“You look terrific, Caitlin,” he said giving a wink of approval.
“So do you.” He looked different without the hat, his hair slicked down, but she noticed with a smile that he still wore his boots.
People spilled out of the Community Hall, drinking and laughing. Inside, the band was in full swing.
As Harry took her around, people greeted her with friendly curiosity and it struck her again how different the people were to the crowd she’d been mixing with in Dublin. Here, they seemed to take you at face value.
Harry was an enthusiastic dancer, whirling her breathlessly round the floor. When the Burrawong Bush Band played a tune for a boot scooting dance, she had a lot of fun trying to follow the steps. She often failed and drew a laugh from the more practiced.
It was close to midnight when they made the trek back up the dark hill road. Caught by the glare of the Jeep’s headlights, possums’ bright eyes glowed in the trees. A trail of bats, shrieking and soaring like something out of a vampire movie, flew low across the sky.
When they pulled into the driveway, the porch and hall lights lit up the house, just as she left them. Harry followed her up onto the verandah.
Caitlin turned to him at the door. “Thanks for a great night,” she said.
“How about asking me in for a drink?”
“I don’t feel comfortable with that, Harry.” She put her hand on his shoulder and went to give him a peck on each cheek.
Harry seized the opportunity and put his arms around her, drawing her in for a kiss. Just then the door opened and Jake’s head appeared.
“Sorry,” he said, shutting it again.
She placed her hand on Harry’s chest to give them a bit of space. She would have to talk to him, but now wasn’t the time. “Goodnight, Harry.”
In the dark his expression was hard to read. He turned to run down the steps. “See you tomorrow for a riding lesson?”
“Thanks for the offer. I’ll let you know. I didn’t expect Jake to be back.”
Harry stood by the open door of the Jeep. “I guess I can see how the land lies, Caitlin,” he said.
Before she could respond, he jumped in and took off.
What on earth did that mean? But her annoyance was directed at herself as she opened the door and walked down the hall to her room. Jake emerged from the darkened kitchen, carrying a glass of water, almost bumping into her.
“Sorry,” he said, nodding towards the front door. “Hope I didn’t ruin the evening.”
“Harry
was
just leaving,” she said firmly. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“Elizabeth wanted to come home.”
“Is she all right?”
“She’s fine.”
“It’s nice to have other bodies in the house. I’m not sure I like being alone here.”
Jake laughed softly. “You’re far safer here than in the city.”
“I guess. It’s just something I’m not used to.”
“I don’t stay too long in cities, all that stress and noise and polluted air. But I’d like to see Dublin sometime.”
“You should. I’ll give you some travel tips before you go.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Jake?” Vanessa’s voice came out of the dark from his bedroom at the far end of the hall. “Have you got my water?”
Jake stepped back away from her. “Night,” he said.
“Night, Jake.”
Caitlin went to her room and sat on her rocker. It was very late when she finally went to bed.
* * * *
Caitlin was pleased to see Elizabeth tucking into her breakfast. She filled her plate with the cereal she’d bought at the general store the day she’d gone into town with Harry.
Angela shook her head and said, “Chook food.” She made a clucking noise that brought a giggle from Elizabeth.
After she helped Angela with the breakfast dishes, she decided to make herself scarce. She grabbed a book and settled on the verandah until Jake left to fly Vanessa back to Darwin.
She looked up from her book to see Vanessa appear around the corner, wearing white jeans and a tiny blue top. She was barefoot, her toenails painted silvery pink. Her pale eyes met Caitlin’s and she raised her brows. “Did you enjoy the bush dance, Caitlin?”
“It was great fun. The people are very friendly here.”
She sat on the step. “You and that jackeroo, Harry, are you…?” She paused as if leaving Caitlin to fill in the blanks. When she didn’t, Vanessa was forced to continue. “Are you dating?”
“Harry’s a friend,” Caitlin answered. “Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that I wouldn’t want you to think you could settle here for very long. You know, when Jake and I are married, we won’t require your services.”
Caitlin stood up and went to the door of her room, feeling hot and frustrated and fighting to keep her temper. “Jake is my employer, Vanessa. I’ll wait for him to tell me that, if you don’t mind.”
Vanessa shrugged. “I’m only trying to spare your feelings.”
“Ready, Vanessa?” Jake stood at the corner of the verandah. Caitlin wondered if he’d heard their conversation. She went into her room. Closing the door she sat on her rocker. Perhaps Vanessa was right, she shouldn’t plan on staying here for long. If they married it would certainly jettison her back out into the world again.
The prospect made her feel exposed and defenseless, and drew her back to Max and that awful day at Mowat. Waiting for the ambulance to treat the concussed man, she’d realized she’d been drifting, allowing events to pull her along to somewhere she didn’t really want to go.
After Max had dealt with the Garda, and the cut on her head was treated, they had barely talked as they drove back to Dublin. Things that needed to be said, kept forming in Caitlin’s mind, but when she looked at his stern profile, his taut hands on the wheel, she found she couldn’t utter them.
It was dark when they arrived back in the city. Max pulled up outside a restaurant they dined at quite often.
“I’m not really hungry,” Caitlin said. “I have a headache.”
“You’ll feel better after you’ve eaten.”
They sat and ordered, but when she gazed at her plate piled high with food, her stomach turned over. Diplomacy deserted her. “I can’t marry you, Max.”
Max went on cutting into his steak. “It doesn’t matter. We can just go on as before. As long as you stay true to me.”
She stared at him. “You can’t mean that.”
He shrugged. “Why not? Marriage isn’t fashionable anymore anyway.”
“I want to marry and have children one day.”
A white line formed along Max’s compressed top lip. “But not with me.”
“I’m sorry, Max. You make everything too hard.”
“Hard? What do you know about it? Such a little innocent you are, Caitlin.” He gave his cynical laugh and placed his knife and fork together on the plate.
She was to be the one at fault. It had to be her. She swallowed. “You’re … too unpredictable. I want a quieter life than you can offer me.”
Max looked at her. “I’m not sure I could handle seeing you with another man.”
It was because he seemed so calm and in perfect control, that she began to fall apart. “Just let me go. Please, Max. It will be better for both of us.” Tears ran down her cheeks. She pushed back her chair so roughly, she knocked it over. The hum of conversation stilled and curious eyes turned their way, as a waiter rushed to pick it up.
“No, no, no.” Max shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
She hurried from the restaurant. In the street when the darkness closed around her she began to sob. She guiltily wondered if the tears were for Max or just for her, suddenly aware she didn’t trust him, had never really trusted him. Love can’t survive without trust. She’d been attracted to his difference, but as she came to understand just how different he was, he had begun to frighten her.
Chapter Eight
Caitlin hadn’t seen Harry since the dance, and she found she missed his company. She hoped she hadn’t hurt him.
She decided it wasn’t wise to let it go too long and walked down to the compound on Sunday afternoon to say hello to the guys. She found them finishing up their lunch in the canteen.
“Just in time for a light ale,” Harry said, rising from his seat.
“No thanks, Harry,” she said, sitting down at the table with the three men.
“How about a cuppa, then?” Riley offered, making a terrible attempt at a British accent.
They all laughed. “A cuppa would be great,” she said, then turned to look at Harry. “How’ve you all been, working hard?”
Harry gazed at her. “You know what they say—all work and no play. You’re a feast for the eyes, Caitlin. I’m sick of looking at these ugly blokes.”
“Now wait a minute!” Mick protested. “We don’t enjoy your ugly mug, neither.”
Mick and Riley left with a wave and headed back outside, shoving on their hats.
Caitlin put down her cup. “I haven’t seen you for a while. Is it something I did?”
“More like what you didn’t do,” Harry said. He shook his head.
She found her heart beating too fast, but it was just because he looked so hurt. She didn’t know what to say to him and was beginning to feel as if she shouldn’t have come.
He sighed. “I guess you wouldn’t care to come to the pub next Saturday night? They’re having a talent contest. Angela’s coming.”
It was an unconditional peace offering and she quickly seized it. “Angela? Love to. I haven’t heard her yodel.”
Harry smiled. “Angela’s always agreeable to a song or two. It’s Country and Western music. Can you sing?”
She shook her head. “What about you?”
He grinned. “I might rake up something.”
They walked outside. Harry’s manner had brightened, but his eyes beneath the Akubra looked serious. She felt guilty, and longed for his friendly, open personality to return.
“I better get back to the guys, Caitlin,” he said. “See you Saturday.”
* * * *
On Saturday night, Harry turned up in a red-checked shirt and white jeans. After trying on several outfits, Caitlin had fallen back on jeans and an off-the-shoulder, embroidered peasant blouse.
Angela came along in the Jeep with them. On the way into town, she and Harry chattered like old friends. Caitlin laughed with them, enjoying their easy-going, good humor. A row of colored lights were strung up over the verandah and the pub pulsed with music. Inside, couples crowded the small dance floor.
As they pushed their way through, people Caitlin had met at the dance greeted her like an old friend. “Good to see you again, Cat,” called Lenny, hailing her from behind the bar. He nodded towards Harry who’d moved on into the crowd. “You couldn’t do better than the Big Easy.”
“The
who
, Lenny?”
“Harry. It’s his nickname around these parts. The ‘Big Easy,’ you know, like that South African golfer chap.”
“Oh, I see.” Caitlin looked over at Harry’s broad back. It suited him.
On a small stage, a man was playing the piano, accompanied by a guitarist and a drummer. They performed an energetic rendition of a song Caitlin had never heard before.
The crowd joined in enthusiastically with the chorus,
I’ll marry you tomorrow, but let’s honeymoon tonight.
Harry handed her a beer. She tried to thank him and shrugged helplessly. It was impossible to talk above the din.
When the song ended, two men swung Angela up onto the stage to noisy applause. In her culottes, boots and cowboy hat pushed back onto her shoulders, she certainly looked the part. She performed
The Wayward Wind
.
The drinks flowed. The longer the night went on, the more enthusiastically each act was greeted. Harry disappeared for a while and then re-emerged with a guitar and everyone cheered harder. He mounted the stage with a leap and spoke to the musicians.
The crowd quickly quieted as he began to play. Caitlin opened her mouth in surprise as he sang the Johnny Cash song,
I Walk the Line
. He was great.
When he finished, the whole room erupted. There were shouts for an encore and he sang two more songs before they let him leave the stage.
Just as he sat down, a pretty, teenage girl with her hair in bunches came up to them. She held her hands out to him as she swayed to the music. “Dance, Harry?”
“Where’s Jimmy, Deb?” he asked her, leaning back in his chair.
“Oh, he’s outside,” she gestured towards the door, “talking to his mates.”
“He’ll dance with you. Go and ask him.”
She pouted. “He won’t.” Grabbing Harry’s hand, she tried to pull him to his feet. “Come on, just one. Caitlin doesn’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not,” Caitlin answered, smiling.
Harry stood and took Deb’s hand, leading her out the door of the pub onto the verandah.
Curious, Caitlin watched.
There was a group of teenage boys drinking and laughing on the verandah steps.
“Hey, Jimmy,” Harry said. “Come and dance with your girl.”
A tall, pimply boy leaned against a post. “Maybe later.”
“Deb’s a very cute girl, Jimmy. Don’t expect her to wait around for you,” Harry said lightly.
Deb grinned.
Jimmy scowled and said, “C’mon, then,” and pulled her inside.
Harry winked at Caitlin as he sat down again.
“You little old matchmaker you,” she said, laughing.
“Pure self-preservation,” Harry said. “How about a dance?”
They left the pub after midnight for the long trek back to Tall Trees. Angela was staying in town for the night. Seemingly indefatigable, she was climbing onto the stage for another song as they left.
“You could take up singing as a career. You’re really good,” Caitlin said as they drove along the dark road.
“I’m okay, but not good enough for that.” As if to end the conversation, Harry leaned forward and turned some music on. A Spanish guitar played a tender melody. “You enjoyed tonight?”
“I did. The people here are like a big family. They don’t ask questions. I feel less lonely here, strangely.”
Harry turned to look at her. “It’s the remoteness that draws people together every chance they get. City people who come here say they feel lonelier in crowds.”
“I guess it depends on who you have in your corner,” she said, watching the moon sailing across the cloudless sky.