Ry took another sip of his coffee and grabbed one of the magazines he’d dropped on the table. He flicked open the cover and casually flicked through the pages.
‘Julia went back to Melbourne last Sunday.’
‘I know, you dick. She called me yesterday to see how I was. What the fuck’s going on with her? I’ve been out of it for so long I can’t remember what episode your soap opera is up to.’
‘Soap opera?’ Ry’s eyebrows shot up.
‘Yeah, I know, I’ve been watching too much daytime TV. When are going to see her again?’
‘I’m flying over this weekend. I’m going to surprise her.’
Dan whistled. ‘That’s a pretty pricey booty call.’
‘Fuck you.’ Ry smiled.
Dan’s narrowed eyes and grim expression gave him away. ‘For fuck’s sake, Ry, what are you waiting for?’
Ry felt slightly taken aback at the change in Dan’s tone. The humour had disappeared from his voice and his face. He’d got real serious, real quick.
‘What do you mean? I’ve got some things to sort out at the office and then I’m going over on Saturday morning.’
‘Shit Ry. That’s not what I’m talking about and you fucking well know it. Go get her. Bring her home. What are you waiting for? You love her, right?’
Ry felt the familiar pain in his jaw. ‘I’m waiting for her to decide what she wants.’
‘What she wants? What do you want?’
Damn it. Had he ever told her? Had he let her go back to Melbourne without telling her he wanted her? Without telling her loved her? She’d left on an understanding that it wasn’t over, that they’d see each other when they could. When work didn’t get too crazy. When the rest of their lives didn’t get in the way. Shit a brick. That wasn’t what he wanted.
But he couldn’t ask her again to give up everything for him. Could he?
‘You’re a pain in my arse, Danny Boy, you know that?’
‘So the nurses keep telling me.’ Dan flicked open one of the men’s health magazines Ry had dumped there, settling on an article about surfing. They sat in companionable silence for a while.
‘So, how’s Lizzie?’
Ry looked up and noticed Dan’s crooked nose was stuck firmly in the magazine. He thought back to when Dan was semi-conscious and slowly coming out of it. He wondered if he remembered what he’d said. Maybe he did.
‘Yeah,’ he replied. ‘She’s great.’
Dan’s face crinkled in confusion and he rubbed his hand over the dark stubble on his chin.
‘Good. You know, I can’t stop thinking about her. Funny thing is, she’s the last thing I remember about … that night. We were in the pub and then it’s all a blank. I haven’t got a clue what we were talking about but I just have this really vivid memory of her face. Her looking right at me.’
‘You do, huh?’
‘I’m sure it’s her. Big blue eyes, right? Like, kewpie doll eyes with that short blonde hair? And red lips …’ Dan’s voice trailed off and he sank back into the pillows.
Ry didn’t want to mess with Dan when he was so clearly trying to remember. Would there be other stuff that would be hazy in his memory too?
‘Blue eyes, blonde surfer girl thing? Yeah, that’s Lizzie.’
Dan stuck his nose back in the magazine. ‘Did she come to visit me, maybe?’
‘Don’t think so, mate. She’s been holding the pub together so I could be here holding your hand.’
Ry checked his watch, knew he had to go. ‘Enjoy the music.’ He nodded at the iPod, leaned over and they gripped hands tightly. Ry did a double take. Was he imagining things or was Dan tearing up? He looked closely at his friends face. Damn it, he was.
‘Hey, Ry, before you go. There’s something I need you to do for me.’
‘Anything, except give you a sponge bath.’
Dan chuckled then winced again.
‘Anything. What do you need?’ Ry waited for Dan’s pain to pass.
‘I’ve had a lot of time to think while I’ve been stuck here. To think about what happened. What almost happened. It’s pretty much been a shit sandwich, mate.’
Ry leaned over the bed and patted Dan’s shoulder like he’d just missed a goal out on the football oval. ‘Yeah.’
‘And I’ve been thinking about Windswept and what we’re doing down at Middle Point. And I’ve realised, while I’ve been trapped here staring at the ceiling, that I want a piece of that kind of life.’
‘You do?’ Ry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This was Danny Boy the party animal, who couldn’t bear to be more than ten-minutes’ drive from a nightclub and a group of hot women. Ry was wondering if he was suffering some kind of post-traumatic shock. ‘You want to buy a block on the Windswept Development?’
There was a determination and a gravitas in Dan’s eyes. ‘No, mate, I want to buy Julia’s house.’
CHAPTER
31
‘You want to do what?’ Ry looked at his friend as if he’d gone crazy.
‘I’m serious, Ry. I want to buy Julia’s house.’
‘Don’t you think you should wait until you’re at least out of hospital before deciding something like this?’
‘No. I’ve decided. It’s done.’
Ry rubbed a hand over his eyes. Shit, maybe Dan had gone crazy. ‘You sure about this?’
‘Never been more sure of anything in my life. I need to be able to wake up everyday and look out at that beach and that big sky. Can you arrange it?’ Dan looked to his friend with earnest eyes and Ry could see he wasn’t joking. Dan’s physical recovery may have been progressing better than his doctors had hoped, but his emotional recovery was going to be another thing entirely.
If Dan wanted to leave the city and move to the peaceful quietness of Middle Point, Ry wasn’t going to stop him. In fact, he flat-out liked the idea that Dan loved the place as much as he always had.
‘Sure. I’ll ring Julia’s real estate agent today. But after that, I’m stepping back.’ He raised his hands in mock defeat. ‘You two can slug it out.’
‘Don’t worry, mate. I’ll play fair.’
Ry chuckled. ‘It’s not you I’m worried about. Julia can be stubborn as hell.’
By the end of the week Julia had everything organised. She was one week down and one to go. On her first day back at work she’d given her mandatory two weeks’ notice and only had another week of it to serve. She’d been in the office every day, finalising accounts, writing final reports, handing over clients and beginning the festival of farewell lunches with her work colleagues.
That morning, she’d managed a quick breakfast, two cups of very decent coffee and a desultory glance at the Saturday Age before using the newspaper for wrapping and packing. A moving van was due to arrive at midday to begin loading her bigger possessions and the few small things that could fit into her car for the nine-hour drive back to Middle Point the next weekend. It was all really happening. One part of her life was ending but another exciting chapter was about to begin, and that new life didn’t need all the accoutrements of the city.
It was a cool Melbourne morning but it wasn’t raining, which was unusual in winter. She’d seen only one of its renowned four seasons in a day and had hoped the weather would hold off so the moving could begin. She turned at the sound of a rumble in the street, checked her watch and skipped down the hallway to throw open the front door, giddy with the thought that this was all really happening.
Two hunky young men were on her doorstep. Tall as mountains with wide shoulders, one had a tattoo of a Celtic symbol on his neck and a shaved head, the other blonde dreadlocks and a pierced eyebrow. She smiled to herself. She would definitely miss Melbourne’s wildlife.
‘Ma’am? Are you Julia Jones?’ The taller of the two smiled politely.
Julia stepped back and opened the door wide. ‘C’mon in, boys, you’ve got some work to do.’
Two hours later, the guys were halfway through the job. Julia’s bedroom and spar
e room were empty and most of the smaller boxes had been trolleyed out to the truck to squeeze in around the furniture. They packed carefully, fitting boxes and items together into an intricate jigsaw puzzle and Julia was reassured that her things would arrive in Middle Point in one piece.
With every box that disappeared out her front door, Julia felt a new wave of happiness wash over her at the prospect of her new life. Well, maybe it was her old life. Or a new life in her old home. She giggled at the confusion of it and the certainty she felt about her decision.
At the sound of heavy footsteps on the wooden floorboards in the hallway she called out to the movers.
‘I’m doing a coffee run to Lygon Street. What do you guys want?’ Julia reached into her handbag for her purse and plucked a note out of, shoving it into her jeans pocket.
The slow footsteps stopped and then there was silence. She looked up.
‘Ry?’
Still the most gorgeous man she’d ever met, he stood in the empty space that had been her living room, with a bunch of flowers in one hand and the handle of a small wheelie bag in the other. A camel-coloured trench coat topped black jeans and a black jumper and he was wearing her favourite black boots.
She wanted to jump his bones right then and there.
Launching herself at him, Julia threw her arms around his neck, planting kisses on his cheek, and it took just one touch for her to realise how much she’d missed him. She felt a pang of disappointment — only for half a second — that his unexpected arrival had ruined her carefully planned surprise but it disappeared in a heartbeat when she saw his beloved face. She leaned up on tiptoes and planted a huge, wet, adoring kiss on his mouth, which was grimly set in a line. He didn’t kiss her back and she slowly let go of him.
He was as stiff as a board.
‘Ry, what are you doing here?’
He looked down at her with a hard stare. ‘What’s going on, JJ?’
Julia followed his gaze around the room, at the stacked boxes, the naked windows, the rolled up rug by the fireplace. In an instant, she could see what he was seeing.
‘Ry, I—’
‘You going somewhere?’ His voice was deep and gruff.
She tried to swallow the smile that was bursting to escape her lips. ‘Yes, as a matter of fact I am.’
‘A bigger house? A flashier suburb. What?’
‘They’re pretty flowers. Are they for me?’ She clasped her hands behind her back and nodded to the bunch in his hand, beautiful irises about to bloom, surrounded by strappy leaves and wrapped in masses of white paper tied together with raffia string.
He shoved them in her direction without a word.
‘Thank you, they’re lovely. But there’s a problem. I don’t seem to have anything to put them in.’
Ry took a long glance around the room. ‘So I see.’
‘Ry, listen. Let me explain.’
‘No.’ He met her gaze. ‘There’s something I came here to say.’
‘But I need to tell you—’ Ry silenced her with a finger to her lips. His piercing sapphire eyes had locked onto hers with a fierce determination and she couldn’t move. He took hold of her shoulders and pulled her close. The flowers dropped to the floorboards with a crinkle, and she moved into him willingly, pressing herself against him, feeling the heat from his body through his clothes. She splayed her fingers on his hard chest and the thrum of his heartbeat silenced her.
‘Julia Jones, the only place you should be moving is back to Middle Point, with me. I’ve been crazy about you since I was twenty-years-old. I’ve tried to forget you. I even tried hating you for a year or two. But I have never, not for one day, stopped loving you.’
Julia looked into the face of the man she’d never stopped loving either and would have pinched herself if she could tear her hands away from him.
‘You tried to hate me?’ she said as she smoothed her hand up his chest and over his bristled jaw, loving the rough feeling of the stubble on her palm.
‘That’s what you remember from what I just said?’
‘Well … did you really try to hate me?’ She caressed the small scar on his left cheek, and let her fingers wander to the hair at the back of his neck, tangling her fingers in it.
‘I tried hard. It didn’t take.’ He brought his cheek to hers, his lips just a breath away from a kiss.
‘Thank God,’ she whispered.
He released a huge shuddering breath. Pulled her tighter.
‘I love you, Julia. It’s always been that simple.’
As she looked deep into his eyes, she realised the tumultuous tangle in the pit of her stomach wasn’t nerves at all. It was love. Aching, blinding, love for this man.
‘JJ, look what we’ve lost. Both of us. Your parents. My dad. We nearly lost Dan. I won’t lose you too. God, do you know how excited I was when I thought you were pregnant? Life, babies, a future, forever. I’m ready for it. All the success I’ve had means nothing if I don’t have you to share it with.’
Finally Julia was able to speak, despite the tears welling in her eyes and her bursting heart.
‘Well now you’ve gone and ruined everything.’ Her voice caught on a sob and then a laugh.
‘I tell you I love you and I’ve ruined everything?’
‘Now that you’ve made your big confession, it’s time for mine.’ Julia reluctantly let him go, and turned away. In the kitchen, she found her handbag and walked back to Ry. She handed him a small card.
‘What’s this?’
‘Just read it,’ she said softly.
Ry lifted it closer to his eyes, studied the fine print.
‘ “Middle of Nowhere Consulting. Director Julia Jones”.’ He gazed at her, a question furrowing the space between his eyebrows.
‘You quit your job?’
‘Uh huh.’
‘And starting your own business. In this economic climate.’
‘Yep.’
‘Good luck with that.’ A flash of anger crossed his face. Julia couldn’t leave him hanging any longer, no matter how much delicious it was to see him fume.
She sighed. ‘Look at my business card. Doesn’t that give you a clue about anything?’
He simply glared at her.
‘For fuck’s sake, Ry. This was all supposed to be a surprise. I’m not moving to another house here in Melbourne and I’m not starting my new business here. I’m coming home.’
Ry’s forehead creased in confusion and his eyes narrowed. His big hands gripped her shoulders, pushing her back slightly so he could see her face, trying to judge if she was joking.
‘You mean … home to Middle Point?’
‘Yes. Home to Middle Point but, more importantly, home to you, Ry Blackburn.’ And the words tripped joyously from her lips. ‘Because I am crazy in love with you, too.’
He broke into a gorgeous smile, a take-her-breath away, heart-poundingly-sexy-as-hell smile.
‘You’re giving up Melbourne,’ he said, incredulously. She could see the fierce love in his eyes. All for her.
‘I am. And it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I always thought I had to leave Middle Point to do something important with my life. But I realised the most important thing I’ve ever done was to be there for the people I love when they really needed me. When I weighed that up against living and working here, it was a no-brainer.’
‘Where will you live?’
‘I’ll move back into Mum’s place until it’s sold. It could take a while.’
Ry shook his head, closed his eyes. ‘There’s a slight problem with your plan, sweetheart.’
‘What are you talking about?’
He brought his hands to her hair, twisted her dark curls in his fingers, tucking a strand behind her ear. ‘You won’t be able to move back into your house because you’re about to sell it.’
Julia tried not to scoff. ‘I know you’re a property guru, but that’s being a little optimistic. Kevin said it could take months and months to find a buyer.’
&nb
sp; Ry cocked his head to check his watch.
‘He’s about to get a call from the prospective new owner. And my new neighbour. Dan McSwaine.’
Julia’s gasp echoed in the empty living room.
‘Seriously?’
‘Yep.’
‘Dan wants to buy my house?’
‘I can’t figure it out either. It’s a dump.’ The look on Ry’s face told her that behind the joke, he was thrilled with the idea.
‘God. That’s totally unexpected but wonderful. It’ll stay in the family.’ A peaceful feeling settled over her at the thought of that. Family.
‘Yeah,’ Ry’s eyebrows danced and he teased his fingers through hers. ‘Bad news for you, though. Looks like you’ll be homeless.’
Julia rolled her eyes theatrically. ‘Lucky for me, I’m a crisis management consultant. I’ve already come up with a solution to that particular predicament.’
‘You have? You sure think quick on your feet.’
‘I figure I’m just going to have to move in with you.’
Ry met her eyes and looked back at her with laughter and desire and love.
‘If you’ll have me, that is.’
He quirked his eyebrows and grinned. ‘I’ll do better than that, Julia Jones. I’ll even marry you.’
Julia’s heart beat fast and strong and she let out a breath she’d been holding in for fifteen years. ‘That will definitely solve my other crisis.’
‘Which was?’
‘How I was going to live the rest of my life without you.’ She reached up and pressed her mouth to his. Ry reacted instantly to the invitation, pulling her close, holding her tight.
‘So I take it that’s a yes?’ Ry whispered into her lips.
‘That’s a hell yes! On oh yes! A you-bet-your-arse-yes, Ry Blackburn!’
And with her declaration, Ry lifted her in his strong arms and swung her around the room, her whoops of laughter joining his in a blissful echo. When his lips met hers again, he slowly lowered her to the floor.
His teeth tugged at her earlobe and he moaned in her ear.
‘They haven’t packed the bed, have they?’
Julia nodded.
‘Life’s a bitch.’
Nobody But Him Page 29
