Someone Like You

by Victoria Purman

  ‘Check this out, Lizzie,’ Ry called as she approached. ‘Look who’s here? Dan turned up this morning and volunteered to cook the eggs. Not bad, huh? His timing is terrible. He finally makes it down here on a Sunday morning and its our last gig of the year.’

  Dan lifted his chin to her. ‘Morning, Elizabeth.’

  Lizzie couldn’t see his eyes, hidden behind his aviator sunglasses. ‘Morning Dan.’

  ‘Sleep well?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, thanks.’

  Well, that was a lie. She’d been half asleep and then half in shock when she’d seen him at her doorstep the night before. And he’d seemed a little drunk, so between them they hadn’t made a lot of sense. She remembered an awkward exchange and a lingering stare, his emerald eyes turning on her the way they always did. And then she’d barely slept the rest of the night, her mind racing and confused with thoughts of him.

  She’d need at least two more coffees to get revved up enough to cope with today.

  ‘I thought I’d better come and check this all out. See what it looks like filled with people.’ He glanced around at the activity and a beaming grin almost split his face. ‘It’s kind of incredible, isn’t it, Elizabeth?’

  ‘Yeah, it kind of is, Dan.’

  He lifted his glasses off his face and his eyes found hers. They were like a laser pointer straight to her heart.

  ‘Is it everything you imagined it would be?’

  Despite her sleep haze, and despite his presence sending her knees shaking, she found herself grinning like an idiot, too. ‘It’s more.’ She turned and took it all in. The people, the laughter, the life, the fun. The spirit of community was all around her and her heart filled with love for these people and her beloved Middle Point.

  She hadn’t realised but Dan was at her side. He took her hand in his and she let him.

  ‘Look what we did. We made this. I reckon this proves that there’s nothing we can’t do when we work as a team. What do you think?’

  Elizabeth couldn’t find the words to answer him. She simply gripped his hand tighter.

  CHAPTER

  28

  On the first day of school for the year, the heady and sundrenched month of January disappointingly over, Middle Point was mysteriously quiet. As if to taunt the holidaymakers who’d had to return to their real lives and nine-to-fives, the children and teenagers who had to return to classrooms and uniforms, nature threw on a brilliant day, cloudless, a gentle breeze off the ocean, the temperature in the high twenties. Lizzie and Julia sauntered along the white beach, their feet splashing in the shallow water, enjoying the space, the solitude and, officially, Julia’s last week as a single woman.

  ‘I think coming back to Middle Point was the best decision I ever made.’

  Lizzie laughed. ‘Don’t know why you ever left, Jools.’

  Julia linked an arm through her best friends. ‘Things have a way of settling in the exact way they should, don’t you think?’

  ‘Even if you fight it.’ Lizzie had to smile at her friend’s contagious happiness. ‘All I know is that more than six months ago you landed back in Middle Point with every intention of escaping back to Melbourne as fast as you possibly could. And look what happened.’

  Julia nudged her. ‘Ry happened, that’s what. It only took four weeks…’

  ‘Fifteen years and four weeks,’ Lizzie corrected.

  Julia laughed and bumped Lizzie with her hip. ‘I know. We did things the long way around. But we’re doing them the right way now. I know it. Here, with Ry, this is where I’m meant to be. Ry, Middle Point and Middle of Nowhere Consulting. I’m happy.’

  Lizzie found a lump in her throat, tried to swallow it away. Her friend was so certain of her life, where it was heading and who she was. Did Lizzie feel jealous? Was that it?

  ‘We’ve finalised the guest list. Everyone’s coming, Lizzie.’

  ‘Of course they are. Who could possibly say no to an invitation to the wedding of Middle Point’s super couple? What shall we call you? Rylia? JuRy?’ Lizzie laughed.

  ‘Which means,’ Julia added, ‘that Anna is coming. With her husband, of course. You okay with that?’

  Lizzie looked out to sea to anchor herself. It shimmered, the white peaks crowning the waves like ribbons of icing. ‘Why shouldn’t I be? She’s an old friend of Ry’s, too. I’m sure she’s as happy as we all are about you two finally getting together.’

  ‘I just wanted to let you know before you saw her at the wedding.’

  ‘Julia, don’t worry. I know the truth. I know she and Dan were involved and I know they’re not anymore. I believed him when he told me. Funny thing is, I have a sneaking suspicion I would actually like her if we’d met the old-fashioned way. You know, like on Facebook.’

  They walked in silence for a while, the sound of the waves and the gulls above them creating a symphony of the seaside.

  ‘Lizzie,’ Julia tugged her to a stop. ‘Do you want to talk about Dan?’

  ‘No.’ She backed that up with an adamant shake of her head.

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘There’s nothing to talk about, Jools. Really.’ And you are a big liar.

  ‘He’s been turning up at our place every night for a beer and a chat, which is hilarious really. We spent months and months trying to lure him out of his man cave and now he won’t leave us alone. He’s really excited about the move.’

  The move? Lizzie stopped. Was he moving back to Adelaide?

  ‘What move? What are you talking about?’ she asked in a rush.

  Julia lifted her sunglasses and peered into her friend’s eyes. ‘You mean he didn’t tell you?’

  ‘No, obviously not.’

  ‘He’s moving down here for good, Lizzie. He’s not going back to Adelaide.’

  Lizzie almost tripped over her feet. ‘He’s moving here? Permanently?’ She heard the stammer in her own voice.

  ‘Yes. Turns out he loves Middle Point.’ Julia laughed. ‘Who doesn’t?’

  ‘Five hours to the wedding.’ Ry checked his watch and scratched his chin. He and Dan were at Dan’s place, sitting, by necessity, a little too close together on the small orange vinyl sofa. They each held a cold beer in one hand and a hot pie from the Port Elliot bakery in the other. Through the windows of Dan’s beach shack, the sky was a brilliant blue and the few wisps of clouds in it made for decoration, rather than rain. A mild breeze blew over Middle Point and all signs were pointing to the wedding going off without a hitch at precisely five p.m.

  ‘This wedding preparation stuff is a real killer,’ Dan added through a mouthful of gravy, meat and tomato sauce. He propped his feet on the small teak coffee table.

  ‘Why do Julia and Lizzie need the whole day? I mean, what’s so hard about it?’ Ry asked with a cocked eyebrow. ‘Chuck on the clothes, shave, that’s it. Turn up to the ceremony. Boom. Done.’

  ‘You’re forgetting your hair and make-up, pretty boy.’

  Ry chuckled. ‘You may have noticed,’ and he pointed to his mussed hair, ‘I’m going for the natural look. I hear it’s big this year. How hard can this be? All Julia and I have to do is turn up, say a few words and then, wham, we’re married.’

  And then he stopped. Took a swig of beer. Thought about what he’d just said. His self-satisfied smile faded into a frown as he fell against the back of the sofa. ‘Fuck. I’m getting married.’

  Dan knew cold feet when he saw them. They were there in the whites of Ry’s wide eyes and in the twitch in his stubbled jaw.

  ‘Yeah, mate, you’ll be married. To Julia. The one you waited fifteen years for. If you’re panicking now, after all the bullshit I’ve had to put up with all this time, I’m going to kick your arse.’

  ‘This isn’t panic. Not really. Kind of. Fuck it. Yeah, it’s panic.’

  Dan got up, walked to the fridge for more beer. ‘Go on, get it out of your system,’ he called across the room. ‘Run that little slideshow in your head of all the other women you’ll never sleep with. And don’
t forget to include Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson and every Bond girl in living memory. Get it all out now, ’cause I sure as hell know you’ll regret waking up tomorrow not being married to Julia.’

  Ry had leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his fingers ploughing through his au naturale, don’t-give-a-shit hair. ‘I know, right? This is fucking crazy.’

  ‘You’re just being a dude.’

  ‘Yeah, I know it.’

  ‘She’s the one for you, Ry. Always has been. Always will be.’ Dan closed the fridge, brought two beers back to the sofa, and they clinked bottles as he sat back down. ‘You’re a lucky bastard, you know that?’

  Ry took a deep breath, swigged the beer Dan offered, and set it on the low teak table. ‘I know, I know. I’m lucky.’

  ‘You’ve got this whole life ahead of you, starting today.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You should be bloody glad she’s marrying you.’

  That made Ry smile and Dan relaxed. His job was done. The crisis was averted.

  ‘Thanks,’ Ry said.

  ‘It was nothing, just my best man duty.’

  Ry grinned. ‘What, talking me down from the edge of the cliff or getting me another beer?’

  ‘Both.’ They listened to the sounds of the beach through the front windows.

  ‘So. Lizzie,’ Ry said.

  Dan took a long swig. ‘What about her?’

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Nothing. Not yet.’

  ‘Nothing? Who are you and what have you done with my best man Dan McSwaine?’

  ‘Relax. I have a plan. It’s a slow-burn plan.’

  ‘Danny Boy, you don’t have time for a slow burn. What the hell are you waiting for? Don’t be as stubborn as I was. Last year, you pushed me when I needed pushing. And now I’m returning the favour. If you want her, go get her.’

  Go get her. Maybe that was a way better plan than the one he had in mind. The one where he waited for her.

  ‘And let’s face it. You’re about to put on a suit. Apparently, men like us, handsome bastards that we are, dressed in suits? We drive women crazy. You will look hot.’

  ‘Oh Ry, I didn’t know you cared.’

  ‘Don’t waste the suit, man. You know what they say about best men at weddings.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘They always bag a bridesmaid.’

  ‘Three hours to the wedding!’ In the glass palace next door, Lizzie clinked her champagne glass with Julia’s and made the happy announcement to the room. Ry’s mother Barbra was seated comfortably on the white leather sofa, and Harri was resting on the seat of her walking frame, parked next to it, which had been a great help to her since she’d returned home after her hip replacement and rehab. All four of the women, across generations, laughed out loud, enjoying the fun and the spectacle of Julia’s wedding preparations.

  Julia hadn’t wanted to tempt fate and slip into her wedding dress too early, so she was still elegantly gliding around the house in a simple white silk dressing gown. Lizzie couldn’t wait and was already wearing her bridesmaid’s dress, so excited to be dressing up for the first time in what felt like a million years. The pale blue dress felt fantastic, its cap sleeves and deep V-neck accentuated by a fitted bodice and cinched-in waist, sitting atop a flared skirt. A ruffled white petticoat underneath added bounce and made Lizzie feel like a movie star – from the 1950s.

  ‘Okay,’ Julia announced. ‘I’m ticking off the list. Hair and make-up?’

  ‘Done,’ Lizzie called, admiring Julia’s natural waves and simply made up face.

  ‘Dress?’

  ‘Hanging upstairs.’

  ‘Excellent. Shoes?’

  ‘By the side of your bed.’

  ‘Bridesmaid’s dress?’

  ‘Wearing it,’ Lizzie called in a singsong voice and did a little spin around the living room to prove it. Julia, Barbra and Harri cheered and clapped her.

  ‘Champagne?’

  ‘Coming right up!’ Lizzie fetched the bottle from its ice bucket and filled each of their glasses. The four women clinked them together like musketeers and cheered again.

  ‘What a gorgeous bride you’re going to be, Julia,’ Harri said, her fingers tightly fixed on her glass. ‘Not that being a bride is the be-all and end-all, not these days.’

  Barbra leaned back, took in the scene, then wiped a tear from her eye and sniffed out loud. ‘No, it’s not,’ she added, her chin high in the air.

  ‘We feminists fought for so much more for ourselves,’ Harri added. ‘And our daughters. Metaphorically speaking.’

  ‘Absolutely we did,’ Barbra said.

  ‘We never needed a ring to validate ourselves or give ourselves a legitimate place in the world.’

  ‘And the whole white wedding thing? Too patriarchal,’ Barbra added.

  ‘Lucky we don’t believe in marriage and the whole happy-ever-after thing,’ Harri said through eyes brimming with happy tears.

  ‘But you do look stunning, Julia!’ Barbra laughed. ‘And I always cry at weddings!’

  The four of them giggled themselves into a fit of laughter so hard that Julia snorted champagne bubbles out of her nose.

  ‘Now, Julia, my darling,’ Barbra wiped her eyes. I have some tips for you about married life. I know you don’t have your mother with you today, so I feel it’s my duty as your soon-to-be mother-in-law to give you the facts of life.’

  Julia leaned across to squeeze Barbra’s hand, her bottom lip wobbling.

  ‘There are some things you need to be absolutely sure about when picking the man you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. Don’t you agree, Harri?’

  ‘Definitely,’ Harri agreed with a cheeky grin.

  ‘Make sure he works to deserve you, every single day of your lives together.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Harri nodded. ‘He needs to be someone who makes time to listen to you, to understand you. To wait for you. Even when you’re driving him crazy, he needs to be the sort of bloke who’ll stick.’

  ‘He needs to be the kind of man who can cook a decent meal,’ Barbra added.

  ‘And wash the dishes afterwards.’

  ‘That’s crucial.’

  ‘And,’ Harri shot Julia a dramatic wink, ‘he needs to rock your socks off in the sack.’

  Barbra guffawed and Julia went white, both at the same time. ‘Harri!’ they cried out together.

  ‘Oh don’t sound so shocked, ladies,’ Harri hooted in response.

  ‘It’s also very important that he’s handy with a power tool,’ Barbra called. ‘Or at least he should look good wearing a tool belt.’

  ‘And he absolutely, definitely, positively has to love Middle Point!’ Julia said with glee.

  ‘Too true,’ Harri said, her voice growing serious. ‘I was lucky. I had one like that. If you’re lucky enough to find a man who is not only as handsome as sin, but one who loves you right back with all his heart, one who runs towards you when you’re sick instead of running away like a scared rabbit, you’ve got a keeper.’

  Lizzie felt herself drifting away from the conversation, a strange buzzing in her head. She couldn’t think. A keeper. They may as well have been talking about Dan.

  The man who hadn’t run from her.

  The man who understood her.

  The one who was waiting for her.

  Dan was all those things.

  Dan was everything.

  ‘Darling,’ Barbra patted the sofa next to her and Julia plonked herself next to her. ‘This has been so much fun. I want to thank you for letting me be part of this, with you here. It means so much to me, you can’t possibly know.’

  Julia dropped her head on Barbra’s shoulder. ‘Barbra, it means so much to me too. To have you here, and Harri, and especially my wonderful Lizzie.’

  When the three women looked up and glanced around the room, Lizzie was gone.

  CHAPTER

  29

  Best. Idea. Ever.

  ‘You are crazy
, Elizabeth Blake,’ Lizzie muttered and she could only agree with herself as she stomped over the low fence to Dan’s house, crushing the daisies underneath the soles of her feet as she rushed the dozen steps to his front door.

  Crazy? For sure.

  Best idea she’d ever had? Abso-fucking-lutely.

  A few quick raps on the door and she tried not to hold her breath. Her memory did a quick rewind to the first time she’d stood there, when Dan almost ripped it off its hinges and had gone all surly wild man of Borneo on her. Slamming it in her face. That day felt like a million years ago.

  When she heard footsteps, her heartbeat picked up and pounded in her temple. Her palms grew sweaty the closer they came and when she heard the lock click, she squeezed her eyes shut.

  ‘Hey, Lizzie.’

  Damn it. It was the groom.

  She cleared her throat, unclenched her lacquered fingers, which were digging nail marks into her palms. ‘Hey Ry.’ A quick glance revealed he was still wearing a T-shirt and his boardies. Typical. She tried to peer over his shoulder, and then decided around his chest might be the best option. ‘Is Dan here?’

  ‘You want to see Dan?’ Ry narrowed his eyes and if they could have laughed at her, they would have. Smug bastard.

  ‘Yes. I need to see…I need to talk to him.’

  ‘Sorry, Lizzie. He went to grab some more beers. All this wedding preparation is thirsty work, you know.’

  She huffed out loud; the frustration she felt was too strong to hold back.

  Ry looked her up and down with a friendly smile. ‘Hey, you look fantastic by the way.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘How’s JJ? Everything ticking over next door?’

  ‘Good, she’s good. When’s Dan going to be back?’

  Ry checked his watch. ‘He’s just hopped in the car so about ten minutes, I guess. You want me to send him over when he gets back?’

  Lizzie shivered at the thought. Send Dan over into that pack of women? He’d never make it out alive. She was fast losing her window of opportunity. If she didn’t get back there to resume her bridesmaid duties, the bride and the two wise sages were likely to get very pissed, very quickly. And that could lead to all sorts of unintended consequences at the ceremony. She had a duty to Julia first and she would have to see to it.