Handle Me with Care (2 page)

‘Does Jem still live alone?’ Maddie tried to ignore the way Evan’s eyes continually dropped to her mouth.

‘She does, and she sees moving out as admitting that she’s old. And from what you know of Jem already, I think you’ll probably be able to see she doesn’t want to do that.’

‘Does your mum live alone too?’

‘Yes, and between you and me, I think she gets lonely. Dad died years ago and then eventually Holly and I grew up and moved out, too.’

Before Maddie had a chance to ask him more about his dad, a rainbow of streamers exploded from a party popper at the edge of the dance floor. Seconds later a pink streamer floated down from the ceiling and landed on her knee. She caught her breath when Evan lifted it off and handed it to the young boy who already had a multicoloured collection scrunched in his fist.

It was a long time since she’d reacted like that to a man’s touch, and it left her dazed.

The palms of Evan’s hands settled on firm, strong legs that were long but not lanky. His dark hair had a delicate sprinkling of greys just visible when he dipped his head to look at her, reminding her of George Clooney in his late thirties. She watched as he fiddled with his collar, loosening it around the neck where his tie held it firmly in place.

‘You look uncomfortable,’ she said.

‘I’m not used to this kind of get-up. Suits are strictly for weddings and funerals. And Jem’s birthday parties.’

‘Don’t you wear a suit for work?’ She could see him as a lawyer or a manager of some sort, poised and self-assured, ready to argue his case.

‘I’m a teacher, so I can’t be overly scruffy, but it’s definitely a smart-casual dress code.’

So much for the lawyer theory, but as he spoke about his occupation, Maddie realised that, as well as his obvious physical appeal, he had an approachable demeanour, was easy to talk to and was a good listener too. In fact, by the time they finished chatting, she realised how much being a teacher suited him. 

Jem appeared beside them as Evan began to fidget with his shirt collar again. ‘I told you to wear whatever you wanted, Evan. But you do look gorgeous in a suit. Doesn’t he look gorgeous, Maddie?’

What was she supposed to say to that? Was she supposed to admit that her insides had flipped over when he first introduced himself? Or should she say she found it difficult to look at him without her mind running on spin cycle, wondering whether her words would come out as gobbledegook or not? Luckily, she didn’t have to answer as Ava appeared, barefoot after dumping her shoes and socks beneath a chair.

‘Uncle Evan, will you dance with me again?’

Maddie wasn’t sure anyone could resist Ava’s smile and the two honey-coloured bunches that swung from their bottle-green bows on each side of her head.

‘How about you start and I’ll be over in a sec?’

Jem turned to talk to a gentleman dressed in a tweed jacket with leather pads on the elbows.

‘Are you hanging around, Maddie?’ Evan asked.

‘I’d better not.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I’m due at the bachelorette party right about now.’

Ava was at Evan’s side again, tugging at his hand.

‘Give me a minute, Ava.’ Evan ignored the pulling. ‘Well, it was lovely to meet you, Maddie.’

His words cascaded through her body with every syllable.

Ava pulled some more, as though Evan’s arm were a rope in a tug of war. And as Maddie collected her bag, he remained rooted to the spot as though he wanted to add something.

‘I wonder if my wish will come true,’ said Jem, scurrying over when she realised Maddie was leaving.

‘What wish?’ Evan successfully won the tug of war battle when Ava dropped his arm in lieu of following this more interesting development.

‘What wish, Grandma Jem?’ asked Ava.

‘The wish I made when I blew out the candles on my sensible cake.’ She winked at Maddie.

‘Tell me what you wished for.’ Ava grabbed Jem’s arm this time but didn’t attack it with anywhere near the severity that she had with Evan’s. Lucky, as Maddie suspected Jem would be the one to come off worse.

Jem smoothed down the child’s bunches and stooped to whisper something in her ear.

‘Uncle Evan? Are you going to make Maddie your girlfriend?’

Evan and Maddie stood aghast, but Jem sniggered. ‘Come on, you two. You’re both single, you’re both around the same age. Make an old girl happy. I don’t have time to beat around the bush at my ripe old age and I want to see my grandson happy. I hope to see you again, Maddie.’ And with that, she took Ava’s hand to the dance floor and left Evan and Maddie to deal with the words that still hung in the air.

Maddie felt her cheeks burn. It was impossible to look up at Evan.

‘Well, that was embarrassing,’ he said.

They stood side by side watching Ava and Jem dance; it was far easier than looking at each other.

‘Embarrassing? I don’t think anything can trump unveiling a huge penis cake at a one-hundredth birthday party.’

His laugh warmed her right through. ‘True. So, what do you think?’

‘What do I think of what?’

‘Jem’s wish. Do we make it come true? Can I ask you out?’

She pretended to be engrossed in watching some of the more senior guests getting their knees up the best they could to ‘Party Rock’. She opened her mouth to answer his question but nothing came out, so instead she tried to flick off the party streamers caught up on one of her ballet flats.

Evan bent down and pulled the yellow and pink strands away from her foot, and when his hand grazed the skin on her ankle, she felt excitement ripple through her body. She so desperately wanted to say yes.

‘Evan, I …’

He stood and held up his hands as though pre-empting her words. ‘No offence taken.’ His eyes held hers for a moment longer. ‘Enjoy the bachelorette party.’

When other men asked her out, it was easy to turn them down, or she’d go out with them once and then never called them again. This was new to Maddie.
This man
she wanted to see again, and she scolded herself for not being able to think of anything to say.

She left the function room for the second time that day. Baking cakes let her lose herself in a world she was in control of, a world in which the boundaries were only determined by her. But today she felt more out of control than she had felt in a long time. Evan had rattled her. Past casual flings had never made her nervous like this; they had never left her tongue-tied. And she hadn’t experienced such powerful chemistry with anyone since Riley.

A little voice inside her head told Maddie it was time she let another man into her life, but it had spoken up too late and she had missed her chance.

Some said it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but Maddie wasn’t so sure. Perhaps not letting anyone else in was the right thing to do. That way she would never expose herself to the type of pain she had experienced before and hoped she never had to go through again.

Chapter Two

When Evan woke the next morning with only the slightest headache from the party the day before, he was relieved to be in the familiar surroundings of his own apartment. Following Jem’s celebrations he had ended up in a bar with his brother-in-law, Ben, and he could remember a blonde – Sadie? – leaving him in no doubt that she wanted to spend the night with him. She was gorgeous, had a smoking hot body with legs that went on for miles, but it still hadn’t been enough for him. He couldn’t push Maddie out of his mind, and he began to wonder whether the desire to be with one special person was something that came with age. Maybe that was it; at the ripe old age of thirty-eight, perhaps he was finally heading towards maturity.

The faultless autumn morning in Melbourne couldn’t be overlooked. He had time to head out for a run before he went over to Jem’s place to put up the painting he had bought her for her birthday.

A light breeze caressed the back of his neck as he pounded the pavements from his apartment block just behind the Exhibition Centre down to Albert Park Lake.

The sun, suspended between broken clouds, splintered the surface of the lake as he ran past the sailing club. He ran wide around a swan with her waddling cygnets, and then he fell back in step beside the shimmering section of the water’s edge again.  

Running always gave Evan the space to think, and the only thing on his mind this morning was Maddie. Last night, she hadn’t blatantly turned him down; he hadn’t given her the chance to actually say the word
no
, but he suspected that was going to be her response. Perhaps that was the attraction. Perhaps if she’d said yes, he wouldn’t be so obsessed by her, by the thought of her bum in those figure-hugging jeans, the allure of her caramel-coloured hair tidied into a neat ponytail he wanted to release and run his fingers through.

*

When he arrived at Jem’s place, Evan pulled his toolbox from the boot of his swish black Audi TT and then pressed the remote on his key ring to lock it and set the alarm. Holly thought his car was unnecessarily flashy and that he would always love it more than any woman; sometimes he was inclined to agree with her.

‘Evan!’ Jem pulled open the door to her unit that sat a couple of streets back from the beach in the trendy suburb of Albert Park. She enveloped her grandson in as big a hug as she could manage, considering she only came up to his chest.

‘Before I set you to work, have a slice of cake.’ Jem disappeared along a narrow corridor until she reached the open-plan kitchen and lounge. ‘It’s a lemon drizzle, freshly baked this morning,’ she added when he set down his toolbox.

‘You’re a star. Now tell me, is it better than the birthday cake?’

She scrunched up her nose. ‘I didn’t complain too much about that as your mother arranged it from a caterer, but next time I want Maddie’s number.’

‘Don’t we all?’ He had known it wouldn’t be long before Jem mentioned Maddie.

‘You know, I could’ve sworn she’d jump at the chance to go out with you.’ She cut a slice of cake for Evan and a smaller one for herself. ‘You need a woman in your life.’ She made her point with the knife still in hand.

He was glad he had a mouthful of cake so she couldn’t see him smirk. The lecture sounded all too familiar because the women in his family had formed a united front to get him married off. Last week it had been Holly telling him he was going to be forty and alone if he wasn’t careful; a few weeks ago his mum had taken him aside and asked him whether he had anyone serious in his life. He hadn’t prolonged the conversation with either of them because there was nothing to tell.

‘Don’t worry about me.’ He devoured the cake, including the final crumbs, then slipped the plate into the hot soapy water in the sink. ‘Now where do you want me to put this new painting of yours?’

Once Jem showed him the section of wall where she wanted it hung, he said, ‘I’m glad you like it. It took me forever to think of something for you.’ He rummaged through the toolbox to find a spirit level. ‘What do you buy the girl who has everything?’

When Jem laughed it was like music to his ears, always had been.

‘Where did you find the painting?’ she asked.

He tapped his nose. ‘Let’s just say that your friend Stan tipped me off.’ He’d found it in an unassuming tiny gallery not far from Melbourne’s Central Business District, but he would never have known it was there had it not been for the covert detective phase prior to her birthday.

‘Well it’s bright and colourful. Exactly what I wanted.’

Evan pencilled marks on the wall and used the spirit level to get the position of the hooks just right before he assembled the electric drill and pushed in the correct attachment.

After he lifted the painting into position, he stood back alongside Jem to admire the scene of Melbourne’s Brighton Beach bathing boxes sitting proudly on golden sands. Although they remained as they did over one hundred years ago, licensees often differentiated the boxes by painting them different colours, or by adding their own design. In this painting, one bathing box had the Australian flag painted on its door; another had a mermaid; others were an array of banana yellows, turquoise, baby blues and pillar box reds.

‘It reminds me of some good family times,’ said Jem. ‘Grandad Bernie and I used to watch you play in the ocean for hours, and then we’d all bundle into our little bathing box when the sun got too much, or when the summer rain started, and we’d play cards. Do you remember?’

‘Of course I do.’ He hugged her. ‘I must say thank you to Stan when I next see him.’

‘He’s home from hospital now.’

‘Stan?’ Evan shooed away Jem’s offer to sweep up the debris and crouched down with dustpan and brush in hand.

‘He had a growth removed from his leg. He was lucky, mind.’

‘Why’s that?’ Evan ran the brush along the ridge of the skirting board and knocked the dust he had created with his handiwork into the pan.

‘The lump turned out to be nothing, but it could have easily been worse. Getting older you have to be careful of these things. I’ve always been good at getting myself checked. You know, women’s checks.’

‘Yeah, I don’t need the details.’

‘All I’m saying, Evan, is that it’s better to be careful, and you need to act quickly if anything is amiss.’

He wondered whether Jem really did have a sixth sense when it came to knowing things about her family. She had known when Holly fell pregnant with Ava, even before Holly had taken the test herself; she had been the one to leap on his instant attraction to Maddie by instigating him asking her out. And now, the poignancy of her words were a reminder that nobody, young nor old, could afford to be complacent about their health, least of all him.

When he left that day, he knew Jem’s words had given him the kick up the arse he needed. It was time to stop burying his head in the sand; it was time he had that lump checked out.