All through the movie though David couldn’t focus on anything but her breath on his neck as she leaned over to rest her head, and of the smooth surface of her knees that tapped against his leg every time she shifted. And of the way her skin smelled of coconut.
When he drove her back to their dorms, he parked near the edge of the lake, far past where vehicles were supposed to go. It was late, so no one was around.
He tried to make small talk but his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about the curve of her neck, the way her top fell over her breasts and of her tanned, toned legs against her pale denims. She was saying something about Manet or Monet – he got the two confused – and he just leaned forward and kissed her. Secretly he was sick of feigning interest in art. They kissed slowly, softly, and he was embarrassed that he could almost feel his heart pounding through his chest. They were leaning against the motorbike and, as he wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck, he lost balance and fell onto her, pushing the bike over. They fell laughing onto the bike as it hit the grass.
‘Ouch,’ she said, holding her hip.
‘Did you hurt yourself?’
‘No, it’s nothing.’ She brushed the blood away from her hip with the back of her hand but the way she was biting her lip told him otherwise.
When they emerged under a streetlight, he could see she needed a few small stitches. He took his jumper off and dabbed at the wound and then did the only heroic thing he could think of: he nervously offered to stitch the wound up himself. He tried to seem confident, but he was as scared as hell. He hadn’t stitched up a human before, only a few pigs’ trotters. He didn’t know how she agreed, but he snuck into the med lab, took some supplies and stitched her hip on the training table.
‘Okay,’ Courtney said now, as if she too had been recalling the memory, ‘let’s go to the pharmacy.’
‘Done.’ The sight of Matthew’s pale face made David surer of his decision. Matthew needed some time outdoors, some colour back in his cheeks. ‘Hey,’ David said, trying to draw Matthew’s attention away from the gash on his shin, ‘I’ll fix you right up and you’ll be as good as new.’
‘I hope I get a big bruise.’
‘Matthew,’ Courtney scolded.
‘What? Then I’ll have way more than Dean. I’ll have two on one leg!’
They both shrugged. Courtney helped her son into the car. ‘Can you stay out of trouble, please?’ she said to Matthew and then turned back to David. ‘Are you sure about this, David?’
Her constant indecision sometimes drove him nuts, but after all their years of marriage, he was used to it. ‘Courts, I’m a pro.’ He took his hands off the wheel for a second to mime a quick suture in the air that looked more like he was playing a musical instrument. Matthew laughed. David glanced at Courtney, who looked uneasy, and rested a hand on her leg. ‘Courts, you know I’d never let anything happen to our soccer champ.’
6
JADE emerged from the water and took a deep gulp of air, as if she were a newborn breathing for the first time. She was alive.
Her body began to tremble from the shock. In the distance, she could see orange flames hurtling through the trees. It sounded like fireworks were exploding all around her. She immersed herself under the water so only her head was above it. She was completely trapped now, her only chance of survival was staying in the creek.
Jade had taken off her wet top and she breathed through it like a mask, afraid that the hot gases could kill her.
She felt desperately alone and afraid, embarrassed by the stupidity of her decision to stay and fight. She swam to the deepest edge, where an overhanging tree and an escarpment of rocks rose up behind her forming a ridge that protected her from the meteor shower of embers.
She felt a deep sense of heat-fuelled fatigue knit to her. She wanted to give in, to close her eyes and sleep. It was too deep to stand so she pushed a log onto a rock and hung her arms over it to rest.
As night fell Jade passed the time alternating between moments of sheer terror that shook her body and caught her breath, and moments of clarity and peace, where she felt unnaturally calm.
Memories came flooding to her in fragments and she wondered if she was dying. Isn’t that what people who had been near death said – that their lives flashed before them?
Her mother teaching her the names of the trees – Messmate gum, stringybark, peppermint, mountain ash. Walking with her grandmother through the wet grass, breathing in its wintery smell. Her mother making a crown for her hair out of ivy and fallen roses. The early morning light as they picked lemons, limes and olives from the farm, and cut crabapples for the vase. Eating the batter of the carrot cake while YiaYia baked. Her mother teaching her how to prune a rose.
Only the good memories came to her – nothing of her mother’s years of abandonment, of disappearing for months at a time only to reappear with no explanation and no apology. It suddenly occurred to Jade that she would never get to confront her mother and know the truth of where she went and why.
The feeling of sleep hit her again and this time she had little strength to fight it. The sound of the crackling inferno became softer, as if she had turned the volume down. She knew she shouldn’t shut her eyes, but her eyelids were so heavy.
She told herself she was somewhere else. She was by the creek with her mother in summertime with birds flying overhead and crickets humming. The air was pure and cool. A feeling of calm washed over her and she finally gave in to the urge to close her eyes.
Someone was carrying Jade away from the fires. She couldn’t see their face – the smoke was too thick – but she could feel arms around her. They were strong. It was a man. She could hear his laboured breathing through a mask.
She thought she was hallucinating, but she let the visions take hold.
She tried to open her eyes but she could only see red mist. There was something tender in the way she was being carried. Every few steps, he put his gloved hand to her bare skin and whispered: ‘You’re going to be okay.’
She wanted to reach up and touch his skin to see if he was real, but her arm felt like a log and it wouldn’t move from her side. She tried to speak to ask his name, but only a silent breath escaped her.
She could feel unbearable heat striking her body, her arm blistering. Something tightened over her face. A strap. And then beautiful, cold air filled her lungs. It was like a hit of morphine. She inhaled deeply, savouring every breath.
From the clutches of death, Jade tried to open her eyes and she realised with a jolt that she was not hallucinating at all. Someone was carrying her through this burning inferno. There was an oxygen mask on her face. A firefighter had found her somehow. She wanted to thank him but her vocal cords seemed burned and the air from the mask was so pure that she didn’t want to miss a breath of it.
She looked up at him. She could barely see anything in the haze of the fires and through his thick mask but she could see his eyes. They were blue and soft and kind. He had a faint scar above his right eyebrow. Her eyes scanned for other members of his unit but it seemed it was just the two of them, alone, as everything burned around them. The sound of the explosions reverberated right through her. Her body was trembling. There was no escape and though she would have taken some comfort in knowing she would not die alone, she knew he might survive if not for her slowing him down. She tried to mumble, Leave me and save yourself, but her words came out as muffled and inaudible against the sounds of the crackling bushland.
‘Stay with me,’ he said, glancing down at her. ‘You’ll be okay now.’ He placed his gloved hand on her arm tenderly as he carried her. She wanted to thank him but a deep fatigue again overcame her and she closed her eyes as sleep drew her back into its embrace.
7
COURTNEY woke to rays of light filtering through a small square window on the yacht. It took her a moment to remember where she was. It was stuffy and she almost knocked her head on the roof as she tried to sit up.
David was still sleeping, snor
ing lightly. She stretched over him and unhinged the window to let some fresh air into the cabin. He sat up abruptly, hitting his head. ‘Damn it,’ he said, rubbing his scalp.
She suppressed a laugh. ‘That’s what you get for choosing a yacht instead of a hotel.’ David headed to the tiny bathroom while Courtney left their bedroom and found Matthew still asleep on the couch. On holidays he was usually up and ready to go out at the crack of dawn, much to their frustration.
Courtney lifted the covers off her son to wake him and was startled to find the sheet damp. She reached for his forehead, only to find it searing.
Matthew rolled over, squinting. ‘Mom, what are you doing?’
‘Honey, are you feeling okay?’ Courtney asked gently, then called to David before Matthew had a chance to answer. ‘David!’
David opened the bathroom door, his toothbrush still in hand. ‘What’s wrong?’ he said through a mouthful of toothpaste.
‘Matthew has a temperature,’ she said. ‘Could he have an infection from the cut?’
David spat out his toothpaste in the basin and walked over to where Courtney was now checking Matthew’s shin.
‘Mom, Dad. I’m fine,’ Matthew mumbled. ‘I just woke up.’
‘But you’re burning up, honey. Do you feel sick? Is your shin sore?’
David felt Matthew’s forehead, then placed his hand on his son’s back and on the folds of his arms. ‘He is warm,’ David said. ‘But it’s stuffy and hot in here. Buddy, do you feel okay?’
Matthew sat up now and rubbed his eyes. ‘I told you, I’m fine. Are we going swimming later?’
David looked at the steri-strips on Matthew’s shin and checked the wound. It wasn’t red or swollen, or warm to touch.
‘Courts,’ David said, his voice shifting tone so that it was softer but more assertive. ‘He’s fine. He’s just hot. The wound is healing well. He’s very bruised but there’s no sign of an infection.’
Courtney wasn’t convinced but she trusted her husband, who always managed to calm her anxieties. She knew she was irrational when it came to her son, so she relied on David to be the voice of reason.
‘Come on, let’s hit the deck,’ he said brightly. ‘Then we can head to the beach for a swim.’
Matthew got up slowly and followed his father to the deck. In the morning sunlight his skin seemed pale but his expression was lively, so Courtney tried to relax.
Later in the day, she lay on the beach while they kicked the ball. Sometimes she felt it was Matthew who was keeping David occupied and not the other way round. She enjoyed the sun and took a mental snapshot of the moment: the sandy shades of Matthew’s hair as he dived into the ocean to catch the ball, David’s deep eyes lifted in a smile, the sound of their laughter, the light shimmering on the water like sequins.
Courtney was so at ease that she forgot all about Matthew’s temperature that morning and the paleness of his skin. She felt awash with contentment. Life was perfect. Her career was at its peak, she had a loving husband and a beautiful son. She would have loved more children but one perfect child was enough.
The weekend trip to Key West already felt like another lifetime. By Monday, they were back into the throng of work with the start of another week of rushed dinners, short evening conversations, early mornings and exhausting days. Courtney was lifting her freshly washed bedspread in the air while making the bed when she saw a shadow run into her room, dive onto the mattress and lie like a starfish as the bedspread came down.
‘Matthew,’ Courtney said, hiding a smile. ‘Will you ever grow out of that?’
He crawled out from under it with a grin. ‘Nope,’ he said. Ever since Courtney could remember, Matthew made a game of sneaking up on her and diving under the sheets in the moment they landed on the bed. She didn’t know how he timed it so well or how he managed to always catch her off guard. No matter how often she’d seen him destroy her neat bedding, she still had to stifle a laugh. He knew what a perfectionist she was and he did it deliberately for a reaction, so she did her best not to give him one.
‘I was just dusting it off anyway,’ Courtney lied. ‘Now, take a corner.’
‘But, Mom, I was just in the middle of –’
‘Clipping your toenails? I’ve heard them all, little man.’
He grinned. ‘Fine.’ He took a corner and flicked it up as Courtney took her edge. The cotton sheet came down slowly and Courtney could see Matthew struggle to hold himself back from diving under again.
The phone rang and Matthew raced to get it, expecting it to be his dad. ‘Hamilton residence,’ he said in an English accent. Courtney shook her head with a smile.
‘Oh, hi, Coach,’ Matthew said, his expression changing to a look of confusion. ‘Just getting ready for school. Are you serious? Me? No way. That’s awesome. My dad’s at work already but Mom’s here. I’ll put her on.’
Matthew’s eyes were bright. He handed the phone to her and jumped up and down on the carpet, mouthing ‘yes’ to himself.
‘Morning, Courtney,’ Coach Flanagen said.
‘Morning, Coach. I have a suddenly very excited son next to me.’
‘Well, that’s because I just gave him some very good news.’ Courtney could detect the excitement in the coach’s voice too. He was passionate about the team but something in his tone told her this phone call was different.
‘I just got a call from the under-thirteen academy. Coaches from around the state were asked to nominate their best players and I put Matthew forward to try out. The scout is coming along to a game in two weeks and if they like what they see, he’ll get to try out for the team.’
Matthew was reading her expression. ‘That’s fantastic. Wow, I’m stunned,’ Courtney said. ‘Thank you for putting him forward.’
‘It’s a huge opportunity,’ the coach said. ‘Only the best of the best get in. He’s got real talent, your boy. If he makes it, this could be the start of a career. You should be very proud.’
Courtney looked at her beautiful son and the way his body was writhing with the rush of the news. He could barely keep himself still. ‘I’m really proud. And David will just be over the moon when he hears.’
‘Try to get Matthew at the field an hour before the game so we can warm up properly first.’
‘Will do, Coach. Thanks so much for the great news. See you on Saturday.’
As she hung up the phone, Matthew mimed catching a ball and threw himself onto her fresh sheets. He then stood on them and jumped up and down. ‘Yes, yes, yes!’
She picked him up off the bed and planted him on the floor. ‘I’m so proud of you, my little man. I always knew you were destined for great things.’
‘I’m so excited, Mom. The Miami Cubs Academy. That’s my dream come true. I’m going to have to train every night. I’ve got to make the team. Let’s call Dad,’ he said already dialling.
Courtney sat at her dressing table as he told David the news. She saw the boy’s face light up, like he was smiling from the inside out. ‘Can you believe it, Dad? The academy!’ he said in disbelief. ‘They are coming to watch me. We have to train every night, okay? He called right now. Mom spoke to him. She’s here. I’ll put her on.’
Courtney took the receiver as Matthew put his T-shirt over his head and ran in circles around the room.
‘Isn’t it great?’ she said.
‘Courtney, this is huge. Our boy. Our little soccer player. I knew he had talent, but on this scale? He’s only ten. He’ll be the youngest on the team by a mile.’
Courtney could hear the pride in his voice. ‘I’m so happy for him. But we can’t get too excited yet. Let’s wait to see what happens at the game. But,’ she said looking at Matthew, ‘if he played like he did at his last match, I have no doubt he’ll be in with a chance.’
David hung up the phone, a grin plastered on his face. He knew what an opportunity it was for Matthew, especially at his age. David could still recall how hard he had tried to catch the eye of a scout for a state team – and that was
in his university days.
What David would give to have his soccer physique back and that sense of possibility that came with being young. When he first met Courtney, he was in the prime of his sporting ability. She was studying fine arts and he was midway through his studies at the University of Miami.
It was one of those balmy nights before exams. Everyone was camped out in front of the library, outside the Starbucks on campus, which stayed open until the early morning hours during exam periods. All the tables were taken, so a few people were sitting on the grass, with their laptops plugged into the outdoor power points. David loved the university’s wide stretches of grass, its tall palm and banyan trees, and sprawling lakes. There was something enriching, motivating about being surrounded by hundreds of hardworking students, even if it was two in the morning.
David’s mind had started to wander off, so he and a friend began a game of keep-ups. When he reached twenty, his less-coordinated left foot sent the ball barrelling towards a student, pushing her laptop over. David rushed to her, hoping he hadn’t done any damage. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘Is it all right?’ He saw the girl survey the laptop and when she looked up he was taken aback by how pretty she was, with high cheekbones, rich brown hair and sharp blue eyes.
‘It’s fine, thankfully. But you really should work on your aim,’ she teased.
‘Yes, you’re right. That and work on doing some actual studying,’ he replied. ‘I’m sorry my means of procrastination almost destroyed your laptop.’
As time wore on and he returned to his study on the lawn he found himself glancing in the direction of the girl, whose eyes remained fixed on her screen until she unexpectedly approached him. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘So, I have a way for you to redeem yourself for nearly breaking my laptop.’
The Ties That Bind Page 5
