Charlotte sighed. ‘Is it that obvious?’
‘Actually, not until recently.’ Emily looked thoughtful. ‘Not until you told me he was coming with us and that he’d paid for everything. But even then I wasn’t one hundred per cent sure. He’s not very . . .’ She trailed off.
‘No, it’s okay, you can say it.’ Charlotte’s lips turned up wryly.
‘Affectionate,’ Emily frowned. ‘To be honest, he’s actually rather cold.’
‘Like a freezer,’ Charlotte chuckled. ‘But you’re wrong. We’re not together. We’re just . . .’ She groaned. ‘I don’t know what we are.’ She decided it was best to change the subject. ‘What about you and Trent? You seemed to be arguing when I came out of the courtroom today.’
‘I had to reject his proposal again and he didn’t take it too well the second time either.’ She bit her lip. ‘The problem is, he thinks he hasn’t had enough time to persuade me, and that I might still change my mind. Why is it that all men think that women never say what they mean?’
Charlotte rolled her eyes in empathy. ‘I have no idea.’ But speaking of Trent had put her in mind of something. ‘Say, did he give you that letter I found the other day? I hope it wasn’t urgent.’
‘What letter?’
‘I found a letter with my mother’s things addressed to you. I gave it to Trent to pass on.’
‘He didn’t give me anything.’
‘Well, maybe ask him about it when we get back to the hotel,’ Charlotte suggested.
Emily nodded. ‘Sure, I will.’
Charlotte dressed carefully that evening in a conservative black cocktail dress that she hadn’t taken out of her closet in years, a light but fresh application of make-up and her auburn hair styled in a loose twist. She never wore dresses any more. Jeans and T-shirts were her staple. But she’d thrown it into her suitcase at the last minute on impulse. They were going to the city. No point in being underdressed if they went out. She was pleased now that she’d brought it with her. Even more pleased when she noticed the way Mark’s eyes followed her entrance from across the restaurant without breaking contact once.
He stood up when she reached their table. ‘Hello, Charlotte.’
There was no kiss on the cheek. He didn’t even take her hand. He just stood there drinking her in like she was the last sip of water on a desert island.
She cleared her throat and averted her eyes from the intensity of his gaze. ‘Er, hi, Mark.’ She pulled out her chair and quickly sat down.
‘How was your afternoon?’ he asked innocuously.
‘Fine,’ she said, equally so, and then bit her lip at the silence that ensued. ‘Listen,’ she said finally, ‘I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me this last week. I couldn’t have got through it without you.’
He nodded. ‘I know.’
She blinked at his short response and tried again. ‘You’ve been so supportive, paying for everything, organising everything, and getting Trent to represent me. You really didn’t need to do all that.’
‘I know.’
Her lips pulled into a thin line at his averted eyes. ‘I will pay you back, by the way. Every cent. We’ll work out a payment plan or something. What do you think?’
‘No rush.’ He took a sip of water.
She gritted her teeth. Was there no entry to the rock-solid cave Mark had encased himself in?
For a while they simply sat there, looking at their menus, drinking water and making small talk that flowed as easily as sludge. Time passed slowly. First fifteen minutes, then half an hour while they waited for the other two to show up. At last, Charlotte’s phone buzzed as a message came through.
She dived into her handbag and pulled it out. The message was from Emily.
Sorry, I’m not going to be able to make it tonight and I doubt Trent’s coming either. Something has come up – will call you later.
‘Damn.’ She clicked the phone off and looked up at Mark’s raised eyebrows.
‘Bad news?’ he inquired.
‘Apparently,’ she smiled sweetly, ‘you’ll be able to cross something else off that list of yours.’ She tilted her head, a challenge in her eyes. ‘Looks like we’re on a date.’
He had never endured such an unrestful R and R. It was made all the worse by the fact that he didn’t feel like he could confide in anyone back home in Perth. How could he speak to his family and friends about what he was going through, when they were all about to be recipients of Emily’s ‘wonderful news’? Instead, he had to find a way to grin and bear it as he had five years ago.
Getting through this was his top priority – if not for his sake, then for Emily’s.
It’s not like he wanted to lose their friendship on top of everything else. He just hoped she didn’t ask him to be her maid of honour like they’d joked about at Lena’s wedding. That would kill him.
As the week progressed further, however, no announcement was made and doubt nagged him.
Why hadn’t she contacted all their friends? It wasn’t like they were eloping or anything.
Oh crap! Are they?
He couldn’t be sure. Emily had certainly phoned him a lot but he didn’t trust himself to answer. He didn’t know if he could be ‘supportive’ just yet. He sent what he hoped was a reassuring text message and was rewarded with stone-cold silence. He hadn’t thought his message was rude – he had just wanted to give her the green light, in case she was worried about his feelings. That obviously wasn’t the case. She’d taken his ‘go ahead’ literally and dumped him like a tonne of bricks.
His return to site at the end of the week was also disappointing. If he had hoped to catch Emily before she left for Brisbane with Trent, that hope was dashed when Ann informed him that they had left the day before.
At that point, he did the only thing he could do. He buried himself in work. When he got sick of Nova’s teasing, he took a roll of drawings and went out to inspect the drive tower. Anything to get away from the draftsman’s less than subtle prodding about Emily.
Unfortunately, even solid steel reinforcing bars could not protect him from the curiosity of his men. Spooks and the usual suspects hailed him within minutes of his arrival. First asking how his R and R had been (for politeness’s sake) and then shamelessly delving straight into the guts of the gossip they were trying to collect.
‘So how’s Emily?’
‘I have no idea,’ Will retorted. ‘I’ve been away, remember? You’ve seen more of her recently than I have.’
They all guffawed and Spooks slapped his own leg at the joke. ‘I seriously doubt that, Boy Scout,’ he said, chuckling.
Will did not like the sleazy note in his tone and looked up from the drawing he had been pretending to study. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Nothing.’ Spooks’s eyes were too wide to be innocent.
In resignation, he re-rolled the drawing. ‘Spit it out, Spooks, I know you’re dying to tell me.’
Spooks spread his hands cajolingly. ‘All we’re after is a little bit of confirmation, Boy Scout. There’s a lot of money at stake here and everybody’s waiting to find out who gets paid.’
‘Confirmation about what?’ Will demanded.
‘Who won the bet, you or Dipper. Are you with Emily Woods or not?’
Will gazed at him slack-jawed, anger bubbling just behind his eyeballs. This was all he needed. Why couldn’t these guys just get out of his face and leave Emily’s love-life alone? Didn’t they have anything better to do with their lives?
‘No need to prevaricate,’ Spooks said slyly, misinterpreting his silent rage. ‘We know something happened.’
It was all he could do not to grind his teeth. ‘You’ve got a lot of nerve, Spooks,’ Will spat at him. ‘The fact is, you don’t know jack shit. If you did, you wouldn’t be asking me, would you? Besides, that’s none of your damn business anyway.’
Spooks’s eyes seemed to sparkle at this challenge. He rubbed his dirty hands together and licked his lips. ‘That�
��s where you’re wrong, Boy Scout. We do know something.’
‘For Pete’s sake –’
‘We know,’ Spooks interrupted his next tirade, ‘that on the afternoon the shiploader was installed someone bet a thousand dollars you’d win.’
‘Like I care,’ Will threw at him. ‘Take your casino elsewhere, Spooks.’
‘Even if the highest bidder is Emily Woods?’ Spooks said slowly and succinctly.
Will halted in the act of turning away. ‘What did you say?’
‘I’m saying,’ Spooks smiled like a dog with a juicy bone, ‘that Emily Woods bet a thousand dollars that you’d win.’
‘Why would she do that?’
‘Well,’ Spooks shrugged a little too casually, ‘I don’t think it was about the winnings.’
It was like the lights came back on after a prolonged power blackout. ‘You’re not joking about this, are you?’ he whispered.
‘I never kid about money or football,’ Spooks said seriously.
‘The afternoon after the shiploader went in . . .’ Will murmured, not even realising he was speaking out loud. The night we kissed.
And then realisation struck him. The night she seduced me!
So it hadn’t just been just one of those things. Or because she was tipsy or needy or confused, as he had thought. It was premeditated and planned. She had known exactly what she was doing. He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Emily had made her choice and he hadn’t even realised it. Was that why she’d called him so many times the next morning?
He groaned as he remembered the text message he’d sent. But why did Trent say she’d accepted his proposal? . . . Unless he’d lied. Something wasn’t right here. Before he knew what he was doing, he was turning around and walking off, completely ignoring the men, who were still waiting on a response from him.
‘Boy Scout,’ Spooks called out, ‘where do you think you’re going? You haven’t answered our question.’
He laughed again as hope made his chest swell.
‘Brisbane,’ he said over his shoulder and doubled his pace.
When Emily returned to the hotel after her afternoon out with Charlotte, her jaw ached from smiling. She was so sick of putting on a brave face, pretending everything was great and that she was enjoying this break from work.
If she didn’t feel like Charlotte needed her support, she would have flown to Perth this morning. Trent was annoying the hell out of her – putting the pressure on like nothing on earth and all she wanted to do was just get away from him.
How could I have contemplated marrying that guy? He was a complete control freak and if she tied herself to him permanently she would become the puppet she had been turning into just before they’d broken up. He was nothing like Will. Nothing like beautiful, generous, kind-hearted Will . . . who only wanted to be her friend.
She blinked back the tears that threatened. Now was not the time to feel sorry for herself. She’d just finished putting on her make-up for their celebratory dinner. Though, if she had her own way, she’d just stay in her room tonight. But she knew snubbing Trent twice in a row was just going to set his back up and make him redouble his efforts. No, what she needed to do was get through dinner and then have a firm chat with him afterwards. Tomorrow morning, she’d book the first plane to Perth and take the rest of her R and R there, which was what she should have done in the first place. She had thought a new city would take her mind off things, but that wasn’t happening with Trent nagging in the wings.
There was a knock at her hotel-room door and she walked out of the bathroom to answer it. It was Trent.
‘I thought I’d walk you downstairs.’
‘You shouldn’t have bothered.’ She turned away from the door but didn’t shut it so he could follow her in.
‘Why are you making this so difficult?’ he asked after closing the door.
She spun back. ‘Trent, I think we need to have a serious talk.’ She might as well do it now.
‘Okay, I’m listening.’
She clasped her hands. ‘I appreciate what you’ve done for Charlotte. Thank you for taking on her case at such short notice. But in terms of you and me,’ she drew in a deep breath and then let it go, ‘you’re holding out hope for something that’s never going to happen.’
He frowned. ‘So you only came on this trip with me for Charlotte?’
She put her hands on her hips. ‘I told you that before we left. So why you would think any different is beyond me.’
He chose his words carefully. ‘You seemed like you needed to get away. And I was happy to be here for you.’
She sighed. ‘Maybe there is some truth in that. I did need a distraction and I thought a new city would be exciting enough to make me forget –’ She cut off her own words, her hand going to her temple to rub a knot of pain there.
‘This is about Will, isn’t it?’ he said finally.
Startled, her gaze snapped to his. How does he know?
‘Don’t bother denying it.’ He ground out the words. ‘I’ve had too many hints along the way.’
When she said nothing and simply stared at him in wonder he added, ‘I guess I always knew he had a soft spot for you. Even on the day we met, I was aware I had to act fast if I wanted to knock him out of the running. I just never thought he’d double-cross me like this. I mean, he’s Will,’ he shrugged as though that said it all, ‘sacrificial to a fault.’
‘He didn’t double-cross you.’ She immediately jumped to Will’s defence. ‘I went after him. He doesn’t even know I like him that way.’
‘Come on, Em,’ Trent scoffed, ‘don’t be stupid. He took advantage of you when you were at your most vulnerable.’
‘No.’ Emily squared her chin. ‘That’s what you did. And I didn’t quite realise it until Will showed me how to spread my own wings and fly free.’
He laughed contemptuously at her passionate announcement, making her blush. ‘Now you’re being ridiculous.’ He smirked. ‘Tell me, did he make you any promises?’
She was silent and folded her arms against a sudden chill in her bones. ‘I think I’d like you to leave now, Trent. You can make my excuses to Charlotte and Mark. I’m not coming to dinner.’
‘Emily,’ his tone turned cajoling and soft, ‘don’t be like that. Come to dinner. We’ll sort this out after.’
‘No.’ Emily shook her head. ‘Tomorrow I’m flying to Perth without you.’
Trent’s face took on a rather ugly expression. ‘You saving yourself for him now, are you?’ He sighed as one about to address a wayward child. ‘When I told Will we were getting married he didn’t even blink an eye, Em. In fact, he sent you his congratulations. Is that the behaviour of a man who wants you? Don’t be dumb about this.’
She gasped. ‘You told him I accepted your proposal?’
Trent seemed to realise belatedly what he had revealed and blinked at her.
‘What else have you lied about?’ she asked and then recalled her conversation with Charlotte that afternoon. ‘Charlotte said you had a letter for me. Where is it?’
His eyes narrowed on her harshly for a moment. ‘It’s in my room.’
‘Why haven’t you given it to me? Is it from Will?’
‘If I give you that letter, Em, there’s no going back,’ Trent shot at her. ‘It’ll ruin everything.’
‘Maybe for you. I want it.’ She lifted her chin.
He watched her darkly for a moment before spinning on his heel and stalking out. He returned seconds later with a crumpled envelope that had already been torn open. Her name was written on the front in Will’s sprawling handwriting.
She bit back a gasp. ‘You read my letter!’
‘He betrayed me.’ Trent shrugged. ‘All bets were off.’
‘Get out!’ Emily pointed at the door.
‘You can tell him,’ Trent said as he backed away, ‘that I never want to see either of you again.’ On these words, he walked out and slammed the door behind him.
With trembling fin
gers, she retreated back to the queen bed in the centre of the room and sat down. She withdrew the single-sheeted letter. The handwriting was so messy it was almost a scribble. But she didn’t care. The envelope fell to the floor as she devoured the words on the page.
Dear Em,
I need to tell you something. Something I’ve been keeping a secret from you for seven years.
I love you.
I’ve always loved you.
I love the way you laugh. I love the way you smile. I love the way your hair gets fuzzy when it’s humid. I love it how the tips of your ears go redder than the rest of your face when you’re embarrassed. I love how you walk. I love the sound of your voice. I love how you never give up when you don’t get something. I love it that you cry in both sad and happy movies. I love it how you always want to make a good impression. I love it that you’ll listen even when no one else will. I love it that you’re modest. I love it that you’re shy. It makes me happy just to be around you.
I love you.
Always,
Will
By the time she was through reading his magical words, tears were rolling down her face.
Oh Will, how blind I’ve been.
Even as the thought entered her head, a new one replaced it. She jumped up, crossed the room to her suitcase and began throwing stuff in it.
I need to get back to Hay Point.
As soon as possible.
Somehow the triumph of sitting across from Charlotte at a fancy restaurant seemed less than sweet. After everything they’d been through together, over-priced food, elevator music and shallow chitchat just seemed out of place.
She looked gorgeous. There was no doubt about that. The black dress she was wearing accentuated every curve of her exquisite form. But he would have liked her just as well in an old T-shirt, preferably his, lounging on the couch in front of the telly. Talking seemed to do him more of a disservice than anything and so he spent most of the meal in silence, broken sparingly by comments about the wine or the food.
The Girl in the Yellow Vest Page 34