Page 90 of The Side Road
‘Oliver, you don’t understand. He’s not the one. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with Steve! He pronounces all his words phonetically. The man drinks enough coffee to know the word iscappuccinoand notcuppuccino. There are no sheets on his bed and his coffee table is covered in empty Coke bottles.’
‘No sheets?’
‘He uses a sleeping bag.’
‘Efficient.’
‘He doesn’t even have a bed. Just a mattress on the floor.’
‘I’ve slept on a mattress on the floor,’ Oliver counted. ‘But I get your point. He’s no longer twenty. Perhaps he’ll make more of an effort now that he knows…’
‘It’s not my job to domesticate the man.’
Oliver thought it probably was her job, but he didn’t admit to this.
‘You think I should stay with him?’
‘Well, that’s your choice, but if you’re asking my advice, then yes. I like Steve. I like him a lot. What did you think I was going to say?’
She didn’t answer.
It was time for the most important question. ‘Cindy, what can I do for you?’
A long moment passed before she answered. ‘For the first three months, I pretended I wasn’t pregnant. I hoped . . . I thought it might go away. Sometimes they don’t stick.’
Also aware of the twelve-week deadline, Oliver nodded.
‘My sister is thirty-five and she’s freezing her eggs. I’m thirty-three. I don’t have a partner, and I’m still having random sex with strangers. To be fair, that’s usually Steve.’ She took a long breath, and for a moment, she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she said, ‘Honestly, I’m scared to death, but I want to have a baby. This is a crazy idea, isn’t it?’
Oliver didn’t answer. He wasn’t altogether sure what her idea, crazy or otherwise, was.
‘You know that group of gum trees by the river at Vickie and Allen’s?’ Cindy continued.
Oliver nodded. Directly behind the homestead on the river flats was a cluster of ghost gums. It was a great place for a swim or a picnic.
‘Well, a pair of wedge-tailed eagles made a nest there. Amassive platform of sticks in the fork of the tallest tree. About two metres wide. I thought it might be a sign.’
‘A sign for what?’ He needed her to get to the point.
‘Well, you’re a single parent, and I’m about to be one. Honestly, I thought you might help me and we could make something of this together.’
Oliver froze. ‘Cindy, that’s not going to happen. We’re friends – it was never anything more. And I never gave you a reason to think otherwise.’
Holding her head in her hand, Cindy stared at the table. ‘I know.’
She raised her eyes and looked at him. ‘Have you ever been in love with someone who doesn’t love you back?’
‘Of course.’
She sniffed. ‘I need a friend. There isn’t anyone else. At least not anyone who understands. I’m also going to need a place to stay.’
‘There are a few hotels in town. I’ll check…’
‘A hotel – what the fuck? I didn’t come all this way to stay in a hotel. It’s just a few days.’
‘Sure.’
What else could he do? Asking her to leave felt like throwing her out on the street. But where was Cindy going to sleep? There was only one answer to that question. When Mary arrived, she took the news better than he expected. She was Catholic.
