of composure, away from the so public backdrop of the crowded meeting hall. In those interminable seconds she felt as though her whole life flashed before her, with all its pleasure and pain, its achievements, and what she considered her failures.
She was a young child again in Brisbane, growing up in the warmth and security of her mother’s love and care. She was an orphaned twelve-year-old travelling south to Byron Bay to begin a new life with Norah Finlay, a godmother she scarcely knew. She was being thrust into the unfamiliar family circle of Norah and her son, Jamie. And Norah’s nephew, Alex.
She remembered vividly the moment when she met Alex Finlay. It was etched in her mind with a clarity that easily overshadowed her arrival in the picturesque little coastal town of Byron Bay and her re-acquaintance with Norah and Jamie. And apparently her memories of her first sight of him could still unsettle her.
She had been living with Norah and her fifteen-year-old son, Jamie, for just a week when Norah’s nephew arrived home from a school excursion to Canberra, the nation’s capital. However, in that week of his absence Alex Finlay’s reputation had preceded him.
Norah quite obviously adored him and if all Jamie said was true, then his sixteen-year-old cousin had to be some sort of god. Alex was, academically, dux of the school. Alex was outstanding on the sports field. Alex was, well, Alex was everything to everybody.
He lived, Shea was told, with his widowed father in a cottage down the road from Norah’s home. Alex’s father and Jamie’s late father were brothers and, according to Jamie, Alex was more like a brother to him than a mere cousin.
And Shea reflected in those days before she met Alex that it was a fair indication of Jamie’s character that he showed not the slightest bit of envy for this so perfect cousin.
Alex came down to visit as soon as he arrived back from Canberra. Jamie had said Alex didn’t seem to get on all that well with his father. And later Shea also found Donald Finlay to be a cool, morose sort of man, certainly not the kind of person to encourage anyone to come too close to him, including his own son.
So Alex arrived.
Shea was in her room nervously preparing her text books for her first day at her new school next day when she heard the sound of welcoming voices from the living room. Moments later there was a tap on her wall and Jamie poked a smiling face around the open door to tell her Alex was here and that she must come and meet him.
And she went. Reluctantly. Not only was she basically a little shy when encountering anyone new but she was also just slightly disinclined to be meeting someone so revered by her new family. What if Alex Finlay, universally acknowledged as being so perfect, was a big-headed, arrogant, pain-in-the-neck? She supposed she’d simply have to pretend to like him, for Norah’s and Jamie’s sakes.
She walked into the living room behind Jamie and there he was.
His fair hair was an overly long mass of loose, unruly curls, the ends bleached white by the sun. And his eyes were dark, fringed by even darker lashes. Later she discovered his eyes were brown, light tan in the bright sunlight and when he laughed, deepening to dark chocolate when he was passionate about something. Or someone. In that moment she knew unconsciously that his tanned, handsome face held more than a hint of manhood.
Other frightening sensations were warring inside her. She suddenly felt absolutely aware of herself. She was conscious she was almost as tall as Jamie who was three years older than she was. Her legs seemed too long, her body too thin, her hair too nondescript. And she knew a burning urge to be older than she was.
Alex unwound himself from the chair as Shea entered and her legs were suddenly unaccountably rubbery. His shoulders were square beneath his loose T-shirt, and his faded, threadbare jeans accentuated his long legs and narrow hips.
‘Shea, this is my cousin, Alex Finlay,’ Jamie said with obvious pleasure. ‘Alex, meet Shea Stanley, who’s now my unofficial sister.’
‘Shea’s mother and I were the best of friends since our schooldays,’ Norah was explaining. ‘Even though we lived in different states we’ve always kept in touch.’
As Shea’s eyes moved over him, taking in each feature, his gaze was making its own exploration of her. Until their eyes met, held, passed an earth-shattering message.
That was the moment she’d fallen in love with him. It had been as simple as that. They had looked at each other and the earth had seemed to tilt vertiginously.
She could remember a multitude of incidents over the years but that first electric moment when she was twelve and he was a so grown up sixteen would remain vividly in her memory till the day she died. She’d wanted to run to him and from him all at once.
She’d also known Alex felt exactly as she did, while Jamie’s half-rueful glance had told Shea he suspected as much as well.
So here they were sixteen years later. Face to face. And so much had happened between then and now. Between innocence and experience. But their wonderful beginning had ended on that cool autumn night eleven years ago. Eleven years. She hadn’t seen him since. And now...
Her shocked gaze registered the change in him, sent the messages to that section in the deep recesses of her mind that she knew had stored away every memory of him. She could have been that same lanky child-woman if her present reaction to him was any indication. And her response to his sudden appearance filled her with overwhelming horror. She would have to admit it was a far cry from just uncomplicated surprise at his unexpected and unheralded arrival.
The noise of the meeting abated and the crowd faded into the background as their eyes met for those immeasurable seconds.
After his momentary pause he passed her, was moving up to the table at the front of the meeting, holding out his hand to Rob, the chairman.
‘Rob Jones. Remember me? Alex Finlay.’
Recognition dawned on the older man and he grinned a welcome. ‘Well now, Alex Finlay. After all these years. How could I forget that winning try in the footy final? We haven’t won a premiership since you retired.’
A few others joined them, took turns in shaking Alex’s hand, slapping him on the back, welcoming home one of the township’s more successful sons.
And Shea sank slowly down onto her chair, knowing all she had feared had come to be. The very person who had taken her young life and turned it upside down had returned to up-end her ordered world. She’d hoped never to see him again.
‘Who is he?’ David subsided onto his seat beside her. ‘Do you know him, Shea? Everyone else seems to. Finlay?’ His eyebrows went up and he turned sharply to face her. ‘Not any relation, is he?’
Shea swallowed the hysterical laugh that threatened to burst from her. ‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘No. Not really. A sort of cousin. By marriage.’
‘Oh.’ David continued to look at her questioningly and she swallowed to clear her dry throat.
‘He was related to Jamie, my late husband.’
‘I see. I take it this Alex Finlay’s been away.’
‘Yes. He left Byron Bay, before Jamie and I were married, actually.’
‘Oh. That would be years ago. It’s a wonder you recognised him if you haven’t seen him since then.’
Pain
