Page 43 of Nothing Without You

Her mum was quiet during dinner and ate very little. She did seem to enjoy being in Evie and Carlo’s company though, and she laughed as they reminisced about times from her childhood.

When Monday came around, she went to the motel just as they were about to get into the taxi to leave for the airport. She had risen late and almost not come to say goodbye. At the last moment she risked it. Hopefully Bob wouldn’t be home until lunchtime, and wouldn’t realise the shop had opened late.

‘We love you, Evie,’ Mum said, wiping tears from her face and hanging onto her like she was never going to let go.

‘Please look after yourself, Mum. Cairns isn’t that far from here. I’ll try and get up to see you as soon as I can.’

‘That would be nice. Take care.’

Placing both his hands on her shoulders, her dad looked into her eyes for a long while. ‘Promise me you will ring me if you ever need anything? We are your mother and father, and no matter what happens, that will never change. We’ve wasted the past years not talking and being angry with each other. No more.’

She wanted to get in the taxi with them and run away. For a split second the idea became a possibility, but then she thought about Bob and how he would come looking for her. ‘You can run as far as you want, but I’ll always find you. Remember, you’re mine.’

His words rebounded in her head as she stepped back and held her hand in the air, waving until the taxi rounded the corner and headed towards the highway.

Chapter Fifty

Relieved that no customers were waiting, Evie opened the shop and set up the signs outside. Looking at the clock, she thought how it had been worth opening half an hour late to say goodbye. Who knew when she would see them again?

A smile lit her face as Baker stepped inside the shop, the jingling bells hanging from the plastic fly strips on the doorway letting her know her first customer had arrived.

He wasn’t dressed in his uniform, and she thought how handsome and relaxed he looked in shorts and a T-shirt. ‘Morning Evie,’ he said as he walked up to the counter.

‘Morning, Baker. You look like you have a day off. Are you going fishing?’

He grinned and she smiled back, taken in by his white teeth and charismatic manner. ‘I am. I’m taking my brother up to Sandy Point. It’s good fishing.’

‘I’ve never been there.’

‘What? How long have you lived here?’

She muttered, ‘Too long.’ She smiled and pulled herself together. ‘No, not really too long. Three years, but I’m always working so I don’t get to go anywhere.’

‘I’d love to take you up there. It’s got big wide beaches that stretch for miles. Never anyone around and plenty of fish. Why don’t you come with me one day?’

She was taken aback. ‘Oh no, Bob would go nuts. He’d never let me.’

‘He doesn’t own you. You should be able to come with me. I’ll take a couple of my sisters too, and some of their kids. We all go as a family. I can’t see how he could find anything wrong with that.’

She sighed. ‘You don’t know him. He doesn’t like me going out with anyone. He just wants me to stay working here in the shop.’

Baker leaned over the counter, and she stared at his long eyelashes and kind eyes. His voice was soft and gentle, and she had the urge to reach out and hold his hand. ‘He doesn’t ever hit you does he, or rough you up?’

She drew back in shock. How did Baker know that? ‘No.’ That answer was a lie, as Bob often grabbed her by the arm or pushed her around, especially when she stood up to him or disagreed with anything he said. ‘Not really. He doesn’t hit me.’

Standing up straight, Baker took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving hers. She could tell he wanted to say more, but didn’t. She had said more than she should have. Bob would kill her if he knew she was telling anyone about their home life.

Baker stayed for a while longer, and that made her nervous in case Bob returned while he was there. She moved quickly to get the bait he wanted and breathed a sigh of relief when he thanked her and left the shop.

Chapter Fifty-One

Something shifted in Bob after his fishing weekend away, and the change wasn’t for the better. He was grumpier than usual and didn’t even say happy birthday, or ask about her parents’ visit. The only good thing was he spent more and more time away from the flat and shop, drinking with his mates.

One day, when she was on her lunch break and sitting in the flat, she overheard a conversation in the store between Bob, Ziggy and another fella called Leon. By the sound of it, they had big deals going on with drug sales and movement of stock. She sat silently and waited until they left before she went back to the shop. The less she knew the better. At least now they seemed to hang out more at Ziggy’s place, which was on the northern edges of the town, rather than at the shop.

With Bob spending a lot of time at Ziggy’s, Evie had more time to herself. Often, she walked to the phone box and rang her parents. She kept the conversation upbeat. Some of the stories she made up sounded so real that she started to believe them herself. ‘Yes, Dad, I’ve been fishing with some friends and there’s a new café open in town that Bob and I love to go to. The shop is going great and I have plenty of spare time to do what I want. Sometimes I go fishing with the policeman and his family. They’re all lovely.’ If only, she thought. That would be such a break from the shop, and she might actually get to see some of the area nearby.

Her mother’s voice was always monotone. ‘Evie, I hope you’re taking precautions. You don’t want to have babies when you’re young. Make sure ….’

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