Chapter Fifteen
Noni
Noni arrived home an hour later and found Iain waiting for her as she came through the door.
‘She’s asleep,’ he said.
She looked at his strained face and felt a little sorry for him, but her focus of worry rested on Jacinta. ‘Did Jacinta tell you she’s scared of dying in labour?’
He seemed to look through her for a moment, shook his head, and then refocused. ‘She said that?’
Noni nodded and saw him wince.
His hand lifted to run through his hair, which looked very much like he’d been doing that all night. ‘Every time I think I’m getting to know her I realise how much I still have to find out. I’m running out of time before the baby is born.’ He let out an exasperated huff. ‘Adele should have told me about Jacinta when she first found out.’
For some reason, that made Noni want to strangle him. She kept her hands by her sides, but they tightened into two little fists. ‘Great idea. Blame the poor woman who didn’t want to ruin your young life.’ Noni felt like stomping her foot. Instead, she said quietly, ‘For all you know, she might have been trying to find you for years.’
She reigned in her frustration and fell back on her midwifery training. ‘Important fears and significant events in Jacinta’s life that we know nothing about are going to make a difference when she goes into labour.’
Iain took a turn around the room. ‘So, how am I supposed to know which moments? I’m getting seventeen years of grey hairs in less than a month.’
‘And very becoming it is, too.’ She tried to lighten the mood because now she did feel sorry for him. Mainly because he genuinely was worried about Jacinta. His dilemmas weren’t easy ones. And he was being good with Harley. The boy hung off his every word. At least she could do something about lightening that load. Noni tilted her head. ‘Forget the cricket tomorrow. I’ll take the kit and umpire.’
His laugh came low and harsh and a little startling. ‘No, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go. I’ll need something to take my mind off all this and the boys are easy. Do you think Harley would mind if you stayed home with Jacinta? Maybe she’ll tell you more.’
She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. What about if I mind? But her instincts said it did need to happen. ‘I think that’s a great idea.’ She rubbed her forehead. ‘I have to go to bed. It’s been a big week at work again. We haven’t found a replacement obstetrician yet, and I may still lose my job. Everything seems to be going wrong at the moment.’
He looked at her as if he was going to say something and then changed his mind. Some silly childish part of her hoped he might return the favour and listen to her work problems like she’d listened to his concerns, but she couldn’t understand why she’d thought he would. He was just a temporary lodger, after all. A slightly demanding one.
‘See you tomorrow,’ she said, and turned away, but before she reached the stairs she heard his voice.
‘Thank you, Noni. I don’t think I could have handled this without you.’
She sighed and whispered, so he wouldn’t hear, ‘Yes, you would have.’
She trod the stairs and his voice floated up. ‘No, I wouldn’t, and I’ve still got sonic ears. By the way, I’m not a wimp.’
Chapter Sixteen
Noni
Of course, Harley’s team won for the first time at cricket, and Noni hadn’t been there to see it. Harley came through the door as if he’d been fast-bowled towards her.
‘You should have been there, Mummy! Iain is the best coach. We won and I hit a four!’
Noni looked at his little face, glowing with excitement – or was that sunburn? ‘Did you have your hat on?’ She touched the heat on his face.
‘Mummy! I said I hit a four.’ Her son frowned at her in the beginnings of disappointment.
Here she was, thinking about whether Iain had looked after her son well enough! ‘I’m sorry, darling. That’s wonderful news.’ She plastered a smile on her face like a bandaid. ‘I was just feeling sorry for myself because I didn’t get to see you hit a four.’ She hugged him, but he wriggled away like a fish to hop around the room in his delight.
She smiled indulgently at this tiny child of hers, all brown floppy hair and long-lashed eyes, dancing from foot to foot with unsuppressed exhilaration. ‘So? Tell me all about it.’
‘Harley!’ Iain’s voice cut in from the carport. ‘Come on, mate. Carry your own gear from the car.’
‘Gotta go.’
Noni frowned as he raced out the door to do as Iain bid like an obedient puppy. Selective deafness seemed to be the answer when she’d demanded that same request. There was that pain in her heart again. Was Harley missing out because she chose not to have a man in her life?
‘How’s Jacinta?’ Iain’s voice interrupted her pity party.
Noni looked up from the sink and glared at Iain. Took in the calm face, the strong jaw. The ability to umpire and maintain control over twelve five-year-olds when he couldn’t possibly have had any experience at the task and still look as if he’d been sitting under a tree reading a paper. ‘Your daughter is fine and my son is sunburnt.’
Iain studied her thoughtfully, not saying anything for a moment. Then slowly, his face twitching as if suppressing a smile, he said, ‘Is that really the issue or are we working on another level here?’
Noni stared at him. She felt the weight of tension in her shoulders. The ache in her strained neck. How did he know that? The rat. She turned her back on him. ‘Aunt Win’s gone and Jacinta is in the lounge. It’s good news the team won.’ There was a monotone of misery as she mumbled the words.
He came up behind her and she felt the air vibrate as he closed the distance – though how she knew was another conundrum. He stopped, not quite touching but very near, and the hairs on the back of her arms lifted as her heart rate picked up. She stood straighter.
She didn’t give a sign of her awareness of him, but understood on that same level that she should shift or he would close in. Why? Did she want that? Stubbornly, she didn’t move. She hadn’t known him that long that he could invade her space. So why let him now?
She was too slow and the point became moot. They touched and the fizz of awareness sizzled along her spine. His torso closed right up against her back, warm and solid, and her front jammed against the sink and she knew she should shimmy away, but instead she stayed rigid, her emotions hurting and confused, and dammit, she wanted comfort. Needed it on a subliminal level, despite the fact that it hadn’t been there before. Why was it so enticing now?
She leaned the back of her head on his chest and strong arms came around her. It would be nice to have someone to lean on once in a while – as long as she remembered he was just a stranger being kind. Though look what had happened last time she’d accepted comfort from a stranger.
Slowly, he turned her and she buried her nose in his chest as he smoothed the flopping hair from her fringe back from her forehead. The scent of his warm body, the sun, and some woodsy cologne proved a heady mixture, and she closed her eyes to savour it. She breathed in slowly. Then another inhalation. Mmmmm.
‘You needed a hug, didn’t you?’ His chest vibrated as he spoke, and strangely, she could feel the stimulation of her senses buzzing, as if she’d plugged herself into an energy source, charging away like her mobile phone in a power surge.
‘Yes. I did,’ she mumbled into his shirt, appreciating his arms firm around her. A minute ago she could hardly lift her feet and already she felt better. It might even be that her sense of humour could reset to normal. Or almost normal. Her brain whispered irreverently, This guy knows how to embrace.
‘What are you doing?’ Harley’s voice intruded and Noni tried to pull away.
Iain held her firmly against him. ‘Your mummy needed a hug, just like you need a hug sometimes. We’ll have to make sure she gets more.’ His chest rumbled under her cheek. ‘All right, mate?’
‘Oh. Okay.’ It must have been an acceptable e
xplanation because it garnered disinterest from Harley. ‘Can I play on the PlayStation?’
‘Yes,’ Noni said against Iain’s chest, then jammed her lips together to contain her giggles as she heard Harley’s footsteps recede. ‘Right, then.’ She shifted her cheek. ‘How long does this hug therapy last?’
‘Bored already, young lady?’ He slid his finger under her chin and tipped it up so she would look at him.
Noni frowned. ‘Your face seems so far away up there in the air. You’re too tall for me.’
He brought his face lower. ‘Is this better?’ His lips were only a few centimetres from hers.
‘What are you doing?’ Jacinta’s voice interrupted them, and this time it was Iain who tried to pull away. Noni held onto him as hard as she could, and after the first resistance, he stayed where he was.
‘Your father needed a hug. Just like you need a hug sometimes. We’ll have to make sure he gets more. Okay, Jacinta?’
‘Yeah, right. Spare me.’ But she didn’t say anything else. She wasn’t quite as disinterested as Harley, but she left the room.
‘Cheeky little thing, aren’t you?’ Iain pretended to glare at her.
Noni could admit to feeling mighty pleased with herself. She smirked. Which was probably why he retaliated.
His lips came down on hers like a quilt. Soft and light and deliciously warm. Nice. She found herself stretching up on tiptoe to try to get closer to him. His breath mingled with hers – coffee, mint, heat. If they did much more of this she could forget about the room, Harley and Jacinta, how organised and set her life was, Penelope … Distraction. Excellent. She pulled away. She’d almost forgotten.
‘Penelope rang while you were out. She wants you to ring her back.’ She watched him open and shut his eyes slowly.
‘That good, eh? My technique is definitely slipping.’ He glared at her. ‘You are not supposed to remember phone messages when I’m kissing you!’
‘I nearly forgot about the message.’ She grinned up at him. ‘I imagine the slight will do you good. You’re too sure of yourself, anyway.’ She stepped out of his arms, suddenly full of bubbling electric energy, and moved over to the fridge. She could have shifted the furniture in the house around, she felt so energised. ‘I think I’ll make something super for tea tonight.’
She heard him mutter as he left the room, ‘That would be appropriate, for Superwoman.’ She had to smile because suddenly, with her borrowed power surge, she had this.
Later that evening, Jacinta and Noni dragged out the old sewing machine. Both sat on the lounge staring at the inside of the machine. They’d planned on hemming some baby-print muslin sheeting they’d bought for bunny rugs, but couldn’t get the machine to make the needle go up and down. Neither of them had ever had much to do with sewing machines.
Jacinta threw the instructions onto the carpet. ‘Get Iain to have a look at it. Men are supposed to be able to do things like this.’
Noni frowned. Win would never have said that. ‘I dislike that mentality. There’s no reason why I haven’t got as much chance of figuring this out as your father. Unless he’s a sewing-machine mechanic, which I very much doubt.’ She looked up from peering inside the machine and caught Jacinta’s eye. ‘What does he do?’
Jacinta shrugged, looking not the least bit interested. ‘I don’t think he does anything.’ She shrugged again. ‘He definitely hasn’t been to work since I’ve known him. I never asked him.’
Noni’s eyebrows drew together again. ‘Do you ever ask him anything? Aren’t you curious about him?’
Jacinta shook her head and a stubborn look closed her face. Noni tried again.
‘Maybe try to look at it from his point of view. Finding you was a huge change in his life. I think he’s adjusting pretty well.’
Jacinta scowled. ‘You’re just saying that because he hugged you. You’re on his side. I don’t want to make your stupid bunny rugs, anyway.’ She climbed slowly to her feet and kicked the book across the carpet, before waddling out of the room.
‘Good one, Noni.’ She sighed.
‘What’s a good one?’ Iain spoke from the doorway as he watched his daughter pull herself up the stairs. Then he came into the room.
‘Nothing, Big Ears. Are you a sewing-machine mechanic?’
He blinked. ‘No, but men are supposed to be able to figure these things out.’ He glanced at the machine and the twisted instruction booklet on the floor. ‘Hand me the book.’
‘Great, it’s hereditary. Your daughter said that, too.’ She kneeled on the floor next to the machine and scooped it up. Then chucked him the book. Hard.
He caught it easily. Noni watched his bent head as he tried to follow the diagrams compared to the real thing. He really did have a very nicely shaped head.
‘So, what do you do, Iain?’ she asked to distract her eyes.
Iain looked up warily. Why wary? Her mind spun. All sorts of crazy occupations sprang into her thoughts. Something he was ashamed of? Illegal? Was he a hit man? A gigolo? She smiled to herself, but he didn’t see it.
He kept his eyes on the book and squatted near the machine. ‘What do you mean what do I do?’
‘It’s a pretty clear question.’ Curiouser and curiouser. ‘Your job, profession.’
‘Oh.’ His gaze fell on the newspaper on the chair. ‘I’m a stockbroker.’
Noni frowned and then slowly nodded. ‘Okay. So, you just left work when you found Jacinta and nobody minded?’
He frowned. Glanced at her and then away. ‘Plenty of people minded, but it was something I had to do. You probably guessed that money isn’t a real problem.’ He gazed around the room. ‘Actually, I’m enjoying the first holiday, if that’s what you can call it, I’ve had in many years.’ Slowly, his face took on a look of disbelief. ‘I took two months’ leave and I’ve had three weeks, now. I’ll be a grandfather in five weeks if the baby comes on time.’ He rubbed his hand over his eyes and looked across at Noni, his face a mixture of trepidation and horror.
Noni’s mouth twitched before she began to crack up. To be fair, she did try to stop the noises coming from behind the hand over her mouth.
Iain winced. ‘It’s not funny. I’m thirty-five years old, and I’ll be a grandfather.’
‘Would you like me to get you some hot milk?’
Iain glared at her and then huffed in disgust when she fell over on her back with the giggles.
He advanced towards her on all fours and planted his hands on the carpet on either side of her head. ‘Stop your unseemly mirth, young lady.’
She looked up and saw the dark-blue ring around his corneas. His eyes really were quite beautiful. Framed in long lashes she wouldn’t have minded having for herself.
Noni stared back at him. He was so close she could feel the heat of him. He looked a little like a predatory cat that wanted to eat her, and suddenly, her breath began to come a little faster. Warmth began to pool in her belly and her limbs turned soft and languid.
If she wasn’t mistaken it looked a whole lot like he wanted to kiss her. She had to keep it light. Kiss him and roll away. It couldn’t possibly feel as good as the kiss in the kitchen, because she’d been sad then and it had been purely medicinal.
‘Your grandchild will be gorgeous. And you don’t look too bad for your age.’ She reached up and put her arms around his neck and pulled his face lower until they almost touched. ‘Come down here a bit closer – you’re always towering over me,’ she said.
He stared into her eyes. ‘I think you have the sexiest eyelashes I have ever seen.’
Noni could feel the smile expand in her. ‘Idiot. I have short, stumpy eyelashes. Sexy lashes are long and sweeping, like Jessica Rabbit’s.’ Like Penelope.
‘No. Seriously.’
‘Right. Seriously. Sure, this is serious, just kiss me.’ She could feel her newfound bravado draining away like suds down the drain hole. She tried to hold onto it. This was a bad idea anyway and she didn’t know why she’d even considered teasing.<
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‘No. This is important. Your eyelashes are like you.’
He really was only playing with her. He probably didn’t find her attractive at all. Noni rolled away. ‘Great. I’m short and stumpy. Thank you!’ She glared at him. ‘How to ruin a mood in three easy steps.’
‘Ho-ho.’ He glared back. ‘Who remembered a phone message during our first memorable kiss?’
She tilted her head. ‘How is the delectable, long-lashed Penelope?’
‘Jealous, are you?’ He smirked. ‘Drop dead. You … stockbroker.’ She got to her feet. ‘I’m out of here.’ She pointed to the machine. ‘Fix the sewing machine for your daughter. Men can do that. Remember?’
Chapter Seventeen
Jacinta
Jacinta lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Five weeks to go until she stopped feeling like a whale. The whale calf/baby inside her rolled and dug something, obviously not a fin, into her ribcage. She rubbed the spot and shifted a fraction onto her side. The kid hated it when she lay flat on her back. ‘Sorry,’ she said out loud. She kept forgetting.
But she couldn’t forget she’d have to go through labour. Obviously, lots of women laboured and didn’t die. She wasn’t stupid. The teachers at school had bemoaned the fact that she was too smart. Of course, she’d be pretty unlucky if it killed her.
Tears stung. Her mum had been unlucky. And her dad hadn’t been there when he should have been.
She tried to block those memories, but it was as though a door had been opened, one she’d thought safely locked, and the recollection of that horrible day circled like a feathered scavenger and kept coming back to settle with black wings around her. Suffocating her.
She jerked her thoughts away, tried to settle on a distraction, and suddenly she could see the scene in the kitchen. She felt anger push away the ghosts and she latched onto the feeling with grim determination. Noni shouldn’t have let him hug her. Now, she’d be let down too.
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