AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He laughed. “I guess I can spend my summer on Coral Island. I won’t complain about that.”
“Do you really think you’ll come?”
“Sure, why not? I can swim, snorkel, fish with Pa. What’s not to love?”
“I’m sorry I haven’t taken you there more often. I know Pa misses you.”
He shrugged. “No need to be sorry for anything, Mum. By the way, Dad seems to be trying to make up for lost time. I’ve seen a lot of him lately.”
“Really? I thought he was living in Melbourne.”
“I think he misses you and Dani. He comes to Sydney just about every week and always wants to catch up with me. Spends hours talking and then drives me home and gives me cash. I don’t think it’s working out in Melbourne exactly how he thought it would.”
“Oh?”
“Look, Mum, I don’t really want to talk about it. I feel like I’m betraying Dad or something. Let’s get going. You’re buying, right?”
The next day, Bea rose early in her hotel room and went down to the hotel gym to work out. She felt fitter and stronger than she had eight weeks ago when she’d left Sydney, rejected and afraid of the future. Now her future looked bright, and she was ready to embrace it with open arms — part of that would involve taking the time to care for her own health rather than putting herself last.
Getting fit at forty-five was an entirely different thing to how it’d been in her twenties. She found the changes incremental and most of the time wondered if it made any difference whatsoever when she worked out. But now that Harry had mentioned how well she looked, she had to admit that her body had begun to change, and the thought encouraged her to keep going.
Already she missed the island and her friends and family there, but she was glad she’d had the chance to catch up with Harry. They were meeting later in the day to see a movie together, and then tomorrow they planned to go ice skating. It was better than when she lived nearby, since they were both willing to make the effort to spend quality time together rather than simply seeing each other when he came home with a load of laundry or an empty stomach.
After her workout, she took a dip in the pool and swam a few laps, then stretched out in the sauna. It was utter luxury after days of tearing down walls, hammering, digging and moving heavy objects. Before that, she’d spent weeks cleaning out her house. She was tired on a level she didn’t know existed. And the sauna seemed to help work out some of the kinks in her neck and back that’d become lodged there during her labours.
She showered and went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant down in the lobby. She’d never really eaten at a restaurant on her own before, so she brought a book with her. But she didn’t need it in the end. She spent the entire breakfast munching on eggs Benedict, bacon and toast while watching the people who walked by, or sat at adjacent tables.
It wasn’t humiliating like she’d feared it would be, but enjoyable. She was free to think her own thoughts without interruption while watching people come and go. There was something liberating about not caring what anyone thought of her while also enjoying a freedom from anyone’s demands.
If Preston had been there, she’d have had to listen to his endless business-related stories and his complaints about the staff, the coffee, the cold eggs and whatever else he happened to be upset about at the time. Instead, she pondered the meaning of life, considered how many women were truly naturally beautiful without the aid of makeup as they came in and out of the dining room, and thought about the fact that a smile was the best accessory a person could wear.
By the time she’d applied makeup and done her hair in preparation for her meeting with her husband, she felt satisfied, rested and ready to face whatever came. Her only hope was that Preston’s fiancée wouldn’t come. This meeting had nothing to do with her. It would be cruel of Preston to bring her. And no matter what his flaws might be, he wasn’t a cruel man.
Her nerves began to buzz like butterflies in her stomach when she climbed off the subway and up the stairs at Wynnum Station. They’d planned to meet in a conference room at Preston’s office, since neither one of them wanted to include lawyers in their discussions.
It was an overcast day, cold and dismal with a light rain that threatened to freeze if the temperature dropped a few degrees. The outlook made her miss Coral Island and its warm sunshine even more. Especially when a frigid wind blew between the skyscrapers and through her coat, giving her goose bumps all over.
Preston was still in his office making calls when she arrived. His secretary asked her to wait in the sitting area until he was done. Bea mused to herself that nothing much had changed — she’d always had to wait for Preston to be done in the past, and it seemed that the waiting would continue. But not for much longer.
When he came out to greet her, she didn’t know what to say or do. He held out his hand to her, then seemed to think better of it and leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she turned her head at the wrong moment and their lips connected. It was completely normal and natural and yet took them both by surprise at the same time.
“Oh, sorry. I suppose we can’t really do that anymore,” Bea said, wiping her lips with her fingertips.
“Uh, yes, I guess not. We’ll get the hang of this before too long, I’m sure.” Preston laughed nervously. He seemed even more on edge than she was.
With one hand on her shoulder, he ushered her into a nearby conference room. They sat on opposite sides of a long table in black leather chairs. The walls were timber panelling, and there was an enormous television screen hanging at one end. It was sterile and unwelcoming. Everything about the moment felt bizarrely surreal to Bea.
Preston steepled his hands above an open laptop. “So, how are you?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“How’s life on the island?”
“It’s great, actually. Much warmer than here.”
He grunted. “Sounds inviting. You look good.”
“Thanks. Dani and I have been working hard on the beach cottage. It’ll be ready to move into within the next couple of weeks. I’m excited.”
