The Goodbye Girl (34 page)

“You don’t say.”  Nick’s eyes twinkled.

“You ask me, David’s been either snorting or smoking something.  Boy gets crazier every day.”  Mark looked at Nick.  “What are you having to drink?”

“Same as Bree, only black with none.”

“Tough man,” she remarked as Mark walked away.

“The toughest,
honey, the toughest.”  His gaze drifted across her face.  “How are you feeling this morning?”

“A little tired.”

“Must be all that exercise last night.”  When she blushed, he shook his head.  “Bree, you naughty girl.  I meant running around the fields and falling into the creek.”

“I knew that.”

His teeth flashed whitely in a grin.  “Sure.”

“Anyway, I feel fine.”  Primly folding her hands atop the table, she
took a deep breath.

Nick’s gaze fell to her breasts, a definite wolfish gleam in his eyes when he looked back up at her face.  “Maybe another one will help get
more oxygen into your lungs.”

Cripes, he could make her laugh and feel hot all at once.  “One was enough, I assure you.”

“You can never be too safe.”

She cast him an ironic look.

“Just trying to help,” he said innocently.

“I bet.”

Laughing, he reached over to lay his hand atop hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.  She felt it right to the tips of her soles, especially when combined with the warmth in his eyes.

“Here you go.”  Mark stopped at the table, a cup in each hand, his eyebrows raised as he looked at their hands.

Automatically, Nick and Bree both drew back, taking their arms off the table as Mark placed the cups down before them.

When he’d
left, Nick looked at her.  “So, did you contact your friend Jackie?”

“She contacted me, actually.”  Bree fiddled with the teaspoon on the saucer.

“Bet she was overjoyed when she found out that you got actual footage of the lights.”

“Ummm…” 
She pursed her lips.

Angling
his head to one side, Nick eyed her thoughtfully.

Feeling his steady regard, she
lifted her gaze from the teaspoon to his eyes.

He arched one brow inquiringly.

“I didn’t tell her,” she stated quietly.

“Oh?”

“Well, I actually told her we didn’t see anything.”

There was no doubting the genuine puzzlement on his handsome face.

“I don’t quite know why, either.”  She paused, sighed.  “No, I do.”

Patiently, he waited.

“There are responsible investigators out there, people who ask permission and respect others property.  Then there are those who will do whatever it takes to get evidence, who don’t leave things the way they found them, who have actually been known to destroy parts of people’s property in the hunt.  My friends are like that.”   Or were they her friends?

Bree’s gaze dropped to the teaspoon as she
continued fiddling with it.  They were kind of her friends, they’d been together on many hunts, had welcomed her and her Mum, she’d known them for years.  But what did she really know about them?

Nothing really.  Jackie was so paranoid,
Mick solely focussed on getting what he wanted, the other members of the team interested in only one thing - evidence of extraterrestrial life forms.  That was all she knew about them.  She’d never been to their homes, never met their families if they even had them.  All she knew was that they operated out of an old caravan filled with gadgets and computers.

In fact, she didn’t remember ever talking
to them about anything more than UFOs and the unexplained.  They’d never shown any interest in her apart from that, and Bree suddenly realised that she’d never been interested enough in them to persist in trying to be more than a fellow hunter.  And they hadn’t cared enough when she’d fallen in the creek in freezing weather, it was just the evidence that was important.  Wasn’t that just so revealing?

Her restless fiddling stopped and she stared at the coffee in the mug.  They hadn’t cared, and to be truthful, neither did she.

“Bree?”  Nick asked quietly.

“Just having a bit of a moment
.  It’s okay.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not just yet.”  She looked up as the bell above the door dinged merrily, notifying the café staff that someone had entered.

Frank crossed to the counter, bought
a take away coffee and a slice of cake and turned to leave.  Spotting them, he smiled and came over.  “How’s the door, Bree?  Behaving itself?”

“Good as gold, Frank, thanks.
”

“Any problems, just drop by and I’ll sort it out.”  He nodded at her and Nick and left.

Her gaze slid to the window where she watched Paul and Becky strolling along the street, hand in hand, Becky’s swollen belly leading the way, Paul carrying his little son on his hip.  They stopped, chatted to Frank and then continued on their way.

In Whicha, she
thought, people knew each other, cared for their neighbours.  She’d made friends here, good friends.  Real friends who called around with a casserole if she was unwell, who helped her change a tyre when she had a flat even though she’d protested she could do it.  Friends who were there when needed.

Friends who didn’t want her for only what they could get.  They were real friends.

Turning her head, she looked at Nick.  He was watching her with a mixture of warmth, patience, and concern.

T
his man loved her for herself, plus-size knickers, a pair of batty Siamese cats, different ideas and all.  And he’d definitely been concerned when she’d fallen into the creek, seeing to her safety and comfort before his own.

“I’ve just had an epiphany,” she s
tated.

“Oh?”

“All my
real
friends are here.”

“You know a lot of people apart from here.”

“Yes, but no one really close. I was never truly at home until I came to Whicha, never really had friends I could confide in until I came here.  Never had a job I was so comfortable in until I came here.”  She smiled slightly.  “I did meet a nice soldier boy I wrote to, and then guess what?’

His eyes were warm.  “You met him here.”

“Good guess, and correct.”

His gaze drifted across her face.  “I have good mates in the Army, but no one
I was really close to until I met Alex.  Then I came to Whicha and I made friends, good friends.  And I met you.”

“Whicha is a good place.”

“It is.”

“The best place I’ve ever been to.”

“Yep.”

“Meeting you here ma
kes it even more special.”

Picking up her hand, he kissed the back of her knuckles.
“The town may be special, but home is where the heart is, and my heart is with you.  Wherever you are, is home.”

That had a lump rising in her throat.  “Oh crap, now I’m going to cry.”

He grinned crookedly.  “Guess I can’t even get the romance right.”

“Sweetie, you’re the best at it.”

“Not hard to do with you.”

“You know, you’re the only person who ever thought I was special.”

“Your Mum must have told you.”

Bree glanced down to where he still held her hand, his thumb stroking gently over her knuckles.  “Mum was…unique.”  She fell silent.

Mark came over.  “Refill?  Something to eat?”

Nick looked questioningly at Bree, who shook her head.  He smiled up at Mark.  “Thanks, but no.”

Mark nodded and walked back to the counter.

Nick gave her hand a gentle squeeze.  “What say we go for a little stroll
, stretch our legs?”

She smiled.  “Sounds good to me.”

She waited for Nick outside the café while he paid the bill.  Ever the gentleman, he’d insisted on paying for her coffee and she wasn’t going to argue, it wouldn’t have made any difference.

“Bree!”

She looked up to see David and Charlotte hurrying across the street, their expressions excited, and she wondered if they’d both seen the lights the previous night.

Charlotte stopped, practically bouncing in her sensible shoes.  “Did you see the lights last night?”

Hmmm.  To lie or not to lie?  It would be for the greater good, right?  “No.”

“Are you kidding?” David’s eyes widened.  “I saw them from my bedroom!”

“Really?”  She feigned mild interest.

“Yeah.  Two lights, zipping across the sky.  I don’t know of any planes that can fly like that
.”

“You sure about the lights?”

“Yep.  Saw them with my own two eyes.”  He pointed at his eyes to emphasize.

“Uh-huh.”  Man, she hated doing this
, but for the greater good, right?  “Like those lights behind the hill?”

“No!  This was the real thing!”

“Not like your lights at all, huh?”

“No.” He flushed guiltily.  “Ummm…”

She raised both eyebrows.

“Fine,” he muttered.  “I was just having a bit of fun
that time, you know?  Harmless.”

Charlotte smacked his arm.  “Getting people stirred up over nothing.  You ought to be ashamed of yourself, boy.”

“It was just a joke, no harm done.”

“You know the story of the boy who cried wolf,” Bree drawled.  “By the time you see the real thing, no one is going to take notice.”

A little sulkily, he shoved his hands into his pockets.  “But I did see those lights last night, those two UFOs.”

“Maybe you did and maybe you didn’t, but how many people are going to believe you now they know the first light and laser beams were a hoax?”

“How is everyone going to know?” he demanded.

“Hate to tell you, David, but I think everyone knows it was a hoax by now.”

“Well, I’m telling you, I did see it!”

“I believe you.”

Almost instantly his expression grew hopeful.  “You do?”

“Hey, I believe in UFOs, remember?”  Bree held out her hands, palms up.  “But I can’t say I saw something I didn’t.  But I believe that you believe you saw something.”

“That’s not acknowledging it.”

“Not a lot I can do about that.”

Disgruntled, David turned and walked off.

“Rude.”  Charlotte gave a small sniff.  “Those serious about the unexplained have to learn to take the highs with the lows.  Not everything is going to be provable.”

“Isn’t that the truth.”  Bree watched David walk away.

“I’m considering joining a UFO
group.”

Bree looked at her.  “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.  Out with fellow hunters, hot thermos of tea, sandwiches.  We’ll sit on blankets and watch the skies for lights, plot the courses.”  She practically beamed.  “It’ll be so much fun.”

“Huh.”  Bree slid her hands into her pockets
, rocked back and forth in her purple sneakers.  “Sounds great.”

“I
know
!”

Time to bring reality back.  “Sounds great, but serious hunters don’t sit on blankets under the stars sipping tea, Charlotte.”

“Of course they do, dear.  How else do they watch the skies?”

“I stand corrected.  A bit.  The truth is sometimes they sit in their cars, sometimes on a blanket, but as soon as a light is seen, serious hunters will pursue it.  That means through fields, bushes, over fences, in the mud and dust, in the rain.  And after all that, you’re lucky if you get a clear photo.”  Bree paused.  “The really unlucky ones fall into creeks on stormy nights.”

“I’m sure it’s not always like that.”  Charlotte flapped her hand.  “Anyway, I’m joining this select group of seniors who have decided to take up UFO watching.  We’ve even got our own name, ‘Seniors on Watch’.  What do you think?”

“
You do realise the acronym for that is SOW?”

“Very apt, don’t you think?
  Snappy, go-getter type acro-thingie title.”

“Mmmm.”  Bree could do nothing but nod.

“We’re having our first meeting at the café next Sunday,” Charlotte continued.  “Decide what we need, which won’t be much.  Cameras, chairs, blankets.  It’ll be so much fun.”

“Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“Now, dear, don’t you worry.”  Charlotte patted her arm.  “We might not be spring chickens, but we’re tough enough to sit outside and watch the skies, take notes and photos.”  With that, she gave Bree’s arm another pat and walked away.

“How to influence your friends and family,” Nick drawled from behind her.

Glancing over her shoulder, she took in his amused face.  “Don’t you start.  Can you imagine the seniors out on cold nights, catching colds?  If one of them fell into the creek-”