‘Hey, beautiful.’ Monty stood and pulled out her chair as she approached the table. ‘Everything’s going splendidly. And have I mentioned how breathtaking you look tonight?’
You’re laying it on a bit thick. But of course she only thought this, smiling sweetly at him and the other guests at her table.
‘Yes, the event is fabulous,’ Kat agreed, fingering a very expensive pendant that fell at her impressive cleavage. She leaned in to Faith and, under her breath so that no one else could hear, added, ‘Of course you’ll have to raise a lot to make much of a difference. Those dogs come a bit pricey if you ask me.’
Faith clenched her teeth. She took a deep breath and glanced around for someone else to make conversation with. Her table consisted of her and Monty, the charity representatives, Kat, the handsome new cop, Drew Noble, in the seat that was meant for Kat’s absent husband, and two other local farming couples—not that they looked like farmers tonight. For people who spent most of their lives in dirty boots, torn jeans and chambray shirts, the Bunyip Bay locals scrubbed up well when they put their minds to it.
‘You look amazing, Julie,’ Faith told one of the women. ‘Where did you get that dress?’ Who would have thought conversations about fashion would ever be preferable to talking to Monty?
The impressive entrees of local seafood arrived, and Faith lifted her fork, savouring the creamy sauce and welcoming the task of eating. Kat appeared to have forgotten about poking holes in her fundraising efforts and was attempting to work her charms on Drew Noble. Faith didn’t have the energy to feel sorry for him and, once she’d emptied her plate, she made her excuses. ‘I’m sorry, everyone, I’ve got to make sure Adam’s got everything he needs for the auction.’ Adam sat at a nearby table with Simone, Ruby and Ryan. Monty pushed back his chair to follow.
‘What are you doing?’ she hissed, as he fell into step behind her.
‘Helping you,’ he replied. ‘I’m a doting boyfriend, remember?’
She snorted, unable to hold back. ‘You’re lucky I love your mum like she’s my own, or there’s no way I’d put up with this.’
***
Monty stood at the side of the hall, taking a breather while he surveyed Faith’s handiwork. No one did fundraising better than country folks, but she’d exceeded expectations. Adam’s auction had been an outstanding success, and the stalls were so busy that most of them had almost sold out of their wares. Everywhere he looked, happy faces greeted him and the laughter in the hall gave the band a run for its money. A sense of friendship and community filled the air. If it weren’t for the tension between him and Faith, he’d have been in his element. It wasn’t just the farming that appealed to him about country life, it was also the small-town togetherness. He liked that he knew almost everyone by name and that when people said, ‘How are you?’ in the street they actually meant it.
‘Hello, my darling.’ Jenni sidled up to Monty and wrapped an arm around his waist. ‘I’m having the best time. I’ve done ten essence readings already. Thought I’d take a quick break. I must say, you look very handsome tonight.’
He laughed and glanced down at his outfit. In the end, wearing a suit was the least of his worries. No matter how good he looked, Faith couldn’t, or rather wouldn’t, look him in the eye. He couldn’t blame her, but that didn’t stop him feeling like shit.
‘Both my boys do.’
Monty turned slightly to see Will approaching with their dad and Pippa. He almost did a double-take at Will clasping his girlfriend’s hand.
‘Faith has done a good job tonight,’ Will said. ‘You are lucky to have her, and I am lucky to have Pippa.’
Monty felt as if he’d swallowed a live scorpion, but Pippa simply smiled sweetly.
‘I would like to bring Pippa to see your new farm one day.’
Pippa nodded. ‘Yes, Will has told me all about it. He’s so proud of you.’
Monty didn’t know what to say. The scorpion took a chunk out of his gut. Finally, he found his voice. ‘That would be great. You’re both welcome anytime.’
‘Oh, look, the dancing’s started.’ Visibly excited, Jenni grabbed Stuart’s hand. As she led her husband onto the dance floor, she called to Monty, ‘I expect to see you and Faith out there too.’
Monty gave a quick nod and a smile but hung back, merely watching as the crowds dispersed from the tables and stalls and began heading for the dance floor. His brother and Pippa were lingering and he couldn’t think of anything to say.
‘Are you going to dance?’ he asked eventually. Once upon a time, he’d never have asked such a question, but Will had been full of surprises this weekend.
Pippa giggled and shook her head.
‘There is no point to dancing,’ Will said. ‘And being so close to so many people is an opportunity for the spread of germs.’
‘Of course.’ Monty nodded, somehow comforted by Will’s explanation. At least the whole world hadn’t gone totally topsy-turvy.
‘I’m thirsty,’ Pippa announced.
‘Me too. We’re going to get a drink,’ Will told Monty, then they headed through the tables towards the bar.
Happy to be alone, Monty leaned back against the wall and watched. The band played another dog song and the revellers looked to be having the time of their lives. Lack of space meant everyone was up close and personal. He hoped Jenni maybe wouldn’t notice if he and Faith gave it a miss. But when he glanced across the room and saw Faith alone for the first time that evening, staring out onto the dance floor with the most miserable expression on her face, his chest ached. Unable to bear the thought that he was responsible, he crossed the room before he could think better of it.
‘Let’s dance,’ he said as he arrived in front of her.
She shot him a perfected glare.
‘People will expect it.’ But the truth was, he wanted to hold her, to feel her curves pressed against him and her wavy hair swishing against his arm. His departure loomed ahead like a nasty storm, and he realised this might be his last chance.
She sighed as if contemplating the zillion other things she’d rather do with her time—clean the toilet, swallow cod liver oil—but miraculously she stepped towards him and offered her hand. He took it gladly, feeling her warmth seep into his and knowing that when he was gone he would miss her more than anything in the world.
Sod’s Law had it that they’d barely stepped onto the dance floor when the hip-hop music turned slow. Romantic. Panic flashed across Faith’s face, but she allowed him to draw her close. He slipped his arms around her waist and her fingers brushed the skin at the back of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him. He felt her body tense as they swayed in time with the other people around them. Out of the corner of his eye, he registered Ruby dancing with Adam, Simone with Ryan and Kat pressed indecently against the new cop, but they all faded quickly into the background.
He was holding Faith again.
They’d spent only one night apart, but that one night had felt like an eternity in hell. He’d missed her more than he’d miss a limb. Was he insane, letting his hang-ups about Will and parenthood come between them? He found himself staring at her lips. The thought of never kissing them again hurt worse than someone telling him he had only a few days to live.
‘Monty, don’t.’ Her voice was low and threatening. She seemed to be holding her breath.
He couldn’t help himself. He dropped his head and pressed his lips against hers, taking what he wanted. Not thinking about the consequences.
She tasted so damn delicious, and for a few moments she seemed to acquiesce, letting him show her exactly what she meant to him, exactly what she did to him. But those seconds didn’t last long enough. Instead of kissing him back, he felt her hands palming his chest as she pushed hard. His lips falling from hers, he stumbled backwards, not expecting such force. When he caught his balance and looked up, she was wiping her mouth, tears filling her eyes, then she turned and he copped a lovely view of her pert behind as she charged through the crowd.
About to go after her, he felt an arm on his shoulder. ‘What’s wrong with Faith?’ Ryan asked.
Along with half the town, he, Adam, Ruby and Simone had witnessed the whole fiasco. Their faces wore identical expressions of confusion and concern. None of them had a clue.
A pain screwing into his forehead, Monty caught his head in his hands. ‘It’s all such a fucked up mess. I better go after her.’
‘Let me,’ Ruby said. ‘From my vantage point, it didn’t look like she’d want you following.’
He watched Ruby go—torn between following them and staying the hell away. He’d already made such a mess of his friendship with Faith. He didn’t want to ruin her night any more.
‘What have you done to my sister?’ Ryan was in his face now, shouting above the noise.
Adam raised his hand between them. ‘Leave it, Ryan. Let’s all move off the dance floor.’
Monty nodded. He couldn’t help but notice the stares as he passed through the crowd. So much for their façade.
Adam scored two beers from a passing waiter and led Monty to a table. ‘Care to tell me what’s going on?’
Monty took a long pull from his bottle, but didn’t meet his friend’s gaze. ‘Not really.’
The men sat in silence, downing their drinks while the success of the night resumed all around them. Even with Faith and Ruby absent, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. With the auction over and the stalls wrapping up, it was all about the band and the dancing. Monty kept glancing towards the door that led to the restrooms. He could just imagine the conversation being had in there.
He hadn’t even asked Faith about the baby. After shutting him down early that morning, she hadn’t given him the chance.
‘Faith, what’s going on?’
At Ruby’s voice right behind her, Faith realised she should have found refuge somewhere other than the ladies’ room.
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ If she sounded like a sulky child, so be it. Turning the cold tap on full blast, she splashed water on her cheeks, not sparing one thought to the make-up Simone had applied earlier.
‘Fine.’ Ruby leaned against the wall and folded her arms.
Faith glanced over at the woman who’d gone from enemy to friend in the blink of an eye. All right, maybe she did want to talk about it. Maybe she wanted to whinge and complain and sulk and cry and rattle off each one of Monty’s faults until she started to feel better.
‘I hate him,’ she sniffed. ‘He told me he loved me and that he wanted me to move in with him, to buy furniture, hang my pictures on his wall. He said I could choose the bedspread, that we’d start a veggie patch, get a dog. He promised Daisy could move with us—that even when she stops providing milk, she could be a pet, helping keep the lawn low—and then he took it all away.’
She wiped her eyes and saw black mascara streaks all over her hands. Care factor—zero. Ruby wrapped an arm around Faith and drew her close. For someone tall and skinny she felt incredibly comforting, and Faith found herself sobbing into Ruby’s beautiful red dress. ‘Oh, God, I’m ruining your gown.’
‘Don’t worry about the gown.’ Ruby stroked Faith’s hair back off her face and made shushing noises. ‘It’s you I’m worried about. Do you want to tell me why you suddenly hate Monty or should I just go straight to ordering the voodoo doll?’
Faith half laughed.
‘He doesn’t want children,’ she told Ruby. ‘I thought I was pregnant and he all but suggested I have an abortion. Turns out I’m not pregnant, but the bottom line is still the same. He can’t make room in his life for a family.’
‘Oh, Faith. Are you sure you can’t work it out? Compromise?’
Faith snorted. ‘There’s no sitting on the fence where kids are involved. You can’t half-have them. But I’m so scared I’ll never find anyone else that I love as much as him. Am I stupid to put kids that don’t even exist before a chance at happily ever after?’
Ruby rubbed her lips together for a few long moments. Eventually she said, ‘Only you can answer that, but perhaps you need some time. All I know is that you need to be true to yourself. Relationships never work if one person is losing self for the other.’
‘You sound like you’re speaking from experience,’ Faith said, realising Ruby still hadn’t told her the whole story about her broken relationship.
‘I am. But that’s a story for another night. We’ll need wine and lots of chocolate.’
‘I’ll hold you to that, but right now, I suppose I’d better go out and face the music.’
Ruby helped Faith fix her make-up, and when they returned to the main hall, the last song of the night—"Who Let the Dogs Out?"—was playing. That was Faith’s cue to take the stage again.
Like a blinkered horse, she walked to her destination without a sideways glance.
Monty kept out of Faith’s way until only a few volunteers lingered in the hall. He’d already been confronted by his parents (who’d seen his and Faith’s display on the dance floor and demanded answers) and was in no hurry to go home.
Simone left to get home to her girls, and Adam saved Drew from Katarina’s drunken advances and escorted her back to the cottage. This left Ruby, Ryan, Faith and Monty to lock up. Ruby and Ryan shadowed Faith like lion parents protecting their cub, but if they thought he was leaving without talking to her, they had another think coming.
‘Thanks for your help tonight, Monty. You can go now.’ Faith addressed him as if he were a stranger, not meeting his gaze as she gave him the brush-off.
‘We need to talk.’ He folded his arms and planted his feet against the polished floor, not making any moves towards the door.
‘I’m too tired.’
‘This won’t take long.’ He looked to Ruby and Ryan. ‘Can you two give us a moment, please?’
‘I—’ Ruby looked set to refuse.
‘No way,’ Ryan said at the same time, but Faith interrupted.
‘It’s okay. May as well get this over with.’
‘I’ll check the lights are off in the restrooms,’ Ruby relented. ‘Keep me company, Ryan.’
Monty waited until Ruby and Ryan’s shoes click-clacked right across the wooden floors and then spoke low. ‘Shall we sit?’
‘I thought this wasn’t going to take long.’
The urge to reach out and hold her was almost unbearable, but her body language told him it wouldn’t be appreciated. ‘Okay.
Look, I just wanted to say, I’m sorry for tonight. My only defence is that whatever my faults, I do love you and I couldn’t help myself.’
She shook her head, her brow furrowed in fury. ‘Please, don’t say things like that.’
‘Did you do a pregnancy test?’
She held her chin high. ‘Not yet, but I told you, put it out of your mind. You don’t want to be a father and if I am having a baby, then that baby deserves more. No father is better than a bad one.’
‘Geez, Faith, you really know how to make a bloke feel like crap.’
‘Well, can you tell me otherwise? Have you come to your senses overnight?’
He wanted to say he had, but the thought of having a child— all that responsibility and potential for disaster—made his pulse spike. ‘I’ve thought about nothing else. I love you, Faith, and if you’re having a baby, then I’m sure I’ll learn to love it too.’
‘Don’t you get it, Monty?’ She sighed, her expression one of sadness and pity. ‘You’re not supposed to learn to love a child. You’re meant to want it more than anything in the world. From the moment it’s conceived you should be prepared to lay down your life for that child. But you wouldn’t even be willing to sell your property if need be. And that means you’re not the person I thought you were. I wish you the best with the new farm and with your life.’
She glanced past him, as if hoping to see the others coming back. In her posh frock and cold stance she appeared like a stranger.
‘So that’s it? End of thirty years friendship?’ He couldn’t bel
ieve she could throw it all away like that. ‘You hate me that much?’
‘I don’t hate you, Monty. For some crazy reason I’m madly in love with you, and that’s why it has to be this way.’ She paused a moment, pursing her lips. Her chest rose and fell slowly as if it were a real effort to speak. ‘Just being friends with you now would hurt too damn much.’
And then she did something he didn’t expect.
She leaned forward, stretched up, and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Goodbye, Daniel. And by the way, I’m not pregnant.’
As Faith turned and walked away, relief flooded him, but it was short-lived. He’d lost his best friend over a non-existent baby, all because of one night and one week. It was the best sex of his life but had it been worth it?
Faith meant so much more to him than that.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
More than happy to close the door on the day, Faith had just slid beneath the covers when her mobile started ringing on her bedside table. She eyed it suspiciously, wondering who could be calling at such an hour. Of course, curiosity and the stupid hope that Monty had experienced a life-changing epiphany got the better of her. Picking up the phone, she groaned when she saw Kat’s caller ID. Could her day possibly get any worse?
‘Hello,’ she said with a sigh.
‘Oh, my God, Faith, I’m terrified. I heard noises outside and now I’m sure there’s someone walking around inside. I’ve locked myself in the bathroom. This damn cottage doesn’t have a lock on the front door but thank God the bathroom does. I’ve tried to ring Adam, but his number is unavailable.’
‘Katarina, relax. I’m sure it’s just a possum or something. I’ll try his home number.’ Faith sat up, trying to reassure her. ‘Actually, stuff that, I’ll be over myself in five minutes.’ No way she’d get any sleep tonight anyway, so no point in both her and Adam being exhausted tomorrow. ‘Try to stay calm.’
‘Can you stay on the line?’ Kat begged. ‘That way if I start screaming you can call Constable Noble as well.’
For a second Faith wondered if this was Kat’s ploy to get Drew to rescue her—you’d have to have been dead to have missed the way she was flirting with him that evening—but surely she’d have called triple zero straight away if that was the plan. ‘Yes, I’ll stay on the line.’
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