Bondi Beach (9 page)

Chapter 17

FEBRUARY 4

When February arrived, I had mixed feelings about returning home in two weeks. On the one hand, this all felt surreal, and I was ready to return home, catch up on work, and see friends. On the other hand, I was falling more deeply in love with Martin and dreaded leaving him and putting such a distance between us.

We
’d planned to go camping for a few days in the Blue Mountains, and he’d gone out to buy food and an extra sleeping bag while I stayed back at home to catch up on a little work. I was expecting him back at any minute when there was a knock at the door. I was sure that he had his hands full with shopping bags so went to answer it.

Mike stood
on the front porch with an odd expression on his face. “Can I come in?” he asked quietly.

“Sure,” I said, opening the door wider
. “Martin should be home soon.”

He
nodded and stepped into the foyer. “Mind if I sit down?”

“Not at all
. Make yourself at home. Can I get you a glass of water?”

“No thanks,” he said gruffly
.

I filled a glass for myself and sat down on the sofa perpendicular to his
. I didn’t know what he was doing here but assumed that he had come to talk to Martin. Then, I wondered if he had come to apologize for his behavior last night.

“
I understand your husband’s dead.”

He must have come to talk to Martin because his behavior was about as abrupt as it had been before.
“He passed away a couple of years ago.”

“So,
you came to Australia to snag a bloke?”

“No.
”

“Well, the way you’re playing house
here, that’s what it looks like.”

I didn’t say anything, but I could tell
that he was getting more agitated. If he’d been drinking, I thought some food might help. “Mike, can I get you something to eat?”

“I don’t want food,” h
e scowled. Then, he got up and sat beside me on the sofa. “What the hell are you still doing here at Martin’s place?”

I looked
at him directly and said calmly, “That’s between Martin and me.”

He
grimaced and reached up to touch my right cheek. “Looks like it’s healed up enough to move on.” I got up to move a few feet away, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. “Was it that easy with you? All he had to do was ask you to stay, and you’re sleeping in his bed?”

He was making me nervous, but I maintained my composure. The last thing I wanted to do was to agitate him even more.
“Mike, let me go.”

He let out a snide laugh
. “Or what?” He grabbed my arm with his other hand, and pulled me down beside him on the sofa. I tried to move, but he was stronger than I was and had pinned my arms. I could smell beer on his breath as he moved to lay over me. My feet were still on the floor, and I was in such an awkward position that I didn’t have much leverage to push him away. He slid one hand behind my head and was trying to kiss me when I heard the door open.

“Get off of me!”
I shouted.

Martin
ran to the living room and pulled Mike away from me before Mike even realized what was happening. Martin hit him in the face three times, cutting Mike’s lip and nose and sending him reeling to the floor.

“What the hell?” asked Mike angrily
. “You pick a girl you just met over a mate?”

Martin
looked over at me, his eyes furious. “Are you okay?”

“
Yeah,” I said, standing up.

He looked
back at Mike. “What the hell did you come here for?” Martin yelled.

“Trying to get a little of what you’ve got,” Mike chuckled
. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” His voice was brusque. Martin hit him once more and dragged a stumbling Mike out the front door and threw him into the driver’s seat of his car. I watched from the front door to be sure that Martin was alright. He was on his cell phone, and I assumed that he was calling Bud or Syke to tell them what had happened. I hadn’t seen him this angry before. Martin told Mike that their friendship was over and to stay away from me. A few minutes later, Mike drove away.

As
Martin returned to the house, I opened the door. He looked at me as he walked inside, closing and locking the door behind him. He looked angry, and his eyes were filled with tears. Taking me into his arms, he held me close, his heart racing. For the first time since we’d been together, I realized that he was the one who needed to be comforted.

“It’s okay
. I’m okay. It’s all over now,” I told him.

He didn’t say
a word.

As we lay in bed that night, Martin
said very little but stayed close to me. When I began kissing his chest, he pulled me back up into his arms. “I just want to hold you tonight.”

“Okay.
” I laid my head on his shoulder and fell asleep.

Chapter 18

FEBRUARY 5

When I awoke the following morning, I lay on my stomach with my head turned to the side and resting on my arms. I watched Martin as he slept and thought about what had occurred the previous day. I remembered how protective he’d been and was grateful that he’d returned home when he had.

He opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Hi,” he smiled.
“How long have you been watching me?”

“I don’t know
. A few minutes.”

He reached over and touched my
neck with his hand. “Are you okay?” he asked as he remembered the day before.

“
I’m fine.” I watched him for a moment, trying to read his eyes. “Are you?”

A long pause
. “No,” he said, looking me in the eyes. “It took a while to fall asleep last night. I kept wondering what would have happened if I hadn’t come home when I did.”

“
But you did come home in time.” I took his hand and kissed it, noticing some bruising across his knuckles. “Thank you,” I whispered.

He opened and closed his hand a few times, feeling some pain. “If anything
had happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

“
I’m just sorry that it was a friend of yours who tried something.”

He
shook his head and was thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll bet you can’t wait to get home.”

I
smiled a little. “To be honest, there’s a part of me that’s looking forward to going home. There’s also a big part of me that’s dreading the day that I get on a plane and leave.” I turned to look the other way so Martin wouldn’t see my eyes fill with tears.

He put his hand on mine
. “With everything that’s happened since you got here, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave Australia behind. And me.”

I shook my head and turned
back to look at him, warm tears making their way down my cheeks. “That’s not what I meant. Or what I want.”

He drew me to him and kissed me tenderly.
“Then, we’ll find a way to make this work. I promise.”

*****

We dozed off a few more times before getting out of bed. It was a lazy day, and things began to feel more normal when we awakened again. Martin showered and dressed in jeans and a dark green polo shirt, and I threw on jeans and a white organic cotton/spandex top in the guest room. I had only 11 days remaining in Australia, and we were going camping.

By the time I was ready, Martin had packed the car with everyt
hing but my overnight bag. I threw a few more things into my bag and placed it in the back seat, and we were off. I had nothing against Sydney and had really enjoyed my time there. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to getting away and seeing someplace new.

The two-hour drive to the Blue Mountains was
beautiful. Although the mountains were almost due west from Martin’s house, there weren’t any roads that would take us straight to them. Leaving the coast behind us, we headed southwest to pick up one of the main highways before heading northwest into the mountains.

We passed through Sydney's suburbs
and into an area that was much more sparsely populated before finally seeing the mountains rise before us. The car climbed the winding mountain road toward Katoomba, a fairly small town with just over 8,000 residents. Katoomba’s main draw is tourism, and I could see why. Situated on the Great Western Highway, it has beautiful mountain views and walking trails through the bush. In fact, the town was created as a tourist destination in the late 1800s when several grand hotels, including the Belgravia and Carrington, were built.

Having spent a
fair amount of time recently at or near the coast, it felt good to move further inland to explore an area that was so mountainous and heavily forested.

*****

Since we arrived late in the day, we decided to build a campfire and cook our meal. Then, we would go to bed and get a full night’s sleep before hiking the next morning.

“I’ll put up the tent if you want to build the campfire,” Martin suggested
.

Since he knew how to put up his tent and I didn’t, I thought
it was a great plan. Then, I remembered. “I know your hand hurts. I can help with the tent if you’d like,” I offered.

He smiled a little. “That’s alright. I
t shouldn’t be too difficult.”

He
set about putting up the tent, and I worked on the fire. He’d brought some dry kindling, and I was able to start the fire easily. By then, he’d nearly finished setting up a large grey and green tent with a broad awning that extended over the zippered door.

“That’s huge,” I laughed when I saw it. “How many people does that thing sleep?”

“Eight,” he smiled. “We’ll have plenty of room.”

I felt myself blush and
pulled some baking potatoes from the cooler that we’d already wrapped in foil. I placed them over the fire as he arranged the bedding. It didn’t take long for me to find the pot of chili and heat it, too, and I put out the plates, utensils, and drinks.

Martin joined me by the fire, and w
e sat beside one another in relative silence, taking in the smells and sounds of the crackling flames. The sky was beautiful and filled with stars. It was amazing to see the sky from the Southern Hemisphere; it looked so different than it did at home. The North Carolina sky’s Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I saw the sky from a totally different perspective. The Southern Cross was quite visible as was Alpha Centauri. From here, I could see the Magellanic Clouds, which are two galaxies that can be viewed with the naked eye. Just as we were watching the sky, we saw a shooting star.

“Are you going to make a wish?” Martin asked.

“You go ahead. I think my wish is already coming true,” I smiled, and he wrapped his arms around me.

Putting his
chin on my shoulder, he asked, “Do you have a tradition of wishing on falling stars?”

I nodded
. “Yes. When I was a little girl, my father taught me an old English nursery rhyme. Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

“I’ve heard that one, too,” Martin said
. “We used to recite it when we were kids.”

“Did you
make a wish?” I asked.

He turned his eyes from the sky and looked at me
. “Yes.” I looked at him questioningly. All he said was, “You’ll see.”

When we had finished dinner, we
cleaned the dishes, placed all of the food back into the cooler, washed up, and put out the fire. By then, it was dark and late, and we agreed to go to bed.

Martin held the nylon tent door open for me, and I stepped through
and removed my shoes. A couple of large sleeping pads lay in the middle of the floor and away from the walls to avoid any condensation running down the inside of the tent. He had zipped together two sleeping bags and laid them across the pads and placed a blanket on top of the bags with two other folded blankets nearby.

A battery operated lantern lay on my side of the makeshift bed, and a flashlight lay on the other
. Also inside was a thermos with water, and a first aid kit. I smiled at the single red rose on my pillow. “When did you get that?” I asked as he closed the zippered door.

Walking up behind me, he placed his hands gently on my arms.
“I picked it up when I was out yesterday.”

I turned to face him
and smiled. “Thank you.”

I kissed his lips, and he smiled
. “You’re welcome.” He reached up and held my face and his hand and kissed me. As our kiss deepened, I began to flush, and my breathing quickened. I put my hand against his chest and felt his heart pounding, and he gently pulled my shirt off over my head. I unbuttoned the top of his jeans and slid my hand into his briefs.

Reaching for my hand, he led
me to the bed. He made quick work of my jeans, and I lay on top of one of the blankets and watched as he slipped out of his. Very gently, he knelt down beside the bed and reached behind me to unfasten my bra. Then, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of my panties, and I raised my hips so that he could slide them off. Finally, he lay down beside me and removed his briefs, tossing them onto the growing pile of clothes.

Propped
up on one elbow, he ran one hand across my breasts while we kissed and moved his hand downward. His breath quickened as I stroked him and, then, I guided him inside of me. Wrapping my legs around him, I pulled him close, and he buried his face in my neck and began to move quickly.

When we
were finished, he laid down beside me, sliding one arm under my neck and pulling the blanket over us. I listened to his breath slow as we lay in the darkness of the tent. Martin sweetly kissed the side of my head.

“I love you,
Eva. I’ll do whatever I need to do to protect you.”

I
nestled my head in the crook of his shoulder and closed my eyes. “You already have, and I love you for it.”

We listened to the nighttime
animal sounds and finally drifted off to sleep in the cool evening air.