“I’ve told Kiren how the claim ended. I can’t wait to tell Phoebe. I tried to minimise it in front of her, but she’s smart as a whip. She figured out early on we could lose everything.”
“When’s Phoebe home?” Leigh took a sip of gin and tonic and set the glass down precisely in front of her.
“On the weekend. But she and Gino are camping in a remote area with no mobile reception, so I can’t call.”
“Does she like spending time with her father?”
“Yes. Greatly. Of course, it helps that he spoils her rotten, as he doesn’t get to see her that often. I’m the bad parent who tells her to eat her salad and tidy her room. Gino’s the one who buys her a new laptop and basically does whatever she wants. But I’m lucky too. Gino’s a great friend.”
“Would he have helped you out with money—if it had come down to it?” It felt like a very personal question to ask, but Nina didn’t seem to mind.
“He offered, but he supports his elderly parents financially. Gino earns a good income from the mines, but most of it goes to people other than himself. I didn’t want to add to that.” Nina fiddled with her glass. “He’s fallen for someone. Phoe and I met her last weekend. A lovely woman.”
“Does that bother you?” Nina seemed serene, but you could never tell. Those friends of Leigh’s who were separated seemed to struggle with the idea of their ex-partner moving on.
“No! I’m really happy for him. Gino deserves someone in his life. And I trust him to consider Phoe in the arrangement.” She grinned. “I like Emilia already.”
A black-suited waiter approached and cleared his throat discreetly. “Ma’am, your table is ready.”
Leigh stood and held out a hand to Nina. “Shall we?”
Nina stood, and her hand slipped into Leigh’s as if it was something she did all the time. “You lead, I’ll follow.”
Seascape was opulent, a long way from the cheap and cheerful local restaurants Nina took Phoe to when they wanted to celebrate something. Nina squared her shoulders and walked behind Leigh to their table, which was by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water.
When they were seated, the waiter brought menus and a wine list, which he presented to Leigh. Of course he did. Leigh projected confidence, as if she ate here all the time. She probably did. The waiter had sensed which of the two of them was the power in power couple.
Leigh looked beautiful, though. She’d changed out of her office suit to a powder-blue, knee-length dress. Its draped neckline showed off her pale throat and toned arms. The dress hung in a way that looked haphazard but was no doubt artfully crafted by a designer.
Nina read through the menu. It was small, and the extravagantly described dishes had no prices. Still, today, she wouldn’t worry. Today was a celebration.
Leigh barely glanced at the food menu—maybe she ate here often enough that she knew it by heart. Instead, she studied the wine list. “Do you have a preference?”
“Not really. If you’re ordering red, I’d prefer a cabernet sauvignon to anything heavier. I’d hate to be hungover tomorrow.”
Nina studied Leigh’s bent head. Her blonde hair was parted perfectly. Not a single hair dared to cross to the wrong side. Nina smiled to herself. A date like Leigh didn’t come into her orbit too often.
Leigh ordered a bottle of pinot gris and one of cabernet sauvignon. She smiled at Nina. “We don’t have to drink it all. But I’m going to have steak, and it would be criminal to drink white wine with the steak they serve here.”
“You’d be locked up.” Nina’s mouth watered. The steak here would be magnificent. She mentally changed her food order.
When they were settled and the waiter had poured them both a glass of pinot gris, there was silence. Nina tried not to stare across the table; instead, she ran her finger around the base of her wineglass and glanced around the restaurant. Lavishly dressed couples filled every table. “I wonder how many of these are famous people?”
Leigh’s gaze didn’t waver from Nina’s face. “Nicole Kidman’s in the corner with a friend. And a rather notorious member of parliament is tucked away, sharing an intimate meal with a woman who is not his wife.”
Nina didn’t even glance. “I’d rather look at you.”
A hint of pink coloured Leigh’s cheeks. “In preference to Nicole?”
“No competition.”
Leigh extended her hand over the white linen.
Nina placed hers in Leigh’s palm without hesitation. Leigh’s fingers closed over hers, warm and dry, and the small movement of her thumb sent tingles along Nina’s nerve pathways.
“You enthral me, Nina.” Leigh’s voice was low, and her gaze lifted from their joined hands to meet Nina’s eyes. “When you came into my office for the first time, I thought you were a beautiful woman. Then I got to know you—your warmth and kindness, your passion for the farm, the wholeheartedness with which you embrace everything you do.”
Her words rang with honesty and tenderness. Nina melted into Leigh’s gaze and swallowed against the lump in her throat.
Leigh took a sip of wine. “I can’t think of one other client who, if I told them I could almost certainly reduce the amount they had to pay to zero, would tell me not to try. Who would think of the small human at the centre of the claim.”
Nina lifted a shoulder. “I would feel bad if he hadn’t got anything. It’s not Billy’s fault. I’m surprised at Stella, though, if I’m honest.”
“Money. Apparently, it really does make the world go around.”
“I don’t want to talk about the claim,” Nina said. “Not anymore. I’d rather enjoy the evening.”
Leigh’s white teeth flashed in the subdued lighting. “Whatever will we talk about, then?”
“You.” Nina took a sip from her glass and leant forward. “You know a lot about me. You’re the woman of mystery.”
“Not really. I’m twenty-nine, I was raised in Sydney, went to university in Melbourne—”
Nina squeezed her hand. “I know all of that. Law graduate prize. Taken on by Petersen & Blake straight from uni. Worked your way up. Associate at twenty-three. Senior associate at twenty-five. Now partner. I don’t want your résumé. Tell me something not many people know.”
Leigh tilted her head. “I hitchhiked all the way to Darwin one summer break. A tradie picked me up in his van between Rockhampton and Mackay in Queensland. I don’t know if you know that stretch of the Bruce Highway, but it’s about three hundred or so kilometres with few settlements. He turned off the highway abruptly down a dirt track without forewarning me. I thought my time had come, and I wondered if I’d survive if I jumped out.”
“What happened?” From Leigh’s smile, she guessed it had been something good. This Leigh, a relaxed Leigh, telling stories of experiences that many young Australians had had, was totally different from the calculating lawyer.
“He took me to his granny’s custard apple farm. She was delightful. Eighty-something, living alone with her dog and selling custard apples from her door.” Leigh grinned. “Then he took me back to the highway and on to Mackay as if it was the most normal thing in the world to detour fifteen kilometres up a dirt road without warning.”
Nina laughed. “Why didn’t you ask him where he was taking you?”
“And risk him mentioning his disembowelling knife under the driver’s seat and the remoteness of the area?”
The waiter approached with their entrees. Nina released Leigh’s hand and sat back as he set their plates down and described the Hervey Bay scallops topped with crumbled Irish black pudding, the smoked trout and fish roe on betel leaves.
Nina’s mouth watered. “I’m glad Phoe’s away. There’s no way I’d persuade her to eat this, if we even considered coming here. It would be a waste anyway. She’s at the age when she inhales her food.”
“You’re good with her.” Leigh
picked a betel leaf from her plate and scooped it and its topping into her mouth. She swallowed. “I see friends with kids, and for some of them, it seems the kids are an afterthought to their lives. As if they’ve got the career, the huge house, the Mercedes, and the fashionable breed of dog, so now they need two kids. I seldom see the kids, as every time I see my friends, the kids are with a babysitter or at some sort of activity. I know they’re loved, but it seems a distant, hands-off approach.”
“Not everyone is lucky enough to spend a lot of time with their offspring. Or maybe they don’t want to. Or the kids want to do their own thing.” Nina shrugged. “To each their own.”
“You’re generous with your acceptance. Not many people are like that. Everyone has an opinion these days, and everyone is sure their way is the only way. Whether it’s raising a child or farming.”
Nina speared a scallop with her fork. It was plump, juicy, lightly cooked, and utterly delicious. The last scallops she’d had were tiny frozen ones that had tasted of nothing much. “Deliberate cruelty is different, of course. Or having a child and not being prepared to love it no matter what. But within that love, I don’t believe there’s a single right way.” She paused, wondering if she should ask the question that hovered on her tongue. “Do you want kids?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure yet. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a single parent, so I’d like to have a partner involved. But I wouldn’t want to be a hands-off parent.”
“You’ve no rush.” Leigh, no doubt, would make a decision whether or not to parent in the same ordered way she seemed to have run her life so far. Not like her. Phoebe had been an accident—but one she wouldn’t change for the world. “My mother was the hands-off sort of parent. Too busy finding a replacement for my father to worry much about me. She took notice when Phoe came along but not in a good way. Phoe and I lived with her for the first year of Phoe’s life, and she never let me forget I should be grateful she hadn’t thrown us out.”
“Did she enjoy having Phoebe around?”
“Not really. Phoe was too noisy, too demanding. I know some parents want to make up for their parenting fails with the grandkids, but that didn’t happen for Mother. I stuck it out as long as I could, then I moved in with a friend.”
“Was that better?”
“Not really. Alicia was my best friend at school, and she thought we’d have a great time sharing a flat. But she complained about Phoebe cramping her style. No wild parties allowed with a baby in the flat. Phoe and I moved out again, and I don’t know what would have happened if Gran hadn’t taken us in.” Nina checked herself. This evening was a celebration, not a sombre reminiscence. “You know the rest. Did you spend every summer hitchhiking around Australia?”
“One summer, I went to Europe.” Leigh’s smile was one of reminiscence. “I was in London, and the UK lesbian scene seemed so much more sophisticated than the Australian one. In hindsight, I don’t think that was necessarily true, but that’s how it appeared to me at the time. I ran out of money—too many nightclubs, pubs, and trips to Brighton.”
“I’ve never even been to a nightclub.” Nina’s smile was wry. “Having a baby at seventeen rather put the kibosh on that.”
“Rather than ask my parents for help, I took a job as a barmaid in a lesbian bar in inner London. I didn’t make much money, but I had a great social life.” Leigh’s expression was faraway behind her dark-framed glasses.
“I can’t quite see you as a barmaid. I’m sure you were great with difficult customers, though.”
“What, you don’t think I would have been good at manual work?” The glint in Leigh’s eyes gave away the tease.
“I know you’re good at that! No, I could see you picking something quieter, less frenetic.”
“I was nineteen. Back then, it was all about the moment: the next nightclub, the next experience.”
“The next girl? I’m sure you had plenty of offers. Who doesn’t want to hit on the barmaid?” A pang shot through Nina at the thought of a young Leigh with the London lesbian scene at her feet. Something she could never have dreamt of for herself.
“Some. But I was picky. I still am.”
The intensity of her gaze held Nina pinned. This gorgeous woman wanted her. It still seemed an impossible dream, but the warmth and yearning on Leigh’s face made it reality.
“Work and pleasure are separate now,” Leigh said. “Apart from you. You’re the exception to so many rules, Nina.”
Nina set down her cutlery. She’d finished her scallops while Leigh was talking, and she’d barely noticed she’d done so. Leigh filled her vision, kept her captivated.
The waiter came, took their plates, and returned with the red wine. Leigh tasted and nodded her approval.
Nina reached out and touched one of the floral decorations in the middle of the table. “Good thing Mr Petey’s not here. He loves eating flowers.”
Leigh chuckled. “I think Mr Petey would be very out of place here.” She reached across the table once more, and her fingers clasped Nina’s. “Unlike you. You’re radiant tonight.”
Nina resisted the urge to check whether her hair was in place. “I guess relief will do that. I’m still coming down. It’s only now I realise how tense I’ve been these past weeks.”
Leigh freed her hand and poured two glasses of red wine, waving away the waiter who bustled up. “Relax. Take it easy.” A wrinkle crossed her forehead. “At least, enjoy the meal. Although I didn’t ask—are you going back to the farm tonight?”
How am I supposed to answer that? Nina paused. If she said she was going home, would Leigh feel obligated to end the evening early? But if she said she was thinking of staying in Sydney for the night, would Leigh think she was angling for an invitation to stay with her?
“I haven’t decided. Kiren’s taking care of the evening chores for me. She’ll do the morning too if I ask her. So if I drink too much wine, I can find a hotel.”
Leigh was silent for a moment. “Or you can stay with me if you want. I have a guestroom.”
Nina’s breath came in shallow puffs. Was that what Leigh wanted—Nina in the guestroom? Or was she being polite? Nina looked her full in the face. Her relationship with Leigh from the very beginning had been characterised by Nina asking for what she wanted. Why should now be any different? Her palms were suddenly sweaty. Here goes nothing. “What if I don’t want to stay in the guestroom?”
The air between them was thick with promise. Nina clenched her fist on her lap. Her fingernails dug into her palm, but the slight pain was a distraction from the tension. Was Leigh going to turn her down?
Leigh’s face softened, and a smile grew. “I love that you’re so direct.”
She wasn’t going to refuse. Relief shot through Nina, and her shoulders lost their tightness. “It gets me into trouble sometimes.”
“Not this time. Show me your hands.”
Nina extended her hands, palms up, on the table.
Leigh traced the marks Nina’s fingernails had made on her palm. “You were afraid I’d turn you down. How could you possibly have thought that after all it’s taken to get us to this point?” She lifted one of Nina’s hands, brought it to her lips, and kissed the red marks on her palm.
Leigh’s lips shot sparks along Nina’s veins, and a liquid heat gathered deep in her belly. Suddenly, the beautiful restaurant, the delicious food, and the elegant surroundings were a gilded prison stopping her from being where she really wanted to be.
With Leigh. In bed.
Leigh lowered Nina’s hands and released them. The waiter approached with their steaks and set them down.
The steak was melt-in-the-mouth tender, as soft as butter and cooked to perfection. The vegetables were perfect, the wine a fitting accompaniment. Nina was quiet. In truth, anything she thought of saying seemed trivial, a distraction from the music in her head, the sweet, hot anticipation betwe
en them. From time to time, they shared a glance or a smile, and the desire ratcheted up another notch until Nina could hardly bear to stay still in her seat.
She sipped the fine wine and let it roll around her mouth as she savoured every mouthful. It would be too easy to drink fast, but she wanted to enjoy this to the maximum, not spend the evening in a haze of alcohol.
Finally, Leigh placed her knife and fork together neatly on her plate.
“That was an incredible meal,” Nina said.
“I don’t think that is all that will be incredible tonight.” Leigh’s gaze licked over Nina, skimmed her face, and settled on the vee of her blouse. “Do you want dessert?”
Nina shook her head. She was so wound up she didn’t think she could manage another bite.
“Then shall we leave?”
“Yes.” The word was a croak.
“I’ll order an Uber.” Leigh retrieved her phone and did so, then summoned the waiter for the bill.
Nina fumbled in her own bag for her purse, but Leigh stopped her with a glance.
“This is on me.”
Nina couldn’t let Leigh pay. It may be nothing to Leigh, but that didn’t make it right. She opened her mouth to respond.
“Don’t argue.” Leigh’s glance softened. “Not this time, okay?”
Nina bit her lip, but the desire in Leigh’s gaze stopped her from saying more.
The Uber arrived quickly, and they slid into the back seat. Nina watched as the city lights and streetscapes slid past. People were everywhere, walking, spilling out of bars and restaurants. All young and carefree—or so it seemed. She couldn’t remember when she had been like that, if she ever had. And the last time she’d had a night out in Sydney was years ago. And never with a woman who made her head spin as much as Leigh did.
Chapter 22
The Uber purred its way across the harbour bridge. Nina propped her chin on her hand and stared across at the opera house, its iconic white sails brightly lit. This was Leigh’s world, not hers. Leigh probably spent a few evenings a week like this. How could Nina ever expect to fit into Leigh’s world or vice versa?
A Heart This Big Page 22