Our Kind of Love (40 page)

Almost right here on the sand was the spot Anna had kissed him that day.

And up there, on the Point, was the Middle Point pub where he’d met her and they’d danced together.

And just a little bit west and up the rise behind the point was his house. Where they’d made love that first time.

She was everywhere around him but nowhere. Every new memory Joe had of this place had her in it. Middle Point felt like home again because of her. She’d filled it with new memories to replace his old and grainy ones. And they were great memories too; of sex and surfing and laughing and dancing. His bucket list was pretty short these days. A decent job. Making a difference in his community. Good wine. Surfing every day. What more did he want out of life?

He also wouldn’t mind the love of a good woman.

Nah, scratch that. He wanted the love of an incredible woman.

And he knew he’d already found her.

The problem was, could he want what she wanted? Children and a family? The happy-ever-after had slipped through their fingers once already. Was it worth the risk of trying again? Maybe he was open for persuasion on that one. Wasn’t that what blokes did, simply agree with the women in their lives when that subject came up? He’d never met a man who was desperate for kids but he’d met plenty of them who would do anything it took to hold on to the woman they loved. Kids were like a bonus gift with purchase.

Could he see himself as a father?

Holding little Mary in his arms a few days before had triggered a question that he’d asked himself a million times throughout his life. Since the day he’d been old enough to know that he had a father, someone who’d chosen to walk away from his own family. What kind of man could do that? What sort of bloke could take one look at his newborn baby girl and just disappear? There was something broken in a man who could do that to his wife and his family.

Was he like his father?

Staring up at the blue sky, Joe finally knew the answer.

He wasn’t a broken man. He may have been heading in that direction when he came back to Middle Point a year before, but he wasn’t that man anymore. He was surer of that than anything. He felt like a man reborn. Maybe he would never know the answers about why his own father had done what he’d done. Maybe the old man was damaged in ways that he’d never even understand himself and the only thing he’d known how to do was to run and leave behind the people he was supposed to have loved.

When he was a kid, Joe had always thought it was his fault that his dad had never come back. As a grown man, he knew it made no sense to blame a three-year-old boy. What had happened in his parents’ marriage was their business. He and Lizzie were collateral damage.

Maybe, just maybe, he’d inherited the best of both of them, not the worst. And maybe, just maybe, he could take a little credit for the person he’d become. So part of his DNA was from his father. But the rest wasn’t. He was the sum of everything he’d created for himself. His decisions had been his alone and he’d always made them with a gut instinct he couldn’t fault along with a goal in mind.

He’d been that driven once before, when he’d left Middle Point as a pup and headed off to Sydney. Now he had a new plan for his life and a new understanding of who he was.

Hold the front page
, he thought with a smile.

Julia and Ry arrived at the pub with Mary and gasped when they saw what Lizzie and Dan and the staff had done. The Market area at the back of the century old building was adorned with a mix of Christmas decorations and purple and green helium balloons and streamers and a welcome sign reading ‘Welcome to the world, Mary’ was strung up between shade sails. Everyone who knew and loved them was there.

Ry’s mother Barbra was the first in for a cuddle. She reached down into the pram and picked up her beloved granddaughter.

‘Thank God you’ve arrived. I was having withdrawal symptoms being away from this little darling.’

‘She was hungry so I fed her before we left,’ Julia said. ‘It’s made us a little late.’

‘We have a new boss now and we do whatever she says,’ Ry added with a peek at his daughter.

‘This looks incredible,’ Julia said as Lizzie joined them.

‘We went non-gender specific with the colours because, to tell the truth, we bought everything but the banner a month ago just in case.’

‘I love it,’ Julia said and linked her arm through Lizzie’s. ‘And now we need to talk.’

Lizzie was taken aback. ‘We do?’

‘Yes,’ Julia whispered, as she withdrew a discreet distance from Ry and Barbra. ‘About Stinkface and the Doc.’

‘She’s supposed to be coming, Jools,’ Lizzie said with a glance around the crowd. ‘I’ve already done a sweep and she’s not here yet.’

‘Joe’s wielding the tongs behind the barbecue. Update me on the state of play.’

‘Well,’ Lizzie said. ‘I have no intelligence to report. He won’t tell me if he’s seen her or even talked to her.’

‘Mmm,’ Julia pondered the situation. ‘And I haven’t seen Anna since the hospital last week.’

They exchanged glances. ‘Should we let nature take its course?’ Lizzie asked.

‘You kidding? Of course not. Ry and I did it for you and Dan. You and Dan did it for Ry and me. This doesn’t stop until everyone gets their happy ever after. Got it?’

‘Got it.’

‘Oh no.’ Dan sidled up beside Lizzie and slipped an arm around her waist. ‘What are the evil twins of Middle Point up to now?’

‘I was consulting Julia about a crisis, as a matter of fact.’

He shook his head. ‘This doesn’t involve your brother, does it?’

‘Oh Dan,’ Julia slapped him on the back with a shake of her head. ‘Thought you’d be used to it by now. It’s what we do, make people happy. Right Lizzie?’

Lizzie looked up at Dan and kissed him square on the mouth. ‘You betcha.’

He smiled back at her. ‘And you’re damn good at it, too.’

Joe had managed to wrangle a slippery snag from the barbecue and was about to wrestle it onto a piece of white bread when Anna walked in to The Market. She looked like she’d arrived on a gust of wind. Her dark hair was loose and tousled around her shoulders and she was wearing some kind of free-flowing summer dress that floated around her. Those movie-star sunglasses she loved were perched on her head and her regulation enormous handbag was over her shoulder.

He found himself frozen in mid-flight, his tongs in mid-air. When she looked over to him and smiled, he dropped the sausage and it bounced off the barbie and onto the ground. Before he could move, a small black dog had gobbled it up.

Anna Morelli was incredible. As she walked towards him, he noticed there were no follow-me-home-and-fuck-me shoes today, instead she was wearing flat sandals with a big red decoration on the top of each foot. They caught the sun and sparkled.

God he loved her. Maybe he had all along. But just now, seeing her, reminded him how much he’d missed her. Wanted her. And now, he didn’t want to keep it a secret any longer. No more protecting his sources. Hell, he’d put it on the front page of the paper if it got her attention.

He hooked the tongs on the barbeque and undid his apron. He had to get to her.

Their eyes met. She could see him coming. He got closer. Anna lifted her chin and her lips parted with words about to be said.

And then Harri arrived. ‘Anna, how lovely to see you.’

Anna smiled, gave Harri two kisses. ‘You look great, Harri. No more trouble from that hip?’

‘It’s just like a bought one, doll. Oh, hello Joe.’

‘Harri. Perfect timing as always,’ Joe said.

Anna met his eyes and smiled. ‘Joe.’

‘Dr Morelli.’

‘Listen, doll, you couldn’t get me a champagne, could you?’ Harri asked. ‘There’s one over at the bar with my name on it.’

‘Ah, sure,’ Joe said. ‘What about you, Anna? Would you like one too?’

‘No champagne for me, but I’d love a soda water.’

‘I’ll be right back.’

As soon as Joe was out of earshot, Harri took Anna’s hand. ‘What’s going on, Anna? Why haven’t we seen you around Middle Point the past few months?’

Anna forced a smile. ‘I’ve been busy. Life, you know, family.’
Keeping secrets
.

Harri narrowed her eyes. ‘You know I have an expert bullshit-meter, doll. What’s really going on?’

Anna stared back at the old woman. She should really introduce her to Nonna.

‘I’m—’

Then Ry appeared. ‘Where’s Joe? He’s abandoned his post at the barbie and there’s a queue for snags.’

‘He’s at the bar,’ Harri said.

Anna watched as Ry found him and shepherded Joe back to the hotplate.

‘Harri, will you excuse me?’

While making her way through the crowd to Joe, she was blindsided by Lizzie.

‘Oh Anna, we’re so glad you came down. It’s so great to see you. Really, it’s great. I thought you might pike.’ Lizzie pulled Anna in for a close hug. ‘But you’re hear now and that’s what’s important.’

‘Thanks, Lizzie. Look, can I catch up with you later? I need to talk to Joe.’

‘He’s cooking the snags,’ Lizzie said, a hitch in her voice. ‘Go.’ Lizzie gently turned her friend in the Joe’s direction and Anna slowly put one foot in front of the other.
This was happening. You are strong. You can do this. No one gets to decide who I am
, she told herself. They were Joe’s words. He was right. She was free to be who she was.

Anna made her way through the crowd, gripping her soda water for strength. When she looked over to the sizzling sausages, his eyes were on her.

The beautiful eyes she hoped her child would inherit.

As blue as the Middle Point ocean on a summer’s day.

She swallowed, found her strength. ‘So you can cook, too? Very impressive.’

‘Not as well as you, but my sausage sizzles are sensational. And, after my stint as a bartender, I can make a mean mojito.’

‘Really?’

‘I’ve turned over a new leaf, in a whole range of ways, Anna.’

‘You have?’

‘I’m clearly good with animals.’ Joe flipped another snag on to the ground and the dog wolfed that one down too. When Anna laughed, Joe wondered how many more sausages he could sacrifice. Because he wanted to hear her laugh for the rest of his life.

‘And I’m great with kids. I’ve got Mary wrapped around my little finger.’

Anna’s laughter stopped and the absence of it pierced him. Her face was pale and her hand flew to St Christopher.

‘Oh shit, Anna.’ Joe reached behind his waist, untied the barbecue apron, and tossed it on the bench behind him. He rounded the grill and reached for her hand. ‘Want to go for a walk?’

Joe didn’t let go of her. They made their way through the crowd, down the pub’s side laneway and across the road lined with cars to the top of the steps, which would take them down to Middle Point’s wide beach.

Anna stopped, tugged on Joe’s hand. She looked over the cliff and hesitated. ‘Where are we going, Joe? Can’t we look at the beach from up here?’

‘Bear with me,’ he said gently and slowed his urgent steps to help her keep up, her pace no match for his long-legged strides. They took the fifty steps down to the beach and he kept walking, not letting go of her hand even when they’d reached the spot. Joe took a deep breath and turned to Anna, reaching for her other hand. The mild breeze danced deliciously with Anna’s floaty dress and teased her hair. He lifted his eyes to the clouds, hoping the blue southern sky would help him find the words he needed.

It was here. He needed to do it here. And he needed to get it right. He needed to summon every skill he had as a wordsmith to convince her. ‘There’s something I need to say to you.’

Anna’s eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip. ‘Joe—’

‘Please, let me finish. I’ve come a long way to be standing right here with you.’

‘So have I,’ Anna said and there was a nervous catch in her voice and in her joke. ‘Eighty kilometres from my house to here.’

He wanted to laugh but this was too big for him. He didn’t want to lighten the moment with a gag. ‘I’m not the man I was when I left Sydney a year ago, Anna. I’ve had lots of time lately to think about my life.’

‘You have?’

‘And I know one thing, Anna Morelli. The life that I want from this day on? I want you in it.’

Anna tried to free her hands. He wouldn’t let go and pulled her closer.

‘Joe.’

‘Every good thing I feel about this place is about you. Do you remember this is where you learnt to surf? Just out there?’ He nodded to the waves, breaking in long white ribbons on the sand.

She glanced out to the water. ‘How can I forget? I was scared to death.’

Joe pulled her closer until she was so near he could see himself reflected in her caramel eyes. ‘I want a million more days like that, Anna.’

She pulled herself from his embrace. ‘Stop it, Joe.’

CHAPTER
49

‘What’s wrong?’

Anna took two steps backwards, away from the confusing embrace and his eyes. ‘There’s something I need to tell you, something important.’

Joe rubbed a palm over his chin. ‘Hang on, Anna, I was in the middle of a pretty important speech just then. You cut me off before I got to the best bit.’

‘Believe me,’ Anna said with a shake of her head, ‘Whatever you were going to say, my news is bigger.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that. I am a newspaper editor, you know.’

‘Sometimes, you don’t need words, Joe, to tell someone the truth.’ Anna grabbed Joe’s hand and held it to her stomach, covering his so he wouldn’t pull away, so he would feel for himself what she had been hiding for months. It took Joe about half a second to register that the bump there wasn’t from too much lunch.

When his eyes slowly lifted from her belly to her face, he was entirely speechless. Slowly, his other hand found a place on her swollen belly and he held her so gently that Anna wanted to close her eyes for just a moment and think about what it would be like if he was happy rather than freaked out. What it would be like if he was going to be a part of the baby’s life. A part of hers. She tried to pull herself together. She needed to tell him what had happened and, if she kept it clinical and matter-of-fact, maybe she wouldn’t cry. She’d done enough of that during the long first trimester, when she was too scared to hope in case she lost this baby too. But miracle of miracles, this little one was growing and thriving inside her. Had made her sick for weeks and was beginning to kick.