Since We Last Met, page 25
‘Ah, I’m not totally sure if—’
‘Not that I’m putting any pressure on you,’ Stephanie interrupted, stopping walking so she could look at Carmen, ‘but I am concerned that he’s got himself into a holding pattern. I suspect that unless you deliver him an ultimatum, he’s going to be content on living in limbo forever. And I do think it’s fear that’s preventing him from taking that last step to make it official. Because once you have a wife and maybe a family … Not that I’m putting any expectations on you guys at all there. Lord knows I had enough fertility problems—I guess Bruno might have mentioned them to you. So I know how awful it is when people harp on at you about having kids and I will never, ever do that. But until he takes that step to make it official …’
‘I can see how you would … I mean, sure …’ This conversation had gone way too far.
‘Oh no, I’ve pushed it, haven’t I? I don’t mean to push it. I’m dropping it, right now, I promise.’ Stephanie resumed walking. ‘I’m just so very happy to meet you. And I feel like I know you, with all the things he’s told me over the years.’
‘Sure,’ Carmen squeaked, scurrying to catch up.
‘It’s been a long, long time since I’ve felt like we’ve had a real family rather than being the two last survivors stranded together … And you’re always aware of that missing presence.’ She smiled at Carmen, her eyes shining. ‘But with you, we’re three … Three is much more of a family than two.’
Okay, Carmen could see why Bruno was having such a hard time confessing.
‘Gosh, I’m sorry!’ Stephanie cried. ‘Look at me! This is probably just jetlag talking. And he would hate me for saying all this, so please keep it between you and me …’
‘Understood.’ What was one more secret? Maybe Luka was right. Maybe Carmen needed to write down all the various secrets and lies so she didn’t forget from whom she was withholding which piece of information. Draw up a super complex Venn diagram illustrating the subsets of who knew and didn’t know what, colour-coded into truth and lies.
‘Mom! There you are!’ called Bruno from further up the path. ‘Both of you,’ he added, in obvious surprise, when he jogged closer.
Carmen had never been so happy to hear his voice—and she was always happy to hear it.
‘I found your mum on the beach, walking to the pavilion for breakfast,’ Carmen said. ‘So I told her I’d arranged for it to be delivered. Oh, and I secured two spaces on the boat trip this morning! Snorkelling, island walks, food, drink …’
Stephanie’s face fell in that way people’s faces fell when they were trying to hoist them up and failing. ‘That sounds lovely,’ she said, unconvincingly. ‘I guess …’ She looked down the path towards her apartment. ‘I do need to catch up on sleep. And this island is just so gorgeous. That beach … Not to mention, I’m curious about the world-famous Curiosity Island. Ha! I didn’t even mean that as a joke. And I’m sure the jetlag will hit me, too. For the moment I’m riding on excitement.’ She beamed, but it seemed forced. ‘Being here with the two of you! Not that I will be with you today, but I’m sure I can make some new friends. I’m very good at making friends while I’m travelling. I’ll talk to anyone.’
‘She really will,’ Bruno said, nodding fiercely in a warning for Carmen. ‘About anything and everything. At length.’
‘No!’ Carmen said, realising Stephanie’s mistaken assumption. ‘I mean, I booked the trip for the two of you. I’m staying here. I’m jetlagged too,’ she added. Wait—what had Bruno told his mother about when Juliet had arrived?
‘Oh!’ Stephanie looked at Bruno and back at Carmen. ‘That is so lovely, but you don’t need to change your plans. I know how precious your time together is—and I’m the gatecrasher here. Maybe all three of us could go?’
Bruno and Carmen exchanged an anxious look.
‘I can be sure to give you plenty of space,’ Stephanie added hurriedly. ‘Like I say, I’m good at finding other people to chat to. And would your mother like to join us, too?’
‘No, no, seriously,’ Carmen said. ‘There are only two spaces on the boat.’ Another lie, of course, since Luka had said they were picking up three guests after lunch. ‘And Mum’s got another thing on. You two should catch up. I know how much Bruno misses you and how he enjoys the time you spend together. I won’t intrude on that for anything.’
‘Well, that’s settled,’ Stephanie said, and Carmen’s tension wound down a notch. With Bruno and his mother gone, there were two alter egos she wouldn’t have to keep up for the morning.
Bruno rocked back on his heels, exhaling. ‘Great, I’ll go and grab a—’
‘We’ll all stay here together,’ Stephanie said emphatically. ‘That way I can have some time with Bruno, the three of us can maybe hang out a little, plus you guys can have some time together while I wander around and get to know the place.’
‘No!’ Carmen and Bruno said at once.
Stephanie flinched.
‘I mean …’ Carmen and Bruno began. They stopped and gestured at the other to continue.
‘I’d really love to go on the boat trip, Mom,’ Bruno said emphatically, ‘with you.’
‘I honestly don’t mind sitting it out,’ Carmen said.
‘And I won’t hear of it unless Juliet joins us,’ Stephanie said. ‘Please?’ she added, turning her light-brown eyes on Carmen. Bruno’s eyes. Mika’s eyes. ‘It would mean so much to me.’
Carmen glanced at Bruno, who shoved his hands in his pockets and started rocking on the spot but managed to say, ‘Juliet, I’m thinking it’d be better all round if you did come, if you can swing it.’ He gave a shrug that she took to mean: It’s up to you, but I’d love you forever if you came.
And that was a look she couldn’t resist. ‘I’ll ask if they can squeeze in one more,’ she said through a pasted-on smile.
‘I am so thrilled!’ Stephanie’s voice gurgled a little as she choked up. ‘Thank you both. I cannot begin to tell you how much this means! I’d better go and pack some …’ With her eyes averted to the path ahead, she reached back and aimlessly grabbed at Carmen. She found a wrist and squeezed it. ‘Thank you,’ she said, before letting go and hurrying up the path.
Carmen and Bruno stared after her. ‘I’m seeing your dilemma,’ Carmen said.
‘This is going to be even harder than I’d thought. She struggled for so many years after Dad died. When I first made up the story about you and me, it was for totally selfish reasons. I just wanted her off my back. But then she began to brighten up, and now she’s clinging to it as our collective bright future.’
‘Maybe it’ll ease the pain of finding out you and I are not an “us” if she knows about—’ There Carmen went again, unable to say her daughter’s name—their daughter’s name.
‘About …?’
Carmen remembered her vow not to press him on the subject. ‘No, don’t worry. Totally your call.’
‘Uh, o-kay. So you’ll come?’
Carmen glanced towards the pavilion, though it was out of sight behind half-a-dozen villas. ‘I’d just feel a little bad about leaving everyone to deal with the workload.’
He hooked an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. ‘Come on, you could use some time out.’
‘Isn’t that what we’ve been doing for, like, a week or more?’
‘Sure, in half-hour sessions during your eighteen-hour days, and on every single occasion you’ve checked your watch multiple times.’
‘I have?’
He leaned in. ‘During sex.’
‘I have not!’ Had she? It was plausible that Real Carmen had pushed her way into Wild Carmen’s timeslots.
‘Okay, sure, you haven’t.’
He touched his lips to hers and slid his hands to her hips, and she took the opportunity to unleash Wild Carmen, who was relieved to not have been permanently sidelined after all (though Real Carmen checked they weren’t in a position to be observed). After Wild Carmen had had a good long lip-locking session, Real Carmen pulled away.
Real Bruno—because there could be only one—grinned. ‘Okay, you’ve convinced me. No one could kiss like that and not be totally present.’
She choked a little.
‘So you can get away?’ he said, nudging her temple with his lips. ‘Your family will survive a few hours without you?’
‘I guess. It’s mostly the dinner rush I need to be here for.’ Another bonus to not sleeping—she was getting the bulk of her admin done by dawn each day. And Mika was euphorically happy at kids’ club, which always made life far easier and lowered Carmen’s levels of guilt, although she had promised to take her daughter swimming in the resort pool at some point today. ‘Are you sure this is what you want?’
He screwed up his face. ‘Uh, can I be honest and say no? I mean, I’d love to go on a boat trip with you. Seriously. It’s just …’ He looked in the direction where his mother had disappeared.
‘Will you tell her on the trip?’
He made a hissing noise. ‘There’s never a good time to break a woman’s heart, but stuck in a small space with a bunch of strangers? I’ll tell her this afternoon when we get back.’
‘You’re officially chickening out.’
‘Not proud of it.’
Carmen chewed one side of her bottom lip. ‘I can see why you’re struggling.’ She pointed behind her, in the vague direction of the staff apartments. ‘Well, if we’re doing this boat trip, I need to grab some stuff. And delegate a couple of jobs.’
He ran a hand down her arm. ‘I hope this boat isn’t so full that we can’t find some space to be alone.’
Tingles rolled up her body. She managed a suggestive grin as she backed away. ‘Wait,’ she said, ‘do we need to agree on a cover story about our relationship thus far? Not that I want to spend an entire boat trip spewing lies you’ll have to walk back but …’
‘Let’s not go overboard, so to speak. Just try to dodge all questions. And strike up conversations with other people, because once she starts talking to someone new, she’s away. We can keep the rest as close to the truth as possible: we met in Chicago and we’ve been having a long-distance relationship ever since.’
‘Ha,’ she said, ‘at least I can honestly say I’ve been faithful to you.’
He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
Oh, shit, why had she said that?
‘Carmen?’
She averted her gaze. ‘Forget it, I …’
‘You haven’t slept with anyone else since?’
She shoved her lips together and quickly shook her head.
‘Whoa. That’s … a while.’
‘Yeah, well, given the circumstances …’
He looked around him. ‘I guess it must be hard to find a date in a place like this.’
‘Anyway,’ she said, her cheeks flaring, ‘I take it we’ve seen each other between then and now? I mean, you and Juliet have.’
‘Sure. You’ve met me in places near where I’ve been posted, when I’ve taken leave. And we’ve taken short vacations together.’
‘Okay.’ She resisted the urge to make him list the places. She could just get him to name them on the spot if the question arose. And try not to be left alone with Stephanie. ‘And where did you propose?’
He grinned. ‘Where would you like me to have proposed?’
‘Have you been to Morocco?’ she said, after a pause.
‘Couple of times.’
‘You proposed in a medina in a charming hillside village. Tagine, freshly squeezed orange juice, sunset, the sweet scent of kif …’ Not that Carmen had tried the drug when she’d visited, but she’d once inhaled the smoke that had wafted from the neighbouring hotel. Her wild, wayward youth.
He frowned, impressed. ‘I went to a lot of effort.’
‘Would that be out of character?’
‘It’s perfect. And hey, you’ve changed me for the better, and I’d do anything at all to make you happy, so I gave you the proposal I knew you wanted.’
‘We toasted with orange juice because there was no champagne. We drank so much that our gums practically dissolved. They had to keep running back to the fruit stall to buy more. True story,’ she added, ‘but without the proposal. I was with a friend.’
He laughed, but it transitioned into a groan. ‘Let’s not go over the top. We’re only setting her up for a fall.’ He brushed a loose strand of hair off Carmen’s forehead. ‘You know, I think you’re taking all this craziness about my mother arriving better than I am.’
‘Kind of following your lead on rolling with unexpected situations. It’s honestly the least I can do.’
He smiled that smile of awe at her apparently laidback nature. ‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for this afternoon we tell the truth. Thank you. Seriously.’ He pressed a kiss to her lips.
His random gestures of affection were becoming frighteningly second nature. It wasn’t just Stephanie who was going to have some adjusting to do post-breakup.
‘How long until this boat goes?’ he said, releasing her.
‘No idea. I lost track of time while we were kissing just then.’
He chuckled as she made a show of checking her watch.
‘Forty-three minutes,’ she said. ‘But get there with twenty to spare so Luka can fit you for snorkelling or diving equipment and whatever else you want. If you don’t have a hat or sunscreen or whatnot, there’s a stash on the boat. And if you or your mum have dietary requests you’d better let me know. It’s a cash bar but you can put it on your resort tab—or actually, I’ll write it off. The least I can do for my future mother-in-law and the grandmother to my child.’ Her stomach flipped a little at saying the unspoken stuff aloud, even in a veiled way.
He laughed, and then his face turned serious. ‘I take it you haven’t had your period yet?’
‘No, but it’s only just overdue. And honestly, with everything else that’s going on, I hardly have time to obsess about it. And it’s highly, highly unlikely that I might be … Which I keep repeating to myself between like three and five o’clock every morning.’ Damn, she was actually sounding like Real Carmen.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. ‘One day we’re going to get you a good night’s sleep,’ he said, as if they had a multitude of nights ahead to spend together. ‘But no matter what happens, everything will be fine, okay?’
Her hands found the front of his T-shirt and she clung to it, because Real Carmen needed this moment all to herself. His arms closed around her, and she tucked her head in under his chin.
After a restorative couple of minutes, he drew away. ‘Okay?’ he said again, touching a finger to her chin and coaxing it up until they were eye to eye.
‘Okay,’ she said.
He began backing up the path. ‘I’ll go tell Mom the plans. See you at the jetty.’ He turned and strolled away, hands in his pockets.
Carmen watched him for a minute. She was finding it hard to believe that all this would turn out okay.
Because she was bloody well falling in love, wasn’t she?
28
Cody
Cody’s creeping suspicion that he was being watched was confirmed when he heard a wobbly man-child voice call ‘Captain Loser!’ as he approached the checkouts at the Airlie Beach supermarket. It was followed by a rumble of low teenage laughter punctuated by squeaking.
Original.
Popping over to the mainland was usually a timeout from the family commune but his newfound infamy was proving to be a metaphorical headache, today joining a physical headache after he’d drunk a grand total of three beers the previous night, which was more than he’d sunk in the month before that. Maybe if he hadn’t drunk so much at the bar, he wouldn’t have gotten himself into that situation.
You realise you’re using the ‘I asked for it because I wore a short skirt’ theory?
Go away, Carmen’s voice in my head.
‘Hey, fly boy,’ said a voice behind him.
He inwardly groaned. What new hell was this?
When he turned, he discovered not some idiot teenager but the lieutenant from the military base, in uniform.
He nodded a greeting. ‘You might see a pilot, but my family sees an errand boy.’ He held up the grocery list in his hand.
‘So that’s not all for you then?’ she said, looking at his basket, which mostly contained tampons and other feminine hygiene products.
‘I swear,’ he said, picking up a box of extra-long heavy-flow overnight sanitary pads with wings, ‘every single one of my female relatives gets her period at the same time, and every month it’s like some massive surprise and they all urgently need their ridiculously specific preferences. I know way too much than a male relative should about everyone’s cycle and/or menopausal status and the pros and cons of different products.’
He unintentionally glanced at the lieutenant’s basket, which was full of makeup and stuff. Not what he’d have expected of her, either.
‘Things for my wedding,’ she said apologetically. ‘Apparently it’s traditional to look nothing like you normally look. Holy shit,’ she cried, her focus drawn to a newspaper display beside the checkout. She reached past him and snatched up a tabloid. ‘You’re famous, mate.’ She smacked the backs of her fingers on the front page. At the top, in a box next to the masthead, was a photo of him with the headline CAPTAIN AUSTRALIA: CIVIL WHORE.
‘Jeez, that’s harsh,’ the lieutenant said, peering closer. ‘“Exclusive photos of his new conquest, page seven”,’ she read. Before he could stop her, she opened it up.
He couldn’t look. But he couldn’t not look. Inside was a series of photos from the bar last night, with BoomerBabe sliding a long fingernail down his neck. And of course it looked like it should have been sexy but at the time he’d been creeped out and hatching his escape plan. Surely anyone could read the fear on his face? Captain Australia had found his kryptonite.
