Seaside Manor Bed and Breakfast

by Lilly Mirren

  Inside, the unit was quiet and dark. The ever-present scent of fried foods permeated the carpet, the walls, the furniture. It was probably time for her to find somewhere more permanent to live, although she loved that this place was opposite Emerald Beach, even if it was situated above a fish and chip shop that stayed open late and attracted a constant stream of noisy customers.

  She set her purse on the bench and switched on the fluorescent overhead light in the kitchen. It buzzed to life as she searched the fridge for something to eat. She’d made a delicious chicken alfredo dish the previous night and there were leftovers. Her stomach growled in anticipation as she pulled out the glass dish and set it in the microwave.

  “Hi, Becca,” said a deep voice behind her.

  She spun, her heart in her throat and found herself face to face with Jake. He stood on the other side of the bench, across from her, his lips pulled into a wide smile.

  Chapter 31

  Rebecca

  She was taken again by how handsome he was — square jaw, blue eyes, dark hair, and tanned skin. It was his good looks that made people underestimate how cruel he could be. His smile drew people in, his anger pushed them away. She hadn’t realised for at least six months what his true character was. The first time he hit her, she’d thought she would die. She’d ended up in the hospital that night, vowing never to see him again. But he’d convinced her he was sorry, it wouldn’t happen again, and for some reason she’d given him another chance. That was a moment in time she’d regretted ever since.

  “Jake, what are you doing here?”

  Her mind spun; she hadn’t expected him so soon. Usually he liked to toy with her for a while before he pounced.

  “I wanted to see what you left me for.” He scanned the room with a snarl. “You didn’t trade up, baby. This place is a hovel. I could give you so much more.”

  She swallowed — she had to keep him calm, keep the situation from escalating so that she could think; to give herself a chance to escape.

  “It’s not so bad, right across from the beach.”

  He shook his head. “Come on, Becca, you can do better than that.”

  She pushed a smile onto her face. “I wanted to start over, Jake. Is there something wrong with that?”

  With smooth steps he glided around the end of the bench until he was only centimetres away from her, his eyes fixed on hers. “Why did you need to start again, Becca? Was it perhaps because you betrayed me, your boyfriend, who you supposedly loved? Betrayed me to the coppers, of all things. And now…” he laughed, “You’ve become one yourself. I’d say that’s the ultimate betrayal. Wouldn’t you?”

  Her hands flitted across the drawers in front of her, searching out the handle for the drawer that held the sharp knives.

  Jake reached for her hands, pulled them away from the drawer and squeezed them. “Come on, sit down let’s catch up.”

  He led her to the living room and sat on the couch, patting the space beside him. Rebecca lowered herself slowly, keeping as far from him as she could. He pulled her closer with a quick tug.

  “Now, now, don’t be shy. Come on, we have a lot of things to discuss. Like, for example, how on earth you became a copper.” He shook his head with a laughed. “It’s amazing isn’t it, life’s twists and turns.”

  His tone was light, but his eyes were hard and dark.

  She inhaled a slow breath. “I always wanted to join the police force. I guess when you and I broke up, I decided to look into it a little more.”

  “Don’t you mean, they let you join because you ratted me out?” He squeezed her knee, making her jump as pain shot through her leg.

  “No, that wasn’t it at all. They understood the situation, but I had to prove myself like any new recruit. If anything, it was harder for me, they didn’t trust me because of you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re referring to, I’m an upstanding businessman in Sydney — I think we’ve proven that enough times for you to finally understand it.”

  “Scaring off witnesses isn’t proving anything,” she retorted.

  He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head back. Stars popped across her vision as she yelped.

  “Don’t be like that. I don’t want to have to hurt you again. You always make me hurt you, get me so angry… I only came here for a little chat, and you’re doing it again — pushing me. I hate how you do that.”

  Rebecca let fly with an elbow, connecting with his rib cage. He released his grasp on her hair long enough for her to duck away, out of reach.

  Jake screamed in anger, his eyes flashing. “Now you’ve done it. It’s all your fault, remember that, Becca.”

  “No, Jake — everything you do is on you. Your choice. Not mine.”

  She was caught between Jake and the sliding doors that led out to the second story balcony. With a quick glance at the glass doors, she decided to try for the unit door instead — the last thing she needed was for Jake to push her off the balcony.

  “Come on Becca,” he laughed. “You’ve got nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide.”

  She shrugged. “I guess you’re gonna have to come and get me then.”

  His eyes narrowed, and his smile faded as he lunged for her. The first punch took him by surprise. She hit him with an uppercut under the chin, snapping his head back. He grunted and staggered backwards. Rebecca shook her hand as pain surged through her knuckles — it hurt a lot more without the gloves.

  Jake charged her with a roar, and she fended him off with a kick to the gut followed by a punch to the nose. Blood spurted and he fell back onto the couch with a cry.

  “Well now, someone’s learned some new skills,” he hissed as he pulled a handgun from the back of his pants. “But it’s not going to help you this time, Becca.”

  She backed up to the wall, hands raised, tripped over a magazine rack, and then scrambled towards the kitchen. She hid behind the bench as a single shot rang out, leaving a welt in the refrigerator door. She ducked low, tugging her purse from the bench by one strap, then searched quickly for her phone.

  Her gun was locked up safe and sound at the office, but she didn’t need it. She could stay out of sight, keep Jake on the defensive. If only she could get to the door and out of the unit without being shot. She crept around the end of the bench.

  In her purse, her phone rang. The sound was loud in the still, silent unit and she wondered where Jake had disappeared. She pulled it free and noticed the name of the caller as the phone fell silent. Franklin.

  She peeked out from behind the bench. No sign of Jake.

  She shoved the phone into her pocket, and reached for her spare set of handcuffs, which she snapped onto her belt. She was taking him in whether he liked it or not and this time he would pay for his crimes — there’d be no weaselling out of it.

  Her heart thundered against her ribcage, sweat beaded and dripped down the sides of her face. Her breath came in short, sharp bursts as she crept around the bench. She eyed the unit door. It was shut, locked. She had to get to it somehow without being shot, unlock it, open it, and leave. The chances of her surviving it seemed slim. She turned her attention back to finding Jake.

  As she rounded the bench he lurched out of his hiding spot in her direction, gun aimed at her head. With a roundhouse kick, she knocked it from his grasp even as a shot rang out, echoing through the small space. The gun skittered across the tiles and bumped into the far wall.

  Jake’s eyes widened. She didn’t wait for his smart response, instead leapt into her boxer’s stance, and hit him once, twice. The third hit sent him sprawling onto his rear end. He jumped up and ran at her, tackling her and landing on top of her, knocking the breath from her lungs as he screamed in rage.

  She winced but didn’t let the winding halt her assault — instead, she continued her barrage, hitting him even while they lay on the ground. It was no use, though, he was too heavy. She couldn’t make any leeway. His hand reached towards the gun where it lay, his eyes gleaming
at the sight of it. She raised her legs beneath her, pressed her feet to his torso and pushed with all her might, sending him sailing across the room.

  He crashed into the back of the couch, groaned, and crawled back onto his feet.

  “You’re gonna pay for this,” he snarled.

  She was breathing hard now, the breath back in her lungs, adrenaline coursing through her veins. “Am I, Jake?”

  Her taunting was more than he could bear. He ran at her and she caught him in a headlock, forced him onto the ground and snapped the handcuffs around his wrists.

  “You’re under arrest,” she whispered against his ear.

  There was a bang on the door, then another, followed by the door flying open. Franklin fell through the opening, landing on the floor with a shout.

  Rebecca stood, still puffing, and studied him with her hands on her hips. “You all right, boss?”

  His gaze travelled from her face, to the man kneeling by her feet, and back again. He stood, brushed his hands against his pants, his brow furrowing. “Uh… yeah, I’m fine. What’s going on in here, Mair? I tried to call you, wanted to check on you, then when you didn’t answer, and I heard gunshots… who’s this?”

  He strode towards them, nudged Jake with one foot.

  “This is Jake, my ex-boyfriend. He came all the way from Sydney to see me,” said Rebecca with a smirk. “Jake, this is my boss, Franklin.”

  Jake sneered but didn’t say a word.

  Franklin’s eyes widened. “Jake, eh? Wow, great to meet you. I’m glad to see Rebecca’s shown you some of her boxing skills, got a bit of a shiner there, mate. She’s gotten pretty good at it, eh?”

  Rebecca grinned. “Might want to call in the night crew to pick him up, boss.”

  Franklin nodded, patted her arm with a smile. “Good work, Proby. Good work.”

  Chapter 32

  Sarah

  Black rocks lined the side of the estuary, guppies ducked and dove in unison as Sarah reached out a hand to touch them. They stayed outside of her grasp, moving as a school, turning with a flick of their tiny tails. She blew a breath out through her snorkel, dislodging some of the sea water that’d splashed into the plastic tube. Then, turned and headed parallel to the rocks, her flippers moving in a slow, rhythmic motion to propel her forwards.

  Ahead of her, Mick skimmed along the sandy bottom, his blue board shorts bright in the dimly lit water. She reached him and he drifted with a smile past her and back up to the surface for a breath, his black rimmed mask obscuring most of his face.

  She joined him at the surface, heart beating fast as she gulped a lungful of air. “That was amazing, did you see those bream?”

  He laughed. “I nearly touched one, they’re so fast though.”

  “I know, it was amazing swimming through the middle of that school. I couldn’t see anything but bream in every direction.”

  They swam over to the small, sandy beach on one side of the estuary where they’d left their things earlier and climbed out, dripping as they went. Sarah slumped onto the sand to catch her breath. The tide was coming in and she’d had to work hard to kick against it to get back to the beach.

  Mick draped a towel around her shoulders, then sat beside her wrapped in his own towel.

  “That was great,” said Sarah.

  He nodded. “I love snorkelling. It’s not quite surfing, but it’s a close second.”

  She laughed. “Does anything beat surfing for you?”

  “Nope. There’s nothing else quite like it.”

  A pair of pelicans soared by overhead, heads tucked into their bodies, long wings flapping slowly. Their wing beats sped up as they turned and settled onto the water. One of the birds shook itself from head to wing tips, then finished with a wag of its short, feathery tail. Sarah smiled at the birds — they were so patient, carefree. They had nowhere to be, nothing to do, but whatever it was they wanted to.

  “Have you talked to your family about our engagement yet?” asked Mick.

  Sarah’s heart skipped a beat. She’d been meaning to do it, only it was harder to bring up the subject than she’d thought it would be. She’d only seen her mother once, and it’d been right after Rupert died, so it wasn’t a good time. She hadn’t seen her mother grieving like this before, so withdrawn, so silent. She didn’t want to talk about it, she’d said. Only wanted to be left alone, so Sarah had walked out of the bedroom and pulled the door shut behind her. She’d stayed at the house for another hour, hoping her mother might come and join her in the living room for a cup of tea, but there hadn’t been a sound. She’d checked on her before she left and found her curled on her side on the bed watching old movies.

  “Um… no. It’s not a great time for it, with everything that’s going on.”

  Mick’s lips pursed. “I understand… although, you know it’s never going to be a perfect time. And I get that it’s sad right now, so I’m not going to push the point, but after the funeral… we should tell them. It’s happy news, they’ll want to hear it. It might help everyone feel better.”

  Sarah swallowed around the lump that’d built in her throat. “I know… you’re right. Mum will be so excited.”

  “Is that the only reason you haven’t said anything? Because you haven’t told Vicky yet, or Meg either…”

  He had a point. There was no good reason why she wasn’t shouting from the rooftops that she was engaged to be married. It was how she felt — she was so excited about it. But nerves turned flip-flops in her stomach.

  “No, I guess it’s not the only reason. I can’t tell my friends until I’ve spoken to Mum first. It wouldn’t be right. She’d be so upset if she found out through someone else… but even without the grief she’s going through I’d find it hard to talk to her about.”

  “Why?” pressed Mick.

  “I think it’s because of what she went through with Dad. It feels almost like bragging or something, as though it’s wrong somehow, to tell her that I’m happy and in love, that I’m getting married.”

  Sarah caressed Mick’s cheek with one hand. “And it’s true, I am happy, and I can’t wait for us to get married and start our lives together. Only, I don’t know how to tell Mum about it.”

  “You think she’ll be upset?”

  Sarah shook her head. “No, I think she’ll be delighted. But at the same time I can’t help wondering if it will bring back all those bad memories about Dad, the way he left her, the cheating… you know what I mean? A big wedding, the vows, the guests, the promises… I wonder if it will cause her pain. I mean, I’m probably being ridiculous, but you asked — now you get an inside track into my crazy mind.” She tried to laugh it off, but there was a pain in her throat that wouldn’t budge.

  Mick looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close so that one side of her was pressed against him. “I get it. You’re over thinking things, but I understand. You care about her and you don’t want to see her hurting. It makes sense. But I want you to know that I really want to marry you. I don’t need a big wedding, a fuss, or anything like that. I want us to be married, that’s it. I love you. I hate saying goodbye at the end of the day and going home to my empty unit. I want us to be a family.”

  She smiled as her heart swelled. “I do too.”

  He kissed her and the pain in her throat faded.

  “We should do it,” he said.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I know, we will.”

  “I mean now… elope. Forget the big wedding, everyone’s too sad to think about it right now anyway. Let’s elope, get married — we can tell them about it later.”

  Sarah straightened, her mind racing. They could do that; it made sense. She wanted to get married as soon as possible but hadn’t considered running off to do it alone. Would it matter to her? She found she didn’t mind missing out on the lace, tulle, and satin. It wasn’t really her style anyway. She’d planned on a small, intimate, and quiet service on the beach. Maybe they could elope instead and be married by the end of the week.
r />   She grinned. “Let’s do it.”

  Sarah’s vision blurred with tears. She beamed at Mick as she walked down the sandy aisle to where he stood, waiting for her - hands crossed in front of his khaki slacks.

  They’d found an elopement package for couples on the Gold Coast, had booked it two days earlier and packed their bags for an impromptu trip that morning.

  She hadn’t told anyone where they were going, and so far, no one would’ve missed them. Mum had agreed to look after Oscar so that Sarah could get some work done because she claimed he wouldn’t leave her alone and constantly wanted to go in and out of the house with his bandaged leg held high and a forlorn look in his big, brown eyes. That much was true, which is why her mother hadn’t sniffed out the lie.

  It was hard not to have her father walking her down the aisle, but with he and mum separated, no doubt he would’ve wanted to bring his new, much younger, girlfriend to the wedding which would’ve caused all kinds of tension. So, despite wishing Adele, Ethan, and her parents could be there to celebrate this special moment with her, she figured it was probably for the best in the end that she and Mick didn’t have any distractions. They could focus entirely on each other and the commitment they were making, without having to worry about all of the drama a family event would bring. That didn’t even take Mick’s family into account — his drug-addicted brother, his loud and often obnoxious mother. No, they were making the right decision in eloping. The more she thought about it, the more their choice was confirmed in her mind.

  The sand slipped between her toes and over her feet. She’d found a pair of jewelled sandals to wear, the jewels glinted in the sunlight. The white silk dress swished around her calves — she’d loved it from the moment she laid eyes on it the day before in a small boutique in Byron Bay. She’d driven south to the small town to shop for clothes, jewelry, and a new swimsuit. Even though it was still winter, she figured they’d find a heated pool or jacuzzi to swim in on their brief honeymoon before returning to Emerald Cove to start their lives as newlyweds.