Chapter Fifteen

Helen had a restless night. All she could think about was Ed in his garage across the road and Stephanie in the room along the corridor. After the wedding, she'd go back to Brisbane. She had her tiny flat. And her work at the shelter. She'd still come to visit Tia and Max, of course, and talk to them often, but she'd let them get on with their lives, while she tried to get on with hers. Now that she had found Tia again, perhaps it was time she started thinking of herself.

Right now it was time to go down to breakfast. Keeping her head low, she hurried through to the kitchen. Ellen was in there, a pile of freshly made sandwiches on the bench in front of her.

‘Oh, Helen. I'm sorry. I haven't have had time to cook breakfast yet. I've been busy trying to sort out packed lunches for twenty hard working men.'

‘That's fine. What's going on?'

‘We're getting a new building for the school. It's arriving today on the transport from Mount Isa.'

‘A school building is arriving? On a truck?'

Ellen smiled. ‘It's one of those kits. Sort of like a kit house. It's going next to the sports oval and it's going to be locker rooms and for storing sports equipment … that sort of thing.'

‘That sounds great.'

‘The mine manager, Chris Powell, arranged it. All the men currently waiting in the bar are going to help put it up. It'll take a day, maybe a day and a half. My job is to provide food. That many men get pretty hungry when they're working.'

‘Do you need some help?' As soon as she had spoken the words, Helen wanted to call them back. This was a community thing. And she wasn't part of this community. ‘Sorry, I don't want to intrude. I'd probably only get in the way. Don't—'

‘No. No. I'd really appreciate the help. Thank you.' Ellen glanced at her watch. ‘I hope Pete – the truck driver – isn't too far away. Trish and Syd are due back in a couple of days. We want to get this done before then. They're great people, but Trish does like to be in charge and sometimes it's easier without her.' Ellen grinned.

Helen opened a loaf of bread and reached for the butter.

Ellen handed her a pack of sliced meat and a block of cheese. ‘I'll make some coffee.'

The two women worked side by side for a short time, chatting easily about the plans for the new school building. The sound of a truck horn from the road outside interrupted them.

‘That'll be Pete,' Ellen said, starting to wrap the sandwiches and pack them into cardboard boxes.

‘Ellen.' A man's head appeared in the doorway. ‘We are all heading down to the school now. Do you want us to take anything?'

Ellen shook her head. ‘It's not ready yet. Helen and I will bring it down soon.'

The man looked at Helen. She smiled tentatively and he smiled back. ‘That would be great,' he said. Then he winked at Helen. ‘Nice to meet you, I have to run, but maybe we'll catch up again when you bring the sandwiches.'

The man vanished leaving Helen slightly open-mouthed.

Beside her, Ellen laughed. ‘In case you're wondering, yes, he was flirting with you, and no, he doesn't do that with everyone.'

‘But …' Helen didn't quite know how to react.

‘It's all right,' Ellen said. ‘He's a good guy.'

‘I guess I'm just not used to it. Men don't … I don't … flirt.'

‘Why not? You're a nice person. An attractive woman. I should warn you, with the mine and everything, this town has more than its fair share of single men. Of all ages. When we go down to the school I suspect there'll be quite a few trying to flirt with you.'

‘But … what should I do?' Even when she was young, Helen hadn't been comfortable flirting. And a lot of years had passed since then.

‘Just smile and enjoy it.'

When they arrived at the school an hour later, with boxes of food and cold drinks, Helen discovered that her companion was right.

More than a dozen men were busy unloading timber and prefabricated panels from the back of a large truck. She was surprised to see a young woman helping direct operations.

‘That's Sarah. Pete's fiancée,' Ellen told her.

‘Ladies, can I help?' It was the man she'd seen at the pub that morning, smiling at her again as he took a box of food from her hands. ‘Nice to see you again. My name is John. Where do you what these?'

‘I … um …' Helen stammered.

‘Over there, under that tree where there's a bit of shade,' Ellen said, coming to her rescue. ‘There are a couple of folding tables in the back of Jack's ute over there. You could help with those if you like.'

‘No worries.'

John flashed Helen another broad smile as he vanished in the direction of a row of parked cars. Helen felt herself blushing. It felt … nice. She looked over at the cluster of men on the building site. Ed wasn't there. A part of her sagged just a little with disappointment.

‘There you go, ladies.' John had almost run back to them, a large folding table clutched firmly in his hands. He quickly assembled it in the shade of the tall gum tree.

‘Could you possibly grab the Esky for us,' Ellen said sweetly. ‘It's in the boot of the car and it's a bit heavy for either of us to carry. There's water and ice inside.'

‘Of course.' Their helper set off on the next errand.

Helen started to unpack the boxes of food.

‘Where do you want this?' John was back.

Catching Ellen's eyes, Helen hid a smile and indicated a spot next to the tree. ‘Just there would be fine.'

With the Esky duly in place, John was back at Helen's side. ‘Now, what else can I do for you?' He winked again.

‘I think, John Sanderson, you need to get back to work!' Ellen said with mock severity.

‘Yes, ma'am.' The man touched the brim of his hat to Helen, and set off back to join the labouring men.

Helen started to laugh.

‘See what I meant,' Ellen said happily. ‘And it looks like he's not the only one. Although something tells me this one will be a little more welcome.' And she slowly moved away.

Helen's brow creased. What was the younger woman talking about? Then she looked up to see Ed walking towards her. Her heart skipped a beat. He was dressed for work in faded blue jeans and an old T-shirt. A sweat stained baseball cap hid his hair. But Helen still thought he was the most handsome man she had seen in a very long time. Especially when he smiled, as he was right now. Smiling at her.

‘Hello,' he said as he approached. ‘I heard you and Tia went shopping. I'm glad to see you're catching up on lost time. I hope it went well.'

‘Yes. It did. We had a lovely time …' Helen's voice trailed off as her mind threw up images of driving back into Coorah Creek and seeing Ed and his wife kissing outside the pub. She turned away to move some food boxes about, anything to avoid looking at him.

‘Helen. I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you. About Steph.'

‘There's nothing to say.' Helen didn't turn around. ‘Your wife came back. I'm very happy for you.'

‘It's not like that. I didn't know she was … I was … am … in the middle of filing for divorce. The lawyers have to put notices in the papers. She saw one. That's the only reason she came back.'

That might have brought her back, but there was a lot more to Stephanie's return than just that. Helen didn't say the words, she just shook her head slowly. Then she tuned back to Ed.

‘Whatever the reason, she's your wife. That's all there is to it, really.'

A deep sadness seemed to shadow Ed's eyes. He took a slow deep breath. ‘Yes. She is.'

They stood there for what seemed an eternity before Ed spoke again. ‘I was going to ask you … well, the puppy. Bentley. He's ready to come home. Do you want to come with me when I pick him up?'

‘I don't think so.' She spoke very quietly.

For a moment Helen thought he was going to say something. Try to make her change her mind. And while she wasn't going to do that, deep inside some part of her hoped he would at least try. He didn't. He turned and walked off to join the workers.

Helen was still trying to regain her equilibrium, when she heard footsteps approaching.

‘You stay away from him. You hear.'

She recognised the voice instantly. Her hands were shaking slightly as she turned to face Stephanie.

‘I don't know what you're—'

‘Yes, you do.' Stephanie brutally cut her off. ‘Let me make this very plain. Ed is my husband. I'm back now and I'm staying. This one horse town isn't much, but I've got nowhere else to go. So don't even think you've got a chance. Because you don't.'

Somewhere deep inside, Helen felt a spark of anger. ‘Ed is a good man. You had an affair. You left him. He deserves better than you.'

‘And you think that's you? Have you looked in a mirror lately? You don't stand a chance against me. And don't forget, we have a son. Ed believes in family. You can't fight that.'

With a triumphant toss of her head, Stephanie turned and walked away. Helen took some small satisfaction in noting that her inappropriate high heeled sandals made walking in the rough ground difficult.

‘Bitch.' She breathed.

‘I think you've got that right.' Ellen appeared at her side. ‘Don't let her get to you.'

‘But she's right. She is Ed's wife.'

‘She hasn't been his wife for years. She's got no claim on him. I do hope you're going to fight for him. He's worth it.'

Those words echoed in Helen's head during the next couple of hours, as she served sandwiches and cold drinks to the workers, and watched the new sports building take shape.

She watched Ed too. He was so obviously skilled with all kinds of tools. At times, he took the lead during a difficult bit of the construction. He was comfortable working with the other men, sharing the occasional joke. But what impressed Helen most of all was the way Ed was treated by the men around him. These were all good people. They had to be to give up their time for a project like this. And they treated Ed with friendship and respect. She thought back to Tia's father. And to the man who had driven her daughter away. Neither had been worthy of respect. Or love.

But Ed was different. He deserved it. And he was worth fighting for.

Stephanie had been hanging around all day, not helping. She'd just been getting in the way and trying to draw attention to herself. At last she vanished in the direction of the school toilet block, still stepping delicately on feet that Helen guessed would be starting to get very sore.

This was her chance. Helen didn't give herself time for second thoughts. She picked up some water bottles and walked over to the building to distribute them to the workers. When she handed one to Ed, she was pleased to see her hand wasn't shaking.

‘I was thinking,' she said before her nerve could fail her, ‘that I would like to come with you to collect Bentley. If the invitation is still open.'

She was rewarded by a sudden smile on Ed's face. ‘Of course. That would be great. How about I pick you up about seven?'

‘I'll look forward to it.'

As she returned to her duties at the food table, Helen spied Stephanie walking painfully back from the toilet. Helen bit back a grin, then she tossed her head in what she hoped was her own triumphant manner.