Chapter 4
William
William stood at the sliding door of the little cottage next to the lighthouse.
The work was coming along nicely. The kitchenette had been installed, the plumbing in the bathroom was almost done, there was a bit of plastering left to do, then the floors could be sanded and polished.
It wasn’t that far off from being very comfortable and perfectly livable.
His parents thought he was a bit mad, staying at the cottage while all the work was being done rather than a hotel in town.
But he loved it up at the lighthouse. It had a feeling of serenity, unlike anything he’d ever experienced, even with all the construction work going on.
At night, when all the tradespeople had finished up for the day, it was just him, the rolling ocean and the night sky.
But today he didn’t feel very peaceful. He felt confused, which was a very unusual and uncomfortable feeling for him.
He’d never met anyone quite like Juniper before.
If he showed an interest in a particular woman, he was used to it being enthusiastically reciprocated.
That wasn’t to say he was a player, far from it, but he liked women, liked dating, liked sex.
He was also pretty good at recognizing when someone was interested in him.
He thought he’d seen that interest in Juniper until she’d scurried away when he’d been on the brink of asking her out.
Her obvious gorgeousness aside, there was just something about her that pulled at him, got inside his head, under his skin.
If it hadn’t been for Mikayla’s enthusiastic suggestion about the music festival, he would have done his best to push it aside.
So here he was, a little bewildered, a little deflated, getting ready to wander around a festival with hundreds of people, hoping to bump into a woman, that as far as he could tell, didn’t want a bar of him.
But that wasn’t entirely true, was it? There’d been some interest there, hadn’t there?
He heaved a sigh and pushed his fingers through his hair in frustration before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.
After driving around for ten minutes, he finally found a car park right at the top of Main Street and even then, that was only because someone walking down from their house had invited him to use their driveway.
The sky was dotted with little puffs of white clouds, the temperature hovered around a comfortable eighty degrees and a light breeze wafted in off the sea.
He walked into town and saw straight away that the little town of Blessed Inlet sure knew how to throw a music festival.
All the retail shops were closed, but the cafes and ice cream shops were doing a roaring trade.
As the main road was closed to vehicle traffic, hundreds of people were milling about, chatting, laughing, eating.
He walked past Juniper’s shop, noting it was shut up tight.
He stopped at a café and grabbed a takeaway coffee before continuing his stroll down the street.
A string quartet set up in the middle of the road got his attention.
He leaned against a light pole to listen, recognizing one of his father’s favorites, Clair de Lune.
When the tune had finished, he moved on to where a troupe of belly dancers was gyrating, hips swinging and brightly colored scarves flying.
After that came a group of Irish dancers.
All kids, by the looks, skipping and jumping as the violins played.
It was a crazy combination, all the different types of music, all the dancers, but it somehow worked.
He moved on to where Main Street ended at a t-intersection with Beach Road.
This was also shut to vehicle traffic, except for the food trucks.
They lined the length of the road and seemed to provide any variety of food that could be imagined – pizza, Lebanese kebabs, Thai noodles.
The scents were as eclectic as the sounds coming from Main Street.
At that moment, a sound caught his attention, and he turned his head.
A singer was sitting on a hay bale, leaning against the brick wall of the last shop on the strip.
She was dressed in a long, flowing dress, crimson and gold, with a matching scarf tied around her head.
Standing next to her was a man in worn jeans and a dark yellow shirt, strumming softly on a guitar.
The lady was singing Ave Maria, her eyes closed, her voice soaring above the commotion.
He moved closer, joining the small crowd gathered around her.
As he listened, he looked down at his coffee cup, swirling the contents around, when a little blonde mop caught his eye.
It was Billy, standing directly in front of the singer, his hands in the pockets of his navy-blue shorts, staring at her intently.
William glanced around, looking for Juniper, but she wasn’t nearby.
The next best bet would be Mikayla or Rafe but he couldn’t see them either.
He moved forward, crouching down to Billy’s level.
“Billy, what are you doing? Where’s your Mum?
” He whispered, but Billy just kept staring, seemingly mesmerized by the singer.
William touched his shoulder and said the boy’s name again, this time trying to put a bit more authority into the whisper.
It worked. The spell was broken as Billy turned to look at him.
The glaze in his eyes cleared and he grinned at William.
“Hi!”
“Hi yourself.” He took Billy’s hand and led him away from the crowd. “Where’s your Mum?”
“That lady’s colors were so white!” He exclaimed loudly.
“Were they?” William asked, despite having no idea what he was talking about.
“Yeah, it was very pretty.”
“Mate, where’s your Mum?” William crouched down, turning the boy to look at him, as he kept straining to watch the singer. The urgency in William’s voice must have finally grabbed at Billy’s awareness as he looked around.
“Don’t know.” His little face crumpled as he realized he couldn’t see his mother anywhere. “I want my Mummy.” He was on the verge of tears.
“It’s okay, we’ll find her.”
“I want my Mummy!” Billy’s big blue eyes welled with tears, and he threw himself at William, wrapping his arms around his neck.
William picked him up and looked up and down the street.
There were just so many people, the road was crowded, all the food trucks had lines ten people deep.
Then he saw her, well, just the top of her head, blonde curls bobbing madly as she looked from side to side, pushing through the crowd.
“There she is!” With too many people between them and Juniper, William threw Billy up on his shoulder and pointed in Juniper’s general direction. “Call out to her.”
“Mummy! Mummy, over here!”
William saw her pause, looking around. “Again, buddy.”
“Mummy!” Billy’s whole body shook as he waved frantically.
It worked, Juniper finally turning in their direction.
Pushing through the crowd, she was there in no time, her face flushed, her eyes panicked, her hands full of drink bottles and curly potato on a stick.
She practically threw everything at William as she reached up to Billy, pulling him off his shoulder, into her arms. With her son’s arms around her neck, she buried her face in his hair, squeezing tight.
“Billy, you scared the life out of me! I didn’t know where you were!”
Billy pulled back and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Mummy. I wanted to see the lady singing.”
“Well, don’t do that again!” She took a deep, calming breath and turned to William. A radiant smile lit up her face, kicking him full in the guts. “Don’t you just have a habit of turning up exactly when I need you.”
He laughed, ignoring his heart, thudding hard against his ribcage. “So it seems.” Then they just stood there, for the longest moment, smiling at each other.
“Mummy, can I please have my curly potato now?”
Juniper, startled, looked at Billy, then back at William. “Oh, sorry!” Putting Billy down, she took the drinks and the stick of curly potato from him. “I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”
“No worries.”
She put the drinks in her bag and handed the potato stick to Billy.
“Let me just call the others and find out where they are.” She kept the call brief and her grip tight on Billy’s hand.
“They’ve found a spot under a tree, on the grass behind the pizza truck.
” She started walking, pushing through the crowd again, clearly expecting him to follow her.
As it was exactly what he wanted to do, and he happily complied.
They’d taken about four steps when Billy piped up. “Mummy, I can’t see. Can William carry me?”
Before Juniper could reply, William said, “Sure. Just don’t stab me with that stick.
” He lifted the little boy in his arms, feeling a spurt of surprise when Juniper took his hand in hers, pulling him through the crowd.
It was slightly ridiculous, how good it felt to be walking along with her, holding hands.
But it was short-lived, with Billy squirming to get down as soon as they made it to the grass and Juniper dropping William’s hand, leaving him with a pang of regret.
“I got a curly potato!”
William was really starting to enjoy Billy’s habit of announcing everything that happened to him.
“Wow, good one!” Mikayla grinned at him before transferring her smile to William.
“William! You made it! Pull up some grass. This is Leah.” She gestured to a petite brunette sitting next to her, who stood up to shake his hand, keeping her eyes downcast. “She’s new in town, so we’ve gotta look after her.
Here, try these.” He’d barely sat down when Mikayla was shoving a full plate of food in his hands.
“Ah, thanks. What is it?”
“A bit of Polish, a bit of Lebanese, a bit of Thai. Rafe, the man needs a beer.”
“Gotcha.” Rafe reached behind him and grabbed a bottle from the icebox.
“Thanks.”
William enjoyed lunch; the food was amazing and the company was better.
Billy sat next to him, regaling him with all sorts of stories about his friends at playgroup, his favorite books, and his toys.
Although he’d never had much experience with kids, he quite liked the idea of them and planned to have a few himself, one day.
He had the strangest feeling, though, as he sat there listening to Billy’s chatter.
He, William, had helped him into the world.
He’d cut the cord minutes after he’d been born.
He felt a little overwhelmed, all of a sudden, a rush of something unfamiliar flooding him; A sense of connection so completely unexpected that it left him speechless.
He gave himself a shake, forcing his mind to concentrate on what Billy was saying.
Then he was distracted by Juniper. “Honestly, you two, you’re like an old married couple.”
Mikayla snorted derisively.
“Well, you are!” Juniper insisted.
“I thought you were a couple,” William admitted, immensely amused at Mikayla’s exaggerated eye roll.
“People really have to stop saying that.” Mikayla pushed at Rafe’s shoulder, grinning at him as he shoved back.
They had a very comfortable, familiar dynamic, probably more affectionate than romantic, William thought. “How do you know each other?” He asked curiously.
“Ah, now there’s a story. You tell him. You always tell it better.” Mikayla lay back on the grass, hands behind her head.
With a smile, Rafe began, “I was seven years old and new in town. As scrawny as a rake and short, can you believe it?” It was hard to believe, since he was a towering figure now at over six foot three.
“It’s true. I was taller.” Mikayla interjected. “But that didn’t last long.”
Rafe poked her in the ribs, grinning at her as she squirmed.
“Anyway, I’d just started at Blessed Inlet Primary School and was having a rough time of it.
I lived with my Abuela, my grandmother, and she didn’t speak much English, so neither did I, at home.
My skills were a bit rusty and there were some kids who didn’t like it.
Towards the end of my first week, I was miserable and angry and seriously ready to fight.
I picked a fight with Andy Jenkins, the biggest and meanest of all the kids in the second grade.
He knocked me down, I got up and swung a punch, missed, he knocked me down again.
All the kids gathered around to watch me get beaten to a pulp, but Anne of Green Gables over here was having none of it.
” He looked at Mikayla, his eyes dancing.
“I’ll never forget it. I was on the ground, but I could see her storming across the playground.
She yells, hey, gilipollas. Right pronunciation and everything. ”
“I’d been practicing,” Mikayla interpolated with a grin.
“Andy turns around, confused and she just gut punches him. He falls like a ton of bricks, and she steps over him, leans down and grabs my shirt, pulling me to my feet.” He fisted his hand in his shirt front to demonstrate.
“Then she says, ‘any of you arseholes touch my friend, you answer to me. Got it?’ They all nod and she pulls me away, off to the nurse.”
Juniper sighed. “I never get sick of hearing that story. You were a tough cookie back in the day, Sinclair.”
“She sure was,” Rafe said affectionately.
“And don’t you forget it, gilipollas.” They all laughed as Mikayla got to her feet, bending to pick up their rubbish. “Let’s go, hey. The band will be starting soon.”
They made quick work of the cleanup and were just about to move off when Mikayla said, “Shut the f—”
“Mikky!” Rafe interjected hastily.
“—ridge. The bastard!” She was off, bright red ponytail bouncing with each stride.
They all watched as she headed down the footpath, then she called out, “Hey!” A man, who was leaning against the rock wall separating the path from the sand, looked up, straightening hastily as she approached.
From where William stood, it looked like Mikayla was about to hit him, but then she ran the last few steps and threw her arms around his neck.
The man, for his part, caught her adroitly and spun her around twice before setting her on her feet.
When she found her feet, she placed both hands on the man’s chest and shoved, hard.
“Who’s that?” William asked. Mikayla now had the man by the hand and was dragging him up the path.
“Her brother,” Juniper answered, in some amusement. As they approached, William was surprised to feel a small hand pulling on his. He looked down to see Billy looking at him anxiously. Going on instinct, he put his hands out, offering to pick him up.