Storm Shells

by G. J. Walker-Smith

  She’d also stopped threatening to visit. No amount of planning on my part could prepare for a visit from the queen. Pipers Cove was definitely not Fiona Décarie’s scene. I could picture Jasmine Tate cornering her on the main street to give her fashion advice.

  Confident that Adam would sort out his differences with his father, I made the promise of visiting her instead, when Bridget was a little bigger and able to travel. It was a compromise I was happy to make. Occasional jaunts to Manhattan weren’t going to kill me. I was a hundred percent confident that Pipers Cove was where Adam wanted to be. If that changed in the future, we’d work it out together.

  * * *

  A couple of days after Adam left I found my feet. The house was almost in order and Bridget was sleeping. For the first time since she’d been home, I was able to pick up my camera, slip outside and take some pictures.

  I wheeled the pram onto the veranda so I could keep an eye on her. It probably wasn’t the best day to have the baby outside. There was a dark sky moving in from the east. I hoped the little Cove wasn’t about to cop another pounding from the elements. The clean-up from the last one had only just finished.

  I loved the squally winds. The bed sheets, towels and baby blankets hanging on the line were the perfect muse. I stood in the yard snapping away at the linens flapping wildly. As the wind picked up, so did the clothes.

  I was about to move to a different vantage point when something came into sight through the viewfinder.

  My blood froze in my veins.

  Ethan Williams stood on the porch, holding my daughter.

  I glanced toward Flynn’s house. His patrol car wasn’t on the driveway, which obviously wasn’t good. I was on my own.

  I had no idea what Ethan wanted. I wondered if he was looking for Nicole. Perhaps he didn’t know that she was punching out numberplates in jail.

  I walked to the veranda, doing my level best to play it cool.

  “Ethan. How are you?”

  “I’m alright. Your baby was crying.”

  That was a lie. She was still sleeping, despite the fact that he’d taken her blanket off her.

  Bridget was within reach but I decided against making a grab for her. I didn’t know what he was capable of. Nicole had told me some horrific stories, but I had no clue whether any of them were true. She was hardly a reliable source.

  “We have to get her inside,” I said. “It’s too cold for her out here.”

  He gave an upward nod toward the door as if he was giving me permission, but didn’t hand me the baby. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when he followed me in.

  All I wanted to do was get Bridget away from him. I didn’t care what happened after that. I grabbed a blanket off the couch and held it out. Bridget wriggled in his arms, letting out a tiny little mewl that seemed to scare him. Ethan handed her over and I wrapped her up in record time. If ever there was a moment that I was truly in danger of dropping her, that was it. I gently laid her back in the bassinette and turned back to Ethan.

  “Why are you here? We haven’t seen you in a long time.” I made it sound like a casual, friendly question but my heart was in danger of exploding right out of my chest.

  A grin crossed his face. “I’ve been here for a while. I keep visiting you but you’re never in.”

  Although vague, his comment answered a hundred questions I’d had burning at me for days. I’d never understood why Nicole got into the cottage by jemmying windows. She didn’t need to have me out of the house to steal my dresses. She probably could’ve bagged them up while I watched and I wouldn’t have noticed.

  “You’ve been the one breaking into my house?”

  “So many freaking times, Charli.” He sounded put out, as if I’d made him burglarise my home over and over.

  “You have great taste in clothing. You took all the best dresses.”

  “I didn’t take the bloody dresses.” He grimaced. “That was all Nicole.”

  I wasn’t surprised that she’d rated a mention. It didn’t take a genius to work out that she was probably at the root of things.

  “So what did you take?” I asked, trying to sound relaxed.

  He took a step closer to the bassinette and I moved to block him.

  “I never found what I was looking for. That’s why I’m here now.”

  “So, what do you want?”

  Ethan pointed to my left hand. “Nicole reckons that ring is worth twenty grand.”

  I glanced at my curly fry rings. “At least,” I muttered foolishly.

  He shrugged. “So, hand it over and I’ll leave. You won’t ever see me again.”

  As if! I’d mellowed lately, but not that much.

  “What’s the plan, Ethan?” I hissed out the question.

  I wasn’t expecting him to tell me anything. Nicole had given us no explanation whatsoever. I realised that was because she was the smarter of the two. Ethan laid out the entire plan, which turned out to be as moronic as he was.

  Nicole had come up with the bright idea of stealing my rings the second she’d laid eyes on them.

  Her whole sob story about being used and abused by Ethan was a big fat lie. They’d never even been apart. Nicole had no choice but to come back to the Cove. Part of her probation conditions from Queensland was that she lived with her mother, which only proved that Carol had known what a wretch she was all along. Ethan had been lying low at a doss house in Sorrell, killing time until her probation was over. I suppose her getting arrested put a dampener on things.

  All the day trips to Sorrell to take care of her bogus restraining order issues were a crock. When she wasn’t checking in with her probation officer, she was meeting Ethan, whose only job for the last six months was to steal my wedding rings.

  How frustrating it must’ve been to spend months searching my house and coming up empty each time. I wanted to tell him what a dick he was, but thought better of it. I don’t think he would’ve appreciated hearing it.

  “We needed money,” he explained. “That’s why she sold your clothes.” Nicole Lawson wasn’t a refined fashionista. She wouldn’t have had a clue about their worth until I gave her the Balenciaga dress. “I couldn’t believe they were worth so much,” he continued. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  Pot. Kettle. Black.

  “How do you figure that?” I asked sourly.

  “You’re the original earth child, Charli. You used to be all about living simply and freely. I was really surprised to hear that you turned out just like every other girl in this town, knocked up and married before your time. You just have a bigger bank balance than the rest, that’s all.”

  “And I’m supposed to just give some of it to you?”

  “Consider it sharing the love,” he suggested. “I still like to live simply and freely.”

  It didn’t sound like a very simple life. The pressure of being as crooked and underhanded as Nicole and Ethan must’ve been enormous.

  “Nicole’s going to do time, Ethan,” I warned. “She won’t get out of it this time.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll go on without her.”

  There truly was no honour among thieves. I was actually a little appalled.

  Ethan reached toward me and I instinctively flinched. Then I realised he wasn’t reaching for me. He leaned down and stroked Bridget’s head. “Just hand the ring over and I’ll go,” he said quietly.

  I realised that there was something odd about his tone. He didn’t sound menacing. He sounded tired.

  “You’re stuck without her, aren’t you? She’s gone and you’re still stuck here.”

  “I just want the ring, Charli,” he replied, dodging the question. “Then I’ll leave.”

  I didn’t have a clue what to do, but I wasn’t going to just give in. Ethan Williams wasn’t getting another thing from me.

  “Come outside and I’ll give it to you,” I told him.

  He didn’t question why. He just followed me outside. I wasn’t scared of Ethan, I just didn’t want hi
s grubby paws anywhere near my daughter.

  As soon as we were both outside, I took a quick step back and pulled the door shut, locking Bridget inside. Ethan had been in my house plenty of times, never once going through the front door. The ancient old windows slid open with ease. If he wanted to get back in to her, it wouldn’t be hard – but at least I’d slowed him down.

  Ethan didn’t seem to notice my strategy. He gestured with his fingers. “Now, Charli.”

  “Are you going to fight me for them?” I asked. “Rough me up and make me hand them over?”

  Ethan actually seemed a little revolted. “I don’t hit girls.”

  “Not what I heard,” I taunted. “Nicole said you were pretty vicious to her.”

  He glared at me, aghast. “Is that what she told you?”

  I nodded. “She told me plenty of things.”

  And I was beginning to realise that very few of them were true. Ethan wasn’t the brute she’d made him out to be. He was just desperate, and had made the mistake of putting too much faith in her. Somewhere along the line, the simple plan of travelling the world had been tainted by greed, making the easy life not so easy. I almost felt pity for him.

  I reluctantly twisted the rings off my fingers, pretending they were a tight fit. He held out a hand in anticipation.

  Stupidity often dictates my actions. It’s been that way my whole life. It’s the only excuse I can come up with to explain my next move. I drew my hand back and threw the rings as far as I could into the garden. They landed somewhere in the mass of flowery bushes at the edge of the lawn.

  “You want them, you find them.” I said, dusting my hands as if it was a job well done.

  Ethan looked across at the garden before turning back to me. “Well, that was a dick move.” He spoke as if he couldn’t believe I’d done it. He also looked completely beaten.

  “Not from where I’m standing,” I retorted.

  He sat on the edge of the step, dropped his head and ran his hands over his head. Game over.

  “I just want to get out of here, Charli,” he muttered.

  I sat beside him. “Then what?”

  “I just want to be free and travel. I haven’t felt free in a long time. Don’t you miss it?”

  It was the first time I’d really thought about it. I realised that I didn’t miss anything. My dreams weren’t unfulfilled. They’d just changed – so gradually that I hadn’t even noticed it happening. Wanderlust was always going to be embedded in my soul, but for now I just wanted to settle and build a cosy nest of rocks.

  “I’m happy here,” I told him.

  He looked out at the yard, shaking his head. “Nothing turned out like we planned.”

  “That’s because your plans suck,” I told him.

  “Nicole made it sound pretty simple,” he replied, glancing across at me for only a second.

  “You love her don’t you?” I asked.

  He gave a twisted smile. “Look where it got me.”

  Love makes us do all sorts of unreasonable things. I didn’t think for a second that Ethan was an innocent victim, but I knew things had gone terribly awry for him.

  “Nic told me horrible stories about you. She sold you out at every opportunity,” I muttered. “She’s no good, Ethan.” I stopped short of telling him he could do better. I didn’t think he could.

  “She’s paying for it now, I guess.”

  “Do you have a criminal record too?” I was curious.

  He shook his head. “Not so far. I’m sure Nicole will eventually sell me out over the boat money. I’ll have to cop to that one probably.”

  As if on cue, Flynn Davis’s car pulled onto the driveway next door. Ethan’s body went rigid. I could almost feel his panic. Flynn seemed to sense something wasn’t quite right too. He called out to me as he got out. “Okay, Charli?”

  I kept my eyes on Flynn but could feel Ethan’s nervous glare boring into the side of my head.

  “Fine, thanks,” I replied cheerily. “How are you?”

  He nodded and kept walking toward his porch. “Good, thank you.”

  Ethan didn’t say anything until Flynn was out of sight. “Why didn’t you call him over?”

  “Why would I?” I asked. “Do I need police assistance?”

  After a long pause, he shook his head. “No.”

  “You’re a dick, Ethan. I’ve always thought that about you,” I told him, taking my phone out of my pocket. “Which is why doing this makes absolutely no sense.”

  “Doing what?” he asked, confused.

  I tapped away at my phone, leaving him hanging for a long time before replying. “I’m booking you a one-way ticket to a new life,” I said finally.

  “Where?” he asked incredulously.

  “Kaimte. Mitchell is there,” I explained. “Go to him, stay with him and learn how to be a decent person.”

  “Why would you do that for me?”

  I wasn’t sure I knew. We’d all grown up together, and most of us had taken wrong turns at some point. Some of us lost our way, some found our way back. I saw it as giving Ethan a chance to find his way back. My actual explanation was much simpler and far less maudlin.

  “Because I’m not a dick,” I said. “Your flight to Melbourne is at seven with a connection to Cape Town at ten. Don’t miss the plane and don’t come back here. Deal?”

  “Yes.” he choked. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me,” I warned him. “Mitchell is going to kick your arse.”

  * * *

  Ethan left the cottage leaving me feeling almost glad that he’d come. He’d filled me in on many blanks regarding Nicole, which somehow brought me closure. It meant I no longer had to waste another minute of my life thinking about her. I doubted she was feeling the same level of peace. I liked to believe she’d spent a lot of time thinking about me over the past few weeks.

  The downside to foiling his robbery attempt was the fact that I now had thousands of dollars’ worth of diamonds lost in my garden. I wasn’t worried at first, but when I hadn’t found them by the next day, I began to panic.

  I roped Alex into helping me search when he turned up that morning to mow the lawn.

  “Tell me again how you managed to lose them?” he asked, staring at the mass of flowery bushes.

  I managed to tell my lie with a straight face. “They fell off.”

  “Both of them?”

  “Yes.” I pointed to where I thought they were. “They landed there somewhere.”

  His frown grew more concentrated as he thought it through. “And you didn’t think to pick them up at the time – you know, when they fell off?”

  I abandoned the stupid play at innocence. “Look, please just help me find them. Adam gets home in a few days and I don’t want him to know.”

  Alex let out a hard laugh. “I think Norm has a metal detector. I’ll see if I can borrow it.”

  “Best. Dad. Ever,” I breathed. “Thank you.”

  * * *

  Alex returned a short while later armed with Norm’s metal detector and the Parisienne. Gabrielle fussed with Bridget while I oversaw the mining expedition in the garden. I gave up after half an hour and joined Gabi and the baby on the veranda. Alex persevered, not even a little bit discouraged by the fact that all he’d managed to find was some rusty nails and a ten cent piece.

  “Adam is home soon isn’t he?” asked Gabrielle, pulling my attention from the beeping detector being waved through the garden.

  “Yeah. I can’t wait.”

  “Bridget will be excited to have her daddy back,” she said, speaking down to the baby stretched across her lap.

  “She will be,” I agreed.

  Dealing with Gabrielle was tricky. She loved hanging out with Bridget but there was always an underlying sadness. I hadn’t discussed her baby issues with her for a long time. For some reason, I chose that moment to be brave and ask her about it.

  “Alex has given up on the idea,” she said quietly, “but I haven’t.”

/>   I looked at Alex, deliberating. I knew something that might make her rethink his stance. My father wasn’t one for deep and meaningful conversations and he was notoriously private. It wasn’t up to me to tell her anything he hadn’t chosen to share with her, but I had a big mouth and I couldn’t help myself.

  “Alex hasn’t given up.”

  She hunched forward and lifted Bridget up, cradling her against her shoulder. “What do you mean?”

  “He reburied my box.” She looked at me, puzzled. “My box of wishes. I didn’t spend them. I would’ve been happy to thank my lucky stars and chuck the shells back in the ocean but Alex took the box and reburied it in your garden.”

  She shook her head. “It was a box of shells, Charli. He was humouring you.”

  “No, Gabrielle. It’s a box of hope, and Alex kept it,” I insisted. “He hasn’t given up. He’s just saving wishes for another day.”

  Something about her whole demeanour changed. She stared across at Alex, who was oblivious to the attention he was receiving.

  “There’s always hope, Gabi,” I continued. “Even when it doesn’t feel that way.”

  July 27

  Adam

  Returning to New York didn’t feel like going home. It felt like backtracking, but I was there for a reason. I hadn’t been away long enough to miss anything other than the coffee.

  I avoided my parents, electing to stay holed up in Ryan’s apartment to cram some serious study in before my exams. I hadn’t picked up a book in weeks, and the ill preparation was beginning to stress me out.

  “You’ve got this, Adam,” encouraged Ryan. “Stop worrying.”

  I thumped the book on the coffee table and leaned back, watching my brother swiping through pictures of Bridget on my iPad.

  “Pass or fail, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things,” I reasoned.

  He glanced at me. “What is the grand scheme? What are you going to do in the Cove? Pick flowers and count stars?”

  Ignoring the dig, I told him about the bank renovation. “I can’t wait to finish it,” I said. “It’s a lot more rewarding than studying. I like watching it take shape.”