Butterfly Hunter 01 (27 page)

“
Come and
stay,” Dave offered. “The house is too big since Dad
died.”

“
So … what
have you done with your man, Davey?”

“
He’s gone
back to England. As I’m sure you know already.”

“
Then you’re
going, too?”

“
No.” Dave
frowned over that. Of course he’d thought about it. He just figured
there wasn’t any point. If this was the way that Nicholas wanted
it, then who was Dave to argue?

“
Davey … ?”
Charlie prompted after what must have been a lengthy
silence.

“
Look,” said
Dave. “I reckon you know he thinks he doesn’t have long, right?
Well, I think he just wants to live his life his way, the best he
can.”

“
His way would
be with you, mate.”

“
No, I think
he wants to keep it easy. I think he wants to spare himself, and
whoever else … the grief.” God, even saying it brought an
intimation of the weight of it down upon him.

“
We’re all
going to die, Dave my man. No reason not to live while we can.
There’ll be time enough in the Dreaming for the rest.”

“
Well, then,”
Dave argued, “it can wait. Can’t it?”

“
No,
what you have with Nicholas is a part of life. The kind of thing
you
do
get to take with you when you go, if you live it right.
Next thing I want to hear about you, my man, is that you’re in
England.”

“
But I don’t
think he really wants –”

“
I never knew
you for a fool, David Taylor.”

“
Oh.” After a
moment he rallied again. “Well, I can’t, can I? What about the
waterhole? And the songs?”

“
You’ll come
back,” Charlie said, in his confident way. The man had such faith!
“I’m thinking both of you will be back, and you’ll be looking after
that place for us, Nicholas will be looking after those
butterflies. And the grunter and his love will be together
again.”

Dave sank a bit,
overwhelmed. Minutes went by, but “Oh” was all he managed to say.
And then, weakly, “I can’t.”

“
All right,”
Charlie said easily. “Well, I’ll see you in a week or so. If you
come to your senses, though, just call me. I can find somewhere
else to stay.”

“
You won’t
have to.”

“
We’ll
see.”

Right. He really hated it when
people said that.

And of course, Denise
wouldn’t leave the subject alone. “You’re not
that
embarrassed about
being with a guy, are you? Life’s too short, Davey.”

He almost laughed at that.
“His motto was Seize the Day.”

“
Well …
?”

“
It’s not that
I minded being with a bloke as such …”

“
You minded
being his bitch.”

Dave went bright red, and
thanked God or the Ancestors that Vittorio wasn’t around.
“Denise!”

“
If that’s how
things are between you –”

She meant the sex, he
assumed. “It’s not
that
I mind so much as –”

“
People
knowing.”

“
Yes.”

“
Everyone knew
you were my bitch, Davey, and you lived with it.”

All right, that gave him
pause. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” The endless jokes about who wore
the trousers in their relationship had been so much a part of his
life that they’d never bothered him. As a child he’d always
wondered what on earth could have been so wrong with enjoying
Denise taking care of him. As a man, he’d understood better, but
still he felt that most people who’d teased him about it had just
been jealous.

“
So what’s
different?” she asked.

He thought about it some
more, and couldn’t come up with an answer.

Denise realised, of
course, that she was finally making some headway. She came to sit
next to him, and just spoke very gently now. Not pushing at all. “I
almost bought what you said at first, about it being a short–term
thing. But I don’t anymore.”

He looked at her doubtfully. But
underneath, his whole world was shifting.

“
Maybe
he was wrong, but he was trying to look after you, Davey. Now it’s
your turn to look after him – and yourself, too.
You
have to
seize the day this time. He can’t do it all on his
own.”

“
Denny
–”

“
You’ve got to
go find him again. You’ve got to go get your man!”

“
That sort of
thing,” he said a bit shakily, “it only happens in books.
Movies.”

She emphatically
disagreed. “No. You go make it happen in real life,
too.”

And in that moment, he
knew he would. He wasn’t quite ready yet. But he knew.

“
And send me
an invite, won’t you?” Denise added.

“
For
what?”

“
Your
wedding.”

“
What?”

“
You can
get married over there, you know. I want to be – I
demand
to
be your best man.”

“
Denny
–”

“
You were
mine.”

“
Oh God
…”

And so once he’d escorted
the Americans around in their quest to wrestle crocodiles, the next
trip that Dave prepared for was to Buckinghamshire in England. He
decided it had better be a surprise. If he was going to be dropped
all over again, it had better be made clear and done in person. He
wouldn’t know what to do if he received an ambivalent email that
could be interpreted a hundred different ways. Dave didn’t want to
lose what little certainty he had.

He knew for sure he was
doing the right thing before he flew out, though. Because he was
browsing the internet on his mobile while hanging around the
departure lounge at the Brisbane airport. And he happened to Google
‘Nicholas Goring’. And the first entry in the search results was
from the website of
The
Australian Journal of Entomology
,
announcing an article that would appear in the following month’s
issue. It was about an Englishman, and the new butterfly he’d
discovered in the Outback.

And he’d called the
butterfly
Ogyris
davidi
: David’s Azure.

Dave was standing at the
massive doorway to a manor house, feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
Definitely about to change his mind and take the
coward
’s way out. It was a gentle English
summer afternoon. Somewhere there were children laughing in
irrepressible delight – perhaps in the gardens. Which was lovely,
and brought this imposing old house alive. They were some of
Nicholas’s nieces and nephews, Dave assumed. The sound was magical,
but it also underlined the fact that Dave didn’t really belong
there.

His hand, which had been about
to ring the bell again, fell loosely to his side.

Dave had just turned away
when the door finally opened – and the very proper butler, after a
long moment, softened into a happy smile. “Mr Taylor … ? Yes, it
is, isn’t it? I recognise you from your photo. I’m sorry to have
kept you waiting.”

“
Hello,
Simon,” Dave replied.

“
Please, do
come in. You’ll be very welcome, sir.”

“
David.”

“
Thank you,
David. I’ll take you through to the conservatory. You’ll be able to
surprise him there.”

A blur of rooms, and then they
were there already, before Dave had even had time to catch his
breath.

“
Nicholas? You
have a visitor.”

Dave just stood there,
still within the darkness of the house proper, a little way behind
Simon, unable to really take much in. Nicholas was there in the
gentle plant–filtered sunlight, sitting cross–legged on a tarpaulin
on the tiled floor, potting orchids. With someone beside him. A
child. That was all right. Dave’s heart was pounding.

Nicholas stared for a
moment, and then unfolded to stand with his usual inelegant grace.
“David?” he said, in a hushed tone – not confirming who he was, of
course, but really asking The Question.
Will you … ?

“
Yes,”
Dave answered huskily.
For
better or worse, as long as we both shall live.
“Will you … ?” he asked.
Come live with me and be my love – in
Australia.

“
Yes.”
Then Nicholas closed the remaining distance between them with two
shaky strides, and Dave was deep in his arms, and holding on with
all his might, and they were kissing kissing
kissing
, and it was
just the most
awesome
thing …

Until they were recalled
to their surroundings by the giggle of a child and the clearing of
a butler’s throat.

“
Oh,” said
Nicholas, stepping back a little. “Well. How are you?” he asked,
running a caressing hand back over Dave’s hair. “Did you come
straight here? What a long journey you must have had, that flight
is hellish, isn’t it – I’m sure you’re parched. Simon, please would
you bring us some tea?”

“
Yes, sir, of
course.”

“
Here, come
and meet my nephew Robin,” Nicholas continued, taking Dave by the
hand and leading him out into the conservatory. “We’re just
re–potting these orchids, but we’ll be done soon. You can help us,
if you like.”

“
Sure,”
Dave said, starting to let go and relax into the flow of it.
Nicholas would take care of him, he knew that now. He could trust
this man with
everything
.

“
Robin, this
is my friend David, from Australia.”

“
Pleased to
meet you, sir.”

“
You, too,
Robin.”

“
I
should warn you that
everyone’s
here,” Nicholas said
as he sank back down to the tarpaulin. Dave sat down beside him,
infinitely comfortable despite everything. “A gathering of Gorings.
It’s the summer holidays, you see. But you don’t have to meet them
all yet. We’ll have tea first, and get you unpacked …” Nicholas’s
gaze caressed him, top to toe, adding the promise of
undressed … debauched …
“Not that you should worry. Everyone’s going to
be so glad you came.”

At last Nicholas was quiet
again, and after a while Dave felt he should offer something more.
“I’m glad, too,” he said, his voice still rusty as if he hadn’t
used it, not properly, for so very long.

“
How brave
you’ve been. How incredible!” And Nicholas took one of Dave’s hands
in his, and lifted it to caress Dave’s palm with his cheek. “Thank
you, David. Thank you so much.”

“
Nnn,” he
replied, quite coherently.

What with one thing and
the other, it was a couple of hours before they headed back down to
meet everyone. As they reached the top of the stairs, Dave asked,
“Are you sure I’m dressed well enough?” He was in a new pair of
washed–out blue jeans, and a white button–down shirt in a textured
cotton which he wore loose, and brown leather sandals. The outfit
had cost him so much that he winced to remember, but now all he
could think was that he must appear too casual.

“
How someone
as gorgeous as you can fret about what he’s wearing, I have no
idea,” Nicholas grumbled. “As if anyone is even going to notice!
And anyway, it’s not like we do the whole white–tie–and–tails thing
for dinner.”

“
Oh God.
You know, I’ve never even
worn
a suit in my whole life …
?”

“
All
right, now
that’s
a deal–breaker, if ever I heard one.” They’d
reached the landing, from which the staircase swept down into the
main hall. Nicholas stopped, and tugged gently at Dave’s hand to
bring him round to face him. “Let me have another look at you, then
…” His gaze caressed Dave once more from top to toe, making Dave
blush yet again. “You look
perfect:
you look exquisitely
yourself.”

He mumbled something
grateful, and then they continued on down the stairs …

Only to find that they must have
been overheard, for two men were sitting on the pair of sofas
either side of the fireplace down there, apparently talking quietly
between themselves. They stood as Nicholas changed tack and
approached the men.

“
My father and
brother,” Nicholas had a moment in which to murmur to Dave – and
then they were there, and Dave was being formally presented.
“Father, may I introduce my friend David Taylor, from Australia.
David, this is my father, Lord Goring.”

“
It is a great
pleasure to meet you, David, and to welcome you to our
home.”

“
Thank you, my
lord,” he managed smoothly enough as they shook hands. “It’s a real
honour to be here.”

“
Please call
me Richard; we don’t stand on ceremony with friends.” And he
certainly seemed to be a delightfully avuncular figure.