It’s Love, Dude

by Jenny Schwartz

  ‘You knew this was a quick visit. You knew he was flying out, and you have your own plane to catch.’

  Common sense wasn’t comforting. She wanted magic, and last night, she’d had it. ‘Suck it up, Cinderella.’

  ***

  ‘So Zane won.’ Everyone in the office was interested. Local boy made good was a great story, but local boy made good and involved with their Molly made their day.

  Molly reminded herself that their curiosity was kindly meant. Just as Zane checking in that she was safe home was lovely — though a little voice whispered that she’d only travelled across the country. He’d flown across the world. Different lives. But when she was with him, she felt that they belonged.

  ‘It was great.’ The smile that she’d forced became genuine. ‘Great that he won, amazing watching him surf. I didn’t realise though how much happened around the event. People wanted him for this and that, and he fitted it all in and made it look effortless.’

  Working for an MP, everyone in the office knew that fitting people in and making it look easy was far from effortless.

  Ian nodded thoughtfully. ‘That explains why the sponsors back him. It’s more than success. He works at it.’

  Molly’s smile faltered. The price of success was a high one. Everything had to come second to Zane’s surfing. She knew that. She’d known it going in. But that one night had shown her she was in deeper than she’d thought possible. Deeper than even Carly had worried.

  A few texts from Zane weren’t filling the gaping hole of his absence.

  She changed the subject. ‘I noticed the office didn’t fall over while I was gone. Anything interesting happen?’

  ‘You won’t believe it.’ After a thoughtful look, Julie let the subject shift. ‘Mrs Li came into the office.’

  ‘No!’ Molly spoke to Mrs Li regularly, but only ever by phone. The woman seldom left her house and Molly suspected she was a bit agoraphobic. ‘Why on earth?’

  ‘Apparently she wants to show you something.’

  ‘Did she leave it here?’ Molly studied her desk for a box.

  ‘She wants you to phone her. I promised you would.’

  Molly added a note to her to-do list. A few days out of the office and the list was already on its second page. At least keeping busy stopped her thinking about Zane.

  It was late afternoon before she phoned Mrs Li.

  ‘Finally. I’ll call Annie,’ Mrs Li said.

  Molly blinked and stared at the phone. Then she returned it to her ear. ‘Annie who? And why?’

  ‘Annie Reece. She’ll collect me. She drives, you know. Then she’ll collect you from the office. You are wearing walking shoes, aren’t you?’

  ‘Um, no. Court shoes. But I can walk in them.’

  ‘Not in Big Swamp you can’t. Go home and change. We’ll collect you from your house.’ Bang. The phone went down.

  Molly shut off her computer. ‘I’m under orders,’ she said to Julie. ‘Mrs Li has teamed up with Annie Reece. Apparently I’m to be shown something at Big Swamp.’

  ‘Good grief.’ Julie shook her head. ‘From the Gold Coast to Big Swamp, you sure see the sights.’

  ‘I could have volunteered you,’ Molly retorted.

  Julie lifted her hands in surrender. ‘Have fun.’

  Molly went home to dig out her boots and change into old jeans and — with a look at the clouds, a raincoat. Rain wasn’t forecast, but you couldn’t trust the weather. Spring was notoriously unreliable on the south west coast.

  Fortunately it wouldn’t be dark for a few hours. If Zane thought her wandering the swamp with Tom was unsafe, he’d have kittens seeing her there with Mrs Li and Annie. She’d make sure they were all out of the swamp well before dark.

  She wondered what crazy idea the two of them had come up with, and then she wondered why they hadn’t teamed up earlier. They both had over-excited imaginations.

  They were both lonely.

  Molly knew it was their loneliness that meant she always made time to listen to them. Tramping through a swamp on a wild goose chase — she laughed. ‘Make that a wild woylie chase and stop feeling sorry for yourself, girl.’ She checked that her mobile phone was charged.

  When the dauntless duo turned up at her house half an hour later, they had Tom in the car with them.

  Molly braced.

  ‘I thought we might need some male muscle,’ Annie said.

  ‘Hi, Tom,’ Molly said warily. With the way gossip flowed through the town, he had to have heard she spent the weekend with Zane.

  ‘Molly. Do you know what this fool expedition is about?’

  ‘Not a clue.’ She settled in the back seat beside Mrs Li.

  ‘I’m damn sorry,’ Tom said.

  Tension tightened Molly’s muscles. Please don’t let him say anything about Zane. Her emotions were too uncertain. She was giddy with happiness one moment. Then her brain would smack her with the knowledge that she was involved with a surf god, a celebrity, and that she had to live in the now because the future held no guarantees. If Tom reminded her that she wasn’t that kind of girl…

  ‘We fought,’ he said. ‘But it looks like they’re going to pave the swamp. Aren’t no woylies to be found.’

  Annie snorted. ‘I know what I saw.’

  Maybe. ‘We gave it our best shot,’ Molly said tactfully. ‘And a new housing development would be good for the town.’

  Three disdainful elderly snorts.

  Molly subsided. She felt an odd impulse to giggle. Apparently her big romance with Zane rated lower than a swamp.

  The road narrowed, curved and became edged in paperbark trees. Annie drove to the eastern edge of Big Swamp whereas Tom and Molly, like most of the volunteers, had concentrated on the western, less disturbed edge. She parked with élan on the verge of the road, jerking on the handbrake.

  ‘The way you treat a car is a crime, Annie.’ Tom grumbled as he got himself out of the passenger seat.

  Mrs Li hopped out spritely, her feet in bright red gumboots and a cute sunhat on her silver hair. ‘It’s this way.’

  ‘What is?’ Tom asked. Nonetheless he offered Mrs Li his arm.

  After a surprised look, she accepted the gallant gesture. They looked cute, with him so tall and Mrs Li dainty.

  ‘This is no time for courting,’ Annie barked. Her boots were well worn hikers. She stamped forward. ‘Don’t dawdle, Molly. We’ve wasted enough time.’

  Oh boy. On the bright side, no one was dissecting her and Zane’s relationship. She marched into the swamp.

  The warm, fuggy smell of rotting vegetation engulfed them. The raucous laughter of a kookaburra pursued them. Recent rains had left shallow puddles everywhere. Molly gave up on trying to skirt them and concentrated on walking without splashing or slipping.

  ‘Ta-da.’ Annie stopped abruptly.

  Molly looked around. It was the swamp. A bit drier than the western edge, but with the same smell, the same noises. Soon the warmer weather would wake the snakes and the whole place would be alive with slithery monsters. Molly hated snakes.

  Tom smacked a tree trunk with his walking stick. ‘What the heck are we looking at?’

  ‘Look down,’ Mrs Li said.

  Nothing at their feet. Molly followed Mrs Li’s pointing finger. On the other side of a stand of paperbarks was a hole in the ground and it looked fresh. A tree had fallen over, probably in a recent storm.

  ‘Did something fall in the hole?’ She ventured forward cautiously.

  ‘Stay back.’ Annie’s arm went back, smacking Molly in the stomach.

  ‘Oof.’

  ‘Can’t be too careful.’ Annie showed no remorse.

  ‘It’s not a hole,’ Mrs Li said. ‘There’s a cave down there.’

  Molly and Tom stared from her to the hole in the ground, then they both shuffled closer.

  ‘Stone the crows,’ Tom said.

  Annie passed him a torch and he shone it downwards.

  ‘If you drop a rock, it takes forever t
o bounce.’ Mrs Li stood just behind Molly. ‘I told you there were caves in Jardin Bay.’

  ‘But not connected to the United Nations,’ Annie said. ‘You have to be reasonable. No sense walking that far underground. But the caves could be connected to secret bases below Antarctica.’

  Molly let the conspiracy theories wash over her. ‘It might be a small cave.’

  ‘It’s big,’ Annie said.

  ‘Please, tell me you haven’t climbed down into it?’ Molly begged.

  ‘No, never done any caving.’ Annie sounded regretful. ‘And I’m not as young as I was.’

  Molly took fright. ‘I am not going down there.’

  ‘Zane would if he was here,’ Tom said. ‘Brodie would already be down there, having cleared the area of civilians. Those boys.’ He stared into the cave. ‘If I was ten years younger…’

  Mrs Li pulled at his arm. ‘We just wanted you to see it. People think we’re crazy ladies, but I told Annie about the caves, and she said we should go look, and there it was.’

  ‘Dumb luck,’ Tom said, but he patted Mrs Li’s hand.

  ‘A big cave, soft limestone. They can’t possibly build houses here.’ Annie radiated triumph. ‘The woylies are safe!’

  The ground groaned. A paperbark tree acquired a significantly greater angle. They all hurriedly retreated.

  ‘We’ll have to tell Sergeant Forrest,’ Molly said. Zane and Brodie weren’t the only daredevils bred in Jardin Bay. The last thing they needed was adventurous teenagers discovering the cave and getting hurt climbing into it. ‘And Stuart — the new ranger,’ she added when the others looked blank.

  ‘Good thinking,’ Annie said.

  Molly finally understood. That’s why they’d waited for her. They trusted her and they wanted her to deal with the authorities. She squeezed Mrs Li’s hand and nodded to Annie. ‘All right. I’ll phone them.’ She paused. She couldn’t believe they’d found a cave and a reason to halt the housing development. ‘Maybe they’ll name the cave after you.’

  ***

  ‘Babe, where have you been?’

  She’d turned on her phone to find three texts from Zane. She’d thought he’d be in-flight or sleeping off his jetlag, so she’d switched off her phone for a late celebratory dinner with Tom, Mrs Li and Annie, plus Sergeant Forrest, Stuart and her friend, Charlotte, who’d been out on a date with Stuart. It seemed the pub trivia quiz had been successful after all. Stuart and Charlotte made a great couple, both easy-going and sociable.

  ‘You won’t believe this.’ She collapsed backwards onto her bed, happy to hear his voice. Then she stared at her boots, sighed silently and sat up to unlace them. ‘Annie and Mrs Li found a cave under Big Swamp. It’s huge.’ Sergeant Forrest and Stuart were caving enthusiasts. They’d ventured just far enough to confirm that the space was way larger than a minor sinkhole. ‘There might even be tourism opportunities.’ If the experts confirmed that the cave was safe.

  She kicked off her boots.

  ‘So you don’t need the woylies after all,’ Zane said.

  ‘The world always needs woylies.’ She smiled at Dude, the toy woylie, Zane’s gift. ‘You’ll be relieved to hear that all late night swamp patrols are cancelled. Although I think Tom may have found other ways to spend his time, anyway.’

  ‘Should I be worried?’

  ‘It’s cute. He’s being very gallant to Mrs Li. She’s been a widower for years and she’s really shy.’

  ‘Shy’ll get a Carlton guy every time.’

  ‘Smooth, Zane.’ She laughed.

  ‘Have you seen your photo on the event’s website? Damon put it up. You’re wearing the gold dress and I don’t think you’d convince anyone you’re shy.’

  ‘That dress. I still can’t believe I wore it.’ Although Zane’s reaction to it had reconciled her to her own transformation into a sex goddess.

  She looked for the photo. ‘Freakin’ angels.’

  Zane might be the celebrity, but in this photo, it was all about her — and even she had to admit she was worth looking at. The dress and the make-up were capital D dramatic, and the whole effect screamed sexy.

  ‘You look hot, babe.’

  She couldn’t deny it. She found the same photo on Tanya and Andrea’s website with a very different caption. ‘Golden Goddess. Molly’s wearing a Tanya Starr gown.’

  So they were happy with the free publicity.

  ‘Although you looked even hotter with the dress off.’

  ‘Zane.’

  ‘Molly, if you were here, I’d prove it to you. Have you ever watched yourself in the mirror when you come?’

  ‘No.’ But his low voice suggesting it had her melting.

  ‘We’ll do that and you’ll see how you are. Hot.’

  Molly stared at the photo, and of Zane standing tall and powerful beside her. They were right: it was a great photo. But she imagined her and Zane standing together, naked…Her mind presented a vivid image and her body responded. ‘I wish you were, here.’

  Because as great as he was, and as spectacular as their love-making was, all of it only made her miss him more.

  Chapter 12

  ‘Surprise.’

  ‘Zane!’ Molly jumped up from her chair and ran across the office. She was hugging him before she could think about the emotions she was revealing or that this wasn’t exactly professional office behaviour.

  He squeezed her tight, and when she squeaked, kissed her.

  It was a good — a great — kiss.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ She’d been chatting with him online for the last couple of weeks and following his progress at the latest event. He’d come second. She figured the judges needed their eyes checked. So did she — because there was no way he could be in Jardin Bay. Yet he felt real and his kiss had been awesome. ‘I’m dreaming.’

  ‘Glad you think so, babe.’ He looked up and nodded a general hello to everyone. ‘Julie, do you think Molly could have an early mark today?’

  ‘Oh, I was just talking with Trish,’ Molly said even as she gripped Zane’s hand.

  Their local paper’s chief journalist smiled at her and snapped her notebook shut. ‘It’ll keep. Zane, good to see you back in town. If you’re going to do anything newsworthy, let me know.’

  ‘We’ll be shooting an ad, or series of ads, for Cloo-in.’

  Trish’s notebook flipped open, apparently of its own accord. ‘That’s your new sponsor? Million dollar deal?’

  ‘They’re my latest sponsors.’ He turned Molly around and guided her back to her desk.

  She got the hint and switched off her computer, tidied away files and picked up her handbag. ‘Thanks, Julie.’

  All the time, Trish kept interrogating Zane.

  He watched Molly as he answered the questions. ‘Yeah, Cloo-in wants to show how good life can be when you live it. No, that’s not a cliché. There have been a lot of extreme sports used to showcase gear or a brand of gear. Cloo-in wants to show a life their customers can live on weekends. Special but not unachievable. I convinced them that Jardin Bay would give them that.’

  Molly looked up at him as she reached his side.

  His arm went around her shoulders. ‘They agreed that I’m proof that the good life leads to good things.’

  Everyone in the office laughed, but it was fond laughter.

  Molly blushed. Outside, she headed automatically to his 4WD

  He guided her past it. ‘Got to get some food in the house.’

  Which was how she found herself grocery shopping with Zane, and the rapidly filling trolley gave her hope. He was real. ‘How long are you here for?’

  ‘A week and a bit.’ He stopped the trolley. ‘I like that smile.’ Surrounded by apples and zucchinis, he kissed her.

  ‘Get a room,’ a teenage boy muttered, grossed out and envious. ‘Hey, are you Zane Carlton?’ A new note entered his voice.

  Zane signed a battered schoolbag.

  Molly bagged apples in a Zane-daze.

  Ten m
inutes later they were out of the store.

  ‘Do you have your car?’ he asked.

  ‘I walked.’

  ‘Hop in. You collect your gear and then we’ll go to my place. Much as I want to test-drive your bed, I figure we can do without your nosy neighbours.’

  On reflection, she figured she could, too.

  She packed an overnight bag and slipped into the bathroom for the world’s quickest shower and to pull on casual jeans and a sweatshirt to match Zane’s laidback look. She was pulling her hair into a high ponytail when he walked into her bedroom.

  He put a hand at her waist, sliding it under the sweatshirt to rest warmly on her skin. ‘You smell good.’

  ‘You feel good.’ She couldn’t have held back the words for anything. Besides, her body gave the same message, sighing into the strength of his. Her hands came down and around him.

  This kiss was about a slow build of heat and need.

  ‘My place.’ He stole another kiss.

  ‘Mmm. Your groceries!’ They’d melt. Like her. ‘We’d better go.’

  He picked up her overnight bag and they headed out. ‘Tomorrow you can come back and pack for a fortnight, yeah?’

  ‘Yes.’ Whatever gossip went around, she’d deal with it after he left. ‘How did you get time in Jardin Bay?’

  ‘Like I said, I convinced Cloo-in to film their advertising here and I switched up my training plans. Chatting with you online is good, but it’s nowhere near being with you.’

  He’d changed his life, negotiated with his huge corporate sponsor, for her.

  She put her hand on his knee as he drove through town. She was in deep, but maybe she wasn’t alone.

  ***

  Zane’s house was spectacular. From the outside it was steel grey and glass with a dull almost-charcoal roof. An architect had designed and built it for himself, then taken a job overseas and sold it, unlived in, to Zane. The town had thought the architect crazy. There were odd angles to the walls and balconies jutted out casting shadows on the floor below. But when you walked into the house, it all made sense.

  The space was open, but with nooks that gave a sense of human-sized space and privacy. Clean lines meant the house receded and living there was all about the view. And what a view.