The Goodbye Girl

by Angela Verdenius

  “I guess I’m not like other women.”

  “That’s putting it mildly, and I am so glad.”

  “You’re so sweet.” Coming up onto her elbow, she leaned over to the bedside table.

  Nick nearly swallowed his tongue. Her position gave him a world class peek at the rounded derrière shadowed by the covers, the smooth expanse of back as she stretched out. Then the light went out and darkness took over the room.

  Bree lay back down and Nick settled himself against her once more, arm over her waist, chin just touching the top of her head. At the sound of rain starting to patter down more heavily on the roof, he curved around her a little more, drew her in a little tighter, and completely satisfied he closed his eyes and slipped into sleep, cradling Bree in his arms.

  Chapter 10

  When Bree woke the next morning, she stretched, immediately feeling aches in places she’d never ached before, or thought was possible to ache. Then she remembered.

  Whipping around in the bed, she found herself eye-to-eye with Sheba, who screeched happily. Next to Sheba on the pillow was a rose that had obviously been mangled by her or Bast, and a note that had a few tooth marks in the edges, courtesy of the same miscreants.

  Sitting up in the bed, Bree picked up the paper and read the scrawl with which she was so familiar from all the letters she’d received from Nick over the last nine months.

  Hi honey,

  I didn’t have the heart to wake you this morning. You looked thoroughly loved up and contented, sleeping like a baby. I’ve gone back to Alex’s for a change of clothes. I’ll see you for morning tea, how about ten o’clock at Maryanne’s café? If this time doesn’t work for you, call me.

  Love

  Nick

  Bree grinned. He still wanted to see her. She definitely wanted to see him. Oh boy, did she.

  Checking the clock on the bedside table, she saw that it was already nine o’clock. “Oops, better get a move on, Sheba.” Flinging back the covers, she bounced out of bed.

  And immediately felt a lot of previously unused muscles reminding her that hey, they were actually there, even if she’d never acknowledged them until now.

  “All Nick’s doing,” Bree said to Sheba, still unable to get the silly grin off her face.

  Sheba followed her to the bathroom and proceeded to scream her opinion while Bree showered, following her back to the bedroom while Bree dressed.

  In the kitchen, she discovered that Nick had fed the cats, the biscuit bowl full and two other bowls holding the remnants of fish. “Oh yeah, he’s a keeper, Sheba. What do you think?”

  Sheba squinted her eyes and thought about it, only to be knocked flying by Bast pelting around the corner to tackle her. There was hiss, a spit and Sheba took off into the hallway with Bast on her tail. Seconds later, Bast shot past the door with Sheba chasing her.

  Just another day.

  Only this day the sun seemed a little brighter, the breeze a little fresher, and the birds - well, there really was nothing very relaxing about the shrieking of cockies when they got going in the morning.

  That’s what love did to you. Bree was smiling all the way to the Ford Transit, only to stop with the key in the door. Love? Wait…what?

  She stood there, waiting for it to hit her, waiting for the panic, the uncertainty. It didn’t happen. She just stood there, the sun shining brighter, the breeze fresher, the cockies flying off in a rowdy flock towards the creek.

  Nope, no shock.

  I love him. I love Nick. He loves me.

  Okay, that last bit should have caused her all kinds of uncertainty, all kinds of possible doubts, but again, it didn’t, instead all she felt was…calm. Accepting. Happy.

  Very happy.

  Grinning widely, she looked in the driver’s door mirror. “You’re in love.” Unlocking the door, she got into the van to look in the rear-view mirror. “Bree, you are in love.” A giggle escaped her, a gleeful sound. “Holy crap, I’m in love!”

  Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she’d meet one of her soldier boys, yet after all these years of writing to lonely soldiers, trying to offer them a bit of comfort, she’d met one - met, bedded, and fallen in love.

  Okay, it was early days, she reasoned. They’d just discovered each other - oh boy, had they ever! - and they were still getting to known each other, though to be honest, she felt like she’d known Nick forever.

  Pulling out of the driveway onto the road, she headed for Whicha. Man, this really was a whole new beginning - home, job, two miscreant cats, though to be fair she’d had those two for a couple of years, and now a boyfriend she luuuuurved.

  Cripes, she better get a grip on herself or Nick would take one look at the dopey expression on her face and think she’d gotten hold of a stash of whacky baccy.

  The hands-free mobile rang and still smiling, Bree turned it on. “Hello.”

  “What’s the password?” Jackie demanded.

  “Hey, you rang me.”

  “I still need the password.”

  Bree looked out at the peaceful fields. “I can always hang up.”

  There was silence on the other end of the mobile.

  Well, good job. For the first time that she could remember, instead of amusement, Bree felt a sliver of annoyance.

  There came the sound of muffled arguing, then Mick’s voice came on. “Hi, Bree.”

  “Hey, Mick.”

  “Look, for some reason you were upset last night, and we understand.”

  They did? Maybe they weren’t so hopeless after all.

  “Just download whatever footage you have of the lights and email them to us, and then you can work on sorting yourself out.”

  Bree’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  “Once the important stuff is sorted, you can have a rest.”

  Was he kidding? “Mick, we fell into a creek last night.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “It was freakin’ freezing.”

  “But you’re fine, right? No harm.”

  “We weren’t far off hypothermia!”

  “But you’re fine, right?”

  Bree rolled her eyes. It was just no use. “Yeah, we’re right as rain, no worries. Thanks for your concern.”

  “That’s what friends are for, right?”

  “If you say so.”

  The sarcasm was obviously lost on him. “Good. So the recordings, did you get any?”

  Before she could answer, Jackie’s came back onto the phone. “If you have good recordings, we’re coming out there.”

  “You are?” Bree’s almost ran into a pothole, managing to avoid it at the last second.

  “Yep. A sighting of the lights last night coupled with the lights you saw awhile ago would indicate there is UFO activity happening in the Whicha area.”

  “Yeah,” Mick added enthusiastically. “We’ll be there along with a horde of others. You know what a UFO sighting means, remember? We’ll camp out in the fields, take electromagnetic readings, bring the Geiger Counters, everything we’ve got. This would be big, Bree, I mean big. Like what happened in Barterons twenty years ago.”

  That took a little mental searching, but when she remembered, Bree stared out the windscreen at the road and passing fields.

  Yeah, she remembered Barterons. Her mother had dragged her there, left her running wild while she joined the UFO hunters. Sightings in the sky, a couple of crop circles, a woman claiming to be an abductee. The UFO hunters had descended on the little town in droves, camping illegally on the river banks. Farmers had called in the police because people were wandering in their fields without permission, carelessly stomping on crops and scaring livestock in their search for evidence. They’d been unable to find that evidence, and it turned out the abductee was a would-be actress trying to get her face and name in the papers.

  The town’s people had not been happy.

  She looked at the passing farms, the quiet, thought about the happiness and peace she’d found here. Thought wha
t an invasion of UFO enthusiasts would do to it. Sure, there were some serious hunters who were respectful of property, but there were also those there just there for the excitement, the prestige, those who'd do whatever it took to get evidence.

  Barterons’s river banks and caravan park had not been left in the pristine condition they’d been in before the arrival of the hunters.

  No. No way could Bree allow that to happen here, not to her town, her friends, the farms and farmers. Not to herself, for she had no doubt the whole lot would descend on her property expecting to camp there, use her facilities, and in the case of some of them, have no respect. A couple she knew for certain would get on the grog, some were hippies trailing from place to place smoking dope, and the serious enthusiasts, well, there were some responsible ones, but others would do whatever it took to get evidence, and that definitely included the UFO Hunter Team.

  The proof was in the pudding, so to say, or more to the point, the proof was in the fact that they were more concerned about her recordings than in her well-being.

  Taking a deep breath, Bree did something she’d never done before in her life. “Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that a couple of teenage boys were responsible for the lights in the fields, remember?”

  “Yeah, you told us. But last night?”

  “Hate to disappoint you guys, but I didn’t see any lights last night.”

  “Can’t be true,” Jackie objected. “One of your townspeople reported those lights. He posted it on social media.”

  “And who might that be?”

  “Kid called David.”

  “David, huh?” Okay, she could use this. “Dad’s name is Ted?”

  “”Yes. You know him?”

  “Sure do. Nick and I investigated the light show that turned out to be David and his friend playing silly buggers in the fields, trying to spread rumours of UFOs because of me. Did he by any chance get footage of these so-called lights?”

  “No.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Ah shit. You sure this is the same boy?”

  “Yep.”

  “And you didn’t see anything?”

  “I was out there, remember? Fell into a creek while on a hunt? Saw nothing.”

  Jackie was silent.

  Bree crossed her fingers. “Trust me, have I ever lied to you?”

  “Nah. Nah, you haven’t. Damn, I really thought we were onto something then.” Jackie disappeared.

  Mick came back on. “Okay, gotta go. Jackie’s on to the next town, see if anything was reported about fifty miles from you. Bye.”

  “Toodles.” Bree turned the phone off as she passed the beginning of Whicha, the sparse houses becoming more regular until they were side by side.

  Wondering just what she’d done, she turned into the café, parking beside Nick’s Landcruiser. Leaning against the side of the car with his arms and ankles crossed, his eyes crinkled in that engaging way they did when he was genuinely happy. By the time she’d turned the engine off, he’d opened the door, leaned in and kissed her.

  Deeply.

  Hotly.

  Leaving her panting and clinging to his jumper when he attempted to pull back. “Oh boy.”

  “You are so good for my ego,” he teased.

  At the knowing glint in his eyes, memory came rushing back and she couldn’t help the blush that heated her cheeks. For several seconds she didn’t quite know where to look, after all, this man had intimate knowledge of her body that no one else had, and heck, he’d been places inside her she’d never gone.

  Obviously reading her mind, he unclipped her seat belt and slid it back into the holder on the van wall before taking her hand and stepping back, gallantly guiding her out. When she stood before him, he smiled down at her. “It’s just me, Bree.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s why bits of me are tingly.”

  He burst out laughing, hugging her close. “Oh, honey. I love you, whacky sense of humour and all.”

  And just like that she was at ease, slapping him lightly on the arm. “That’ll be enough of that, or I’ll get Sheba to talk to you.”

  “Oh, Jesus. That’s punishment.”

  “Hey, we come as a package deal.”

  “The Goodbye Girl, the Air Raid Siren and the Weapon of Mass Destruction?”

  “’Fraid so.”

  “Good thing I like package deals then, isn’t it?” Hand at her back, he steered her through the café door and over to a table and booths.

  Sunday morning was cosy in the café, Maryanne’s son, Mark, working the floor. The smell of food drifted through from the kitchen out back. An older couple sat at a table at the window, Jack, one of Paul’s mechanics, sat at a table on his own, sipping coffee and reading the morning paper.

  Mark stopped at their table. “What’ll it be?”

  “Coffee for me, thanks, white with one.” Bree smothered a yawn. “Sorry.”

  “Up late?” Mark asked.

  “Uh…”

  “I bet you were chasing those so-called UFOs,” he continued. “David was all over social media bragging that he’d seen strange lights in the sky last night.”

  “You don’t say.” Nick’s eyes twinkled.

  “You ask me, David’s been either snorting or smoking something. Boy gets crazier every day.” Mark looked at Nick. “What are you having to drink?”

  “Same as Bree, only black with none.”

  “Tough man,” she remarked as Mark walked away.

  “The toughest, honey, the toughest.” His gaze drifted across her face. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “A little tired.”

  “Must be all that exercise last night.” When she blushed, he shook his head. “Bree, you naughty girl. I meant running around the fields and falling into the creek.”

  “I knew that.”

  His teeth flashed whitely in a grin. “Sure.”

  “Anyway, I feel fine.” Primly folding her hands atop the table, she took a deep breath.

  Nick’s gaze fell to her breasts, a definite wolfish gleam in his eyes when he looked back up at her face. “Maybe another one will help get more oxygen into your lungs.”

  Cripes, he could make her laugh and feel hot all at once. “One was enough, I assure you.”

  “You can never be too safe.”

  She cast him an ironic look.

  “Just trying to help,” he said innocently.

  “I bet.”

  Laughing, he reached over to lay his hand atop hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She felt it right to the tips of her soles, especially when combined with the warmth in his eyes.

  “Here you go.” Mark stopped at the table, a cup in each hand, his eyebrows raised as he looked at their hands.

  Automatically, Nick and Bree both drew back, taking their arms off the table as Mark placed the cups down before them.

  When he’d left, Nick looked at her. “So, did you contact your friend Jackie?”

  “She contacted me, actually.” Bree fiddled with the teaspoon on the saucer.

  “Bet she was overjoyed when she found out that you got actual footage of the lights.”

  “Ummm…” She pursed her lips.

  Angling his head to one side, Nick eyed her thoughtfully.

  Feeling his steady regard, she lifted her gaze from the teaspoon to his eyes.

  He arched one brow inquiringly.

  “I didn’t tell her,” she stated quietly.

  “Oh?”

  “Well, I actually told her we didn’t see anything.”

  There was no doubting the genuine puzzlement on his handsome face.

  “I don’t quite know why, either.” She paused, sighed. “No, I do.”

  Patiently, he waited.

  “There are responsible investigators out there, people who ask permission and respect others property. Then there are those who will do whatever it takes to get evidence, who don’t leave things the way they found them, who have actually been known to destroy parts of people’s property in th
e hunt. My friends are like that.” Or were they her friends?

  Bree’s gaze dropped to the teaspoon as she continued fiddling with it. They were kind of her friends, they’d been together on many hunts, had welcomed her and her Mum, she’d known them for years. But what did she really know about them?

  Nothing really. Jackie was so paranoid, Mick solely focussed on getting what he wanted, the other members of the team interested in only one thing - evidence of extraterrestrial life forms. That was all she knew about them. She’d never been to their homes, never met their families if they even had them. All she knew was that they operated out of an old caravan filled with gadgets and computers.

  In fact, she didn’t remember ever talking to them about anything more than UFOs and the unexplained. They’d never shown any interest in her apart from that, and Bree suddenly realised that she’d never been interested enough in them to persist in trying to be more than a fellow hunter. And they hadn’t cared enough when she’d fallen in the creek in freezing weather, it was just the evidence that was important. Wasn’t that just so revealing?

  Her restless fiddling stopped and she stared at the coffee in the mug. They hadn’t cared, and to be truthful, neither did she.

  “Bree?” Nick asked quietly.

  “Just having a bit of a moment. It’s okay.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not just yet.” She looked up as the bell above the door dinged merrily, notifying the café staff that someone had entered.

  Frank crossed to the counter, bought a take away coffee and a slice of cake and turned to leave. Spotting them, he smiled and came over. “How’s the door, Bree? Behaving itself?”

  “Good as gold, Frank, thanks.”

  “Any problems, just drop by and I’ll sort it out.” He nodded at her and Nick and left.

  Her gaze slid to the window where she watched Paul and Becky strolling along the street, hand in hand, Becky’s swollen belly leading the way, Paul carrying his little son on his hip. They stopped, chatted to Frank and then continued on their way.

  In Whicha, she thought, people knew each other, cared for their neighbours. She’d made friends here, good friends. Real friends who called around with a casserole if she was unwell, who helped her change a tyre when she had a flat even though she’d protested she could do it. Friends who were there when needed.