THE DREAM CHILD (8 page)

“My pleasure, madame,” he replied, sketching her an elaborate bow. Then he walked around the vehicle to get into the driver’s seat.

As soon as the engine growled into life, heavy rock music thumped into existence through the vehicle’s sound system. Victor quickly reached out to turn it down.

“Yes, and it could probably fit inside this one twice over. It’s also twice as old, but it does me. I really only use it on the weekends to go shopping or to visit my family.”

“Where do they live?”

“Up the Central Coast, and my sister lives at Hornsby. Do you have any sisters and brothers?”

Victor shook his head. “I’m an only child, but not through choice. I’m pretty sure Mum wanted a whole tribe, but it never happened. She went to hell and back just to have me.”

“I know how she feels,” Sophie concurred. “She’s lucky she got there in the end. I don’t think I’ll ever-“ she broke off, realising suddenly who she was talking to. “Never mind, I hope this afternoon goes well. Will your father be there?” Once again she was swamped with nervous anticipation.

“He’s not really into beading, Sophie.”

“Oh ha ha. You know what I mean. He
was
the State Director.”

“You’re not nervous, are you?” he asked in genuine surprise.

“Terrified, it you really must know,” she admitted.

Vic reached out to take hold of her hand resting in her lap. He probably thought he was trying to allay her concerns. Instead his touch just made her even more edgy as sexual heat pulsed through her from the contact.

“Don’t be,” he said, squeezing her cold fingers. “He might huff and puff but he’s not the big boss now, so just ignore him if he gets on your nerves. That’s what I do.”

“So where do you live?” she asked after a few minutes of listening to the music on the radio. He held my hand, she thought in amazement, feeling like a silly teenage girl, experiencing her first romantic interlude.

That surprised her as much as his interest in bush walking. He simply didn’t strike her as a get away from it all kind of person. “And do you live there on your own?”

“Yes, although I did have hopes of sharing it with someone once.”

“You could always advertise for a flat-mate,” she suggested.

“And never know what kind of person I’d be ending up with. No thanks. I do that on my camping trips. Our group has its regulars, but occasionally someone shows up who snores loud enough to double as a chain saw, and start chopping down the forest around us.”

Once again he made Sophie laugh. He was doing that a lot, she noticed. He seemed to have a rather quirky sense of humour, which made her wonder why so many people in the department were under the impression he was difficult to work with. All through the week, he’d been friendly to his staff, her included, and no one had complained.

He also seemed to know his stuff. He’d obviously studied up on student legislation, or had dealt with it before. In fact they all seemed to be getting on fine. Louise was the only one walking around with a scowl on her face, and poor Maria looked harried and tired.

“What I meant was I was going to get married, that kind of sharing the house,” he said after her giggles had died down.

“Oh,” she murmured, suddenly serious again. “What happened? Did you get cold feet?”

Victor slanted her an odd glance. “No,
she
got cold feet, on our wedding day.”

“You’re joking!”

“No, I’m deadly serious. Having to tell a church full of people that the wedding was off, ended my teaching career. I simply couldn’t do it. Dad eventually did it for me, but suffice to say it wasn’t the best day of my life.”

“I could imagine it was probably one of the worst. I was married for ten years before my husband decided to bail out,” Sophie blurted out.

She hadn’t wanted to talk about Duncan, but Vic’s admission stirred an incredible wave of empathy. She could tell he’d been badly hurt by his fiance’s sudden and unexpected desertion. What kind of a woman would leave a gorgeous man like him at the altar anyway? She could imagine he must have stuck a fine figure as he waited for a bride that never came.

“The man was obviously a fool, and didn’t know when he was on a good thing. Fancy leaving a lovely woman like you!” Vic declared.

Sophie felt herself blushing. She turned to glance out of the side window, not wanting him to see her red cheeks. She was starting to feel more and more like a blushing schoolgirl by the minute. “Yeah, he was a jerk, as I’ve now come to realise. But the main reason we broke up was because we couldn’t have children.”

“Definitely a jerk,” Victor agreed. “Here we are.”

He swung the big car into a tree-lined driveway, and true to his words, they had to negotiate several twists and turns before they reached the house perched on a huge outcrop of sandstone.

Sophie gasped in awe at the sight of the stately home. It looked like it had been built some time during the nineteen twenties, and would have been considered a mansion in its time. Even by today’s standards it was a large house, with a lovely long veranda stretching across the front of it. Shading it were huge old gums, and she could barely see the neighbouring properties through the foliage.

“Maybe.” His edgy tone made her wonder if he didn’t want children. Just because he’d been a school teacher didn’t mean he’d want to have any of his own.

They removed her gear from the car and Sophie followed him up the tiled stairs to the double front doors, pulling her travel bag behind her. Victor rang the bell.

“I do have a key, but I don’t like sneaking up on them,” he told her over his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ve got the keys to Mum and Dad’s place too.”

The door was opened by James Rose. Sophie recognised him instantly, as his photo had always appeared on his press releases and staff newsletters. She also realised why no one would have connected him with his son. Vic obviously took after his mother in the looks department.

James was of medium height with receding grey hair, a fleshy face and double chin. He was overweight, but not obscenely so, and yet, he still managed to exude an aura of self-assurance that kept people in awe of him. Sophie suspected it was due to his shrewd blue eyes, and eternally taciturn expression.

“Call me James. Vera seems to think you can turn her into a jewellery expert in one easy lesson. I hope you realise what you’re in for, young lady.” Even though he said this with a smile, Sophie had already come to the conclusion that this was going to be a long afternoon.

“Dad!” Vic reproved. “She’s already nervous enough as it is.”

“If you know your stuff you’ll be all right. That’s what I’ve always said to Vic here. It’s when you try to dive in without having done your research that you end up in hot water.”

“I’ll show you through,” Vic offered. Since he was still holding her box, he probably wanted to put it down.

Sophie followed him through the large house, catching glimpses of doorways and airy rooms.

She finally found herself in a beautiful sun room at the back of the house that overlooked an enormous backyard, which of course had a swimming pool and another entertainment deck out the back. Two large tables had been set up with chairs around them, at which three women were sitting drinking cups of tea.

Vic put the box down on the table the women were sitting at, and hugged the blonde woman nearest to him. Sophie saw the similarity between mother and son instantly.

Unless Vera had had him as a teenager, she would be almost sixty by now, but she looked no more than her late forties. Sophie supposed being married to someone as influential as James Rose meant she had to take good care of her appearance, but Sophie was sure she’d at least had Botox treatment, if not a face life or two.

She was still incredibly beautiful in an ageless kind of way, with a sleek styled blonde bob, and a trim figure. She was wearing a classic style pants suit and court shoes. Why would she want to learn jewellery making when she could afford to wear real gold and silver?

Vic introduced Sophie to his mother, who took both her hands in hers and kissed her lightly on each cheek. Sophie found this rather disconcerting, since they had only just met.

Vera then introduced the other women, who looked older, but probably weren’t. Janice was a plump, brown-haired woman wearing a beaded shawl, and Ninette was a short, stooped grey-haired woman with an accent Sophie couldn’t quite place.

“Well, I’ll leave you ladies to it. What time would you like me to come and pick you up?” Vic asked Sophie.

“How about five o’clock?” Vera answered for her. “That should give us plenty of time. Is that all right with you, Sophie?”

Sophie nodded. As she was about to turn away from Vic to begin unpacking her gear, he touched her arm. She glanced up into his face and he gave her a reassuring smile, and squeezed her arm.

She nodded her thanks.

To her surprise, Sophie enjoyed the afternoon.

All three women were keen to learn. She soon found out why Vera had had so much trouble with plain loops. She hadn’t been taught how to do them properly. Her previous teacher obviously shouldn’t have been in the business, Sophie thought, but didn’t comment on it, she merely showed Vera how to hold her pliers correctly. Before long she was joining bead units like a pro, creating a lovely linked necklace out of Check and Swarovski beads.

The other women were completely new to the craft, so Sophie got them making a floating necklace with crimps. They enjoyed the experience, and Sophie found herself relaxing, until James wandered into the room for a sticky beak. Luckily he didn’t stay long, but Sophie felt heartened by his comment that Vera’s necklace looked quite professional.

They worked right through until four o’clock, when Vera announced that it was time for tea. Her friends had completed their necklaces and were already wearing them, but Vera still had a clasp to attach.

“I’ll do it after we’ve had a nice cuppa. Maybe then I can close those jump rings with a clearer head,” Vera said.

Sophie had to concur she was probably right. Two hours straight was a long time, and their concentration and coordination had waned. She too was looking forward to a nice cup of coffee, but when Vera bought out trays of cakes and biscuits she was stunned by the effort the older woman had gone to.

Sophie had never considered herself thin. Her large bust always seemed to make her feel top heavy, but she supposed her fitted jeans did slim her lower half down, and she had been off her food for the past few weeks.

“Well, that brings me to my point. Would you like to come again next Sunday? I would really like to make a matching bracelet and earrings.”

“Yes,” Janice agreed. “I’d like to learn to do what Vera made today. That necklace is really beautiful.”

“Which she still needs to finish,” Sophie reminded her. “Well, if it’s all right with you, then yes, I would like to do another class.”