Unravelled

by Jade Winters

  ‘I know.’ Kim shifted towards the edge of the bed and switched on the bedside lamp. She sat up and clutched Lindsay’s hand. ‘I wasn’t going to talk to you about this until I felt the time was right,’ she began slowly. ‘But now that we’re being open with each other, there’s no better time.’

  ‘Better time for what?’ Lindsay didn’t try to conceal her fear as anxiety surged through her.

  ‘I’ve been given the offer of a lifetime. If it works out well, all our problems will be behind us.’ Kim’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm. ‘We can move out of this shit hole into a place with a garden for the kids to play in.’

  ‘This all sounds too good to be true.’

  ‘No, Lindsay, it can be our reality. If you trust and believe in me.’

  ‘What’s the catch?’ Lindsay asked wearily. ‘Moving to another country?’

  When Kim remained silent, Lindsay leapt off the bed in one fluid movement and worked off her anxiety by pacing the floor. ‘You’ve got to be bloody kidding me. No way, no way.’ Lindsay stopped abruptly and inhaled a deep breath. ‘You walk out that door, Kim, and there’s no coming back.’

  Kim let out an exaggerated sigh. ‘Will you bloody hear me out before you start jumping on your high horse?’

  Lindsay shook her head vigorously. She could scarcely believe what she was hearing. ‘I don’t care what you say, nothing’s going to change my mind.’

  Kim climbed off the bed and grabbed both of Lindsay’s hands. ‘Look at me,’ she pleaded. ‘Lindsay, please look at me.’

  Lindsay slowly raised her head.

  ‘I’ll be gone for six months. To Australia—’

  ‘Australia!?’

  ‘Shhh listen. There’s a guy I know who has a contact with a vineyard over there. He said the owners would be interested in offering me a job for six months. They’re willing to pay for all my expenses to go over there and learn about their wines with a view to exporting them to Europe.’ Kim dropped Lindsay’s hands and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘If I don’t do this, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.’

  ‘What if I say no?’

  Kim sighed heavily. ‘I’m hoping you’re going to realise what an opportunity it is for us and support me here.’

  Lindsay sat down beside her. ‘Six months you say?’

  Kim turned to her and smiled. ‘Could be even sooner. Depends how quickly I pick up all the info.’

  ‘What’s to stop you from staying out there?’

  ‘You.’ Kim kissed Lindsay’s forehead. ‘And Katie.’ Then she kissed her eyes. ‘And Jake.’ Then her lips. Before Kim pushed her onto the bed and rolled on top of her, Lindsay had already made her mind up to give Kim her blessing. What was the point of fighting it? If she did, things would only get worse, if that were even possible.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A flash of wild grief ripped through Rae when the call went straight to voicemail. ‘Callum, this is Rae. I’ve been calling you for a week now and I still haven’t heard from you. Please call me as soon as you get this message to let me know you’re okay. Thank you. Bye.’ Her voice broke miserably before she disconnected the call.

  Rae was a woman facing the harsh realities of loneliness again. How quickly things seemed to have fallen apart when she had just been on the cusp of something exciting and new. It was a strange sensation—to actually pine for someone you hardly knew. But the way they’d connected—it was as if they were old souls reunited again for another lifetime.

  Rae slipped her phone into her pocket and checked her appearance in the hallway mirror before setting off for work. Unlike the previous week there was no spring in her step. The sky was overcast and gloomy, mirroring her mood. Her heart actually ached every time she thought of him.

  Why the hell didn’t I get his address? At least then she could have checked up on him—made sure he was all right.

  ‘Good morning,’ Rae’s next door neighbour called out to her as she was double bolting her front door.

  ‘Oh, hi, Judith,’ Rae replied.

  ‘How are things with you?’

  ‘Good thanks,’ Rae said. Just then a thought popped into her mind. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask if you’ve seen that homeless man around lately?’

  ‘Homeless man?’ Judith’s eyes searched the skies for a moment in thought. ‘Oh, you mean Errol?’

  ‘Yes, him. I haven’t seen him for a while, have you?’

  Judith shook her head slowly. With a soft, almost sympathetic tone, she answered, ‘No. I haven’t. Such a shame. Poor man. His life reads like a tragedy. First his wife gets killed in a car accident and his poor daughter is badly injured. Then just when it looks like the daughter is going to pull through she catches an infection and dies as well.’ Judith’s features assumed a sombre expression.

  Rae gasped in shock. ‘Oh my God, that’s awful!’

  Judith nodded in agreement. ‘After his double loss, his life went downhill and he ended up on the streets. Just goes to show you it can happen to the best of us.’ Her eyebrow rose a fraction. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t read it in the paper. Happened about a year ago now. He used to donate loads of money to local charities. That’s why people round here give him dinners and what not.’

  Rae quickly excused herself. She felt terrible. How could she have judged him like that—thinking that he was some kind of aggressive stalker, when in reality he was just a poor man down on his luck, looking for a helping hand?

  A feeling of dread seeped through her. Poor, poor man. Her mobile phone vibrated in her pocket. For a moment she forgot about Errol and her thoughts turned to Callum. She hoped it was him, prayed even. He would probably apologise for taking so long getting back to her because he got caught up with work. She glanced down at her phone and scanned the text, the spark of hope quickly extinguished. It was another long, heartfelt message from Lindsay. Rae couldn’t be bothered to deal with her at the moment. She needed to speak to Callum. Her patience was now wearing thin. She dialled his number again. As before it rang several times then went to voicemail.

  ‘Okay, Callum, I get the message. What happened between us was a one off. Got it. I won’t bother you again. Take care.’

  Rae disconnected the call. She wasn’t going to be taken for a fool by him. If he wanted a one night stand he should have just said so. Either way there would have been no hard feelings. But to fill her with hope had been downright cruel. She was just about to put her phone away when it bleeped. Heart in mouth she looked down at the small screen. It was from Callum.

  I’ll be round at 8.

  The dark foreboding she had felt about Errol only minutes ago soon faded like a lost memory. Instead, it was replaced with euphoria. That one message had changed her whole day. Callum still wanted her and that was all that mattered.

  ***

  Rae looked at the time on her phone again. 10.00pm. It wasn’t like Callum to be late. She’d sent him text messages but had received no reply. Several times she’d tried to call but his phone was switched off. When it got to eleven, with a heavy heart, she called it a night. As she scooped Bourbon into her arms and headed to bed she said, ‘Looks like it’s just you and me again.’

  Bourbon purred in contentment and Rae gave a half-hearted laugh. ‘Men!’

  As she reached the bottom of the stairs the doorbell chimed. Her heart leapt. It had to be Callum. She lowered Bourbon to the ground and ran to the door. Swinging it open, a rush of relief flooded over her.

  ‘Callum, you came,’ she said licking her lips nervously.

  His face was set hard and his eyes were dark and unfathomable. ‘I said I would, didn’t I?’

  She took a step forward and leant lightly into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. His body stiffened as he took her arms by the wrists and dropped them by her side.

  ‘Callum, have I done something wrong?’

  ‘You tell me.’ He side-stepped her and strolled into the house, his footsteps thundering down the hallway.

  Rae fro
wned and followed him as he walked straight into the living room. He stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face her when she entered.

  ‘I think you owe me an apology.’

  A thousand thoughts swarmed her confused mind. ‘A what? What have I done?’

  Callum stood silently for a few moments. ‘Look, Rae, I realise you haven’t had a man in your life for many years so I’m willing to let this pass—just this once.’ He spoke benignly, as if dealing with a temperamental child.

  ‘Callum, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  Callum walked over to the wall cabinet and took a picture of Rae and Lindsay off the shelf and showed it to her. ‘This, Rae. This.’

  ‘What about it?’

  He closed his eyes for several seconds and she could see the tension in his jaw. He then frowned in exasperation. ‘I had a special night planned for us. I went to a lot of time and effort …’

  Rae felt her face colour. He was referring to the night she turned him down in favour of celebrating Lindsay getting her job.

  ‘Oh my God, Callum, why didn’t you say?’ She hurried across the room to him and buried her head against his chest. It felt hard beneath the softness of his shirt. ‘I’m so sorry. We hadn’t made any firm plans that night and Lindsay was excited about her new job. If I’d have realised you’d planned something there’s no way I wouldn’t have met you.’

  She looked up at him with pleading eyes as Callum looked at the photograph more closely. ‘Maybe we should meet up with your friend. Let her know your priorities have changed, now that you’re not single anymore.’

  Rae gave a choked, desperate laugh. ‘Yes, you’re right. I’ll ask her to come round at the weekend.’ The words tumbled out of her mouth without restraint. ‘Then she can see how serious we are about each other. Callum, please let’s not fall out about this again.’

  Callum remained motionless. Rae stood on tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to hers. ‘Have you missed me?’

  His expression stilled and grew serious. ‘No. To be honest, I nearly called it a day. One thing you should know about me, Rae, I don’t give my love away easily to anyone.’

  Love? Rae’s heart skipped a beat. ‘I promise it won’t happen again. In the future I’ll make sure I know exactly what our plans are before I make any other commitments.’

  He looked pleased to hear her admit her wrong doing. ‘Okay, that’s more like it.’

  ‘Shall we go to bed?’ she asked suggestively.

  He remained stone-faced. ‘I’m not in the mood. What you did to me has really been messing with my head. I need to be focused. I need things to run in my life smoothly like a finely tuned engine. If one part of it isn’t working, it puts the whole lot out of joint. I can’t live like that, Rae. It’s all or nothing with me. It’s your choice.’

  Rae pushed Callum’s hair back away from his eyes. ‘From now on, just think of me as your engine oil. Everything will stay in tip top shape.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll give it a second go.’ She detected a thawing tone in his voice. ‘But if …’

  Rae pressed her finger against his lips, silencing him. ‘Please, Callum, don’t say another word about it. Just trust me. I won’t let you down. No one will come before you again, I promise.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kim pulled her suitcase down the narrow staircase and dragged it along the hallway to the front door. Lindsay stood waiting, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, trying to swallow the lump that lingered in her throat.

  ‘I’m all set to go,’ Kim said in a strained voice.

  Lindsay noticed the tears that glistened on Kim’s cheeks. Smothering a sob, she said, ‘Have you got everything—passport, money?’

  Kim nodded. Suddenly she pulled Lindsay roughly, almost violently to her, gathering her in her arms. Holding her tightly, she said in a hoarse whisper, ‘I promise everything’s going to be all right.’

  Lindsay bit down on her lip until it throbbed. ‘You’d better go, while I can still bear it.’

  Kim took a step back. ‘I’ll make sure there’s enough money in the bank to cover everything—’

  ‘We’ll be fine, Kim. Just focus on what you’re doing out there.’

  ‘I will. Give my love to the kids and tell them I’ll Skype them as soon as I’m settled.’

  Lindsay opened the door for her and stood to one side as Kim grabbed the case by the handle and walked through the door. Lindsay closed the door quickly behind her. She couldn’t bear to watch her go. The house was eerily silent as she made her way up to the bathroom and retrieved her bottle of vodka from under the bath. She was on her own now.

  Her mobile phone rang somewhere in the house. Frantically she went in search of it in case it was Kim and she had forgotten something. Lindsay found it in the living room on the coffee table. She made a grab for it before it was too late and pressed accept without checking the ID of the caller.

  ‘Kim, what did you forget?’

  ‘Lindsay it’s me, Rae.’

  ‘Oh,’ Lindsay said flatly. She’d almost given up on hearing from her again now that she was loved up with her new man. Part of her wanted to hang up, but with Kim gone, if she was going to get through the next six months, she needed Rae’s friendship more than ever.

  ‘That wasn’t the response I was looking for.’ There was an amused note in Rae’s voice. ‘Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been returning your calls. Things have been a bit hectic for me.’

  ‘You don’t have to explain.’

  There was a pause and then a long stretch of silence until Rae spoke again.

  ‘Is everything okay, Linds? You sound down.’

  Lindsay looked around the room for her vodka bottle then realised she had left it in the bathroom. She spoke as she made her way up the stairs. ‘Kim’s gone to Australia.’

  ‘To Australia? What for?’

  Lindsay entered the bathroom and spotted the bottle on the floor. She picked it up and unscrewed the lid. ‘Training. It’s a business opportunity.’

  ‘How long has she gone for?’

  ‘Six months.’ Lindsay took a swig from the bottle and moved to the small window. She pressed her forehead against the glass and looked up to the heavens for strength. All she saw were thick black clouds.

  ‘Oh that will go in no time at all.’

  They both knew that was a lie, but Lindsay let it pass without further comment.

  ‘Look, were you calling for any particular reason? I need to get the house straight before the kids get home from school.’

  ‘Um, yes, I was actually. Callum would like us to all meet up, so he can get to know you better. So I was thinking maybe we could get a couple of DVDs and pizzas for Katie and Jake, and the three of us could catch up.’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘If it’s about my behaviour in the pub, I’m sorry. I was feeling a bit hormonal. Come on, do this for me. Please?’

  For some reason all of Lindsay’s senses were heightened. ‘Why is he suddenly eager to get to know me?’ Lindsay asked petulantly.

  ‘Because you’re my best friend.’

  Lindsay inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. She could never say no to Rae. Not even when she was majorly pissed off with her. ‘Okay. When?’

  Relief was evident in Rae’s voice. ‘How about the weekend? Some time out of that house will help take your mind off Kim being gone.’

  ‘You don’t need to go on. I said I’ll come.’

  After all, according to Callum’s ex-girlfriend, Bev, what Callum wants, Callum gets!

  Chapter Eighteen

  Rae crossed the kitchen floor, a glass of red wine in her hand. She was dressed in, what Lindsay thought, was an outfit Rae always complained made middle aged women look like mutton dressed as lamb. Gone was the reserved business suit she usually wore for work and socialising, only to be replaced with leather skinny jeans, an off the shoulder fitted jumper and knee length leather boots. She looked like
a completely different woman to the one she knew.

  ‘Come on, drink up. It’s not like you to be so slow,’ Rae said, refilling her own glass.

  Lindsay pursed her lips. ‘I can’t get slaughtered. I’m driving.’

  ‘Leave your car here and get a cab. Or better yet, stay the night.’

  ‘I can’t. The kids have school in the morning. You know what they’re like. They like waking up in their own beds.’

  Rae looked slightly affronted by her rejection. ‘Oh well. All the more for me then.’

  Laughter filtered from the other room where Katie and Jake were diving into the pizza Rae had ordered from Pizza Hut. Lindsay had exiled them to the living room where their rambunctious shenanigans competed with the volume of the cartoons on the television.

  ‘Now remind me again why you look ten years younger?’ Lindsay eyed Rae from head to toe, as she casually leant against the kitchen counter. ‘You’ve got a glow about you.’

  ‘You think?’

  ‘Most definitely.’

  ‘Well, in that case thanks. To be honest, I do feel different. The world no longer seems so bloody grey and daunting.’

  ‘If anyone deserves to be happy it’s you.’

  ‘You know for the first time in my life, I wholeheartedly agree. I feel so different since I met Callum.’ She dropped her gaze to the floor. ‘It’s nice to prove my mum wrong. You know she actually said I was defective and would never find a man because I didn’t want children.’

  Lindsay’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘You know she’s talking shit, right?’

  Rae shrugged and sighed. ‘Doesn’t matter. All I know is it hurts like hell to be told that by your own mother.’

  Lindsay’s conscience prickled her. She suddenly regretted being so negative about Callum and upsetting Rae. If her own mother had insulted her the way Rae’s had, she’d feel awful too. Now it made sense why Rae was defensive when it came to the new man in her life. Wouldn’t any woman who’d been told they were an outcast crave normalcy? All Lindsay could do was blame the negative thoughts she had about Callum on what she’d read on his ex’s website. But even what Bev had written seemed dubious now. After all, Callum hadn’t disappeared after sleeping with Rae. He was still in her life, and obviously doing something to make Rae happy.