“I think you’re asking the wrong guy, right now, love.” Jason answered wearily. “I don’t have a clue. All I know is this week’s been way too long.”
Toby sighed and removed his own glasses before rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. “This whole damn year’s been too long,” he muttered.
Even now, deep on a Saturday night, in the privacy of their own home, the two PR men couldn’t escape the idiosyncrasies of their unstable boss. Right now they were working on putting a positive spin on Senator Naomi Silverberg’s latest indiscretion, a none-too-sober rant in the senate chamber on gay rights that had done little to further the cause. They weren’t having a lot of luck.
Jason shut down his laptop and closed it. “Well, I don’t think we’re going to get much more accomplished tonight. Let’s give it a rest, eh?”
Toby blinked at him through bloodshot eyes. “No argument from me,” he murmured. There was a minute or so of pensive silence as both men just sat, lost in their own thoughts, too weary to do anything else.
“You think it’s time to get out, don’t you?” Jason finally asked, looking his partner in the eye. Toby gnawed on his bottom lip for a while before answering.
“I know we always said we were in this for the long haul,” he replied quietly. Jason nodded. “But I think Naomi’s lost it. And I don’t just mean her usual rant and recover cycle. I mean I think she seriously is having some kind of breakdown. And whether she recovers from that or not, her career isn’t going to be so easy to save.” He paused and got up from his stool, taking his empty coffee cup over to the sink and washing it out. “And to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve got it in me to try anymore.”
Jason sighed. He could hear the hurt and disappointment in his partner’s voice. Toby had been the one who had involved them with Naomi in the first place, convinced by her charisma and commitment that they were on to a winner. Toby had been a true believer. And Jason knew how much this was hurting him.
“I know we said all those things,” Jason said. “But she’s not the person we first met anymore. Maybe it’s time we start thinking about our own reputation first, instead of hers.” He met the older man’s eyes, knowing that it wasn’t anything his partner particularly wanted to hear. Then again, he started this conversation.
Toby nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I’ve been thinking,” he agreed, moving back to the table and wrapping Jason up in a hug from behind. “You think she’s gone too far this time?”
Jason reached up and placed his hands over his lover’s forearms. “Oh yeah. She was drunk when she gave that speech, yesterday, Tobes. And everyone knew it. Did you see the look on the Leader’s face? I thought he was going to stroke out. Forget about the contents of the speech – it was drivel, but that’s not the point. She was slurring and swaying. Being drunk and disorderly 9000 miles away is one thing. Doing it right here, in the senate chamber to boot, is another thing altogether.”
Toby rested his chin on Jason’s head and sighed deeply. “I know. I think I’m just in denial.”
“The bottom line is our reputation is going down the crapper with hers,” Jason said, more harshly than he had intended. He felt Toby flinch and patted his arm gently. “It’s salvageable, love. But I think we need to cut our losses now.”
There was silence from behind him and he turned to face Toby as he felt him pull away. Jason watched as his partner leaned back on the kitchen counter, studying his feet.
“She’s going to go ballistic when we tell her,” Toby murmured.
Good, we’ve made the decision to go, then, Jason thought with relief. “Yeah, but we can’t be worrying about her anymore.”
“I know. To be honest, it’s not us, or her for that matter, that I’m worried about.” They locked eyes.
“Cadie,” Jason said and Toby nodded.
“She has to come back here some time,” Toby pointed out. “Even if she’s going to stay with Jo long-term, and live in Australia, she can’t start that process there, on the visa she’s on at the moment. And Naomi’s already got her buddies in Customs keeping an eye out for her. I don’t think that can be a good thing, do you?”
Jason’s brow furrowed. “You don’t honestly think she’d do anything to hurt Cadie do you? Physically, I mean.”
Toby shrugged. “All I know is she hates Jo enough to do almost anything,” he replied. “No, I can’t imagine her physically hurting Cadie.” He folded his arms across his chest. “But can I imagine her doing almost anything to hurt Jo? You bet.”
“And the quickest, surest way to hurt Jo…” Jason left the thought unfinished.
“Mhmm.” Toby nodded.
“So what do we do?”
Toby made a decision and stood upright. “Quit. And then track Cadie down and warn her.”
Jo kicked the trail-bike into top gear and gunned the tough little machine along the dirt track. The engine kicked up throatily and she laughed into the wind, relishing the speed. She flicked a glance to her right and was unsurprised to see her partner matching her on the other side of the paddock. Cadie was leaning over the handlebars, a fierce look of concentration on her face as her bike slid and bumped over the rough track.
Between them was a stray calf which had become separated from its mother and the rest of the herd. The beast was lolloping up the centre of the paddock, all legs and stubborn determination as it ploughed through the foot-tall scrubby grass and bushes. Jo gunned the bike again, drawing level with the calf’s shoulder. A crackling in her headset drew her attention.
“What do we do now?” came Cadie’s voice, slightly breathless and distorted in Jo’s ear.
“Get in front of it and cut it off, hopefully,” Jo replied. She was about to suggest they keep pace with it until they were closer to the clearing at the end of the paddock, but Cadie was already in action. Another look to her right told Jo that the blonde was already pulling ahead of the calf and was looking for a chance to duck in front of it. “Cadie! Wait!” Jo yelled, but it was too late.
The American ducked her head and twisted the throttle hard, barely hanging on as the bike jumped forward. She was loving every minute of this chase and although she’d only learned to ride a few days before, she was relishing the feel of the power between her legs. The back wheel slipped and shimmied as it fought for traction in the dirt and Cadie felt her heart skip as she wrestled the bike back under her control. Okay, now to cut this calf off in its tracks, she decided. She was vaguely aware of Jo yelling in her ear, but her heart was pounding too loudly and the adrenalin was pumping too fast. Cadie was having a ball.
She pulled further ahead of the calf and saw her chance, ducking off the track and into the grass as she raced towards the center of the paddock. The ground was much rougher here, hidden rocks and dead branches making the bike jolt and shudder under her.
“Damn it, Cadie, slow down!” Jo yelled into the headset, watching the American fighting to keep the bike upright as she careered across the paddock. “Trouble magnet. She is a fair dinkum trouble magnet,” she muttered to herself. With a sigh she put her head down and pushed her bike faster, deciding her best chance of averting a disaster would be to back Cadie up. One in, all in.
Cadie didn't see the fallen, dead tree until it was too late. She yelped as the front wheel of the bike clipped the log and before she could react her world was turned upside down. Jo watched in shock as her blonde partner went base over apex across the bike’s handlebars, disappearing into the long grass with a dusty thud.
“Cadie!” Jo slid her bike to a shuddering halt, leaping off in one smooth, swift motion. Three long strides took her to where the American was lying on her back. Jo dropped down to her knees by Cadie’s hips. “Sweetheart, are you all right?” she asked anxiously. She reached out, quickly running her hands over Cadie’s legs, checking for breaks.
“Ow,” Cadie said plaintively, her eyes squeezed shut.
“What hurts, baby? No, don’t try to move,” she said as Cadie attempted to sit
up. “Just tell me where it hurts.”
Cadie sighed loudly. “Just my pride I think, love,” she replied. “Though my tailbone is smarting a bit.”
Jo smiled. “Yeah, well, I’m not surprised. You came down from quite a height.” She finished her quick inspection, satisfied that at worst Cadie had suffered bumps and bruises. “Can you sit up?”
Cadie took Jo’s hands and gingerly pulled herself upright, wincing as strained ligaments and battered joints straightened themselves out.
“Dizzy?” Jo asked quietly, wondering if Cadie had hit her head.
“No, just a bit embarrassed,” Cadie replied wryly. “Did you get the number of that truck that hit me?”
Jo laughed. “I was trying to tell you to wait till we got down to the end of the paddock, but you were having too much fun, I think.” She grinned lopsidedly at her partner, who met her smile with a sheepish one of her own.
“Yeah, I was. Sorry about that.”
Jo shrugged. “No skin off my butt, darling.”
“Oh hardy, har, har.” Cadie looked over at her bike, its wheels still spinning as it lay on the ground. She grimaced. “Did I completely trash it?” she asked anxiously.
Jo pushed herself up and stepped over to the machine, brushing her palm over the back wheel to stop it spinning, the roughness of the tread scrubbing against her skin. She picked the bike up, straightening the handlebars. The front wheel was bent, and she thought it was unridable, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed later.
“Nah,” she said casually. “But it isn’t going anywhere for right now.” She turned at the sound of giggling to find the calf, now calm and stationary, nuzzling the top of Cadie’s head. Jo laughed so hard she doubled over.
“Get off me, ya big idiot,” Cadie protested, even though she was almost helpless with laughter herself. The final indignity came when a long, soft, wet cow tongue slobbered up the side of her face. “Ewwwwwwwww. Jo, get this thing off me.”
Jo staggered over to her bike, her giggles still making it hard for her to walk. She unhooked the length of rope she had brought along expressly for this purpose and began fashioning a lasso. Meanwhile Cadie had managed to extricate herself from the calf’s attentions and was dusting herself off.
“Ugh,” she muttered, wiping the slime from her cheek. “That was gross.”
“But cute,” Jo agreed, slipping the lasso over the now-compliant beast’s head.
“Ugh, if you say so.” Jo handed her the rope with another grin, but decided discretion was the better part of valor on this occasion. “Come on, Pedro,” Cadie said, tugging the calf towards Jo’s bike, which the taller woman was pulling up off the ground.
“Pedro?”
“Sure. Pedro the bull.”
Jo laughed again. “She’s gonna have a hard time living up to that name, love.”
“Huh?” Cadie bent down and looked for the relevant pieces of anatomy and found them missing. “Oh. Sorry, Daisy.”
Jo chuckled as she threw her leg over the bike’s saddle. “Come on, Calamity Jane, let’s get this happy wanderer back to her mum.” She patted the pillion seat behind her. “Climb aboard.”
“Oooo I think I’m going to enjoy this,” Cadie decided as she slid into position. There wasn’t a lot of room and she was wedged tightly against the warmth of Jo’s back and rear end.
“Got enough room back there, love?” Jo asked.
“Nope. And loving it,” Cadie promptly replied. “What are we going to do about my bike?” she asked.
“It’ll be fine where it is for the night,” Jo said as she gunned the bike into life. “It’s not like it’s going to rain or anything.” She raised her voice above the growl of the engine. “Hughie can pick it up in the ute tomorrow.”
Cadie handed the rope back to Jo and settled her arms around her lover’s waist while Jo tied the rope off to the handlebars. As usual she was loving being this close to her soulmate and she took the opportunity to plant a kiss on the back of Jo’s earlobe, provoking a smile from the taller woman.
“What was that for?”
“Proximity,” Cadie said pragmatically. “Is Daisy going to be okay being dragged along by us?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jo answered easily. “We’re not going to go too fast and besides,” she gestured towards the passive calf, “she doesn’t look like she wants to do anything but follow us home.” She looked back over her shoulder at the pair of green eyes blinking steadily back at her. “Ready?”
Cadie patted Jo’s stomach. “Lead on, McDuff.”
“Mmmm, stick a fork in me, I’m done,” Jo purred as she rolled onto her back in the cool grass of her parents’ back garden. She dropped her now denuded paper plate beside her and tucked her hands behind her head, contentedly. Her belly was full, the stars were out and her family was all around her. Never thought I’d ever experience that again, she reflected as she gazed up into the clear black sky. And that’s all down to Cadie. Jo glanced over to her partner, unsurprised to see the compact American making her way through an enormous bowl of Maggie Madison’s homemade apple crumble, doused in hot custard. Jo chuckled, a sound which caught Cadie’s attention.
“Yeah, you look like you’re done, Jo-Jo,” Cadie mumbled around a mouthful of the sweet treat. “It’s a good thing we’ve been working hard these past few weeks or I’d be the size of a house by now.” She grinned at her mother-in-law who was lounging in the deckchair. “There’s no way I’m leaving without a whole book full of your recipes, Maggie. This is sensational.” She took another spoonful of crumble.
“Thank you,” Maggie said as she smiled fondly back at the blonde whose appetite seemed to be outstripped only by her metabolism. “When do you think you’ll have to go back?”
It was a question they’d all been avoiding for a week or so. The three weeks since Jack Collingwood’s arrest had been busy and enjoyable ones for them all. Cadie and Jo had mucked in around the property, more than making up for Jack’s departure and giving David time to advertise and interview prospective new station managers.
Without a lot of success, Maggie thought glumly. And they can’t stay forever. The question hung in the air for a few seconds before Jo cleared her throat.
“Well, I can’t really stay away from Cheswick Marine much longer,” she said quietly. “We’re about to get into the really busy season.”
“Northern hemisphere summer,” Cadie murmured.
“Mhmm,” Jo confirmed. “And Cadie’s visa runs out in,” she looked across at the blonde, “when is it? Soon?”
Cadie did a quick calculation in her head, the result taking her by surprise. “Thirteen days,” she said quietly.
Jo did a double-take, startled by Cadie’s answer. Where the hell did that time go? “Really?” Her heart sank when Cadie nodded, their eyes meeting in a quiet acknowledgement of the reality of the situation. “Damn.”
Maggie watched the silent interplay between her daughter and daughter-in-law. For the first time she realized that, despite the seemingly perfect match of their two personalities, the couple still had obstacles to overcome.
“How long will it be before you can come back, Cadie?” she asked quietly.
The American held Jo’s gaze for a few more seconds before she turned and smiled gently at Maggie. “A few weeks, at least,” she said. “I have some work I have to do to make my business run a little more efficiently from here, including making some changes to bank accounts and things like that. Then, of course, there are still some loose ends to be tied up with my ex.” She dropped her eyes, suddenly wishing she never had to deal with Naomi Silverberg again.
“Do you really have to see her?” Jo asked. She regretted the question immediately as Cadie’s green eyes flicked her way again. A conversation better had in private, Jo-Jo, you idiot, she chastised herself. “Forget I asked that,” she said.
“No, it’s okay,” Cadie said, reaching out and patting her partner’s knee reassuringly. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that Maggie was the l
ast person on the planet to make judgments and she didn’t have a problem talking about Naomi in front of her. Even if Jo does, she acknowledged. And it won’t do her any harm to let her parents in a little more. “I’m not even sure I will have to see her, Jo,” she said aloud. “First I have to figure out just what she pulled out of the Chicago house and sent to Mom and Dad. If there’s anything still there that I need, I’ll have to go and retrieve it. She might be in DC, with any luck.”
There was a pause as David walked back into the circle of conversation. He’d been scraping down the barbecue plate after cooking them all a lavish main course of steak, sausages, and lamb chops. Now he wandered over to his chair, a plate of apple crumble in one hand and a cold glass of white wine in the other.
“Who might be in DC?” he asked as he sat down.
“Cadie’s ex-girlfriend,” Maggie said. “If you’re going to wander away, love, you’re going to miss half the conversation.” She tucked her arm into his elbow and rested her head against his shoulder.
“Ah well, someone has to do the tidying up around here,” he replied mellowly. He glanced at Cadie. “Your ex is the politician, right?”
Cadie nodded, ignoring the snort of derision coming from the long, tall body next to her on the grass. “That’s right,” she said. “A senator.”
David looked almost impressed. Almost. “Pretty important person, huh,” he said between mouthfuls of crumble.
“She thinks so,” Cadie replied quietly. “Or she did. I don’t really know what she thinks now.” She felt Jo’s hand against the small of her back, circling in slow, reassuring movements against her skin.
“Josie, are you going to go back with Cadie?” Maggie asked. She thought she knew the answer to that already, but for three weeks she had been waiting for an opportunity to finally talk to her daughter – really talk to her – and so far, this looked like the best chance.
Cadie felt Jo’s hand momentarily stop its movement and she slipped her own hand to the inside of the taller woman’s knee. With a gentle squeeze she did some reassuring of her own.
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