Page 42 of Nothing Without You

Evie bent down and started packing up what was left of the fish and chips. When she stood up, Bob had stalked off, the back of him retreating along the jetty and onto the street that led to the shop.

She stood awkwardly, Baker looking at her like he felt sorry for her. ‘I don’t know why you stay with him, Evie. You deserve better. Him and his mates are bad news.’

The way Baker spoke was different to other people she had met in the town. She could pick his voice a mile away. Soft, slow, and meaningful. A sad feeling washed over her. She missed someone genuinely caring about her. ‘I’d better go,’ she said.

Baker touched her on the shoulder and she hoped Bob wasn’t watching from up on the road. ‘If you ever need help, you come to me. You know where to find me down at the police station.’

Tears pricked her eyes. It was a while since anyone had been kind to her in that way and she was touched. ‘Thank you.’

Chapter Forty-Eight

When she got home, Bob was nowhere to be seen, so she spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up the house and getting the shop ready for the morning. With no one to annoy her, she took the time to read a letter that had arrived on Friday afternoon. It was from her father and she sank into the nearest chair, the weight of his words echoing in her mind as if he were seated beside her, articulating them aloud. Her parents were going to visit for her upcoming twenty-first birthday. They had booked accommodation at a local motel and would stay for three nights, before returning to their respective homes — her mother to Cairns, her father to Melbourne.

Her stomach churned with nerves. As much as she wanted to see them, she didn’t want them to meet Bob. Father would hate him straight away, and neither of her parents would approve of the way she was living. Pushing the letter and envelope into her hiding place at the back of the cupboard, she told herself she would write back and try and put them off. Maybe if she travelled to them, it would be better, but she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to do that. Who would run the shop?

When Bob arrived back late that night, he was drunk and stoned. She pretended to be asleep, hoping he would pass out on the lounge. Unfortunately, like many other nights, he made his way to the bed and she had to endure him slobbering all over her before they had sex. When it ended, she lay still and waited until he was asleep before pushing him off. At least the interaction, as she now thought of it, was quick, and for once he hadn’t threatened to kill her if she ever left him.

As she lay curled up on the edge of the bed, his snoring and body odour keeping her awake, she tried to work out a way to escape her life with Bob. Soon she would be twenty-one and no longer the young, stupid girl who had run away with him. She hated his desire to have total control over her, his jealousy, and his threats to kill her if she tried to leave.

It was like she was trapped. Trapped in a bait shop in Yeppoon with a smelly, drunkard, drug addict called Bob. Thoughts of Layla and her other friends in North Queensland came back to her. What were they all doing with their lives? Were they in nice relationships, or maybe travelling around Australia, fruit-picking like the young couple who had come into the shop last week?

Punching the lumpy pillow, she tried to think where she could go. To admit defeat and run back to her parents was not an option. The few phone calls she had with her mother gave hints that she was unstable and not coping with life. ‘I’ve had to stay in a rehab place for a little while,’ she said, the last time Evie spoke to her. ‘I don’t want you to worry. It sounds like you’re doing fine with your shop. I just can’t cope with anything at the moment.’

Guilt pressed heavily on Evie, and she tried to push it away. Her mother had not been the same person since she had broken off the relationship with Mr McIntosh, and they’d left Beaudesert. Did she still love him? Did she think about him, like Evie sometimes thought about Chris? What a mess. Maybe the only one who was truly happy was her father.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Her mum and dad arrived together in Yeppoon the day before her birthday. As she knocked on the door of the motel room where they were staying, her stomach lurched and her hand shook.

Her dad opened the door, and for a while he stood still and stared at her. He looked a little different, but his moustache and dark eyes were the same. When he swept her into his arms and held her like he was never going to let her go, she felt like she was a little girl again.

‘My Evie. My baby, Evie.’ Tears pricked her eyes and she tried hard to stay composed, knowing that if she started crying, she might never stop. Her mum came to stand next to him, and Evie was shocked at how thin and old she had become. It had been less than four years since she had last seen her, but in that time her mum had aged ten years.

‘Come and sit,’ her dad said, gesturing to some chairs placed around a round table. Bustling back and forth, her mum soon had the typical afternoon tea set in front of them. The Arnott’s biscuits and cups of tea reminded Evie of when they had all lived together.

‘So, tell us all about your shop and how you’re going,’ Dad asked, his hand resting on Evie’s arm.

Evie had gone to a lot of trouble to look good, even buying some new clothes and shoes from the op shop. A bit of makeup she found in the bottom of her dressing table drawer, along with a few pieces of cheap jewellery from when she was younger, did wonders to make her look respectable.

A few times she caught her dad looking closely at her and she sat upright, making sure to sound bubbly and happy. ‘Bob’s working today, so he couldn’t come to meet you. He’s on a charter boat for the rest of the weekend, so you may not get to see him.’

‘On your birthday?’ Mother raised her eyebrows.

‘He gets paid well on weekends, and we have to take the work whenever we can get it. We’re doing really well with the shop and I love working there.’

Father’s eyes became downcast. ‘You were supposed to finish school and go to university. You’re too smart …’

Mother placed her hand on his arm. ‘Now, now. We agreed we wouldn’t talk about that. Evie has made her own choices. The most important thing is that we’re all together after too many years of separation.’

Bile rose in Evie’s throat. She had indeed made her own choices. Bad ones.

Thank goodness she managed to avoid them meeting Bob. It was the truth that he was on a charter, and luckily for Evie, the trip with Ziggy and some of his other mates, coincided with this weekend. Without Bob, Evie relaxed a little. On Sunday afternoon she took her parents to the shop and showed them around. ‘We don’t open on Sundays. It’s my day off.’

‘I would have liked to have met Bob,’ Dad said.

‘Maybe another time,’ she replied. ‘We might come and visit both of you.’

Her parents took her out for dinner and spoiled her for her birthday. Her father gave her a gold bracelet. ‘This is from your mother and me. Don’t ever forget that we love you.’

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