I don’t need fancy. She just has to be comfortable. A decent bed and a fridge and I’ll be happy.’
Luci stretched her arms over her head and her breasts lifted. They were barely contained in her minuscule bikini and Seb couldn’t help but notice. He was finding it extremely difficult to ignore her. He really was in trouble.
‘Poor Callum,’ she said with a half sigh as she surveyed their surroundings. ‘I wonder what he’s up to this weekend. I think he might have drawn the short straw in the house-swap stakes.’
Seb smiled. ‘I’m sure he’ll be okay.’
‘Have you spoken to him?’ she asked.
‘No. I sent him a text, saying I was in town and that I was crashing at his place—after discussion with you. He replied saying he’s not fussed.’
‘I hope he’s settling in.’
‘You said he’s working with your dad?’
‘Yes. And with my friend Flick.’ Luci laughed, a warm, rich sound. ‘God, I hope he survives. There’ll be plenty of patients inventing illnesses in order to get a look at the new doctor. I hope he’s made of stern stuff.’
‘You don’t need to worry about us Hollingsworths. We’re tough.’ They were definitely the strong, silent type, masters of putting on a brave face and keeping their own counsel. Sometimes he wasn’t sure how they had managed to get through the couple of traumatic events they had faced in their lives but he didn’t want to think about those days now. Today was about Luci and he was keen to find out more.
‘You haven’t spoken to your dad?’
‘No, I’ve spoken briefly to Mum but not Dad. He works such ridiculous hours, I don’t like to interrupt unless it’s something really important. He’s supposed to be retiring this year. I know Mum is looking forward to that. Perhaps they’ll finally be able to do some of the things they’ve been putting off. But, of course, that depends on Dad finding someone to take over the practice. Even though Vickers Hill is only a couple of hours from Adelaide, not everyone wants to work in the country and he won’t leave his patients in the lurch.’
‘Vickers Hill is north of Adelaide?’ Seb asked, even though he knew the answer. He’d looked it up, intrigued to know where Luci had come from.
Luci nodded. ‘Known for its wine. Dad has bought a small acreage and he and Mum are going to grow grapes and have chickens and ducks. That’s the plan anyway. I think they should move further away otherwise Dad will find it hard to retire completely. Old patients will still come to him with their troubles if they see him around town but I guess that’s for him to sort out.’
‘Can you see them leaving?’
‘Not really.’
‘And what about you? Are you missing home?’
‘Not one bit. How can I be missing home when I’m surrounded by this? So far I don’t have any regrets about coming to Sydney. I’m going to make the most of my time here.’ She looked up at Seb and he wondered if spending time with him qualified as making the most of things. He hoped so. ‘I jumped at the chance to come to Sydney. Well, not so much jumped, Flick pushed me, but now that I’m here it seems like it was a really good decision.’
She rolled over onto her stomach and Seb struggled to keep his eyes off her very shapely behind.
‘You have no idea how nice it is to just relax and do my own thing, without everyone telling me what they think is best for me. I’m old enough to work that out for myself.’
He did have some idea what it was like to have everyone interfering in his life in what they thought was a helpful way. That’s why he loved having the boat. It had been his escape route and he was convinced it had saved his sanity. He’d been able to disappear and avoid talking to anyone.
Luci might profess that she had chosen to take Flick’s advice to study interstate but he still thought a large part of her motivation stemmed from having a reason, an excuse, to leave. He still thought she was running away. She might deny it but he recognised the signs. He had seen those same signs in himself. He knew exactly what it was like—he’d been running for three years. He recognised the need to get away from all the people who knew you and your past and your story.
But even though he thought Luci was running away from Vickers Hill he knew he was in no position to judge her for it. He’d shut himself off from the world completely. At least she was still living.
He knew that was the difference between them. For the past three years he hadn’t been living. He hadn’t thought he was allowed to enjoy life. It hadn’t felt right but was it okay? Was it allowed? Did he have to continue to ignore the world?
Possibly. It was the only way to ensure it didn’t hurt him again.
But he knew it was going to be hard to ignore Luci.
‘And what is it you should be doing?’ he asked, continuing the conversation she had started.
‘I don’t know yet.’ She laughed. ‘That’s a little ironic, isn’t it, but it’s early days still. I’ll figure it out. On my own. My life is different from how I pictured it. I just have to figure out what I want it to be like from now on. And one benefit of being divorced is that I can figure it out for myself. It’s up to me.
‘What did you think your life would be like?’
She shrugged and averted her eyes. ‘Married with kids.’
He supposed that was quite different from being divorced with no kids. ‘Your husband didn’t want kids?’ he asked. Maybe that was why they’d got divorced.
‘No, he did. We both did.’ Luci was restless. She rolled back over so she was sitting up now. ‘But he decided he didn’t want them with me.’ She stood up and dropped her hat and sunglasses onto her towel. ‘I think I might go for a swim.’
It was clear she wanted to avoid this particular conversation. There was obviously more to the story but he wasn’t going to push her. It was none of his business. He would listen if she wanted to talk but from what she had already said she was tired of interference. He decided he would just let her be but he wondered about her ex-husband. What sort of man was he? Luci had told him they had been together for almost ten years. What sort of man took that long to decide that he didn’t want to be with someone? What sort of man married a girl like Luci and talked about raising a family together, only to leave her right when they should have been starting that future?
Seb felt a sudden surge of anger towards Luci’s ex. He wasn’t normally a violent man but he could see the hurt in her eyes and hear it in her voice and something within him made him wish he could fix it. But that reaction was out of character for him. He expected other people to leave him alone, not to interfere in his life, and he had learnt to do the same. But he wanted to help her and had no idea what to do.
He suspected she was not over the divorce and not over the loss of her dreams for the future but he had no idea what she needed. He could almost feel steam coming out of his ears and knew he needed to cool down. Calm down.
Luci was treading water a few metres from the boat, looking towards the shore. He dived in after her. He would keep quiet. He was good at that, it was easy not to speak about his thoughts and feelings
