Misty, p.4
Misty, page 4
‘It’s beautiful when the full moon rises at night out of the sea,’ he said as he stopped beside her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. Her neck was taut under his hand and as he rubbed that tender curve he noticed the nervousness she’d acquired now she’d remembered they were strangers.
Well, that was fair enough. Very wise of her. She should be having second thoughts on her decision to stay.
Reluctantly, his arm slid from her shoulders and he stepped back. He could still feel her warmth against his body, delicate though it was, and he seriously wanted her back against him.
She squeezed her hands over her upper arms as if to warm herself and he jammed his hands into his trouser pockets.
No doubt she had some boyfriend to rush off to, or she could even be married with kids. He smiled to himself at that. She wore no ring. He’d checked that while holding her as they’d drifted off to sleep.
Now, why had he done that?
He needed space between them or he’d be working to initiate something he couldn’t finish. Something they’d both regret. ‘Would you like a drink?’ He turned, gesturing vaguely toward the house inside.
She nodded with ridiculous enthusiasm, making him aware the strain sat both sides. ‘Do you have juice?’ she asked as she followed him back into the kitchen. Even though she walked behind him he could pinpoint her position.
How odd. It had never been like that before. Ever.
This mysterious, amazing young woman who had swum into his life, saved him, scolded him, and captured his imagination when he’d least expected it might prove rather difficult to forget.
‘Your “shack” is impressive,’ she said in that warm way she had, but there seemed a fragile brightness to her face as her eyes skittered away from his. Was it because they’d slept so easily together? Such an incongruous thing for strangers to do.
Enough regret. Stop being self-indulgent, he mocked himself, and forced his voice to lightness. He’d give her a drink and she’d be ready to leave.
‘If you want to see something really impressive, come and see my refrigerator. I indulged myself and bought the biggest I could get.’ He’d been avoiding having to shop. ‘What type of juice would you like?’
She peered at the selection like a kid in an ice-cream parlour. ‘Hmm...decisions, decisions.’
Ben savoured her vacillation. Couldn’t help the smile in his voice. ‘You could have two different juices if you really wanted.’
She darted a startled look at him, embarrassed. Her pale skin blushed easily. Of course, being a natural redhead. He remembered how her cheek had felt like silk under his fingers, just like the rest of her. He lifted his hand to reach her.
‘Mango juice, thanks.’ She grabbed the bottle and turned away so that his hand fell away.
Ben sighed and closed the wall-sized chrome door and leaned his forehead against the cold steel for a moment. What was he doing? Don’t touch her again, you idiot, he thought. Closed his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to hurt someone again and his life was as complicated as ever.
He needed to tell her to go.
That he’d be fine.
That it would be better for her if she left.
He opened his eyes and turned to do it. She wasn’t there. The room lay empty and the juice stood unopened on the sea chest. He walked through to the veranda. She wasn’t there either and he scanned the stairs.
The unmistakable sound of her vehicle door closing echoed the emptiness he hadn’t realised she’d leave behind. He’d always had that emptiness. It hadn’t mattered before. Did he really want to be alone?
The engine came to life, light flooded the yard, and he had no control over his feet as they turned to the stairs. Taking them two, three, at a time. The next thing he knew he was beside her Jeep window. ‘Stay with me,’ he said. The noise of the engine between them. Gazes locked. Seconds passed. She didn’t reverse away and he began to hope.
He recognised the moment she acknowledged the temptation, searched his face for reassurance, and considered staying. He swore to himself he wouldn’t let her down if she did. She was unique. Different. He couldn’t believe that he was daring to dream again.
His fingers reached through the window of their own accord and turned the key.
Made it happen.
Though she still had the choice.
The engine died.
Silence surrounded them, except for the pounding of waves on the shore and the squawk of gulls overhead... and the hammering in his heart.
She looked at him with those glorious witch’s eyes of hers and he could feel himself drowning, which was ironic considering what the previous day had held.
He held out his hand. ‘Stay with me. Please.’ Heard the quiet hope in his own voice.
Misty raised her hand towards his and then stopped. Looked away. ‘What are you asking, Ben?’
‘To come back in.’
‘I know what will happen if I go back into the house with you. I might even want it to happen. But we need to think sensibly about this. Safely and non-emotionally. It’s an impossible dream. We both have lives, and commitments, and uncertainties, and we met this once by the merest chance.’ She lifted her fingers to the ignition and turned the key. ‘I don’t think so. Take care, Ben.’
‘You, too.’
She glanced once more at his face and the expression suddenly stripped from her features as if someone had turned off a light.
Right decision, Ben thought. Sensible girl.
* * *
She was gone and Ben lay alone in his big bed with just the scent of her skin on the pillow beside him and emptiness in his heart as he said goodbye. Sensible, sensible girl.
The sound of a ringtone filled the room.
His phone.
His breath shuddered in his throat as he sat up, and he shook his head at the person on the other end. ‘I’ll come,’ he said into his phone.
He looked out the window at the rolling ocean and his chin lifted. Impossible dream, he thought, uncannily echoing Misty as he shut his phone and reached for his shirt.
Misty
Misty didn’t remember much about the drive to Lyrebird Lake. Barely saw Coffs Harbour as she drove past it again, not noticing her old stamping ground before she turned west. The memory of Ben Moore, in her rear-view mirror watching her go, just seemed to get bigger the further away that she drove. She needed to leave to start her new life before he imprinted further on her soul.
But had she missed a singular opportunity? Had Ben been the man for her to experience life and love with? Had he been the one man for her?
More likely a one-night stand with someone who obviously moved fast, although it would certainly have been memorable. She had no doubt about that.
He didn’t even know her last name.
* * *
She stayed the night at a motel and couldn’t even remember which town as soon as she drove away the next morning. It had been hard to get up and drive further west into Queensland. Now, hours later, as she passed through the wide and tree-lined streets of Lyrebird Lake, her spirits began to lift. She’d saved a life. That was the important thing to take away from her brief encounter with Ben Moore.
It was time to start here fresh. Like Ben needed to. She hoped he’d find happiness some day.
She turned her Jeep into the driveway of her brother’s house, sighing deeply as she reached over to turn off the engine. She’d done the right thing. She had.
The big door opened and ‘Welcome to Lyrebird Lake,’ floated out as her sister-in-law rushed towards her. Misty heard the words and accepted the hug Montana offered.
It was wonderful to see her best friend again, but there was no doubt the excitement of her moving to the same town as Andy and best friend had been affected by meeting Ben.
She hoped Montana didn’t notice the effort it took to smile.
Her big brother’s arms came around her and were just what she needed to make her feel strong again. ‘I bet you didn’t see this in our future.’ Andy laughed as he hugged her.
‘There were a lot of things I didn’t see,’ she said and tried to smile.
Andy held her away from him and frowned at her searchingly. ‘What’s happened to you?’
‘Shh, love,’ Montana said, and Misty watched with wry amusement as her friend rested her hand on Andy’s arm. ‘Let your sister get her breath. We have plenty of time.’
‘Assuming the phone doesn’t ring and I don’t get called out,’ Andy muttered, as he carried Misty’s bags into their house.
She followed with her arm hooked in Montana’s. The two women shared a glance and smiled. Poor Andy, the look said, he hated to miss out and they both loved his care. ‘He’s still looking for a locum to share the workload because he won’t let me out of his sight until I have this baby,’ Montana whispered.
‘Well, you were alone last time you had a baby.’
Montana, a widow at the time of her first baby’s birth two years ago, had been alone at a mountain retreat when labour had begun rapidly without warning. Unable to drive any further, Montana had pulled over before she could reach the hospital, and at sunrise had delivered her daughter alone on an escarpment with only a wallaby to watch over her.
One of Misty’s premonitions had urged her brother to search for and find Montana and her new baby. Andy had found more than the two people he’d been looking for. He had found his love.
This time Montana’s birth experience would be different because Andy would be there for her. Misty was here too, now, and she would keep Montana safe as well.
Half an hour later Misty could feel the healing from the sense of family and love around her, and she began to relax as she eased into the rhythm of the household. The three of them were seated on the veranda of Montana and Andy’s newly built home and the outdoor sail overhead shaded them from the fierce Queensland sun. The breeze from the lake stirred the air with tantalising wisps of coolness.
The weather in inland Queensland weather differed from her previous home on the north coast of New South Wales, but she’d acclimatise to the heat. She would. And grow used to the lack of access to the ocean... but how much of that was the ocean or the fact that the intriguing Ben resided there? She’d done the right thing to choose the stability of family and Lyrebird Lake over the uncertainty of a man who’d briefly touched her life. No matter that the touch had been so iridescent across all planes.
Misty glanced inwards to the open-plan house, a sprawling building of light and large windows all shaded by verandas. It made her think of another house with polished floorboards and a different kind of heat. ‘Your house is beautiful and yet it’s very much a home.’
Andy smiled indulgently. ‘Wait until Dawn wakes up. Our daughter can demolish it in minutes.’
‘Imagine the chaos when her new brother or sister arrives.’ Misty glanced at Montana’s rounded stomach. ‘You’ll have twice as much mess to clean up.’
Her two favourite people in the world exchanged loving glances and she stifled a sigh. If only it were that easy. But then, those two hadn’t had it easy either. She found some comfort in that.
‘So tell me who broke your heart and I’ll go and wring his neck.’ The concerned look on Andy’s face brought a hiccough of laughter and a sting of tears to her eyes.
So something showed. And she thought she’d been hiding her distraction.
Andy had always looked after her, always cared and worried that his little sister was okay, especially after their mother had died. But Misty had been able to read his mind for years. She knew he worried she’d avoided relationships in case her gift spoilt them. She’d wondered if being married would change that care, but obviously not.
The prickle of tears in her throat itched. ‘What makes you think my heart is broken? And why does it have to be a man?’
Andy blinked and she laughed with only a trace of bitterness at his confusion.
‘Yes, it’s a man,’ she said before he bogged down in some, improbable for her, scenario.
‘You waited all this time to find someone,’ Andy tilted his head, ‘and then you moved? Why couldn’t you have waited a bit longer until you got here? Found love at the lake and settled for good.’
Yes, Andy would like that. Montana would too. Fat chance, now, the way she felt at the moment. ‘Give me time.’
‘Is there a possibility for it all to work out?’ Montana’s quiet voice questioned, and Misty looked at her friend before she shook her head.
‘Doubt it.’
‘All what?’ Andy looked between the women. ‘You two are having conversations I can’t hear.’
Misty smiled. ‘Just a chance meeting and connection.’
Misty compared the understated wealth of the beach house to her modest finances, Ben’s world-weary experience to her girlish optimism, her passion for birth and Ben’s revulsion for obstetrics, and finally the fact that she hadn’t even told him her surname. She had no doubt they would remain platonic ships in the night.
‘It wouldn’t have worked out,’ she told Montana. ‘No chance.’ And accepted the finality with a new stab of loss. ‘If he’d been less a man of the world – if we’d had a little more in common – he would have been perfect. It was also far too intense for stability, just a fantasy, and I was kidding myself.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Montana blew her a kiss that held understanding.
She looked at Montana. Felt again the touch of Ben’s hand on hers. Shivered somewhere deep inside. ‘It was so strange, though. The moment we met I felt a shift, as if I’d suddenly realised I’d only ever been half of myself. It’s all a bit raw and of course I will survive.’ She lifted her chin. ‘But with him I felt I could achieve anything. In a strange way he made me feel like a queen.’
‘Of course, you can still achieve anything! And you’ve always been a queen to me,’ Andy said gruffly.
Montana reached across and squeezed Andy’s hand. ‘That’s why I love your brother. My beautiful soulmate.’ She smiled at her husband and then back at Misty. ‘The attraction must have been potent to affect you like this.’
Misty raised her eyes. Said out loud what she’d been thinking on the drive. ‘I left Coffs Harbour normal and arrived up here a totally different person. He changed me in just a few hours and I’ll probably never see him again. The impact he’s had on me is ridiculous.’
Andy rubbed the back of his neck as he searched for the right words. ‘Let me get this straight. On the way here you had a one-night stand with some bloke you’d never met before and he’s changed you forever?’ Andy shook his head. ‘And he didn’t make arrangements to see you again?’
Misty sighed. ‘It wasn’t quite that simple and I didn’t have a one-night stand.’
Andy’s face lightened. ‘At least that’s good news.’
‘Andy, love.’ Montana patted her husband’s hand. ‘Stop playing bossy big brother and let Misty talk.’
All the wishing in the world didn’t change the facts but Misty blew a kiss to her brother for his championing. ‘We met under exceptional circumstances. We never had the chance to find out where it could go.’
‘Why not?’ Montana asked quietly.
It was unlike Montana to persist. It was as if she understood that
Misty needed to come to grips with what had happened. In some masochistic way it helped to confirm it had been nothing more than a dream. ‘There was no future in it. Our stars collided for a day and that was all.’
‘It must have been some collision,’ her brother growled.
She looked at Montana. ‘He was knocked off the rocks into the sea, and when I arrived, he’d almost drowned. I pulled him to shore and he wasn’t breathing.’
‘You risked your life for this guy?’ Andy sat up straight, appalled his sister had been in danger.
‘Always so fearless, Misty.’ Montana understood and her calm voice soothed her husband into silence. ‘But that must have been horrible.’
Too easily she could recall Ben’s lifeless body on the beach. Misty shivered at the memory, rocking slightly as she continued. ‘I had my body board, but even now I can still see him. Not breathing.’
Andy looked as though he approved of Ben’s lifeless body and she swallowed an inappropriate giggle. As a big brother he was sweetly protective, but he didn’t understand. If only life were that simple.
‘All I know about him is that he lives on the beach and wrote a textbook.’ She avoided mention of Ben’s profession in case Andy knew him.
Her brother nodded his head. ‘Of course,’ he said sarcastically. ‘He’s self-indulgent and can’t swim. And he preys on good Samaritans. Sounds like a hero to me.’
Misty laughed at her brother’s simplistic image. ‘He’d have swum if he hadn’t been knocked out on the rocks, which I might add was after he saved a bird.’
Andy crossed his arms. ‘Then he’s clumsy as well.’
The two friends looked at each other, choosing to ignore Andy’s final judgement.
‘He’s found you once,’ Montana said. ‘He’ll find you again.’
‘Thank you, Montana,’ Misty said as she glanced at a scowling Andy. ‘Unlikely that will happen, but thank you.’
Ben
Ben climbed the rocks under the lighthouse, but all he could think of was a month ago and the sweet taste of Misty. The sweetness of her scent and the feel of her softness against him replayed every night in his bed. Too many memories snuck into his daylight hours as well.
Somehow, Misty had created a change in him, cracked his hard shell that barred the world. Misty had been brave and strong and quick-thinking and he’d been fighting against his instincts to follow and find her ever since.
The fact that he didn’t know where she was at that moment was of no concern. He could find her at that lake she’d spoken about so passionately. The Lyrebird one. He had enough clues if he decided to go looking.
