Lime Tree Hill (A Reluctant Kiss #1)

34. Ella Stone

34

ELLA STONE

Until now, Tayla had never fully understood the power of anticipation. Sure, she’d anticipated events in the past, many times. But the expectancy of what was soon to happen in the bedroom above the packing shed clouded her thoughts, making everything else pale into insignificance.

During the days following ‘Showergate,’ Tayla walked the beach every afternoon after work. Sometimes she’d hitch her dress up so she could wade into the cool surf, each time willing herself to take those few extra steps. But no matter how hard she tried to distract herself, thoughts of Mitch—his smell, his touch, his taste—were ever-present.

And now, it was Wednesday. With Mitch away for poker night, Tayla called Tim to ask if he’d meet her at the Surf Life Saving Club around five.

He arrived a few minutes after her, already wearing board shorts and a rash top. “So we’re going for a swim?” Tim said as he opened the car door for her. “You do realize it’s still winter?”

“But it’s been such a beautiful day. The water can’t be that cold.”

“Did you bring a wetsuit? ”

Tayla sighed. “No. I meant to grab it, but then Mum called, and I forgot.”

“Just as well I brought a spare. I was at Petrie Bay yesterday. It’s freezing.” Tim opened the back door and grabbed the wetsuits. “Has Mitch given you any lessons yet?”

Tayla wanted to say yes, but Mitch hadn’t mentioned surfing lessons again. “Not yet.”

“I thought that was one of your conditions.”

“It was, but we’ve been busy.” She shot him a sly smile.

Eyes wide, he stared at her. “Doing what?”

She laughed. “Orchard stuff. He’s replacing the cherry trees at Mum and Dad’s with grapefruit this week.”

“So you talk business together, do you?”

“Sometimes. You know how passionate he is about organics.”

“I do.” Tim flashed a wide grin. “Even so, it sounds to me like he wants you to be a real couple. Shit, you’ll be having babies soon.”

Chuckling, Tayla snatched the wetsuit out of his hands, and as she stripped down to her bikini and tugged it on, her body bumped with the cold. “I’m pretty sure you can’t get pregnant just from kissing.” She put her hand over Tim’s mouth as he went to say more. She didn’t want the third degree. And anyway, there was nothing else to say.

“Come on,” she said, removing her hand. “I’ll race ya. Go.”

When she entered her bedroom later that evening, a red hoodie with ‘Ducati’ printed on the front sat folded on the end of her bed. Frowning, she read the attached Post-It-Note.

T

You want to wear my hoodie, babe?

M x x

Tayla smiled as she pulled on the hoodie and studied herself in the mirror. With the length and huge fit of it, she looked ridiculous. But it was warm and snuggly, and although she’d never seen it before, well-worn and smelled faintly of Mitch.

She moved through to the bathroom and turned on the shower, eager to wash away the salt and sand. The wetsuit’s buoyancy had provided a level of security, and with Tim’s encouragement, she’d dipped her shoulders under the swell twice without feeling rooted to the spot.

Small steps, significant gains.

Sleep was difficult to find that night. The loft was isolating without Mitch, and even though Tayla had lived alone in Bondi and loved it, she wondered how she’d feel when it was time to leave Lime Tree Hill. She enjoyed being part of someone’s world. Part of a couple.

Most Thursdays, Mitch texted her around lunchtime, asking when she’d be home. But that Thursday, there was no text. When she walked through the door that evening, the place was a mess. Dirty dishes toppled out of the sink, and files and stacks of papers covered one end of the dining table.

She knocked on his office door to no answer. By the time Mitch bounded up the stairs, she’d cleaned the kitchen and made a start on dinner.

He picked up the remote and turned down the music. “Thanks for cleaning up. Sorry, the day got away on me,” he said without offering her the usual hello kiss she’d come to expect.

“Is everything okay? You look exhausted.”

He stood at the table, gathering files and papers. “I feel it too. Someone’s stripped half our avocado trees.”

“Who would do that? Aren’t they too young to ripen?”

“That’s what I can’t fathom. The pricks must know that. What the hell were they thinking?” He ran a hand through his hair, not bothering to look at her, then sat at the table and shuffled through a file in front of him. “And now someone’s laid a complaint against us with the OCA. We have a large export order ready for Japan, so it’s bad timing.”

“What’s the OCA? Is it serious?”

“The Organic Certification Association. And yes, it’s serious. They’ve ordered an audit of our practices. I’ve nothing to hide, but we’ll be tangled up in sticky red tape for a while.”

She wanted to go to him, to massage the tension from his shoulders, but his body language told her to stay back. “Will it affect your other exports?”

“Maybe.” He stood and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. “Anyway, I have a meeting in town. I’m not sure when I’ll be home.”

“Do you want me to keep you dinner?”

“No. I’ll grab something later.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t wait up.”

On the drive into Clifton Falls, Mitch berated himself for his own stupidity. He knew better than to engage with Ella, but when she’d arrived at the loft, upset after an argument with Chris, their history had tugged at his heartstrings. They’d met a few times after that night—for lunch one day and the odd coffee. But every time she quizzed him about converting part of the Stone and Pip Group’s holding to organics, he couldn’t help but doubt her sincerity.

Ella had always run hot and cold with Mitch. Whenever she and Chris had a major fight, she’d gravitate his way, arriving at the orchard in the early hours of the morning, or texting him throughout the night.

Now it was his turn to arrive at her place uninvited.

Ella pulled the door open, her perpetual smile firmly in place. “Mitch! I was just thinking about you.”

Really? “Is Chris here? ”

“Not right now.” She stilled for a moment, offering a small frown. “Is everything okay?”

“I’ve had better days.”

She stepped back in invitation. “Come on in. I have a new pinot you should try.”

Mitch hesitated. Sharing a wine with Ella while she was home alone was not a smart move. But he stepped inside anyway, the aroma wafting from the kitchen making him realize how hungry he was. He followed her into the family room, removed his jacket, and stood while she checked the casserole in the oven.

“Please, sit. What do you want with Chris?”

“I thought he might be able to shed some light on why I’m being investigated by the OCA.” He pulled out a chair at the breakfast bar and sat.

“What? When did this happen?”

“I received the email this morning. The inspector arrived not long after.”

Her arms crossed, Ella rested her butt against the kitchen counter. “And you think Chris is behind it?”

“It fits his style. Has he mentioned anything to you?”

She held his gaze. “Don’t get angry with me. It’s not my fault.”

“He’s your husband. I don’t need this kind of bullshit in my life. Doesn’t the way he conducts business ever play on your conscience?”

“I’m not him, Mitch.”

“No, but you’re a director of the company. If he’s meddling in my affairs as a ‘concerned’ competitor, surely you should’ve been informed.”

“You don’t even know if it was him.”

“Who else would it be?”

“Prue? A jealous ex of your wife’s?” Ella poured him a glass of wine, then topped up her own and slipped into the seat next to his. “Are you okay otherwise? I don’t often see you upset.”

“This investigation’s a big deal. I could lose my main market while they search for something that doesn’t exist. I have nothing to hide, but the inconvenience is huge. Especially at this time of year.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Mitch inhaled deeply then released the breath. He didn’t need Ella acting as an intermediary between him and Chris. “No, it’s all good. I’ll call him tomorrow.”

“He’s in Auckland at a conference until the weekend. Why don’t you stay for dinner? I’m sure Tayla wouldn’t mind you spending a night in town.”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention. Ella had always been forward, but not usually as blatant as this. “Am I missing something?”

She leaned back in her seat, her fingers sliding up and down the stem of her glass as she spoke. “I’m not happy here.”

That wasn’t news to Mitch. Ella constantly thought the grass was greener. “Then leave. You’ve talked about it long enough.”

She pulled a face. “Ouch. Don’t hold back, will you.”

“Look, I don’t mean to be unkind, but I can’t do this. Whatever we had ended years ago. At your insistence, I might add.”

“So what? You don’t even want to be friends now?”

“How can you sit there, basically inviting me to your bed, and have no qualms about who gets caught in the crossfire? This”—Mitch waved his hand between them—“you and me. It’s not gonna happen. Ever.”

“We were good together. Don’t you remember that last night?”

“Come on, Ella. We were eighteen. I’m in love with my wife now. Differences aside, I suspect you feel the same way about Chris.”

“Does Tayla feel that way about you?”

Mitch often asked himself the same question. He had no idea. “You’d have to ask her.”

“I don’t get it. You’ve never been one for rash decisions, but one minute you’re licking your wounds over Prue, the next you’ve married the girl next door. So what was the deal? You take his youngest off his hands, and Barry Whitman thanks you with the deed to Cherry Grove? This whole sorry business has nepotism stamped all over it.”

“Wow. You always have an uninformed opinion, don’t you?”

Ella shrugged. Sipped her wine. “I saw her yesterday. Tayla.” Her words sounded like an afterthought. A need to substantiate her judgment. “Down at City Beach with Tim, the photographer, frolicking in the water like freshly baked lovers. I didn’t realize he swung both ways.”

Mitch wondered how Ella knew what Tayla looked like. To his knowledge, they’d never been introduced. “They’re friends. He has a partner.”

“Yes, don’t we all.” She leaned forward, placing her hand on his thigh. “Sometimes, I wish society allowed us the freedom to enjoy alternatives; that’s all I’m saying.”

“Society has nothing to do with it.” He lifted her hand from his leg and pressed it against her chest. “It’s what’s in here. I have no desire to invite a third person into my marriage.”

“Well, by the way your wife was acting at the beach, it seems she’s as bored with you as I am with Chris.”

Mitch stood and reached for his jacket, leaving his wine virtually untouched on the counter. “I’ll see myself out.”

Mitch: You alone? Eaten?

Luka: All alone, and no. Are you in town?

Mitch: Yep. Shall I bring food?

Luka: Naan bread from Singh’s. I have a curry on.

Mitch: Perfect. See you soon.