The Glittering Star, page 16
The breeze wafting in from the open deck filled him with warmth and strong, moist rainforest, while the sunlight glinting on the water’s surface sent a quiver rustling along his skin. The weather was so damn perfect; Nate blinked back a tiny prick of moisture, reminding him of how special his home was. And with Roberta at the piano, why did he suspect the unexpected when no one else had any idea?
The first touch of a piano key had some heads turning. Not too many. Nate’s breath jammed in his throat. Instinct told him he should pay attention.
Roberta enclosed herself in her bubble, playing and singing the emotionally charged song ‘You Are The Reason’ by Calum Scott. He didn’t doubt every single word was sent in his direction, hitting him in the chest like you would with a dozen rocks. All her previous songs he’d had the fortune to hear were lighthearted and fun, played in the background to enliven the atmosphere at the teahouse. Guests would listen but still chatter and eat.
This was different, snagging something inside him. Her words twisted and coiled the sinewy muscles holding him together. When she sang the lines telling everyone she’d climb every mountain and swim every ocean, his heart squeezed so tight he feared he might not release the next breath. When she sang the line that her hands were shaking, he clamped his knee tighter to stop his own from shaking.
By the time she finished the last words in tacet, without any music, promising to fix what she’d broken, every face was turned towards her. For a couple of beats, not a single sound could be heard. Even Tash and her crew stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen.
Nate had no control over what happened next. He would look back one day and never understand it. He rose abruptly; at the same time, the teahouse erupted in applause. His chair screeched over the polished timber floor, but only those closest to him heard it, averting their stunned gazes from Roberta to him for an instant before looking back at Roberta to continue their applause.
He turned to Crystal beside him. She’d touched him frequently like she had the right to. She would’ve probably done a whole lot more if he hadn’t sat throughout the morning like a statue. His family would hear his words, but hopefully none of the patrons would over the cheering. “You need to leave now, Crystal,” he hissed between drawn lips. “You are no longer welcome here.”
“But, I was—”
“Now!” His tone brooked no argument while he controlled the urge to grab her by the arm and lead her out himself. He hoped his penetrating stare would be enough. She’d gatecrashed this party. God only knew what her agenda was. Their relationship was over. Thank goodness he was no longer paralysed by her beauty and manipulative ways. Relief washed over him knowing there was no risk he would fall for her wiles again.
He could finally hold his head up with a clear conscience. Over was over. He’d made it perfectly clear before they’d parted. Had explained his reasons. There was never any going back, no matter how many times he’d struggled with his decision.
Nate patiently waited until Crystal rose and made her goodbyes to his family. She approached Nate. He suspected she wanted to hug him goodbye or desperately whisper some last-minute plea in his ear. Before she was given the opportunity, he turned on his heel and walked out, leaving Crystal to make her way to the car park. There was no need for any further parting words. He’d said everything needing to be said. He even ignored Roberta, who, in his periphery, rose from the piano. She was getting congratulations from many of the visitors, demanding she play some more.
Her words kept ringing in his head. Around and around. He made for the walking track and his secret hidden path. It’d been a long while since he’d gone searching for it. It led to an ancient tree with gnarled tree roots that had cradled his teenage body from time to time. Whenever he needed to disappear and think things through, unwind, it was this place he visited.
That Crystal could turn up and continue to twist his insides, when they had been so spectacularly wrong together, gnawed at him. This was his issue. He and Crystal spent some memorable times together before her real guise infiltrated their relationship. To go there again with someone new had to, in his mind, be a forever kind of thing.
But nothing was forever. Right? He rubbed at his eyes, the overwhelming emotion that had filled him while Roberta sang washing over him all over again.
When did a person know if they’d found the forever thing?
CHAPTER 24
Roberta could sing. It was no secret in her family. Busking and pub gigs with a couple of schoolmates back in the day had driven her natural talent and given her confidence. What she’d performed at the teahouse was nothing new, except everything about it was. It was the first time she used her vocal skills to vent, directing every single word to only one person.
Was she the jealous type? Heck yeah! Was Nate in bed with her only that morning? Hell yeah. So, who the bloody hell was the super attractive woman who’d fawned all over him? Tall and beautiful with fairytale coiffured honey-blonde hair falling in faultless waves halfway down her back. And boy, did she have a knack for clicking those long fingers with perfectly manicured nails.
Roberta glimpsed her nails as she gripped the steering wheel tighter. They weren’t chipped or anything, but they were uneven and work worn. It’d been a few months since she’d been bothered to colour them.
She switched her attention back to the road. Her stomach had roiled during her entire work shift, with nausea a genuine threat. It was still suffering as queasiness continued to churn. How she didn’t trip and spill the soya chai tea, with the dribble of local honey, all over the woman’s gorgeous pantsuit was a testament to how loyal she was becoming to Tash and her team. The lovely beige chai would have gone well on her white pants after aiming to spill it over her lilac blouse first.
She’d seen Nate leave first but missed where the woman had gone. It was none of her business, and she couldn’t get out fast enough either. Only after the promise of one more song, an old favourite of Delta Goodrem’s—‘Born To Try’—was she able to finish her shift and get the hell away from the stifling and conflicting thoughts strangling her.
She forced her foot off the accelerator when her speed verged on the ridiculous. That was all she needed, an accident in her frame of mind. But why was she all bothered? Didn’t this work perfectly with her plans? She’d found the rock—now leave!
She blinked, moisture clouding her vision. Roberta didn’t cry over men. She hadn’t even been teary when things ended with Antonio. So, why all the girly emotions now?
With her bottom lip gridlocked between her teeth, she steadied her speed which crept up again. She was only minutes away from Sally’s home, and she hoped like crazy Sally would be back from work. Otherwise, she’d have to go back to the cottage, and she wasn’t ready for that.
Blinking rapidly, she drove around the last corner of the quaint street in Malanda, where its width might have fit another sixteen houses if it were in Melbourne. Sally lived in an older street where the block sizes were enormous and the houses, mostly from the late eighties, came with well-established yards.
Roberta jammed on the brakes when she overshot Sally’s driveway, nearly ramming into another car parked on the street.
Her heart hammered uncontrollably as she turned off the ignition. Then she made a point of engaging the handbrake so the car didn’t roll down the slight decline and sat back to give herself a minute. Come on, girl, get a grip! This wasn’t end of the earth stuff, so why all the drama?
Large shrubs bordered the council footpath hiding her view of the front of Sally’s house, but she spotted Sally’s car parked in the driveway. Relief washed over her, and she opened her door to allow a cooling breeze to wash over her heated skin. Parked under the shade of an unusually tall golden penda, she gulped, swallowing a backlog of emotion dying to get out. Okay, I’ve got this. She just needed another minute.
Roberta was knocking on the open door and walking through before she registered people talking and that Sally had visitors. Once past the short hallway, it led to the large lounge room filled with a couple of comfy couches, walls dotted with framed family photos, a bookshelf stuffed to the rafters, a couple of healthy, vibrant pot plants, and a welcoming vibe which Roberta always envied. She gasped when she saw who the visitors were.
Sally jumped up off the couch. “Roberta? What are you doing here?” A frown dug into her brow. “What’s wrong?”
“Surprise!” the visitors announced.
“Liz! Connor!” Roberta promptly burst into tears.
Sally was all over her in an instant, too. “Roberta, what the heck. What’s going on?”
Nothing she said could explain why she was showcasing her rare crying skills. If anything, her tears intensified, and this only served to bring Liz into the fray as they demonstrated what a group hug could look like, if that was the intended purpose.
She took the tissues Connor held out for her, relishing the idea of crying some more because it was making her feel so much better. But, she decided, if she was crying over a man, it was time to bloody well stop.
“How come I didn’t know about you two being here?” she blubbered, trying to stem the flow of tears streaming down her cheeks.
“If the Roberta is crying actual tears, then I think we made it just in time.” Connor offered her the box of tissues this time, a jovial glint showing on his face.
“Shh, stop it, Connor,” Liz admonished him, eyeing Roberta with concern.
“This was the surprise I mentioned I might have for you,” Sally said. “We didn’t expect you to turn up here this afternoon. The plan was to surprise you at the teahouse tomorrow for lunch.” Sally squeezed her shoulder, pressing her closer.
“Roberta doesn’t just arrive. She barges in,” Connor added, enjoying himself.
“You still haven’t forgiven me, have you?” Roberta shot back, Connor’s words going a long way to stopping this shitshow they’d never seen from her before.
“Connor, please.” Liz was starting to sound impatient, which was not how this couple worked.
Connor’s hands shot up in defence. “All I’m saying is that for Roberta to be so upset, it must be over a man she actually cares about.”
Both Liz and Sally groaned in unison. Connor was spot-on and Roberta broke out into blubbery, sad laughter. Both women looked at her in alarm.
“See, I told you.”
Before Roberta had a moment to assess all their reactions, Connor was before her, his arms outstretched. Well, one real, the other prosthetic. “Here, let me give you a hug, Roberta. Trust me, you were forgiven a long time ago.”
He put his arms around her, drawing her into his warmth and security. “Without your interfering ways, I would have never found my way back to Liz. So, thank you if I haven’t already said so because I owe you everything.” He pulled back from the hug and gave her a piercing stare. “Now, who’s upsetting you?”
She loved this man for many reasons. He made Liz so happy.
So much had changed between them, considering where they had come from. It began with distrust and dislike from the first time they met him in that tiny Italian village. She thought he’d wronged Liz and fled the scene. It eventually became guilt on her part when she learnt how wrong she’d been about Connor and made it her priority to ensure Connor and Liz came together again.
Since those days after Connor and Liz reconciled, whenever she was in his company, they riled each other perfectly. Laughing and bantering good-heartedly. There wasn’t a mean bone in Connor, and Roberta considered him one of her best friends.
“If you tell us your news, we’ll tell you ours,” Connor continued with a cheeky grin.
Roberta wasn’t completely brainwashed from the morning not to pick up on Connor’s hint. She turned to Liz with her mouth open wide. “You’re not, are you?”
“I am,” Liz replied with a shy smile, her hand resting gently on her flat stomach.
“You are?”
Liz nodded
“Oh my God, such good news. Congrats to you.” Roberta wrapped Liz up in a bear hug, inviting Sally to join them too. Remembering Connor, she turned his way, extending an arm. “You too, since this is all your doing.”
She jiggled up and down, her heart swelling with love for these people. Such a rare find in a world so big, it was hard to believe how fate put her in Liz’s path a couple of years earlier. Now, here they were, talking about babies. She pulled back a fraction, unable to stop the tears from starting up again. “You guys are going to be the best parents, and I’m going to be the greatest godmother.”
They all burst out laughing. Roberta was putting her hand up first for the job, whether it was official or not, which only brought on more tears.
“Okay, enough of this. Where’s the real Roberta?” Connor took a step back and eyed her suspiciously.
Roberta slouched as the group hug disassembled. She looked at Sally, crushing her lips between her teeth, deciding how best to start this. She had to spill. There was too much building up inside, and she needed to share it with someone. Those someones were staring her in the face, and she loved them all for many reasons. Withholding information wasn’t her way. She was blab-mouth Roberta, never holding back on anything. More likely to tell them way too much. She took a deep breath before releasing it and letting it spill. “I haven’t told you everything, Sal.”
“What do you mean?” A frown continued to mar Sally’s pretty and usually carefree brow.
“Uh oh, I knew something was off,” Connor added, taking Liz in his arm and kissing the top of her head.
“Shh, Connor, let her talk.” Liz directed a frown Connor’s way before planting a light kiss on his cheek.
Ugh! This pair. Nothing but the perfect love story. She despaired of ever finding what they had. Here she was in the perfect mess, with every single man in sight taken, it seemed.
“Can we sit, and I’ll tell you my real reason for being in Malanda?”
“I think this requires alcohol.” Connor extricated himself from Liz and made for the kitchen. “I’ll put the kettle on, too, and find another box of tissues and something strong to add to your coffee.”
Roberta managed a lopsided, teary smile as she settled onto the couch and hugged a cushion to her lap.
“Are you okay, though?” Liz slid her arm around her once more.
Roberta’s smile slipped as her eyes filled with moisture again. “I’m not sure. Hear me out, and then you can tell me.”
CHAPTER 25
It was nearing eight pm when Roberta finally left, leaving Liz and Connor to get some much-needed sleep to recover from jetlag.
It felt good to talk, to unburden herself. Starting from the day her mother dropped her bombshell, her growing attraction to Nate, the rejection from her newly discovered grandparents only yesterday and finishing with the mysterious woman who’d turned up at the teahouse for the birthday gathering.
Roberta held nothing back. They all wanted to know if she was feeling better after. Hmm. She tapped the steering wheel, still uncertain if she was. Too much too soon. She almost craved boring and predictable.
Mixed with tears, hugs and lots of coffee, Roberta expressed her confusion and guilt over her mother’s secret. That her mum kept it from the dad who’d raised her made her question many things. Why reveal it now when she’d never get to meet her biological father? As for her mean-spirited grandparents, who needed them?
Connor’s occasional quip made her laugh or cry, alternatively, throughout the afternoon until they all pitched in and prepared a simple dinner of pesto pasta and salad.
“And no sex with Nate yet?”
Roberta had chuckled over Connor’s question. As much as she was the no-filters chick, they all groaned whenever she was telling them too much. Connor, in his unique way, had a knack for asking the hard questions or the sensible ones. It depended on whether you were in the firing line or not. She had yet to decide, but he had a point. Sex usually determined if it left her with a glow of love or a big black hole of nothing.
They all knew she wasn’t the blessed virgin, indulging in sex before, purely for the enjoyment of it. She believed for a short time she had experienced that glow with Antonio, but in the end, it evaded her again. It was the sum of all those previous experiences making her wary of taking that step with Nate. Why? She wasn’t so sure.
Overall, she worked hard to reassure them she would feel better soon. It would just take some time.
They were all coming to the lake the next day for lunch after a morning boat cruise. Top on the must-see list was the gemstone. Next were the kauri pines. Sally boldly added they’d take their fill of Nate while on the cruise.
Roberta mulled over this as she negotiated the right-hand turn leading into Lake Barrine. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Ogling and assessing Nate without her there had her stomach churning. God alone knew what mischief they would get up to. No doubt Connor would bombard Nate with nonstop questions. Connor had already warned her he would assess for himself whether Nate was good enough for her or not.
At this point in the conversation, they’d hoed into their delicious meal, stuffing their faces with aromatic garlic bread. Roberta was past the point of crying and had begun laughing more.
Finally pulling into her usual spot in the top car park, she turned the ignition off and got out, filling her core with the sweet, potent air of the rainforest. She held onto it for a moment, rallying the soldiers inside her head before she sent them out to fight. She was mentally tired. Telling her story to her friends exhausted her more than she thought.
It felt good to be clear of her secret. Overlooking the teahouse, cottage and the shadowy lake from this higher vantage point, all that was visible was a sliver of moonlight making a show on the water. For a second, she wondered if she was all alone. A shiver of apprehension shimmied around her chest. She wasn’t sure how she felt about being the only person in the car park at this time of night. There was always that fear of a herd of galloping brumbies coming out of nowhere, which was ridiculous in this place. If she wasn’t careful, her imagination would conjure up a snake pit of tropical pythons she’d fall into or a collection of drop bears walking out of the rainforest and stalking her.
