Chapter Sixteen

Ed wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He parked in front of the pub and checked his watch. He was a few minutes early to pick Helen up and he didn't want to go inside. Partly because he didn't want to seem like an over-eager schoolboy. And partly because he didn't want to bump into Steph.

His mind raced back to that moment, standing just here, in front of the pub, when Steph had kissed him. Not a peck on the check. She'd kissed him on the lips. And a part of him was eager to kiss her back. It had been too long since he'd held a woman in his arms or tasted her on his lips. He was not teenager anymore, but he was a long way from dead, and he wanted a woman in his life.

But did he want Steph back?

And if he did, what was he doing sitting in his car watching the numbers on his watch slowly climb, waiting for the right time to go inside and meet Helen?

He shook his head. He wasn't going to find an answer sitting here. He reached for the door handle. Just as he was getting out of the car, Helen appeared in the pub doorway. She raised her hand in greeting and ran lightly down the stairs towards him. Ed stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder as he gently kissed her cheek. He jumped back, a little startled at his own actions, but Helen was smiling. So it must be all right. It certainly felt all right. Better than all right, in fact.

Struggling to hide his thoughts, he opened the car door for Helen. When she smiled her thanks, his heart did some kind of tap dance. By the time he was back behind the wheel, he'd convinced himself he had his errant thoughts back under control … almost.

‘I'm really looking forward to seeing Bentley again.' Helen smiled at him. ‘I know it's only been a few days, but I bet he's grown.'

She looked so happy. Her face was glowing. She was wearing a skirt and a simple top, but she couldn't have looked better if she was wearing something out of one of those magazines women seemed to read all the time. Ed took a deep breath. She smelled good too. No fancy perfume. Just soap and … well, she smelled of Helen. Something deep inside him no longer wanted to go and collect his new pet. Part of him longed to just keep driving, with Helen beside him. To leave Coorah Creek, and Steph and everyone else behind. Just the two of them. Together. Heading for somewhere new. Wouldn't that be something?

When they pulled in to the driveway of the dog breeder's home, Ed felt almost disappointed.

Ed barely heard the breeder's instructions for Bentley's care, but Helen seemed to take it all in. Her face was a joy as she picked up the squirming puppy, who proceeded to wiggle and squirm until he could reach her face, which he then licked with much enthusiasm. Helen didn't seem at all put out. It didn't take long and they were on their way back to his place, Bentley bouncing around happily on Helen's knee.

‘He's lovely,' Helen said. ‘Isn't he just the cutest thing you've ever seen?'

Ed wasn't entirely sure he agreed.

As they approached the T-intersection in the centre of town, Ed hesitated. He didn't want to drop Helen back at the pub.

‘Would you like to come back to the house? To help me settle Bentley in?' he asked before his nerve failed him.

He was rewarded by a broad smile. ‘I'd love to. Thank you.'

It was strange to have Helen in his house. The house he'd shared with Steph. But it was good too. Helen was amusing Bentley while Ed set about putting together the puppy's dinner. She looked as if she belonged. She made the room seem … warm. Which was a stupid thing to think, given the temperature was well into the thirties, but that wasn't the kind of warmth Ed was feeling.

Ed heard a gentle thump in the living room. The sound of a large cat jumping down from his favourite napping place on the back of the sofa.

‘This should be interesting,' he said to Helen as Bill strolled into the kitchen and stopped dead.

Totally unconcerned by the cat's horrified expression, Bentley bounded towards Bill, and was rewarded with a sharp swipe of claws across his nose.

‘Poor thing.' Helen dropped to her knees beside the puppy. Bentley took refuge behind her, and peered out tentatively at the cat. ‘You,' Helen said sternly to Bill. ‘You should be nice to him. He's only a baby.'

‘Bill is used to being alone,' Ed said as the cat stalked to the far side of the kitchen and jumped on a stool, from where he continued to glare at a chastened Bentley.

‘It can be hard getting past that and accepting someone new into your life.' Helen rose gently to her feet and the look on her face told Ed she wasn't talking about his pets.

Ed nodded and finished preparing the bowl of dog food.

Bentley pounced on the bowl the moment Ed placed it on the floor, his little tail wagging furiously as he ate. Then, it seemed as if the combination of excitement and a full stomach was too much. He trotted over to the bed Ed had made for him in the corner, curled up and promptly fell asleep.

A stillness settled on the kitchen. Ed looked at Helen and she looked back with those beautiful blue eyes.

‘Can I get you something? A drink. A cup of coffee? Or, if you'd like to stay for a while, I could make us dinner.' Ed braced himself for her refusal.

‘That would be lovely. Thank you.'

‘Good … um … which one?'

They both laughed and the tension in the room seemed to melt away.

‘I'm not much of a cook,' Ed pointed out. ‘I think I have some chops and some veg in the fridge. That's about the limit of my cooking really.'

‘Chops and veg sound good,' Helen said. ‘I've never been one for fancy food.'

‘Good. Great. I don't have wine. Not that I don't like wine. I do. It's just, here alone, well, I have the odd can of beer. That's all I have.'

‘It just so happens, I like a cold beer too.'

When Ed had pulled the chops and the beer from the fridge, he turned around to see Helen wielding a potato peeler over the sink.

‘No, no. You don't have to do that.' He reached out and placed his hand over hers. Her hand was wet, and a little bit dirty from washing the potatoes, but that didn't matter one bit. They both stood very still for a few seconds.

‘It's fine. Let me do these while you take care of the chops,' she said, turning back to her work.

They talked as they prepared the meal. At first it was mostly about their kids. But the conversation soon drifted to themselves. Books and music. Helen had never had a pet, while Ed told her fond tales of the old dog Candy that he had lost. They talked about the good times. And sometimes they hinted at the bad. But it was too soon for that.

Slowly the kitchen filled with the smell of food cooking and those chops and potatoes, when Ed ate them, tasted better than any meal he'd ever eaten before.

At some point during the meal, Bill stopped glaring at the new arrival and wandered over to his own bowl of food. After a quick snack, he came back to rub against Helen's legs, purring loudly. Then he settled himself on a spare chair, where he followed Bentley's example and fell asleep.

‘See,' Helen told him. ‘It's not as hard as you thought.'

Just as Ed and Helen were finishing their meal, Bentley suddenly woke up and whined.

‘I'd better take him…' But before Ed could finish speaking, the puppy spread his legs and a puddle started to form on the kitchen floor. Ed leaped to his feet, grabbed Bentley and raced him outside, leaving a trail of drips on the lino.

‘How could you do this to me?' he asked the puppy as he put him down on a patch of dry earth. Bentley ignored the question, and finished his business, before starting to sniff around at the dried grass.

Ed scooped him up and headed back inside, to find Helen in the process of cleaning up the puddle.

‘No. Please. Don't.'

‘Ed, it's fine,' Helen said as she straightened. ‘I've cleaned up a lot worse in my day.' She tossed the damp kitchen towel in the rubbish and washed her hands.

Ed put Bentley down and the puppy immediately went back to bed.

Helen made to start clearing their dishes.

‘No. Don't,' Ed said. ‘I feel just awful that you cleaned up after Bentley. At least let me do the washing up.'

‘Well …'

Before they could say any more the low throb of a motorcycle engine came from outside. Tia, on her Harley Davidson.

‘I'd better get back to the pub,' Helen said. ‘I agreed to meet Tia there this evening and go through wedding stuff. There's only a couple of days now.'

‘Really? I didn't know.'

‘Not many people do. Max and Tia want to keep the ceremony quiet, or else the whole town will show up. They say once word spreads, everyone will meet at the pub for a party. That's how they want it. Well, thanks for a lovely evening. And dinner. And good luck with Bentley.'

‘Let me walk you home.'

‘Probably better if you don't.'

She didn't say it, but Ed understood. Steph was at the pub.

‘Well, let me at least escort you to the gate.'

They walked to the gate in silence. Before Ed could open it, Helen hesitated.

‘I'm not very good at … this. But …'

She turned and looked up at him, and Ed saw the invitation in her eyes.

He leaned towards her and kissed her. Her lips were soft and warm. She stepped closer and his arms went around her as the kiss deepened. After far too short a time, she placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away.

‘Goodnight,' she whispered and opened the gate herself.

As Ed watched her walk away, his eyes lingered on the sway of her skirt against her shapely legs. He could still taste her on his lips. Still smell the fresh scent of her. He felt more alive than he had in a very long time.

Walking back across the road, Helen felt as if she was walking on air. She could hardly believe what she had done. She didn't flirt. She didn't date. And she certainly didn't invite men to kiss her. But Ed … Ed was different. She almost shivered as she remembered the look in his eyes as he kissed her. And afterwards. No man had ever looked at her like that. Ever. And it felt good.

She almost skipped up the stairs onto the pub veranda, and almost collided with Stephanie.

The other woman had obviously been waiting for her.

‘Just what do you think you're up to?' Stephanie challenged her.

‘That's none of your business.' Helen ducked her head and made to walk around the other woman, but Steph was having none of it and stepped into her path.

‘I saw you. You were with Ed. You stay away from him. He's my husband.'

Helen felt a surge of anger. ‘Really. Well, you haven't been much of a wife, have you? You gave up any rights to make demands when you walked away all those years ago.'

‘Well, I'm here now, so just back off, lady.'

Stephanie's voice dripped venom. Once Helen would have run away from the confrontation. She would have taken heed of Stephanie's threats. But not anymore. A lot had changed in the past couple of weeks.

‘I'll do whatever I want.'

‘Yeah. And I bet you've been running me down to Ed all evening.'

Helen almost laughed. ‘Running you down? We didn't even mention you. We had far better things to talk about. And besides, I think Ed is more than capable of seeing right through you. Now, if you don't mind, my daughter is waiting for me.' Helen pushed past a shocked Stephanie and entered the bar, her head held high.