THE REBEL AND THE RICH GIRL (14 page)

Nicole didn’t object, and allowed him to pull her up off the sand. He didn’t let go of her hand as they walked together back to the car. She hadn’t gotten him to talk about the accident, but at least the leaden atmosphere between them had lifted a little. Their conversation returned almost back to normal as they chatted about various issues that had been in the news recently.

Their accommodation that evening was a large colonial-style house overlooking the river, which had been converted into a hotel. They were shown to one of the upstairs rooms with its own en-suite by their friendly gregarious hostess, who informed them there was a club several doors down. This was where they headed for dinner, and stayed until almost ten, playing the poker machines and listening to a rather mediocre band playing popular sixties songs.

As they walked past the living area reserved for the hotel’s guests, Nicole noticed a young couple entwined on the lounge watching television. The man was solidly built and looked like he might be of Italian or Greek descent with his brown eyes and curly dark hair. He waved to Philip and Nicole. The woman was incredibly beautiful, with masses of shiny black hair flowing over her shoulders. They seemed keen to talk, so Nicole entered the room.

“All that driving has finally caught up with me, so if you don’t mind, I’m heading for bed,” Philip said, and left her side.

“Sure, I won’t be staying up much longer,” she replied, giving him a little wave.

“What are you watching?” she asked the couple, as she sat down in the easy chair beside the lounge they were occupying.

“A comedy’s just started, one of those corny sitcoms,” the man replied. He had no trace of a foreign accent, so Nicole assumed he’d been born in Australia. “I’m Nick and this is my wife Marina. We’re doing a bit of a round-the-country tour before our son, Marcus, starts school.”

“He’s down the hall in bed, hopefully sleeping,” Marina added. She had an accent, however, which was softly spoken and definitely Italian.

“I’m Nicole, and on a two week holiday around the state. I sailed down on my father’s yacht in the Sydney to Hobart race.”

“Did you really!” Marina exclaimed. “My father would never let me to do something like that. You are very fortunate.”

“Neither would I, my love,” Nick added, giving her an affectionate hug.

“Actually, he almost didn’t, but my brother got sick at the last minute so he didn’t have a tenth man. I doubt he’ll ever allow it again.”

“Such a pity. I thought Aussie girls were much more liberated than us Italians. Not that I mind. Nick looks after me so well.” Nicole didn’t doubt it, judging by the way they kept gazing so tenderly into one another’s eyes.

Nick and Marina told her about their trip so far. They were from Sydney like herself, and had toured down the New South Wales and Victorian coast. Tasmania was their third state. After this they were planning on heading to Adelaide and Perth; then back and up through the Red Centre, Alice Springs and on into Queensland. They only had four weeks left to do it in before school started. Nicole lingered for about half an hour before she thought it polite to excuse herself, wishing Nick and Marina good night.

The light from the hall as she opened the door didn’t seem to wake Philip. As she walked past the bed to get her toiletries bag, she noticed he was once again sleeping with nothing on. At least she assumed he was naked, as he had the coverlet tucked under his arm.

Nicole couldn’t help herself. She stopped to stare at him. Even totally relaxed the muscles on his arms were blatantly obvious. She was tempted to brush back the ebony hair draped across his cheek, but managed to restrain herself. They weren’t close enough for such intimacies, she thought ruefully. In fact, they were nowhere near as close as she wanted them to be.

That uncomfortable ache in her heart returned, as she headed for the bathroom to have a shower. She knew it was her own silly fault for starting to fall for him. Now she would have to live with the uncertainty of their tenuous relationship, for she was certain a time would come when he’d want out. Her initial deduction about him not wanting to get emotionally involved had been correct, but now she knew it was steeped in past loss. He’d closed himself off from love and commitment because it would mean pain and heartache if that person disappeared the same way his parents had.

As she stepped under the warm steamy spray, Nicole wondered if she could handle the emotional roller coaster of such one-sided love. Two weeks ago she would never have even entertained the thought, but two weeks ago she had been on the verge of hating the man she now loved.

She knew he felt something for her, but wondered whether it was only to do with sex. He’d told her that was on his mind often enough. Was it too much to hope that they could have more than a physical relationship? If she could get him to open up about his past then perhaps they stood a chance.

She had to let him know she intended sticking around, but with him not wanting commitment, and her father so staunchly against the relationship, she knew she had a massive task ahead of her.

They had just placed their orders for breakfast, when Nick and Marina joined them with their son.

Marcus had to be the most adorable child Nicole had ever seen. Like his mother he had jet black hair, which curled across his forehead in thick waves. His eyes were like pools of molten chocolate, and he had a cute smile, with a tooth missing right in the centre. He looked how she imagined Philip might have at that age.

She was so busy chatting to the garrulous child, she almost missed the deep frown creasing Philip’s brow, or the strange expression hardening his features. Surely he didn’t object to the family’s company that much. He hadn’t wanted to talk to them the previous evening, but he had been tired then. Perhaps it was children he disliked, since he ignored Marcus to the point of rudeness.

Nicole soon discovered the other couple also planned on heading to Cradle Mountain, and they organized to meet for dinner at the restaurant of the hotel they were all staying at. Nicole slanted another glance at Philip, but his eyes were lowered, concentrating on his breakfast. Neither Nick nor Marina seemed to have noticed how uncommunicative he was being. Perhaps they thought he was always like this, and not for the first time Nicole wondered who the real Philip was; the sensual man who had made love to her with such infinite tenderness, or the grim, cynical man she’d first met at the yacht club. How she wished she knew what was really going on inside his mind.

When they set out for the mountains, Philip was as distant as ever. Once again he insisted on driving, which he was doing much too fast, taking the winding corners with dangerous intent. The small car protested under the stain, as did Nicole’s nerves.

“Can’t you slow down a bit?” she pleaded. “We’re not trying to break a record here.”

For a moment she thought he was going to ignore her, but after they rounded another U-Turn he slowed the vehicle to a more acceptable speed.

“If you didn’t want the Martinolis joining us for dinner, you should have said something,” she went on.

“I don’t mind them joining us for dinner. Whatever makes you think that?” he replied indifferently.

“Something about them is bothering you.”

“How observant of you!”

When he didn’t elaborate further, she asked, “What Philip? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Will you ever want to talk about it?”

“Perhaps not.”

Nicole sighed heavily. “Would you prefer if I cancelled the dinner?”

“No,” came the curt reply.

“Please Philip?”

“Just drop it and enjoy the scenery.”

She closed her mouth, but found it difficult to enjoy the beautiful countryside that spread out beneath them, as they climbed higher into the mountain range. She was too busy trying to decide whether to be angry with him or feel sad for him. He really was a complex man, and not for the first time Nicole found herself wondering if there was any hope of a future for them. She couldn’t see herself staying with a man who clammed up the moment the going got tough.

At the tourist information centre they found out the best way to enjoy the scenery was to go for a bush walk along the mountain ridge. As it was a cool, breezy day, Philip agreed that a hike would do them both good.

They set off after lunch along a well marked trail, occasionally coming across other hikers. Sign posts along the way described the native fauna and flora. As Nicole was interested in botany, they stopped often to study plants and for her to take photographs.

“It’s so wild and untouched,” she gasped, when they reached a clearing from where they could see across the rugged mountain range for many of kilometres. “It was worth it, wasn’t it?”

There was no reply from Philip. She turned to find he had gone to stand at the other side of the look-out. He was gazing down at the void below when Nicole stopped beside him.

“Philip?” Tentatively she placed a hand on his arm. For a moment he didn’t move, and then, without looking at her, reached for her hand, taking it in his. She slipped her other arm through his, knowing better than to talk right now. Something told her all he wanted was her comforting touch, and for what seemed like a long time they stood close together, silently gazing out across the green mountains.

“All this wilderness kind of puts things into perspective,” he said finally. “It makes our problems seem rather insignificant.”

Nicole knew he was at the verge of telling her what was troubling him. She held her breath, waiting for him to go on, but a noise that sounded very much like a child wailing caught her attention.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, turning in the direction she’d heard it coming from. She couldn’t see anything through the dense foliage around the clearing.

“Hear what?”

There
was
a child crying somewhere in those trees, she realized as the sobbing grew louder. Nicole started back across the clearing, just as a small frightened boy stumbled out of the greenery, a child she instantly recognized as little Marcus Martinoli.

She rushed towards him, taking his small shaking body into her arms.

“There there. It’s all right,” she soothed, stroking his soft black hair from his forehead. There was a scratch on his cheek, but apart from that he seemed to be uninjured.

“Did you lose your Mummy and Daddy?” she asked.

The little boy bawled even louder.

“Hey, it’s O.K. We’ll find them. You’re safe now. Aunty Nicole and Uncle Philip will look after you. You remember me, don’t you? I had breakfast with you this morning.”

Marcus gulped a few times, nodding. Nicole glanced around to where Philip stood several feet away. He was regarding them both with another grim expression hardening his features. Something about the Martinolis was definitely bothering him.

“Do you suppose they’re lost too?” she asked him.

“I doubt it.”

“What do you think we should do then? Wait for them here. I mean this is the end of the road, so to speak.”

“No, there are other trails which we passed that they could have taken.”

“Not with a four year old. They’re day trips.”

“I think we should just take him back with us,” he said after another long moment.

“Yes, that would be best.” Then she turned back to Marcus. “We’re going to take you back to the hotel with us, where I’m sure we’ll find your Mummy and Daddy. We were all supposed to have dinner together, remember.”

“I was so scared,” he gulped, balling grubby fists into his tear stained eyes. “Mama called me, but I wanted to play with the furry bunny. He kept running away. I chased him, and then… then...”

“Then you got lost. Poor baby! But you’re safe now.” She stood up, taking his small hand in hers.

They started walking back the way they had come, but it was slow going, as they had to adjust their pace to Marcus’s little legs.

They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when she glanced down at him again. He was obviously tiring, and Nicole wondered if one of them should carry him. She could see Philip’s black jacket moving through the foliage ahead of them. He’d said nothing more once they had set off, leaving her to take care of Marcus. Did he think it was a woman’s job to look after children, or had he had so little to do with them that he was afraid to get involved? Now wasn’t the time to wonder about it, as she glanced down at the weary child again.

“Do you want me to carry you?” she asked the little boy.

He nodded gratefully. She reached for him, hoisting him up and securing him on her hip. He’s no lightweight, she thought, knowing she wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.

“Slow down!” she called out to the figure disappearing through the trees ahead of them. He stopped, allowing Nicole to catch up with him. Philip frowned when he saw she was carrying the child, yet he didn’t offer to take him from her. A flash of anger shot through her, as he turned to continue on his way. How could he be so inconsiderate? He had been quite prepared to look after her when she’d been ill, because as he’d said he liked the feel of her in his arms, but offering to carry a weary child was obviously too much bother. She scowled at his back as he walked away from them.

For a while she struggled along with Marcus getting increasingly heavier. Finally, before she dropped him, she set him down.

“You’ll have to walk again for a while,” she told him.

“That’s all right. Mummy won’t carry me anymore. She says I’m a big boy now and can walk by myself,” he declared, falling into step beside her, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before he started dragging his little feet again.

Another ten minutes elapsed before Nicole called out to the figure ahead of them again.

“I think you should take him now,” she asserted, when they caught up with Philip. He looked at her for a long moment, before shifting his gaze down to the child. “Please,” she added.