Temporary Intrigue

by Huston, Judy

  Dimity laughed.

  “I think they’ve had the occasional car in their front yard. You won’t have to come back this way to get on the Sydney road.”

  “At least there’s a vacant block next to them,” Josh noticed. “Maybe the runaway cars head that way.”

  “It’s actually a reserve that goes through to my street,” Dimity said. “But we’ll have to take the long way.”

  She directed him around a couple of corners into a quiet residential area. The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

  “It’s the house on the corner.”

  “Nice place,” said Josh, pulling up at a cream house with green picket fences facing both streets and brushwood fencing on the other two sides. “I’ll get your backpack.”

  Glancing around, Dimity saw a white food carton on the back seat.

  “That’s not your dinner, is it?”

  None of her business, of course, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  “I asked the hotel chef to make it up for me.” As he leaned across to open her door she caught the pleasant tang of a citrus aftershave. “I’ve been so busy talking business at meals in the past two days that I’ve hardly touched whatever was on my plate.”

  Dimity pictured the crockpot bubbling merrily in her cosy kitchen, then thought of the two-hour drive to Sydney.

  “Do you have to be back at a particular time?”

  He looked surprised.

  “No.”

  “You can eat with us before you go. I put a pot roast on this morning.”

  “Well, thanks, but no, I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “Hey.” On secure ground now, Dimity eyeballed him almost fiercely. “It’s no trouble. You’re eating with us, okay? Refusal is not an option.”

  He looked taken aback then laughed and raised his hands, palms towards her.

  “You’ve talked me into it.”

  ****

  The outside light revealed a neatly kept garden and a few small trees with raindrops glistening on their leaves. Dimity led the way to an enclosed veranda at the back of the house where an overweight beagle emerged from a kennel, greeted her ecstatically, then sniffed suspiciously at Josh’s ankles.

  “This is Shane’s dog, Bert,” explained Dimity, kneeling down to hold him. “He’s staying here for a while with Shane and Shane’s girlfriend, Leigh.”

  “Hi there.” Josh crouched down too, massaging Bert’s thick chest. Glancing up suddenly he found Dimity’s eyes level with his.

  The green pools looked very dark, deep and inviting.

  His hand stilled and he thought he heard her catch her breath before she stood, brushing dog hairs from her jeans.

  “Let’s eat,” she said, opening a door into a kitchen where an appetising aroma sent Josh’s taste buds into an immediate frenzy. He had an impression of cheerful yellow walls, timber bench tops and the same ordered atmosphere he had noticed in the yard.

  A young man at the sink, filling a saucepan with water, looked around.

  “One more for dinner,” Dimity said. She gestured at the young man. “This is Shane,” she told Josh. “Shane, this is – um–”

  From her appalled expression it was clear her mind had gone a total blank.

  “Josh Williams,” supplied Josh easily. He shook hands, noting a strong resemblance to Dimity in Shane’s fair hair and green eyes.

  “Hi.” Shane’s smile was quick and attractive, like Dimity’s. His handshake was brief but firm.

  “Sandy’s coming too, but don’t wait for her,” Dimity said. “He, um, Josh, is on his way to Sydney but he’s having a quick meal with us first.”

  Shane nodded and set the saucepan on the stove.

  “Your pot roast looks good. I’m doing the rice now. Ten minutes max and we can sit down.”

  “Come into the lounge room,” Dimity said to Josh. “One good thing about having Shane home is that he likes the kitchen to himself.”

  “Only one good thing?” Shane’s mocking voice followed them down the hall.

  Josh liked the living room, too. It was done out in lemon and sandy shades, with a comfortable corner lounge and chairs, low coffee tables, soft lamp lighting and polished timber floorboards. A large brown and orange rug was spread on the floor in front of a glowing combustion fire. Timber shelves filled with books half covered one wall. On another wall were two framed watercolours, one featuring a possum on a tree branch, the other showing a platypus on a river bank. Photographs were arranged here and there.

  The only incongruous note was a small television on a table squarely in front of one of the lounges.

  “It usually lives out in the back room,” said Dimity, noticing Josh’s glance at it. “But Shane and Leigh brought it in here because it’s warmer.”

  As if on cue a young woman in red pyjamas, with black hair cut square around her face, wandered in, stared at Josh then spread herself on the lounge. She picked up a remote control and flicked the television on.

  Dimity introduced them, remembering his name this time. As he’d guessed, this was the girlfriend, Leigh. She muttered a greeting then returned her gaze to the screen.

  “I thought you were having an early night,” Dimity said.

  “Changed my mind.” Leigh didn’t take her eyes from the television.

  Dimity stepped forward, took the remote and turned the television off.

  “We’re going to sit here until dinner’s ready.” Her smile was pleasant but her tone had the same firmness that had surprised Josh earlier. “You might like to help Shane.”

  Leigh’s glare had Josh wondering if he might have to step in to protect Dimity from yet another black eye, but she finally levered herself off the lounge and flounced out.

  “I’ll hang your jacket up and change. I feel a bit rain-soaked,” said Dimity. “How about you? Do you want to borrow anything from Shane?”

  “No thanks, I’m fine.”

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” she told him. “There’s a bathroom down the hallway if you want to wash Bert’s hairs off your hands.”

  On the way to the bathroom Josh passed a room with large windows looking out onto the back yard. From a glimpse of easels, paints, a large table and a computer on a corner desk he guessed it was a combined studio-study. It appeared ultra-organised but also, like the rest of the house, cheerful. Looking as out of place as the television was a baseball bat propped in a corner.

  Back in the living room he found that another young woman with sharp but friendly features and bright orange spiky hair had replaced Leigh on the lounge.

  “I’m Sandra,” she told him.

  “Nice to meet you.” Josh shook hands before lowering himself into an armchair.

  “Dim won’t be a minute. She’s drying herself off.” Sandra eyed him with lively curiosity. “I was going to bring her home until I remembered I had a late appointment. Then the girl rang and cancelled but I thought Dim would be on the bus by then.”

  “I saw her waiting. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

  “Absolutely.” Sandra seemed inordinately pleased about it.

  “You have a salon?” Josh asked politely. “That must keep you busy.”

  Sandra nodded as Dimity returned and perched on the arm of the lounge. She had changed into a pair of black trousers and dark green shirt. Her feet were cosy in grey, hand-knitted socks.

  “But I still find time to double as Dim’s stylist,” Sandra added with a wicked grin, nodding at her friend’s feet.

  Dimity rolled her eyes.

  “Don’t remind him. He saw the results of your work.”

  Josh chuckled.

  “I’ve seen worse.”

  His eyes, still smiling, caught Dimity’s. She bit her lower lip as if to try to stop smiling back but it curved in response anyway, sending something like a high voltage shock jolting through him. For an instant, as the green eyes widened and deepened, he thought the same current must have zapped her but then she glance
d away, running a hand through her freshly towelled hair.

  “Dinner shouldn’t be long,” she said.

  “Don’t rush it on my account. You’re incredibly well organised to have done as much as you have.”

  Sandra laughed.

  “What Dim achieves on the home front, she makes up for in the workplace. Employers beware!”

  “I’m sure that’s an exaggeration,” Josh protested mildly, noticing Dimity had flushed scarlet.

  “She’s the first to admit office work isn’t her strong suit.” Sandra chuckled again. “That’s why she’s temping. As she says, by the time all those corporate types wake up to the fact that she’s a natural for the Miss Incompetence of the Year award, she’s moved on to the next job.”

  Dimity jumped up.

  “I’d offer you a glass of wine if you weren’t driving, but how about coffee?” she said to Josh.

  “Thanks. Black, no sugar.”

  “Sandy, can you help me?”

  Sandra looked surprised, but the snap in Dimity’s voice left no room for argument.

  “Won’t be a minute,” Dimity said over her shoulder to Josh.

  “No rush,” he assured her again.

  As he watched them leave the room it crossed his mind, not for the first time in the past couple of days, that this was something different.

  Women he dated had always expected him to be the one to wine and dine them, not the other way around.

  This wasn’t a date, of course, he reminded himself hastily.

  But being nurtured by someone outside his family was a new experience for him.

  He stretched his long legs out to the fire, enjoying the warmth.

  ****

  “What’s the hurry?” Bewildered, Sandra followed Dimity down the hallway.

  “Shush!” Dimity pulled her into the laundry room next to the kitchen. “Listen!” She almost hissed the word. “Cut out the Miss Incompetence stuff! I didn’t have time to tell you. He’s the Global Homes Marketing Director for the whole southern hemisphere. That makes him my boss. Big time!”

  “No!” Sandra snorted with mirth.

  “Not funny.” Dimity threw her a malevolent look. “How much more can you make me suffer? First the skirt, now this.”

  Sandra was still guffawing.

  “I’m sorry, Dim, but how was I to know? I was just trying to keep things light. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry. From the way he looks at you, he won’t be too concerned about your computer skills.”

  Dimity made a frustrated gesture.

  “I ran away like a frightened rabbit when I found out who he was. I should have followed my instincts and kept running.”

  “I think you are following your instincts, angel.” Sandra patted her arm soothingly.

  “Don’t be an idiot. This is professional, not personal. You know I need this job, Sandy, but after all the inefficiencies he’s seen from me, not to mention what you just told him, do you think he’d want me working for his organisation?”

  “Right now I imagine he’s more concerned about getting his coffee.”

  “Damn! I forgot!” Dimity opened the door and scuttled into the kitchen, relieved to see a percolator of coffee purring away on the counter. Edging around Leigh, who was helping herself to wine, she found a mug in the cupboard.

  “Now, you behave,” she whispered threateningly to the still snickering Sandra, heading towards the lounge room with the steaming mug. “I don’t want to be sacked before I start.”

  ****

  Josh didn’t mind how long he waited for dinner. Basking in the comfort of the warm living room he felt more relaxed than he had for a long time. Dimity had seemed a little tense when she returned with the coffee but she soon loosened up, her cheerful banter with Sandra providing a welcome contrast to the corporate talk of the past few days.

  He watched her head turn towards the kitchen at the sound of voices raised in argument.

  “Just another normal night with the family,” she said, glancing at him apologetically.

  Josh was amused.

  “It’s a nice change for me.”

  “Do you live alone?” queried Sandra, ignoring Dimity’s warning frown.

  “Totally. Not even a goldfish. My family’s in Canada.”

  “So that’s where you’re from?” Sandra sent an innocent sideways look at Dimity. “Dim said you’re with Global Homes.”

  “That’s right. I was looking after the national marketing in Canada, then they asked me to take over the Pacific region. It seemed a good way to see – well, sunny Australia.” He nodded wryly towards the window where the sound of rain had resumed.

  Dimity groaned.

  “I keep forgetting I have to go out again.”

  “Off to a party?” Josh’s tone was carefully casual.

  “A party?” She looked as if the idea was totally alien to her. “No, I’m driving Shane to Shenanigans. The nightclub that man, Malcolm, mentioned. Shane works there when they need a part-time chef.”

  Josh looked at the bruising around her eyes.

  “Isn’t your car out of action?”

  She nodded. “We’ll go in Shane’s car. He had an accident in Sydney and lost his licence,” she went on, pre-empting his next question. A shadow of anxiety crossed her face. “It’s caused a few dramas, but he’ll get it back soon.”

  Josh hesitated, torn between minding his own business and the image of Dimity in the bus shelter like a half-drowned kitten.

  “He can’t get a bus or a taxi?”

  “Now there’s an idea!” exclaimed Sandra as if Josh had made a suggestion bordering on brilliant. “I know for a fact there’s a bus stop right outside Shenanigans.”

  Dimity ignored her.

  “A taxi would cost the earth and it’s a bit of a walk to the bus stop from here,” she said to Josh. “ Shane has an artificial foot. It’s hard for him to walk long distances.”

  “And Madam Leigh, of course, can’t make the effort to help,” commented Sandra.

  “I’ve told you, it’s easier this way.” From the look Dimity gave her, it seemed to be a sore point between them.

  Easier for you or for Shane? Josh wanted to ask, but managed not to.

  “I guess he’s not the baseball player, then?” he asked, trying to change the subject. “I noticed a bat back there.” He nodded towards the other part of the house.

  “He used to play years ago, before the accident,” Dimity said. “And he’s thinking of doing some junior coaching.”

  A shout from the kitchen told them dinner was ready.

  As he got up, Josh glanced again at the two paintings on the wall.

  “I really like them. Where did you get them?” He looked at them more closely, taken by the way the artist had captured the contrast between the shyness of the animals and the ruggedness of the Australian bush.

  “Take a bow, Dim!” crowed Sandra.

  “You did these?” He looked at Dimity, startled, then remembered the studio. “They’re great,” he added as she nodded.

  That quick smile lit up her face. The unexpected thud of his heart as he watched was, of course, merely a result of standing too quickly.

  Now close to her, he could see her mouth was a very attractive shape indeed: soft, slightly quirky, with a touch of vulnerability.

  Her voice broke through his thoughts while strangely echoing them.

  “Did you get the lipstick stain off your shirt?”

  “I’ll let the dry cleaner deal with it.” He spoke absently. His gaze had moved to her eyes.

  Yes, definitely the green of those mountain pools.

  “Are you two coming?” Sandra was watching with interest from the door.

  “Sure.” He gestured to the two of them to go ahead.

  “Do you do much painting?” he asked Dimity as they all sat down around the kitchen table.

  “As much as I can.”

  “She’s even been teaching me to draw,” said Sandra. “She’s a great teacher.”

>   “Sandy’s fiancé, Kevin, is working in Hong Kong for a few months so she has time on her hands,” Dimity explained, offering Josh a plate of bread rolls.

  “How’s she doing?” he asked.

  Dimity chuckled.

  “I don’t know about being a great teacher, but I’m an honest one. Stick to your day job, Sandy.”

  They all laughed except Leigh, who had come to the table in her pyjamas and sat watching sourly while Shane brought the pot roast over. Apart from a slight limp, Josh couldn’t see that he had any problem moving around.

  It was a pleasant, relaxed meal. Everyone opted for second helpings of the pot roast which Shane served while regaling them with humorous stories of life as a chef in Sydney. While the rest of them laughed, Leigh showed little interest in anything except her food. Josh wondered what Shane saw in her.

  He glanced across at Dimity and their eyes met. She smiled, making him feel once again as if a trip hammer had been let loose inside his chest.

  “Dim, I forgot to ask if you handed my CV in at the hotel yesterday,” Shane said.

  “Yes and no.” Daring them to laugh, Dimity looked at Josh and Sandra, who both bent their heads studiously to their plates. “I’ll explain later,” she told Shane, who was looking puzzled.

  “You could have taken it in yourself,” Sandra said to Shane with a touch of censure in her tone. “I saw you and Leigh walking past the salon in the afternoon.”

  Shane looked slightly embarrassed.

  “We made a snap decision to go out for lunch.”

  “At the Sea Haven,” added Leigh smugly.

  Josh knew little of Newcastle, but some of the restaurants that provided competition for Global had been pointed out to him during his visit. He remembered the Sea Haven, a stylish, glass and chrome establishment overlooking the city’s main beach. He also remembered it as being quite a distance from the main business area. Shane mightn’t like hoofing it to the local bus stop as a means of getting to and from work but it seemed he didn’t mind a walk when lunch was in the offing.

  At the mention of the restaurant, Dimity whistled.