Page 50 of Hard Road Home
Smiling, Naomi stood up and opened the door of the treatment room. “You can make an appointment to see Althea if you like.”
“Maybe when I know more about where I’m heading.” Or maybe she should go see her in Bialga.
*
Xander arrived homemid-afternoon on Monday in full Xander Mac style. She recognised the glossy black vehicle he was driving as a high-end four-wheel-drive station wagon so popular with some of the well-to-do farmers in the district. He pulled into the driveway as Bonnie was leaving the cottage after setting up for the next guests. The weather had been fine and sunny most of the weekend, apart from a heavy storm on Saturday evening; the winter garden was looking better than it had for weeks. Flo was supervising Don while he pruned the roses in the front beds along the fence, so the full audience was there to see the triumphal return.
So, one question was answered about the purpose of his trip. Bonnie didn’t know why Tamara had joined him unless the girl wanted to take Colin to one of the Gold Coast theme parks, and Xander wasn’t telling. He dropped a kiss on her mouth before inviting Flo and Don for a test ride.
It hurt he hadn’t invited her too, even though she couldn’t have gone. Irrational. Flo and Don deserved his attention and it made sense. There were guests expected, so someone had to be available. Mr Tsiarkas and another couple had left on Sunday and both vacancies were expected to be filled today. In the week leading up to the big concert, there wasn’t a spare room to be had, either at the inn or in any of the other hotels or accommodation options locally. Even neighbouring Bialga was filling up with the overflow, according to the tourism officer who’d contacted the inn looking for vacancies.
She’d finished showing the second couple over the cottage when Xander and his grandparents arrived home after what must have been an extensive trial of the new vehicle.
“Your turn.” Xander wrapped his arms around her from behind. “You might want to put on a coat. I thought we might go around the lake to the resort.”
With an apology to Flo, who dismissed it with a broad smile reminiscent of Xander’s, Bonnie shot up the stairs to grab a jacket. The resort was attached to the national park and had won awards. At one point she’d worked in the restaurant at night, while helping Nan with cleaning at the inn during the day. Over the years, she managed to work in a few of the restaurants while doing her studies at Bialga TAFE college, balancing it with her responsibilities to Nan, Flo and Don. It meant a limited social life, but she hadn’t wanted to date anyone in-between Xander’s brief visits and her girlfriends had been happy to fit around her work for their get-togethers.
“Why the resort?”
Xander flipped the wagon into gear and turned towards the bridge. “I would have liked to check out my place, see how the car handles the rough bits, but it’s not possible today. A section of track was washed out over the weekend and Briar let me know he has Ewan Tolley in with his backhoe and dozer redoing some of it.”
He drove past the road leading to the Appleton place, turning in the opposite direction onto a well-paved side road with a large sign for the resort. Bonnie could almost taste the clean scent of Xander, even with the strong new car and leather smell of the wagon. Not that she’d been in too many brand-new cars. Everyone she knew had either bought second-hand from the local dealer or had their car for years.
The road wound through the national park, with its tall stands of gum trees, ironbark and wild apple with scrubby wattles underneath. In another month they would be a bright yellow splash of colour. Xander didn’t stop at the main resort building, giving the area a quick glance as he drove along the fringe of the trees and pulled up in the winter-brown grassy area near the boating shed.
There were no rowing sculls on the water today, though she’d seen some over the weekend, putting the local teams through their paces. The full-to-overflowing inn had seemed empty without Xander, and she’d gone for a brisk walk along the boardwalk on the far side of the lake, near the cupcake shop. After only a few days, he was indispensable. Considering the last four years without him, it was ridiculous. Yet she’d only been existing. Going through the motions of life, while she waited. She stopped the thought. Had it been all about waiting for Xander to come back into her life?
“Getting out?” Xander stood beside her open door, his brows drawn together and a half-amused curve to his mouth.
Bonnie shook herself back into the present. “Sorry. I was thinking.”
“You do that a lot.”
She sent him a mock glare in response to his teasing. “Some of us aren’t on holiday. I was thinking about what I need to do when I get back.” A lie. She wasn’t going to let him know how he invaded her thoughts.
He took her elbow to help her out. “You aren’t supposed to be thinking about work now. You should be thinking about us.”
Little did he know. It was all she seemed to think about these days. Even her body reacted like iron filings to a magnet when he was around, skin prickling and heating without even the excuse of him touching her.
He strode across the crackly grass to one of the long seats overlooking the lake. They were comfortable, with a sloped timber back and wide seat on an iron frame. A small plaque told the visitors they were a project of the local Rotary Club.
Xander gestured to her to sit down. “We need to talk.”
She shivered as he joined her, not quite touching thigh to thigh, elbow to elbow. She was glad of her coat, the breeze coming off the water cool and a little sharp. It was the coldness coming from inside she feared. Whether it was instinct or simply years of knowing Xander, she knew he wouldn’t like what she had to say.
Leaning forward, Xander rested his elbows on his knees, loosely linking his long fingers. “We need to talk about what happens next.”
“Do we?” Bonnie had an urge to let him go ahead. Paint his picture of a rosy future. Agree to whatever he wanted. But it wouldn’t be fair to him.
His blue gaze reflected the clear waters, a faint flicker reminiscent of the tiny waves picked up by the breeze on the surface. “After the other night… I thought we were on the same page.”
Bonnie pressed her palms onto the seat, curling her fingers over the edge. “It’s not so simple.”
“It looks simple to me. We want to be together. There’s nothing stopping us.” He hesitated, his eyes turning stormy. “Is there?”
“No. Only some things you should know.”
The stiffening of his body radiated his tension without him appearing to move at all. He turned his gaze to the lake. “Go ahead.”