“No. Why would he be?” Ronnie asked. “He likes you.”
“You tell me. It’s creepy. I’m your boss.”
“Yeah, but you’re not like that kind of boss,” Ronnie said. “You’re not like, in a position of power. You don’t manipulate me or make me do things for money.” Gravestones of a family. Mother, father, and three children. Influenza epidemic, 1919. It had unfairly targeted the young. “Why do we never talk about personal stuff?”
“What do you mean I’m not in a position of power over you? I have more everything than you do. This isn’t an equal dynamic. I wish it was, but it isn’t. We’re not in the same stage of life. We’re not holding the same number of cards.”
“I think you’re wrong about that. You’re like, skint, and have no friends, mate. You’re not some big CEO with a corner office, babe. My dad thinks it’s odd we don’t talk about sex.”
“Why would we?”
“I don’t know. Friends talk about personal stuff.”
“We talk about personal stuff.” Nev laughed nervously.
Ronnie scuffed the grass with the toe of her Blundstones. “I have a crush on you.”
Nev frowned, pink rising through her neck and ears.
Ronnie picked a blade of grass that had gone to seed, chewed on it. “Do you have a crush on me?”
Nev looked like she would rather be getting a root canal. “Jesus Christ, Dain’y.” The Tablelands were open-minded on account of the rich greenies who retired here from Sydney for the weather and waterfalls, but Queensland was still the most conservative state. “If I did, I couldn’t tell you because of workplace ethics. But I’d probably act the way I’m acting now, so conclude what you will.”
Not direct enough.
“Have you ever been in a relationship?”
Nev nodded.
Thank god.This would have been awkward if she hadn’t.
“I’m guessing you’ve been in the closet your whole life.”
Nev shrugged. “I was and I wasn’t.”
“You have zero interest in this conversation.”
“Correct.”
“With anyone or with me?”
“What are you asking, Dain’y? How is it your dad’s business what we talk about, hmm? Am I talking to you or your dad?” Nev wasn’t usually defensive; something Ronnie said must have struck a nerve.
Ronnie felt bad. “I don’t usually tell him things.”I don’t tell him everything.
Nev rubbed her forehead, then folded her arms, looking miserable. “I’m not asking you to keep secrets from him.”
Don’t freak out. It’s just me.
“He doesn’t want me to shag you,” Nev said.
Peggy Collins chose that moment to walk up the stone steps into the chapel. Nev held the heavy door for her. “G’day, engaged lady.”
“Thanks, darl’.” The old woman leaned on Nev’s arm to stage whisper. “This is the twenty-first century, love. Life’s too short to worry what some man thinks.”
Ronnie turned away, stifling a laugh. When they were alone again, she leaned against the iron railing. “Have you ever?—”
Nev interrupted. “Intermission’s over.”
