I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts, and then brushed some imaginary hair away from my face to cover up the movement. I had wanted to speak to Crystal about Sam; to ask her opinion about his behaviour and seek her reassurance that things would work out. But now, with this news that Crystal felt it wouldn’t be safe for us to share a home, I was even more scared that our relationship would deteriorate further. But I couldn’t talk to Crystal. Not today anyway; not in front of Angelica.
‘Oh,’ said Crystal, breaking the silence, ‘Angelica and I were thinking of going up to Olinda on Sunday. We thought we’d poke around in the shops, and then have some Devonshire Tea afterwards. Why don’t you join us? It’ll be fun. It’s always so lovely up there in winter … the cold wet weather keeps the tourist numbers down a bit. Come with us. You could probably use a girl’s day out.’
‘For the whole day? Aren’t you concerned … about being away all day like that?’
‘No … the boys are on high alert. And if we needed to get back in a hurry, it’s not that far. It won’t be a problem,’ she replied.
‘Okay then … I mean, sure, thank you for inviting me,’ I said before I’d really thought it through. I’d already made plans to go to the football with Claire on Saturday, and now to spend Sunday with Crystal meant I wouldn’t be doing much house hunting. But maybe that was a good thing … to give it a rest and think about what Crystal had said.
When we left the café, Crystal and Angelica decided to walk back with me part of the way. We were half way through the gardens when I spotted Tom up ahead not far from Sam’s tree, talking to a woman with long blonde hair. From this distance she reminded me of Claire, although perhaps a bit taller and with longer hair. I called out to Tom, and he looked toward us and waved.
‘Oh there’s Tom. I haven’t seen him since I got back,’ I said to Crystal, pointing toward Tom and waving back.
‘Yes, I see him,’ she said, also waving.
Tom and the woman, who I assumed must be Rebekah, walked toward us, and when Tom reached us he threw his arms around me in a big bear hug, laughing as he said, ‘Welcome home, Lili!’
When he released me, he immediately took a step back and put his arm around the shoulders of the woman next to him and said, ‘Rebekah, this is Lili, Sam’s wife. Lili, meet Rebekah.’
Tom was absolutely beaming as he introduced her. And any wonder; she was simply beautiful. Up close, I could see that while she was like Claire in some ways—with her blonde hair and tanned looking skin—she was more exotic than Claire. I’d always felt that Claire had that girl-next-door innocent look about her, whereas this woman’s looks were much more sophisticated.
‘Lili, it is such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,’ she said. I caught a slight accent that I couldn’t quite place—European of some sort maybe.
‘It’s very nice to meet you too, Rebekah,’ I replied, genuinely pleased to meet her. They made a good looking couple. Perhaps Tom had finally found someone who would stay the distance.
Crystal stepped up beside me saying hello to Tom and Rebekah, then looked over her shoulder to bring Angelica into the conversation, ‘And Rebekah, you remember Angelica?’
‘Oh, yes of course, Angelica. How nice to see you again,’ said Rebekah, but it sounded wooden, without the warmth I’d heard in her voice when she was introduced to me.
‘Likewise, I’m sure,’ replied Angelica, nodding toward Tom and Rebekah.
‘Well, we must be off,’ said Crystal, ‘Lili, we’ll see you Sunday morning; around ten-thirty if that’s alright with you? And what I said before … just give it some thought, that’s all.’
‘Yes, of course,’ I said, as I leaned over to kiss Crystal’s cheek. I then simply waved goodbye to Angelica.
When they’d disappeared down the hill Tom did this sort of fake shiver. ‘Whoa, she’s scary, don’t ya reckon?’
‘Who, Angelica?’ I asked, knowing full well who he meant.
‘Yeah, there’s something, sort of … off … about her. I can’t put my finger on it, but I don’t think I like her,’ said Tom.
‘Hmmm … funny you should say that. Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that she could quite easily kill you if you gave her a reason to do so,’ I laughed. ‘But I must admit when she was flirting with Ben at Mladen’s, I was really cringing. I couldn’t imagine her being my daughter-in-law.’
‘Oh, don’t even say that—I mean, about being related to her. Hopefully she’ll go home soon. Back to Spain, or wherever it is she came from.’
‘Yes, Spain, from what I’ve been told. But I never really heard the whole story, about her meeting all of you that is.’
‘No? Well, she just rocked up here one day last year, and knocked on Crystal’s door. Seems she’d heard about Crystal and wanted to come over here to meet her, and learn from her. She and Crystal hit it off instantly, and Crystal invited her to stay with them. The next thing I know, we’re moving. All of us. I hadn’t noticed anything, but Crystal said we were being watched, and it wasn’t safe there at Sam’s place. I wasn’t too impressed with the whole thing. My wide screen TV, my stereo, the computer … oh, Lili, I just realised … the computer … we never set it up at the new place—everything went into storage. Uh oh, I’m sorry,’ he said, sheepishly.
‘It’s okay. I’m sure it was the last thing on your mind,’ I reassured him.
‘Yeah, well, it kinda wasn’t on my mind at all. Everything got picked up by one of those storage companies, and stuck in a warehouse somewhere. We, as in Sam and I, share a small room there at Michael and Crystal’s, but really, we’re hardly ever there. There’s no point. About all I do is charge my phone, and change my clothes.’
‘Don’t worry, when we get a new place, I’ll make sure it has a room for you and a big lounge room for the TV and stereo,’ I said, smiling at Tom and winking at Rebekah.
‘A new place? Are you looking? That’d be ace!’
‘Yes, I’ve been looking … we’ve been looking. But we haven’t found the right place just yet.’
We continued chatting for a bit, but it was cold and I knew it would be getting dark soon, so I said my goodbyes and headed home. I hadn’t gone far when I felt someone behind me, and turned to see Sam at my side, just a pace behind me.
‘Hey beautiful, mind if I walk you home?’ He seemed like the old Sam; smiling at me shyly.
‘Sam! We were just talking about you. Well, not about you, exactly. More about how unimpressed Tom was about moving out of your house,’ I said, stepping up to hug him.
His arms tightened around me briefly, and it felt so wonderful. Could he finally be getting used to me again? Was he back to his old self?
‘Yeah, he wasn’t too happy about it, that’s for sure,’ he said, releasing me, and taking a half step back.
‘So, tell me … why was it that you moved?’ I asked, trying to recall who had told me, and what they’d said.
‘Crystal said we were being watched, and that it wasn’t safe.’
‘Oh … so … you didn’t actually sense that you were being watched?’ I asked, frowning as I tried to recall just what I’d been told up to now.
‘No, I didn’t notice anything unusual. But we’d been in that house for quite a few years so I’d already been thinking it was getting close to time for us to move. So when Crystal mentioned it, it just seemed safer not to take any chances.’
I thought about this for a moment but decided it didn’t really mean anything, so I dropped it, and asked about Rebekah instead.
‘Rebekah’s very beautiful, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, she is. And Tom is absolutely smitten with her,’ he said, meeting my eyes and staring deeply into them. Sam had been smitten with me before. Could he be once again?
‘Well, I’m happy for him. She seems very nice. I hope we can all be good friends.’ I wanted to ask him how he felt about me, but I didn’t dare in case I got the wrong answer.
‘There’s no rea
son not to be,’ he replied, smiling now, but the intensity of the moment had passed. He took my hand, and we started walking.
‘I told Tom that when we get our new house, I’ll make sure there is plenty of room for his big TV and stereo, not to mention a room for him.’
‘I bet that made him happy. He isn’t too keen on it there at Michael’s place. Not that I am either, really. I always feel, I don’t know, sort of drained I guess … if I hang around there too much.’
‘Well, you know you’re always welcome at the apartment. Debs mentioned it again the other night. She said we shouldn’t rush into a house just for the sake of moving … and that you should feel free to come over, and stay over, any time you want,’ I said, trying to sound encouraging without being demanding.
‘Okay … well, maybe tomorrow night. I might come up and watch TV with you for a little while or something … but I won’t be able to stay. Friday nights are particularly crazy—so many people out and about.’
‘Oh, tomorrow is Friday isn’t it … and I said I’d go out with Claire tomorrow—happy hour. That same bar we were at that time when you turned up and had to scare that creep away.’
Sam threw his head back and laughed. ‘You’ve got to be joking! You’re going back there?’
‘Yeah, well, Claire wants to.’
‘Alright, I’ll keep an eye on you.’
‘But you won’t come in, will you? The whole point is for Claire to meet someone, now that Tom has a girlfriend. If you’re there you’ll just scare off any prospects, you big meanie,’ I said, laughing and punching him lightly in the chest.
He grabbed my fist, and lifted it to his lips, and kissed it. Then gently pried it open, and kissed the palm of my hand. Then he kissed my wrist, and as he did, he looked me in the eyes and I thought I was going to melt, right there on the spot. His eyes were so mesmerising, and then they twinkled. In an instant his arms came around me and he lifted me up and kissed me, before setting me back down on my feet, ever so gently. It was magical—like there had never been a moment of uncertainty or awkwardness between us.
‘Sam, please, stay with me tonight. Debs really doesn’t mind.’
‘I can’t, honestly,’ he said, looking down now, no longer making eye contact with me.
‘But why? We’re married. We should be living as man and wife, not sneaking around to meet in the gardens for a quick kiss from time to time,’ I said, trying to control the anger that was building in me as his rejection hit home. ‘Remember, you asked me to marry you, and I said yes, for better or worse, throughout eternity, if I remember correctly.’
‘I’d like nothing more than to stay with you, Lili. All night, like when we were first married. But things are different now. Please don’t make it any harder than it already is.’
The pleading tone in his voice quickly squashed my anger, and in its place came humiliation. I was ashamed at myself for getting angry at him. He didn’t deserve my anger. He deserved my love. I needed to respect his wishes for the time being. Things would work out, soon.
‘I’m sorry. It’s just so hard,’ I replied, all the anger completely gone now.
‘I know. Come, let’s get you home before you freeze to death out here,’ he said, putting his arm around my shoulders and directing me toward La Trobe Street and home.
We walked along in silence, and when we got to the apartment, he agreed to come up for a little while. Debs was out for the evening, so we plopped on the sofa to see if there was a movie we could watch. At first he stayed at the opposite end of the sofa, but after a few minutes he lifted his arm, inviting me to slide over next to him.
The evening news was on, and although I wasn’t really listening to it, something caught my attention and I quickly grabbed the remote to turn up the volume.
‘Police hold grave concerns for the missing teenager, Darcy Brown, who hasn’t been seen for over two weeks now. Her sister, who arrived from New Zealand yesterday, raised the alarm when she failed to meet her as they’d planned,’ said the reporter, turning to a large unkempt man to her right. ‘I’m speaking to Mick Jones, the manager of the hotel where Darcy was known to have been staying. Mr Jones, can you tell us anything more about Darcy?’ The hotel manager looked rather nervous as he answered her, ‘Nah, can’t say as how I remember much about her. She was much like the rest of them kids that come and go. You’d be ‘mazed at the number of um that skip out on us. We make um pay for three nights up front, but then we let um run a tab. A lot of times they just skip out without settling up. Some of um even leave stuff behind, in the rooms.’ The news reporter scowled at him, then turned back to the camera to continue, ‘Police are asking for any information that might help them locate Darcy. She was staying here,’ she said, pointing to the hotel behind her, ‘in Franklin Street. This photo of her was taken only a few months ago, just before she left New Zealand. She may well have been wearing the same, or similar, clothing. If you have seen her, or have any information that might help the police to find her, please ring Crime Stoppers on the number showing on the screen.’
I cringed, thinking about this poor young girl, suspecting that it was likely that she was one of the victims of the same vampires that Sam was desperately trying to eliminate—perhaps a vampire not unlike the one that had killed Cassie.
As I stared at her image on the screen, I couldn’t help but think about Raye; what if it had been Raye that had gone missing, and it was me trying to find out something, anything, about what had happened. Would I react well to someone telling me they could see her ghost? Should I try, for the sake of the sister?
I turned the volume back down when the story ended, and looked at Sam.
‘Do you know anything about this girl?’
‘No, she doesn’t look familiar, sorry,’ he replied with only a slight hint of concern in his voice.
‘It sounds like she could have been a victim of one of these vampires you’re dealing with, don’t you think?’
‘It’s possible, but then again, she could have just left the area. Maybe she just forgot to leave word for her sister. You should ask Elizabeth,’ he said, still not sounding particularly concerned.
‘Yeah, I’ll do that. I’ll go see her tomorrow. Maybe she’s seen the girl,’ I said, determined to help if I could.
I was startled when my phone rang. Sam went to get up, but I held his hand, and indicated I’d keep it quick.
‘Hi, Lili. Just making sure you’re still up for our happy hour drinks tomorrow night.’
‘Oh, hey, yeah, sure. So, how’d you go at the interview? That was today, wasn’t it?’
‘Yeah, alright. They offered me the job, right then and there,’ she said in a flat voice.
‘Gee, you sound so excited,’ I said, sarcastically.
‘Yeah, well, it’s going to be a lot harder than my other job. Oh, and get this. I’ve just spent four years at university getting this degree, and guess what my salary is? Go on, take a guess,’ she demanded.
‘I don’t know … eighty thousand?’
‘Yeah, I wish. I’m starting on forty-five thousand. That’s barely an increase from my P.A. job.’
‘Oh.’ I didn’t know what to say to that—it didn’t sound great, but it was something.
‘Yeah, they said they don’t really need me, they’ve just created this position as a favour to Mum. They said I should see this as a stepping stone to much bigger positions—a way to learn about the industry.’
‘Well, they have a point. You’ve got a title now … you can move up the corporate ladder.’
‘Yeah, like that’s going to happen. I’m still me … I just have a piece of paper that says I know how to study and take exams!’
I laughed a little, with her, not at her. She was right. Claire probably didn’t belong in a corporate environment any more than I did.
‘Well, who knows? You may end up liking it more than you expect. Anyway, I’ve gotta go …’
‘I doubt I’ll like it. You’ve gotta go? Why?’ She
obviously wanted to talk longer.
‘Sam’s here.’
‘Oh … okay, say hello for me. Oh, but before I go, there’s a new movie starting next week. I saw the preview—it’s all about vampires. It looks really scary. We should go one night. Or if you’re too scared to go at night, we could do the Saturday matinee … with all the little teeny boppers.’
Sam squeezed my hand slightly, and when I looked at him he was grinning. He could obviously hear everything she was saying.
‘Yeah? Hmmm, maybe … I don’t know. So, anyway, how do you want to work this tomorrow?’ I asked, changing the subject back to the happy hour. The last thing I wanted to do was see a movie about vampires, with Claire.
‘Well, I thought maybe I’d bring my stuff and stay at your place, if that’s okay; seeing as how we’re going to the footy on Saturday anyway.’
‘Yeah, that’ll be good. Come here and we can take a taxi to the bar.’
After I hung up the phone, Sam started laughing.
‘So, you don’t want to see a vampire movie with Claire? It could be fun, you know. You’ll be able to tell her what parts are realistic, and what parts are pure Hollywood.’
‘Yeah, right, that would work … could you imagine?’ I said, trying to stifle a laugh.
‘You’re probably right … stick to comedies,’ he agreed, winking and squeezing my hand again.
A movie came on after the news, a love story, and we sat until the first ad break but I could see that Sam was getting restless. He wanted to be out, with Tom and Michael, not sitting here watching a stupid movie.
‘Sam, you don’t have to stay and watch this. I can tell you feel anxious.’
‘Can you? I’m sorry.’
‘Yeah, it’s okay. You go. I know it’s a stressful time. I’ll look for you in the morning, near your tree?’
Deception (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 3) Page 13
