Page 43 of Echoes in the Storm
“I’ll talk to your father,” she says before promptly hanging up.
“Mum!”
It’s no use. She’s left me with that statement knowing I’d give her heaps about the crazy plan she’s no doubt cooking. She can’t afford to buy it, let alone be a guarantor for me. But Dad … Dad has the lending power, and she knows I’d never ask him for a huge helping hand like that.Damn it all.
I park the car and then head into the house to find Duke, find out what he’s been up to today. Hearing him talk about anything at all sounds like heaven. He could recite the things he ate in chronological order and I’d be grateful for the distraction.
The place is quiet as I set my bag down on the side table in the entrance, save for the sound of running water.
Not going there, Cammie.Totally not thinking about my stranded traveller in the shower … naked … wet.
“I’m home!” I call out, as much to take my mind off the visuals I’m conjuring up as to let Duke know.
“In the shower!”
Lord, baby Jesus …
Fanning myself with one hand I make my way through to the living room and come to a grinding halt. The sofas have been rearranged exactly how I suggested, but on top of that, he’s pulled some of my framed pictures of Taylah and me out of the sideboard and arranged them on the lamp table.
My arse hits the seat cushion as I collapse and reach for the foremost photo. I forgot about this one, how it used to be my favourite. She’s so pretty, all decked out in her overalls and gumboots as she helps Jared clean the back porch with the water blaster. The photo’s just of her though; I wouldn’t know Jared were there if the day wasn’t set in my memories.
Twenty-five degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We’d planned to visit his parents, but because it was the first fine Saturday we’d had in weeks, we took the opportunity to do odd jobs around the house instead. The two of them—father and daughter—finished off the last of the work for the day, late afternoon, while I ducked inside to prepare dinner. I’d happened to step out to check on Taylah, make sure she wasn’t getting in Jared’s way, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a snap.
Thank God I did. Where would I be now if I’d just smiled and enjoyed the moment at the time, not saving it for later?
For forever?
“Hey.” Duke’s quiet greeting startles me out of my state of reminiscing.
“Hey.”
He takes a seat opposite me, watching me carefully, as though searching for clues as to how I really feel about this. “You can put them back if you like.”
“No, it’s good,” I tell him, resolute in my answer. “If you hadn’t pulled the pictures out, I don’t know if I ever would have.”
He makes a small humming noise as he leans back in the seat, his hair still damp, and his skin holding a slight flush from the heat of the shower.
“This one,” I say, handing him the picture of Taylah. “It’s my favourite. She was helping her dad clean the porch out there.” I point toward the back of the house.
“Cute.” He smiles, but I can tell it’s that forced kind of compliment from a person who can see a child’s appeal to others, yet doesn’t actuallylikechildren.
Duke passes the picture back, pointing to the one behind as I set it back on the table. “I like that one of you both. It’s natural, more special.”
“Yeah.”Another treasured memory.“My mum took that at Dad’s birthday party.”
“Your parents still together?”
“No. But they’re friends.”
“Hmm.” He twists his lips to the side. “Must be nice.”
He sounds bitter.“Makes things less confrontational, definitely.” I give him a moment to say something, yet he stays silent, staring at the pictures on the table. “Was it hard for you, when your father left? I mean, you said he wasn’t all that nice.”
“So you’re wondering if I was relieved?”
When you put it like that …“Yeah.”
Duke’s chest rises as he takes a deep breath and spreads his arms across the back of the sofa. “I didn’t miss him, but I also wasn’t happy that he’d left, if that makes sense.”