Ebb Tide

by Leah Murray

  Then she twisted her hair up into a roll, secured it with some hair pins and started on her make-up, outlining her eyes with a kohl pencil, brushing some dark grey shadow onto the corner of her eyelids. She finished the outfit off with a pair of gold stud earrings and a matching bracelet.

  After a final spritz of her favorite perfume, Anais Anais, and a last application of light pink lipstick, she stepped back and smiled at her reflection.

  She looked good, even if she did say so herself.

  Heading back to the bedroom for her shoes, she saw Will bending over a drawer, wearing a pair of black suit pants and a white collared shirt, which was still unbuttoned. She swallowed, couldn’t hide the rush of attraction as he stood up, a black tie in his hand, and turned to face her.

  The white of the shirt accentuated his dark tan, the bright blue of his eyes and the black of his hair, which just touched the tip of the collar, curling slightly at the edge.

  He had a swimmer’s body, lean, muscled, and the cut of the suit and shirt only emphasized his physique. She swallowed, looked up to meet his gaze, saw him running his eyes over her.

  `Wow,’ he said, and she felt herself redden, shrugged, happy to see the look of pure appreciation in his eyes.

  `You look pretty good yourself,’ she replied and he grinned, stepped towards her.

  She held up a finger in warning. `No. I’m not redoing my lipstick. All I need now is my shoes and then I’m ready.’

  He sighed. `Okay then’ he said, sliding the tie around his neck. She went over to knot it for him, couldn’t help but return his smile as he watched her.

  `There, done,’ she said, stepping back.

  He grabbed her hand, held it to his mouth and she smiled, unable to look away as he pressed his lips to her fingers, turned her hand palm up and kissed the inside of her wrist, his eyes still fixed on hers.

  Then he smiled, stepped back and picked up the jacket, shrugging it on.

  `Ready?’ he asked and she nodded, noticing how very tall and sophisticated he suddenly looked. Urbane, suave. A far cry from wild and feral.

  `I’ll just get my shoes,’ she said, slipping on the heels and following him down the hall.

  The dinner was held at a huge manor house somewhere in the hills above Fowey. Jo didn’t really see where they were going as she spent the drive talking to Julia, surprised to find out that Audrey and Samuel were guests of honor due to a large donation they’d given for the establishment of a hospice for children with cancer.

  Her opinion of Audrey changed somewhat as Julia told her about the numerous charities Audrey was involved with, the fundraising initiatives. She looked over at Will, wondered why he hadn’t told her any of this. But she didn’t make any comment on the topic and soon they pulled into a large, circular drive.

  She followed Will and Julia into a high-ceilinged ballroom, threading her way through small groups of people in evening dress and numerous waiters and waitresses with silver trays of nibbles and champagne. They found Samuel and Audrey at a circular table over by the wall.

  `Hello, take a seat,’ said Audrey, indicating a couple of chairs across from her and Jo sat down between Will and Samuel, smiling a greeting as she was introduced to two elderly women to Will’s right. Apparently they were friends of Audrey’s and seemed rather surprised to see Will at the dinner.

  `You don’t come to these things often, do you?’ Jo asked him as he pulled out his chair and sat down next to her.

  He shrugged. `Not really.’

  `Why did you come tonight then?’

  `Because you wanted to,’ he replied with a smile.

  Something about the way he looked at her tugged at her heart and she smiled back, suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of emotion.

  It was then that she knew she was falling for him.

  No. Had already fallen for him. Hard.

  Maybe he could see what she was thinking because he leaned in closer, pressed his lips to her forehead and laced his fingers through hers.

  `It’s going to be pretty boring though. Speeches, lots of polite conversation, huge dinner. It could drag on forever,’ he said, sitting back in his chair but keeping her hand in his.

  `Don’t go telling Jo things like that before it’s even started,’ said Audrey and Jo turned, reddened as she realized Audrey had been watching them.

  `Don’t worry Jo. You don’t have to sit through all the speeches, only the introductory ones. After that there’ll be dinner, which is always divine, I think it’s coq au vin tonight, plus there’ll be dancing and you can wonder around the gardens. We don’t expect you to sit here all night.’

  `Of course not,’ added Samuel and Jo smiled.

  Surprisingly, Jo found she did enjoy herself. The speeches didn’t drag on too long and as Audrey had said, the food was absolutely heavenly.

  Conversation at the table centered on the hospice and what Audrey and Phyllis, the elderly woman next to Will, hoped to achieve by setting it up.

  Jo found she didn’t have to make an effort at conversation, merely added a comment here and there where required but mostly sat back and watched Will interact with his family, the odd friend of his parents who came over to say hello. He was talking with one such woman, an old neighbor, about her new house up in Devon, when Samuel turned to her and asked her if she was enjoying herself.

  `Yes, thanks,’ she said, taking a sip of champagne, her head spinning with the resulting buzz.

  A live jazz band had started playing in the corner of the room and Samuel proved to be an avid fan, filling her in on the roots of the movement.

  `It started in New Orleans didn’t it?’ she asked and he nodded, launching into what was obviously a favorite topic.

  `And if you don’t stop him now you’ll learn all about Johnny Dodds and Sidney Bechet and probably more than you ever wanted to know about Jelly Roll Morton,’ Will said from beside her, barely suppressing a grin.

  Samuel laughed. `Yes, Will. Very subtle, boy.’

  He turned to Jo. `That’s his way of saying he’d like you to himself for a bit so if you don’t mind I’m going to see if my wife would like to dance.’

  He stood up, held out a hand to Audrey and whisked her off to the dance floor.

  Jo smiled. So that was where Will got the charm.

  `Are you also into jazz then?’ she asked, turning to Will and he laughed, shook his head.

  `Nope. I’ve just heard that speech about a hundred times. How about a walk in the gardens? Dancing isn’t really my thing.’

  She nodded, for some reason not surprised he preferred the quiet of the gardens to the now packed dance floor. Outside the air was warm and slightly humid. As they walked, the bright lights and party noise faded into the distance, replaced by the dim light of the moon and the chirping of crickets. A fresh honeysuckle fragrance scented the air and Jo bent down to smell one of the delicate white flowers, inhaling deeply.

  That was when Will looked up and saw the couple at the other end of the garden. The woman had her back to them and he only caught a glimpse of her profile as she turned a corner, disappearing behind a hedge. Something about her seemed familiar and Will glanced over at her companion, thinking he’d be able to jolt his memory. But a sudden chill ran down his spine as he saw the way the stranger was fixated on Jo, the intensity of his gaze obvious even from a distance.

  Something made Will step forward, effectively blocking Jo from view, and the stranger looked up at him then, met his gaze. Will raised an eyebrow and studied his face, chiseled, arrogant, the lips thin and cruel.

  The man grinned sardonically, raised two fingers in an army salute at his temple, pointed them at Will then turned and followed the woman, disappearing behind the hedge.

  Uneasy, Will reached out and grabbed Jo’s hand, started back up towards the house, his mind racing.

  `Um, where are we going?’ Jo asked, rushing to keep up with him as he strode away.

  `Back inside.’

  `Why?’

  `What does J
ack look like?’

  She stopped dead, pulled her hand away, her face white.

  `Why?’

  He paused, scanned the garden before looking back down at her. `I think he was here. Is he tall, blonde? Thinnish face? Damn cocky expression?’

  She paled further and clenched her jaw. `Yes. Where did you see him?’

  `At the end of the garden, he was watching you. Question is, how did he know you were here? Who have you told we were coming?’

  She shrugged her shoulder helplessly, frowned. `Nobody. I don’t understand.’

  He sighed, frowned. `Okay well he knew I was on to him. He’ll be long gone by now. Bastard.’

  She looked pale and frightened and he shook his head. `Here,’ he said, shrugging out of his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. `Let’s just go back in, I’ll ask my parents if they can drop Julia off and we can go home. Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.’

  She looked up at him, smiled faintly, but he could see the terror in her eyes and it tugged at his heart.

  CHAPTER 18

  JO WAS GLAD OF THE comfort of Will’s chest that night, happy he simply took her in his arms and held her tight, not expecting anything in return. Simple human comfort. It went a long way to repairing the rip in her soul that had been there ever since Jack had taken everything from her. Love, trust, self worth.

  `How can you have been with him for a year and not know he had that in him?’ Will asked suddenly and she tensed, tried to think of a reply.

  `He’s very good at pretending. And very controlling, in a way that you don’t even notice until it’s too late.’

  She smiled grimly. `And when you do notice it’s so damn obvious you wonder how you could have missed it. I don’t know. Maybe in some ways I was responsible.’

  He snorted but she sat up, looked him in the eye.

  `Honestly. I could have ended it earlier, I should have seen the signs earlier. I did, I simply didn’t want to face them so I pretended they weren’t there.’

  `That doesn’t change what he did. You can’t possibly blame yourself for that.’

  She stared at him for a long while then nodded, rested her head back on his chest. `No. I don’t blame myself for that,’ she said eventually.

  He didn’t comment and she stared blindly at the TV, trying to force herself to think of something other than that awful night but somehow the memories wouldn’t stay buried.

  Amazingly though, now she saw things almost from a distance, with a detached, formless feel. It was something that had happened to her, changed her forever but the wound didn’t feel quite as raw now, somehow Will had helped her to close a door on that part of her past, seal her off from it. Maybe this was what they called closure.

  Smiling suddenly, she reached up and touched her lips to his.

  His eyes flickered with a mix of surprise and something else, something deeper that she couldn’t label.

  `What was that for?’

  `Just a thank you,’ she said, leaning her chin on his chest and looking up at him as he ran his hands through her hair.

  His lips twitched, finally giving up the fight and breaking into a grin.

  `Pleasure, not sure what for, but maybe if I do a bit more of it I’ll get more thank you’s.’

  `Oh yes? What sort of thank you’s were you thinking of?’

  His grin widened. `Well …’

  She laughed as he suddenly rolled on top of her, supported himself on his elbows as he bent to kiss her gently.

  `You really did look amazing tonight Jo,’ he said after a minute, looking down at her. She reached up and traced a finger down the faint stubble on his chin, moved to the cleft at the top of his lip, laughing as he leaned his head back and bit her finger gently.

  `So did you.’

  His eyes darkened as she met his gaze and she was suddenly flooded with warmth, caring. She tightened her arms around his neck, pulled him back down to her and kissed him hard.

  `I have to go into the pub today, Gus has covered way too many of my shifts this week already,’ Will said next morning, sitting at the kitchen table.

  Jo took a sip of orange juice and leaned back in her chair.

  `You should invite them round here, have a sort of thank you party for everyone.’

  He paused then resumed sipping his coffee.

  `Could do.’

  She sent him an assessing look. `Why are you so wary of inviting your friends over?’

  He shrugged. `I don’t know. I’m not really. I’ve just not ever had anyone round here like that. Not a huge gathering anyway.’

  `You don’t have to. I just thought it would be a nice idea. You can invite your parents and Gus and Hayley, Julia and Shaun, Grant and Shelley. I mean they’ve all done so much for you. And me.’

  He took another sip of coffee, obviously considering the idea. `Okay, well I guess that sounds like a good idea.’

  She laughed, went to stand in front of his chair and he sat back, pulled her closer, circling her with his arms as she ran her hands through his hair. `I don’t mean to boss you around in your own house, I just thought it was a nice idea,’ she said again and he shook his head, leaned back to meet her gaze.

  `No, you’re right. I should invite them round. Maybe next Sunday, we can close the pub for the day. Anyway, what are you planning on doing today?’

  She smoothed a strand of hair away from his eye, pursed her lips. `I don’t know. Maybe I can start digging.’

  He leaned back, lifted an eyebrow. `Digging?’

  `Yeah, you said I could plant things so I may as well make a start on it. Maybe I can get it done before Sunday and we can set up a table and things in the back.’

  He frowned and she bit her lip, wondering if perhaps she’d crossed a line. After all, it was his house and here she was taking over. `I mean, if you still want me to do that,’ she added, hesitant.

  He met her gaze and after a moment smiled. `Go ahead, I’ll get Grant to give you a hand.’

  `Are you sure?’

  He nodded, pulled her down onto his lap. `Uhuh,’ he murmured, kissing her soundly.

  She had to beat at his shoulder to get him to let her go and she sat up, laughing.

  `Okay then. Well, I’ll start doing that this morning.’

  He grinned. `I’ll ask Grant to come over, maybe Shelley will come have a chat too. But seriously Jo, I don’t want you alone out there. You go where Grant goes, and don’t go wandering off into the fields by yourself.’

  She shook her head. `I won’t. I’ll go get Nemo this morning too, he’s ready to come home now.’

  `Really? Great.’

  He grinned like a little boy and she smiled. `Yes, the wound is healing nicely and there’s no infection. He’s still limping a bit but he’ll be back to normal in a few weeks.’

  Hours later, Jo sat back on her heels, ran the back of her hand over her forehead and squinted up into the sun. God, she was thirsty. She pulled the gloves off her hands and set down the trowel, stood up and stretched her back then scanned the yard.

  Will had gone with her to fetch Nemo and dropped her back at the farm before heading over to the pub. Grant had walked out back with her and helped dig out two medium-sized oval beds in the middle of the yard.

  Now she was preparing the soil, getting it ready for planting while Grant fiddled with an engine over under the tree, Nemo and Jess curled at his feet.

  She looked over at him, not sure what he was doing, almost certain he was simply whiling away the time on orders from Will to keep an eye on her. For some reason that made her smile, even though a part of her bristled at the thought.

  `Hey guys,’ came a light voice from behind her and she turned to see Shelley with a tray of drinks.

  `Hi,’ she replied, heading over to take the tray.

  `Thanks,’ Shelley said with a smile, sitting down next to Grant with a groan. `It’s getting a bit difficult to get around nowadays,’ she said, smiling as Grant squeezed her hand.

  `When’s the
baby due?’ Jo asked, taking a sip from a glass, enjoying the cool tang of fresh lemonade.

  `Three weeks. About bloody time too,’ Shelley said wryly and Jo grinned.

  Grant patted Shelley’s knee and stood up, grabbed a glass of juice from the tray Jo had placed on the floor. He shooed Jess away as she stretched, yawned and stuck her nose in between the glasses.

  `You won’t even remember this when it’s over,’ he said, draining the liquid in a single gulp and wiping his hand over his mouth. `Darn good. Thanks,’ he continued, bending down and kissing Shelley.

  Jo looked away, embarrassed, focused on her drink, feeling distinctly like a third wheel.

  Finally, Shelley pushed Grant away with a laugh. `Go on now, you’re embarrassing Jo,’ she said and Grant grinned.

  `She’s used to it. I’m sure young Will keeps her on her toes.’

  Jo’s flush deepened and Grant let out a loud, booming belly-laugh, patted her shoulder.

  `Nature calls. Back in a minute,’ he said and Jo watched him walk into the house, turning to see Shelley’s eyes on her.

  `How are things with Will then?’ she asked.

  `Oh, um. Good, thanks,’ Jo replied, not quite sure what else to say.

  Shelley nodded, pointed at the beds. `Must be better than good if he’s letting you do this. I’ve been nagging him for months to pretty it up some but he’s dug his heels in. Said he hasn’t the time to keep it maintained.’

  `Hmmm. That’s a good point actually, I’m going to have to think of what to put in there that doesn’t need much looking after.’

  Shelley sent her an assessing look but went with the change of subject.

  `Well most anything will grow here, it’s sheltered, weather’s not too bad and the soil’s good. I’ve noticed with my garden that geraniums tend to do quite well. They’ll add a lot of color too.’

  `Hmmm, yeah, good idea. They’re pretty low maintenance really,’ Jo replied.

  They sat in silence for a minute before Shelley spoke again.

  `Jo?’

  `Yes?’

  `Who is this guy that’s after you?’

  Jo sighed, sat down and crossed her legs. `It’s an ex boyfriend. Actually, he’s the reason I moved here, I was trying to get away.’