That hint of sadness.
There weren’t that many things in life that you could be certain of and a true friendship was one of the most precious things there was. Maggie Lewis had been his favourite person to crew with ever since he’d joined the Aratika Rescue Base and the foundations of that trust between them had been rocked the other day. Possibly even damaged beyond repair judging by the aftershocks. All by a few words. There had been more than sadness in that swift glance they had just shared, however. An impression of something else was lingering. Regret? Along with a desire to put things right?
A flash of guilt threw itself into the confusing mix of emotions that was unsettling Joe right now. It wasn’t as if Maggie had done anything wrong. After all, he’d been the one who’d thrown that anecdote of people using a friend as a sperm donor into the conversation. He just hadn’t expected it to come back and bite him and it had only bitten that hard because it had touched a raw spot.
He’d overreacted, hadn’t he?
Cooper and Fizz had written their own vows for this ceremony and the message that was coming through loud and clear was the deep friendship that was the basis of their relationship. The trust. How rare and special it was to find someone who felt the same way about you.
That was so true.
Not that Joe wanted to marry Maggie, of course. He had no desire to marry anybody. And he’d never been sexually attracted to her. He could acknowledge that she was a very attractive woman—she just wasn’t his type. They had started out as colleagues and had become friends. Just because Cooper and Fizz had added benefits into their friendship that had taken them to a very different level didn’t mean that his relationship with Maggie was any less valid.
All too often, in Joe’s experience, friendships could outlast marriages.
As their friends exchanged a rather passionate kiss to seal their vows and the congregation clapped and cheered, Joe turned his head to find that Maggie was doing exactly the same thing and turning her head towards him.
This time, the smile they shared felt genuine.
The friendship was still there and there was an astonishing relief to be found in that knowledge. All they needed to do now was clear the air and sweep away the remnants of that disturbing suggestion of him helping her to achieve her dream of motherhood, and what better place to do that than during a party?
* * *
There were photographs against the dramatic backdrop of the cliffs and islands and a spectacular sunset. A live band was setting up for when they were going to provide the music for dancing later on and, in the meantime, there was a great range of wine and beer at the bar and delicious food that wasn’t offered in any traditional kind of wedding breakfast. A spit roast was happening in the courtyard garden with an amazing range of vegetables or salads to accompany it and inside one of the reception rooms of the resort a taco station had been set up on a long trestle table.
‘It’s because we loved the taco nights at your place when Cooper was still living with you,’ Fizz told Maggie.
‘Yum...’ Maggie had opened the lid of a huge container. ‘That’s proper pulled beef...’
‘The taco shells are keeping warm as well.’
Harrison was already holding a shell and Laura was helping him to add shredded lettuce and grated cheese from the bowls further along the table.
‘No tomatoes,’ he told his mum. ‘I hate tomatoes.’
‘Sauce?’
‘Only tomato sauce, not that hot stuff.’
Maggie laughed. ‘But you just said you hated tomatoes, Harry.’
The deep voice right behind her after she spoke made her jump. It also made her heart skip a beat. Good grief...when had she ever been nervous to be in Joe’s company before? But the way he’d looked at her when the ceremony had been getting underway—as if she’d done something completely unforgiveable—had made that tension between them feel like it was rapidly escalating. Mind you, the way he’d smiled at the end of the ceremony, when Fizz and Cooper were having their first kiss as husband and wife, had been a glimmer of hope. So was the amusement coating his words when he spoke now.
‘Tomato sauce is different, Maggie. Everybody knows that.’
‘Yeah.’ Harrison nodded, although he’d edged closer to his mother. ‘It doesn’t even taste like tomatoes.’
‘You can have whatever you want on your taco,’ Fizz told him. ‘They’re the rules today.’
‘And I get to stay up late, right?’
‘Let’s see how tired you get,’ Laura cautioned. ‘I don’t want you feeling sick tomorrow.’
‘I’m not going to get tired.’ Harrison was looking determined. ‘Because I know a secret about what’s going to happen later and I have to be awake.’
‘Oh?’ Everybody turned to look at Fizz.
‘Can’t say.’ She grinned. ‘It’s a secret. Harry only knows because he did so well with his special job today.’ She glanced down at the wedding ring on her hand. ‘And now I’m going to find a beer and make sure my husband has one, too. Enjoy the tacos, you lot.’
Joe was right behind Maggie as she loaded salad and cheese onto the meat in the crisp taco shell. They both added sliced jalapeño peppers and chilli sauce.
Drizzling the super-spicy sauce made Maggie smile. Instead of putting the bottle down again with the other condiments, she handed it to Joe.
‘D’you remember the first time we ever worked together all those years ago?’
‘When we knocked over the chilli sauce bottle on the table because we were both reaching for it at the same time?’
‘And we discovered that there was someone else in the world who like putting hot sauce on scrambled eggs?’
The softening of Joe’s features told Maggie that he was remembering more than those scrambled eggs. That it had been more than a moment of bonding as new colleagues. The hotter the better had become a private catchphrase and had ended up becoming a kind of code of encouragement. How many times had they been dispatched to what promised to be a challenging situation and they’d used that code?
This could get hot.
That’s okay. That’s the way we like it, remember?
Yeah...the hotter the better...
She could see the way Joe stilled for a moment, the sauce bottle still in his hands. Then he caught her gaze with the most direct look they’d shared since before that awkward conversation.
‘It was the start of a great friendship,’ he said quietly.
‘One that I hope we still have,’ Maggie said, just as softly. It was more than a great friendship, it was the best kind of friendship it was possible to have. She loved Joe and she knew that he felt the same way about her. It was a bond that nothing could break.
‘I’m really sorry, Joe,’ she added. ‘I just wish I could wind the clock back and that I never talked to you about any of that baby stuff.’
‘It wasn’t entirely your fault. It was me who put the idea into your head.’
‘It’s not there now. Can we pretend it never happened?’
It seemed that Joe was thinking along the same lines.
‘Consider it forgotten,’ he said. ‘Never to be discussed again.’
‘What were we talking about?’ Maggie tilted her head. ‘I’ve forgotten.’
They both laughed, reaching for paper towels for what looked likely to be a messy meal, and virtually all of the tension that had been there between them seemed to evaporate with the sound of that laughter.
Normal service had been resumed and thank goodness for that. Maggie could finally relax enough to really enjoy this party to celebrate the wedding of two of her closest friends.
They couldn’t really forget about it. Maggie knew that. Some things just couldn’t be unheard in the same way that images from things seen could never be erased from your memory cells. But they could pretend to pretend, couldn’
t they? And maybe that would be enough to make everything all right again.
If nothing else, it was a good start.
CHAPTER THREE
THE SECRET THAT Harrison knew about was a fireworks display that happened later in the evening against the inky black sky over the cliff edge. Maggie used her phone camera to capture the excitement on the small boy’s face as he watched the display from within the safe circle of his mother’s arms. Then she turned to catch some of the amazing explosions of light and colour in the sky and, by chance, caught the moment when Fizz and Cooper—standing a little way in front of her—turned towards each other to steal a kiss.
They were only a silhouette against the bright display of exploding light in front of them but nobody could mistake the long hair being gently blown back from Fizz’s head or the ruffled hem of Cooper’s kilt. Maggie knew the instant she’d taken that photo that it was something special. The guests had all been firmly told that no wedding gifts other than their company were desired but Maggie now had the makings of the most perfect memento—just as good, if not possibly better than any of the formal photographs that had been taken today. She just needed to print this picture and find a pretty frame and she could present this captured moment of quintessential celebration when Cooper and Fizz came back from their honeymoon in Scotland.
Anticipating the pleasure of their reaction made her feel almost as good as it did to have her friendship with Joe back on track. It certainly made her feel confident enough to seek him out a little while later, after the fireworks had finished and the resort’s four-wheel-drive taxis had taken the guests who needed to leave early back to the city.
She wanted to show someone the photo she was so proud of. Cooper and Fizz were out of the question, of course, and Laura had taken Harrison home because it was well past his bedtime already. There were plenty of people here who would love to see the romantic shot of the newly wed couple but there was only one person that Maggie really wanted to show it to and that was Joe.
Except that he was standing with Cooper, talking to the members of the band who were gearing up to try to get everybody on the dance floor for the rest of the evening.
‘Bit of rock and roll, I reckon,’ Cooper was saying as Maggie joined them. ‘Nobody can resist that.’
‘Like this?’ The lead singer nodded to the others and they launched into Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’.
The introductory notes were enough to bring a whoop from Fizz on the other side of the dance floor and Cooper had a huge grin on his face as he went to meet her in the middle of the space. Maggie’s body was responding to the music without her even thinking about it, so when Joe grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the floor, she was only too happy to follow. She’d known that this new dress would be just perfect for a bit of rock and roll dancing with the way the skirts billowed as she was twirled and spun and even had her feet off the floor in a lift, but what she hadn’t known was that Joe would be this good at it. One song led into another, the best music from the sixties and seventies that was far too good not to dance to, and it wasn’t until quite some time later that Maggie was breathless and tired enough to head off the dance floor for a rest. Joe seemed happy to follow her.
‘Where on earth did you learn to dance like that?’
Joe shrugged. ‘Got dragged along to lessons once with a girlfriend.’
‘Takes more than a few lessons to learn that many moves.’
He grinned. ‘Guess she lasted a bit longer than most. In fact, she was the one I was with when we first met and she lasted almost as long as you and Richard, from what I remember. Maybe that was because she was more interested in dancing than anything off-putting like getting married or having babies.’
Maggie froze for a moment at the reminder of what she’d managed to forget about completely while they’d been dancing. But Joe was still smiling.
‘Want a drink?’
‘I need about a gallon of water, I think.’
‘I need a very cold lager. And a bit of fresh air, maybe? Don’t know about you but I’m cooking after all that exercise.’
‘It was great fun, though.’ Maggie followed Joe outside when they both had a drink in their hands. ‘I really should get back into doing some dancing on a regular basis. It was always my exercise of choice.’
Joe shook his head. ‘Not for me. You can’t beat windsurfing. And Wellington’s perfect for it.’
‘Mmm... I was going to say that there’s always some wind here but...look at this...’ Maggie held her palm up above her head. ‘There’s not even a puff right now. What a perfect evening.’
There were bench seats built into the outside of the low stone wall surrounding the courtyard that provided the same view of the cliff edge that the wedding guests had been treated to earlier and, by tacit consent, Maggie and Joe headed for one of them and sat down. The white chairs had all been cleared away but the pretty archway was still in place and, above it, a crescent moon hung in the night sky.
‘I’ve got to get a photo of that.’ Maggie put her glass down on the bench beside her and fished in her pocket for her phone. As soon as she’d caught the image, she remembered the earlier shot and held her phone out to Joe.
‘Look at this.’
‘Wow...that’s very cool. Looks like a cover for a romance novel.’
‘They’ll love it, won’t they? I thought I’d get it framed while they’re away on honeymoon.’
‘They’re not calling it a honeymoon, remember? It’s been a huge thing for Fizz to even get married again and Cooper said he was careful to call this holiday a “babymoon”. He wants to show her his home country before she’s too pregnant to be allowed to fly long-haul.’
Maggie sighed. ‘I’d almost forgotten the tragedy of her last honeymoon. Maybe because she’s looked so incredibly happy today.’
‘They both have, haven’t they? Good luck to them, too. I hope they stay that way for ever.’
They sat in silence for a long moment, staring up at the moon.
Maggie took a sip of her champagne, a kaleidoscope of images from today’s ceremony flashing through her mind. She loved weddings but the aftermath did tend to make her feel a bit lonely these days. Kind of like the way dealing with babies or even talking about them could make her arms feel empty. She slid a sideways glance at Joe.
‘Have you ever got close to getting married, Joe?’ she asked. ‘You’ve never been short of female company in the time I’ve known you. Except for now, mind you. What happened to the last one...what’s her name? That redheaded nurse?’
‘Amanda.’ Joe took a swig of his beer. ‘I was a rebound. She went back to her ex and got engaged to him.’ He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and returned the curious glance. ‘What about you? Why are you still single? Especially given that you like the idea of having kids so much.’
Maggie shrugged, aware that he’d avoided answering her question by turning the tables, but she wasn’t going to force him to talk about something he preferred to keep private.
‘Just haven’t found the right person, I guess,’ she said. ‘And I’m not about to settle for anything less than the “real thing”.’
Joe’s breath came out in a dismissive huff. ‘You don’t really believe in that, do you?’
‘In love? Of course I do. How can you even ask that when you can see how happy Cooper and Fizz are?’
‘I mean that idea that there’s one perfect person out there and when you find them you’re destined to live happily-ever-after. That whole romantic myth of the “real thing”.’ He took another swig of his drink. ‘Yes, it can work. Sometimes. If you’re really lucky but, all too often, it turns into a disaster. That’s the real reason I’m still single,’ he added. ‘It’s because I don’t believe in it. In any of it.’
Maggie’s jaw dropped as she caught a note of something like bitterness in his tone. ‘Don’t
let anyone else hear you say that tonight. Man...talk about raining on someone’s parade.’
Joe made an apologetic face. ‘You’re right. Okay... I won’t say anything else. And, for the record, I think that Cooper and Fizz make a great couple. If anyone can make it work, those two can.’
Maggie couldn’t help trying to score another point. ‘Maybe that’s because they’ve found the “real thing”.’
The sound Joe made now sounded resigned. ‘Which is what, exactly?’
Maggie considered the question. She’d asked herself often enough when past relationships had failed for one reason or another.
‘It’s got friendship in there,’ she answered. ‘It needs a solid foundation of genuine friendship. Just being able to enjoy each other’s company and respect each other’s opinions.’
‘We’re friends,’ Joe said. ‘But it’s never going to be anything more than that.’
‘God, no,’ Maggie agreed. ‘That’s because there’s no chemistry. Just being friends is never going to be enough. I found that out with Richard. You’ve got to be attracted to someone to fall in love with them. Really, really attracted. And it happens instantly, if it’s real.’
‘That’s just hormones. It wears off.’
‘Probably. But if it lasts long enough for a friendship to develop as well it can create something that will last. For some people it lasts their whole lives. My parents are like that and that’s what I want to find. They fell in love at first sight and it’s still there. They’re in their sixties and they still hold hands when they’re walking down the street. They still look at each other sometimes in a way that makes me want to tell them to get a room.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Joe muttered. ‘At least you won’t be getting married just because you’re having a baby. Much better to do that by yourself if that’s what you really want. Better for everybody but especially better for the kid.’
Pregnant with Her Best Friend's Baby Page 4
