Long Game

by Catherine Evans

  Heaven. Pure heaven.

  Her lips moved with his, encouraging when he needed no encouragement at all. He nibbled against her lips, eased back and took a deep breath. He had every intention to plunder her mouth when headlights flashed across her face as a truck rumbled by.

  Watercress.

  Eyes closed, lips parted, an expression of dazed bliss if he read the slightly upturned lips yet relaxed skin around her eyes. Bliss because she trusted him. Believed in him.

  And he was kissing her … because he hadn’t trusted anyone for months.

  That wasn’t a good enough reason to be kissing her. She deserved more. From him. From life.

  He eased his body from hers and watched her eyes flicker open. Her lips lifted slowly and then she drew her tongue across them as if savouring his taste. All his good intentions almost fled.

  She stepped back, her hands dropping from his head, but she caught one around his hand and gave it a squeeze.

  ‘We should head back, right?’ She peered at him, as if she wished he might say no and keep her out here. When he said nothing, she shifted slightly. ‘Can you face it?’

  ‘Are you going to shield me from evil female wiles?’ He tried to inject humour, but it fell flat to his ears.

  She grinned and flattened her hand across her chest. ‘With my life.’ She waited a beat. ‘But only because you set me straight about the Westons the other day.’

  Something twinged in his chest when she answered glibly. What did he want? Any declarations beyond that and he’d usually run, yet Cress’s perfect response left him wishing she’d said something else. Something more.

  He groaned at his own mixed-up neediness. He donned his usual Quin, big-brother-protector armour, and smiled. ‘Let’s go face the crowds.’

  With midnight approaching, there’d be more merry crowds to contend with. He hoped his head was in a better place to cope with those with his ferocious Watercress shield. His major concern, now, was how he’d manage kissing Cress, platonically, at midnight.

  Chapter 11

  Cress was jittery when Quin came to pick her up. Her brothers had gone back to their lives last night, leaving her somewhat dispirited. The sight of Quin’s car made her heart speed up, her palms sweat, and a smile bloom. The thought of spending five hours trapped in the car with Quin alone completely messed with her head. After what he’d shared on New Year’s Eve, they’d had no time alone. Their brief New Year’s midnight cheek peck was no reflection of the intensity of emotion she’d felt after talking with him. Kissing him. She could never get her head on straight about Quin; it was worse now.

  ‘I’m glad you’re staying with him.’ Dad was watching her much too closely.

  A pasted smile and a quick breath. ‘He makes Sydney much friendlier.’

  ‘He makes leaving here easier for you. For that I’ll always be grateful.’ Dad’s comment made tears prickle behind her eyelids but a couple of quick blinks soon got rid of those. And the dust that came in with Quin could easily explain her over-moist blinking.

  ‘It’s never easy leaving here. Leaving you.’ Cress caught herself against Dad’s chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

  He rested his head against hers and love swamped her, surrounded her, and held her tight. She screwed her eyes closed and drank it in.

  ‘Big dreams require big sacrifices,’ Dad murmured against her ear. ‘And you’ll be back before sowing, so you won’t miss too much action for the next few months. I want you to focus on football, not this place.’ It was a similar speech to the one he’d given her when she left home the first time. Then it was about him being able to manage harvest and she wasn’t to worry. She worried anyway.

  Worrying had been silly because Dad had managed. Dad always managed. What Quin had said the other day was true, farming was Dad’s dream and he fought for it. Just like she had to fight for hers. A deep sigh filled her lungs and cleared her mind.

  Quin.

  He’d pulled up but she hadn’t heard a car door, or heard him. Just as she thought those things, Dad moved his head, a car door closed and Dad’s arms loosened on her. She let him go after one more squeeze and stepped back.

  ‘Morning, Quin.’ Dad lifted her bag and headed down the path to the back of the vehicle. They had a few words while she grabbed her backpack and water bottle, took one last look over the farm from the verandah and raced down so she didn’t hold Quin up.

  They’d been in the car for an hour or so, talking about town things, families, nothing much. She’d promised herself that she wasn’t going to push him to talk about the past, or the kiss. She was going to let it go … unless he brought it up again.

  Then he said, ‘You’re different at home. More relaxed.’

  ‘You can tell I don’t feel comfortable in the city?’ Nothing like countering his question with a question. It was the best way she had to hide the fact that he had rattled her. He knew her well, but she wasn’t sure how much he consciously observed or thought about her. If he was like her brothers, he’d hardly notice or comment on anything except to tease her. This wasn’t teasing.

  Quin glanced at her quickly before turning back to the road. She didn’t get a good look at his face but thought he had a half-smile even with his serious expression. ‘Actually, I didn’t notice it until we were home.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Driving here, as we got closer, you got fidgetier, more energetic, and your shoulders loosened. It was like your muscles all took a deep breath and relaxed.’

  Cress burst into laughter. Quin was never so poetic or observant, or at least she hadn’t realised he was. ‘Do you think you were any different, Quin?’

  Her question seemed to make him pause. His concentration remained on driving but his body seemed to still. ‘What?’

  ‘You relaxed a lot more at home too, especially when you were with Tris. Although I noticed it most when you and Tris were being entertained by Gar and Damo. That’s when both of you looked like you were eighteen and idiots again.’ She grinned when he stiffened and shook his head.

  ‘I forgot how funny the twins are,’ Quin murmured after a few silent kilometres.

  ‘It’s a long time since you’ve been home for more than a few days.’

  ‘I know.’

  There seemed to be a wealth of loneliness in Quin sometimes, and Cress didn’t know how to tap into it, or if she even wanted to. That wasn’t right. She wanted to; he called at her heart. He always had. Sharing his home only made that call stronger, and the extra stuff that happened, like kissing, had messed with her head as well. Yet, beyond this observation, he’d not made any real move to show he cared for her beyond that of her role as his sister, or best friend. She couldn’t afford to get things confused. She was his friend. In Sydney for the women’s footy season and then she’d head back home to play and his season would kick off. The only way to do this was to keep it light, friendly and fun. Keep her heart in that box she’d locked it in years back, safe from Quin.

  ‘You know you’re welcome at home any time. Even if your folks are travelling, there’s always room. Everyone thinks of you as the fifth Kennedy boy.’

  He moved his head and stared at her for a second. ‘Aren’t you the fifth?’

  She laughed. ‘You’re older than me. I’m definitely the sixth and youngest.’

  ‘Ha,’ he grinned. ‘I never knew you’d adopted me that much to allow me to shove you down the pecking order.’

  ‘Like I had a choice.’ Cress snorted. This was right. A silly conversation, and for the next few hours it was all fun and lighthearted, making sure she remained just another brother to Quin. She didn’t have time to be anything else and it seemed to suit him just fine.

  ***

  ‘What did you do on your break, girl, train?’ Petra huffed the words out as they completed their oval laps.

  Cress shrugged, sweating but not huffing as much; she didn’t really want to admit that she had done light training most days. ‘Farming tends to be train
ing without even thinking about it.’

  ‘You farmed?’ Petra stopped moving and stared. ‘Like dirt and sheep and cows and stuff?’ She started up again, her jog slowed to a cooling-down walk.

  Cress chuckled. ‘I grew up on a farm. Dad and I work it, well, before I came up here I did.’

  ‘He made you work in the holidays?’ She was still puffing but it was easing up.

  ‘Not really. But I kind of jogged around to check on the sheep, check out how harvest went.’ Cress shrugged.

  Petra pulled face. ‘You jogged? Around the farm? Isn’t it big?’

  Cress was laughing at the faces Petra was pulling. ‘I didn’t do it all in one day. I just prefer to get outside and run. I hate being cramped up indoors.’

  ‘Wasn’t it hot?’

  ‘Not so much in the mornings and evenings.’ Cress weighed up her words before she issued them. ‘You should come out one day, Petra, check out the life.’ Petra had a curiosity about the farm that the other girls didn’t have, but she was also always asking about Cress’s brothers and Cress was a little bit guarded about how much to say.

  ‘Maybe.’ Petra hadn’t jumped on the invitation like Cress had expected.

  ‘Did you spend Christmas with your family?’

  ‘Yeah. Eating and drinking. It was better than sweating and running.’ Petra gave a grin that had Cress suspecting that she didn’t hate sweating and running as much as she moaned about them. ‘Did you get the flash invitation to the season launch?’

  ‘Yeah, I did.’

  ‘Who are you taking?’

  Cress bit her lip. ‘I asked Dad but he has a sheep sale that day and won’t miss it.’ At Petra’s expression, Cress burst into laughter. ‘You make that seem like I said he was flying to outer space or something. It’s his job. He’s working, has other commitments. Is that better?’

  Petra shook her head. ‘It may as well be outer space.’

  ‘Who are you bringing? That hot guy you met before Christmas?’

  Petra grinned. ‘Nah, he didn’t last. There’s this new guy I met at New Year’s.’

  ‘Gee, will he still be around in a couple of weeks?’ Cress grinned, but Petra’s tongue poking out and the giant shove she gave Cress’s shoulder had Cress laughing and then running away.

  ‘Who are you bringing since your dad prefers sheep?’ Petra yelled it across the oval, and when people stopped still and stared, her face flamed. ‘Not like that. He’s going to a sheep sale. Geez.’ Petra’s yelling had everyone chuckling and then they got back to training. ‘Sorry about that, Cress. I didn’t mean to imply—’

  Cress was trying to stop guffawing. ‘It’s okay. I know what you meant.’ Her snuffles and snorts were taking her breath away and it made moving difficult. She had to bend over and suck in deep breaths until her laughter was under control.

  ‘This country stuff is a whole other world, isn’t it?’ Petra sighed. ‘And I keep stuffing it up.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it, Petra.’

  ‘If I come to visit, I’ll make a right fool of myself.’

  Cress laughed. ‘You’ll be fine. So long as you can cope with lots of teasing, you’ll be right.’

  ‘Do your brothers farm, like your dad?’

  ‘No. None of them wanted to. Tris is a mechanic, Ollie an accountant, Damo’s a truck driver and Gar’s in retail.’

  ‘Retail?’ Petra said it as if she didn’t believe they had shops in country towns.

  ‘He works at the farm centre in town.’

  ‘What the heck is a farm centre?’

  Cress got the giggles again. She wondered if she should make something up, or answer Petra seriously. Since Petra seemed genuinely interested, and had made a mess of things earlier, Cress gave her the truth. ‘It’s where farmers buy or order some of the things they need, plus there’s garden stuff, animal stuff. Things you go to town to get.’

  Petra shook her head. ‘Man, I have to see this place.’

  ‘Come out after the season ends.’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  Cress grinned. ‘Of course. Dad won’t mind.’

  ‘And your brothers?’

  ‘They have places in town.’ Cress shrugged. ‘They won’t care at all.’

  ‘I meant will I meet them?’

  ‘Of course. You’ll meet them at the games. They’ll be coming to cheer, or jeer. I’m not sure which.’ Cress grinned. Her brothers would be cheering but she didn’t want to build them up too much in Petra’s mind.

  ‘Cool. So back to the season launch …’

  ‘Yes?’ Cress knew what was coming now. ‘I’ll be inviting Quin. I’m not sure if he’s free to come though.’ She wasn’t sure he could handle the venue, the girls, the crowd, the environment. She hadn’t worked out how to ask if he’d be comfortable or if it’d be too much. Neither of them had mentioned New Year’s Eve again. Cress knew that was taking the easy way out, but she’d done that, until now.

  ‘He’ll be there. I can’t wait. What are you wearing?’

  Cress shrugged. ‘I grabbed this blue dress from home.’

  Petra peered at her closely. ‘Is it formal?’

  Cress chuckled. ‘We have formal balls at home where us yokels learn to get dressed up, you know.’

  Petra still looked dubious.

  ‘Come home after training and vet it for me if you need to.’

  ‘I will.’ Petra gave a sharp nod. ‘I can make sure you have make-up, hair stuff. I’ve never seen you dressed up.’

  ‘I can say exactly the same about you,’ Cress’s answer came out spluttering with mirth. Just because she came from the country didn’t mean she had no idea how to glam it up. She may not feel completely comfortable doing it, it may cause her jitters, and she may need to suck in deep breaths before she left her room … but she could do it.

  She’d do country girls proud. No matter Petra’s scepticism.

  Chapter 12

  Quin swung between amused and concerned as Cress jiggled from one foot to the other while standing just inside the lounge room doorway. She used her finger and thumb to pinch at her bottom lip, and she only did that when she was really nervous … or she was begging for a favour.

  If he had to guess, he’d go with begging. She didn’t have the right energy for nerves. ‘I’m not going to do it unless you ask me.’ He grinned when she jumped.

  ‘I thought you were watching TV. I was waiting for an ad.’

  ‘No, you were working on your courage.’

  She laughed and poked her tongue out at him, and he knew then he’d broken whatever fear she had and now he’d find out what she wanted.

  ‘The Sirens have the season launch fancy do coming up in two weeks, and I wondered if you’d like to come with me?’ She held still for the first part but jiggled from foot to foot as she invited him. He tried not to grin too much.

  ‘I’d love to, Watercress. Thanks for asking.’

  She shifted and squirmed, bit her lip and then squeezed her hands together. ‘Will you be okay there?’

  His smile paused, as did his heart. ‘What? Why?’

  ‘It’s at the same place as, ummm, your incident with the phone.’ She wrapped her arms around herself as if it was her who’d be affected. ‘Will you be okay?’

  He was going to brush off her fears, until the tendril of doubt crept through him. It’d be easy to use her as his shield and keep her by his side so he didn’t have to worry about memories besieging him, but it was her night. Her season launch. She had to be free to have a good time without worrying about him. He should be looking out for her.

  ‘I might be okay, but we could go there this weekend and make sure.’

  ‘On Sunday?’

  He shook his head. ‘Let’s go Saturday night when it’s crowded and more like it was, and will be for your party. We can have dinner, drinks, dance. Give me a good test.’

  She blinked and her hesitation made him frown.

  ‘Are you busy on Saturday night, Watercress?’r />
  ‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I just …’ She shook her head again and turned to go.

  ‘Cress?’

  She waved her hand. ‘It’s nothing. It’s fine. Saturday night.’

  He jumped up and caught her in a few strides. ‘What? Tell me.’ Didn’t she think he’d handle it? Was she worried about looking after him if he couldn’t cope? ‘I’m sure I’ll be okay. I thought we should put both our minds at rest though.’

  Her lips twisted and she looked everywhere but at him.

  ‘Watercress?’ His voice came out sharper than he intended but her reactions worried him. Wasn’t she comfortable with him? That made no sense, because she’d asked him to go to the launch. Maybe she didn’t feel comfortable being alone with him, except they were alone in the house every day. ‘Don’t you want to go out with me?’

  Her eyes flicked to him, fast, and then she looked away. A hint of pink skittered along her neck and over her face. He wasn’t sure what that meant. She wouldn’t ask him to the launch if she was embarrassed to be with him, would she? He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, or shame her. Needing to understand, he closed his hands tighter on her shoulders and gave the tiniest of shakes.

  She bit her lip and glanced up at him, not quite meeting his gaze. ‘It sounds like a date, and I can’t, Quin. I’ve got to concentrate on football and work. I can’t—’

  His laughter was like a bark. He wasn’t crazy. There was no way he’d mess up their friendship by dating. ‘It’s not a date, Watercress. Just us. Dinner, dancing …’ he chuckled, ‘… it does sound like one, but it’s not.’ As the words came out, he wondered what it would be like to date her. She’d be a fun date; there’d be lots of laughter and easiness like there’d been at the zoo and the jet boats, but mixed with the same tension that twisted his innards every time he thought of his mouth on her thumb or her lips. He gave himself a mental slap. No date. This was Watercress. ‘It’s no date. It’s a test. A test to see if I’ve gotten over my … ah …’ He said ‘issues’ at the same time that Cress said ‘Drama queen stuff.’ They glanced at each other and then burst into laughter.