by Lyn Denison
Ashley shook her head. “No, of course not.”
They all returned to the living room and spent a few seconds finding seats before Kate made the introductions.
“So, you work with Kate?” Ashley asked politely, and Kate got the feeling she wasn’t enthusiastic about the interruption.
“Not quite.” Rosemary smiled. She was completely at ease, something Kate wished she was. “I’m the lord mayor’s personal secretary, but Kate’s and my paths cross every so often.”
Ashley slid a glance at Kate, and to her consternation Kate felt her cheeks warm with color.
“I don’t think we’ve met before, have we?” Rosemary asked. “Do you live in the Towers?”
“I grew up here but left about ten years ago.”
“Oh. And are you back for good or on holiday?”
Kate wanted to know that too.
“I haven’t exactly made up my mind. Ostensibly I’m home for my mother’s birthday and then to house-sit for my parents when they take an anniversary cruise. But I may decide to stay here.”
Kate’s heart fluttered as hope soared before she could quash it. So this wasn’t just a fleeting visit, Kate thought, and then she rebuked herself again. What did it matter to her what Ashley did or didn’t do? But if Ashley did decide to stay, how was Kate going to cope with seeing her all the time?
“It’s hard to stay away from the old hometown, isn’t it?” Rosemary was saying easily.
Kate couldn’t prevent herself from comparing the two women. While they were both shorter than Kate, Ashley had a fuller figure. Rosemary, on the other hand, was slim and small boned, and in her cool cotton dress she looked neat and fresh. Seeing the two women together Kate tried to examine her feelings, but she was having difficulty even keeping up with the conversation.
“Actually, Kate and I went to school together and were best friends,” Ashley said. Rosemary’s eyes met and held Kate’s, speculation in their depths.
Kate looked away, not wanting Rosemary to suspect the truth behind those words.
“It’s ten years since we saw each other,” Ashley continued.
“You must have lots to talk about. And here I am barging in on you,” Rosemary remarked ruefully.
“That’s okay.” Kate found her voice. “It’s not as though Ashley’s leaving tomorrow, are you?”
“No.” Ashley gave a wry smile. “That I’m not. We have plenty of time to get reacquainted.”
Did Kate imagine the heavy significance of Ashley’s tone? She glanced at Rosemary again, saw that same supposition, and decided she hadn’t.
Ashley seemed to be subtly warning the other woman off. If she was, Kate reflected, it would mean … Kate swallowed. Did Ashley want to pick up their relationship where they had left off? Kate felt a fever of elation she had great difficulty subduing.
“Do you see much difference in the town?” Rosemary was asking politely, and Ashley shook her head.
“Not too much, really. But it seemed strange to see the Country Music Statue when we drove into town. I didn’t realize country music had taken such a hold. But then again, we used to enjoy the bush dances, didn’t we, Kate?”
“Country music’s proved to be quite a tourist drawing card.” Kate was trying to relax, but somehow her body just grew more tense.
“Country music, plus the local architecture and the gold mining heritage,” Rosemary added. “In fact, tourism is a flourishing industry now.”
“And have you been living here long yourself?” Ashley asked her, and Rosemary chuckled.
“I’m a newcomer. Been here just a couple of years. I was tired of the city, so I wanted to try country life again. I applied for the job as personal secretary to the lord mayor, and here I am. But I was originally a small-town girl.”
“Me too. Well” — Ashley stood up — “I guess I should be heading home.”
Kate pushed herself to her feet, trying to decide if she was happy or sad. “It’s dark outside now. I’ll drive you home,” Kate heard herself say.
“No, you won’t. You have a guest. I’ll just go out the back way and slip through the fence. If I can still fit,” she added with a laugh. Kate automatically ran her eyes over Ashley’s body. If it had changed at all, it was only for the better, she reflected wryly and glanced across to catch Rosemary doing exactly the same.
“I’ll just take the flashlight so Ashley can see where she’s going,” Kate told Rosemary, and the other woman nodded and relaxed back in her seat. “I won’t be long. You can put the TV on if you like.”
“Sure.” Rosemary smiled, and guilt gnawed away at Kate again.
“I should be able to see all right,” Ashley said as they walked through the kitchen to the back door.
“The back light’s out.” Kate took the flashlight from the cupboard. “I’ve been meaning to replace the bulb.” She walked ahead of Ashley, lighting the steps with the flashlight.
They walked down the cement path to the clothesline and then moved carefully over the lawn toward the back fence, the pool of light dancing on the ground ahead of them. Kate imagined she could feel the heat from Ashley’s body as she walked beside her. She swallowed nervously, unwillingly acknowledging Ashley was still as attractive as she always had been.
Had been, Kate reminded herself. Past.
They were under the canopy of the tamarind tree now, and Ashley stopped, putting a warm hand on Kate’s arm. Kate had to stop herself from flinching away. Her nerve endings sent a searing message to the pit of her stomach, and she caught back a low moan, wanting only to lean into the softness of Ashley’s body. The intensity of her feelings frightened Kate.
“Can I just climb up and check out the tree house?” Ashley was saying, and Kate pulled herself together.
“It’s too dark to see anything.” She swung the arc of light from the flashlight onto the ladder, and Ashley laughed.
“I reckon I could find my way up there blindfolded.” With that she took hold of the ladder and began to climb.
Kate shone the torch on the tree and tried not to watch Ashley’s smooth legs moving upward.
“Come on up for a minute, too, Kate,” Ashley said as she climbed onto the platform.
Kate hovered uncertainly. With a sigh she slung the strap of the flashlight around her neck and fumbled her way up the tree. She pushed herself up onto the platform and set the light on the old packing case. It bathed them in a circle of unnatural light.
Ashley took the flashlight and shone it around, giving the flooring a tap with the toe of her shoe.
“You’ve done some work on it,” she said easily and replaced the light on the box.
“Yes.” Kate swallowed to clear her throat. “I came up here once, and one of the boards almost gave way beneath me, so I had someone look at it.”
“It looks like it’s held up pretty well.” In the dim light Kate saw her quick smile, one that took Kate back in time and caught her somewhere in the chest. “We must have been reasonable tradesmen then,” Ashley continued.
“You were, you mean.”
Ashley shrugged easily. “You helped me with the extension. New seat, too.”
“Packing cases don’t do a lot for aging backs.”
“You come up here often then?”
“No.” Kate shook her head. “Not often. Sometimes to read. Or…” She stopped.
“Or?” Ashley raised her eyebrows.
“Usually to read.” Kate took a few careful steps over to the railings, needing their support. What would Ashley say if she told her she often came here to remember? And how much those memories hurt.
Ashley sat down on the new chair, testing it out. And then she stood up to subside onto the floor, tanned legs crossed. “This is more like it. Remember the first time I found you here?” she asked softly.
Kate’s stomach tensed, twisted painfully, and a pain settled around her heart.
Ashley laughed. “I thought you were going to push me off the ladder. And then you ordered me off your private property.”
Kate pulled a face. “You took me by surprise.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting anyone to be in my own, personally-constructed tree house.” She sighed, and Kate studied her shadowy profile, feeling the familiar quickening in the pit of her stomach again, the pull that slithered lower to her crotch.
Superficially, Kate supposed Ashley had barely changed. Kate knew her eyes were still that incredible blue, her hair was still shot with pure gold, and freckles still danced across her small nose. Yet underneath there was a subtle change, a tenseness in the way she held herself, and the ready humor that had danced in her eyes had dulled somehow.
“Can you believe it was eighteen years ago, Kate? Time flies, doesn’t it?”
Does it? Kate wanted to cry bitterly. Each year of the last ten had been an agony for her without Ashley. “I suppose it does,” she said evenly.
“We got into some fine scrapes, didn’t we? And it was years before anyone discovered our hideaway.”
Kate’s fingers tightened on the smooth railing. Scrapes? Is that what Ashley called them? Did she remember it all? The kisses? The—
“I told Jenny about some of them. We rolled around the floor laughing.” Ashley smiled and looked up at Kate. “Remember when we let the tires down on Baden’s old car? And he blamed Tim?”
Reluctantly, Kate smiled. “It must have been your idea.”
Ashley laughed. “Most probably. You were always a goody-two-shoes.”
“You certainly got me into a parcel of trouble over the years.” And the last time was a doozy.
Something flickered across Ashley’s face, and she looked away.
“And your aunt always used to say, ‘Just because Ashley Maclean jumps off a bridge, you don’t have to follow her, Kate Ballantyne.”’
Kate laughed lightly at Ashley’s imitation of her aunt’s censorious tones.
“I think your aunt had me pegged right from the start,” Ashley remarked dryly.
Kate grew hot at the implication in those words. Kate would have followed Ashley anywhere.
Ashley pushed herself to her feet and dusted her shorts. “I guess we’d better go.”
“I guess so.” Kate shone the light over the edge of the platform. “I’ll go first and shine the light for you.” She began the climb downward, adjusting the light as Ashley followed her.
On the last step Kate stumbled, but she quickly recovered herself, grateful that Ashley didn’t have to reach out to her. She knew she was fearful of her reaction to Ashley’s touch, no matter how innocent.
Kate went to walk toward the fence, but when she turned the light Ashley was still standing at the foot of the ladder, her hand resting on the tree trunk. Kate paused, waiting.
“So, is Rosemary the friend you’re seeing on a casual basis?” Ashley asked softly.
Kate caught her breath. “What makes you think that?” she hedged, and in the dim light she saw Ashley smile crookedly.
“If she isn’t she wants to be,” she said evenly.
“You’re mistaken,” Kate began, and Ashley gave a throaty laugh and took a step toward Kate.
And you never could tell a lie, Kate,” she said, her lowered voice pouring over Kate like warm honey. Kate felt all the fine hairs on her arms rise in anticipation.
“That was a long time ago.” Kate fought for some semblance of control of the conversation. “I’ve changed.”
“Have you?”
The two words whispered about inside Kate’s head, unlocking doors she thought were secured forever. Her body reacted instantaneously to Ashley’s tone, and Kate’s nipples hardened beneath her thin T-shirt.
Ashley moved closer still, and she slowly reached out, her fingers running over Kate’s arm with practiced ease. Kate swayed toward her, terrified and exhilarated by her body’s arousal.
“Kate?” Her hoarsely spoken name danced about in the electricity that arced between them. “Oh, Kate.”
And then Ashley closed the remaining distance between them, and her soft, so familiar mouth met Kate’s.
CHAPTER SIX
Kate’s emotions were tinder dry and as Ashley’s lips brushed hers, drew back, touched again, tasted, withdrew only to return, Kate felt the spark take hold, the fire begin to race through her tense body.
Deep inside Kate something broke and, with a heady moan, her arms slid around Ashley’s warm body, crushing her to her. Kate’s breasts tingled where they pressed against the softness of Ashley’s, and their hips strained to mesh together.
Ashley’s hands molded Kate’s buttocks as she slid her lips along Kate’s jawline to tease her earlobe. “Oh, Kate. You taste so wonderful, just like I remembered.”
Remembered. The word echoed in Kate’s consciousness, and she slowly came back to the present. And with that consciousness came the pain. With a cry she pushed Ashley away, put some space between them.
“Kate?” Ashley appealed softly, and Kate clutched at the tree trunk, using the sharpness of the bark on her palm to defuse the almost overwhelming hunger to turn back into that so erotic embrace.
Kate straightened, fought to control her breathing before slowly turning back to Ashley. “You’d better go,” she said with some small semblance of coolness and bent to retrieve the flashlight from the ground where she’d let it fall.
“Kate, we have to talk about this,” Ashley began, her voice thin with the first sign of uncertainty.
“Not now, Ashley. I need time to—” Kate drew a deep breath “I need some time.”
Silence held them for a long moment, and then Ashley moved. “All right. I…good night, Kate.” She slipped between the loose palings as she had a hundred times before, and she was swallowed up by the darkness.
On shaky legs Kate walked back across the lawn and up the steps. She replaced the flashlight on the cupboard and ran her hand agitatedly through her hair.
“Kate?”
She looked up, startled, and only then did she remember that Rosemary was waiting for her.
“Oh. Rosemary. Sorry I took so long.” Kate’s face felt hot with guilty embarrassment. “Ashley… we were looking at the tree house we built years ago.”
“It’s great to have friends who go way back, isn’t it?” Rosemary remarked. Kate nodded.
“Yes. So, would you like a cup of coffee or tea?”
“Coffee would be nice, but only if you’re having one.”
“I think I will.” Kate decided it would give her something to do while she pulled herself together. “Did you enjoy your weekend away?” she asked as she spooned the coffee grounds into the percolator.
“It was pretty good. Wish you could have come too. We went up the Broughton. Anne and Tom have a shack up there. No mod cons, but very relaxing.”
“That’s good.” Kate leaned her hip against the countertop as she waited for the coffee to perk.
Rosemary gave Kate an amusing rundown on the highlights of the weekend, and then she strolled over to stand in front of Kate. Kate stiffened.
“How about a kiss hello?” Rosemary took Kate’s hand in hers.
Panic rose inside Kate, and she automatically turned her face so that Rosemary’s kiss landed on her warm cheek. Rosemary drew back and raised her eyebrows.
Kate’s laugh was a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I guess I’m tired.”
Rosemary made no comment but gave Kate a level look before graciously moving slightly away. At that moment the percolator wheezed and Kate gratefully turned to occupy herself with pouring coffee into mugs, adding milk and sugar, and offering Rosemary some Anzac biscuits.
They returned to the living room, and Rosemary sat in the chair Ashley had been sitting in such a short time ago.
“Did you get your work finished?” she asked, and Kate blinked, momentarily forgetting she’d used some unfinished work as the excuse for not going away with the other woman.
“Oh, yes. I wrapped it up last night, so I went for a drive this morning, out along the Townsville road.”
&nb
sp; “Did you know your friend Ashley was coming home?” Rosemary asked casually, and Kate’s reply was equally as offhand.
“I read something about her mother’s birthday party in the local paper.”
“Where’s she been living?”
“Melbourne.”
“Working down there?”
“No.” Kate swallowed. “Her husband does.” There, she’d said it so easily. Her husband. “He’s a heart surgeon.”
Rosemary held Kate’s gaze. “Is she the one?”
“The one?” Kate repeated, her mouth drying. “Who?”
“The one who chose a guy and broke your heart,” she elaborated gently.
For some reason Kate felt tears well up behind her eyes, and she fought to control them. She struggled to find a nonchalant denial, but her mind was completely blank. Rosemary continued to look at Kate, her expression filled with a knowing sympathy.
“I see she is,” she said softly, and Kate cleared her throat.
“It’s over,” Kate said flatly, wishing she believed the statement.
“Is it? Not for her I’ll warrant. She very subtly warned me off.”
“You’re mistaken,” Kate said quickly with little conviction. Hadn’t she sensed that too? And hadn’t Ashley said the same thing of Rosemary?
“I don’t think so.” Rosemary grimaced. “And has her husband the doctor come with her?”
Kate shook her head. “She tells me they’re divorcing.”
Kate made a negating movement with her head. “There’s no aha. I told you before, she made her choice years ago.”
“Maybe she’s changed her mind.”
“Rosemary, you don’t understand.”
“I guess I don’t.”
“It’s been ten years since, well, since I’ve seen her.”
“Perhaps it’s taken her that long to realize she only thought she was straight.” Rosemary raised her eyebrows again. “Not feasible?”
Kate sighed. “All I know is that I just don’t want to go through it all again.”
“Now that I can understand.” Rosemary laughed softly. “Anyway, I don’t know why I’m defending her cause. Maybe I’m just a sucker for a happy ending. I mean, I live in hope of mine.” Her level gaze held Kate’s again until Rosemary shrugged and drained her coffee mug. “I’d better be going.”
