Road Trip with the Eligible Bachelor

by Michelle Douglas

  Hell, that was what this was. Absolute hell. He slunk down in his seat and stared straight out in front of him as the songs came at him in a relentless round. ‘This isn’t music!’ He glared at the road. ‘You could’ve warned me about this back in Perth.’ No way would he have got into the car with her then.

  Then he thought of his mother.

  Quinn merely sang, ‘I’m a yummy, tummy, funny, lucky gummy bear,’ with extra gusto.

  He closed his eyes, but this time sleep eluded him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THEY REACHED MERREDIN ninety minutes later. It had felt like ninety hours. Aidan had endured forty minutes of the ‘Monster Mash’, ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ and many more novelty songs, which was enough to last him a lifetime. Twenty minutes of I Spy had followed and then a further thirty minutes of the number plate game. There was only one rule to the game, as far as he could tell, and that was who could make up the silliest phrase from the letters of a passing number plate.

  PHH. Penguin haircuts here. Purple Hoovering hollyhocks. Pasta hates ham.

  LSL. Larks sneeze loudly. Little snooty limpets. Lace scissored loquaciously.

  CCC. Cream cake central. Can’t clap cymbals. Cool cooler coolest.

  And on and on and on it went, like some kind of slow Chinese water torture. His temples throbbed and an ache stretched behind his eyes. He didn’t join in.

  He sat up straighter though when Quinn eased the car down the town’s main street. He glanced up at the sky. There was another four hours of daylight left yet. Another four hours of good driving time.

  Manners prevented him from pointing this out. Biting back something less than charitable, he studied the few shops on offer. Maybe he’d be able to hire a car of his own out here?

  Quinn parked the car in the main street and turned off the motor. ‘The boys and I are staying at the caravan park, but I figured you’d be more comfortable at the motel.’

  A caravan park? He suppressed a shudder. Again, he didn’t say anything. Quinn was obviously on a tight budget.

  She and the boys all but bounced out of the car. Aidan found his limbs heavy and lethargic. It took an effort of will to make them move. He wondered where Quinn found all her energy. Maybe she took vitamins. Unbidden, an image of her racing around the soccer oval in her bike shorts and dress rose up through him and for some reason his throat tightened.

  He glanced up to find her watching him. He felt worn and weary, but her ponytail still bounced and her cheeks were pink and pretty. She waited, as if expecting him to say something, and then she merely shrugged. ‘The motel is just across the road.’ She pointed. ‘We’ll collect you at nine in the morning.’

  He snapped to and retrieved his overnight bag from the back of the wagon. ‘I’ll be ready earlier. Say six or seven if you wanted to get an early start.’

  ‘Nine o’clock,’ she repeated, and he suddenly had the impression she was laughing at him.

  She swung back to the boys. ‘Right!’ She clapped her hands. ‘Chase, I need you to find me a packet of spaghetti and, Robbie, I need you to find me a tin of tomatoes.’

  As they walked away he heard Chase ask, ‘What are you looking for?’

  ‘Minced meat and garlic bread.’ And they all disappeared into the nearby supermarket.

  He’d been summarily dismissed. Again.

  From a grocery trip? He shook the thought off and headed across the road to the motel.

  His room was adequate. Merredin might be the regional centre for Western Australia’s wheat belt, but as far as he was concerned it wasn’t much more than a two-horse town and his early enquiries about hiring a car proved less than encouraging.

  He strode back to his motel room, set his phone to charge and then flipped open his laptop and searched Google Maps. He frowned. What the heck...? If they kept travelling at this pace it’d take them two weeks to drive across the country!

  His hands clenched for a moment. Counting to three, he unclenched them and pulled a writing pad from his briefcase and started to plot a route across the continent. He spread out a map he’d grabbed from the motel’s reception and marked logical break points where he and Quinn could swap driving duties.

  That took all of twenty minutes. He closed his laptop and glanced about his room. There didn’t seem to be much more to do. He wandered about the room, opening the wardrobe doors and the desk drawer. He made a coffee that he didn’t drink. He reached for his cell phone to call his mother, stared at it for a moment and then shoved it back onto its charger.

  Flopping back onto the bed, he stared at the ceiling for what seemed like an eon. When he glanced at his watch, though, he cursed. What on earth was he going to do for the rest of the afternoon, let alone the rest of the night?

  He raised himself to his elbows. He could go and find Quinn and the boys.

  Why would you do that?

  He sat up and drummed his fingers against his thighs, before shooting to his feet. He tore the page from his writing pad and stalked from the room.

  It didn’t take him long to find the caravan park. And it didn’t take him long to locate Robbie and Chase either. They played—somewhat rowdily—on a playground fort in primary colours so bright they hurt his eyes. And then he saw Quinn. She sat cross-legged on a blanket beside a nearby caravan, and something about her sitting in the afternoon light soothed his eyes.

  ‘Hey, Aidan,’ she called out when she saw him. ‘Feeling at a loose end, huh?’

  He rolled his shoulders. ‘I’m just exploring. Thought I’d come see where you were camped.’

  She lifted her face to the sun. ‘This is a nice spot, isn’t it?’

  It was? He glanced around, searching for whatever it was that she found ‘nice’, but he came up blank.

  ‘I thought you’d be busy catching up on all of your work.’

  It hit him that in amongst all of his restlessness it hadn’t occurred to him to ring back into the office. They knew he was delayed, but...

  It didn’t mean he had to stop working. There’d still be the usual endless round of email that needed answering. He could’ve set up meetings for this evening on Skype.

  The thought of all that work made him feel as tired as the idea of ringing his mother. When Quinn gestured to the blanket he fell down onto it, grateful for the respite.

  He had no right feeling so exhausted. He’d done next to nothing all day. He shook himself in an effort to keep the moroseness at bay, glanced around as if he were curious about his surroundings. If he pretended well enough, maybe he’d start to feel a flicker of interest and intent again. Maybe. ‘Are you planning to stay in caravan parks for all of your journey?’

  ‘You bet.’

  He kept his face smooth, but somehow she saw through him and threw her head back with a laugh. ‘Not your idea of a good time, I see.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say that.’ He wasn’t a snob, but... Walking to an amenity block when he could have an en suite bathroom? No, thanks.

  ‘Only because you’re incredibly polite.’

  She made that sound like an insult.

  ‘Look about you, Aidan. This place caters to children far better than your motel does. Most caravan parks do. Look at all that open green space over there. The boys can kick a ball around to their hearts’ content. And then there’s that playground, which I might add is fenced.’

  In those eye-gouging primary colours.

  ‘Robbie is old enough not to wander off, but Chase is still easily distracted.’

  He straightened when he realised this place gave her peace of mind. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

  ‘And there’re usually other children around for them to play with too.’

  He watched another two children approach the playground.

  ‘Most people here won’t mind a bit of noise from the children, but I bet you’re glad we’re not staying in the room next to yours at the motel.’

  He rolled his shoulders. ‘It’s not a bad noise. It’s just a bit of laughing and shou
ting.’

  She raised her eyebrows.

  ‘But I take your point.’

  ‘It’d be hard to get any work done with all that noise.’

  There she was, talking about work again.

  He promptly pulled the itinerary he’d plotted out for them from his pocket along with the map and smoothed them on the rug between them. ‘I thought that tomorrow we could make it as far as Balladonia. If we wanted to take two-hour shifts driving, which is what all the driver reviver and driving safety courses recommend, then we could change here, here and here.’ He pointed out the various locations on the map.

  Quinn leaned back on her hands and laughed. ‘I’ve seen this movie. In this particular scenario you’re Sally and I’m Harry, right?’

  He stared at her. What on earth was she talking about?

  ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ she said when he remained silent. ‘The movie? You know? Sally who’s a bit uptight and super-organised and Harry who’s casual and laidback?’

  He searched for something to say.

  ‘There’s a scene early in the movie when they’re driving across America together and...’ Her voice lost steam. ‘You haven’t seen the movie?’

  He shook his head.

  Her face fell. ‘But it’s one of the classic rom-coms of all time.’

  For some reason he felt compelled to apologise. ‘I’m sorry.’

  And for some reason he couldn’t fathom that made her smile again, only it wasn’t the kind of smile that reached her eyes. She touched his map and shook her head. ‘No.’

  He blinked. ‘No?’ But...

  She laughed and he could see it was partly in frustration with him, but she didn’t do it in a mean way. She rested back on her hands again. ‘Aidan, you really need to learn to relax and chill out a bit.’

  And just like that she reminded him of Daniel.

  It should’ve hurt him.

  But it didn’t.

  * * *

  ‘I...’

  He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. Or as if no one had ever told him to slow down and smell the roses. He stared at her as if that very concept was totally alien.

  She bit back a sigh. This trip—spending time with her boys and doing all she could to make this transition in their lives exciting and easy—was important to her. Taking pity on Aidan and inviting him to join them had thrown the dynamic off more than she’d anticipated. She’d promised the boys a holiday and she wasn’t going back on her word.

  And eight hours a day driving wasn’t a holiday in anybody’s vocabulary.

  ‘We probably should’ve compared notes about the kind of travelling we were expecting to do before we left Perth.’ How could he know she meant to take it slow if she hadn’t explained it to him? He was obviously in a hurry, but... ‘It didn’t occur to me at the time.’ She moistened her lips. ‘But we’re obviously working on two different timetables here.’

  Her stomach churned. He was probably used to everyone rushing around at a million miles an hour. That was what people from his world—her parents’ world—did.

  Don’t hold that against him. It doesn’t make him like your parents.

  ‘I made enquiries in town to see if I could hire a car of my own.’

  She swallowed. It’d be one solution to the problem. ‘And?’

  ‘No luck, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘You’re regretting taking me on as a passenger.’ He said it simply, without rancour, but there was such exhaustion stretching through his voice it was all she could do to not reach across and clasp his hand and to tell him he was mistaken. Only...

  She glanced across at her boys, now happily playing with the newcomers to the playground. A fierce mixture of love and fear swirled through her. Pushing her shoulders back, she met his stare again. Pussyfooting around would only lead to more misunderstandings. ‘Aidan, you’ve been unfailingly polite, but you haven’t really been all that friendly.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’

  He gritted his teeth so hard his mouth turned white. She hated being the reason for that expression, but she soldiered on all the same, hoping she wasn’t punishing him for the reminders of the past that he’d unwittingly brought rushing back to her. ‘You didn’t join in on our singalong. You didn’t play I Spy or the number plate game.’

  He stared at her. For someone groomed to project and maintain a certain image, he looked all at sea. ‘Please don’t tell me you want to part company here in this two-horse town.’

  ‘Of course not!’ How could he think she’d abandon him like that?

  ‘Once we reach Adelaide I’ll make other arrangements.’

  ‘Okay.’ She bit her thumbnail for a moment, unable to look at him. Adelaide was still six or possibly seven days away yet. If she could make him see how important this trip was...well, then, he might make more of an effort to fit in. Maybe.

  She stretched her legs out in front of her. ‘You know what I think? I think we should break the ice a little. I think we should ask the questions that have been itching through us and get that all out of the way.’

  He looked so utterly appalled she had to bite her lip to stop from laughing. This man took self-contained to a whole new level. ‘Or, better yet, why don’t we tell each other something we think the other wants to know?’

  His expression didn’t change but she ignored it to clap her hands. ‘Yes, that’ll be much more fun. I’ll go first, shall I?’ she rushed on before he could object. She crossed her legs again. ‘I’m going to tell you why Robbie, Chase and I are on a road trip across the continent.’

  He shifted, grew more alert. She could tell from the way his eyes focused on her and his shoulders straightened. Oh, he was appalled still, of course, but she hoped his curiosity would eventually conquer his resistance.

  ‘The olive farm is in the Hunter Valley wine district and it belongs to my aunt. She’s the black sheep of the family.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘And I happen to take after her.’

  ‘Your family consider you a black sheep?’

  A question! She schooled her features to hide her triumph. ‘Actually, in all honesty, I’d be very surprised if my parents thought about me at all these days. They’re from Sydney. I became pregnant with Robbie when I was eighteen. They wanted me to go to university and carve out some mythically brilliant career. When I decided to have my baby instead, they cut me off.’

  His jaw dropped. He mightn’t be ‘friendly’ in a traditional sense, but he didn’t strike her as the kind of man who’d walk away from his family when they needed him.

  And you’re basing that on what—his pretty smiles and earnest eyes in his television interviews?

  Hmm, good point.

  ‘Siblings?’

  Another question! ‘None. So, after my parents handed me their ultimatum, I packed my bags and moved to Perth.’

  ‘Why Perth?’

  ‘Because it was about as far away from Sydney as I could get while still remaining in the country.’

  He stared at her for a long moment. She held her breath and crossed her fingers that he’d ask a fourth question.

  ‘Did Robbie’s father go with you?’

  She wanted to beam at him for asking. ‘Yes, he did.’ But she didn’t want to tell him that story. ‘When I had Robbie my Aunt Mara—’

  ‘Of black sheep fame?’

  He was totally hooked, whether he knew it or not. ‘The very one. Well, she came across to Perth to help me out for a couple of weeks. I was barely nineteen with a new baby. I appreciated every bit of help, advice and support she gave me.’

  He plucked a nearby dandelion. ‘That’s nice.’

  ‘She didn’t have to. We’d had very little to do with each other when I was growing up.’ Her parents had made sure of that. ‘But those two weeks bonded us together in a way I will always cherish. We’ve been close ever since.’

  ‘You’re moving to be nearer to her?’

  A little twist of fear burrowed into he
r gut. She shifted on the blanket. She was turning all of their lives upside down. What if she was making a mistake? They’d had a perfectly comfortable life in Perth.

  You weren’t happy.

  Her happiness had nothing to do with it. She scratched her nose and stared across at Robbie and Chase.

  ‘Quinn?’

  She shook herself and pasted on a smile. ‘Mara is only fifty-two but she’s developed severe arthritis. She needs a hip replacement.’ She needed help. ‘My boys don’t have any family in Perth. I think it’d be nice for them to know Mara better.’

  Comprehension flashed across his face. ‘You’re moving there to look after her.’

  ‘I expect we’ll all look after each other. Like I said, she owns an olive farm and her second-in-command recently married and moved to the States.’

  ‘And you’re going to fill the position?’

  He didn’t ask with any judgement in his voice. She shouldn’t feel as if she’d been found so...lacking. ‘Yes.’

  She tossed her head. Besides, she was looking forward to that challenge. Her admin job in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Western Australia had palled years ago. Not that it had ever had much shine.

  Still, it had provided them with the security of a fortnightly pay packet. It had supported her and the boys for the last five years. It—

  She slammed a halt on the doubts that tried to crowd her. If worse came to worse, if things didn’t work out at Aunt Mara’s, she’d be able to pick up an office job in no time at all. Somewhere.

  She bit back a sigh and then straightened her spine. There was absolutely no reason why things wouldn’t work out. She loved her aunt. So did the boys. The Hunter Valley was a beautiful place and the boys would thrive in all of that sunshine and the wide open spaces. They’d go to good schools and she’d get them a dog. They’d make friends fast. And so would she.

  She crossed her fingers. The change might even help her overcome the ennui that had started to take her over. She’d learn new skills and maybe, eventually, she’d stop feeling so alone.

  Win-win for everyone. Perfect!