by Sami Lee
He didn’t appear sidetracked by her reference to the physical satisfaction they had found together, but he didn’t pursue the subject, saying only, “You do know that I … I care about you, don’t you, Evie?”
She smiled reassuringly, smoothing the furrow from his brow with her thumb. No matter what happened, she did know that Mike would rather cut off his hand than hurt her on purpose. She would always love him for that.
“I know,” she told him. “Now scoot. I do not want to be responsible for you being late. Barry might come after me.”
“Over my dead body,” he said with feeling. Mike had to be one of the few men who could say something like that in reference to Barry McClusky and mean it.
He sighed weightily. “All right. I’ll go.” He headed for the door, chucking Bailey on the chin on the way past. His nephew gave him a grin that was all teeth and half-chewed kiwi fruit.
At the door he promised Eve, “I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Yes, you’d better. I couldn’t find those spare blankets, after all.”
He grinned wolfishly before heading out the door, saying with a purely male satisfaction, “How lucky for me.”
“Kitchen’s closed people—no more orders!”
“Hallelujah,” Mike muttered at Barry’s long-awaited announcement. It had just gone ten pm. Since he’d started at eleven that morning and had hardly stopped since, the end of the day couldn’t come soon enough for Mike.
Yet he knew it wasn’t just plain old physical exhaustion that had him eager to head straight home.
It was Eve.
His fatigue dissipated like smoke off the grill. His body rumbled with hungry anticipation at the thought she might be waiting up for him. That kiss they’d shared this morning, on top of her parting comments about the lack of blankets downstairs, made him think he would be welcomed just as warmly in her bed tonight as he had been last night.
“After the day we’ve had, I think we both deserve a beer.”
Mike turned to see Barry holding out an opened bottle of brew. “All right, but just one. I have to get home.” He took the bottle and downed a throat-wetting swallow.
The sound of Barry’s laughter stopped the bottle on its ascent to his mouth a second time. “What’s funny?”
“I finally get why you’ve been so damn chipper all day,” Barry said, grinning. “You and the redhead have…” he turned to the apprentice, who happened to be walking past them at the time. “How is it you almost-twenty-somethings say it, Ross, when you and a lady get to know each other in the biblical sense?”
Mike put the brakes on whatever it was the apprentice opened his mouth to say. Fast. “Don’t even think about saying what you’re about to,” he said, more sternly than he had ever spoken to the younger man. The look on his face made Ross throw up his hands and take several steps back. He returned wordlessly to cleaning the food prep area.
To Barry, Mike said, his voice low and dangerous, “Eve is not bawdy kitchen conversation. You’re not so big I can’t sock you in the jaw, McClusky.”
Barry’s expression sobered. “Sorry buddy,” he said, sounding as genuine as he ever had. “I didn’t realise it was so serious.”
“What are you talking about?”
Shaking his head and sounding much more like the bloke Mike was used to, Barry used his index finger to emphasise an order Mike couldn’t refuse. “You. In my office. Now.”
Once inside the cramped, windowless office littered with papers and empty cola cans, Barry kicked one of the empty visitor’s chairs toward Mike—a rickety thing sparsely covered in ripped black vinyl. “Sit down and spill.”
“This place is disgusting, you realise that? It looks like you might be growing something in here.”
“Quit avoiding the issue.”
“Which is?”
Barry eyed him levelly. “You being in love with Eve.”
“You’re nuts.” Mike tried to laugh. For some reason, the sound stopped in his chest, somewhere in the vicinity of his heart. “It’s not—” It’s not like that, he’d meant to say, but he couldn’t say that either.
Feeling sucker-punched, Mike found the chair Barry had offered and fell into it. He scrubbed a hand over his face. His voice gave away his bewilderment. “How did this happen?”
“Hit you from side on, is my guess. At least that’s how it happened for me, when I met Sally.”
“This is not like with you and Sally.” Barry had fallen hard for Sally, asking her to marry him within a week of their first date. Sally and Barry had been a perfect fit from the start—not like him and Eve.
“I care about Eve,” he conceded, not quite ready to confront that word love just yet. “I care about her a lot; but she’s had it tough. She really needs someone rock solid—someone who’ll make sure nothing bad ever happens to her again.”
“And you’re not rock solid?”
He gave a derisive laugh. “Come on. I’m not the settling-down type.
“Hmm.” Barry gave him a speculative look and leaned back in his chair. The hinges creaked under his bulk. “Let me get this straight. You sell a thriving business in Greece to come back here and be a help to your family. You take on care of your nephew with as much dedication as you would if he were your own. Then you knock back a lucrative job in Melbourne because you think he needs you to be around, and because you think his guardian needs you, too. Don’t try to deny it.” He pointed a warning finger that halted Mike’s protest about Eve’s part in his decision not to move away. “And you don’t think you’re the settling-down type? It’s too late, Wilcox. You’re already there.”
Thunderstruck, Mike sat motionless, his friend’s words spiralling through his head. Could Barry be right? All these years he had thought Derek was the only one of the two of them with the inclination to find a good woman and live a ‘normal’ life. He just hadn’t thought it was for him.
Now the idea of not having that kind of life with Eve and Bailey left him feeling lost, like his future would be a cold and lonely road. There was no question about it anymore; he would be the go-to man for Bailey, not just for skateboarding and fishing, but for the big stuff, too.
The only question left was, would Eve let him be that for her as well?
The possibilities of how his life could unfold opened up before him. The thought that Eve might be his forever if he played his cards right sent a nervous rush through his system. He’d never wanted anything more in his life, nor been so afraid of not achieving something.
Hell. He did love her.
He just hoped she could trust him enough to let herself feel the same way.
“You know how we’ve always kicked around that idea of the two of us opening a restaurant together?”
Barry narrowed his eyes. “Yeah…”
Mike was smiling like a giddy school kid who’d just made captain of the football team and gotten the girl all in one day. “I think it’s time we started taking it seriously.”
Eve packed up her desk after an arduous day during which concentrating on work had been next to impossible.
She’d roused this morning before Bailey stirred to find Mike zonked out beside her. He hadn’t woken her when he’d slipped into bed, as he had done the previous night. Had he had enough of her already? She told herself immediately that if that were true he would have slept downstairs, not come to her bed to spoon with her.
But the thought reminded her that one day he would stop sharing her bed, would be out of her life. The very idea was devastating to her heart.
She’d managed to shower and dress without waking him, organising Bailey with an efficient skill it seemed she had finally begun to master. She’d managed to leave the house without ever having to talk to Mike, leaving him a brief note on the kitchen bench.
She’d told herself her stealth act was her way of letting Mike get some much needed sleep, although she knew it had the dual purpose of reprieving her from being entranced by those just-woken-in-the-bed-I-shared-with-you sex
y eyes. She couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t be late for work if Mike decided to pull her back under the covers with him.
It was bad enough she was in love with him, but each and every moment she spent with him intensified her feelings and made pretending she was coping with a casual affair more and more difficult. When those moments were spent making love … she felt like a time bomb ticking down to zero. At some point, something had to explode.
The sun was setting over Moreton Bay as Eve followed the road into Shorncliffe, the early evening air turning brisk. Eve had always loved winter for its bracing chill warded off by warm winter coats, its wet weekends spent inside with hot soup. Yet now the season seemed to stretch out before her, long and dark and cold, barren of comfort. Soup and warm coats would never replace Mike.
Pulling into the driveway, Eve frowned at the dark stillness of the house. Mike usually put a porch light on for her, now that darkness was descending earlier, making the house seem as welcoming as a real home, but tonight there was no movement, no welcome. No Mike, no Bailey…
Bailey!
A horrible realisation came to her in a flash, the details hitting her all at once. Mike had to work all day as well as tonight at the Marlin … a family reunion. Bailey was in childcare. She had dropped him off this morning. She was supposed to pick him up after work.
She brought a hand to her mouth as bile rose and she almost lost it on her shoes. Bailey had spent the day at childcare and she was supposed to pick him up. She was supposed to pick him up, and she had forgotten.
She had forgotten him.
Almost blind with panic and nausea, Eve had no idea how much time it took her to drive back to the childcare centre. It felt like hours, like every traffic light turned red just to thwart her progress as her heart slammed around in her chest. Memories of her own childhood taunted her.
I’m going shopping, Eve. You stay here…
I have to go away with Charlie, Eve, just for a few days. You’ll be all right. Quit whining.
I met up with Frank and just lost track of time. You know how to make your own macaroni and cheese in the microwave. What’s the big deal?
I know I said I’d pick you up from school, but I forgot, okay?
Her mother had forgotten a lot of things, although never the name of an available man. Eve had been the one forgotten, the one who wasn’t worth taking the time to think about, the one who was always passed over in favour of Leanna’s latest meal ticket.
Her entire life, Eve had fought not to feel worthless because of her mother’s treatment. She’d fought and often failed, even while she managed a modicum of pride in her accomplishments despite her less than ideal beginnings. It was a struggle she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.
And now she’d done it to Bailey. First there’d been forgetting his birthday, and now this.
When at last she screeched to a halt outside the centre, she leapt out of the car, leaving the door swinging open as she raced inside.
He was there, sitting in the middle of the blue carpeted floor all alone, playing with a musical hammer, hitting an upturned box with it. “Bailey!” she cried, the sound being ripped from her as she ran toward him, fell to her knees on the floor and scooped him up.
She held him tight in her arms and felt the sobs pour out of her, uncontrollable sobs of relief and guilt. “Honey, I’m so sorry.” She kept saying it over and over again. “I love you so much.” And she did. Loved him for being Jacinta’s child, loved him even more for the short time that he had been hers.
When Bailey grumbled at being held so tight, she finally released him, still holding him around the waist as she looked into his cherubic face. He was looking at her as though she were mad.
And she had been … to ever think she could handle this. Eve O’Brien, who always crossed all her Ts and dotted all her Is, had forgotten the most important thing she had ever had to remember.
To be better than her mother.
“It’s all right, Ms O’Brien,” said one of the childcare workers as she tentatively approached. “It’s not even six; there are a couple of other babies still here.”
Eve looked around, seeing the other children for the first time, and the centre employees looking at her with concern. “Yes, I see… I was late, and I was worried.” She looked back at the girl. “Sorry to cause a fuss. I can promise you, this won’t ever happen again.”
And it wouldn’t. Because she was going to do what was right, what she should have done two months ago. She was going to take Bailey home to Mike, and she was going to make sure he was with his family.
Where he belonged.
Chapter 13
When Mike got home that night, the house seemed overly still, though the soft light of the living room lamp glowed through the window. Luckily, the restaurant hadn’t been that busy once the reunion crowd had dwindled, and he had left the apprentices to clean up so he could get home before ten.
Still, he thought perhaps Eve might be in bed already, until he caught sight of her sitting on the couch, her knees clamped together and her head bowed. She was looking down at her linked hands as though they held the secret treasure map to the meaning of life. The TV was off, no music drifted around the room.
Something was wrong.
He guessed it had something to do with the two of them, and wished again that he had woken her last night when he’d got home, so they could’ve talked. Now that he saw things clearly, he wanted to waste no more time letting her think what they had was no more than a fling.
She’d been holding back from him. He’d sensed it all along. She had fears and doubts she didn’t share with him. While he knew it wasn’t easy for Eve to trust anyone, he wanted to show her he was different, that he would be the one person who would stick by her no matter what.
“Hello, Mike,” she spoke at last. Then, the dreaded words. “We need to talk.”
He took a deep breath. “I think I know what this is about.”
Eve looked at him. “No, you don’t.”
The sight of her face tore at his heart. “Sweetheart, you’ve been crying.” When he made to move toward her she held up a hand. Reluctantly respecting her implied request, he took a seat on the abutting couch and leaned his elbows on his knees. “I hate that you’re upset. Why don’t you let me go first?” Had she been crying over him? Mike felt like an idiot. He shouldn’t have delayed telling her how he felt because of his own stupid nervousness.
“No,” Eve refused. She held her breath, as though she were about to submerge herself in Antarctic-cold water. Then she said, “I’m moving back into my old apartment block. I’ve decided to sign over custody of Bailey to you.”
Mike felt as though he’d been hit by a stun gun, something from a B-grade science fiction movie. His brain was as immobile and ineffective as his body. Thinking he must have misheard her, he asked, “What?”
“It’s the right thing to do, Mike. He’s your blood, not mine. You’re a natural parent. I’m not. Derek and Jacinta both got it wrong, you see. Bailey should always have been yours. Your brother underestimated you,” she told him, a sad smile forming, “But I don’t. He belongs with you.”
Mike’s mind scrambled to make sense of what she was saying. “I do want to be here for Bailey. But you’re just as much his mother as I am his father. There’s more to it than blood.”
“You’re right. There is more to it,” Eve agreed, standing with sudden swiftness and crossing the room to stand and look down into the fireplace. No fire blazed there tonight, no warmth emanated to ward off the chill that had settled in his bones. “There has to be trust. A child should be able to trust a parent.”
“And Bailey can trust you.” Mike stood, too, and walked toward her. He didn’t understand what had caused this nonsense, but he was starting to panic. He was starting to think she had made up her mind without giving him a chance to change it. “Eve…”
Reaching out, he put a hand to her shoulder, but she immediately shook him off, taking several paces
away from him. She went and stood behind the couch, putting it between them as though the idea that he might take her in his arms terrified her.
Apprehension flared into anger. “You’re talking crazy. Bailey needs you.” I need you, Mike thought, but he pushed the thought aside in frustration. Bailey was the priority right now. Hearing himself start to sound like a browbeater, he told her, “You’ll stay right here and help me look after him.”
“No.”
“No?” He demanded, her bald denial flooring him. “Why the hell not?”
“Because I forgot him.”
“What?”
“I forgot him. Today. I left work, I came home and I…” something choked her, and she looked about to dissolve. Her voice was tremulous. “I left him at the childcare centre.”
Mike frowned in confusion. “Where is he now?”
“He’s asleep in bed. I went back, and he was fine, but … he was sitting there by himself. All alone. He looked so helpless…”
Mike was beginning to get the picture. He took a step toward her, not enough to have her darting away again. Maybe this he could fix, after all. “There were staff still there, right? They were looking after him, so he wasn’t alone.”
“I was supposed to be there.”
“And, you were a little late, that’s all. Bailey wouldn’t even have noticed.”
“I noticed,” she insisted.
Mike made a frustrated sound. “It was an innocent mistake, and you corrected it. It doesn’t have to lead to all this.”
“You’re not getting it, Mike. I forgot him.”
Quietly, earnestly, he said, “You’re not your mother, Eve.”
“Aren’t I? Much as you laugh at all my parenting books, I’ve read enough to know children learn what their parents teach them. Well, my mother taught me how to take care of myself, because nobody else would. I won’t inflict those lessons on Bailey.”
“Derek and Jacinta’s wishes were pretty clear on this.”
“As is the law. My guardianship can be overruled by the Family Court if it is considered in the best interests of the child. If I give up my rights and recommend that they turn over custody to you...”