Page 47 of Not So Very Sensible

“Who’s Lucinda?” Subtle she wasn’t.

He winced. “Just a friend.”

Was this the friend he’d been supposed to come with this weekend? Surely not. He couldn’t have a friend like that and treat Ellie the way he had, making her feel like she was a princess when he had a girlfriend on the side.

He was shaking his head. “Please don’t worry about that. I’ll explain things when I come down on Saturday.”

“I’ll message you the details. You, uh, could bring Lucinda if you want,” she said, testing him.

“Yeah, I don’t want.” His eyes darkened again. “I just want you.”

Okay, surely now must be their moment. She shoved aside thoughts of strange men and women named Lucinda and closed the gap between them. But instead of kissing her as she’d hoped, he bent his face to her cheek, softly pressing a kiss there. “Until Saturday.”

She nodded, not wanting him to see her disappointment. “Until Saturday.”

Oh, Saturday was far too far away.

Saturday was way too far away.

All the long drive home, Ethan relived the perfection of his Blue Mountains visit. Well, near perfection. Apart from when Wayne Dashwood had busted him about to kiss Ellie and he’d realised what that must look like.

Not that he and Lucinda were in a relationship, even if it had been what their mothers had wished. But now that he’d met perfection, there was no way he could settle for an inferior woman. And Lucinda was in every way inferior to the awesome surprise of a gift that was Ellie. She was everything he wanted. Everything he needed. He relived every moment as he drove home in the usual choke of cars on the M4 at the end of a weekend.

But the buoyant lift to his spirits followed him into his dreams and into his next day, causing several of his colleagues to wonder aloud about where he’d been and what he’d done to get that smile on his dial.

He’d mumbled something about the Blue Mountains, then realised he needed to tone things down a notch or two. His work world intersected with the political and social spheres his dad was fond of Ethan participating in, and it wouldn’t take much for someone to divulge something to Lucinda about just how much he’d enjoyed his time away—without her.

His stomach clenched. What if his brother-in-law spilled the beans about him and Ellie? Not that there was anything between them. Not yet. But a blind man could tell that Ethan wanted there to be. And Francine had always been Team Lucinda.

Ethan had been relieved not to get a phone call from Lucinda last night. He had fully expected to wake to find at least a message from her today. But … nothing.

He knew she was worried about her mum—she was due to get her MRI results today—but he had a feeling that would escalate into something he didn’t have capacity for. Not yet. Not while he was still tingling in the afterglow of time with Ellie.

He finished his work and was about to exit for the day when his phone rang. His heart sank as he recognised the name. And here it was. He made his farewells, then returned Lucinda’s call, not bothering to listen to her voice message. But she didn’t answer. Probably trying to call him again.

He walked the two hundred metres to his train station in Martin Place as they played the game of mismatched missed calls and messages. Why the woman didn’t just trust him to call her back, he didn’t know. From the way they were going, this could take years to finally talk.

He left it, and—sure enough—she rang once more.

“Ethan? Oh, I’m so glad you finally answered.” Then she burst into tears.

He withheld a sigh. Were these fake tears or real? It was hard to know these days. “What’s happened?”

“It’s Mum.”

His heart panged. That’s right. He should be more compassionate. “How did the appointment go?”

“Oh, Ethan.”

He guessed from the delay that it wasn’t good. Or was the cynical part of him just aware that she’d always liked a big buildup to increase dramatic effects? “What did the doctors say?”

“She … Mum is going to die.”

His heart clenched. “What?”

He paused. He didn’t want to have this conversation cut out halfway while he was underground on the train. “What did the doctors actually say, Lucinda?”

“The doctors actually said that the cancer is terminal and she’s been given six months at best.”