TWELVE
Mia
“So, Mia, a little birdy tells me you’re an artist.” Mrs Wilson smiles across the table at me and I blink.
I’m surprised Luke even mentioned me and even more surprised he mentioned my art. “Kind of. It’s just a hobby.” I brush my hair behind my ear, feeling the heat in my cheeks. Everyone is being so lovely to me and Mrs Wilson’s warmth is making this a hundred times less awkward than dinner with strangers should be. Truth be told, I’m actually enjoying myself. Her eyes are the same green as Luke’s and I’m certain they have the same spark I see when he smiles. Her short gray hair is cut into a bob below her ears and she wears brightly coloured fish earrings. I secretly wonder what color she is when she shifts.
“I’m actually a lawyer,” I tell her, “though I’d work as an artist if I could.”
“You should.” Luke turns away from his brother, Noah, to smile at me. “You’re good enough.”
I squirm in my seat, pleased at his compliment, but I know it’s not true. “I’m not. Besides, it takes more than talent to paint for a living. It takes luck, too. Getting known. It’s a tough industry.”
Luke nods. “It is, but you really are very good.”
His mother looks between us with an expression I can’t decipher. “Well I’d love to see some of your work, Mia. What are you working on right now?”
I shrug. “Nothing really. It’s been a while since I did anything big. I haven’t felt that inspired. Work’s been so busy. It’s nice to have a bit of a reset here in Kraken Cove, actually. Escape the city, you know? I just love it here.”
Mr Wilson beams. He looks astonishingly like an older version of Luke. Like someone made a copy. His hair is shorter and balding at the front, but the close crop suits him. His square jaw has the same strength and masculinity as Luke’s. “Well I reckon there wouldn’t be any complaints if you stuck around for a while,” he says.
I half expect Luke to nudge me and grin, but he isn’t even looking at me. He’s just pushing food around on his plate with his fork, not even eating, though his brother’s cooking is amazing.
He stays quiet through the rest of the meal, despite the laughing and joking of his family. I wonder what’s bothering him. Maybe the reminder I’ll eventually have to go back to Sydney. Is it too conceited to assume that’s it?
Maybe there’s something else on his mind.
After Noah serves up the most tender calamari I’ve ever eaten, I’m feeling too full to consider eating one more bite. Then he brings out the sticky date pudding.
I’m a sucker for sticky date pudding. My dessert stomach instantly kicks into action. I have to restrain myself from moaning around the first bite. The pudding is just the right combination of fluffy and dense, with a sweet, salty caramel sauce that I have to lick the back of the spoon and get more of. “Wow, Noah, this is amazing! You’re going to do so well when you reopen The Snapper.”
“Thanks.” He turns away almost instantly, not meeting my eyes.
I can’t stop myself gushing, though, particularly when his terse expression makes me wonder if he thinks I’m just being nice. “Seriously, I was at Aria in Sydney a few weeks ago, and I swear to God, Matt Moran doesn’t make a sticky date this good.”
Noah’s eyes widen along with his smile. “Thanks,” he says again, and this time I think he means it.
Luke doesn’t look up from his bowl. Not even to join in on complimenting Noah, which I find odd. The way he went on about it the other day, I would have thought he’d have more to say.
Mrs Wilson gives me another of her warm smiles. “Well, don’t go home without taking some for the road. I’m going to pack some right now, so you don’t forget.” She gets up from the table and begins cutting an enormous piece of pudding .
I laugh, but I have to admit I don’t protest too much when she packages up a huge slice for me. We all get up and take the dishes into the kitchen. Jack shows me how to load the old commercial dishwasher. It makes me smile when he shifts in front of me and we make short work of the job. Many hands, or arms, or um...tentacles. I like that he felt comfortable enough to be himself around me. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I get the feeling they aren’t open with most of the residents of Kraken Cove unless they have to be.
When we’re done, I look around for Luke, but I can’t see him. I go back out into the restaurant. He’s not there, either.
Frowning, I open the door and look out into the darkness. Luke is sitting with his feet hanging off the jetty, staring out across the inlet to the beach beyond. Cautiously, I walk over and sit beside him. “Hey.”
“Hey.” The hunch of his shoulders makes my heart squeeze. There is something the matter. I wish he would have told me.
“Is everything OK?” I ask quietly.
“Yeah.” He shrugs. He still isn’t quite looking at me.
“Are you sure? You went all quiet.”
He sighs. “I’m sorry. I just feel bad for bringing you here. Look at it. I guess I’ve stopped noticing, but walking in here with you made me realise how tired and worn out this place is. And my family. You’re probably used to fancy dinners and expensive wine and world class restaurants.”
“Luke.” I stop him with a hand on his arm. “I love it. All of it.”
He still doesn’t say anything.
“I think it’s charming. Your family are charming.”
“Except for Noah,” he says ruefully .
I laugh. “I’m sure even Noah has his moments. But this is exactly what I needed tonight and I didn’t even know it.”
He turns a little more, finally looking at me the way he has been for the last few days. “It is?”
I nod.
The frown returns to his face. “I just thought...The wine! I didn’t even know. Noah had to tell me how expensive it is. And you brought it like it was nothing.”
I immediately wish I’d never brought the stupid wine. “Oh, Luke. I never meant to make anyone feel bad. I’m so sorry.”
He shakes his head. “I’m a monster. I know how hard that makes things—”
I cut him off right there. “You know that doesn’t matter to me. In fact I like it.”
“Well what about the difference in how we were brought up? You’re used to fancy wines and dinners and expensive cars and lord knows what else. You could do so much better than me.”
I scoff. If he’s talking about Oliver, he couldn’t be more wrong. “You’re not a snob are you?”
“Me?”
I nudge him with my shoulder. “Seems to me you’re suggesting I don’t belong around you and your family because I’m some stuck up Sydney girl.”
“Aw, Mia—”
I laugh. “I’m teasing. But I’m not thinking that. So don’t you think that either, OK?”
He hesitates. I can see he wants to say something, but then he seems to check himself. He nods. “OK. Am I being an idiot again? ”
I shake my head. “No. Just being sweet, as usual.”
There’s a pause and I’m tempted to lean my head on his shoulder. I’m not sure how he’ll react with his family around, though. And I don’t want to send mixed signals. The sex is one thing. Well, the foreplay or whatever it is we’re doing. When it comes to this more emotional side of things, I’m not sure where we stand. I’d like to call him a friend, but I’m not sure I have anything more to offer right now.
Luke sighs. “It’s just that before... I mean years ago, when we...” He glances behind us towards the restaurant. “You never called. Never messaged. And you never came back to Kraken Cove. I thought you didn’t want to see me. And fair enough. It was a dick move running off.”
Oh, I hate that he thought that. It’s the complete opposite of what I was feeling. Only, what with one thing and another, I never got the chance. We rushed off the next day. My dad had some last minute client to see or something. I forget the details. Then my parents paid for a big overseas trip. When I got back, Oliver wanted to get back together and, I guess, I put aside silly teenage things for real life. Suddenly those things don’t seem so silly, and real life doesn’t feel quite so real.
“I went to Europe that year.” I flick a tiny shell off the wooden pier into the water, suddenly feeling pretty stupid. “I thought when you ran off that you were done. That you didn’t want to see me again. I mean, I was younger and inexperienced. It can’t have been that great for you. And then once I got back from my trip I didn’t even bother trying to contact you. I figured you’d have forgotten about me by then.”
He laughs. It’s a soft sound, but it contains so much meaning my body is suddenly alive with awareness. “As if. I was still thinking about it—about you—years later. Right up until I met you again.”
I’m leaning closer to him because I can’t help it. All I want is for him to put his arm around me and let everyone know there’s something going on between us. Trouble is, I don’t have a name for it yet. Not when I broke off my engagement to another man today. Well I guess Oliver effectively broke it off a while back, but still.
How did I let a guy like Luke Wilson slip through my fingers, when apparently I had a chance all along?
I don’t know how, but I need to show him he couldn’t be more wrong about us. He’s exactly the sort of person I need in my life. Monster or not. I just need to figure out how it could work.
“Do you want to go?”
Luke nods and helps me up. We go inside to get my purse and say goodbye to his family.
“It was so lovely to meet you, Mia.” Mrs Wilson smiles at me. “We’d love to have you around more often.”
Mr Wilson, pretty quiet up until now, gives me a warm smile, too. “Absolutely. Any time.”
Even Noah gives me a smile before Luke leads me out onto the pier. As he closes the door behind me, I think about what he said. I hate that he was thinking he somehow wasn’t good enough. That’s not it at all. If anything, I felt like there was no way a guy like him would be interested in a shy, bookish girl who lived hours away. It’s not the first time I’ve given off the impression of being a snob, being quiet and shy. It certainly doesn’t help me relax in social situations .
I’m going to have to do something to change Luke’s impression. Because one thing’s clear, I want him. I’ve wanted him all this time, I just didn’t think he felt the same. Now I know he did, I can’t spend another day without telling him.
Impulsively, I grab his hand before he can lead me back to his truck. “Come with me for a minute?”
He gives me a questioning look, but I see the smile at the corners of his mouth. “OK. What have you got in mind?”
“You’ll see.”