Nine
That didn’t go well .
Jamie stared at the closed door through which Erica had fled as if she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. He’d been on his way to the office to catch up with some paperwork when he’d seen her in Olivia Grace’s garden, scarcely able to believe his eyes. Erica had been on his mind so much in recent days, it was as if his subconscious had conjured her up. He’d had to blink to make sure she was real.
She was and living just three doors along from him. But if Jamie had expected her to be pleased to see him, he was wrong. She’d barely said a word to him before heading inside and slamming the door behind her.
Jamie carried on to his office, set on the edge of the harbour. A couple of pelicans were perched on the bollards by the water, no doubt hoping for food. The days when they could rely on the fleet of fishing boats coming in with their catch were long gone, only a few still making the trip out to sea each morning to return with fish for the markets, their crew exhausted.
He didn’t miss those days when he’d risen before dawn to set out in all weathers, but there had been something satisfying about it, about pitting oneself against the elements to provide food for local families and businesses. It had been good enough for his father who had died in harness, leaving Jamie to carry on… until Cindy left him with two teenagers to care for.
Jamie sometimes wondered if she’d have stayed with him if he’d sold the boat sooner, then he’d remember how she’d always talked about Melbourne, the restaurants, the shops. She’d spent a holiday there as a teenager and loved it. In retrospect, it was amazing she’d stayed in Pelican Crossing with him for as long as she had.
Once in the office, Jamie made himself a coffee and fired up his computer. But although he stared at the screen, he couldn’t concentrate on checking his bookings or updating his files. He couldn’t get Erica Harris out of his mind – he couldn’t think of her as Erica Masters, another man’s wife, now his widow.
His mind went back to when they first met. He could remember it perfectly. It was at a party at Joe’s. All of their crowd were there to celebrate something which he’d now forgotten – a birthday, a lifesaving carnival, a rugby game? Maybe even the end of the school year. Erica hadn’t been at the party. She was two years younger than Joe and his mates, only sixteen. But she had a habit of hanging around them when they congregated at Joe’s place, as they often did.
That particular night, Jamie had been coming back out to the yard from the kitchen with a fresh supply of beer when he’d caught sight of her. She was tall and dark like her brother, but the likeness ended there. Erica was all woman, her curves beginning to become apparent, her dark hair curling around her face and falling to her shoulders. Their eyes met. He’d stopped in his tracks as if he was seeing her for the first time. His breath caught in his throat then, ‘Want one?’ he asked, holding up a beer.
‘Yes please, but don’t tell Joe,’ she’d said with a grin.
Jamie smiled at the memory. He’d never made it back to the others, instead joining Erica and spending the rest of the evening with her. After that, they’d been inseparable. It was lucky Joe had started dating Barb, so wasn’t too interested in what his little sister got up to. It had been a halcyon time, a summer of love. But Erica had been determined to study nursing and at the end of school had enrolled in a course in Sydney while he was destined to work on his father’s fishing boat.
They’d corresponded at first, her letters full of her new life in Sydney, his with boring accounts of life in Pelican Crossing and the fishing, then her letters had become less frequent before stopping completely. He’d heard from Joe that she was getting married, then that she’d moved to Perth. He started dating Cindy, and the rest was history.
Joe sighed and fixed another cup of coffee. He couldn’t sit here lost in the past. He had work to do. His phone rang. It was Gary.
‘Hi, son, tired of married life already?’ he joked.
‘Ha, ha, Dad. I’m calling to invite you to dinner. Mandy and I thought it would be nice to get together again tonight at our place. It was all a bit formal yesterday. Not really our scene. I’ll throw a few steaks on the barbie, and we can kick back and relax over a couple of beers. Mandy’s mum and Tara are going to bring along some salads.’
‘Sounds good.’ It was just what Jamie needed to take his mind off Erica, but… ‘Your mum?’ he asked, his stomach churning. He didn’t think he could take another evening in Cindy’s company, listening to her sniping.
‘She’s gone. Headed back to Melbourne on the first plane this morning, couldn’t wait to shake the dust – or should I say sand – off her feet.’ He laughed, but Jamie detected a note of bitterness underneath the laugh. Cindy had let her son down again.
‘Okay, I’ll bring a slab of beer. What time?’
‘Come when you’re ready. We’ll probably kick off around seven, once the little one’s asleep. Come earlier if you want to see him awake.’
‘Okay. Will do.’
The call finished, Jamie felt energised and by the time he left the office to go home and change, he’d updated the schedule for his fishing charter and got everything ready for business next day.
*
On his way to Gary’s, Jamie stopped at the bottle shop to collect the beer he’d promised, then continued on to park outside the young couple’s apartment close to the river.
It was lovely in this part of Pelican Crossing at this time of day. The sun was just beginning to set, sending streamers of gold and pink across the sky. A trio of pelicans landed on the grassy bank of the river close to where a family were packing up from their picnic. Seemingly unafraid, the birds waddled close to the group, their enormous beaks making them look top-heavy. Then, when one of the children started to run towards them, as one, they took off into the air, wings flapping, to land again on the water where they settled to watch what was happening on the shore.
Jamie chuckled at their antics. Those birds never failed to entertain him. He could watch them for hours.
When he walked in, Gary and Mandy’s apartment seemed to be bursting at the seams. Fortunately, it was on the ground floor, and they could spill out into the small courtyard. The kitchen was filled with women – Mandy, her mother, sisters, grandmother and niece. When he had greeted them all and cuddled his grandson, he joined Gary, Rory, Finn and Mark by the barbecue and dropped the beer into an esky which was sitting there.
‘Good to see you, Dad,’ Rory said, slapping him on the shoulder. ‘Pity Mum had to leave.’ He winked.
Jamie smiled at his eldest son’s sardonic remark, knowing there was no love lost between him and his mother. She had refused to accept her son’s sexual preference and pretended the reason he wasn’t in a relationship with a woman was simply because he hadn’t met the right one. She wasn’t wrong about that, but it wasn’t a woman Rory was looking for. Jamie hoped one day Rory would find someone special too.
In typical Australian fashion, it was the men who manned the barbecue, enjoying their beer while the women remained inside, only joining them when Archie was asleep and the steaks were almost ready.
It had turned dark, and the air was filled with the loud chirping of cicadas and the scent of the citronella candles, lit to repel the mosquitos. When they all sat down to eat, the men perched on kitchen stools due to the shortage of chairs. Gary and Mandy hadn’t anticipated such a large group when they furnished their home with cast-off pieces of furniture from family and flat-packs from IKEA.
Jamie was enjoying the evening, joking around with Rory and Gary, talking boats with Mark who was considering buying one for weekend sailing, and chatting with Finn about local events, when he heard a comment from Liz.
‘Did you know Joe Harris’s sister is back?’ she asked the group at large. ‘She’s living in Olivia Grace’s place. That’s near you, isn’t it, Jamie?’ she said, bringing him into the conversation.
Everyone turned to look at him.
‘Oh,’ Liz’s mother said, ‘in one of those lovely old cottages. I always wanted to live in one of them,’ she said, a note of regret in her voice. ‘Is she back for good this time? I seem to remember hearing something about her husband. Didn’t he die in the local hospital? Then she went back to… wasn’t it Western Australia?’ she looked at Liz.
‘That’s right, Mum. I don’t know all the details, but at lunch last week… I meet three friends for lunch regularly,’ she said, glancing around the group to ensure everyone was listening.
Jamie winced. He knew of Liz’s reputation as a gossip and while he was eager to know more about Erica, he hated to hear her life being bandied about in public. ‘Excuse me,’ he said, pushing his chair back and going inside.
Once there, he stood for a moment, staring into space, before heading to the toilet as an excuse for leaving the table.
When he got back the conversation had moved on, and they were discussing plans for Easter which was the following weekend.
‘It was last Easter we went on the dive trip,’ Mandy said gazing lovingly at Gary, ‘when we…’
‘And when Julie and Tilly arrived in Pelican Crossing,’ Liz said, looking across at the daughter and granddaughter who’d suddenly appeared in her life.
‘We need to do something special,’ Liz’s granddaughter declared.
Gary and Rory looked uncomfortable. ‘We were planning a fishing weekend,’ Gary said. ‘Sorry, Mandy.’
‘There’s going to be a special Easter event at The Haven ,’ Joan said warily, referring to the over-fifties resort where she lived. ‘I don’t suppose…’
‘Probably not. Mum,’ Liz said. ‘How about we arrange to have breakfast on the beach on Good Friday, then everyone can do their own thing for the rest of the weekend?’
Her suggestion seemed to gain everyone’s approval, and Jamie sighed. He wouldn’t need to be involved and could get the boat ready for the fishing trip he had planned with his sons, unaware of any special anniversaries needing to be celebrated. It had just been him, Rory and Gary for so long, he’d forgotten what it was like to be part of a large family. But he supposed with Gary’s marriage to Mandy, he was now part of Mandy’s extended family. It was a bizarre thought but not an unwelcome one.
Jamie was wrong in thinking he was off the hook with Liz. Mandy and her grandmother were clearing away the plates, and Gary and Rory were arguing with Mark about some footie game, when Liz turned to Jamie and said, ‘You and Erica were an item for a while at school, weren’t you? I was fairly new to Pelican Crossing, in the same year at school, and she was close friends with Olivia Grace and Rhana Black – you bought Sandy’s spaniel from her, Finn,’ she added, turning towards him. ‘I admired the three of them so much, but they were a tight group. And I seem to remember you and Erica…’ She peered at Jamie. He felt she could see right through him.
‘We dated… yes. Then she left to study in Sydney.’
Liz nodded. ‘And now she’s back,’ she said, her voice loaded with meaning.
All the way home, Liz’s voice reverberated in Jamie’s head, the words Now she’s back going round and round and making him dizzy.