The Goodbye Girl (18 page)

“And the air raid siren.
”

“She’s giving Bast encouragement.”  Bree laughed.

Give the man credit, he didn’t cringe when Sheba let loose with another wail before she took a running leap across the veranda and over the rail to drop down into the daisies below.  Bast shot straight up into the air and took off around the side of the house with Sheba on her heels.   

Grinning, Nick leaned back, stretching his long legs before him and crossing them at the ankles.  Resting one arm along the back of the swing chair, he used his heel
to rock it gently.

One leg folded beneath her,
her opposite foot dangling inches above the wooden veranda, Bree relaxed with her mug of coffee cradled between her palms.  “So, where do you want to start?”

“Wherever you’re comfortable.”

“Okay.  Feel free to ask questions whenever you want.”

He nodded.

“But one thing…”

“Mmm?”

“You’re definitely not here to spy on me and report back to some secret government agency, are you?”

“You’re messing with my head again, aren’t you?”

“You think so?”

That had Nick turning his head to regard her.  “Yes?”

Bree grinned.

There went that crinkle at the corner of his eyes.  God, the way he did that, narrowed his eyes in amusement, the laughter lines fanning out, it just grabbed her.

“Just checking,” she said.

“I swear, Bree, I’m just a regular soldier on leave.  No secrets, no conspiracy, no ulterior motive.”  He paused.  “Okay, there is one slight ulterior motive.”

Oh, interesting.  Bree angled her head at him.

For the
first time, he looked a little undecided.

“Am I going to like this?” she wondered.

“Debatable.”  He took a breath, shrugged.  “Ah well, here goes.  I noticed your last few letters were from Whicha, when they’re normally stamped from all over the place.  I knew you were here.”

“You came looking for me?”  Both surprise and pleasure zinged through her, along with a
touch of wariness.  Old habits were hard to break.

Nick took a sip of coffee.  “I was coming here anyway.  To be truthful, I didn’t want your goodbye letter, didn’t want to know that there would be no more contact.  You were my only real link to a normal life in Australia, and you made me laugh.
I looked forward to your letters, waited for them.  Except that goodbye letter, that was hard, so very hard to read.  Finding out that you might be here was a huge bonus.  When I came here it was with the hope that you’d be here, and you were.”

“Wow.”  She blinked.  “Okay.”

He waited in silence.

Bree pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes.  “Well…kinda funny, really.”

“Really.”

“Yeah.  Kind
of sweet, kind of nice, kind of a little bit creepy.”

“Don’t hold anything back, will you?”

She punched him lightly on one arm, the hard muscle beneath his jumper sleeve more than apparent.  “Have you been stalking me, soldier boy?”

“Only since I’ve been here.”

“That’s comforting - in yet another creepy kind of way.”

“
Maybe you should forget the creepy part and just go with the sweet and nice.” He looked her directly in the eyes.  “I’d never hurt you, Bree.”

“Okay.”

“If you really don’t want to do this with me, I’ll walk right now.”

That had her jerking upright, the swing chair rocking with her movement.  “What?  No!”

“I’m serious.”  His gaze was steady, sincere.  “I want to know you so much more.  But I won’t upset you and I’d never hurt you.  So if you don’t want this,
really
don’t want this, I’ll go.”

“Then I’d never see you again?”  She
held her breath.

“I’d still be in town, but I wouldn’t approach you.”  He stopped the swinging of the chair with his heel.  “I’m dead serious now, Bree.  I know what I want. What do you want?”

Her heart started to beat an erratic tattoo.  “Why are you saying this now?  Have you…are you…changing your mind?”

“No.” 
He shifted his hand from the swing seat back rest to lay over hers.  “But before you start telling me things, I need to be sure this is what you want, too.”

“You know how to pick your times.”  She couldn’t stop the
tremble of her hand beneath his.  The thought of him getting up, walking away, left a gaping, yawning pit threatening in the bottom of her stomach.

Damn stomach was her emotional pit.  She
always went with her gut feeling, and this one was a doozy.

“I know I’ve come on a bit strong,” he
stated quietly.  “Being around you brings out feelings in me that I’ve not felt before.  Sitting here quietly has given me time to think.  I won’t persuade you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

Sitting
sideways on the swing chair, she studied him.  Nick was serious, it was in every line of his handsome face, in the steady gaze of his eyes.

But she had to know.  “You’d give up on me?”

He tilted his head slightly to the side in the way she started to recognise as his thoughtful pose as he studied her in turn.  “I’ll only sound creepy if I say that I’ll worship you from afar.”

“But you’d give up on me?” she persisted.

He hesitated.

Relief speared through her. 
“You wouldn’t.”

“God, okay, I think - no, I know I’d watch you from afar, send you flowers on your birthday and Christmas, and have your
photo in my wallet.”  He winced.  “Not creepy at all.”

Bree couldn’t stop the smile that wreathed her face.  “Nick, that is almost
romantically creepy.”

“
You’re a strange woman, Bree Ford.”

“
Hey, do you really expect anything else?”

But he didn’t laugh.  Instead, he continued to regard her steadily.  “Are we good?”

“Yeah.”  Relaxing back against the swing chair, Bree turned her hand over beneath his, linking their fingers together.  “We’re good.”

“Are we taking this further?”

“I’m not sure.”  She wanted to, she realised.  Hell yeah.

He waited.

“Maybe you should hear more about me first.  You might change your mind.”

“Maybe you’ll change yours when you hear my story,” he returned.  “You don’t really know me.”

“Soldier boy, I think I’m getting a very good idea of you.  You forget, you’ve written me letters, too, and you say a whole lot more in yours than I do in mine.”

“
Is that so?”  Curious, he raised his eyebrows.

“
Yeah.”  Sticking out her foot, she placed the toe of her sneaker on the veranda and set the chair swinging.

Nick immediately controlled the pace with his foot.

“Control issues,” she murmured.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”  Bree leaned back in the swing chair.  “So, let’s get to know each other better,  Nick Mason.”

“You first.”

“Why?”

“Gives me an advantage.”

“And you’re all about advantages?”

“Bet your sweet arse.”

That surprised a burst of laughter from her.

Grinning, he
gave her hand a gentle squeeze that had her heart fluttering.

Settle, petal
.  Bree took a mouthful of coffee to give her time to control her wayward thoughts and emotions.  “All righty then, let’s start.”

“Can’t wait.”

“Before I begin, would Sir prefer point form or essay?”

Relaxing back,
Nick half closed his eyes.  “Essay would be much more interesting.”

“As Sir wishes.”

“I’ll remember that later.”

“Huh?”

Those full, yet masculine, lips curved slightly.  “Nothing.  Continue, General.”

“Okay.”  Bree took a deep breath, exhaled.  “Mum was an orphan, Dad was estranged from his family.  They met at a party, Mum fell pregnant within weeks, and they got married.  Mum al
ways loved the paranormal, and Dad, well, from what she told me, he was into anything alternative.  She never told me everything, so I’m thinking some of it was pretty unsavoury.”  Bree glanced sideways to check how Nick was taking
that
little tid-bit, but he was still gazing out into the distance through half closed eyes, totally relaxed, nothing in his demeanour giving away his thoughts. 
Huh
.  “Anyway, when I was about five years old Dad vanished, never came home. That same night strange lights had been reported in the sky, and Mum was convinced he’d been abducted.  Unfortunately, the aliens never returned him, or if they did it wasn’t where we could find him.  Or he could find us.  From that moment on, Mum and I went travelling, following the reports of UFOs, looking for my Dad.  As I grew older, I became more sceptical that he’d actually been abducted.  I found out he and Mum were swingers, had been into partner swapping, and I reckon Dad did a runner.  Found another partner or just got tired of us.”

The big hand holding hers squeezed gently, comfortingly.  Nice.

“Mum wasn’t convinced, she always said he’d never leave us, that he’d been abducted and she was going to find him.  Funnily enough, him being gone and her faith in finding him didn’t stop her sleeping around.  I think she shagged about half the UFO hunters we met.”

Nick choked on the mouthful of coffee he’d just taken.

“Shit, sorry.”  Bree handed him a paper napkin.  “You okay?”

“Fine,” he wheezed, setting the mug on the rail.  “Continue.”

“Before you take another sip, I’ll just mention that I know she shagged a lot of unbelievers as well.”

That had Nick coughing again.

“Yeah.  Well, just thought you should know.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.  Anyway, whatever town we landed in or near, I went to school for awhile.  I also did correspondence school for the times we were out in the deserts or mountains for months, or travelling a lot.  Mum was actually a pretty good teacher, surprisingly enough, especially with the amount of whacky baccy she inhaled behind the camper van.”

This time Nick choked on the mouthful of cake he’d just taken.  Crumbs sprayed everywhere and Bree handed him her mug of coffee, which he took and drained.  Wiping his eyes, he shook his head and leaned back against the swing.  “No more to eat or drink until you’
ve finished.”

“Yeah, I kinda get why.”  Reaching out a hand, she brushed away a few drops of coffee on his jumper that he’d missed.  “Sure you want the rest of the story?’

“Don’t you dare stop now.”

Smiling,
she continued, “So we travelled around, meeting up with other UFO hunters, or going it alone.  We did that a lot, too.  It’s why I’m okay with hunting by myself.  When you’re out in the middle of nowhere and your Mum is filled with whacky baccy or rocking the camper van with the latest fling of the night, you kind of get used to roaming around by yourself.”

He squeezed her hand again, that gentle, comforting
contact that touched her to her soul.  For the first time someone actually cared.  That he didn’t ask questions or interrupt was welcome.  It meant she could talk, follow her thoughts as she remembered.

“It wasn’t all bad, you know.  Mum was an okay sheila if a bit on the
warped side now and again.  She kept me clothed, fed and educated, even if the education was more advanced in sex ed, and that more through accidental show than tell.”  She gave a shudder.  “Some things kids aren’t meant to see their parent doing.”

Silently,
Nick nodded.  His thumb stroked along the side of her hand.

“Anyway, we only stopped travelling when
I insisted on getting a job and training to be a hairdresser.  Mum still went out on forays and I joined her when I could, but I wanted more than just drifting around from place to place, chasing UFOs and other things.  It wasn’t that I didn’t believe, it was that I didn’t want my life to be like hers.  I wanted more.”  Bree paused, remembering.  “I wanted stability, a regular income, a career.  I wasn’t as obsessed about the hunts.  For me it was becoming more of a hobby when I had the time and inclination.  Mum didn’t understand and we kind of went our own way during the week, coming together on weekends.  I had just started my apprenticeship when Mum got killed in a car accident.  Tests showed she was full of happy weed and probably died quite relaxed.  Kind of ironic, really, but at least she didn’t take anyone with her.   God, I still miss her.”

“She was your Mum.”  Nick broke the silence.  “Your Mum is always your Mum.”

“Yeah.  I know she loved me, and I loved her.  Still do, that’ll never stop.  She did her best by me, even if her best was questionable by other’s standards.”

Nick looked at her.  “Your Mum did a great job ra
ising you, honey.  You turned out perfectly.”