Page 20 of Wedding Bells By the Creek

When she walked out there, she was not alone. There were small wicker tables, with chairs, at each end of the veranda. The one furthest from Helen’s room was occupied. ‘Hello. Nice to see you again …’ she searched for the woman’s name ‘… Mrs—’

‘Stephanie. Hello.’

Helen wasn’t sure what to do. Stephanie hadn’t invited Helen to join her so she sat at her own table, but felt almost as if she was being rude.

‘How are you enjoying your stay?’ Helen asked.

‘Fine, thanks.’

‘Is this your first time here in Coorah Creek?’ Helen surprised herself. She wasn’t normally a chatty person. Quite the reverse. But then she didn’t normally go on dates either. Perhaps the two were linked.

‘No, but it’s been a few years.’

‘This is my first time here. It seems like a nice town.’

‘I guess it has its good points.’

Stephanie was staring out over the wrought iron railing down towards the street. Helen followed her gaze. She saw Ed’s garage and found herself agreeing.

‘Are you staying long?’ Helen asked.

‘I honestly don’t know,’ Stephanie said. ‘I guess it depends on … a few things.’

Helen smiled. ‘I know what you mean. I came here … well, it’s a long story. I came to visit my daughter. Now she’s getting married and I’m going to stay for the wedding, I guess. And who knows …’ Helen let her voice trail off. For the first time, she was thinking of a future in Coorah Creek. Thinking of a home here. It was partly to be near Tia, of course. But, she wondered, did Ed have something to do with this unexpected desire to stay?

She looked across to the garage, just in time to see a tall figure cross the road. It was Ed. Trying hard to contain her excitement, Helen got to her feet. ‘I’m meeting someone for dinner, so I had better go. It was nice talking to you.’

‘Yes. Nice to talk.’ Stephanie was staring back out across the street. She seemed to have lost interest in their conversation. Helen didn’t really care. Her thoughts were already five steps ahead of her as she headed downstairs, doing her best to stop her feet from running.

Ed was leaning against the bar, talking to Jack, who was still in charge of the pub while the Warrens were away. She was far too old for the mere sight of a man to give her butterflies. Too old and she had seen too much of life. But Ed was a good looking man. And when he turned to smile at her, Helen gave in to the butterflies. As she walked across the bar, he held out one hand. It seemed so right to slip her hand into his. He leaned forward to kiss her gently on the cheek. He smelled of soap and something else. Perhaps all those years working in the garage had left a scent on his skin. Or perhaps that was just the way he smelled. It didn’t matter which. She liked it.

She stepped back from the kiss and, for a long moment, the two of them just stood there, smiling at each other.

‘Um … I have a nice quiet table in the lounge, if the two of you want dinner?’ Jack’s voice brought Helen back to the present.

‘Thanks, Jack. That would be great.’

Ed was still holding her hand as they moved towards the door.

Someone appeared in the doorway, and beside her, Ed stopped. He dropped her hand. Helen looked up at his face. It was frozen and hard. All the light that had been there just a few moments ago was gone. He was staring at Stephanie. And she was staring right back. She was about to introduce them when she suddenly realised that wasn’t necessary.

‘Ed? Do you know Stephanie?’

In the long silence that followed, Helen felt her heart begin to break. Suddenly fearful again, she wanted nothing more than to stop time before Ed could say the words that would change everything.

‘Helen. Stephanie is my wife.’

Chapter Ten

Ed looked exactly the same. He was older of course. They both were. But when she looked at him, Stephanie could see the man she’d married all those years ago. When she was seventeen, Ed had been everything a girl could possibly want in a husband. A few years older than her, he had a job in his parents’ garage, so he had money. Far more money than she had. He was good looking and sexy in a hard-working blokey sort of way. And he had adored her. Presents weren’t easy to come by in Coorah Creek back then, but he’d done his best. Most importantly, he’d had prospects. Steph had imagined that he would one day inherit the business, sell it and the two of them could move on to some better place. A more exciting place where her days weren’t endlessly the same. But what did she know? An inexperienced girl from a hick town in the middle of nowhere had set her sights on Ed and the life she thought she would have with him.

How wrong she had been.

On the long drive here, Stephanie had rehearsed what she would say to her husband when she saw him. She would try to explain what she’d done all those years ago and ask for his forgiveness. She would ask him about their son and the man he had become. She would find the words to make him understand why she had left them. She was older, but she was still attractive. She’d worked hard to make sure of that. She wouldn’t have much competition in a place like the Creek. She would make Ed want her again. He would take her back. Because right now, the future she had once rejected was looking pretty good.

She and Ed stood saying nothing for what seemed a very long time. There were lines on his face and she knew she was responsible for some of them. She smiled hesitantly. He didn’t smile back. He didn’t do anything. He just stood and looked at her.

‘Hello, Ed,’ she said at last.

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