was a broken relationship.’ The words were tight. ‘Thanks for driving me home.’ She rushed on. ‘I’ll contact roadside assistance tomorrow morning and get things sorted out with my car.’
In her back yard, her dog let out a woof of sound. A higher-pitched yip accompanied it. Stacie turned her head in that direction before she met Troy’s glance again. ‘I need to go in, feed Fang and Houdini and do some things. Time’s getting on, and I have a lot of work planned for this weekend.’
Work, not play. Troy had the same kind of weekend planned. It was what he should have stuck to in his thinking tonight, too. ‘Good night, Stacie. I appreciated the work outing as a chance to get to know people a bit better. I’ve got enough of a grip on all of them now.’
The subtext was that they would both draw a line beneath what had happened here. If they both knew it, then that was how it would be.
Troy turned to go back to his car and make the small drive to his house. Distance physically, and distance mentally; if he started with that the rest would surely follow because it wasn’t as though he were emotionally invested in Stacie or anything.
He might have experienced a couple of odd thoughts while he was kissing her, but whatever they’d been he had them more than under control now. Of course he did. Troy put the car in gear and drove towards his home.
Stacie watched Troy get into his car and drive to his house. Once he cut the lights she went inside, took food from the fridge and outside to the dogs. Then she went about all the normal tasks she did on a Friday night.
Except Stacie kept losing track of the cleaning and sorting of laundry and other things. Her mind kept returning to a kiss that had been like no other. To a man she should not have kissed at all, but had.
Troy had made it clear he didn’t want to pursue that path with her, though he’d seemed shaken by the kiss, as Stacie had been. He’d asked about her history, and she’d admitted it, but she’d wished he hadn’t asked.
You’re not dealing with what happened with Andrew, and you need to.
Yes, she was dealing with it. She needed to keep focusing on looking forward, not over her shoulder. Stacie did what had to be done about her place, and went to bed.
When Stacie woke the next morning, her car was parked outside her house waiting for her. There was a note explaining some technical bits of car engineering that she didn’t fully understand. The bottom line was Troy had fixed the problem.
He must have got up at dawn to do that for her, and all without asking her for a car key.
In special-ops, skills like fixing cars, unlocking them and starting them without a key would have perhaps seemed every-day. To Stacie, they represented a whole other world of resilience, determination and way of doing things. One that Troy had lost.
Was that loss his reason for avoiding relationships? He’d said he didn’t have the emotion; had that been drained from him as the result of his loss of career path, and of the injury that had caused that loss? Or did he believe it had never been there?
The weekend passed in separate acts of busyness at each of their homes. She saw Troy out working in his orchard. There was a lot of ladder-work involved. When he seemed to lose his footing and almost fell while Stacie was outside trimming the hedge in her front yard—which she’d been meaning to do for ages!—she almost ran to him but he regained his footing, glaring so darkly over the slip that she could sense his frustration from way over here.
Stacie went studiously back to her work. Later, when he’d gone into his gym, she left a container of home-baked cookies and a note thanking him for fixing her car.
She painted her nails lime-green, stuck fruit stickers on them and dared the dogs to say they were a silly choice. The stickers made her happy while she was sewing, so there.
Monday arrived and Carl told her they would be getting Troy in to participate in Carl’s scheduled top-to-toe examination of the plant. When Troy arrived, Stacie tried to greet him normally. Had Troy spared any thought for those shared kisses since they happened?
Stacie had thought about them plenty, though she probably shouldn’t have.
Troy and Carl disappeared downstairs, and Stacie tried to concentrate on her work.
‘Only as I berate myself for allowing those kisses to happen in the first place.’ She fanned the blank sheets of printer paper in her hands before she placed them in the empty tray.
The phone rang as Troy and Carl returned.
Stacie allowed herself one glance in Troy’s direction before she picked it up. ‘Tarrula almond processing plant, Stacie speaking.’
The call was for her boss; Stacie transferred it to Carl’s desk.
Within moments Carl had put the call on hold.
He caught Troy’s gaze and explained about the man coming through that evening, how his business could offer a substantial opportunity to the plant. ‘I can’t make a meeting tonight. My wife has had a minor surgery today; I’ll be collecting her from hospital after work and looking after her.’
‘If you need to take more time off work …’ Troy began.
Carl shook his head. ‘Thanks, but our daughter’s arriving from Sydney first thing tomorrow morning to spend a week with her.’
‘I’m glad to hear things are working out. Stacie and I will handle tonight’s dinner.’ Troy made the decision and announced it firmly. Then he added, ‘If you’re available, Stacie? It’s better to attend this kind of meeting with a strong presence for the plant, I think.’
‘If it’s necessary, of course I’ll go.’ Her heart skipped at the thought of an evening out in Troy’s company but it would be all right. They had indulged in their one moment of exploration. They knew not to repeat it. Stacie certainly didn’t want to repeat it—of course not. She took a breath and tried to ignore her thoughts.
‘Thanks.’ Troy got to his feet. ‘It’s not until seven-thirty, so there’ll be time to go home, take care of the dogs and anything else. I’ll collect you from your place.’
‘I have to go, Mum. The new owner’s pulling up outside in his car.’ Stacie spoke the words into the phone.
‘That’s lovely, dear.’ Mum’s voice bubbled across the airwaves. ‘I’m so pleased you’re going on a date.’
‘It’s not a date, Mum. It’s a work event.’ Stacie bit back a stronger retort, and ignored the relief in her mother’s voice at the same time.
Until Mum said, ‘Before you end the call, Stacie, don’t you think it’s time you visited while Gemma and Andrew are here? They’ve news—’
‘Sorry, Mum, but I really have to go.’ Stacie cut her mother off. She didn’t want to hear about Andrew and Gemma. Mum was asking too much, too soon.
Stacie wanted a comfortable family relationship for everyone again, just as much as Mum must. But surely Mum realised that any hope of that was a long time into the future?
Oh, Stacie’s emotions felt so torn right now.
And
