Chapter 5
Chapter Five
It hadn’t been Dan’s week. Luck seemed to continually evade him.
His ex now seemed to believe that she’d made a mistake, and wanted him to return to Washington.
A few enquiries had revealed that his best friend had left town — and her.
What was more surprising was that he actually felt something for her.
But pity wasn’t enough to build a life on.
He felt sorry she’d lost the baby, but nothing more.
He surprised himself by even feeling that.
No, he no longer had any interest in his ex.
And he’d told her so as gently as he could.
He knew what he admired in a woman now. And it wasn’t any artificial charm; it was strength of character.
His mind inevitably shifted to Augi, who was the antithesis of his ex.
Augi had such a firm character, based on what she believed was right and wrong, and she lived her life by those beliefs. He liked that.
In hindsight, he knew that it had been a purely physical attraction with his ex. But with Augi? He shook his head as he walked up the garden path of MacLeod’s Cottage and opened the front door. With Augi, it was entirely different. It was physical, but also much, much more.
She appealed on every level. Trouble was, she’d made it quite clear she wasn’t interested. No. Not that she wasn’t interested. She’d made it clear that, even if she were interested, she wasn’t going to act on it. Which was even worse.
So he’d avoided coming to MacLeod’s Cove, sticking to Wellington. But as each day passed, Augi seemed to occupy his mind more and more, and so he’d made the half-hour drive north to MacLeod’s Cove to see his mother. So what if he bumped into Augi? He could hardly change her mind by avoiding her.
‘Hey there! It’s me!’ Dan called out, closing the door behind him.
Kate looked down from the landing upstairs. ‘Daniel! Hello stranger!’
He laughed. ‘It’s only been a week,’ he said as Kate walked down the stairs. The loose kaftan she wore over faded jeans drifted around her, bringing with it the fragrance of Chanel No 5 — the perfume his father had once given her when they’d dated. She’d refused any other since that time.
‘Darling,’ she said kissing him on the cheek, ‘I’d feel happier if you moved in here, as you know. Why you want to live in an anonymous box of an apartment in central Wellington is beyond me.’
‘I can’t stay here Mum. Apart from the fact you’ve nearly got a full house already—’
‘Full? Nowhere near! I brought you lot up in it remember.’ She slipped her arm through his and they walked down the hall towards the kitchen.
‘Yeah, but we’re all grown ups now and take up more space.’
‘That doesn’t make sense,’ she said, peeling off and automatically filling the coffee jug with water. ‘You’re as big now as you were at sixteen.’
He opened the larder to get the coffee beans. ‘I don’t mean physically. I mean…’ He ground the coffee, stepped away, and leant against the kitchen bench. ‘You know, I’m not sure what I mean. It’s just…’
She shot him a smile before she tipped the grounds into the cafetière. In the silence that followed, she set the coffee to percolate and turned to him. ‘Just that it wouldn’t seem right?’ offered Kate.
‘Yeah, I guess. I mean Jen’s recovering from everything she’s been through and she has Liam to consider.’
‘They’ll be moving into Sam’s house in a few weeks.’
‘That was quick! Last time I saw it, it wasn’t nearly finished.’
Kate smiled. ‘He has an incentive now. Plus he’s hired builders to help him.
So, yes’ — her smile faded — ‘they’ll be moving out.
’ She walked away, checked through the contents of some biscuit tins before she found what she wanted.
‘And I have to say that I’m not looking forward to it. The place will be quiet again.’
If Dan hadn’t been watching her expression so closely he might have missed the quiver of her lips. But he had. And he knew that his mother still felt the effects of the death of his father, who had died far too young. His mother was lonely.
‘You don’t want’ — he said with a sympathetic smile — ‘MacLeod’s Cottage to ever be quiet.’
‘No. But that’s silly. I’ll get used to it,’ she said.
‘Just as I have in the past. I’ll miss the company.
But I’ve still got all this… for the moment anyway.
’ She looked out the window to the sea which was choppy this morning with no signs of the mysterious calm of the previous evening.
The horizon, marking the division between a blue-green sea and a richer blue sky, was a heavy navy line.
He turned to see she was studying his face. ‘You miss this place.’
‘I do.’ He looked back outside. ‘It’s…’ He shrugged. How to fit so many emotions into one word?
‘It’s meaningful, isn’t it? So much has happened to us all here that it becomes more than just the sea, the sand, the garden… the house. It tugs at the heartstrings.’
He nodded. His mother was right. Perhaps he should move home.
Having a crowded house was only part of the reason he hadn’t wanted to move back home.
The other reason which he didn’t want to tell his mother, was that it was like a final rejection of the man he’d been — full of hope and ambition. But now, that didn’t seem so important.
‘I wouldn’t want you to feel lonely, would I?’ he said with a grin.
Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘No you wouldn’t!’ Her face clouded. ‘But I don’t want you to live here if you’re doing it for me. It needs to be the right decision for you. It has to feel right.’
His feelings? Those were full of his mother, his sisters, and Augi.
And this house and beach and village in which he grew up.
These feelings were far more important to him than memories of the man he’d once believed himself to be.
Time and distance had faded that image and now all he wanted was for it to be gone completely.
‘It is. And it does — for the moment anyway. If that’s all right with you?’
‘More than all right,’ said Kate, linking her arm through his and tugging him against her. He put his arm around her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
‘Then I’ll give notice on my apartment and move in as soon as possible.’
‘Oh, it will be so lovely to have you home again. Until you get yourself settled in some other way, of course,’ she added.
He knew what she meant. ‘Or until you want me gone.’
She frowned. ‘Why would I want that?’
‘I don’t know. You might meet someone you want to share your life with who isn’t your son or daughter.’
The frown deepened.
‘Come on, Mum, you know what I mean. Dad died years ago. I’m sure there would be lots of people who would love to share your life, if you were open to it.’
She shot him a dark look. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked indignantly, colour rising in her cheeks.
He wished he hadn’t spoken, but it was too late now. ‘I mean that Dad wouldn’t want you to be lonely.’
‘I didn’t say I was lonely’ — she looked away as if forming her thoughts — ‘just alone. And I’m not interested in replacing your father.’
‘Mum,’ he said in his best persuasive voice, ‘I didn’t say anything about replacing Dad.
God knows, I can’t imagine anyone doing that.
I just mean’ — he shrugged — ‘a friendship.’ Silence lengthened.
‘With a man.’ Another long silence. ‘An intimate friendship,’ he added in case his meaning was still unclear.
She turned to him with wide eyes. ‘Daniel MacLeod! What on earth has got into you?’
‘Nothing, I just—’
She held up her hand. ‘Stop right there. I don’t want to hear another word on the subject. Unless’ — she said, her face brightening with mischief — ‘you wish to tell me what happened in Washington? What friendship turned sour to make you return home with the air of a defeated man?’
It was his turn to glare at his mother. ‘No. I don’t wish.’
‘Good,’ said Kate with the air of a woman who’d won an argument. ‘Then I think we’ll agree never to broach this subject between us again.’
‘Agreed. But, of course, you don’t have to broach it yourself, do you? You have your secret weapons — my sisters.’
She laughed. ‘Coffee?’ she said with a sweet smile.
‘Great, thanks,’ he said with a sigh.
There was nothing he could do. His mother had won again — like she always did.
But if she could use his sisters, then maybe he could too, for the same purpose.
Except they’d know how to talk to their mother more persuasively.
He’d talk to Jen. She’d have a more subtle approach than either Lucy or him.
‘How’s Lucy after the other night?’ Dan asked as he rifled through a biscuit tin, before selecting a homemade Anzac biscuit, studded with chocolate drops. ‘She looked pretty shaken up.’
‘I know. Poor girl. I think she really likes the man. I feel guilty because it was my idea to invite him to a family barbecue. I thought it might help him understand our community better.’
‘Make him see that he’s dealing with real people,’ Dan added with a grunt. ‘Yeah, well, I think he knew that and didn’t care.’
Kate glanced at him. ‘You sound as if you don’t like him.’
‘That’s because I don’t. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.’
‘Lucky then that there won’t be any throwing.’
He smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Mum, I’m not about to descend into a physical fight with Oliver Perry-Warnes.
He’s not worth it. I’ll keep the fight restricted to words.
Like Augi. She was amazing the other night, the way she got to the heart of the matter and saw right through him.
’ As he munched on his biscuit, his gaze fixed on the sea where he’d been with Augi, he reflected once more on how impressive she’d been. More than impressive.
It was only when he realised there was silence that he turned to see his mother looking at him strangely. ‘Daniel,’ she said quietly, ‘I hope you’re not getting any odd ideas about Augi.’