There's Something About a Rebel-

by Anne Oliver

  ‘Yes. And about time you came home, you long-lost sailor, you.’ The dark-haired woman returned the kiss and gave him a heartfelt hug, the clutch of rings on the third finger of her left hand sparkling in the light. She turned and smiled Lissa’s way. ‘Hello, Lissa. How are you? I didn’t realise you two knew each other.’

  ‘Hi, Gilda. Yes, we knew each other in Surfers. It was a long time ago.’ She glanced at Blake and saw something flicker in his gaze before he turned his attention back to their neighbour.

  Lissa wandered towards them. She wanted to watch their interaction and see if it was just herself he didn’t let in on his life’s details.

  Gilda beamed up at him. ‘Well, what extraordinary activities have you been up to all this time?’

  ‘I can see what you’ve been up to.’

  Neatly diverting attention away from himself. Again.

  His gaze dropped to the woman’s gently rounded belly. ‘Congratulations. Or have you popped out a couple of others since I last saw you?’

  She laughed, breathless and happy. ‘No. This is our first.’ Her gaze softened and turned inwards and her voice grew almost reverent. ‘It’s a miracle. Fifteen years of trying and now I’m six months along. I still can’t believe it.’

  ‘You’ve waited a long time, Gil. Enjoy it.’

  ‘Oh, I am. Every minute.’ Her smile flashed wider. ‘I’m in the throes of preparing the nursery. It’s a girl and I can’t decide whether to go with traditional pink or something completely unexpected. Whatever we decide, it’s got to be something spectacular. But I guess you men are all the same.’ She flapped a hand and smiled knowingly at Lissa. ‘Put off by women’s talk of nurseries.’

  ‘Maybe your neighbour can help you out.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Lissa’s an interior designer and, believe me, you’ll want to see her ideas.’ He cast a conspiratorial smile Lissa’s way. ‘She’s working on my living room at present, but I’m sure she’ll find time to fit you into her schedule.’

  ‘Really?’ Gilda’s eyes lit up. ‘I had no idea, Lissa. What a timely surprise. And I’d love your input.’

  Lissa’s spirits soared and she cast Blake a grateful glance. What better opportunity would come her way than the chance to impress this wealthy suburban socialite with her expertise?

  ‘I’d be happy to give you some options to consider, Gilda. Would this afternoon be a convenient time for me to look at the room?’

  ‘Oh, that’d be wonderful. Shall we say 2:00 p.m.?’

  ‘That’ll be fine. I’ll see you then.’

  Gilda paused, her eyes darting between both of them as if deciding whether they were an item or not. ‘Are you two doing anything tomorrow evening? I’m having a little party and I’d love it if you could both come.’

  ‘We’d be delighted,’ Blake answered for both of them.

  ‘Can we bring something?’ Lissa offered and immediately wished she’d kept her naive mouth shut. Gilda didn’t do anything so simple as pot-luck dinners.

  ‘Just your wallets,’ she said with a grin. ‘It’s a fundraiser for childhood cancer awareness, so it’s gold tie or gold ribbon for you, Blake, and a gold dress, Lissa.’

  Oh. Not even a semi-formal occasion then, but one of her famous extravaganzas. Obviously Gilda assumed everyone had a gold gown hanging in the closet. Her society friends probably did. Lissa wanted to go. It was an exciting, timely opportunity, but who’d give her a second glance in her chain store’s little black dress?

  But Blake … he wasn’t a party kind of guy. She could see it in his stance, in the set of his jaw. He’d accepted because he knew it was a chance for her to make some contacts.

  ‘About tomorrow night …’ she began as they waved Gilda goodbye and walked towards the car. ‘I—’

  ‘I suspect this type of party’s not exactly your thing but—’

  ‘That’s not what I was going to say.’ At the car door, she swung round to look at him. ‘If you’d rather not attend, I can go alone.’

  He stared her down. ‘Not a chance.’ His fingers curved over the door frame as he held it open for her. ‘Now hop in. You’ve got shopping to do.’

  She wanted to thank him but she knew now that it would make him uncomfortable.

  ‘Why couldn’t it be a simple black tie dinner?’ she moaned, climbing in. ‘I don’t have a suitable dress and I’m so busy today.’ She slid the key into the ignition. ‘I have an appointment to look at office furniture …’ she glanced at her watch ‘… in half an hour.’

  ‘Not much point looking at outfitting the shop if you don’t have clients. You’ve got two days. Plenty of time to look at dresses.’

  ‘What about your room? That’s a priority.’

  ‘You can do both. I’ve every confidence in you.’

  ‘Gold, for heaven’s sake.’ She turned the key and the old engine, badly in need of a service, coughed into life. ‘Where will I find a gold dress?’ More to the point, where would she find one that didn’t cost an arm and a leg?

  ‘You’re a woman, you’ll find one. Use the new account. We’ll claim it as a business expense.’

  ‘We can do that?’

  He shook his head. ‘Let me handle the finances for now, Lissa. And see if you can find me a gold tie while you’re at it,’ he said. And swung the door shut.

  Lissa pulled into the drive at two minutes to two. Leaving her supplies in the car, she rushed inside. Blake was nowhere to be seen so she grabbed her portfolio, then hurried next door to Gilda’s impressive home.

  ‘Hello again, Lissa, it’s good of you to come.’ Gilda held the door wide. ‘I’m so looking forward to hearing your ideas.’

  Lissa smiled all the way down to her toes. ‘I’m happy to help out.’

  Gilda ushered Lissa through to the spacious living area overlooking the pool. Every surface from the polished furniture to the marble floors and gold fittings gleamed. Urns of flowers filled the air with fresh fragrance. A cleaning service was in full swing on the patio.

  ‘Preparations for tomorrow night,’ Gilda explained, indicating a seat on a silk upholstered couch.

  ‘I’m surprised you have the time, being pregnant and all.’ Then again, having a cleaning service no doubt helped.

  She set her portfolio carefully on the marble topped coffee table and said, ‘Before we get started, I’d like to do my bit and donate a portion of my services for the nursery makeover towards your cause tomorrow night.’

  A pot of steaming aromatic coffee and a jug of orange juice sat on a tray on the sideboard along with a plate of Kourabiedes, Greek shortbread biscuits that Lissa loved. Gilda picked it up and set it down in front of them. ‘That’s a thoughtful gesture, Lissa, are you sure?’

  ‘Of course.’ She knew without asking that Blake would be the kind of man who’d wholeheartedly approve.

  ‘Thank you so much, you’re very generous.’ Gilda lifted the pot. ‘Coffee?’

  ‘Yes, please.’

  ‘It’s lovely to see Blake back home again after all this time.’ Her voice softened at the mention of his name.

  ‘You two seem close.’ Lissa took the proffered cup, hoping to hide the colour she could feel in her cheeks. She shouldn’t have asked. It was none of her business. She was here in a professional capacity.

  ‘Yes. We are.’ Gilda watched Lissa with a woman’s understanding in her eyes while she poured herself a glass of juice. ‘You probably don’t know, because he’s not the kind of man to tell, but he saved my life.’

  ‘Really?’ Lissa’s cup stopped halfway to her lips. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Blake was living on the houseboat at the time. I slipped on the pool surround, broke my leg and fell in. It was the housekeeper’s day off. If he hadn’t heard my calls and come to my rescue I’d have drowned.’

  ‘Oh, my goodness. You were lucky.’

  ‘Indeed I was. It could have stopped there, but no. He helped me through the two months when I was housebound on crutches. The houseke
eper came in daily, of course, and I had a nurse for a while, but Blake provided the company.

  ‘We were both keen chess players and loved adventure movies so that passed time, but, more than that, we were both lonely. Stefan was away on business for weeks at a time and Blake’s father.’ She waved him off. ‘And his mother was too busy to notice.’

  Gilda’s mouth pursed as if she’d bitten into a sour pomegranate. ‘As much as I respected Rochelle’s charitable work, I couldn’t come to grips with how she neglected her only child.’ She shook her head, setting her earrings jangling. ‘There was Rochelle with a son she’d never taken the time to get to know, and I’d have given anything for a baby yet I couldn’t get pregnant.’

  Blake had been a neglected child? No wonder he’d closed up when she’d praised his mother’s tireless charity work. Yet he’d never said a bad word about her.

  And here was Lissa with a brother who’d given up his teenage years for her to make a loving home, to keep her safe. Blake hadn’t had that security, nor obviously had he known the feeling of being loved as he grew up.

  ‘So there we were,’ Gilda continued. ‘A bit of an odd pair to the rest of the world. But there was honesty and I like to think there was a trust between us despite the difference in our ages. Stefan thinks the world of him.’

  Lissa felt an odd twinge around her heart. It seemed he wasn’t an island. He confided in someone after all. Just not Lissa. And why would he? she asked herself. The last time she’d seen him she’d been thirteen.

  And when it came right down to it, what would be the point? He was leaving.

  ‘Then he joined the navy.’

  Gilda’s words had Lissa’s thoughts spinning in another direction. ‘Was that a sudden decision?’

  ‘He spoke of it often enough, but in the end, yes, it was.’

  Janine.

  Gilda eyed Lissa over her glass and both knew what wasn’t being said. ‘You can be sure if he’d made a mistake he’d have stayed to fix it.’

  Lissa looked down at her cup. Maybe he had stayed. A couple of days, a quick private trip to a clinic, problem solved. But even as the thought came to her, she knew it couldn’t be true. She’d learned more about Blake in the past couple of days than she’d ever known. It wasn’t in his nature to run away from his problems.

  She could feel the other woman’s gaze and set her eggshell-fragile gold-rimmed cup on its saucer with the faintest tremor. ‘Of course he would have.’

  She wasn’t here for a history lesson and she wasn’t going to talk to Gilda about her own relationship with Blake. That would be unprofessional.

  She reached for her portfolio. ‘Why don’t you have a look through this? Then you can show me the nursery and we can start things happening.’

  When Blake arrived home early evening, he found Lissa cross-legged on the floor in the living room surrounded by a maze of sketches, designs and scribbled notes.

  She looked up as he approached, taking in his sand-covered legs. ‘Hi. You’ve been to the beach, I see.’

  ‘Thought I’d test the surf—wind’s up today and there was a good swell.’ He sat down opposite her, against the wall, plonked his damp towel and two boxes on the floor. Now he’d made up his mind Lissa was off-limits, he concentrated on thinking of her as a friend. A business partner. Easier said than done when her perfume filled his nostrils and his eyes couldn’t seem to focus on anything but her tanned knees. ‘How did it go with Gilda?’

  ‘Very well.’ Her eyes glowed with enthusiasm. ‘She’s going with a fairy-tale theme. Pastel colours. I saw this gorgeous little pumpkin-shaped cot today. I can’t wait to get started.’

  ‘If you want to postpone this room—’

  ‘I can do both. You told me so and it’s good practice. I’ve already organised the painters here for next week and the furniture’s been ordered.’

  For the first time since he’d come back he took a good look at the room, visions of the way it used to look swimming before his eyes. ‘I can’t wait to see this transformed. It always reminds me of …’

  She looked up. ‘What?’ she asked softly.

  ‘Dad used to have his poker nights in here. Four nights a week. I remember the first night I came to live with him. I was fourteen. Mum had gone overseas so I was sent to Dad’s.’ He leaned his head back against the wall, the bad old memories coming thick and fast. ‘Dad had forgotten to pick me up at the bus so I walked. With my luggage.’ He closed his eyes, felt the old tension grab at the base of his skull.

  ‘Go on,’ she urged. Her voice was gentle. Oddly calming, like the trickle of water over a moss-covered rock. So easy to let it flow over him.

  ‘The place was a garbage tip. Beer bottles, pizza boxes, spilled cigarette ash, you name it. I thought after his buddies left he’d clean it up, but no. It was still there a week later.

  ‘The rest of the house was just as bad. In the end I couldn’t stand it so I asked if I could live on the houseboat. He was more than happy with the arrangement. I taught myself to cook. At least I could study in peace …’

  A long silence followed. ‘I never knew my father,’ Lissa said into the hiatus.

  He opened his eyes. ‘What?’

  ‘That man you knew wasn’t my father. My biological father was just passing through town one summer. I must have looked liked him because Dad hated me. I was a reminder of my mother’s infidelity.’

  She smiled suddenly. ‘This sounds like True Confession time.’

  He smiled back, feeling as if a load had been lifted off his shoulders. Feeling something like companionship. He’d never told anyone his troubles. Somehow Lissa had got him to talk. To open up. And it felt good. Freeing. Connected. ‘How about we go eat some pizza? I saw a live band setting up in an outdoor café on the esplanade. Oh, wait up.’ He picked up the boxes, reached over and set them in front of her. ‘This first.’

  Lissa reached for the larger one. ‘What is it?’ When he didn’t answer, she opened the flaps. Her jewellery box sat on the top. ‘Oh …’ Eyes filling, she pulled it out and opened it. It was still damp but she lifted out the bluebird brooch. ‘This was Mum’s. You rescued my things.’ She could barely see him through the tears.

  ‘I had the boat moved yesterday while you were at the shop. I didn’t get everything, most of it was too far gone, but the stuff in the box was salvageable. And what I thought you might like.’

  She ran her hands over a white porcelain bowl with blue dolphins around the edge. It had been a gift from Crystal when she’d moved here. He’d thought enough to sort through her things. ‘Thank you. So much.’

  She opened the other box. It was full of new lingerie. All different colours. Sexy as sin. She sifted through the silky bras and panties, her cheeks blooming with heat. She found two nightgowns. A teal blue and a deep gold.

  ‘I noticed you didn’t buy enough stuff yesterday,’ he said, his voice oddly gruff.

  The heat intensified. ‘How did you know my size?’

  ‘I checked the ones you bought. If you’ll forgive me for looking.’

  ‘Oh, yes … and they’re beautiful.’ She bit her lip. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘Your smile’s enough.’ He reached out a hand, lifted her chin up. ‘You should smile more often—with those eyes, like you’re doing now.’ For a fleeting moment his gaze turned almost reverent.

  And she felt her heart melt.

  Then he pushed up, as if uncomfortable with the moment. ‘Let’s go eat.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  FOR this evening, at least, it was enough to simply share pizza and enjoy each other’s company while the waves thumped on the beach. To see the ocean change from aqua to indigo to black and to watch Blake finally relax as they listened to the jazz quartet.

  It gave Lissa time to think about what Blake had told her about his father. No wonder he was obsessed with order and tidiness. She resolved to make more of an effort while she was staying in his house.

  When the band packed up,
they drove home and went their separate ways to bed. The ever-present hum between them was still there, but also a feeling that barriers had been lowered a little. As if a bridge had been crossed.

  Lissa spent the following day working on the living room and plans for Gilda’s nursery. Blake offered to be at the shop in the morning to receive the office supplies she’d ordered. He refused her suggestion to accompany her shopping in the afternoon and went surfing instead.

  The last item on her list was what to wear to Gilda’s party.

  He should have insisted on going shopping with her, Blake decided that evening as he stood at the bottom of the staircase looking up.

  He resisted the urge to loosen the gold bow tie that threatened to strangle him as he stared at the woman descending the stairs.

  No way he’d have agreed to the skinny tube of shimmering gold lamé and its row upon row of bright coins that jingled and winked in the light as she moved. What there was of it. Her ‘find’ was strapless and covered precious little of those sun-kissed thighs that he’d thought about constantly since that first night on the houseboat.

  His brow wrinkled. Except now she was coming closer he could see that those thighs seemed to be dusted with something like … gold dust. She’d threaded gold ribbons through her hair and piled it on top of her head and he noticed her shoulders gleamed with the same fine gold glitter as her thighs. Strappy gold stilettos completed the look.

  An uncomfortable heat burst into flame below the surface of his skin and spread all over his body like a rash. How was he going to get through the evening without thinking about what other priceless treasures she had hidden beneath that slinky scrap of fabric that looked as if she’d simply wound it around her? He was going to spend the whole night wondering if it came off as easily.

  ‘What do you think?’ she said, reaching the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘It’s … certainly eye-catching.’ Not to mention snagging on a few other sensitive body parts.

  ‘That’s the idea.’ She shimmied like a belly-dancer and the whole thing glittered and jingled. ‘Not bad for a few moments’ work and a couple of quick threads, huh?’