Page 35 of Wedding Bells By the Creek

‘I’m really looking forward to seeing Bentley again.’ Helen smiled at him. ‘I know it’s only been a few days, but I bet he’s grown.’

She looked so happy. Her face was glowing. She was wearing a skirt and a simple top, but she couldn’t have looked better if she was wearing something out of one of those magazines women seemed to read all the time. Ed took a deep breath. She smelled good too. No fancy perfume. Just soap and … well, she smelled of Helen. Something deep inside him no longer wanted to go and collect his new pet. Part of him longed to just keep driving, with Helen beside him. To leave Coorah Creek, and Steph and everyone else behind. Just the two of them. Together. Heading for somewhere new. Wouldn’t that be something?

When they pulled in to the driveway of the dog breeder’s home, Ed felt almost disappointed.

Ed barely heard the breeder’s instructions for Bentley’s care, but Helen seemed to take it all in. Her face was a joy as she picked up the squirming puppy, who proceeded to wiggle and squirm until he could reach her face, which he then licked with much enthusiasm. Helen didn’t seem at all put out. It didn’t take long and they were on their way back to his place, Bentley bouncing around happily on Helen’s knee.

‘He’s lovely,’ Helen said. ‘Isn’t he just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?’

Ed wasn’t entirely sure he agreed.

As they approached the T-intersection in the centre of town, Ed hesitated. He didn’t want to drop Helen back at the pub.

‘Would you like to come back to the house? To help me settle Bentley in?’ he asked before his nerve failed him.

He was rewarded by a broad smile. ‘I’d love to. Thank you.’

It was strange to have Helen in his house. The house he’d shared with Steph. But it was good too. Helen was amusing Bentley while Ed set about putting together the puppy’s dinner. She looked as if she belonged. She made the room seem … warm. Which was a stupid thing to think, given the temperature was well into the thirties, but that wasn’t the kind of warmth Ed was feeling.

Ed heard a gentle thump in the living room. The sound of a large cat jumping down from his favourite napping place on the back of the sofa.

‘This should be interesting,’ he said to Helen as Bill strolled into the kitchen and stopped dead.

Totally unconcerned by the cat’s horrified expression, Bentley bounded towards Bill, and was rewarded with a sharp swipe of claws across his nose.

‘Poor thing.’ Helen dropped to her knees beside the puppy. Bentley took refuge behind her, and peered out tentatively at the cat. ‘You,’ Helen said sternly to Bill. ‘You should be nice to him. He’s only a baby.’

‘Bill is used to being alone,’ Ed said as the cat stalked to the far side of the kitchen and jumped on a stool, from where he continued to glare at a chastened Bentley.

‘It can be hard getting past that and accepting someone new into your life.’ Helen rose gently to her feet and the look on her face told Ed she wasn’t talking about his pets.

Ed nodded and finished preparing the bowl of dog food.

Bentley pounced on the bowl the moment Ed placed it on the floor, his little tail wagging furiously as he ate. Then, it seemed as if the combination of excitement and a full stomach was too much. He trotted over to the bed Ed had made for him in the corner, curled up and promptly fell asleep.

A stillness settled on the kitchen. Ed looked at Helen and she looked back with those beautiful blue eyes.

‘Can I get you something? A drink. A cup of coffee? Or, if you’d like to stay for a while, I could make us dinner.’ Ed braced himself for her refusal.

‘That would be lovely. Thank you.’

‘Good … um … which one?’

They both laughed and the tension in the room seemed to melt away.

‘I’m not much of a cook,’ Ed pointed out. ‘I think I have some chops and some veg in the fridge. That’s about the limit of my cooking really.’

‘Chops and veg sound good,’ Helen said. ‘I’ve never been one for fancy food.’

‘Good. Great. I don’t have wine. Not that I don’t like wine. I do. It’s just, here alone, well, I have the odd can of beer. That’s all I have.’

‘It just so happens, I like a cold beer too.’

When Ed had pulled the chops and the beer from the fridge, he turned around to see Helen wielding a potato peeler over the sink.

‘No, no. You don’t have to do that.’ He reached out and placed his hand over hers. Her hand was wet, and a little bit dirty from washing the potatoes, but that didn’t matter one bit. They both stood very still for a few seconds.

‘It’s fine. Let me do these while you take care of the chops,’ she said, turning back to her work.

---