Twelve
Erica stared at the Easter egg which was now sitting on the kitchen bench. Who could have put it there? The only people who knew where she lived were Joe, Gill, Rhana and… Jamie Whittaker. She immediately discounted Rhana. Her friend rarely came to town and certainly wouldn’t come unannounced to leave an Easter egg. She picked up the phone to call Joe.
‘Hey, sis, happy Easter,’ he said when he answered the phone. ‘I was about to call you.’
‘Happy Easter,’ she said. ‘So, it wasn’t you who snuck over and left me a chocolate egg this morning?’
‘Not guilty. Must have been the Easter bunny,’ he chuckled.
‘Ha, ha.’ But if it hadn’t been him or Gill, it must have been… Erica’s stomach churned. ‘So, why were you going to call me?’
‘I know you were working yesterday, but thought you’d be free today. We’ve decided to a have a barbecue, just a few friends, and we’d love it if you could join us.’
‘I’d love to.’ This was one of the benefits of having come home to Pelican Crossing, the impromptu gatherings which were a feature of the small town, and which she’d always loved. ‘Can I bring something?’
‘Maybe a salad? But don’t go to any trouble. It’ll be very casual. Gill and I are only calling around a few people now, and I guess some of them will have other plans.’
‘Okay.’ As Erica ended the call the thought struck her that Jamie might be one of the people on Joe’s list to call. He was one of his friends. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the possibility of meeting him again after the way she’d reacted last time. It would give her the opportunity to thank him for the egg. It must have been him who left it, but why?
Erica turned on the radio to the local channel and sang along to some old favourites as she put together the roasted sweet potato and feta salad that was one of her favourites, before putting it into the fridge. Then, with the afternoon to kill, she decided to make a start on the book for the book club which was due to meet the following week. Now she was planning to stay in Pelican Crossing, Gill had persuaded her to join, and it was lucky her shifts had changed so she’d be able to attend, but it didn’t give her much time to read the Elin Hilderbrand title the group had chosen. The Perfect Couple had recently been adapted for Netflix and evidently some members of the group had watched the series and wanted to compare it to the book. Erica had neither read the book nor watched the series, but had loved other books by the author so was looking forward to an enjoyable read. But she found it difficult to concentrate, the image of Jamie Whittaker appearing on the pages as she snacked on the Easter egg while she read.
*
Erica dressed in a blue and white calf-length dress with half sleeves and a heart shaped neckline, and applied her makeup with more care than usual, telling herself she was not making an effort in the hope of impressing Jamie. It was a long time since she’d cared what a man thought of her, but she regretted that she’d been without makeup, her hair a mess, and wearing her old clothes when Jamie had surprised her in the front garden.
As she brushed her hair into its usual sleek style, Erica couldn’t help but remember how it used to be, how her long curls had streamed out from under her helmet as they sped along on Jamie’s motorbike. How angry her parents would have been if they’d known, not to mention Joe. But she and Jamie had managed to keep their friendship a secret from them, even though all her friends knew and envied her. At first, that’s all it had been – friendship. She’d been flattered to be singled out by her brother’s friend, to be chosen by him as his companion on those wild rides and their surfing adventures on less populated beaches, where they were unlikely to meet Joe. But it had soon become something more, morphed into those moments when they sought to be alone, when she’d known the thrill of being in his arms, of the kisses which she never wanted to stop. But Jamie had always been conscious she was his mate’s little sister. He had never taken advantage of her innocence. Unlike Geoff, she thought, who’d had no such compunction.
Erica heard the buzz of conversation when she knocked at Joe’s door before pushing it open to be greeted by Coco. ‘Hello, old girl,’ she said, patting the dog with her free hand and balancing the bowl of salad in the other, her bag over one shoulder. She walked through the house to the kitchen where most of the noise was coming from.
‘Oh thanks. Yum,’ Gill said, when Erica handed her the salad. She gave her a warm hug.
Erica returned the hug. She’d come to know Gill very well the previous year, even lived in her apartment for a time when she was hiding from Geoff, fearful he’d come looking for her. It had been out of character for the solicitor to mix her personal life with her professional one and to invite a client into her own home, but Gill had done it as a favour to Erica and Joe, and it was something Erica would never forget. Besides that, the two women had discovered they had many things in common, not least a love for Joe. Erica was delighted her brother had found someone to make him happy again after losing his wife to cancer.
‘Don’t blame me,’ Gill said, nodding to the group of people spilling out of the kitchen into the back yard where Joe was presiding over the barbecue, surrounded by a bunch of other men. Erica’s heart seemed to skip a beat as she saw Jamie standing alongside her brother.
‘Anything I can do to help?’ she asked, seeing that most of the women in the kitchen were busy fixing salads or pouring drinks, while they chatted among themselves.
Gill looked around, seemingly distracted, then said, ‘Would you be a dear and take the steaks out to Joe? They’ve been marinating for hours, and I don’t imagine any of the guys out there will have given it a thought.’
For a moment Erica hesitated. She’d been hoping to avoid Jamie for as long as she could, not be forced into contact with him as soon as she arrived. She took a deep breath. ‘Sure. Where are they?’
‘Thanks a bunch.’ Gill handed Erica a large platter covered with Gladwrap and containing enough steaks to feed what Erica now noticed were only ten people. Besides Gill and Joe, there were Gill’s three special friends, Poppy, Liz and Rachel, along with their partners, Cam, Finn and Luke. With a shock, she realised she and Jamie were the only two unattached people there. She gave Gill a pained glance, but the other woman didn’t blink. Whose idea had it been to invite both her and Jamie? Had it been Gill or Joe who had suggested it? Or was she being paranoid?
Forcing a smile on her face, and followed by Coco who was excited by the scent of the meat, Erica carried the platter out to where the men were drinking beer and chatting. Joe seemed to be the only one tending the barbecue. ‘Here you are,’ she said, carefully placing the platter on a bench at the side of the barbecue and avoiding looking in Jamie’s direction, though conscious of his eyes on her.
‘Thanks, sis,’ Joe said. ‘Glad you could make it.’ He gave her a peck on the cheek.
I’ll bet , she thought, but said nothing. She recalled his comments about Jamie when they’d had breakfast on her birthday. If he thought he could throw them together and… he was wrong, so wrong.
Returning to the kitchen, Erica accepted a glass of wine from Liz and soon became involved in the conversation. It seemed that Rachel, who Erica hadn’t met before, had become carer to her four-year-old granddaughter when her son had arrived from overseas and left the little girl with her. As a new grandmother herself, Erica’s heart went out to her, but it appeared Rachel had three other granddaughters too. The topic of the conversation revolved around the fact that Rachel’s son, who was called Alexander, had seemed interested in Liz’s partner’s daughter and it was Rachel’s fervent hope that something might come of it. The complexity of it all was beyond Erica. She was only relieved they weren’t trying to match her up with Jamie, but it reminded her how the gossip mill worked in the small town.
There was another knock on the door, and an attractive, tall woman with short auburn hair appeared in the kitchen. ‘Sorry if I’m late,’ she said, looking embarrassed. She handed Gill a bottle of wine.
‘Not at all. Everyone, this is Kate. She works with Joe at the council as town planner. She’s only been in Pelican Crossing for a few months, and Joe thought it would be good for her to meet a few more people.’ She proceeded to introduce everyone to Kate, but Erica barely heard her. She was so relieved to discover she wasn’t the only single woman there.
Since everyone else had known each other for years or, in the case of Luke and Finn, was attached to someone who had, it was only natural for Erica and Kate to gravitate together.
Once the steaks were cooked and the salads had been taken outside, Erica chose a seat beside Kate and as far away from Jamie as possible, though she knew she couldn’t avoid him for ever.
She and Kate soon discovered they had several things in common – they both loved outdoor sports, especially swimming and surfing, were avid readers and favoured natural remedies over prescription medicine. There was something else about Kate that caught Erica’s attention, a cloudiness in her eyes, an apparent unwillingness to speak of her past, all of which made Erica feel sympathetic towards her. She had no desire to talk about her past either.
‘Everyone here seems to be part of a couple,’ Kate said, when the conversation stalled. She glanced around. ‘What about the good-looking guy over there?’ she gestured to where Jamie was sitting talking with Joe.
To her surprise, Erica felt a stab of jealousy, which she quickly attempted to stifle. But the feeling refused to go away. She might not want Jamie herself, but she realised she didn’t want him to hook up with Kate either. Mentally chastising herself for being a spoilsport, she replied, ‘That’s Jamie Whittaker. He and Joe went to school together, along with Cam and Poppy. He runs a fishing charter and boat rental.’
‘Hmm.’ Kate glanced over at him again.
It was later, and Erica was about to leave. She was in the kitchen washing the bowl in which she’d brought the salad when she became aware of a presence behind her.
‘Why do I get the impression you’re avoiding me?’
Erica turned quickly, almost dropping the bowl, to see Jamie standing there. She looked around, but they were alone in the kitchen. ‘I… I’m not,’ she stammered. ‘It was you who left the chocolate egg on my doorstep, wasn’t it?’
Jamie looked uncomfortable. ‘It was an impulse. I remembered how much you like chocolate…’
A picture of her and Jamie leaping into the ocean to wash off the remains of chocolate forced itself into Erica’s mind. She wondered if he remembered too. She glanced at him. Of course he did . ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘It was a kind thought.’ Maybe now he’d leave. She turned back to the sink and made a show of washing the already spotless bowl.
‘Erica,’ Jamie put his hand on her shoulder and turned her round to face him, ‘Word is you’re back for good. I think we need to talk.’