joked on that terribly rough boat trip that they were both on pretend honeymoons, talking to take their minds off the wild seas.
And the cyclone hadn’t even been close at that stage. It was only two days later it changed direction—as cyclones so often do—and headed straight for the island.
Maybe army personnel didn’t wear wedding rings, she decided. Some kind of safety thing? Could a light flashing off a gold or silver ring tell a sniper where to shoot?
Kate shook her head as she turned the capers in the frying pan, crisping them nicely. Think about the capers, not have ridiculous thoughts about snipers. Angus had been based in Townsville, anyway, and she doubted he’d have been bothered by snipers there.
Angus.
‘You burning those capers, Kate?’
Surely not! She looked down at the pan, forcing her mind away from the man who’d come back so unexpectedly—shockingly, really—into her life.
‘No, but you like them crisp. Nearly ready!’
She put the thin slices of chicken breast back into the pan, with the lemon juice and zest, swirled it around, then served them onto the waiting plates. The bowl of salad was already on the table, and Alice joined her there as she set down the plates.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, savouring the tasty food, but Kate could hear the wheels turning in Alice’s head as she decided how to phrase the question Kate knew she would ask.
Except she didn’t ask a question, instead issuing a statement.
‘So that was the man who caused you all the trouble!’
Kate shrugged.
‘He wasn’t to blame for anything,’ she said quietly.
‘Oh, so you got pregnant all by yourself?’
Kate pushed her plate away and looked at her aunt. Great-aunt really, but they’d never made the distinction. She’d been closer to Alice than she had to her mother, had learnt more about life and the way the world worked on those holidays on the island than she’d ever learnt at home or at school.
‘The getting-pregnant part was definitely my fault,’ Kate admitted. ‘I’d been on the Pill so didn’t give a thought to the fact that I hadn’t been in my room for three days during the height of the storm, which meant I hadn’t been taking it. Stupid, I know, but it had been a tense time with so little sleep, and the relief of finally getting the injured and the majority of the upset tourists off the island had overwhelmed us both.’
She paused, then looked up to meet Alice’s eyes.
‘It was survivor sex, if that makes sense, yet...’
‘It was more than that?’ Alice asked gently.
Kate nodded.
‘It seemed that way,’ she murmured, a little of the remembered passion sparking to life inside her. ‘We’d been through so much together, it was as if we had a...bond, I suppose, is the only way to describe it. A special bond.’
‘Didn’t you tell him you were pregnant, get in touch with him?’
Kate shuddered as she remembered the anguish of those early days.
‘How could I? I’d done exactly what my best friend had done—slept with someone else’s fiancé—and that had broken up my marriage plans. Should I break up his as well?’
She sighed.
‘In the end, I knew it wasn’t right to not tell him so I kind of left it up to him. I sent him a note, care of the base in Townsville, just asking if he’d like to give me a call—gave him my number. I never heard anything after that, which, I think, given all that happened, was for the best, don’t you?’
Alice shook her head.
* * *
Angus made his way back towards the hospital where he’d left his car, his left hand in his pocket, fingering the card Blake had given him.
Some impulse made him stop and look around at the dark water of the ocean disappearing into the night, at the sand, patterned in shadows by the street lights on the esplanade. He breathed deeply, drawing in the salty tang of the air that only existed this close to the beach.
He was a free agent at the moment, at the beginning of an untimed trip to talk to groups like Bondi Bayside’s SDR all over Australia. He’d started here because it was closest to his army base, intending to find a hotel in Sydney to use while he covered the other response teams and government officials he needed to see. But wasn’t that a hotel? Just across the road from the apartments? Bondi wasn’t so far out of Sydney city that he couldn’t base himself here for the local appointments.
He pulled out Blake’s card and phoned him, inordinately pleased when Blake said he was only too happy to take him on their next callout. Another reason to stay in Bondi!
‘So you can see how our system works,’ Blake had added, causing a small twinge of guilt in Angus’s gut. ‘I’ll give Mabel your mobile number. We meet at the chopper on the roof of the hospital. Check in at Reception if you get a call. I’ll leave instructions for them to give you a special visitor’s card that will give you access to the elevator, and allow you to go up to the roof.’
It was only when this was organised that Angus realised Kate might not be on the next SDR callout, but she was here, in Bondi, he’d seen her, and he had no intention of leaving until he’d seen her again. Seen her properly! If he didn’t catch up with her this way, he’d have to think of something else.
Why?
The question struck him as he was about to turn away from the beach, and he couldn’t brush it away.
Was it simply determination to find out why, according to the little he’d heard, she’d changed from a lively, friendly, outgoing young woman to a loner? Back then, he’d seen the shadows of sadness in her eyes, but she’d talked and laughed and even joked about her solitary honeymoon—been vibrantly alive...
Or was it because she’d somehow got beneath his skin three years ago?
Because something special, quite apart from the sex, which had been momentous, had happened between them on the island? Something had drawn them together during those terrifying hours in a way he’d never felt before?
Or since, come to that.
Until she’d walked into the SDR meeting earlier today.
Until he’d felt a surge of excitement—electrifying excitement—rush through his body...
Okay, so maybe there was more reason for him to see her again, than to find out what had changed her...
He walked back to the hospital, retrieved his vehicle from the car park and headed to the hotel, telling himself he was being foolish yet unable to persuade himself to move on. He had to see the leaders of the State Emergency Service and the Fire and Rescue Service. He’d chosen Bondi Bayside Hospital as his starting point because he’d known Blake was
