Our Kind of Love

by Victoria Purman

  With a blip of her keypad to lock the car, she gripped the handles of her overnight bag and jogged in the rain to the front door.

  Ry welcomed her with a hug. ‘Welcome.’ He ushered her inside and quickly closed the door against the wind. He whisked the bag from her hands and within about five seconds, her coat was off, she had a glass of red wine in her hands and a comfortable spot near the fireplace, glowing red and orange.

  ‘What have I done to deserve all this?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Julia waddled over and joined her on the sofa. ‘You’re the only one of us who’s had to work today and you’ve driven all this way to be with us for Dan and Lizzie’s party.’

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘They’re picking up Harri first, then heading over. It’s just us tonight.’

  Anna tried not to interpret what Julia meant. ‘Right.’

  ‘Yes,’ Julia met her gaze. ‘Me, Ry, Dan, Lizzie and Harri.’

  No Joe. Anna felt like a deflated balloon. She’d worked herself up to feel so strong and now that she didn’t need that resolve, she withered.

  ‘Sounds fabulous,’ she replied with a forced smile.

  ‘Joe is in Sydney.’

  So he’d gone back home. Just as she thought he would. Good for him. She was half thrilled for him and half in agony for herself. ‘And how are you feeling? How’s the bambino?’

  ‘Tickety-boo. Kicking a lot.’

  ‘That’s great news.’

  Julia smiled and nodded. ‘Yes. Oh, here they are.’

  Dan, Lizzie and Harri arrived in a gust of wind through the front door. Dan walked right to her, leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Doc. Glad you’re here.’ He tugged a strand of her hair and smiled. She gave him one right back. ‘You heard our news? Lizzie’s agreed to marry me.’

  Anna leapt to her feet. ‘Oh Dan.’ She went to him and playfully slapped his cheek. ‘You be good to her.’

  ‘Oh, he is,’ Lizzie said with a happy sigh.

  ‘Congratulations. So how was the trip? Tell me all about it,’ Anna said.

  ‘Oh my God, Anna,’ Lizzie’s smile was beaming. ‘We loved Italy. The Italians? They’re crazy.’

  ‘Elizabeth,’ Dan chided. ‘You might not remember that Anna is actually Italian?’

  ‘You know I didn’t mean—’

  Anna waved it off. ‘Don’t explain. I know exactly what you mean. Gorgeous country, amazing sights, language and culture. But sometimes they even drive me nuts.’

  ‘We brought you a present.’ Lizzie held out her hand and presented Anna with a small box wrapped in black paper.

  Anna stared at it. ‘What? No …’

  ‘It’s for you,’ Dan said. ‘From the both of us.’

  Anna stood and walked around to the other side of the sofa. Lizzie handed her the present and Anna gently tugged at the wrapping. It gave way to reveal a jeweller’s box and when she flipped it open, she found a ring inside.

  Lizzie peered at it, their heads almost touching. ‘We found it in this amazing antique market in Paris and we knew it would be perfect for you, didn’t we, Dan?’

  ‘Lizzie wouldn’t let me escape until we’d bought it.’

  Anna couldn’t stop looking at it. It was loud, over the top and as bright as the flashing lights at Sideshow Alley at the Royal Adelaide Show. In the centre of three rows, flat gold swirls curved into twists and on each side, there was a row made up of rhinestones, faux pearls and other costume stones in azure, emerald, yellow, and forest green. Anna lifted it from the padded velvet case and watched it, turning it so it caught the afternoon light through the tall windows. Her heart swelled.

  She looked down at her left hand and her naked ring finger. There was a faint white line against her olive skin and an indentation there, like a scar. She slipped on the new ring, held it up to the light and it seemed to sparkle and shimmer even more now it was on her finger.

  When Anna looked up, Ry and Julia had joined Dan and Lizzie in a line in front of her. Watching. She tried to find something to say but there was a huge lump in her stomach that had tied her tongue in knots.

  Dan nudged Ry. ‘You ever seen that before? Anna Morelli speechless?’

  Ry thought about it. ‘Maybe once, in the Adelaide Uni bar in 1998.’

  ‘Stop it, you too,’ Julia said.

  ‘Do you like it?’ Lizzie asked.

  ‘Oh my God.’ It was all Anna could say and she opened her arms wide to hug them all.

  CHAPTER

  41

  Anna checked to make sure the door to her consulting room was closed and then she googled him. Again.

  She’d tried not to be curious about where Joe was and what he was doing, about whether he’d moved back to Sydney and got another job. He hadn’t called to say goodbye, not that she’d expected him to. Was kind of glad he hadn’t, if she was honest. Wasn’t it better that he’d simply disappeared? No emotional scenes, no more what-ifs. No more doubts about whether she’d made the right decision.

  When she pressed the return key, a list of references appeared on her computer screen. One in particular caught her eye. She clicked on the link and as the words swam before her eyes, her head began to pound.

  Dumped Sydney newsman Joe Blake can’t seem to get arrested in the Harbour City. News is he was lurking around the coat hanger last week sniffing around for a job after being sacked last year. But no dice. He hasn’t managed to score a new gig – or win his wife back – and maybe never will.

  A million thoughts came crashing in at Anna all at once. She couldn’t make sense of any of them, but her fury at the callous and cruel way the gossip columnist from that online site had described him made her blood boil. Nothing about that story reflected the Joe she knew. She pushed her chair back and began pacing around her surgery, arms crossed, using every Italian swear word she could remember to ease her rage.

  Without thinking, she grabbed her phone and pressed his name.

  ‘This is Joe Blake. Leave a message.’

  Anna hesitated, the reality of what she’d just done hitting her like a cold shower. Why was she cyber-stalking this man? What would he think of her? And how pathetic did she feel? She ended the call with a jab on the screen without uttering a word. She wanted to throw the phone across the room but, instead, dropped it on her desk with a clunk. Those bastards. How could they say that about anybody, much less someone who was one of them?

  The door to her consulting room opened and Grace peeped in. ‘You all right? I heard swearing.’

  Anna shrugged. ‘I’ve had better days. Is Mrs Amato here yet?’

  ‘She’s in the waiting room. Shall I send her in?’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Half an hour later, Anna was done. She checked her watch. It was almost six. Her phone intercom rang and she pressed the speaker button.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘You have another patient.’ There was something strange in Gracie’s voice. As if she was performing. ‘I’ve tried to tell the gentleman that we’re closed for the day but he insists he needs medical attention.’ Anna sighed. It wasn’t in her nature to send anyone away but she was almost spent. Seeing the article about Joe, after a day full of patients, meant all she wanted to do was go home to a hot bath, a glass of wine and her regrets.

  ‘Can’t you refer him to the after-hours clinic in the city?’

  ‘He’s quite insistent.’

  Anna slowly pushed her chair back from the desk and stood, a feeling of tiredness washing over her in a wave from her eyes to her toes. She flicked her hair behind her shoulders, set her shoulders back straight and smoothed her pencil skirt down her thighs. She rounded her door and looked out to Grace in the reception area. The waiting room to her right was still hidden from view. Grace was standing, wide-eyed and cocking her head in the direction of the waiting room with a tight-lipped grimace.

  ‘It’s him,’ she whispered almost under her breath.

  ‘Huh?’

  It was Joe.r />
  CHAPTER

  42

  Anna stood in the doorway with her fists perched on her hips. She looked like she wanted to kill someone. Joe hoped it wasn’t him. ‘You called me?’

  Her hands lifted, her cheeks flushed, and she walked towards him. All flaming cheeks, pursed lips and fast breathing.

  ‘Have you seen it? The story? It’s absolutely appalling. It almost made me want to leave a comment online, which is something I never do. Scumbags.’

  Joe was distracted for a moment by how beautiful this woman was. ‘What story?’

  Anna grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her into her office. She slammed the door behind her, stomped to her chair, typed something, fast and furious, her fingernails clicking on the keys.

  To Joe’s relief, she was directing all her energy at the keyboard while she mumbled in Italian. He stood behind her, trying to focus on the monitor but all he could smell was her perfume and his lips were so close to her hair he wanted to kiss its silky softness.

  He’s stayed away. It was what she’d wanted and he was man enough to respect her choices. That didn’t mean he liked it. In the months since he’d last seen Anna, he’d tried to forget. Tried to get past it. It had all been useless.

  Nothing had changed for him. He still wanted her.

  ‘Look,’ she demanded and jabbed the screen.

  Joe forced himself to concentrate on the words. He dragged his eyes away from her hair, her neck and down past her breasts onto her thighs, to the screen.

  ‘Shit,’ he muttered. ‘Someone’s really got it in for me.’

  ‘How the hell do they get away with saying that about you? That is shocking.’

  Joe leaned over Anna’s shoulder and moved the mouse so he could check the banner and the by-line. That simple piece of information gave him the whole back-story. He knew the gossip columnist and suddenly wasn’t surprised about the tone of the article. He stood, and slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers. If he didn’t find something else to do with them, they’d be all over Anna in a hot second.

  ‘I know that piece of slime. He works for the opposition. Well, what used to be the opposition when I had a job. I’m a victim of Sydney’s newspaper circulation war, Anna, nothing more.’

  She spun around in her chair and met his gaze, her eyes fiery and her cheeks flushed. Her full, red lips taunted him and when she swore in Italian, man, he almost lost control. He took a step back instead and bumped into the examination table.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re so calm about it. You should sue them for printing that bullshit about you. Don’t you care about people everywhere reading that stuff and thinking it’s true? Thinking you’re that person?’

  Joe watched her for a moment, trying to decipher what her passionate defence of him meant. He leaned back on the examination table, crossing his arms. He shrugged.

  ‘I don’t care what people think, remember? And I know their tactics. They write stories like that in such a way that it’s kind of factual, weaving in facts with innuendo and bullshit to create a picture that feels true but is mostly a lie.’

  ‘Mostly?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Anna found her necklace and twisted it in her fingers. ‘So you weren’t over in Sydney looking for a job?’

  ‘No.’ He let the words out on a deep breath.

  The fury seemed to leave Anna’s face in a blink. ‘Oh.’

  ‘Is this really why you called me? Because you saw that story?’

  ‘Well,’ Anna averted her eyes. ‘Yes, obviously. I was so angry I had to talk to you about it.’

  ‘Why you were reading the gossip pages from that Sydney rag?’

  ‘I was …’ and she stopped, met his eyes and didn’t need to say any more.

  ‘So, you were googling me. Again.’

  ‘No. Yes.’ Anna threw her hands into the air. ‘Okay, I was googling you. Just because it didn’t work out between us, it doesn’t mean that I can’t care about you.’

  Joe moved to her side, sat on the edge of the desk. ‘It’s kind of nice that you think I have some honour worth defending, Dr Morelli.’

  ‘I’m allowed to care what people say about you. That’s what friends are for.’

  ‘Friends.’

  ‘Yes.’ She really was giving that necklace a work over. ‘So, none of it was true?’

  ‘I was up in Sydney last weekend but I wasn’t looking for a new job. I was up there getting the last of my stuff packed. The house is on the market and I had to go and get what’s mine. I didn’t bring a whole lot with me when I drove off last year. I was travelling light.’

  Anna paused. ‘So that line about you trying to get your wife back. That’s made up too?’

  ‘Total and utter bullshit.’ They sat in silence.

  ‘Anna, listen. I don’t care about what they say about me. I don’t want to go back to Sydney and I don’t want my wife back. I don’t care if they say I was sacked – that’s true. But I’m really glad you were angry enough to call me.’

  ‘Does all this mean you’re staying in Adelaide?’

  ‘Check out my suit. I’ve been up in the city today meeting a few people.’

  ‘Any luck with that?’

  ‘I’m waiting to hear.’

  ‘Good luck.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Joe said.

  Words escaped both of them. Joe couldn’t drag his eyes from Anna’s, those dark caramel pools drawing him in like he was a fish on a hook. He didn’t want to walk out of there. And when she started to say something but stopped, her full lips parted and frozen on a breath, he just went for it.

  In two steps he was next to her. He reached down for her hands and pulled her to standing. And she came to him willingly. There was no resistance and his hands were on her cheeks, guiding her lips to his.

  Anna felt like she might hyperventilate and the only thing that would help her breathe again was to give in to what she felt, to be in his arms and give in to this kiss and this man. His lips were on hers, soft, urging, a question there, not a demand. The move almost undid her. It took Anna everything she had not to kiss him back. She wanted to, so much. She wanted to melt into him, wanted the physical release of surrendering to him and her need for him. Her problem was that she knew exactly what she was missing. And could now never have. She turned her face away, and his hands lingered on her cheeks for a moment, before dropping to encircle her waist.

  ‘Joe, we can’t.’ She held her hands in fists at her side, not trusting herself to unclench them. She wanted so much to feel him, slide them under the smooth charcoal wool of his suit, and press them against the cotton shirt, cool and crisp against his muscular body. She clenched her eyes closed to drive those thoughts away.

  ‘Anna.’ Joe pulled her closer.

  ‘Joe, please.’

  ‘I want you, Anna.’

  Anna gasped as his hands were on her breasts, cupping them through her shirt, his thumbs teasing her nipples into hard peaks.

  ‘This,’ she sighed, ‘the way you make me feel? It’s just instinct. Pure physiological reaction and hormones. It doesn’t mean anything.’

  ‘Stop talking like a doctor. How does it feel here?’ Joe pressed a palm to the left side of her chest.

  ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

  ‘Anna, this is killing me.’ He pressed his lips to her neck.

  ‘It’s got to be this way.’

  ‘Why?’ he murmured.

  ‘Because it does.’ Anna’s knees almost buckled.

  ‘That’s the only reason you can give me?’

  ‘You know why, Joe. I want what I want. We’re not teenagers anymore. We have to be adult enough to accept that we can’t always get what we want.’

  ‘I know what I want, Anna. I want you. Every minute of every day. I go to bed and dream about fucking you.’

  ‘Joe, don’t …’

  ‘And when I’m not dreaming about you, I’m thinking about fighting with you and laughing with you.’
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br />   Anna sighed and a hot tingling exploded low in her belly, her muscles clenching in anticipation. He reacted too, pressing against her, his intentions hard and clear. Joe’s lips were hot on her cheek, and his hands roamed her body now, moving from her breasts to her ribs, finding her arms and the tips of her fingers. He pulled one of her hands between them, onto the throb of his erection.

  When his lips found hers, this time, Anna returned his kiss with full force, every part of her in the movement of her lips on his and in the way her tongue found his. He lifted her, carried her as he stumbled to the examination table on the far wall, and sat her on it. Her legs wrapped around him, and as they plundered each other’s mouths, Joe’s hand tugged at her skirt, pushing the fabric up her thighs. Anna pushed his suit jacket off his shoulders and it crumpled on to the floor. Then his belt was undone and his trousers unzipped, and Anna found him, hard and big in her fist. He tugged her stockings and knickers down her legs and flicked them to the floor, free now to take her as he’d been desperate to do for so long. Anna’s fingers gripped his hips and he plunged, filling her, her legs around him as she threw her head back and held her breath.

  ‘Joe … Joe …’ Anna whispered. She tightened her legs around him, willing him in deeper and stronger. His breathing quickened and his eyes closed in surrender.

  ‘Anna,’ he murmured into her neck as he held on to her with strong arms and a pounding heart.

  Anna threw her arms around his neck and cried.

  CHAPTER

  43

  The rest of winter was long. Anna worked harder than she ever had. It had been particularly cold and wet, and it seemed like a never-ending cavalcade of patients arrived at the surgery every day, afflicted with colds and flu and, for the more serious cases, pneumonia and worse. Grace had gone down for a week with a bad cold herself, so Anna had ordered her home to her bed. Their parents had arrived a millisecond later with food and fussed over her, which sent Grace a little wild.