Prossers Bay Series

by Cheryl Phipps

  When he went back downstairs, Mary Anne was doing the dishes while his dad was in the sitting room with his feet up. She turned and wiped her hands on a towel that hung over one shoulder, looking very much at home.

  “Do you mind if we have a chat before you go?”

  That sounded ominous. “What about?”

  “Me, and your father.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  She blushed a little. “Your father and I are not young. We’ve had good lives, but we were lonely. Finding each other has been a long, drawn out thing, not taken lightly, and neither one of us want to hurt you. It must be hard seeing me here, in your mother’s house and I could stay away until you go, but that wouldn’t be fair to your father.”

  “It sounds like you have a solution.”

  “I do. If you don’t like me being around then you leave, because I’ll be the one taking care of Cliff when you’re gone. He’ll be hurt, but then nothing will have changed on that score.”

  “You don’t know me well enough to understand how my father and I work.”

  “I understand that you’re punishing him for how your mother was and how that affected your life.”

  “How the hell do you know that?”

  Pete suddenly barked at him, as if he was protecting Mary Anne. Jamie looked to the doorway but his father had the television turned up, so he probably didn’t hear his shout.

  “Jamie, I love your father, and I believe he loves me. It’s natural that we talk about things.”

  “Is it?”

  “I can see that this isn’t sitting well with you, but I had to get it off my chest. I want to say that if you think I’m after anything else other than companionship, then you should know, if you haven’t heard, that I run my own shop. A very successful shop. I own it outright and I have my own money. I hope that puts your mind at rest about that, if nothing else.” She waved towards the door. “You go and have a good night, and think about what I’ve said.”

  She turned back to the dishes and he left, feeling like a scolded child and unable to think about anything else. The woman was determined, he’d give her that. His dad surely deserved someone to fuss over him. His mother hadn’t been that way inclined, or able to.

  Chapter 8

  The green was full of the residents of Prossers Bay. Probably not all of them, but a huge percentage, Stephanie imagined.

  Kids were running about like mad things, looking as if they wanted to try everything at once. A small Ferris wheel had pride of place in the middle of the green and the line was long.

  Over by the playground, something caught her eye. Jamie was on his knees, gently wiping the eye of one of Megan’s five-year-old twins. A backpack sat at his side and Liam almost had his head inside it, clearly captivated by the paraphernalia of a doctor.

  “Sand can be a lot of fun, but its tricky stuff, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It really hurts,” Mia wailed.

  “I know, sweetheart. Now I know you’re being very brave, and I need you to do that for a little while longer. I’m going to wash your eye out with something in a special bottle.”

  “Will it hurt Mia?” her sister asked worriedly.

  “It might feel funny, but it shouldn’t hurt. Do you want to hold her hand, Cody?”

  “Okay.”

  Stephanie’s heart did a somersault as she watched Jamie in action. She’d always been incredibly proud of him, saving lives and making sick people better, but he was a natural with kids. It really was a shame, she thought once more, that he hadn’t wanted to go down that road instead of cardiology.

  “Can I help?” asked Liam.

  “Sure. Can you hold this cloth to Mia’s face while I put the magic water in? It’ll dribble down her face and we don’t want her pretty jumper ruined, do we?”

  Liam didn’t seem bothered about the jumper, but willingly held the cloth to Mia’s cheek.

  Jamie slipped on a glove and opened the bottle, allowing Cody to hold the cap. Then he pulled back her eyelids and quickly flushed out the sand.

  “Alright, Mia. Looking good. You’re a star.” He encouraged the little girl. Now close your eye tightly for a few seconds.”

  Mia did as she was asked and when Jamie asked her to open her eye, she blinked in wonder.

  “It’s all gone.”

  “Excellent. Now, no rubbing. It may leak for a little while, so here’s a tissue to wipe your face if that happens. But remember, NO …?”

  “Rubbing!” the three kids yelled out.

  With their enthusiastic help, he repacked his back and slung it over his shoulders.

  “See you later.”

  Cody sidled up to him. “Could you give us a push on the swing first, Doctor Jamie?” Her cuteness was always a hurdle for someone wanting to say no.

  “I could do that for a few minutes, then I have to go find Abby because I promised to help her.”

  “Mom’s busy over at the entrance,” Liam pointed her out.

  Jamie nodded when he saw Abby a few feet away, and waved to her.

  Stephanie could have guessed that Abby wouldn’t be far from Liam, especially since his last escapade. She watched as Jamie pushed them high until they were squealing in delight, his smile beaming over their heads, and Stephanie remembered why she’d fallen in love with him. When he was younger he had been so much fun.

  As the thought occurred to her, he happened to look up and their eyes locked. He was still smiling and he gave her a wink. Was he thinking about the nights as teenagers that they’d snuck out here, and Jamie had pushed her just as high?

  Time seemed to stand still, and even the noise of the evening had become muted.

  So, Stephanie had turned up. He’d been thinking that it wouldn’t have surprised him if she’d opted out of coming just to avoid him, and now here she was. He left the kids to go and find their parents and walked across to where she stood.

  She grinned at him. “That was lovely, how you handled Mia.”

  “They’re great kids. I can’t believe how much the girls have grown since the last time I saw them. Liam seems like an awesome kid, too.”

  “He is. With his background, things could have turned out really bad for him, but Abby and Max love him to bits and it shows.”

  “It sure does. Watching how they were with him the other day made me think he’s one lucky little boy.”

  “He was lucky that you came along when you did.”

  “You heard about his accident?” he said sardonically, knowing that there were no secrets in Prossers Bay.

  “Naturally,” she snorted. “Abby and Max had called everyone and we were out looking for him. Once you called Dan, he set in motion the phone tree we have set up, whereby he calls a few people and then they do the same and so on, until everyone knows.”

  “Hell, it used to be the town gossips and now it’s a phone tree?”

  “Don’t knock it. It works and can save a lot of time when you’re dealing with water and farms. The places most likely to have accidents.”

  “I thought they mainly happened in the home?” he teased her.

  “Touché. The lights look good.”

  This banter was like old times. He could smell her perfume as it lingered in the early evening air, competing with the smell of cotton candy, popcorn and the obligatory sausage sizzle.

  He was hungry. But, not for food. Stephanie had let her hair down and it hung lushly over her shoulders. She wore a sky blue t-shirt which matched her eyes to perfection, and hugged every curve. The same could be said for her jeans. Tonight might have been any night from their teenage years and, more than a decade later, she looked just as good.

  Memories of the two of them, holding hands on this very green, toasting marshmallow on the beach, making love in one of the meadows that bordered the town, flooded over him. He shook his head, trying to clear it so that he could answer her, and not stand here like a horny idiot, when her naked body, dappled in sunlight and nestled on the freshly cut grass, swam before his eyes
.

  “The lights do look good, thanks to you.” He pushed the words out, his voice a rasp.

  “You helped.”

  He coughed. “Do you want to get a drink?”

  An eyebrow shot up. “It’s a bit early.”

  “I meant lemonade. Jeanne’s got a stall over there and it might make it easier for her since she’s finding it hard to see us through everyone.”

  Stephanie looked across at her friend who was craning her neck around her customers, and laughed. He really did love that sound.

  “I believe that she’s not the only one. I think Prossers Bay must have had a notice in the paper, saying that everyone should be sure to make us feel as uncomfortable as they can.”

  “Either that, or it’s your damn phone tree. Why don’t we try to give them their money’s worth?”

  “How do you mean?”

  Jamie put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close.

  “Like this,” he whispered in her ear. “I reckon this will get them pretty excited.”

  Them? Having her so close definitely made him excited. Stephanie wasn’t moving and, if it hadn’t been for the rise and fall of her chest he wouldn’t have been sure that she was breathing.

  Jamie wasn’t aware how long they stood there, but the moment was broken when Abby arrived in front of them, grinning like a loon.

  “Hi, guys. I’m holding you to your offer of helping tonight.”

  “What can we do?” Stephanie asked in a very business-like tone as she stepped out from his arms.

  “Could you give Max a time out on the sausage booth? He needs to take Liam to the bathroom, and I’m now selling tickets for the raffles.”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks. And, I’m sorry for interrupting,” she added as she moved back into the throng.

  Jamie removed his arm and without a word, they went over to Max who had a good-sized line in front of him.

  “Thank goodness. I was thinking of using the bush behind us but the Sergeant’s in line for a sausage, and I don’t want any trouble.”

  His comment sent a ripple down the line and the sergeant was mocked good-naturedly about arresting young Liam for peeing in public.

  Jamie took over turning the sausages while Stephanie wrapped them in the buttered bread. They quickly got into a routine and Jamie found himself having fun. Everyone had some comment about him being back home, and there were a few innuendos about him and Stephanie, but mostly people were out to have a good night and raise money for children to attend the camp cheaply, and in some cases for free.

  As he placed a sausage in the bread for Stephanie it began to slip from the hot butter. They both grasped it firmly, his hand around hers, and, they looked up into each other’s eyes. Heat pumped through their hands and Jamie could feel it traveling up his arm. He was pretty sure it wasn’t anything to do with the food.

  “Ummm. Can I have that? Or, are you two just going to hold it for me?”

  Allan was standing there, his hand out and a smirk on his face.

  They sprang apart and the bread and sausage fell on the ground.

  “Oops. Sorry, Allan . I’ll get you another.”

  “You should do it how Max did it. Put the bread in a napkin first and then it won’t slip out.” Alice pointed out their error.

  Allan nudged his youngest daughter, who looked at him uncomprehendingly.

  Stephanie held out another slice of bread, with the napkin underneath, her cheeks pink and her hand shaking a little.

  Jamie was careful not to touch her as he slid the new sausage into the bread.

  “Thanks for the advice, Alice. That was way easier.”

  The teenage girl gave her father an ‘I told you so’ look, and took the sausage before Allan had a chance.

  “Guess I’d better get another, then.”

  A little while later, Abby came back to them with Max and asked them to move on to the Ferris wheel so Jordan, Megan’s husband, could have a break and spend time with his family.

  Jamie was in his element, helping the children on and off the rides and keeping the others amused with silly jokes while they waited in line. The kids couldn’t get enough and the line never ended.

  As if the last two years had never been, Stephanie’s heart and body were drawn to him. Gone was the driven doctor that she’d left. In his place was the caring, funny, warm man who couldn’t do enough to help. The man she’d fallen in love with.

  Eventually, Jordan came back.

  “Sorry I’ve been gone so long guys, but I could see that you were doing great over here. I reckon you would have made the most money out of anyone.”

  “Really? I’m glad we could help and I can stay here if you like.” Stephanie was enjoying the night, so to do so well was a bonus.

  Jamie looked across the heads of the children he was securing. “Me, too.”

  “Great. I’m about to make an announcement that we’ll be closing in half an hour. That’s what time we have permission for. Be prepared for the rush and we’ll meet up after that to pool the money and begin the clean-up.”

  The time flew by and soon Jordan was back with a large container that jingled as he walked. He waited until they had given one last ride and then they added their funds to the pile.

  “I think we’ll count this in the morning and I’ll secure this ride if you two can help with the clean-up. The others have done heaps already.”

  As the last of the stragglers left the green with their tired children in tow, Megan was handing out trash bags and Jamie and Stephanie began to empty all the trash cans and place the bags on a trailer attached to Jordan’s BMW.

  “Nice car,” Jamie said.

  “Bet it cost a fortune.” Stephanie had never been hung up on cars.

  Jordan and Megan had come up to them and heard the conversation. “It did, but it’s not very practical. In fact, I’m thinking of selling it. When you have kids, a BMW doesn’t really cut it.”

  “Not to mention sticky hands and grubby shoes,” Megan added.

  “There is that.” Jordan pulled Megan into his arms and gave her a kiss on the nose. “Not that I’d have it any other way.

  The others arrived and Jordan turned to them all.

  “Hey, guys. Megan and I were wondering if you’d like to come back to the resort. There’s a small band playing and its great music. My treat, and I’m sure I can rustle up a few drinks to say thanks for all your hard work.”

  Abby looked at Max, who was nodding eagerly.

  Jeanne was also interested. “We’d love to. Since Lisa’s taken Liam and the twins to our place, and they’re probably sound asleep by now, it’d make a lovely end to the evening.”

  Megan tucked an arm through Stephanie’s. “What about you, buddy? Ready to let your hair down?”

  “Sure. A free drink is a good drink.” Stephanie nodded enthusiastically. It had been such a great night, and she knew it would be fun with their select group.

  “Are you coming, Doc?”

  Jamie looked at Allan in surprise. “Sorry. For a minute there I thought you were talking to my father, since he’s always been Doc. That may take a bit of getting used to,” he laughed. “If no one has any objection, then I’d love to tag along.”

  He was looking pointedly at Stephanie, and there was simply no way she could tell him not to come. The reason had nothing to do with everyone waiting for her reply. It had everything to do with having him near for longer than she’d thought she could tolerate, and loving every minute of it. Now, if she could only stop the excited beat of her heart.

  Jordan took her silence as an okay and yelled out good naturedly, “The more the merrier.”

  With skill and speed, they had the decorations down in a fraction of the time it had taken to put them up and then they began to head to the cars.

  “You and Stephanie can come with us. Then you can get a ride back, and you can both have a drink.”

  Jordan organized everyone and Stephanie, incapable of saying
no, had to endure the back seat with Jamie for the short ride to the resort.

  She could smell the familiar aftershave that would have left her weak-kneed if she hadn’t been sitting. He took up quite a bit of space and since they were both tall, their knees touched the seat in front. It would be a roomy car for a family of four but it felt cramped and the air seemed to be thin. The last time they’d shared a back seat, the windows had fogged very badly.

  “Could you flick the air conditioner on please, Jordan?”

  “It is on Steph. Do you want me to turn it up?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Yes, I’m just a bit hot.”

  Did Jamie smirk at her? He damn well did, and now he was openly grinning as he turned to look out the window. His shoulders moved up and down as if he was laughing. He knew the effect he was having on her, and it annoyed her like crazy. Why had she said yes to this? Because she was a masochist, clearly.

  Chapter 9

  They arrived at the resort in a convoy. Everyone spilled out into the parking lot and Jordan led the way to the restaurant.

  A small group was playing in the far corner and a dance floor held a few couples.

  “Care to dance, Ginger?” Jamie asked.

  Stephanie shook her head. “No thanks.”

  She must be annoyed at him for laughing at her. Stephanie loved to dance and never used to miss an opportunity if she could help it. That’s why their friends had taken to calling them Fred and Ginger. Not that he was a particularly good dancer, but Stephanie was graceful and skilled.

  She went to the bar with the group and he followed behind, not sure what his next move should be. If she didn’t want him here than maybe he should go. There had been mixed messages this evening, although he thought he’d detected a major thawing towards him. Perhaps not.

  Jordan took a couple of bottles of wine over to a table and then joined a few more tables together. The waiter brought over a selection of beers and the men uttered their appreciation.

  “Beer or wine?” he asked Jamie.

  “I’ll have wine, thanks. The same as Stephanie.”