“Any card?” she asked when she was done.
He handed her a plastic sleeve.
Things are easy to break. How long until you crack?
It was a taunt. Was he watching her, waiting for her to completely melt down? Was this all a game to him? Did he want her to fall apart? Fear inched its way inside her and she tried to shut it out, but it knew all of her secret hiding places. “If I knew who it was, maybe I could talk some sense into them.”
“It’s never good to interact with a stalker,” Lincoln said. “They thrive on the contact. Let me put this in the car and then I’ll help you cook. People are surfacing.”
Sure enough, people were heading to the toilet blocks and beginning to make their way over to the barbecues. She switched on two and as they heated up she greeted her guests.
Then Lincoln returned and they were too busy for the next hour flipping pancakes and chatting to people. Lincoln was a natural at it, always knowing what to say to put people at ease.
When she was close to running out of batter, she said to Lincoln, “You keep an eye on these and I’ll make some more.” She poured the remaining mix onto the hot plate and then took the empty jugs into the office. Joe got up from where he was lying under a tree and followed her in.
It didn’t take her long to mix the ingredients, and as she was stirring there was a knock at the back door. She wandered over to it. Not many people came to the back door and she’d left it open because she was only going to be a second.
She stopped, her heart pounding in her chest. Joe was with her. He’d protect her.
“Hannah, please, can we talk?” Justin asked.
Was he the one doing this to her? Had he sent the note? Well if he was, she wouldn’t let him break her. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“I’ve got something to say to you.”
“I’m not interested.” She moved forward to shut the main door.
He put his hand on the handle and she lunged forward to lock it. He stepped back and held his palms up facing her. “Please, Hannah, I want to apologise.”
The words were so unexpected that she paused. “Apologise?”
He nodded. His eyes were shadowed and his shoulders were slumped – he looked thoroughly miserable. “For what I did to you.”
Her mouth dropped open.
He glanced behind him. “Can I come in for a minute?”
“No.”
His eyes glistened with tears.
She couldn’t get sucked in. She didn’t owe him any of her time, but part of her was curious about what he wanted to say. If she went outside, Lincoln would be in view and she’d have room to run. “I’ll be out in a minute.” She shut the main door and locked it.
She stood there for a moment, still unsure. The last thing she’d ever expected from Justin was an apology. That had to mean he acknowledged that what he did was wrong. A part of her was soothed. It was a validation of her feelings. Slowly, she walked back into the kitchen and poured the batter into the two jugs.
She opened the back door and Justin was leaning against a tree a couple of metres away. He straightened when the door opened. Hannah let Joe out first before following. She stopped about two metres away, holding the jugs. She felt ridiculous. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He nodded.
As she neared the barbecue area, she noticed that Ryan and Felix had arrived. A thrill raced through her. Ryan had come. She smiled, her concern about Justin lessening with every step she took. “Good morning.”
“Morning, Hannah!” Felix chirped. “Can we have pancakes too?”
“Of course,” she said. “I just made up some more batter.” She poured some of it onto the barbecue and then put down the jugs.
“How are you today?” Ryan asked quietly, running a hand over her arm.
“Good.” She glanced over his shoulder to where Justin was waiting. “Can you do me a favour?”
“Sure.”
“Can you help Lincoln with the pancakes, while I talk to Justin?”
He frowned and scanned the people gathered until he spotted Justin. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“He says he wants to apologise.”
“Apologise?”
“Yeah. I ran into him yesterday after I left you on the beach and I let him have it,” she said. “I’d like to hear what he has to say.” She shrugged.
Ryan nodded. “All right. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
Warmth flooded her at his protection. “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek.
With a breath to fortify herself, she walked back to where Justin was waiting. When he saw her approaching, he glanced away, as if embarrassed.
Here was the man who had caused her so many sleepless nights, who had disrupted her life for far too long, and he couldn’t even look her in the eye. She stopped a couple of metres away from him. “What did you want to say, Justin?”
He shuffled his feet. “I’m so sorry, Hannah.”
She didn’t say anything.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about what you said yesterday.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to deny it, but … I never saw you again after that night. Maybe on some level I realised what I’d done, because I never got up the courage to track you down. I’d wanted you so badly that I was sure after we’d started you’d enjoy it.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open and she stared at him.
He ducked his head. “It was stupid. I let my dick rule my head.” He sighed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I did really like you.” He was sincere, looking at her as if asking her to understand.
She clenched her hands as the anger welled up in her. He had no idea what he’d done to her. “Saying sorry doesn’t cut it, Justin.” She glared at him. “You not only stole my virginity, but you also destroyed my trust in men and you made me fear my own judgement. I haven’t been able to be intimate with anyone since! Hell, I haven’t even been able to be alone with a man.”
His eyes widened. “Fuck, Hannah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t realise. I’m so fucking sorry.” He seemed genuinely remorseful.
“How many other women have you ignored?” she asked, refusing to feel sympathy for him. “How many more have you forced yourself on?”
“None! Honest. It was just you.”
“Lucky me,” she said, her sarcasm dripping.
“If there was anything I could do to take back that day, to make it up to you …”
“Nothing can change that day.” She was right. There was no going back, there was only going forward. It was time she stopped letting it rule her life, time she forgave herself for not fighting back. And maybe she could make this work for her. “I appreciate you apologising,” she said. “The only thing you can do for me is to let the police take your fingerprints.”
“What?”
“Someone trashed my place yesterday and has been leaving me gifts.”
“And you think it’s me.” Justin scowled.
“The gifts began the day after you arrived. If you really want to help me, you’ll allow yourself to be eliminated from the suspect list.”
He hesitated, and then nodded. “All right.”
The satisfaction was swift. “I’ll get Sergeant Zanetti.” She stared at him for a long moment and he met her eyes this time. “Goodbye, Justin.” With that she walked back to the barbecue area. Ryan raised an eyebrow in question. She was done with being the victim. She was taking control of her life now, starting with Ryan Kilpatrick.
“Everything all right?” Ryan asked as she reached him.
“Yes.” She smiled. “Justin has agreed for the police to take his fingerprints.”
Ryan’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“Yeah, can you or Lincoln take them?”
“I’ll do it,” Lincoln said, coming over. He handed Ryan the egg flip. “You make pancakes.” He grinned and then strode over to Justin.
Hannah almost wished she was a fly on the wall, because Lincoln had a great bad
-cop face. She turned to Felix, who had a pancake covered in jam, cream and maple syrup, and was stuffing it in his mouth. “Nice pancake, Felix?”
He nodded, his mouth full.
She smiled. This is what she needed. To be around people, to be normal again. She took over cooking from Ryan and made him a pancake, before chatting to the guests who were waiting for their turn. It was a lovely communal vibe and the conversations were about what people were planning to do that day, and asking for recommendations for where to go. She couldn’t fully relax though. If Justin was her stalker, he wouldn’t have let his fingerprints be taken. So that meant it could be anyone, even someone who was standing here right now. She had to stay alert.
Around ten o’clock the crowd thinned, and before long there was only Ryan and herself left. Felix was off playing in the playground with a couple of the kids who were staying at the park.
“Did you get a gift today?” Ryan asked as he cleaned one of the barbecues.
“Eggs,” she said. “He covered this area in eggs and left a carton on the bench.”
Ryan frowned. “That suggests he knows you do pancakes every Sunday.”
He was right. Why else target the barbecue area?
“Did Lincoln get any useful information?”
“I don’t think so.” She glanced towards the office as someone walked over to it. “I’ll come back and clean up in a minute.”
Calling Joe, she headed back to the office.
By the time the small rush of people had left, Lincoln had returned from taking Justin’s prints and Ryan had cleaned up the barbecue area. Both were waiting for her in the kitchen.
“How did it go?” Hannah asked.
“Great. I’ll run the prints to Albany this afternoon,” Lincoln said. “But this probably means Justin isn’t your stalker.”
She nodded, but at least now his prints were on file.
“Hannah, you still shouldn’t be alone,” Lincoln continued. “Can one of the girls spend the day with you?”
Ryan cleared his throat. “I was going to invite her to go on a picnic with Felix and me.”
Hannah’s heart jumped and she smiled.
“Ah. Well I’m not sure I approve,” Lincoln joked.
Hannah chuckled. “Shut up, Slinky.”
Lincoln winced.
“I’d love to,” Hannah said.
“All right, I’ll see you two later.” And with that, Lincoln left.
Hannah turned to Ryan. “I won’t be long. Shirley should be here soon.” She stepped closer, wanting to be near him, and slid her hands over his shoulders. He rested his hands lightly on her hips and then his mouth met hers.
Passion, lust and joy flooded her. Perhaps, the overpowering emotions were simply because it had been so long since she’d felt like this, so long since she’d allowed herself to be attracted to a man, and acted upon the attraction. All she knew was she had all the feels.
The back door banged and she took a shaky step back, breathing heavily.
Lincoln walked in. “Sorry, I forgot my sunglasses.” He picked them up from the kitchen table.
Hannah’s face heated.
“I’ll knock next time,” he said.
Ryan grinned. “Good idea.”
Lincoln chuckled and left, but Shirley arrived before Hannah could kiss Ryan again. She sighed and focused on work. “Everyone’s checked out.”
“Thanks.” Shirley smiled. She noticed Ryan and said, “How’s it going, Senior Constable?”
“Great, Shirley. You and Fairy Floss are looking well.”
Fairy Floss had joined Joe on his bed.
“Thank you.” Shirley was positively beaming.
“How are things with Mark?” Hannah asked.
“Fabulous,” Shirley gushed. “He’s the nicest guy, so attentive.”
“You should have brought him over for pancakes,” she said. “I’d love to meet him.”
“We were going to.” Shirley’s face reddened. “But we got distracted.”
Hannah grinned. “Some other time, then.” She was pleased her friend had found someone nice.
“Absolutely.”
Hannah grabbed her bag and turned to Ryan. “Are you ready to go?”
He nodded.
“See you later, Shirley.” Now, it was her turn to spend time with her own nice guy.
Ryan was a little nervous as he followed Hannah’s directions to a small grocery store near Mai’s bakery. He wanted this day to go well. Felix had been surprisingly unconcerned when he’d mentioned asking Hannah to go on the picnic with them. He’d simply said, “It’s good you’re making new friends too.” Ryan had suppressed a smile. Perhaps Felix had heard the sentiment from the Zanettis.
They walked up and down the aisles, adding what looked good to the basket, with Felix adding his opinions mainly regarding chocolate.
As they stood in line to pay, Felix yelled, “Look, Dad, there’s Mum.”
Ryan darted his gaze to where Felix was pointing, but he couldn’t see anyone who looked like Paula. “Where, mate?”
Felix grasped his hand, his eyes wide. “She went into the bakery.”
It was doubtful that Paula was anywhere near Blackbridge considering Karratha was two thousand kilometres to the north, but he didn’t discount it. She was known for doing unpredictable things. Unease swirled in his gut. “We’ll head there next and check it out.”
Hannah glanced at them. “Why don’t you two go now, while I pay?”
“No, I’ll pay. I invited you.” He kept half an eye on the bakery down the street while they waited and then carried the food out to the car. He hadn’t seen Paula come out and he wanted to check. They crossed the road and went into On the Way. There were plenty of people inside, but as he scanned the faces, Paula wasn’t amongst them. He breathed out a sigh of relief.
Felix wandered through the crowd and then came back to his dad. “She’s not here.”
“Maybe it was someone who looked like her,” Ryan said.
“No, it was her,” Felix said with absolute conviction.
Ryan wasn’t sure what to say. Perhaps he should ring his ex-wife and check where she was, but knowing Paula, she’d take it as an indication that he wanted to get back together with her and then she would turn up unannounced. “We’ll keep an eye out for her, champ,” he said to Felix. “Do you want to buy something for dessert?”
Felix brightened and turned his attention to all the delicacies in the display cabinets.
“There’s so much choice,” Ryan murmured to Hannah.
“Yep. Everything tastes good as well.”
In the end, they bought a few different options and then got into the car. “Where do you recommend we go for lunch?” Ryan asked.
“Do you want to go swimming afterwards?” Hannah asked.
“Yes,” Felix called from the back seat.
“How about Shipwreck Beach?”
“Sounds good.” He followed her directions out of town.
Hannah twisted in her seat to look at Felix. “Thanks for letting me tag along.”
“That’s all right. I wanted to play with Joe.”
Ryan winced. “That’s not very polite, Felix.”
Felix frowned. “Thank you for keeping Dad company while I play with Joe.”
Ryan chuckled. It wasn’t quite what he’d meant, but it would do. He’d talk to Felix about manners later. Right now, he was pleased he could spend time with both of them.
It was a nice drive out to the beach. This area of the south coast had no end of beautiful places to go, and when they reached Shipwreck Beach he was pleased there weren’t too many people there. Hannah picked up her picnic rug and Ryan took the food, and they walked down the wooden staircase to the sand. The view from the carpark was immense, looking out over the vast Southern Ocean. The wind was coming from the land, which meant the ocean was smooth and glistening in the sun. The water looked cool and inviting. As they reached the white sand, Felix and Joe raced across it, Felix’s l
aughter lighting up Ryan’s heart.
“I’m glad Joe is such a big hit,” Hannah said.
“Me too.”
They found a spot on the sand away from the other group of people and Hannah spread out the rug.
“Dad, can I go swimming?”
“Do you want something to eat first?”
Felix shook his head.
“All right. Let me put sun cream on you.” He handed Felix his rashie and then slathered him in sun cream. “Don’t go out too deep.”
“I won’t.” Felix turned to the dog. “Come on, Joe.”
With a deep woof, Joe loped next to Felix as they both ran to the water.
“Is Felix a good swimmer?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah. He’s always loved the water. I need to teach him how to identify rips though.”
“Good idea. The ocean can get pretty rough.”
Ryan handed her a roll and took one for himself.
“Will you teach Felix how to surf?”
Ryan smiled. “I’d like to. I think he’ll enjoy it.” Keeping one eye on Felix in the water, he asked, “So what do you do in your spare time?”
“At the moment, all I do is work on the cabins,” Hannah said. “I’m doing most of the internal work myself – the kitchens, bathrooms, and all of the painting. I’m getting the electrician and plumber out when I need them.”
He was impressed. “Must be hard work.”
“It was at first, but now that I’ve learned the skills, it’s time-consuming more than anything.” She shrugged. “But it keeps the budget down.”
It took guts and confidence to do it yourself. Hannah impressed him more each time he spoke with her. “Tell me if you want a hand.”
Her smile warmed him. “Thanks. I might do.”
“So when that is done, what will you do?”
“In winter I ride vintage motocross.”
His eyes widened. “Motocross?” She didn’t seem the type.
She nodded. “Pre-seventy-five motorbikes,” she said. “Fleur and Kit are a sidecar team and we all ride solos.”
“All?”
“All the musketeers,” she said. “Kit had a motorbike on the farm and we all learned to ride.”
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