Fourteen
Troy hadn’t wasted any time in contacting Luke and inviting him over for a beer and the promise of a steak. On the Friday after bumping into him in the yacht club, Luke found himself leaving Nelson in charge of the house and driving into town to the address Troy had given him.
When he got there, he discovered his old friend lived in what had once been an old fisherman’s cottage but appeared to have been renovated over the years. It was in a part of Pelican Crossing Luke wasn’t familiar with, on the far side of the harbour from the beach where they used to go surfing.
As soon as he walked through the gate, Luke was greeted by a volley of barking, and when the front door opened, a large black dog bounded out to meet him. ‘Hello there,’ he said, patting the labrador, who lapped up the attention. ‘Aren’t you a good fellow?’
‘He’s harmless,’ Troy said, following the dog out. ‘Makes a lot of noise but wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
‘He’s a fine specimen. Had him long?’
‘Six years. You have a dog too, don’t you? You should have brought him along.’
‘I knew you had one and wasn’t sure if they’d mix well. I have a boxer. He can be unpredictable with other dogs.’
‘Right. Well, come on in and have a beer.’
Half an hour later, the men were enjoying their second beer, and Troy had fired up the barbecue. He had proved a mine of information about current happenings in Pelican Crossing and what had happened to many of their old schoolfriends.
‘I try to keep up with everyone with a regular newsletter,’ he said, ‘but you fell off my radar when you left town. It’s good to catch up again. What’s been happening with you?’
Luke filled him in on his life at university, his marriage, establishment of his vet clinic and now, his retirement. ‘You’re still working?’ he asked.
‘For my sins, but I enjoy it, and I have cut back a bit since Dan joined me. It’s good to keep the business in the family, but you know all about that.’ He nodded to Luke. ‘You said your son runs your practice now.’
‘Josh, yeah.’ Luke thought about Josh’s call the previous morning and hoped everything at the clinic was running smoothly. It had been different when he was close by to offer advice and fix any problems, but now he was interstate, anything could happen, and he wouldn’t know.
‘Our dads probably worried about us too,’ Troy said, clearly seeing Luke frown. ‘But yours wasn’t in the same business, was he?’
‘No, Dad was in the construction business. That’s what took my parents to Sydney. There was more building going on there, more opportunities. It happened just as I left for university. Haven’t been back since.’
‘Till now.’
‘Till now,’ Luke agreed.
‘And how are you finding the old place?’
‘Some changes, but a lot is still how I remember it.’ Troy clearly kept a finger on everything and everyone in Pelican Crossing, as well as their old schoolmates. Luke was wondering how to get around to finding out more about Becky’s sister but wasn’t willing to ask him outright.
He waited till they were standing by the barbecue cooking a couple of T-bone steaks, before casually saying, ‘So, what’s happening with all the old crowd. Many still around?’
Troy turned the steaks and took a drink of beer before replying, ‘Not many. Some stayed around a few years then left, a couple are no longer with us. Remember Lou Chalmers? She owns a business here – Books and Coffee – manages the bookshop section. Has a couple of young guys run the café. Never married. She was a friend of that girl you dated for a bit, wasn’t she? Becky…?’
‘Becky Carr? Yes.’ Luke took a deep breath. ‘I treated her younger sister’s dog this week. A tick.’
‘Rachel? She’s had a hard life. Her husband died a few years ago after a long illness, but she managed to come good, turned their house into a Bed and Breakfast. Does pretty well from all accounts. Lives on the bluff on the other side of town. She’d be your closest neighbour.’
‘Sounds tough.’
‘Yeah. I think there are three children. Did some work for the oldest a year back. She has twins, as like as two peas. Sad about Becky.’
‘Why? What happened?’
‘Heard she had Alzheimer’s. Sad case. Not the only one of the old crowd to be afflicted. Gus Swanson too, and…’
But Luke had stopped listening. He had the information he wanted. Rachel was widowed like he was. And he couldn’t deny the strange buzz it gave him.
The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, ending with Luke promising to invite Troy back for a meal to repay his hospitality, and agreeing to go along to a fundraiser which the local branch of rotary was co-hosting the following week at Crossings restaurant. It would be a good opportunity for him to check out the restaurant before Josh and Abby came to visit.
*
When Luke arrived home, Nelson greeted him as if he’d been gone for weeks. It was a clear night, the stars shining brightly, and Luke was still wide awake, so once he had checked on the animals in the hospital section of the clinic, he decided to take Nelson for a walk. It was too dangerous to go down the steps to the beach at this time of night, so he attached Nelson’s leash and set off across the rough grass on the top of the bluff, the moon and stars providing sufficient light to see their way. Although he was loath to admit it, Luke was curious to see where Rachel lived if, as Troy said, she was his nearest neighbour.
There wasn’t a proper path here, and it was clear that the official route between the two houses was along the main road some distance away. Rachel must have driven that way when she came to the clinic.
It was pleasant walking along the top of the cliff, the stars shining down and shimmering in the ocean below, the lights of a ship far out at sea just visible in the distance. It was almost a shock when the house came into view. It was large, like an old farmhouse with a lot of windows, many of them lit, and the coloured lights of a Christmas tree twinkling in one of them. Luke remembered Troy saying Rachel had a Bed and Breakfast. He supposed some of the lights belonged to her guests. Luke stopped some distance from the house. What was he doing? He was acting like a stalker. If he wanted to meet Red again – he couldn’t think of her as Rachel – there must be a better way of doing it than sneaking up on her home in the middle of the night. He pulled on Nelson’s leash and turned to return the way he had come, telling himself he was behaving like… what was he behaving like? A lovestruck fool? A kid with a crush? He gave himself a shake, but still, all he could think of as he headed home was how good she’d looked in that red and gold caftan, her faded red curls falling around her smiling face, cheeks rosy from rushing – or wine – or both. How he had wanted to hold her, to hug her shapely form.
‘Down boy,’ he said, more to himself than Nelson as the dog pulled on his leash, sniffing at a clump of grass. ‘We don’t want to be going there, do we?’