AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, he said if we get bored to head down. Or they might get bored and come up here. Leah can do his makeup.”
“Oh, he’d look great with a smokey eye.”
Mikayla giggled. “Well, let’s save him the embarrassment and head down.”
* * *
“You wanna tell it now, mate, before Mikayla gets here,” Rafe said, taking a sip of his beer and leaning back in his chair. They were sitting at a big, round table in the corner of the pub. Ryan had his back to the door, Callum on his left side, John on his right. Rafe and William were on the other side of John. Rafe’s two work mates, Len and Bluey sat across from Callum. It was a pretty quiet Buck’s night. Rafe said he felt strange partying when Mikayla couldn’t.
“Right, okay. Are the girls coming?” William asked.
“Mik said they might, but I haven’t heard from her since. But knowing her, she’s eaten all the pastries, the makeup will be done and she can’t drink, so she’ll be getting pretty bored right about now.”
“Why does he have to tell the story before Mikayla gets here?” Ryan asked.
“It’s the best,How did you two meet?story going around, as far as Mik’s concerned. She likes to give it her own flare,” Rafe answered.
“Okay then. How did you two meet?” Ryan asked William.
William placed his beer on the table and rolled up his sleeves. “Here we go. I’d been in Blessed Inlet on business. Looking at turning the Lighthouse compound into a corporate retreat. So, I’m driving back to Sydney, just after sunset, when I see a car on the side of the road. It had run into a tree, was all banged up. I can’t find the driver anywhere. So I call out and Juniper answers. She’s leaning against a tree, in the dark. I shine my phone torch at her and when she turns, I see that she’s out to here pregnant.” He gestures with his hands with a wide circle. “She tells me she’s gone into labor. I freak out a bit, but she’s keeping pretty calm, in spite of the circumstances.” William stopped to take a swig of beer. “I figure, if she can keep her cool, then so can I. I get straight on the phone to triple 0. They tell me it’s a forty-five-minute wait. While I’m on the phone, Juniper just wanders off, into the bush. With no idea what else to do, I follow her. We’re standing in this clearing, looking up at the moon, talking between contractions. Finally, these two rock up.” He gestured to Rafe. “I have never been more relieved to see two people in my life. Things are too far gone by then though, and there’s nothing else to do but help Juniper have the baby. In the middle of the bush. At nighttime.”
“That’s insane.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“What happened after that?”
“Rafe and Mik took Juniper to hospital, I headed back to Sydney, thinking I’d never see her again. When I came back to Blessed Inlet three years later, I saw her on the beach.” He took another swig of beer as emotion swirled in his eyes. “She’d named Billy for me.”
“If Mik was here, she’d cry at that,” Rafe observed.
“She’d also hang shit on me,” William said with a laugh.
“I had no idea you weren’t his biological father,” Ryan observed.
William smiled. “I forget that I’m not, most days.”
Ryan heard the door to the pub open behind him and one look at Rafe’s face told him the girls had just walked in.
“Ah, Paddy Whack, it’s good to see you.”
Mikayla slapped Len lightly up the side of the head as Rafe pushed to his feet. Rounding the table, she gave him a smacking kiss. “You told him you were going to stop him from doing that!” she said to Rafe. Her tone sounded ominous but her eyes were dancing.
“You love it, Mik,” Leah said, sinking into the chair Callum had just vacated for her.
Ryan turned and before Georgie could hunt up a chair, pushed his own back and pulled her into his lap. She laughed softly when he kissed her. “I missed you,” he said when he finally broke the kiss.
“You only saw me a few hours ago.”
“But it felt like an eternity.” He pulled her close so he could kiss her again, holding himself back from plundering her lips like he wanted to. “Here, have this chair. I’ll grab another.” There was a hubbub of furniture rearranging going on to accommodate the five women. Ryan shoved a chair in next to Georgie and once everyone was settled, sat down next to her and threw his arm over the back of her chair. “What’s this Paddy Whack business?”
Mikayla chuckled. “As of next week, I’ll be Mikayla McKenzie. Len thinks it’s funny to call me Mik Mack Paddy Whack.”
“Aye, that is funny.” Ryan laughed when Mikayla stuck her tongue out at him.
“So what have you blokes been getting up to?”
“William was just filling me in on how he met Juniper.”
