“Simon!” she declared happily. He stood on the front step dressed in jeans and a dazzling white T-shirt. “Look at you, wearing mufti! You’re so cute.”
He pulled a face. “Meg, I don’t normally wear a suit and tie on the weekends.”
“Whatever, you still look gorgeous. Give me a hug.”
It was good to feel Simon’s arms around her. Sometimes Meg missed that feeling more than anything. There was nothing like the strong embrace of a man, even if it was completely platonic.
She pulled back to look at him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
He smiled. “I miss you. I wanted to see how you were.”
“Oh,” she cooed. “I miss you too, Simon. Come on in.”
He followed her down the hallway. “Wow, what’s been going on here?” he said when he saw the contents of the pantry spread around the kitchen.
“Cleaning. The pantry today. I’m onto the linen cupboard tomorrow.”
Simon looked at her warily. “Didn’t you go a bit crazy like this when you were off work the last time?”
Meg shrugged. “I have to do something. Harrison is with Chris for the weekend.”
She looked down, not making eye contact with Simon. She thought she might cry if she did. He always had such a poignant expression of concern in his eyes.
He sighed audibly. “How’s things, Meg?”
She still didn’t look at him. “The same.” She turned around to the fridge. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I don’t really feel like a drink. But I wouldn’t mind a coffee, thanks.”
“Sure,” said Meg, picking up the kettle and crossing to the sink. “I’ve given up anyway.”
“What?”
“Alcohol. I was having a little too much of it, I think.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an alcoholic or anything, or else I couldn’t have given it up so easily.” She filled the kettle and plugged it in. “But I was drinking when I was unhappy, to dull the pain. If I kept that up under the present circumstances, I’d be drunk all the time.”
“Meg…”
She looked up at him. “I’m okay, Simon, I’m a survivor, if nothing else.” Meg took two mugs out of the cupboard. “Now let me remember how you like it,” she chirped, trying to lift the mood. “Black, strong and just a little sweet, like your men?”
Simon watched her make the coffee. “So, do you think you’ll come back to work?”
“Yes,” she insisted. “Why would you ask that?”
“Well, it’s been six weeks now.”
Meg had tried to return to work the week after Harrison had recovered, but she couldn’t concentrate. If she had been having trouble focusing before, now it was nearly impossible. Simon suggested she take some leave, use the time to sort things out.
“I’m officially on holidays at the moment, remember? That was booked months ago.”
“What happened about that. Weren’t you going away?”
Meg nodded. “Chris canceled it. We lost our deposit, but that’s the least of our worries.” She handed Simon his coffee. “Come and we’ll sit down in the comfy chairs.”
He followed her into the lounge room and they sat down. Simon set his cup carefully on the coffee table. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Meg looked at him expectantly.
“Jamie Carroll rang the office through the week.”
“What on earth did he want?”
“To speak to you. But he only had the one phone call, so he asked to be put through to me when you weren’t there.”
“What are you talking about?”
Simon paused. “He was picked up carrying drugs into Sydney airport.”
Meg’s eyes widened. So that was how he got the money to travel this time.
“It was only cannabis, but it was a ‘quantity exceeding reasonable personal use.’ So they have to charge him under trafficking. He was hoping you could help him out, suggest a good lawyer, pay his bond.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him it looked like he’d wasted his only phone call.”
Meg grinned, but at the same time she felt tears welling in her eyes. “I’ve been such a complete fool,” she sniffed.
Simon moved closer to her and put his arm around her. “You’re not a complete fool.”
“Oh?”
“You did some foolish things, but you’re really a very nice person.”
“I don’t think I’m a nice person at all,” she said, her eyes now brimming over with tears.
“Yes, you are. You’re a very nice person, who was unhappy and confused, and you made a mistake.” He drew her head onto his shoulder, while she sobbed quietly. “You’re allowed to make mistakes, Meg. The world won’t stop revolving.”
They sat quietly, Simon stroking her hair until her tears abated. She looked up at him and smiled faintly.
“Why didn’t I marry you?”
He laughed. “Because I never asked you.”
“Would you have married me if I asked you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t be offended, Meg. Aren’t you forgetting that I bat for the other side?”
“We could have been happy, I reckon.”
He laughed again, shaking his head. “I still remember you coming into the office in raptures one day. ‘I’ve met the man I’m going to marry,’ you said.”
“I’d forgotten that,” Meg said wistfully.
“I’ve never forgotten it. I thought it was the corniest thing I’d ever heard.”
She elbowed him.
“But I was glad, at least it stopped you chasing after me.”
Meg smiled.
“That’s better,” Simon said, touching her cheek gently. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?”
She frowned at him. “Do you mean before or after I’ve repacked the pantry?”
“Why don’t we get a video and a pizza?” he suggested brightly.
“Haven’t you got something better to do on a Saturday night than sit and hold my hand?”
“Sadly, no.”
Meg considered him. “Why hasn’t someone snapped you up yet, Simon?”
“Well, you know the joke about men being like parking spaces, they’re either all taken or they’re handicapped.”
“I don’t know about that. The prevailing theory among the girls at the office is that all the good men in Sydney are either married or gay.”
Simon shook his head. “I wish. That is such a myth.”
“Is it?”
“Why else would I be having pizza with you on a Saturday night?”
“Thanks.”
“Come on, I insist on anchovies on the pizza, but you can choose the video.”
Bowral
The knock on the door was loud and insistent. Ally stuck her head out of the bathroom door.
“Just a minute!”
She wrapped a towel around herself and tiptoed, dripping, through the bedroom and into the living room.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me!”
Ally opened the door. “Why didn’t you say?”
“I just did.” Nic looked her up and down. “Did I get you out of the shower?”
“No, I was just doing laps in the indoor pool.”
“Oh, I get it, that’s irony, isn’t it? Or is it sarcasm, I always get them confused,” Nic said drolly. “You should give me a key. Then I can let myself in.”
Ally was dubious about inviting Nic to take even more liberties than she already did.
“So have you seen this?” she said, following Ally back into the bedroom.
“What?” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “Oh my God, is that it?”
“It is.” Nic was holding the latest copy of Habitat. Ally snatched it out of her hands.
“So are we in it? How did it turn out?” Ally said, flicking through the pages in a flurry.
Nic took it off he
r, and calmly opened to the right page. She passed it back.
Ally scanned it excitedly. The largest picture was of the main room, then there were a couple of smaller pictures of the adjoining rooms, and the private dining room, as well as insets of an artichoke, and two wine glasses close up. Why they wasted space on that was beyond Ally. There was a column of text, with the title New Partnership Brings Color to the Southern Highlands, next to a small photo of Rob and Ally.
Ally looked warily at Nic. “What’s this?”
Nic was pulling a face. She took the magazine out of Ally’s hands, and started to read.
“‘Chef Rob Grady and painted effects specialist Ally Tasker have teamed up to provide the winning ingredients for a new restaurant in Bowral. “Sensational food in sensational surroundings” was the couple’s motto…’”
“I never even said that!” Ally declared. She looked at Nic’s face. “Oh, I’m sorry, Nic.”
“It’s not your fault,” Nic sighed, plonking herself down on the bed. “What a pair of dickheads they were. They were there for hours. How could they get it wrong?”
Ally sat on the bed next to her. “What did Rob say?”
“He said not to worry about it, and he’s right. At least they got the name of the restaurant right, that’s all that matters.”
Ally looked at her uncertainly.
“Really!” Nic grinned. “Besides, you look pretty cute.”
Ally shrugged, glancing back at the photo.
“Matt liked your overalls.”
“Matt?” she frowned. “When did Matt see this?”
“He was over last night.”
“He’s back?”
The same annoying tinny tune started to play from Ally’s mobile. She didn’t know how to change it.
“That’ll be the phone,” said Nic.
Ally picked it up off the dresser. “Hello, Ally Tasker.”
“I’m sitting here, looking at this gorgeous woman in overalls…”
“Who is this?”
“Ally! Don’t be coy!”
Now she recognized the voice. “Bryce, sorry, I wasn’t expecting you.”
Nic made a face. Ally turned her back to her.
“Of course you weren’t! You know how long it’s been since we spoke?”
She didn’t have a clue. She wasn’t keeping track.
“Seven months almost to the day, babe. I remember, it was just after I sold the Tamarama waterfront.”
That’d be right.
“So you’ve come a long way in a short time.”
“Oh, we just had a lucky break.”
“You and…” he paused, obviously checking the name. “Rob Grady?”
“We’re not partners or anything. He just got married, his wife was at the shoot.”
“Well, she must have a head like a potato, Ally, I can see why they preferred you. All kitted up in your overalls and singlet, like a real tradeswoman!”
“I am a—”
“And have you been working out? Look at the definition in your upper arms, very sexy.”
Ally inspected her arms in the mirror. Really?
“Now, it’s time to get you out of the sticks and back up to the real world again.”
“Mm?”
Nic had tapped her on the shoulder. She mouthed something like “I have to go” and pointed at her watch.
Bryce was still talking. Ally held up her hand, mouthing “Wait!” emphatically. Nic frowned. Ally pleaded with her eyes.
“Bryce, I have to go,” she said abruptly, it was the only way to get a salesman off the phone.
“I’ll be in touch soon then, after I’ve put the feelers out. You don’t want this opportunity to pass you by, Ally.”
“Sure Bryce.” She didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. “Thanks for the call.”
She switched off the phone.
“What did he want?” asked Nic.
“Who knows?” Ally dismissed.
“Is he after you again?”
“Oh, I doubt it.” She didn’t want to talk about Bryce.
“Then what did he want?”
Ally sighed impatiently. “He probably thinks I’m a celebrity now. He wants to share my fifteen minutes of fame, I guess. I don’t really care. What I want to know is, when did Matt get back?”
Nic looked at her vaguely. “Oh, I’m not sure, he came round last night.”
“You said that before.”
“Um, he got back … maybe Friday? Yeah, well he phoned Friday anyway.”
“He phoned you on Friday?” Ally said, trying to keep her voice level.
“Well, he hadn’t seen us since the wedding.”
Rob and Nic had only managed to get away for a couple of days for their honeymoon, but Matt had left on his holiday by the time they got back.
Nic looked at Ally curiously. “What’s your problem?”
“Nothing,” she insisted. “Um, only, I’ve got a job I need him to do and it’s holding me up, you know, and he knew that. I think. Well, I’m pretty sure…”
“So call him,” Nic said, rolling her eyes. She started for the front door, shaking her head. “I don’t know what it is with you two.”
“I’ll call him, not a problem,” Ally sang after her.
“You do that,” said Nic, with a note of sarcasm. “See you later.”
Ally looked back at herself in the mirror. Okay, that was easy, she would just ring him. But not wearing a towel.
She started to dress automatically. Why hadn’t he called her? He’d been home at least four days. Ally bit her lip, wondering if she’d read all the signals wrong. She tried to recall their exact words that last night, when he dropped her home.
When she asked him in, didn’t he say he might never get away? And when she said, granted quite brazenly, “So?” … what did he say then? He just explained he was going on holidays. Maybe she had pushed it.
Ally pulled on her overalls and fastened the clips over her shoulders. She had spent time with the contrary Callen sisters and had eventually come up with something that made everyone happy. Ally had started work, practicing on one wall until she had perfected the opalescent effect she was aiming for. Frances was thrilled, and she was getting excited about what Ally might be able to do with the rest of the place. But she couldn’t even finish the girls’ room until Matt repaired the window. So, she had a bona fide reason to call him. A business reason. Maybe they should just stick to business.
She sat on the sofa and picked up the phone, checking her watch. He’d be at work by now, so she dialed his mobile.
“Matt Serrano.”
“Hi Matt, it’s Ally.”
“Hello Ally, how are you?”
He was acting so casual, like she had just talked to him yesterday.
“I didn’t realize you were back. How was your trip?”
“Fantastic. The Great Ocean Road was amazing, and Mum and Dad were thrilled to see Beck.”
“Is she still with you?”
“No, I had to drop her back last Friday.”
He had been home since Friday. Ally tried not to feel disappointed. This was a business call, after all.
“Anyway, I was calling about the windows that need repairing at Frances Callen’s place. I mentioned it before?”
“Mm, how soon do you want it done?”
“Well, as soon as you can manage, at least the window in the room I’m working on. I can’t go much further until it’s fixed.”
“Okay, give me the address, I’ll call round there later today and take a look.”
“I could meet you there,” Ally blurted.
“No, that’s alright,” he said. “I can check it from the outside, I don’t need to disturb anybody.”
Ally’s heart sank as she dictated Frances’s address to him, describing the position of the window.
“Thanks,” she said, resignedly.
“Anything else?”
“No, that’s it.”
“Righto then, I’ll
see you.”
Ally hesitated, waiting to hear him hang up.
“Oh Ally, are you still there?”
“Yes?”
“I was actually going to call you.”
“You were?”
“Are you doing anything this weekend?”
Ally was struck dumb. Was she doing anything? Only her shift at the restaurant as usual, but she could get Michelle to cover.
“Why, what did you have in mind?” Oh, that sounded too forward. He probably just wanted her to feed the dogs.
“I’m going up to Sydney around lunchtime Saturday, Beck’s in the Rock Eisteddfod.”
Ally sighed. “I can feed your dogs if you like.”
“I don’t need you to feed the dogs.” He sounded amused. “Would you like to come?”
“Up to Sydney?”
“Well, I thought you might want to visit Meg. I can drop you there and pick you up on the way back Sunday.”
Ally thought about it. It was hardly the most romantic proposition.
“I could use the company on the trip,” he added.
That was better. She took a breath, in for a penny …
“I tell you what, I’ll come if you can get me a ticket to Beck’s concert.”
“You want to see the Rock Eisteddfod?”
“If Beck’s in it. Maybe you could drop me at Meg’s afterward?”
“Okay. It’s a date.”
Was it? Ally wondered as she hung up the phone.
Friday
“Chris Lynch.”
“Hi Chris, it’s me, Meg.”
She could picture him sitting at his desk, his demeanor shifting, the sadness in his eyes.
“Hello Meg.”
She missed how he used to call her “honey.” She missed the warmth in his voice when he did.
“I just wanted to check about tomorrow.”
“Sure. I’ll pick Harrison up at ten as usual.”
“And you’re having him overnight?”
“If that’s okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” she said quickly. Chris had Harrison for at least part of every weekend. Meg thought that was only fair, seeing as she was with him all week. She wasn’t going to start any stupid “every second weekend” rule. She didn’t even want to have any rules. She didn’t want this to be happening at all. But here they were, two months on, still estranged.
Call Waiting Page 39
