“You know it’s rare for women to get along with their in-laws?”
My brain goes a little haywire at that statement. On the one hand, she’s anticipating that we’ll be married one day, but on the other, she doesn’t think it’s a big deal if she isn’t close to my mum and Dinah? I mean, they don’t have to be besties, but she could at least make an effort.
“Maybe you could be the exception,” I say. “But we’ll never know unless you try.”
She sighs. “Okay. Give me five minutes to change.”
“Take your time. I have to shower.”
I head downstairs to my room and grab a towel. I quickly bathe and change into some jeans and a lightweight button-up shirt, and then go back up to see Lani.
At least she’s also changed, now wearing a cute black sundress. But she still doesn’t look like she’s excited about the evening.
I give her a kiss on the forehead. “You look beautiful. Come on. Let’s go.”
She takes my hand and kisses it as we leave. “Such a gentleman.”
I think tonight will be okay. I just have to not set my expectations too high.
THIRTEEN
Emily
Sasha picks me up, her gorgeous red hair perfectly blow-dried and styled. We leave her car at her sister’s place and then catch an Uber over to what appears to be the centre of town, with several bars and nightclubs in close proximity.
She drags me into a bar that looks like it specialises in the Saturday-afternoon crowd.
“What would you like to drink?” I ask her.
“Maybe a cider to start.”
“Sounds good.” I go to the bar and order our drinks while Sasha finds a couple of stools over near the window, looking out to the street.
I take our ciders over and sit down, handing her one.
“Cheers,” she says, clinking my bottle.
“Cheers.”
After she takes a long sip, she looks at me. “How was the afternoon with Mr. McHottie?”
“Actually, it was fun. He drove me around town, and then we went furniture shopping.”
She laughs. “Furniture shopping?”
“Well, I need to get a new bed…”
“Wait, wait. You went bed shopping with Noah?”
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“Did Lani know about this?”
“I don’t know. But it wasn’t like that. He was just being nice.”
“Noah has never offered to do anything with me.”
“But aren’t you a local? He was showing me around.”
“I don’t know. That’s pretty intimate, shopping for a bed with someone.”
“Great. Now you’re making me feel like I did the wrong thing.”
“No, sorry, babe. I’m being silly. I guess I’m just jealous.”
I blink. “Why? Do you have a thing for Noah?”
“Not Noah! Jeez. He and Lani have been together forever. I would never try and get in between them.”
“Then who?”
She looks down at the ground. “Maybe someone else who lives in his room.”
My eyes widen. “You like Dash?”
She smiles shyly. “Yes, Dash. He’s so sweet and funny and cute.”
“And?”
“And I worry he doesn’t see me that way, and I don’t want to make it awkward if he’s not interested.”
“But you would have known him for…”
“Four years,” she confirms.
“And you’ve never once had any sort of encounter that confirms your feelings either way?”
“Nope. He’s kind of oblivious to stuff like that. I’ve only known him to date casually the whole time he’s worked at Coco Bay. We sort of lost touch when the resort shut down, but now that we’re back…”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Probably nothing,” she says gloomily.
“Surely there must be some way you can gauge his feelings without making it too obvious what you’re getting at.”
“Maybe if I had a wingwoman who could put the feelers out…” she hints.
“You want me to get involved?”
“Would you?”
“I don’t know. That could make things worse.”
“Maybe just think about it. You seem like the kind of person who knows how to say the right thing at the right time.”
I laugh. “Thank you. It’s not always true, though.”
She finishes her cider and stands up. “I’m going to get some shots. And some cocktails.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You really are planning on a big night.”
“And you’re coming along for the ride. Besides, I think you’d have some interesting stories to tell.”
“I appreciate your faith in me, but I’m pretty boring.”
“Nonsense. Everyone has a story. Stay there. I’ll be right back.”
I watch nervously as she orders six shots and a jug of something blue.
I’ll have to be careful. I can’t reveal everything about my previous life tonight.
Because even though I know I’m innocent, anyone who looks too closely at my life in Canada will quickly find out why I left.
***
I shouldn’t have worried. Sasha isn’t interested in what I used to do for work. She’s more intrigued by my love life.
She stares at me wide-eyed when I explain my brief, but slightly bizarre relationship with Emmet. “Do you think maybe he doesn’t really have a new girlfriend and just said that to make you feel better?”
“I don’t know. He seemed like an honest guy, so I hope not. But either way, I don’t think he’s going to fly all the way over here in the hope of reconciling.”
“You never know! Have you spoken to him since you arrived back here in Oz?”
“Only a couple of texts here and there. I should probably call him properly sometime.”
“And he’s the only guy you’ve dated in five years?”
“Pretty much. I had some very casual flings before that, but nothing serious.” I don’t know if I’ve talked to anyone about Seb since we lost touch a year after I got to Canada. Would it be weird to bring him up now when it was so long ago?
We’ve already finished our three shots each, which happened to be kamikazes. I learned after the fact that they contain vodka, orange liqueur, and lime. I’m still not sure what the blue drink is, but it goes down very easy.
Sasha taps out a drumbeat on the table, clearly already well on her way to being drunk. “Okay, so we’ve established that you probably have a thing for Mr. McHottie, but he’s off limits. So, who else have you dated?”
“I don’t have a thing for Noah, and I hope that you never say such a thing around Lani. If you must know, there was someone else, but I haven’t spoken to him in four years.”
“Who?” she demands.
“A guy called Seb.”
“Tell me all about him. And I want photos, or he doesn’t exist.”
“I don’t have any photos. He’s not on social media.”
“Were you ever together?”
“Yes, but not for very long.”
“Still. Don’t you have any pics saved on your phone or anything?”
“Actually, I used to have a few backed up online, but at some point, we agreed to cut all contact completely. It was too painful knowing he was so far away, and one night I deleted all the images I had of him. I figured I could look him up again one day if I really wanted to, but then I realised he didn’t have an online presence.”
“That’s why you can’t get over him. You’ve probably made him hotter in your head than he really was, and even if he was okay-looking back then, there’s no guarantee he hasn’t lost all his hair and stacked on the weight since.”
“He had beautiful hair, but I wouldn’t even have cared if it all fell out. He still would have been hot. And he had Danish heritage, so all his family were blonde and lean and pretty. I think his genetics would have prevented him from gaining weight.
”
She laughs. “You’re not making it easy for me to help you move on, babe.”
“Sorry.”
I met Seb one month before I left for Canada, and now that I think about it, our relationship wasn’t that much longer than what I had with Emmet. But unlike with Emmet, I knew from the start my time with Seb would be limited, and we still chose to embark upon a romance. We both knew it couldn’t lead to anything long-term, so we crammed in as much as possible in the few weeks we had together. Every night was a date in a new location, followed by obscenely long sessions in the bedroom. I was a very tired, but very happy woman during those last few weeks in the country.
It was harder to say goodbye than either of us expected, which is why we stayed in touch via Skype for almost a year afterwards. But it soon became clear that we both needed to move on. I wasn’t coming back, and it didn’t seem right that Seb should follow me to Canada. I knew if he left his amazing job as a building designer in Brisbane, he would soon resent me.
But it’s not easy to just switch off your feelings.
I’m suddenly aware that Sasha is saying something, and I haven’t been paying attention.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said, have you been in touch with any of your old gang since you’ve come back?”
“Oh. I didn’t really have a ‘gang.’ Just a few acquaintances here and there. But we’re too different now.”
“That’s crazy. You can always reconnect with people from the past and find common ground. Give me your phone.”
“What? No! Why?”
“I want to see some of your old friends. I’ll be able to tell which ones are nice and who will appreciate you contacting them again.”
“You’re not going to call them, are you?”
“Of course not. That will be up to you.”
I pause for a moment, and then reluctantly hand over my phone. “Just don’t post on any of their profiles.”
“No, no. I’m just browsing.”
She opens Facebook on my phone and looks at my friend list.
“Who did you hang out with right before you left?”
“Uh. I guess there was Megan Cooper. She’s now engaged to an investment banker.”
Sasha scrolls down the list and wrinkles her nose. “Fake. You’re better off without her. Next.”
I narrow my eyes. “How can you tell she’s fake?”
“She uses the word blessed in every post, and she Photoshops all her selfies.”
I nod. “Yeah, okay. That’s true. She wasn’t that bad when I met her, but once she hooked up with that guy…”
“Like I said, next.”
“Grace Filch.”
A moment later, Sasha is shaking her head vigorously. “That’s a big hell no from me. She looks like she has two kids, but she actively shames any mother who doesn’t prepare organic homemade food for their little ones.”
“I suppose that’s a bit harsh,” I concede.
“Please tell me you had at least one nice friend.”
“Try Alexis Hall.”
Sasha is quiet as she presumably scrolls through Alexis’s feed.
“I like her. She has some cute photos.”
“Yeah, she’s a fashion photographer.”
“Nice. Hey, this model she shot is gorgeous.”
She shows me the screen, and I freeze.
Holy cow.
“That’s Seb,” I say quietly. He’s standing next to Alexis with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. And he looks exactly as I remember. My heart starts pounding.
“What? How does Alexis know Seb?”
“I have no idea.”
“Did they ever meet?”
“We all hung out one time that I can remember.”
Sasha studies Alexis’s account. “I can’t find any other pictures of him on here.”
“It’s kind of weird, though, huh?”
“Very weird. I’m going to do some digging.”
“No!” I try to get my phone back, but Sasha holds it just out of reach and types something.
“…and done.” She hands back the phone. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“What did you just do?”
“Don’t you want closure?”
“What did you say?”
“I just asked Alexis to clarify her relationship with Seb.”
“Oh my God.”
“Come on. This way there’ll be no uncertainty. And you might get to talk to him again.”
“I don’t know if I want to.” I mean, of course I do, but not this way.
She tops up my glass with more blue drink. “Okay, well, you can do the denial thing tonight. Maybe we’ll even find a couple of hot guys to distract us from our true loves.”
I don’t say anything. I’m not sure I believe in things like ‘true love,’ but seeing a picture of Seb after so long has suddenly flooded my brain with a ton of memories.
I gulp down my whole glass, and the room starts spinning.
I think I do need a little denial.
FOURTEEN
Noah
Everything seems to be going pretty well so far. Better than I expected. Everyone is on their best behaviour as I bring out the starter: some miniature goats cheese and caramelised onion tarts. Monty has been giving me tips on easy dishes that look impressive and taste good.
“So, Lani, how has it been returning to the island?” Dinah asks politely.
“Not too bad. I do like that Calvin trusted me with the renovation of the day spa. You should have seen the old one. It was so blah, with its cliché Scandinavian décor.”
Dinah glances at me before responding. “I would have thought a simple Scandinavian style would suit an island day spa. Wouldn’t something busier be distracting?”
Lani frowns. “Actually, it’s been proven that people appreciate expensive surroundings to make them feel pampered.”
I decide to stay out of it. I can see where Lani’s coming from, but I also agree with Dinah. Those two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. And Lani’s version of expensive would definitely be distracting.
Mum can see that the topic has potential to turn problematic and pipes up. “Honey, maybe we should put on some music. What about that band you were playing in the car earlier?”
“Which band was that?” Lani asks.
“Ocean Alley,” I say.
“Oh, God, I’m so sick of Ocean Alley. I swear that’s all you play at the staff quarters.”
Dinah frowns. “Well, I liked it, and I’ve never heard them before, so if you’d be so kind as to indulge an old woman, I’d be very appreciative.”
Lani smiles at her, but I can see that she’s forcing it. “Sure. Play whatever you like.” She takes a bite of the tart. “These are delicious. Monty’s outdone himself.”
“I made them!” I say.
“Did you really? Are you sure? You didn’t just hand him the ingredients and take all the credit?”
“Jesus! No! I would never do that. Why would you even think I would?”
“Calm down. I was just asking.”
I notice Mum and Dinah exchanging a look, and I finally realise they were right. Lani might not be a nice person. Or at least, not a considerate one. And I’m sure she used to be. Relationships should be about mutual respect, no matter how long you’ve been together.
After dinner, I’m going to have a talk with her in private. If she can’t recognise how rude she’s been…
I take a deep breath and let it out again. “Let me go get the main. Anyone need a top-up?” I point to everyone’s almost-empty glasses.
“I’ll have a little more wine, please,” Dinah says.
“Me too,” Mum adds.
“I’m fine for now,” Lani says dismissively. She gets out her phone and starts texting someone.
Seriously? What is wrong with that woman?
I go and retrieve the pan of seafood paella I spent all morning making, but I’m not as excited about eating with the women a
s I was a few hours ago. In fact, I would almost prefer it if Lani wasn’t there.
The thought shocks me. I always want to spend time with Lani.
I think maybe we’re in trouble.
I carry the pan out and place it in the middle of the table. I then grab a new bottle of wine and top up Mum and Dinah’s glasses. I take the bottle back to the bar, sneaking a large swig before I seal it back up.
Dinah scoops some of the paella onto her plate and takes a bite. “This is delicious, honey. Well done. You’ll need to start coming home more often to cook for us.”
“Monty’s been giving me lessons in exchange for me helping out with the restaurant rebuild,” I tell them.
“Well, he’s a great teacher.”
Mum tries some and is equally impressed. “I agree that it would be lovely to have you home more often.”
Lani tastes a mouthful and nods her head slightly from side to side. “Not bad. It could probably use a little more stock. The depth of flavour isn’t quite there.”
Mum’s eyes widen, and she looks at Lani. “Excuse me?”
Lani seems confused. “What?”
“Do you ever have anything nice to say?”
“I just said the dinner wasn’t bad. What’s your problem?”
“My problem is that nothing ever seems to be good enough for you. But you know what? You’re not good enough for my son. You’re a spoilt little so-and-so, and I can’t stand being in the room with you for one more second.” She stands up. “Dinah? I’m going to finish eating in my room.”
Dinah stands up too. “I’ll join you.” She narrows her eyes at Lani. “And I know you saw me the other day in town and pretended you didn’t. Little snake.”
They carry their plates out, leaving me and Lani alone. I sit there, shell-shocked.
“What the fuck just happened?” Lani demands.
I flinch at her language. “I guess they expected you to try a little harder.”
“In what way? I’m not going to be fake. You’ve known me for long enough to know I speak my mind.”
“Yeah, but there’s speaking your mind and then there’s trying to make an effort.”
“You don’t think I make an effort? What do you fucking call this? I wore this designer dress for you, even though all we’re doing is sitting in the same shitty dining room we’ve eaten in a million times. I tolerated your pathetic excuse for a date night when you were too cheap to take me to Mackay for dinner. And I came back to this damn island for you! Do you think I wanted to give up my life in civilisation? I was happy in Mackay. I had friends!”
Welcome to Coco Bay Page 8