by Sarah Barrie
‘I don’t think Jared would care either way. He was just here to get a signature.’
‘And to check up on you,’ Callie said in a sing-song voice. ‘I heard.’
Tess rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Cut it out.’
‘So many big, strong heroes, so little time …’ Callie taunted as she headed back to reception.
Hah, Tess thought with a roll of her eyes. Her phone alerted her that she had a message so she pulled it from her pocket. Aaron reminding her to rest. He was thinking about her, he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. He must have sent it from his car. She closed it, then pressed the photo gallery icon.
Charlie’s smiling face appeared on screen. She stared at it, as she had so many times since arriving home, wondering if she should send it to his family. Not now, not yet. Maybe soon. She swiped at a tear working its way down her cheek, then another. God. She wasn’t a crier. She didn’t cry. But the tears just kept coming back. She walked out into the sunshine to clear her head.
Aaron’s car was crawling down the long drive a few lengths behind Jared’s. She frowned, wondering why it had taken him so long to get going. Had he been waiting for Jared to leave?
CHAPTER
6
‘I’m sick of porridge,’ Evan complained to Jai from his chair in the kitchen.
‘I know, Pop. I bought you Weetbix.’ Jai took another sip of his coffee and pulled the Weetbix out of the pantry.
There was a grunt. ‘Weetbix sticks in my throat.’
Since when? Jai wondered, but didn’t bother to argue. ‘How about some toast then?’
‘Sticks in my throat.’
‘Okay … I’ll cut you up some watermelon.’
‘Don’t like watermelon!’ Evan snapped with a thump of his fist on the table.
Jai took a deep breath. Fruit was expensive, but when Pop was in a mood it was generally his only reliable go-to. ‘Okay then.’ He kept his tone cheerful, hoping that in five minutes Evan would forget his new dislike and watermelon would be his favourite again. ‘Here, have some juice, eh?’
Bev walked in just as he put the full glass down. ‘Morning!’ she said brightly.
‘I don’t like juice!’ Evan yelled. The glass and its contents flew across the room, catching Bev on the forehead with a sickening thud. She dropped like a stone, glass shattering around her. Evan got awkwardly to his feet and half stumbled, half stormed towards the lounge room.
‘Bev! Are you all right?’
She was propped up against the kitchen counter, a dazed look on her face as blood poured freely from a cut above her eyebrow. Jai grabbed the only thing within reach—a tea towel—and scrunched it up. ‘Hold this, I’ll get something better,’ he told her, then jumped to his feet and dug into the bottom drawer for the first aid kit. He wrenched it open, found some swabs, a soft bandage and sterile strips and crouched back down in front of her, hissing in a pained breath when he knelt on a shard of glass.
‘Oh, love, I’m afraid I’m feeling a bit dizzy,’ Bev murmured.
‘Stay still, okay?’ He retrieved a dustpan and broom and did his best to clear the glass before returning to Bev. Her hand dropped from where it had held the towel and it was clear from the gaping piece of skin she was going to need at least a couple of stitches. Her clothes were ruined and her eye was swelling.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he stammered. ‘I’ll … I’ll get you some help.’ He couldn’t take her to the hospital because he couldn’t leave his pop, so he called for an ambulance.
Half the street appeared out the front as the ambulance loaded Bev on board. Some who knew she looked after Evan watched Jai with judgemental eyes and hard expressions, as though this was somehow his fault. Stuff ’em, he thought miserably. Why should he care what they think? As soon as the ambulance pulled away he went back inside, away from the petty people in their pretty houses who had no clue how hard he was trying.
It wasn’t until he was safely back in the privacy of his house that it occurred to him to wonder, what now? There was an agency he’d used on a few occasions when Bev couldn’t make it, but they were more expensive. And he didn’t like his chances of finding someone on the spot.
‘Damn it!’ He slapped his hands on the door and banged his head against it in frustration. It never stopped. Every time he thought it couldn’t, it got worse. He couldn’t afford not to work, but leaving his grandfather alone was unthinkable. He was likely to walk down the street naked and forget where he was, or break his neck trying to reach the locked liquor cabinet. Jai had paid Bev for the entire week; he wasn’t going to get paid again until Friday and it wasn’t like he had spare money floating around. If he used the grocery money he could afford a nurse for today. If he could get one. But then what? Maybe he could get Pop reassessed. He might be able to get the government-funded respite nurse an extra day or two a week. But that didn’t help him today.
He got up and scrambled around in the top drawer for the respite company’s card and called the number.
He got lucky. A nurse had a cancellation and would be there as soon as possible.
He was an hour and a half late when he finally pulled up outside work. Evan hadn’t had that particular nurse before and there were routines and medications to explain before he could leave his grandfather with a stranger—trained or not. He knew it was going to cost more for the nurse for the day than he was going to get paid for his. Did he really need the car? That would get him a couple of grand. Maybe. But then how would he get Pop to the doctors?
‘You’re late!’ Tank barked from the counter.
‘Sorry, boss. I had to—’
‘Getting a bit sick of hearing that, Jai.’
The anger Jai had managed to swallow back earlier rose from his chest to the back of his throat. ‘Whatever,’ he muttered and walked past him to put his coat and keys in the office.
‘I’m sure I can find someone else if you don’t want to be here,’ Tank continued.
It was just too much. Jai needed help, not a lecture. It wasn’t like he’d been out partying. He tossed his jacket and keys on the office desk, chest heaving with raw emotion. ‘So fire me then!’ he snapped, coming back into the shop. ‘You say you respect what I’m doing for Pop, but you don’t give a shit what that means!’ He stormed out the back, took some ragged breaths and stared at the sky, then punched the wall, hard. His knuckles detonated with pain and tears spiked behind his eyes.
‘Bad morning?’
‘Damn it!’ It burst from his mouth like an explosion. Pax was the last thing he needed. He spun, threw his arms out in invitation. ‘You want to have a go too, huh?’ When Pax chewed on a grin Jai shoved him back, almost hoping for the punch.
‘Whoa,’ Pax said in a tone that almost hinted at admiration. ‘What’s up, pencil dick?’
‘Nothing a few grand wouldn’t fix,’ Jai muttered as he stalked away. He was going to have to apologise to Tank, but he just wasn’t sure he could do it yet.
‘Hold up.’
‘Why?’ Jai demanded, hand on the door. ‘What could you possibly want?’ If Pax didn’t stop laughing at him he was going to risk it and thump him.
‘Ya grandfather’s some kind of psycho, right?’
His fingers curled back into fists. ‘What did you call him?’
‘I’ve got to say, this you is an improvement.’ Pax took out his cigarettes and lit one. ‘Riley mentioned you were taking care of him. Dementia or something, yeah?’
‘Yeah, and he took out his carer this morning, so I’m stuffed.’ Jai turned around again, fell back against the door and leant heavily on it. ‘I’m sure that’s made your day.’
Pax slowly nodded, considering something. ‘I reckon I might be able to help ya out.’ He stuck his cigarette in his mouth long enough to pull his wallet from his back pocket. He sorted through some notes, pulled a wad out and shoved it towards him. ‘Take it.’
Jai looked at Pax blankly. ‘What?’
‘I said take it.’
Jai watched the cigarette burning between the man’s fingers as he held out the cash, and hesitantly lifted his hand. Pax smacked the notes into it, ash sprinkling Jai’s palm.
‘When you’re finished feeling sorry for yourself, come and talk to me. There’s plenty more where that came from.’
Jai looked at the pile of fifties. ‘More than this? Then why’d you pinch …’
‘Just wanted to stir ya up.’ Pax grinned and slapped him on the back. ‘Like I said, come talk to me. I’ll get ya out of trouble.’
Plenty more where that came from. I’ll get ya out of trouble. The conversation stuck in Jai’s head for the rest of the week. It was more likely Pax would get him into trouble, he thought as he rearranged stock on shelves on Friday afternoon. But Pax had handed over five hundred bucks—enough to pay the agency carer for the rest of the week. He didn’t want to think about what that meant, because people like Pax didn’t do things out of the kindness of their hearts. There had to be another way. But what? Jai had gotten through this week, but he had no clue how he was going to get through the next one.
‘Hey, Jai!’ Brock called as he came through the door with his girlfriend and Riley. Brock was a good mate, but they were polar opposites. Brock was fast, strong and ridiculously talented at anything to do with sport, and Jai had spent most of his high school years wishing they could trade places. The new girlfriend, Jasmin, was hot. If Jai hadn’t been completely in love with Riley, he would have been wildly jealous. Jas reminded him of a Barbie doll, pretty and feminine, with long blonde hair and big blue eyes, though some of the stuff that came out of her mouth annoyed him. Like last week, when she’d tried to convince everyone she remembered a past life, or the month before when she’d decided her car was haunted. She was a bit loony sometimes.
‘What are you guys all doing here?’
‘Riley and I finished uni at the same time, and Jasmin has a day off,’ Brock said. ‘So we thought we should look at what we’re going to need on this hike we’re supposed to be doing. You in?’
‘Not the hike we’re supposed to be doing,’ Riley said, ‘the hike we are doing.’ Then her face lit up as she shared her news with Jai. ‘One of the guides we emailed got back to us. He’s going to take us!’
He smiled, pulling her in for a hug. ‘That’s great news! Told you it would work out.’
‘Is there a party I don’t know about?’ Pax asked. The guy had an annoying habit of turning up whenever anything was happening. It was the only time he bothered to be in the shop.
Jai noticed Jasmin’s eyes widen with appreciation. What did the girls all see in him, anyway? ‘No,’ he said, then felt like an idiot. It was pretty obvious there was no pawn shop party going on.
‘Shame,’ Pax said, looking Jasmin up and down. ‘Gonna introduce us?’
‘I’m Jasmin,’ she said before Jai could open his mouth. ‘And you are?’
‘This is Pax,’ Riley said. ‘He works for Dad.’
‘Nice to meet ya,’ Pax said.
‘I didn’t know Jai had a hot friend,’ Jasmin muttered sideways to Riley but with a coy smile entirely for Pax.
Riley bumped Jasmin’s hip with her own and shot a telling look towards Brock. ‘You’re dating Jai’s hot friend, Jas.’
‘Yeah, remember me?’ Brock said, peeved.
‘Just being friendly,’ Jasmin said with a shrug. But her eyes remained on Pax longer than they needed to.
Brock put a proprietorial arm over Jasmin’s shoulders and stared hard at Pax. ‘We should get going. We have a hike to prepare for.’
The door chimed and Jai spotted Bev’s daughter Karen coming through the door. His stomach lurched. ‘Why don’t you guys go on ahead? I’ll catch up.’
Riley hesitated, but looked from Jai to Karen and nodded in understanding. ‘Okay, see you at Kathmandu in about fifteen?’
He nodded. ‘See you there.’ Then to Karen he said, ‘Hi.’
Karen’s smile seemed genuine enough. ‘Hi, Jai. I thought I’d call in, let you know Mum’s doing better. The stitches are healing quite well.’
Relief flooded through him. ‘I’m so sorry. Pop was having a bad morning and it was bad timing. He wasn’t throwing the glass at her, he was just throwing it. Do you think she’ll be right to come back soon?’
The woman’s smile fell. ‘About that,’ she began, and the sick feeling returned to Jai’s stomach. ‘Mum’s very fond of Evan, but she said he’s been getting worse. This is not the first time he’s hurt her. He pushed her over a couple of weeks ago, did she tell you? Got himself into a state and thought she was his long-dead sister tormenting him.’
‘Yeah, I knew,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t realise he hurt her though.’
‘Bruised her arms, knocked her hip—not that she wanted to worry you. Jai, she wants to help and the cash is handy, but Mum’s getting older and she doesn’t have his strength. He needs someone younger, fitter and better trained.’
He felt himself starting to sweat. ‘Karen, please. I’ll talk to the doctor about his medication. Anything you like. I need someone with him. I can’t work and—’
‘Mum said there’s a respite company in town. They can send staff out who are much more qualified than she is. They have a whole team of nurses.’
‘Yeah, I know. I do use them when I have to, and they’re very good. But …’ He trailed off when he saw the look on her face. What was the point? Karen wasn’t going to budge. ‘I understand. Tell Bev I hope she feels better soon.’
‘I will.’
He watched her walk away. That was it. He was going to have to sell the car, maybe try and work two jobs. If he could get another one. He’d left school early and wasn’t qualified at anything. Five minutes ago he’d been stupid enough to have been dreaming about new hiking clothes. ‘Idiot,’ he muttered to himself.
‘You’re in the brown two-storey on the corner, three streets down, right?’ Pax asked from behind him.
Jai turned, wondering how much of the conversation Pax had heard. ‘How’d you know?’
‘Tomorrow night. I’ll pick ya up at midnight.’
Warning bells clanged in Jai’s head. ‘What for?’
Pax’s grin just got bigger. ‘To have some fun. Trust me.’
Trust him? Jai almost laughed, thought he probably shouldn’t. ‘What kind of fun?’
‘The best.’ Pax thumped him on the back. ‘The kind where ya get some cash in ya pocket.’
Without waiting for a reply, Pax disappeared back through the shelves.
CHAPTER
7
Tess slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She didn’t bother with her robe, she’d always been comfortable in her own skin. The unresolved ache Aaron had left her with made her restless enough to move with purpose. She slid the door closed and turned on the hot water. It cascaded over her, its warmth seeping into her skin. The bruising from the accident was slowly taking on more of a yellow tinge and the cuts and abrasions were close to healed. The fingernails she’d ripped so badly would take longer to recover, and the memories longer to dull.
She sighed heavily. It wasn’t that the sex with Aaron was bad, exactly. But the only earth-shattering finale—as usual—had been his. Maybe that would improve with time. They’d work on it. Sex wasn’t the be all and end all of a relationship, was it? She was probably still a little uptight about his reaction to the accident, because although he was right and protocol was there for a reason, she’d thought he’d be a bit more understanding. Then she’d tackled him over his late departure behind Jared last week, and he’d told her he’d been caught up on a business call as he was leaving. The perfectly reasonable excuse had left her feeling petty for asking. She wasn’t back to her old self yet, that was all it was. Things would return to normal. Things would get better.
When she came out again, Aaron was propped on one elbow with a satisfied smile on his face, watching her. She’d hoped he would have gotten himself up. He hadn’t spent an entire night yet but he
was pushing for it and she wasn’t sure she was ready to go there.
‘Even all bruised up you’re so freaking hot, Tess.’
She snatched her robe from the end of the bed and swung it around her shoulders, pushing her arms into the sleeves as she went past him to the kitchen and flicked on the kettle. ‘Want a tea?’
He came over to stand behind her as she retrieved her favourite mug. ‘Nope.’ He kissed her collarbone, working his way up to her jawline. ‘You smell so good.’
‘My new body wash. The water is still hot if you want a turn,’ she said.
‘I had something else in mind.’ His hands slid over her as he pressed himself against the small of her back. ‘Want to go again?’
Despite her frustration, she really didn’t. ‘I’m pretty tired, Aaron. I took a guided hike out to Mount Field today and the guys were super fit. I had to push myself to go at their pace.’
There was a brief silence. She could almost see his brow furrowing in disapproval as she got a tea bag and popped it into her mug.
‘I thought you were going to take a break from all that for a couple more weeks.’
‘I’m actually feeling pretty much back to normal,’ she said. ‘Besides, it was booked. I thought a few hours in the national park would be good for me. Are you sure you don’t want a tea?’
‘No, thanks.’ He began massaging her neck. ‘You know, you should really be careful who you go out there with. We already know young men don’t always think they have to listen to a woman. You also need to consider that they might be tempted to take advantage.’
God, really? ‘I can take care of myself.’
He turned her around and drew the hair back from her face to stare at her with what she thought of as his serious expression. ‘Everyone thinks that until they can’t. That’s some serious wilderness you head off into alone with strangers.’
‘The wilderness is the whole point,’ she said with a smile. She linked her arms around his waist. ‘That’s what people pay me for. You do it.’