Page 48 of Nothing Without You

Chapter Fifty-Four

Evie agreed to work at the resort in peak season, on the condition that Bob let her go to her mother’s wedding. ‘I’m not asking you to come with me, because I know you won’t want to, and someone will have to mind the shop. It’s been years since I’ve seen my parents.’

He grumbled and swore, but she was adamant. ‘Only one night,’ he said, ‘a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he rearranged some rods at the front of the store.

‘Two nights. I’ll need to be there the night before; then I can leave on the train the day after.’

‘One night.’

Two nights. It’s my mother.’

He hadn’t replied, and she had gone straight to the train station to book a ticket to Brisbane. Two nights by herself. She could hardly wait. Even to sit on the train without him would be a bonus.

That Sunday before she left, she visited Matilda. She hadn’t seen Baker since they kissed, and she noticed he hadn’t been in the shop. She touched her lips, remembering what his soft touch felt like. ‘What are you dreaming about?’ Matilda asked.

‘Nothing. Nothing,’ she stammered, embarrassed to be caught out.

They sipped their tea for a while, and Matilda pointed out the different birds and plants that grew in the bush nearby. ‘Matilda, did you ever make mistakes in your life?’ Evie asked.

‘Everyone makes mistakes. Some are bigger than others; some can be fixed, and others not. If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t living.’

‘But what if I want to fix one? Like run away, so that I don’t have to face it?.’

‘Sometimes running’s good, other times it isn’t. The mistake might follow you. Maybe you can face it front on.’

She wanted to come out and just tell Matilda what she wanted to do. How she wanted to run away and never see Yeppoon, or Bob, ever again. But then she would have to add how Bob had a gun and had threatened to find and kill her. Baker was Matilda’s son, and he was a policeman. What if she told him?

‘What are you thinking?’ Matilda looked at her.

‘I’m thinking everything is complicated enough. It’s easier not to run.’

Just then, one of Matilda’s cats jumped up on her lap and she nearly spilt her tea. The two women laughed and the moment passed. Maybe it was easier to stay put. At least she would get a break from everything by going to the wedding.

She hadn’t put much thought into who would be at the wedding. Surely it wasn’t going to be a big affair. After all, her mum and Mr McIntosh were old, and for both it was their second marriage.

Hopefully it would just be her and a few others. For a moment she thought about Chris and his sisters. Surely not. They wouldn’t be there. Her mother had said it was just a small affair. The train jolted out of the station, and she relaxed back into her seat. She had her dress, shoes and jewellery with her; and if nothing else, she was going to have fun. If Chris and his sisters were there, she would just have to deal with it.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Spending a night by herself in a motel in inner Brisbane was the ultimate. Her father had refused to take no for an answer, booking Evie a single room on the sixth floor of a hotel that overlooked the river. He wasn’t going to be at the wedding, although her mother had invited him. ‘Huge vacuum convention down here this weekend, so I’ll leave it up to you to celebrate with Mum. Now enjoy your two nights at the motel. The reception is nearby so you don’t have to catch a bus. I’ll shout you a trip down here to Sydney in a few months. It’s been too long.’

The train trip down gave her plenty of time to think, and the methodical bumping along the railway line that wound down the eastern coastline of Queensland, was a relaxing start to what she considered was her first holiday since she’d arrived in Yeppoon. It had been worth putting up with the sulky silences from Bob for the entire week before she left. He had hardly spoken to her and when he did, it was only to grumble about how he would have to work in the shop every day.

She had used all her patience and done everything to keep him happy. Nothing was going to stop her from going to the wedding.

Arriving in the city and finding her way to the motel was liberating. How long had it been since she had gone somewhere by herself, stayed in a room she didn’t have to share with anyone else, and come and gone as she wanted?

The first night, she treated herself to dinner in a little café down the street from where she was staying. It was a balmy night and the city was full of people out socialising, or out for a meal and a few drinks. The café had candles on the tables and the waitress treated her like she was royalty. A fancy meal with seafood and salad, accompanied by a glass of some crisp white wine that the gorgeous-looking barman recommended, left her feeling like she was on top of the world.

What would happen if she just never returned to Yeppoon? Would Bob do as he had promised and chase her until he found her, and then make sure she was so damaged she’d never be able to run again? Would he go through with his threat that no one would ever find her body, weighted down by concrete blocks in some remote waterway? She gulped and tried to avoid thinking about all the terrible threats he had made when she even dared to disagree, or question him.

A couple beside her smiled as they got up to leave, and she smiled back. The man gently took the woman’s hand and pushed her chair in as she got up. They looked happy and the woman was at ease, laughing and talking to the barman on the way out. As they walked up the street, the woman put her arm around the man’s waist and he drew her in, kissing the top of her head.

She averted her gaze and looked back at others in the street. Most were young, out for a night of drinking and dancing. Others were in family groups, with young children held tightly by the hand, other smaller babies pushed along in prams for a night out in the city. What would life be like to have good times together like that? She swirled the wine around in her glass, looking into the sparkling liquid that was sending a relaxed warmth throughout her body.

Memories of when her parents had been together flooded back to her — laughter in the house, spaghetti eating contests at night, and holidays on Stradbroke Island. Father, Mother and her. What life could have been like. And now her mum was about to start a new life. One with Mr David McIntosh. She thought hard about this new twist of events, and had to admit she was genuinely happy about the new arrangement. For all the hardships and unfortunate twists of fate her mother had endured, she deserved happiness. And Mr McIntosh, or now David as she would have to learn to call him, had always been a nice man. Their timing had just been off.

The next morning, she woke to the sounds of the bustling city. The honking of cars and the rumble of trucks were a stark contrast to the familiar quiet of her flat in Yeppoon. It was liberating not to wake up to Bob, with no added dread of his sexual demands. She looked down at her body. Last night she had taken the liberty of sleeping naked, something she never did at home. The least encouragement for him, the better.

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