Page 17 of Wedding Bells By the Creek

Helen’s heart sank. This wasn’t the sort of thing she had hoped to hear. Nor was it the sort of man Ed seemed to be. But what did she know? She barely knew him. She almost told Olga to forget the facial. That it wasn’t necessary any longer, because she had no reason to want to look good. Before she could do so, Olga was off again.

‘At least that’s what we thought. But just over a year ago, his son turned up. Just before Christmas, it was. They hadn’t spoken for years, you know. Anyway, it turned out that it was the wife had the affair. Not Ed. Nice kid, Scott. The son. The town had just got a new nurse. English. Pretty little thing she was. He obviously thought so too, because before you knew it they were off back to England together.’

Helen sat there beneath her face mask, her head spinning. It would seem that Trish was not Coorah Creek’s only gossip. In fact, she might not even be the best. But Olga’s gushing had done two things. It had told Helen that Ed was innocent of the affair – and it told her that she shouldn’t listen to small-town gossip, but should take Ed as she found him. She turned off her ears and her mind and relaxed as Olga opened a few more bottles of her magic creams.

Steph took a deep breath, got out of the car and slung her handbag over her shoulder. The car beeped as she hit the clicker to lock it. That was something she had never done before in Coorah Creek. Locking her car was a habit she’d developed after she left.

She walked up the stairs and into the bar. She needed a bit of space and time before she went over to the garage. She had to settle the memories and emotions that were starting to flood back. And prepare herself. She wanted to comb her hair. Maybe apply a bit of lipstick. She wanted to look her best when she faced her past.

It was early afternoon, and the bar was empty. But the memories that assaulted her filled the space as she slowly turned full circle. This was the place where she and Ed had come when they were dating. They’d laughed here, and drunk beer and eaten burgers. There were nights they had staggered back across that road, their hands pulling at each other’s clothing in their eagerness. But that hadn’t been enough. This was the place where she’d decided there was a bigger, better world out there, just waiting for her. She’d found an opportunity and taken it. She couldn’t be blamed for that, although there would no doubt be those who did.

That thought had barely formed when she heard approaching footsteps. A flash of panic hit her, dragging her back from the past. The woman who had owned the hotel back then had been a terrible gossip. The last thing Steph wanted today was for word of her return to get out before she was ready. The panic faded as a man she had never seen before walked into the bar.

‘G’day,’ he said. ‘Welcome to the Coorah Creek Hotel. I’m Jack North. What can I do for you?’

‘Hi. I’m Mrs Wills. I have a room booked.’

‘Of course. We’ve been expecting you.’

Steph signed the register and proffered her credit card, before following the barman up the stairs.

‘It’s a nice room,’ Jack said. ‘It opens onto the veranda. We’ve got two guests at the moment. The other one is a woman in the room at the other end of the veranda. You’ll probably meet her at some point.’

The room was clean and looked comfortable. A nice room, by Coorah Creek standards. Steph had seen far worse and far better in the last few years. Jack dropped her bag on the bed.

‘Those doors lead to the veranda. All the rooms open onto it. We serve food in the bar. My wife Ellen will be cooking tonight, so there’ll probably be a bit of a crowd.’

He held out her key and turned to go. Steph followed him to the door.

‘Thanks,’ she said as he walked away.

He waved a hand in her general direction, and vanished down the stairs. She turned to go back into her room, but paused when she heard voices. A moment later a woman appeared at the top of the stairs.

‘Hello, you must be Mrs Wills,’ the woman said tentatively. ‘Jack told me I had a neighbour. I’m Helen. Helen Walsh.’

‘Hello.’ She turned to go as she spoke. She didn’t want to encourage the woman.

Closing the door behind her, Stephanie caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked tired. And crumpled. And old. That woman in the hallway had looked fresh and happy. Her pretty hair had that newly washed shine. He face was shining too – with pleasure and some sort of inner happiness. Stephanie wanted to look like that. And she didn’t.

But she could look at least better than this. She would rest up after her long drive. Then take a shower. A change of clothes would help too. Then she’d be ready to face Ed.

Chapter Nine

Ed walked into the bar and something hit him hard, knocking the breath right out of him. Helen was waiting for him and she looked … she looked …

‘Hi, Ed.’ She smiled at him, tossing her hair, and he was history.

‘You look … just great.’ The words were totally inadequate, but the way she suddenly glanced away, then back told him his words had struck home. Those kingfisher blue eyes looked up at him with shy pleasure, and he felt absurdly proud that he was the one she looked at like that.

‘So, are you ready to go?’ he asked.

She slid off the stool and nodded. Ed almost took her hand, but at the last minute he caught himself. It was too soon for that. Wasn’t it? Instead he stepped back and allowed her to walk ahead of him through the door.

His car was waiting at the kerb. It was just an old Holden station wagon, but it was looking as good as it was ever going to. Instead of fixing the radiator on a paying customer’s truck, Ed had spent a large part of the afternoon washing the Holden and wielding a vacuum cleaner. The old car was something of a classic, but a lot of people wouldn’t see it that way. He’d still much rather be escorting Helen into something shiny and flash and new. Something more worthy of her.

‘I remember these old Holdens.’ Helen’s face broke into a wide smile. ‘When I was just a teenager, a boy who lived in my street had one. A white one, just like this. I had a terrible crush on him.’ Helen ducked her head and blushed.

Suddenly the old station wagon seemed like the best car in the world. Ed opened the door for Helen to get in.

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