Chapter 32
The winding road leading out of town was just as empty as it had been a few days earlier when Falk had driven in alone from Melbourne.
He found it a little hard to believe it hadn’t been longer than that and counted back through the week to make sure he was right.
Either way, he was enjoying the drive more this time.
A lot of things were better with Gemma around.
She was sitting in the passenger seat, and music played softly from the radio as they wound their way up through the hills.
Gemma tapped the window as they passed the spot where she’d come off her mountain bike as a ten-year-old and broken her right wrist in three places.
Falk told her about the time his mate Luke had persuaded him at age eleven to join him on their school roof and he’d slipped and fractured his left elbow.
Just in the one place, but they’d both been lucky not to break their necks in hindsight.
The bushland grew heavier on both sides, filtering the light of the low sun, and eventually Falk stopped talking and started watching the side of the road.
When he saw what he thought he was looking for, he touched the brakes.
The gap immediately seemed to disappear.
He glanced at the deserted road behind in the rearview mirror, then slowed some more.
“No, you’re right. It’s there.” Gemma pointed to an almost invisible opening in the foliage. “By that big tree. See it?”
“I do now, thanks.” Falk grinned as he turned the steering wheel. “You’ve guessed our surprise destination, then?”
“I have.” Gemma laughed, but she kept her eyes on him a moment longer, as though learning something new. “I’m still surprised, though.”
“That’s good.”
Falk followed the hidden track, bumping along the rough ground until the bushland thinned and then opened entirely.
The spectacular lookout was yet again better than he’d remembered.
The Marralee Valley stretched out below, its vibrant patchwork of greens now bathed in a deep orange glow from the sun hanging heavy in the enormous sky.
There was no one else there, Falk was happy to see as he pulled the car to a stop in the clearing.
“Oh my God,” Gemma said as they got out. “You know, it’s been absolutely years since I’ve been up here. You forget how good it is.” She nodded back toward the hard-to-spot track. “This used to be a bit of a local secret, or does every city blow-in know it now?”
“I don’t think all of us yet.” Falk smiled. “Raco showed me last year.”
“Well, I think we can forgive him.” Gemma wandered to the edge, and Falk joined her at the barrier. “As long as you’re careful. Last time I was here, I brought a friend visiting from the States and she dropped her phone over the side.”
“Seriously? That was gone, I’m guessing.” Falk looked down at the impenetrable tangle of bushland far below. The dense canopy covered the ground.
“Yeah, no chance. And it was a beta prototype she was testing, so—”
“She took the loss with humor and good grace?”
“You can imagine. I felt really bad, but what could we do? You can’t get down there, but she didn’t really understand the bushland around here.
In the end I had to drive all the way around the perimeter to convince her she couldn’t hike in.
” She smiled over at him. “So that soured the afternoon a little.”
“Good to know.” Falk turned away from the edge and headed back across the clearing. “I’ll keep hold of my belongings.”
“That’s a strong start.” Gemma watched with curiosity as he unlocked the car trunk. “What have you got there, anyway?”
“Well.” Falk pulled out his bags of shopping from earlier and carried them over to the small picnic table.
“I know you said the other night at the festival that you didn’t need champagne and sunsets.
” He unfolded a tablecloth over the battered surface, then laid out two glasses and unzipped a chiller bag.
“But then I was thinking, no one needs champagne and sunsets. They’re just nice to have, like houseplants or free Wi-Fi. ”
“Seriously?” Gemma came over to the table. She was laughing, but the delight was real, he could tell. “That’s what we’re doing tonight, champagne and sunsets?”
“Yeah, I thought we could give it a go. Although, it’s technically a multi-award-winning sparkling wine from the Marralee region,” Falk said, pulling the bottle from the chiller bag and reading the label.
“It’s one of the world-class ones, so I thought it made more sense with your connections to the local producers.
And—” He rummaged through another bag. “I’ve got a bottle stopper and some sparkling water as well, because as much fun as this is, I’m driving and you’re back on duty later. ”
“That’s very responsible.”
“Also,” Falk looked at his watch, “I’ve checked today’s sunset time, and we actually have to head off pretty much as soon as it’s done to get you back on-site by the end of your break.”
He glanced up. Gemma was leaning against the table, her head tilted as she watched him, and he stopped.
“Is this all okay?”
“Aaron.” She stepped around the picnic bench so they were face-to-face. She put her hands around his waist and he could feel the warmth of her skin through his shirt. “Practical romance is my absolute favorite kind.”
“Yeah? Because some people don’t like it.”
“Some people don’t know how to live.”
He opened the bottle and she poured and they sat on the bench together, backs resting against the table as they watched the sun sink toward the hill. Overhead, the sky slowly changed, the colors growing rich and deep.
After a while, Gemma sighed contentedly and stretched out her legs in front of her. “God, this is nice. Pretty great for a Monday night.”
It was, Falk thought. Right up there. “I can see why you like living here.”
“Yeah?” She looked over. “Fair warning, it’s not always like this. Only when someone pulls out an unexpectedly lovely, sweeping romantic gesture.”
“You might find it hard to believe, but this is my very first sweeping romantic gesture.”
“Really? Amazing debut.”
“Thanks. I’m happy you like it. Although I have to say, this bloody sunset”—Falk tipped his empty glass toward the glorious dying blaze, beautiful but brief—“is starting to feel a bit like a metaphor. So Gemma, look, can we try to work something out for after I leave? Please.”
He really wanted the answer to be yes this time. He hadn’t realized quite how much until he’d asked the question.
“Well,” Gemma started, but she was already nodding, and he felt a wave of relief. “I mean, of course. Obviously. I’d love to work something out, too.” A tiny frown crossed her face. “That’s never really been the issue. It’s more what that would look like.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“But—” What was left of the light was dazzling, and Gemma leaned her head back and shut her eyes as she thought for a minute. “I mean, Joel leaves for uni next year.” She turned her head and squinted at him. “Maybe that changes the equation a bit.”
“Yeah?” An instant spark of hope flared, but Falk kept it contained. “The festival still needs to be run, though.”
“It does. But I suppose I’m hardly the only person in the world who could do that.”
“You’re too good at it to just stop, though. Would there be something similar you’d be interested in doing?”
“Something where?” He could tell she was considering it, at least. “In Melbourne?”
“For example. That would obviously be highly convenient for me.” Falk smiled. He put his empty glass down and reached for her hand, their fingers intertwining. “But it is also the nation’s cultural capital. Thriving arts and events scene.”
“I know that”—Gemma nudged him affectionately—“because Melburnians are always telling me so.”
“What can I say? We’re very proud of it. And it’s true.”
“Fair enough.” She laughed, and they looked at each other for a long moment. Finally, she shrugged. “And, yes, probably. I’m sure if I asked around I could find something else.”
Gemma’s eyes left his face, and she turned back to the view over the valley. Falk watched her as she gazed out. The town below looked far away and peaceful in the dusk.
“I understand it’s not only about the festival, though,” he said.
“No.” She smiled. “But it’s hard to explain without sounding really insular.”
“Have a go.”
“I suppose…” Gemma thought for a minute.
“There’s a lot of good everyday stuff that comes with living here.
Little things add up. Having close friends, recognizing faces in the street.
No commute. I like having time to read the books for book club, being able to stop for a spontaneous coffee with someone.
I love the seasons here, the way the vines change.
I always have. I missed that when I was away.
And it’s our friends and neighbors, obviously.
The way they stepped up and were there for Joel and me when we needed it. ”
“You don’t get that everywhere.”
“No.” Gemma’s eyes were still on the valley.
“You don’t. And I’ve met people over the years—like when I was in the U.S.
—people who you just know will spend their whole lives chasing after something they hope will make them happy.
And, okay, that looks different for everyone, and I’m not saying I couldn’t be happy somewhere else. Because of course I could.”
“But you’re happy now? Here?”
“I am.” She turned to him now. The sun was almost gone, the sky was growing deeper above them. The first star was out. “I think our grass here is really green.”
Falk looked at her. Stay or go? The question felt bigger out here. He took a breath. “Charlie asked if I wanted to work at the vineyard.”
Gemma said nothing at first, and he could almost hear her thinking.
“Well, now. That would be highly convenient for me.” She smiled. “A big change, though.”
“Yeah.”
“Too big?”
Falk paused, then nodded. “I think it might be. I’m sorry.”