Three Words: A Novella Collection (9 page)

Well, looks
really could be deceiving. Or maybe that threadbare coat the old
lady was wearing was some sort of disguise?

Daisy walked
back to her customer. “I can’t go any lower than two ten.”

The lady
grumbled and opened her handbag. She began to rummage around in it,
bringing out a selection of very large notes, one of which Daisy
had never seen in real life. Then she handed the correct money to
Daisy. “Can you wrap it please?”

Daisy gave her
a smile. “Sure. Wouldn’t like to think it’d get broken on the way
home, would we? Not after you’ve spent all that money.”

Bending under
the stall Daisy fished around for the roll of bubble wrap, scissors
and tape. She glanced at her watch. Another hour before she could
get out of this place and go home to some peace and quiet. What
with the cold of being in a tin shed and standing on a concrete
floor all morning, she was looking forward to a nice hot cup of tea
and a chat on the phone with Avery. She’d already uploaded her
photos of the concert to her computer and sent a few through to
Avery’s email. She wouldn’t mention anything about the proceedings
after. No need to dampen Avery’s little crush by telling her the
truth about Henry being only after a ‘little fling’.

Daisy put the
roll down on the stall and picked up the dog, turning back to the
old lady to ask her if she wanted to buy anything else but the
woman had tottered further along the stall and standing in her
place was….

Henry.

The two
hundred dollar dog fell from Daisy’s hands and landed with a
shattering crash on the concrete floor. From behind her and beside
her she heard the horrified shrieks of Mrs. Hanson ~ who was
thinking about her lost revenue ~ and the old lady who had begun to
wobble on her walking stick like she was having a stroke. Daisy
couldn’t move. Her feet were stuck to the floor in a puddle of
china.

“
Henry.”

God, he looked
gorgeous.

No, she chided
herself. She mustn’t think that. He was a shallow, egocentric rock
star who had no place in her life. Yes. That was more like it. Now,
if only she was convinced.

“
Hi Daisy.”

“
What are you doing here? I … I thought…. Aren’t you meant to
be on a plane?”

Henry looked
nervous. “Well, yes. But I was worried about you. What happened
last night?”

“
I felt sick after I fainted, so I got Joseph to drive me
home. You said I could go anytime I liked.”

“
I know. But I left you passed out on the bed. I went to call
the doctor and when I got back, you were gone. I thought maybe
you’d done something crazy, you know, wandered off. I couldn’t
sleep. ”

Daisy frowned
at Henry, trying to read his face. Did he actually mean that? She
was so confused she had no idea what to believe anymore. One minute
he was being all sweet and lovely and saying he was on a date with
her and the next he was talking about her like she was a plaything
of no consequence. She supposed that the least she owed him was an
explanation.

“
I’m sorry I left without telling you. I know it was rude but
I felt so sick and I didn’t feel like searching for you with all
those people in the house,” she lied. How could she tell him that
she’d really left because she’d overheard the conversation between
him and Georgia?

“
But you’re okay now?”

“
Fine. It’s just this kooky inner ear thing. It makes me lose
me balance and I faint if it’s severe. The hammock set it
off.”

“
Oh.”

“
Side show rides are the real killer though,” she smiled,
sensing that maybe she’d been wrong, that she’d misheard what had
gone on outside the door. Henry seemed far too concerned for a man
who’d only wanted a fling. And he had driven all this way to check
on her. He hadn’t needed to do that.

“
I can imagine,” Henry chuckled, mimicking her words from the
previous evening.

By this time,
Mrs. Hanson and the old lady had stopped squawking and had joined
forces at the other end of the stall, captivated by the handsome
young man who was attempting to sweep Daisy Darling off her feet.
Watching hypnotised, they sniggered to each other behind their
hands, probably discussing what they thought Daisy should do
next.

Daisy shook
her head. Trust her luck that the one time in her life she required
a bit of privacy she was on a stall with the biggest gossip in town
and her new best friend.

“
So was there anything else?” she asked Henry, ignoring the
fact that a crowd was beginning to gather. It seemed that she
wasn’t the only person in town who was a fan of Hawk Moon. Without
the benefit of his navy baseball cap, Henry had been
recognised.

“
There was one more thing I wanted to clear up before I get on
the plane.”

“
And what would that be?”

Seriously,
this was the weirdest weekend of Daisy’s entire life. Henry was
looking at her in a most odd way.

Henry walked
around the stall and came to a stop in front of her. Taking her
face gently in his large hands, he smiled and leant forward. Then
he kissed her. It was a long knee-trembling kiss that sucked the
energy from Daisy’s body and replaced it with desire. She could
feel the tips of her ears tingling under his fingers.

Okay, she was
willing to concede defeat. She’d been wrong about what she thought
she heard. She’d concede defeat if only Henry would kiss her like
that again. And again. And again.

At last, Henry
pulled back. Everyone in the shed had stopped to watch. Some people
had begun to clap. Others were giving sighs and moans of approval.
It was just like when Hugh Grant made the public plea to Julia
Roberts in
Notting Hill.

“
I… I don’t understand,” Daisy stammered, when she was finally
able to speak. “I heard what you said to Georgia.”

“
What? That I thought I’d met the girl of my dreams and I was
in love after one night?”

“
Uh, um…. Well, no. I sort of heard her calling me names and
when you didn’t defend me, I ran away. I couldn’t bear to be let
down again, so I made my escape while I thought I could. You’re not
going to let me down are you, Henry?”

At the other
end of the stall, the elderly lady pulled a lace edged hanky from
her handbag and began to dab a tear from her eye. Next to her, Mrs.
Hanson was clutching a soggy tissue to her chest and smiling from
one side of her face to the other. Soon, they’d be passing the
popcorn.

Henry took
Daisy’s hands in his, cradling them to his chest. She leant against
him. “After we spent that time together last night, I realised how
lonely I’ve been and how different I feel when I’m with you.
Georgia was livid when I tried to explain. She told me to grow up.
I don’t think she believes its possible to feel this way in such a
short time but I do.”

“
Really?”

“
Really. Look, I can’t promise that we’ll have any sort of
future but I can give you a lifetime right now. I think I love you,
Daisy. I sort of thought it from the first moment you told me to
stand under a tree to get mobile reception.”

Daisy looked
up into Henry’s eyes. “What’re you saying?”

“
Come with me. Stay with me for the rest of the Australian
tour. Let’s get to know each other. After I finish this leg, I’ve
months of down time. I want to spend it with you. On the farm.
Feeding the lambs. I want to be a normal man again. With
you.”

“
But Avery? What about Avery? I can’t just leave
her.”

“
She could stay in school, couldn’t she? She’s happy. And I
can fly her to us when the holidays come. I really want to meet
her. She sounds like a great kid.”

Tears welled
in Daisy’s eyes. This couldn’t be happening, this couldn’t be
true.

“
I… I… Oh shit. Yes Henry, yes. I’ll come with
you.”

All around
them, the crowd erupted. Fists pumped in the air. The flash of a
camera made Daisy blink. People called out, “You go, girl!”

One woman was
heard to utter, “If I’d known this was included in the ticket price
I would have bought a weekend pass.”

Henry kissed
her again. It was an honest kiss and one that melted the block of
hurt that Daisy had constructed around her heart.

At last, he
let her go.

“
I’ll have to go home and break the news to Avery first. I
promised I’d take her to the movies next weekend and out for dinner
and I want to do that. We spend so little time
together.”

“
Sure. You just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll get
Georgia to organise you a plane fare.”

“
And I’ll need to find someone to look after the sheep and
Rex.”

“
I can do that,” Mrs. Hanson chimed in. “Before David died, we
had quite a flock of our own. And it’d give me something to do
taking Rex for a walk every day. I’ll even collect your mail if you
give me the post box key. I have to get my own anyway so it’s no
trouble.”

Again, Daisy
was flabbergasted. “You’d do that for me, Mrs. Hanson?”

“
Of course, dear. And call me Doreen. You’ve helped so many
people in this community over the years; it must be time for you to
have some fun especially after what that rotter Jack did. Just make
sure you get your photo in the paper a few times. It’d really rub
it in if he saw who you’ve moved on to.”

Daisy laughed.
“Well, I guess that’s all sorted.”

Then Henry
swept her into his big strong rock star arms and kissing her full
on the mouth carried her from the shed. If this was what her life
was going to be like now, she was more than ready.

THE END

It Started With A Kiss

Chapter 1

Ear buds
wedged in her ears and music tuned to an indecent volume to keep
out the city noises, Georgie Bird jogged purposefully along the
path that wound its way along Riverside Drive, nodding hello to a
few regulars running in the opposite direction as she went and side
stepping a group of elderly ladies who were out for their daily
constitutional. Georgie hated jogging. It made her sweaty, hot and
more pink-cheeked than an Eskimo in a sauna but she persevered with
the practice because it kept her fit and thin. A good five
kilometer run meant she could have her cake and eat it, too.

With a trail
of sweat trickling down the side of her temple, Georgie picked up
the pace as her playlist ticked over to a new song. A more up-tempo
tune, it made her happy and took her mind off the fact that she was
exercising in such a torturous manner. It didn’t, however, provide
her with the peripheral vision required to avoid a large mound of
dog poop that had been strategically plopped in her path. Georgie
felt the squelch before she realized what had happened and even
then, she was so engrossed in the song it took until the stench
wafted to her nose before it registered. Stopping, she looked back
at the path, noting the brownish-greenish pile that was splattered
across the path from where she’d stepped in it. She looked at down
her sandshoes.

Shit.
Literally.

The sides of
her left shoe were covered in the stuff and, boy, did it reek.

“
Great,” she muttered, wondering why on earth people couldn’t
dispose of their dog doings in the proper manner. Honestly, some
people just didn’t give a crap.

Half-smiling
at her own pun, Georgie made her way to the grass along the side of
the track and sat down, carefully removing her shoe so as not to
get the offending material on her fingers. A disgusted shudder
rippling through her body, Georgie picked up a stick and began to
dig bits of brown from the crevices of her sole. Bile rose in her
stomach as she dragged her shoe back and forth on the grass a few
times, managing to get most of it off but it still stank to high
heaven. So much so, in fact, that it was making her dry reach and
she didn’t think she could finish her run while heaving at the same
time. If only she had some water to rinse the remains away.

Then she had
the perfect idea. She was sitting on the side of the Swan River,
for heaven’s sake. How could she not have thought of it before?

Standing up,
shoe in hand, Georgie hopped across the grass towards the riverbank
and knelt down on the side of the river wall. The water was a way
down, with the tide being out, but if she stretched far enough she
knew she could give her shoe a quick dip, get it clean and put it
back on. It’d dry off soon enough.

Satisfied with
the plan, Georgie leant over; reaching her arm into the water and
maintaining balance with her other arm, which was holding her iPod.
Her shoe barely grazed the surface of the water but she swished and
swirled, reaching as far as she safely could without falling.

At least, that
was what she thought.

Her body
appeared to have other ideas on safety and balance and before she
knew it, Georgie was chest deep in the murky sand of the riverbank.
Her attempt to stop herself from toppling in had only succeeded in
making the fall worse and she’d ended up on her bottom in the water
with her arms stretched high above her head, one hand holding her
stinky shoe, and the other her iPod.

A frustrated
groan escaped Georgie’s lips, followed by a couple of expletives.
Now what was she going to do?

Sand seeping
through her leggings and into her knickers, Georgie looked
hopefully towards the other joggers on the path. It was a sunny
day. Plenty of people were out. If she smiled nicely, one of them
might take pity on her and offer a hand to pull her out of the
drink. The river wall was covered in barnacles and weed and, while
she knew she could climb it, she didn’t want to be cut to ribbons
in the process. She smiled weakly at a few people but not one of
them stopped to lend her assistance. Most of them pretended she
didn’t exist and a few of the real sadists smirked at her plight as
they ran past. Ignorant asses. There was nothing for it. She’d have
to hike a leg up alone.