Across the table she saw Cole texting, his finger purposeful on the buttons, his mouth not as tight as it had been earlier. Hard not to lean over and wrap her hand around his. But she mustn’t. He’d take it as an indication she was going to back off fighting for herself.
‘Think I’ll turn in. It’s early, but what else is there to do?’
He paused his messaging and looked up at her, a sharp gleam in his eyes.
She had to ask that? In the past they’d have gone to bed all right, but there’d have been nothing to do with sleeping going on between the sheets. Hot memories roared into her mind and heat flowed up her cheeks. She spun away. ‘See you in the morning before you go.’
* * *
Cole’s heart was heavy as he watched Vicki sidle down the hall, a lantern in one hand, a torch in the other as she glanced left and right.
Sweetheart, it shouldn’t be like this. We love each other.
The light on his phone faded, bringing him back to what he’d been doing before his heart had got side-tracked. He finished texting Nathan.
Internet’s sporadic. Can you look up flights out of here early tomor
row for me?
He’d head home and drive around the Rose Bay area to get the feel of the place, try to look at it from Vicki’s point of view. If she was determined to set up the agency it could be done from home, but she’d also want to take on some of the temp jobs that came in herself so a lot of travelling around the city would be an issue. Though that would happen wherever they decided to live, and the bay was only a few kilometres from the city centre, which was a plus. They could make this work, he was certain of it, and then they’d get back to normal. Maybe try for a baby again.
‘What else is there to do?’
Her question reverberated in his head. Make love again, slower than before, touch, kiss, explore. Yeah, that one explosive moment had only been the beginning to what usually followed on when they got together after time apart. That and lots of hugs and sleeping spoon style, and waking up at all hours for more kisses and sex.
Vicki had been thinking of that too. Her face had reddened immediately after she’d asked that question, and then she’d hastily departed for the bedroom. But she’d been too late. He’d recognised her response and known the same himself. Unfortunately, it wasn’t happening. He would not push the barriers. He’d lost too much ground already. For Vicki the marriage seemed over. But not for him.
Nathan came back with flight details and, given the thumbs up, changed his booking. Sadness enveloped him. He did not want to leave Vicki like this, but she’d made it plain she wanted nothing more to do with him at the moment. It was better to focus on sorting out what he could in Sydney than hanging around, trying to get her to see reason. If he did get the job he could relax, knowing he had work he wanted, and then concentrate on helping Vicki with her plans for the agency and anything else she might want.
Scrolling through his contacts, he found the number he wanted and sent a brief text. As soon as a reply came back, he pocketed the phone and, armed with a torch, he headed to his bedroom.