Chapter Three #2
For now, he’d happily take the sharks.
Liam helped him launch the ski, and Tim inhaled the sea air gratefully, tasting the salt spray on his face as he revved the engine and punched through the shore break. This? This, he could handle. Being at Barking for the first time in fifteen years was like being back in his own skin.
Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the time on the Gold Coast. He’d loved it—until he hadn’t. Barkers would always be home down deep in every bone. He still knew the breaks and reefs and rips like the back of his hand.
Standing tall and gripping the handlebars, he looked for any flashes of gray or movement beneath the surface.
There were still surfers lining up for the small sets coming in since it would take a severed limb for most of them to be scared off.
Tim was the same. There were sharks around, yeah, but it wouldn’t keep him out of the ocean.
Still, he had to make sure everyone else was safe. He methodically searched the kilometer of water from the rocky spit marking the north end and down to the south, moving out farther and farther.
“Jet Ski to Central,” he said into the radio.
“Copy, Jet Ski,” Ryan replied.
Tim shouldn’t have been proud of him for sounding professional—he was a grown man and it was the bare minimum. He was proud anyway. “If it was a shark, I think it’s cruised on.”
“Copy that, Jet Ski. Head in. Or keep goin’ to the Maldives.”
Tim had to laugh. “Copy. Heading in.”
Liam greeted him, and they worked together to beach the ski. With the way the sand was filling up with people, they’d need it in the water again for rescues in a few hours when the tide turned.
“Move to your right and swim between the red and yellow flags!” a voice called out.
That same voice that had been tentative and nervous in Bali.
That had whimpered, “Yes,” with such gratitude when Tim had clocked that he was wound too tightly.
When Lachlan had sat on his lap, Tim’s cock rubbing between the crease of his tight arse, burning to pull down Lachlan’s boardies and bury himself inside him…
Keeping his gaze fixed on the tower, Tim strode across the sand. Once inside, Ryan didn’t acknowledge him as he scanned the water with binoculars.
“Where do you want me?” Tim asked, going for a neutral tone. Probably failing miserably.
“Gold Coast where you belong,” Ryan muttered.
“Funny, you didn’t feel that way when we moved there. You couldn’t wait to get back to Barkers.” He stood by the wide, curving windows and picked up another pair of binoculars from the bench.
“I said you belong there. Anywhere but here.”
It shouldn’t hurt. Ryan had every right to be aggro with him, and there were probably a million better ways to mend their relationship other than forcing Ryan to work with him. But when Teddy had asked, it had seemed like the solution. The perfect opportunity to come home.
Ryan shot him a glare. “Did you tell Mum you’re here?”
“Not yet. I wanted to see you first.”
“She’s happy with Woz. You’d better not try to stuff it up.”
Tim breathed through a flash of resentment before it passed. “I won’t.” Maria and Warren did seem quite happy together. He was mostly glad of that.
Mostly.
Ryan scanned the water again, his expression hidden by his hands and the binoculars. “You’d better not. You’re the one who wanted a divorce.”
It was true, but nowhere near the whole story. “Hasn’t your mum told you anything else about it?”
“What’s there to tell? You abandoned her.”
“That really isn’t—” He broke off. Work wasn’t the place for it, and Ryan probably wouldn’t believe a word if it didn’t come from Maria.
Watching a family head into the water right in front of the DANGEROUS CURRENTS sign, he picked up a walkie-talkie and said, “Central to Orange Buggy. Keep an eye on that family that just went in at…” For a second, he blanked on which ramp from the boardwalk down to the sand was in line with the location in the water.
“Third ramp,” Ryan said into his radio.
“Copy, Central,” Lachlan replied.
Before he could stop himself, Tim asked Ryan, “Is Lachlan full time too?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Nothing. Just thought I’d heard through the grapevine he was a lawyer.”
Still standing, Tim surveyed the beach. It was surreal to be back in the tower at Barkers. So much was the same but the crowd was far bigger, even though it was still early.
“So what?” Ryan snapped. “He was a great lawyer, but there’s nothing wrong with realizing he wasn’t keen on it after all.”
At least it hadn’t been a complete lie. Not that it fucking mattered. “Didn’t say there was. Just an awful lot of time in uni to give it up already.”
“Yeah, well, Barkers is the best place to be. Or it was.”
“Right. Where do you want me?”
“Thought you were the boss until Cyclone comes back.”
“I am,” he said, a headache forming behind his left eye. “But you’re manning the tower, which means you’re in charge of the beach right now. So tell me where you want me to patrol.”
“Didn’t Cyclone want to meet with ya? We’ve got it under control. Come back around eleven when the tide’s going out.”
He didn’t want to admit it, but Tim was relieved to cross the dry grass and dirt beyond the long, narrow car park to the squat council building holding Teddy’s office and a few others. The tile inside was cool under his bare feet as he checked the directory. The old receptionist desk sat vacant.
He rang Teddy’s number, and an interior door buzzed open. The hallway was bright, with white light flickering overhead. Back in Tim’s day, you’d been able to pay parking tickets here, but he imagined it was all online now.
Teddy’s door was ajar at the end of the corridor, and he looked up when Tim knocked softly. The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth crinkled. “Hiya, mate. Come on in.”
Looking at Teddy, you could see from the wrinkles and sun spots that he’d spent his life outdoors.
He was a good ten years younger than Tim, and it was still tough to process that he had cancer.
Tim had gotten his overdue skin check after hearing the news, along with an earful from the doc about being more careful to cover up.
Teddy sighed loudly. “I’m fine.”
Tim took the guest chair across the wooden desk.
The office was mismatched, probably from leftover council furniture from other sites, including a tall filing cabinet in the corner on the right behind Teddy.
The horizontal blinds on the small window to the left had seen better days, but the office was tidy and clean.
“’Course you are,” Tim agreed.
“You’ve got that look, though. I hate that look.”
“Sorry, mate.”
“I appreciate the concern, but the docs say the odds are great.” He rapped his knuckles on the desk. “I could use the break, though. And I really mean it when I say I want fresh eyes to tighten up our procedures. How’s it feel to be back?”
“Yeah, look, it’s good. A bit strange. Some new restaurants to try. Far more visitors. They need a bigger car park.”
“Tell me about it. Been fighting for it for ages, but you know how the council is.”
“One thing that hasn’t changed.”
Teddy grinned. “Definitely not.” His smile faded. “I know it was tough when your mum died, and you wanted a change of scenery. Didn’t expect you to stay away all these years, though.”
“Yeah. A long time ago now, but… I still haven’t gone by her house. Hate to think of her not there.” His dad had done a runner when he was still in diapers, but Mum had been more than enough.
“I get it. My dad’s gone, and Mum’s in a care home now. She still has some independence in her wing, but there’s staff to help out. It was too much for me and Jill.”
“Understandable. But you two are still going strong?”
Teddy’s eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “We are. I was sorry to hear that you and Maria split. Suppose that was some years ago now.” He shook his head.
“How did we get so bloody old?”
Tim’s gut twisted as he thought of Lachlan, who was two decades his junior. And almost thirty years old, so fair play, but still. His son’s best friend. Christ, he was making a mess of everything before he even got started. “I stayed away too long. I thought it was the right thing, but…”
“You’re here now. As a wise person once said, ‘No one can walk backwards into the future.’”
“Huh. Who said that?”
Teddy opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small rectangle of white paper. “Whoever wrote the fortune cookies they use at the Swan BBQ House.” He smiled and passed over the slip. “Got this the night before my first day in charge here. Thought it was good advice.”
Tim ran his finger over the typed words before passing back the paper. “It is. Better than ‘the fortune you seek is in another cookie.’”
Teddy laughed and opened a file folder after tucking the slip back into his drawer.
“Let’s go over the roster. I’ve printed it out for you, and here’s the work mobile supplied by the council.
There’s a lifeguard scheduling group chat, and if you need to reach anyone privately about work, this is the way to do it.
Plenty of us are mates off the beach and message each other, but I keep business to the work mobile.
“Understood.” He hoped Ryan wouldn’t realize he had Teddy’s work mobile and block his personal number again.
“And of course it’s policy that a supervisor can’t use an employee’s number to start chatting them up.” He chuckled. “Mia’s far too young for you, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem. Besides, you’re not that kind of bloke.”
The knife of guilt twisted hilt-deep in his guts as Tim tried to smile. Would Teddy still think that if he knew about Bali?
Tim realized belatedly that Teddy didn’t know about his…fluidity. Why would he? It was still relatively new, and Tim hadn’t exactly broadcast it to his old mates in Barking.
Or anyone, really.
Shit, except Lachlan, obviously. He flattened his hands on his thighs, breathing deeply. He’d deal with that.