Page 114 of Loving Wild
“Sorry, it’s . . . that view is stunning.”
“Why I bought the place,” Joe states as he moves to stand beside me. “Don’t get views like that in Essex and Kent.”
“Awww, I dunno. There are a lot of beautiful spots in both those counties, just not quite as beautiful as that.”
Dani pecks my cheek as Joe moves in to do the same.
“How you travelling, Lauren?”
“I’m good, Joe, yourself?”
“Old and slow,” he says with a smile and a wink.
“Happens to all of us eventually,” I tell him. “You have a beautiful home here.”
“Not mine anymore, belongs to the kids. This place holds lots of memories for all of us, I want them to continue making more, and for their kids to do the same. Glad you’re now here to be part of those memories.”
His arm has moved across my back as we’ve been speaking, and he gives my shoulder a squeeze.
“We need to fill the rest of that wall with all the good times.” He gestures with a tilt of his head to the wall running the length of the space to the right of the kitchen. From the centre, out equally to either side, about half of the wall from floor to ceiling is covered in black and white photos.
“Each time we get together here, we add more,” he tells me, and my throat instantly tightens.
“Thanks for letting me be a part of that, I can’t wait to be a memory on that wall. You have a beautiful family, Joe. You’ve raised good people.”
His blues eyes are darting all over my face as I look up at him, but he says nothing for a moment.
“Glad my boy has finally found someone to share all that beautiful with.”
“You gonna let her go, old man, or keep her pinned to your side all weekend?” Gabe says as he walks towards us.
Joe pulls away from me and opens his arms to Gabe who steps into them. Manly back slaps ensue as the next hour erupts into a chaotic mass of humans carrying supplies from the truck into the house, the fridges and freezer being loaded and the tubs in the garden being filled with ice, beer, wine, and soft drinks.
The delivery of meat Gabe had ordered arrived while I was out with Sam, and the barbie has been fired up.
Because we went out and did the shop, Sam and myself are excused from food prep duties, so with a glass of wine topped with lemonade in hand, I wander down to the jetty and look out across the water. The sun has set for the day, the sky clinging on to the last wispy remnants of pink.
The fire pit is lit, and Gabe is sitting around it with his brothers. Joe is manning the barbie, and the kids have their own fire pit going at the side of the house next to a huge tent where they’ll all be sleeping. Joe fed them first, and they’re all now busy toasting marshmallows on sticks they were sent to collect earlier.
Hunters and Collectors, ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’, is playing over the speakers, and in all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never felt more like I belonged in Australia.
I’ve felt unsettled the last few days and haven’t been able to put my finger on why. Life is good, there has been no drama, my business has once again taken off, and Gabe and I are happy.
The only thing I can put it down to is the unease I’d been feeling at being in Jackie’s company again, but so far, she’s given me a wide berth.
I’ve watched her though, noticing how often she puts herself in Gabe’s line of sight. I’m not being neurotic or paranoid. I watched her do it four times in forty minutes earlier—yeah, I timed it—each time she either unnecessarily stood next to him or where she was in view, and each time, Gabe removed himself and came and found me. I’m not sure if this was to reassure me or him, but either way, it made me sad and angry for him.
What an absolutely shit position to be in, to always have to be on your guard, when these should be the times you get to fully chill out and relax with the people you love and trust most in the world.
And it’s all because of her. What she did then, and what she’s blatantly still doing now.
What’s her end game, I wonder. Gabe makes it obvious he only tolerates her for his dad’s sake, but when Joe’s not around, he’s straight-up rude to her. And yet she keeps on doing what she’s doing.
“Lauren.” I look up to the sound of Dani’s voice. “Come get some food.”
I hold my thumb up to her, my stomach feeling queasy the instant the word food is mentioned. Even my wine isn’t going down easily tonight, that’s why I topped it up with lemonade. Discreetly, I tilt my glass and pour the contents into the lake before heading back towards the house.
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