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“There was a boy at school with us, Rowan Clements…” Bea said.
“He was a nasty boy.” Penny wrinkled her nose.
“Why is that?” Evie asked as she set tea cups down in front of them.
“He bullied me constantly. Never left me alone about my curly hair, my freckles, my bony knees… Anything he could think of to point out as a flaw, he latched on and wouldn’t let it go.”
Bea arched her eyebrows. “I remember that. It’s all coming back to me. Funny how you forget about things that happened until someone reminds you. I could’ve sworn there was no bullying at our school, but now you say that, it’s as though you’ve found the key to a lockbox of memories in my mind and it’s been flung open.”
“I wonder where Rowan Clements is now.”
Aidan bit into a biscuit. “Last I heard, he was working in the States as a journalist.”
“What?”
“Yep. A pretty good one, too. I see him occasionally when I’m watching the news.”
“Wow, that’s quite the leap for a boy who used to eat his own boogers,” Evie said.
“I suppose we’ve all changed,” Bea said. She glanced up at Aidan, who met her gaze with a quizzical look as though her words held a kind of hidden meaning.
“Yes, we have,” he said. “And perhaps we should give Rowan the benefit of the doubt. After all, everyone deserves a second chance. Don’t they?” A smile teased the corners of his mouth, and his eyes crinkled at the edges.
The intensity of his gaze brought goose pimples to Bea’s arms, and she folded them to hide her reaction. She needed to keep her distance from Aidan Whitlock for a while or she wouldn’t be able to keep her emotions in check. Remaining friends was going to be more difficult than she’d thought it would be.
Twenty
The weather was heatingup every single day that passed. Winter was brief and mild on the island and had disappeared months earlier. Spring raced by with a whiff of pollen in the air. And now Summer had already begun, and the feel of heat hung in the atmosphere from the early morning hours like a fog.
The island smelled of beaches and swimming, visits to the waterfall and diving into the stream to frolic in the cool darkness as the water pounded them from overhead. Summer brought back memories of fishing and diving, snorkelling and bonfires at night as they fried their catch on an open fire and sat in the sand talking for hours about what life might look like when they got their freedom.
It was a million different dreams from childhood for Bea. Memories she’d left behind long ago and hadn’t taken out to sift through much since because those memories also carried with them images of her mother, laughing and crying, singing and dancing, and the pain of losing her so early in life.
Bea thought of all those things while lying on the old mattress she’d lugged down from her father’s basement to put into the cottage the previous day. It’d worked better overnight than the air mattress. It smelled of dank mould and mustiness, but she supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Penny’s team had fixed the little pademelon up with a few stitches and some food and water. Apparently something had attacked it, possibly a cat or dog. But it was recovering at the wildlife refuge, and Penny had promised to keep Bea up-to-date with its progress.
She climbed out of bed with a yawn, her mind already running over the list of things she had to achieve that day and the discussion she’d had the previous morning with her friends about the photographs. She’d brought the pictures home with her and had them laid out on the kitchen bench. Then, she’d settled down to study them while she made herself a cup of coffee.
The movers had brought her things from the Sydney storage facility the day before. And she’d spent the rest of the day unpacking and had a few items of furniture positioned around the place, including an armchair she’d bought at a local boutique a few days earlier.
The rest of her belongings were still in boxes outside on the porch. She’d work on positioning more things around the place later, including her king-sized bed that they’d dismantled and set in pieces against her bedroom wall. She couldn’t wait to get rid of the stinky mattress. The cottage was fast becoming a home.
Bea took her time soaking in a hot bath. The view of the beach through her one-way window was breathtaking, and she was entirely relaxed by the time it was over. She put on a summer dress and decided to let her hair dry naturally, then sat on the porch with a book while the sun crept up the beach and into her garden. The unpacking could wait a little longer. She had nothing but time.
When Dad and Bradford arrived later, she was ready to go with them to see her new café. She’d already signed the contract with Evie, and she needed to get back to Brett regarding the work she wanted done. She was glad she could use the same contractor as she had for the cottage, since he’d done such a good job and worked quickly. He had sent her a quote as well as some advice after his initial walk-through a few weeks prior. Today was all about finalising her needs so he could get started.
“Hi, Dad,” she said, rising from her rocking chair. She closed the book and set it on a small table. “How was fishing this morning, Brad?”
Bradford’s hair was dishevelled, and he looked as though he hadn’t slept much. “I got up far too early, and nothing was biting.”
“That’s frustrating.”
“Tell me about it. I’m looking forward to seeing your café, though. Dad tells me it’s gonna be a great little business.”
Anxiety and anticipation twisted Bea’s gut. “I think so, but I suppose we’ll see soon enough. It’s a big risk, so I’m feeling a little nervous about it. But I also think it will be a good investment.”
“Let’s go, then,” Bradford said.
