Joe leaned back in his chair. ‘Hey, who’s the journo here?’
Lizzie smiled back at him. Harri opened a packet of scotch finger biscuits and the plastic wrap crinkled. She grabbed one for herself, crunched loudly, and pushed the packet towards Joe.
‘It’s just that…wow,’ Lizzie laughed, ‘This is such a surprise. A good surprise.’
Joe shrugged his shoulders. ‘To tell the truth, it’s a bit of a surprise to me, too, Mosquito. I had some leave banked up and I thought, what the hell. I could do with a road trip. So I hopped in the car and, before I knew it, I’d driven right across the Hay Plains and ended up right back here in Middle Point.’
‘And Jasmine? She didn’t come with you?’ Lizzie had expected him to look tired, considering he’d driven the thousands of kilometres from Sydney, but with a little further scrutiny, she decided there was something more than exhaustion in the shadows under his eyes and the three-day growth.
Joe raised a smile and shook his head. ‘She couldn’t get any leave from work, so she’s back in Sydney. She’s spending Christmas with her parents and her sister.’
‘Oh,’ Lizzie managed, ‘That’s a pity.’
Oh hell, it wasn’t a pity at all. No matter how hard she’d tried over the years, she couldn’t fake it. She’d never breathed a word to Joe but she’d never liked her sister-in-law. Lizzie had found it hard to warm to her snobby Sydney attitude and had always harboured the suspicion that Jasmine had never liked Middle Point either, which was a definite strike against anybody in Lizzie’s books.
‘So, Mosquito.’ Joe let out a huge sigh and raised his eyebrows in a question. ‘You think I can crash at your place for a while?’
Lizzie’s heart jumped. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Will you still be here for Christmas? It’s only a few weeks away.’
Joe rubbed his jaw. ‘Yeah, I thought I might stay until New Year. If that’s all right with you?’
‘As long as you have a shower, Stinkface, you can stay for as long as you like.’ At that moment, all the pain and sadness and regret she’d carried with her into Harri’s house vanished. She was going to have Joe home. That was about the best Christmas present she could have hoped for.
Harri grabbed another biscuit from the packet. ‘That’s good news, Joe, because I want the skinny on what’s really been going on in New South Wales politics. I’ve been reading your column online and I don’t know if I agree with your take on the next election.’
Lizzie hopped up when the kettle boiled and made herself a tea, then refreshed Harri’s and Joe’s. She watched them talk without taking in any of it. She could see by the look on Harri’s face that someone else in Middle Point would enjoy having Joe home, too.
As for her, having Joe home would help her keep her mind off Dan. Yes, she thought as she sipped her tea, Christmas might not be so bad after all.
Julia closed the guest bedroom door behind her with a quiet click. She and Ry had managed to get Anna up the stairs, in between more moaning and an emergency trip to the bathroom to throw up. Julia figured she needed to sleep it off and convinced Anna and Dan that the guest bedroom here was a lot nicer than Dan’s bedroom. She was willing to lay money on it that he didn’t even have any clean sheets.
Once Ry had left the room, she’d sat Anna gently down on the edge of the bed, peeled off her jeans and tucked her up, dropping the blind to give her the cover of darkness.
‘Julia, I’m so sorry. This is not me, I swear.’ Anna could barely open her eyes and a plump pillow muffled her voice.
Julia smiled, touched her shoulder. ‘Get some sleep. You’ll feel better.’
‘I owe you.’
‘Ssshhh now. You don’t owe me anything.’
Anna managed to open her eyes, squinted at Julia. ‘Tell Lizzie to be patient,’ she croaked. ‘I’m think he’s in love with her. He just doesn’t know it yet.’
Julia’s ears pricked up. She desperately wanted to know more but pondered the ethics of picking the brain of someone who was possibly still drunk or, at least, seriously hungover. That silent debate raged in her head for about half a second.
‘Is he really?’
Anna’s eyes fluttered closed.
‘Anna?’
Damn it. She’d fallen asleep.
Ry threw a piece of bacon into his mouth, straight from the frypan, then swiped his hands on his shorts. ‘Hey, Dan, another coffee?’
‘Make it a long black,’ Dan sighed. ‘Double strength.’
Ry got the coffee machine steaming again. ‘You said the tables and chairs are arriving this week? Does that mean it’ll be finished by next weekend?’
Dan wondered how many cups of coffee that thing could make without blowing a fuse. ‘Should be. I know Lizzie’s been on the phone, organising people for the first market, the Sunday before Christmas. She’s had a good response so far.’
Ry handed Dan his coffee. ‘Good. You two have done a great job with it.’
‘Yeah, thanks.’
‘We need a name for it though. We can’t keep calling it “the car park”.’
‘And beer garden doesn’t seem right for the family crowd we’re after,’ Dan added.
‘No.’ Ry crossed his arms over his chest, lifted his chin to Dan. ‘Hey. I need to ask you something.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Will you stand up for me as best man at the wedding?’
Dan shrugged. ‘Sure.’
Julia sat on the top step of the stairs, out of sight of the two men, eavesdropping on the conversation. It wasn’t spying, she’d reasoned, as she tucked a curl behind her ear. And at the one word reply from Dan, she propped her chin in her hands and let the relief flood over her. After months of waiting and judging the right time, Ry had just gone with it. He and Dan didn’t need a big deep and meaningful discussion about their friendship. The question was asked and answered.
Julia knew this was a big step for Dan. A warm buzz flitted in her stomach. Things were coming together nicely. She would finally be able to organise a fantastic party to celebrate the beginning of her life with Ry.
But there were some way more urgent matters to take care of first.
‘Joe, tell me. Really. Who needs Bondi when you can have this?’ Lizzie spread her arms wide and spun around on the sand, turning circles like a playful child, laughing at her good fortune. She’d figured Joe needed to dip his feet into the Southern Ocean again after so many years of the Pacific, so she’d dragged him out of bed early. The morning sun was still low in the sky, shadowing the hills to the east. A light wind blew off the water and they were alone. Maybe there was an old man with a dog in the distance, and a few gulls, but that was it.
Space. Freedom. Fresh air. Middle Point in a nutshell.
‘Bondi’s not bad, Lizzie. Hugh Jackman swims there when he’s in Sydney, you know.’
Lizzie snorted. ‘While that does give Bondi some bonus points, I’ll admit, he’s there with thousands of other people and a million paparazzi. What good is it when you can’t see the sand for beach towels and tourists?’
Joe fell into an easy rhythm beside her. He knew there was no point in arguing. Sydney held no attractions for his sister. He’d tried during the years to convince her to fly over, especially at Christmas, to spend it with him and Jasmine so she wouldn’t be alone. But she’d claimed the pub couldn’t do without her and had never made it. Funny, the pub had also been mysteriously busy on most weekends and in the middle of winter too. He would have liked to show off Sydney to her, introduce her to his friends, but he’d never got the chance.
‘And Joe? I bet you don’t run into your best friend when you’re on Bondi beach.’ Lizzie jogged along in front of him and waved to a couple approaching in the distance.
Her best friend? That could only mean one person. Julia Jones. He watched the two women hug. As they approached, he could see Julia’s beaming smile.
‘Joe!’ She enveloped him in a warm embrace and p
lanted a smacking kiss on his left cheek. ‘Look at you!’ She eyed him up and down. ‘Just as gorgeous as ever.
‘Well, well. If it isn’t Julia Jones.’ Joe tousled her hair. ‘It seems the evil twins of Middle Point have been reunited.’
‘I can vouch for that.’ The bloke standing next to Julia held out his hand. ‘Ryan Blackburn. I’ve succumbed to the charms of the more evil of the two.’
His handshake was solid. ‘I’m Joe. Good to meet you.’
‘Ry’s my boss, Joe. He bought the pub six months ago. Made me manager.’
‘How long are you and Jasmine here for?’ Julia asked.
‘It’s just me on my lonesome, I’m sorry to say,’ Joe said with a shrug.
‘Jasmine couldn’t get away,’ Lizzie added. ‘She’s back in Sydney, but Joe is here at least until New Year, aren’t you Joe?’
He nodded, glad Lizzie had answered that complicated question for him.
‘Brilliant!’ Julia clapped her hands together. ‘You have to come to our place for Christmas dinner. We’re having a casual thing, dress beach style. It’s our first real Christmas together.’ She gazed at Ry. ‘We have a lot to celebrate this year.’
‘We hope you come,’ Ry added as he slipped an arm around Julia’s shoulders. ‘Lizzie’s family is our family.’
‘Thanks, that sounds great,’ Joe replied.
‘We’ll see you,’ Julia called as they continued walking. ‘Can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to in Sydney.’
Joe gave them a casual wave and turned his attention out to the sea. He hadn’t been out in the waters of Middle Point for such a long time. Too many years to count; a lifetime.
‘You okay?’ Joe turned to see Lizzie staring at him.
He shook it off. ‘Fine. But you dragged me out of bed so early I haven’t had coffee. Need one. Now.’
For the next few days, Lizzie kept busy at work during the day and spent time with Joe at night. They’d pulled out old photo albums and laughed at themselves as children. Lizzie had cried over photos of their mother and grandmother, while Joe patted her on the shoulder consolingly and remained stoic. Just like old times, they’d even argued about using the bathroom and who was responsible for the wet towels on the floor.
At the pub, things were beginning to hot up for the Christmas holiday season. From mid-December on, the holidaymakers began arriving. The grey nomads were filling the town’s caravan park and on hot city days, the day-trippers took the short drive to the haven of the waves and the cooling breezes. At the end of the day, they’d pack their sunshades, bodyboards and wet towels into the car and head up to the pub for a meal. The next step was tucking the kids up in the back seat in hope that they’d fall into exhausted sleep on the drive back home to the suburbs.
Lizzie hadn’t spoken to Dan since the morning they’d run into each other at Ry and Julia’s. She’d heard from Julia that Dan had driven Anna’s car – and Anna – back to Adelaide late on the same day that Joe had arrived. Julia told her Anna had been embarrassed beyond words at her behaviour and had promised to make it up to them. She’d sent a huge bunch of flowers to Julia and Ry as an apology.
Dan had reverted to project managing by text message, which was fine by Lizzie. The paving was complete and the tables and chairs had arrived, just as he’d said they would, and the delivery guys had stashed them in the storage shed. Dan had texted her to say an electrician would be on site in the afternoon to connect some extra power for the stallholders at the market. Her day off came and went with no mention of the lunch he’d promised her. It was as if he’d never asked. Instead, she slept in late, took her bodyboard down to the beach for an hour, then drove into Victor Harbor to buy Christmas presents. She even bought a little plastic tree and some shiny silver baubles to decorate it. It would make her home feel more like Christmas this year.
‘Lizzie, do we have any tables left for Christmas Eve?’ The pub’s young waitress, Kimberley, called out to her, and it snapped Lizzie right back into the middle of the pub. Kimberley had the phone pressed to her ear, her hand covering the mouthpiece while she waited for an answer.
‘Tell them sorry, we’re fully booked. And for New Year’s Eve as well. And no, before they ask you, we can’t possibly manage to squeeze in an extra table.’ This year, for the first time in a decade, Lizzie wished she didn’t have to work those nights. Sure, the pub was closed on Christmas Day and on the first of January, so she got to crash after the exhaustion of those shifts. But it felt like she had some special people to share those special times with this year. Joe was back and Julia was back, too, the first time in fifteen years she’d been in Middle Point for Christmas.
The big doors opened and Joe walked in with a big breeze at his shoulder, a smile creasing his face as he found Lizzie at the bar.
‘Hey, Stinkface.’
‘Hey, Mosquito.’
‘Want a beer?’ Lizzie asked.
Joe thought for a minute. ‘Ah, what the hell. I’m on holidays.’ He found a stool and leaned on the bar.
Lizzie poured him a drink in a frosty glass, getting the right ratio of foam to liquid, and placed it in front of him.
‘So what’s it like to be back? Has the old place changed much?’
‘You kidding? I hardly recognise it any more. There’s definitely more money in Middle Point than there used to be.’
‘That’s so true. Wait until you see Ry and Julia’s house. It’s massive. It’s right next to Julia’s mum’s old place, the green one that Dan bought.’
‘Who?’ Joe wasn’t a journalist for nothing and Lizzie cursed herself for mentioning his name.
‘Dan McSwaine.’ Lizzie looked up to the carriage clock, the front door, the crowded tables. Anything to avoid Joe’s stare. ‘He works for Ry. He’s working on a project with me here at the pub.’
‘Why are you blushing?’ Joe grinned at his sister, leaned over and ruffled her hair, a modified version of the ponytail yanking he did when they were little. That made her laugh out loud and that’s the sound Dan heard when he pushed his way through the pub doors from the street.
There she was, laughing, happy, her face all-smiling. And trained on some tall blond guy perched on a bar stool.
His fists clenched involuntarily. He knew he had no right to feel pissed off. But that didn’t stop the hackles rising or his anger flaring.
Dan strode over to the bar.
CHAPTER
16
Lizzie’s smile and laughing eyes disappeared the minute she realised it was him. The happy face she’d been sharing with whoever the hell she was flirting with became a blank when he marched over to the bar, placed his splayed hands on it and checked her out with an intense glare.
For a moment, they did a Mexican standoff, neither saying a word.
Lizzie finally broke the silence. ‘Hello Dan.’ Her mouth was set in a determined pout and she lifted her chin with a sharp inhale of breath.
‘Elizabeth,’ he managed with a growl.
The guy who’d been talking to her put down his beer and cocked his head in Dan’s direction. Dan could see his grin from the corner of his eye. Lizzie was biting her lip and tapping a finger on the wooden bar.
She looked from Joe to Dan and back.
‘Joe, this is Dan McSwaine. He’s…he works for Ry and he’s helping me with the car park renovation.’
Joe turned, nodded, held out a big hand. ‘G’day.’
Lizzie cleared her throat. ‘Dan, this is Joe. My brother.’
Her brother.
The one who’d run off when his sister was barely a kid, leaving her to cope all alone as their mother was dying? Dan held out a hand, wrapped his fingers around Joe’s in a fierce grip. He bit back the overwhelming urge to punch the guy in the mouth.
‘Dan.’ Joe quickly lost the grin, pushed off the bar stool and stood, which was when Dan realised he didn’t have a height advantage over the guy. And he looked fit, so he probably didn’t have an advantage there, either. He eased off
on the handshake and let go.
‘Joe. Blake. Are you telling me your name is Joe Blake?’
Lizzie watched as Joe rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah.’ He sat back down, sipped his beer.
‘Joe Blake,’ Dan repeated.
‘Yeah, bring it on,’ Joe said. ‘You think I haven’t heard that joke before?’
Dan smirked. Slammed a hand on the bar. This was simply too good. ‘Joe Blake. The Sydney snake.’
Anyone who ran out on their sister the way Joe had done was a snake in Dan’s eyes. A snake in the grass. It didn’t take Dan ten seconds to decide that he didn’t like the guy.
‘Elizabeth.’
At the sound of her name, Lizzie reluctantly met his gaze. Shadows smudged her eyes and her face had lost its blush. She looked tired.
‘I don’t mean to interrupt but I’m here to do some work on the car park.’
She grabbed a messy pile of menus and began stacking them neatly with little taps against the bar. Her small silver earrings jiggled a rhythm with every movement and Dan’s fingers itched to reach over and caress the soft skin by the nape of her neck. Why did he get the feeling it would be totally unwelcome?
‘The electrician should be here this afternoon,’ Dan told her.
‘Great,’ she replied. She acknowledged him for about one-tenth of a second. It wasn’t enough for him.
‘How many stallholders have registered for the first market?’
‘Ten, so far. There’s lots of interest.’ Her answer was directed at Joe, as if he were the one asking the questions.
And apparently he was. ‘Do you surf, Dan?’
‘Sorry…what?’ Dan was thrown by the randomness of the question and the tone of his voice barely disguised his annoyance.
Joe had propped an elbow on the bar, his chin in his hand. ‘I’m looking for someone to go surfing with. Thought you looked like a surfer.’
Dan averted his eyes. ‘Nope. I didn’t grow up down here like you guys did. Now, I don’t…’ He stopped, stepped back from the bar, swallowing the words that were right there on the tip of his tongue. I don’t think I can. He searched Lizzie’s face one more time for a connection, waited for her to look at him. Nothing. He checked the time on the clock over the bar. ‘I’ll ring the sparky. See when he’s due on site. I’ll let you know, Elizabeth.’
Someone Like You Page 16