Discovering Stella

by K. M. Golland

  “Well ... seeing as it’s my last day off, I’m going to walk to Lawson’s workshop and check the progress of my car. After that, I might go see the river.”

  “Okay, but don’t get lost. The bushland down along the river is quite dense,” he warned.

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Yes, Dad.”

  “Goodbye, Stella,” Todd said dismissively, turning around and heading for the bar, his voice laced with playful contempt.

  “Ooh, using my full name again, are we?”

  He stopped, turned back around and raised a questioning eyebrow.

  I smiled in return and blew him a kiss. “Byeee,” I said, then practically skipped out of the hotel. So far, my decision to take that leap of faith had been the right one.

  * * *

  As I made my way along the side of the road toward Knight Repairs, my steps were alternating between gleeful skipping and hesitant stone kicking, a perfect indication of my mixed feelings. I was genuinely happy for the first time in a long while, excited at the prospect of what lay ahead. Yet emotions have the ability to bounce about like a ball on a pinball machine. One minute you can be happy and the next you can be unsure, wanting nothing more than to take a step backward, because the alternative means having to let your guard down. And I wasn’t sure whether letting my guard down where Lawson was concerned was the right thing to do. Yeah, the night before had been fun, and more importantly, harmless — we hadn’t even kissed. But despite the non-touching of tongues, allowing Lawson to be so close to me was a big step. It meant that deep down I liked him. No wonder I’m nervous.

  Just the thought of seeing him again had my cheeks heating and an uncontrollable smile spreading across my face. Not to mention the feeling in my stomach — courtesy of the butterflies — when I thought about his touch and the way he’d looked at me the night before.

  A small tin shed with a large white sign displaying a picture of armour and a sword came into view. Admittedly, the whole knight concept was a little tacky, yet the tackiness that was Lawson had me smiling even more. God, he is just so adorably aggravating.

  Slowly, I made my way along the driveway and in through the opening of the shed, carefully stepping over electrical leads and dodging greasy benchtops. I was wearing a pale pink top over a short denim skirt, therefore the smallest scrape against any surface would result in a stain, which was never good.

  As I rounded the corner, I spotted Lawson standing with his back to me. He was wearing old grease-stained jeans, a dirty rag dangling from his back pocket. I trailed my eyes over his black singlet top when, suddenly, two perfectly manicured hands snaked around his side and entwined, resting on his lower back. My breathing hitched and I froze. Shit! He has a girlfriend.

  Hang on a second ... He. Has. A. Fucking. Girlfriend?

  The pit of my stomach dropped, figuratively landing somewhere at my feet. All of a sudden, I felt ill, and with my eyes bulging, I watched as the woman dug her bright red nails into his denim-covered arse.

  “Come on, baby, you know you want to,” she purred, pulling herself against him and coming into view, her lust-covered face appearing over his shoulder.

  Now, I was not normally one to judge a book by its cover, for what’s inside should not be decided until seen, but there were some women who wore “bitch” extremely well. This chick was one of them.

  The bitch in question had long, straight ebony hair, brown eyes and a diamond piercing above lips as red as blood. Coloured ink covered her upper arm, the artistic swirls and images both intimidating and stunning.

  Just as she was about to lick, nibble or do god knows what to his earlobe, she paused and tilted her head to the side, calmly taking me in. “We have company,” she said seductively, with a calculated smile.

  Lawson turned his head and met my gaze, shocked realisation blaring from his eyes. “Stella,” he said, reaching behind himself to unlatch the woman’s hands.

  I stepped backward, fumbling when I bumped into a car. “I’m sorry,” I stuttered, patting the car as if I’d injured it. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I ... I can talk to you later.”

  “No! Vicky was just leaving.”

  She glared at Lawson. “Excuse me?”

  “Yes, you were —”

  “No. No. It’s fine,” I interrupted, raising a hand as if stopping traffic.

  To say that I was mortified and completely embarrassed for being there would have been an understatement. Not to mention thinking Lawson was a decent guy just happened to be a major error on my part.

  Wanting to get the hell of out there, I spun on my heels and tripped over a trolley jack, twisting my ankle as I made a hasty exit. Pain blanketed my foot and shot up my leg, but I didn’t stop, especially when Lawson called out for me to wait. Waiting to speak to the cheating fuckwit was the last thing I wanted to do, so instead, I hightailed my arse out of the workshop and quickly made my way along the street toward the river. Todd’s mention of the surrounding bushland being thick and dense floated around in my head; it sounded private, quiet and camouflaging. It sounded perfect and just what I needed.

  * * *

  Stella, you are an idiot. A stupid idiot who never thinks before she acts.Why I had ventured to the river with my foot throbbing like hell was beyond me. Yes, the area was secluded, and yes, it provided a sanctuary in order for me to clear my head, but it was also bushland: shrubbery with rocky, uneven ground.

  “Oh shit,” I cried, grabbing a tree trunk for support when my injured foot gave way and threw me off balance. “What were you thinking, you stupid bitch?” I cursed myself aloud. “So what, he has a girlfriend. Big deal! The guy is a douche. That doesn’t mean you go run off and hide in a fucking forest, of all places.”

  In hindsight, I should’ve headed straight home, put my foot up and rested. But no, stupid me had opted to go bushwalking instead.

  Closing my eyes and clenching my fist, I let out a long, slow breath, calming my angered, bruised ego. I normally wasn’t one to swear, and I certainly wasn’t one to talk to myself either.

  Ah ... get yourself together. Lawson just wanted in your pants. It’s typical.

  I snorted and opened my eyes. “Well, he ain’t gonna get inside my pants. No one is,” I voiced to the myrtle shrub in front of me, as if it would argue my point. When it didn’t — because clearly it wasn’t going to — I hobbled around it and lowered myself to the ground, desperate to take the weight off my injured ankle.

  After fleeing Lawson and the mole with skanky fingernails, I’d sat by the river for a couple of hours, attempting to skim rocks while thinking about what I should do next. I’d come to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to run again. I wanted to stay and build a new life, and I wanted to include Todd and Meg in it. Lawson? Well, I could just ignore him. I was good at that.

  For the past half an hour or so, I’d been painstakingly making my way along a track, thinking that the path led in the direction of the house. I hadn’t been to the river previously, so my sense of direction was based solely on an educated guess. The thought of calling Todd lingered at the fringes of my mind. After all, it was the smart thing to do. But I was stubborn ... I didn’t need a knight like he always said I did. Plus, he’d told me not to get lost and I kind of had.

  Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone to check the time. The sky had grown darker and the temperature had cooled, therefore I assumed it was approaching evening. I didn’t want to panic, but I was guessing I had less than an hour of daylight left.

  I swiped my thumb across the screen, discovering the damn thing had run out of battery power. “Great!” I groaned. Even if I wanted to call for help, I couldn’t.

  Sucking up my misfortunes, I scrambled to my feet and continued along the track, soon finding an opening in the trees and what looked like a path to the Drake house. “Oh thank god,” I sighed with relief as I headed toward the lights.

  My foot was now in a world of pain as I limped up the pathway, taking each porch step one at a time, and pu
lling myself up with difficulty before opening the back door.

  I’d barely made it inside when Lawson burst into the hallway, eyes wide. “Stella, is that you?”

  I continued limping toward him, en route to my bedroom. “Sure is,” I answered, my tone, scornful.

  “Where the fuck have you been? We’ve been worried sick. And what happened to your foot?”

  He began to make his way toward me when I held my hand out in warning. “Back off,” I hissed, glaring at him, “and what do you mean ‘we’ve’ been worried sick?”

  “Todd and Meg are out looking for you. We’ve been trying your mobile for the last hour or so.”

  “What? Bloody hell,” I huffed. “My phone died. I’m fine.”

  He took another step toward me. “You don’t look it. Here, let me help you —”

  “I said I’m fine,” I bit out harshly, cementing my statement with the flaring of my eyes.

  “What happened? When you left the shop, I came home to look for you and explain what you thought you saw —”

  “It doesn’t matter what I saw. It doesn’t involve me, and quite frankly, I really don’t care.”

  Lawson took another step in my direction, blocking the hallway. Normally, I would feel intimidated by such a manoeuvre and perhaps step back, but surprisingly I didn’t, instead squaring my shoulders and meeting him head on. I’d had nothing but a shit of an afternoon and needed to get past him in order to call Todd and say I was all right. Then, I needed a bath. A long, hot soothing bath.

  “Please get out of my way,” I said firmly, my face mere centimetres from his.

  “Vicky is my ex,” he replied just as firmly, ignoring my request.

  I bit my tongue in vexation, narrowed my eyes and went to push past him. “I said I don’t care. It’s none of my business.”

  His arm shot out, forcing me to back up against the wall. I frowned and went to move the other way, but his other hand found the wall, caging me in. “I’m making it your business,” he said, eyeing me heatedly. “She cheated on me with my mate. I broke it off. She didn’t like that. The bitch doesn’t understand what ‘fuck off’ means. I was in the process of reminding her when you walked in.”

  “Lawson, get out of my way,” I warned, cringing and shifting my weight to ease the pain in my foot.

  Noticing my discomfort, he looked down and took hold of my leg, lifting it from the ground and bracing it against his hip.

  I gasped and slapped his hand away. “Don’t —”

  “Shut up,” he said softly, pushing his body against mine and supporting me against the wall.

  The feeling of his denim-covered erection rubbing against the cotton of my panties prompted an extinguished fire in my belly to ignite again. And with my heart pounding in rhythm with the pulsing in between my legs, my resolve wavered just slightly. “Don’t —” I protested again, but was cut off when his lips touched mine.

  Lawson gripped my leg tighter and slid his hand along the underside of my thigh, stopping when he reached my arse. The feel of his hand on my skin had me uncontrollably opening my mouth to moan, which was when he seized the opportunity and plunged his tongue inside. As if on autopilot, I kissed him back and placed my hands against his rock-hard chest, gripping his shirt with my fingers as our tongues stroked one another’s.

  God, he tasted good: a mixture of mint and beer, coupled with the scent of his aftershave and the hint of grease and petrol that always lingered even after he’d showered.

  I melted into him. “Stop.”

  “No, you taste too fucking good,” he mumbled, gripping me tighter, yet again ignoring my request.

  I pulled away and pressed my head against the wall. “I don’t want this.”

  Breathing hard, he gazed deep into my eyes, a challenging glint surfacing. Lawson then slowly crept his fingers along my thigh, stopping when they found my dampened panties. “You sure about that?” he asked with a cocky smirk.

  Before I could respond, the sound of the front door abruptly opening filled the house. “Stella!” Todd called out.

  I shoved Lawson hard — enough to break his hold on me — and limped toward the entrance where Todd was calling from. “Yeah, I’m here.”

  Rounding the corner with Meg, Todd stopped when he saw me hobbling. “Jesus! What happened? Where have you been?”

  “Bushwalking,” I answered sarcastically. “I’m fine.”

  He furrowed his brow. “Stella, I told you —”

  “Todd, please! I’m fine. I just want a bath and to go to bed. Sorry I worried you. My phone battery died and I couldn’t call. Seriously though, I’m fine. I’ll see you in the morning,” I said with reassurance, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek and giving Meg an apologetic smile.

  Not wanting to hear another word from anyone, I made my way to the bathroom. Hopefully, the baths in Pittstown were magic and could not only erase the dirt from your skin, but could also erase the last ten minutes of your day.

  S I X

  Push, don’t shove

  Stella limped past me with her head down, refusing to make eye contact and without so much as uttering a word. Honestly, I didn’t know what to think. Had I come on too strong? Fuck! Yeah, probably. But shit, she seemed to like it ... a lot!

  My cock was still making a statement in my pants, undoubtedly pissed off that I’d gotten him excited, then let the poor bastard down for the second night in a row. Soon, mate, soon. Good things come to cocks that wait. And damn, was Stella a good thing. That mouth, those lips ... her damp fucking underwear. Fuck! And fuck you, Todd, for coming home.

  Continuing on to the kitchen, I sucked in my frustration and acknowledged Todd and Meg. “Hey.”

  “What happened to Stella?” he asked, accusation in his voice.

  I grabbed a beer from the fridge before answering. “Not sure. She said she hurt her foot and that her phone died. That’s as much as I know.”

  “She seemed bloody pissed off, mate. Has anything happened between the two of you?”

  Tipping the stubby and eyeing him as I swallowed, I lowered it back down, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand before lying. “No.”

  Meg narrowed her gaze, and I’m sure she was about to call me out when the sound of Stella’s voice filtered through the house into the kitchen. We all paused and looked toward the door that led to the hall.

  “Wow!” Meg said, moving closer to the doorway. “She’s humming.”

  Todd sighed sadly and moved to stand by Meg, resting his arm on her shoulder and listening along with her. “When we were younger, she was brilliant. Had the voice of an angel. She was even in the Australian Girls Choir.”

  “Really? Oh, I’d love to hear her sing properly,” Meg whispered.

  Making my way across the room to join them, I listened to Stella’s voice hum a tune as I neared the door. Fuck, it was beautiful. If her humming was that good, I could only imagine what she would sound like if she actually sang. “We need to get her singing again,” I blurted out.

  Meg glanced at me. “You saw what happened last night. Clearly, she doesn’t want to.”

  I shook my head. “I reckon she does.”

  “How do you know that?” Todd asked, turning in my direction.

  “I just do. I think she’s holding back for some reason. She’s hiding something.”

  Todd walked into the hallway and leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom, tilting his head up and closing his eyes. “She’s scared,” he said quietly, “of someone or something. She’s not being herself. That much is obvious.”

  “What makes you say that?” I asked, trying to hide my concern for her wellbeing. I didn’t like the sound of her running from danger. I didn’t like it one bit.

  Opening his eyes, he looked from Meg to me then ran his hand through his hair, scrunching it between his fingers in a show of anxiety. “She came to me today and told me she wanted to stay here, indefinitely. She said she was done with nursing and wasn’t going back to Melbourne, and if she di
dn’t stay here she’d move on to somewhere else. I believed her.”

  The thought of her wanting to stay was music to my fucking ears, and if we weren’t currently immersed in a serious conversation about her wellbeing, I’d be smiling like a pig in shit.

  “She can stay as long as she likes,” Meg stated, nodding at me.

  “Of course,” I agreed, trying not to sound too bloody keen.

  Todd pushed off the wall and indicated we head back into the kitchen. He followed us and closed the door behind him. “Thanks. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I also knew you’d both be on board, so I offered her a job at the pub. She’s gonna help me with odd jobs here and there while I organise a Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate for her. I want to get to the bottom of what has her so withdrawn, so —”

  “Edgy,” I added.

  “Yes! She’s on edge and all over the place. It’s not like her. And the fact she doesn’t want to sing in front of anyone is a real worry. Like I said, she used to be amazing and nevershy about it. I always thought she’d make it to the big-time.”

  “Babe, you can’t push her to open up if she’s not ready. Especially if something bad has happened to her,” Meg said, giving him an apologetic look.

  Todd ran his hand along his jaw. “I’ll tell you what,” he said, a fierce anger boiling in his eyes, “if someone has hurt her, I’ll fucking kill ‘em.”

  “Yeah, with my help,” I added, my own pit of fury bubbling. The thought of any woman being physically hurt by a man fired me the fuck up, but the thought of that woman being Stella? Well … that had me enraged.

  Meg stepped in between us with a menacing look. “Okay, cowboys, settle down. Nobody is killing anybody.” She then closed the distance to Todd and threaded her fingers around his neck. “You have to back off and let Stella open up in her own time. The last thing you want to do is scare her off. You said yourself that you think she’ll take off.”