Chapter Eleven #3
In silence she drank her mineral water with lime, he finished his iced tea. He’d given her a lot to think about. Was that anger that had driven him resolved? Or could it still be bubbling under the surface, ready to erupt?
He angled himself to look more directly at her. ‘Now it’s your turn to answer my question, Andie,’ he said. ‘How did you get over the death of your...of Anthony?’
She hadn’t been expecting that and it hit her hard. But he’d dug deep. She had to too. ‘I... I don’t know that I will ever be able to forget the shock of it. One minute he was there, the next minute gone. I... I was as good as a widow, before I’d had the chance to be a bride.’
Dominic nodded, as if he understood. Of course he’d lost his parents.
‘We were staying the weekend at his parents’ beach house at Whale Beach.
Ant got up very early, left a note to say he’d gone surfing, kissed me—I was asleep but awake enough to know he was going out—and then he was gone.
Of course I blamed myself for not going with him.
Then I was angry he’d gone out by himself. ’
‘Understandably,’ he said and she thought again how he seemed to see more than other people. She had no deep, dark secrets. But, if she did, she felt he’d burrow down to them without her even realising it.
‘After Anthony died, I became terrified of the sea. I hated the waves—blamed them for taking him from me, which I know was all kinds of irrational. Then one day I went to the beach by myself and sat on the sand. I remember hugging my knees as I watched a teenage boy, tall and blond like Anthony, ride a wave all the way into the shore, saw the exultation on his face, the sheer joy he felt at being one with the wave.’
‘If this is bringing back hurtful memories, you don’t have to go any further.’
‘I’m okay... When someone close dies, you look for a sign from them—I learned I wasn’t alone in that when I had counselling.
That boy on his board was like a message from Anthony.
He died doing something he truly loved. I ran into the surf and felt somehow connected to him.
It was a healing experience, a turning point in my recovery from grief. ’
‘That’s a powerful story,’ Dominic said.
‘The point of it is, it’s five years since he died and of course I’ve moved on.
Anyone who might wonder if my past could affect our fake future can be assured of that.
Anthony was part of my youth; we grew up together.
In some ways I’m the person I am because of those happy years behind me.
But I want happy years ahead of me too. I’ve dated. I just haven’t met the right person.’
For the first time she wondered if she could feel more for Dominic than physical attraction.
For a boy who had been through what he had and yet come through as the kind of man who offered to pay for a little boy’s medical treatment?
Who was more willing to open his house to disadvantaged people than celebrities?
There was so much more to Dominic than she ever could have imagined—and the more she found out about him the more she liked about him.
And then there were those kisses she had not been able to stop thinking about—and yearning for more.
‘I appreciate you telling me,’ he said.
She poured herself another long, cool mineral water. Offered to pour one for Dominic, but he declined.
‘On to my next question,’ she said. ‘It’s about your family. Do you have family other than your aunt? My mother will certainly want to know because she’s already writing the guest list for the wedding.’
‘You told your mother about the engagement?’
‘She couldn’t be more delighted. In fact...well...she got quite tearful.’ Andie had never felt more hypocritical than the moment she realised her mother was crying tears of joy for her.
‘That’s a relief,’ he said.
‘You could put it that way. I didn’t realise quite how concerned they were about me being...lonely. Not that I am lonely, by the way—I have really good friends.’ But it was not the same as having a special someone.
‘I’m beginning to see that,’ he said. ‘I’m surprised we’ve been able to have this long a conversation without your phone going off.’
‘That’s because I switched it off,’ she said. ‘There’ll probably be a million messages when I switch it back on.’
‘So your mother didn’t question our...haste?’
‘No. And any guilt I felt about pulling the wool over her eyes I forced firmly to the back of my mind. Timothy getting the treatment he needs is way more important to my family than me finding a man.’ She looked at him. ‘So now—the guest list, your family?’
‘My aunt and my mother were the only family each other had. So there is no Australian family.’
‘Your aunt has...has passed away?’ There was something awkward here that she didn’t feel comfortable probing. But they were—supposedly—planning to get married. It made sense for her to know something of his family.
‘She’s in the best of residential care, paid for by me. That’s all I want to say about her.’
‘Okay,’ she said, shaken by the closed look on his face.
‘I have family in the UK but no one close since my grandparents died.’
‘So no guests from your side of the family for our imaginary wedding?’
‘That’s right. And I consider the subject closed. In fact, I’ve had a gutful of talking about this stuff.’
‘Me too,’ she said. Hearing about his difficult youth, remembering her early loss was making her feel down. ‘I reckon we know enough about each other now to be able to field any questions that are thrown at us. After all, we’re not pretending to have known each other for long.’
She got up from her chair, walked to the edge of the pool, knelt at the edge and swished her hand through the water. ‘This is such a nice pool. Do you use it much?’
‘Most days I swim,’ he said, standing behind her. ‘There’s a gym at the back of the cabana too.’
She imagined him working out in his gym, then plunging into the pool, muscles pumped, spearing through the water in not many clothes, maybe in no clothes.
Stop it!
She got up, wishing she could dive in right now to cool herself down. ‘Do you like my idea to hire some lifeguards so the guests can swim on Christmas Day?’
‘It’s a good one.’
‘And you’re okay with putting a new swimsuit and towel in each of the children’s goody bags? Hannah pointed out that some of the kids might not have a swimsuit.’
‘I meant to talk to you about that,’ he said.
Surely he wasn’t going to query the cost of the kids’ gifts?
She would be intensely disappointed if he did.
‘I want to buy each of the adults a new swimsuit too; they might not have one either,’ he said.
‘I don’t want anyone feeling excluded for any reason we can avoid. ’
She looked up at him. ‘You’re not really a Scrooge, are you?’
‘No,’ he said.
‘I don’t think people are going to be calling you that for much longer. Certainly not if I’ve got anything to do with it.’
‘But not a word about my past.’
‘That’s understood,’ she said, making a my-lips-are-sealed zipping motion over her mouth. ‘Though I think you might find people would admire you for having overcome it.’
The alarm on her watch buzzed. ‘I’m running late,’ she said. ‘I didn’t realise we’d been talking for so long.’
‘You have an appointment? I was going to suggest dinner.’
‘No can do, I’m afraid.’ Her first impulse was to cancel her plans, to jump at the opportunity to be with Dominic. But she would not put her life on hold for the fake engagement.
‘I have a hot date with a group of girlfriends. It’s our first Tuesday of the month movie club.
We see a movie and then go to dinner. We’re supposed to discuss the movie but we mainly catch up on the gossip.
’ She held out her hand, where the diamond flashed on the third finger of her left hand.
‘I suspect this baby is going to be the main topic of conversation.’
She made to go but, before she could, Dominic had pulled her close for a kiss that left not a scrap of lipstick on her mouth and her hair falling out of its knot.
It was the kind of kiss she could get used to.