Authors: Tammy Robinson
“God you’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice hungry with desire.
She was enjoying the feeling of power she had, the reckless abandon the night air and a few drinks had afforded her. She put her hands on her hips and pouted at him.
“
So are you coming inside or not?”
He raised his eyebrows at her double entendre, whether it was intended or not.
“Oh most definitely,” he said. “Lead the way gorgeous.”
“
Shhh,” Maggie whispered at the door, a finger to her lips. Then she giggled. She felt like she was fifteen and sneaking a boy home. Inside they crossed the living room swiftly, heading for Maggie’s room at the back of the house, their desire leaving a crimson streak of phosphorous air in their wake.
In the kitchen, Dot stood frozen, melted into the shadows in the corner.
She had been at the fridge looking for something to snack on when she’d heard their voices at the front door. Quickly shutting the fridge to cut the light, she’d stepped back into the corner so they wouldn’t see her. Not that she needed have bothered. She could have stood in a spotlight banging a drum and wearing a silver space suit for all the notice they gave their surroundings. She could feel the heat of their desire from over where she stood.
“Phew
-ey,” she said, fanning her face with one hand and grinning. Sometimes her meddling landed her in trouble. Sometimes, like tonight, it paid off. She waited until she heard Maggie’s door close then she headed up the stairs to her own room, checking on Willow as she passed. Willow was sound asleep, hair splayed across her pillow, her mouth slightly open and air whistling softly between her teeth. Dot kissed her on the forehead and pulled her blanket back up over her shoulders.
“Sleep tight, sweet girl. When you wake up your mother’s going to be a new woman.”
She grinned again at the thought.
Back in her own bed, she had just nestled down when there was a muffled thud and a crash like something had
been smashed downstairs. Beside her Ray sat bolt upright in his bed.
“What was that?”
he growled, starting to throw back the covers and reaching under the bed where he kept a cricket bat.
“Hush old man,” Dot
reassured him, a hand on his shoulder to coax him back into bed. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, I promise. Go back to sleep.”
Chapter thirteen
“Mum,
Gran wants to know if you’re planning on joining us for breakfast today.”
Willow’s voice hollering through her closed door roused Maggie from the deep slumber she’d been
happily dwelling in. She murmured and stretched, briefly wondering why her body felt like she’d just done three straight hours of yoga.
“Morning sunshine,” a voice said softly into her air. It was a satisfied voice, practically purring.
Her eyes flew open.
Memories came flooding back.
Oh god, she thought. What have I done?
“
I’ll be out in a minute baby, you start without me,” she called to Willow, squeezing her eyes shut and scrambling to cover herself with the top sheet. When she was happy that no parts of her were showing that shouldn’t be, she inched off the bed sideways and took a deep breath.
“Are you decent?” she asked.
“That depends what you mean by decent.”
“Dammit Jack, you know exactly what I mean.”
“Then yes. I am decent.”
She opened her eyes. He
was
decent, but only just. Before she could stop them her eyes traced a line from his broad arms, currently crossed behind his head on the pillow, down his sinewy torso to where his stomach dipped into a concave and disappeared beneath the sheet.
“Oh
my god,” she said, covering her face with her hands then pulling them away again to yank up the sheet that had started to drop. “I can’t believe we…”
“Yep,” he grinned
, “three times.”
“Shut up.”
He rolled over onto his side, propping his head up on one hand. “You promised me you wouldn’t regret it.”
“I don’t,” she said,
happy to realise she meant it. “But I’d prefer last night wasn’t spoken of again.”
He frowned. “That will make it hard for me to tell the guys at the pub about it.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” she protested, then realised he was joking. “Oh ha ha,” she picked up her pillow and threw it at him. He reached up to catch it and his sheet slipped even lower. He noticed the direction of her eyes.
“How about a repeat,
” he suggested, “for old time’s sakes?”
And Maggie
had to shake herself when she realised she had paused to consider it.
‘No,” she
said loudly. With a nervous glance at the door she lowered her voice in case the others heard her. “You have to leave.”
He sighed.
“But I don’t want to.”
“Please,” she
pleaded. “I really don’t want Willow to know about this.”
He
understood her concern was only for her daughter. “Ok,” he said. “But how will I get past without them seeing me?”
Maggie
searched around the room for an answer. “The window,” she said triumphantly. “You can go out the window.”
“Are you serious?”
“
Please
.”
“I have to say this element of danger is getting me somewhat excited again
.”
“Down tiger,”
she threw his clothes at him. “Quick, get dressed before Willow comes back. It’s not like her to just knock, next time she might just come barging in.”
Maggie turned away while
Jack pulled on his jeans and T-shirt. She opened the curtains and the blinding sun that flooded the room left them in no doubt that today was going to be another scorcher. The house had old sash windows, the kind you lifted to open. Over the years the ropes that worked the pulley system had aged and sometimes need a little extra persuasion to work. Maggie pounded at one corner of the window to unstuck it.
“Come on you stupid thing,” she muttered, and then said “aha,” as it came free and she could lift it.
“Right,” she turned to Jack. “Go.”
“That’s it?”
“What?”
He sat down on the corner of the bed.
“How about a goodbye kiss, or simply thanks for the ride last night. The one in the car I meant,” he added hurriedly when he saw her face.
“Thank you for the lif
t home. Now please get up and go, before my daughter comes back and sees you.”
“
Ok ok. But when can I see you again?”
“Oh no
you don’t,” she shook her finger at him. “Last night was a one off, remember? We agreed; no strings attached. Don’t you start getting soppy on me.”
“I’m fairly sure that’s normally the guy’s line.”
She flicked an anxious glance at the door. “What will it take for me to get you to leave?”
“
A promise to see me again soon. For dinner, or coffee or a walk. Your choice.”
“Ok,
I’ll call you.”
“Good.” He smiled and crossed to the window. Looking outside he realised there was a thorny rose bush underneath her window. He raised her eyebrows at her.
“Sorry,” she said. “Dad planted it there when I was a teenager to prevent just this sort of thing. You’re the first who has ever had to risk it though.”
“You owe me two dates for this,” he muttered, one leg over the windowsill and pausing while he tried to judge where the best landing place was.
“Mum,” there was a knock on the door and then the door knob rattled as it was turned. Without thinking Maggie shoved Jack then turned to stand in front of the window, just as her daughter came into the room. There was a muffled swear word from the garden outside and Maggie coughed to cover it.
“What’s taking you so long?” Willow asked suspiciously. “An
d were you talking to someone?”
“
No, just singing to welcome in the new day,” Maggie lied brightly, “la la la di la, etc. Did you want something?”
Willow walked over to her mother and looked her up and down.
“Why are you only wearing a sheet? And why is your face all red like that?”
“Christ Willow, what’s with the interrogation? I’m just flushed because I did a few yoga exercises,
that’s all.”
“Wearing a sheet?”
“Yes, Willow, wearing a sheet. Now go and finish your breakfast, I’ll be out in a minute.” Willow walked away, but at the door she turned and regarded her mother sceptically.
‘You’re up to something,” she said. “And I’m going to figure out what.”
Then she left.
Maggie exhaled and turned
back to the window. There was no sign of Jack. She sank down on to the bed. Phew. What a night. Upon reflection, she had no regrets at all. It had been a thoroughly enjoyable night; at least that’s what her body was telling her. She had a feeling she might not be thinking the same later in the day though when muscles that hadn’t been used in sometime started to protest their sudden use. It was the deception and adrenaline rush she’d just had that she could do without, her heart was still pounding from the fear of getting caught.
She quickly showered
, using her parsley soap to help ward off any potential hangover, and threw on a long yellow summer dress. The day was already hot and seconds out of the shower she felt a trickle of sweat make its way down between her shoulder blades. She stopped by her shop room to flick on the air conditioner then headed out to the kitchen. Already, as per her earlier premonition, parts of her body were starting to make their protests known. It had been a fun night, she admitted to herself, but despite her promise to get Jack out of the window she had no intention of seeing him anytime soon. So when she rounded the corner and saw him sitting at the kitchen table her mouth dropped open and she stopped dead in her tracks.
What the hell was he playing at?
He looked at her sheepishly.
“Morning” sang Dot from the stove where she was transferring bacon from a hot frying pan to a plate.
“You’re just in time for breakfast. And look who’s joined us.”
“Morning,” said Jack.
“I found him outside,” said Ray, “claims he was out walking his dog.”
“Yep, just out for another early morning walk with Rufus. Best way to start the day I find,”
replied Jack in an overly cheerful manner.
“Funny thing is, I didn’t see any sign of the dog,”
Ray helped himself to some bacon.
Jack’s mouth
gaped comically while he searched for a suitable retort. Finding none in his sleep deprived brain, he shut his mouth and shrugged. “He’s somewhere around.”
Willow frowned at him. “You lost
Rufus?”
“
Of course not. He’s not
lost,
as such. In fact I’m pretty sure he knows exactly where he is. I’ll run into him again at some point.”
Maggie looked down quickly to hide a smile. God help me, she thought, his humour is growing on me.
“Whatever weirdo,” Willow pushed her chair out from the table.
‘Lift it, don’t scrape it.”
She headed out to the front porch and Maggie didn’t even consider where she was going until she was back a minute later, her head tilted to one side and her hands behind her back.
“That’s weird,” she said.
“What’s weird baby?” Maggie asked, reaching over to grab herself a piece of toast from the freshly buttered pile.
“Dad didn’t leave any meat last night.”
Maggie’s hand froze and her eyes widened in horror. She looked quickly from her mother to her father but they both avoided her gaze. How could she have forgotten? She knew exactly how, she’d been too busy enjoying herself. This was exactly why she’d avoided complications like men all these years, she thought furiously. She let her guard down for one minute and what had happened? She’d forgotten something so crucial.
“
Really?” she finally said, selecting a piece of toast and trying to sound as normal as possible. Still, she could hear a quiver in her voice nevertheless.
“
Yes, really. Do you think he’s ok?”
“I’m sure he’s fine, he
probably just got caught up with something. Or maybe he had no luck hunting this week.”
“
I doubt it. He’s never missed a week before.”
“Everyone has
their off days Willow. Don’t worry about it, I’m sure next week he’ll be back like normal.”
“You don’t think we ought to try and
find him? Make sure he’s ok?”
Maggie finally looked at her daughter. There was something in her voice that didn’t quite sit right, like she was testing her mother. “No,” she said firmly. “I’m sure he
’s fine.”
Willow held her mother’s gaze steadily for ten seconds
, her eyes probing, and then she relaxed. “Ok,” she said. “If you say so. Can I go see Nick?”
Maggie started to relax. It seemed she had gotten away with it, although it had been a close call.
“Have you done all your homework?”
“
Yep,” Willow lied smoothly. It wasn’t a complete lie, she had done
most
of her homework. The last bit she figured she could copy off Nick in the morning before the bell rang. Heck, as far as she was concerned they shouldn’t even
have
homework in the last week of school, stupid sadist teacher, so he was lucky she’d bothered to do any at all.
“
Ok then. But be home by lunchtime, and be safe.”
Willow turned to go and Maggie allowed herself to relax
and take a gulp from her coffee, but then Willow turned back quickly as if something else had just occurred to her.
“Oh and Mum?”
“Mmm?”
“Why was your top lying out on the front porch?”
Willow’s hand came out from behind her back and held the offending top up in front of her.
Maggie spat her coffee
out and had a coughing attack. Ray pounded her on the back while her face turned bright red.
“Alright dad, enough,” she finally managed to splutter as her colour returned to normal.
He stopped smacking her.
“I must have dropped it there when I was bringing the washing in yesterday,” she
said, thinking up the lie quickly.
“But Gran bought the washing in yesterday. And isn’t this the top you were wearing when you
went out?”
“What’s with you and all the
questions this morning?” Maggie snapped. “Sometimes things are just none of your business ok?”
Willow looked hurt
and tears sprang to her eyes. Without another word she dropped the top on the floor and ran out the front door. As she left they heard a small sob. She hadn’t heard that tone from her mother before, at least not directed at her.
“Oh nice one Maggie,” Dot sighed. “The poor girl has done nothing
wrong; she didn’t deserve to be spoken to like that.”
“
I know,” Maggie dropped her head into her hands and moaned.
“Well don’t take
your
mistakes out on her. You were the one who forgot to put the meat out, and you were the one who left your top there for her to find. She’s not a baby anymore; you can’t blame her for being curious.”