Daniel's Bride (21 page)

“Oh, absolutely. I love it. Mel gave that to me last
Christmas.”

“Do you ever get to any of the games yourself?”

Ellie shook her head. “Not since…” She glanced with regret
at her arm and leg. “Not since the stroke. But I have cable. Mel gave me a
subscription so I can watch most of the games when they’re on TV.”

“It’s not quite as exciting as being there though,” Hugh
murmured. Daniel could see cogs ticking and for a moment he just stared at
Hugh, then Ellie, then back at Hugh.

“No.” Ellie's cheeks had pinkened in spite of the cool day.
“No, it’s not.”

There was silence as they stared at each other.

Daniel coughed loudly to clear his throat, Hugh realized he
was still holding her hand, released it, and stepped back.

“Have a seat, both of you,” Ellie said. “Please.” She
smoothed her palms down her skirt, a hint of nervousness in the movement. Hugh
took the chair across from Ellie.

Daniel took the sofa. “Ellie, I’m here because it’s been
several days since I’ve seen Mel and I need to find her. Has she called you?
You said on Monday she hadn’t but surely she has now.”

Ellie watched him with suspicion and said nothing.

He added, “I need to find her. Have you got any idea where
she is?”

She glanced from Daniel to Hugh. “I’m confused why you want
to know. She was only your housekeeper. Why are you trying to find her?”

“There are personal matters that need to be sorted.” He
cleared his throat. “The truth is, Ellie, that I have feelings for Mel and...”
At the look of utter shock across her eyes, he rephrased, “There have been some
things that have developed lately. Between us.”

Ellie regarded him closely. “You do know that Mel only broke
up with her boyfriend, Max, this year? They were going to get married but it
fell apart. She took a while to get over him, he hurt her quite badly. He was
her first serious boyfriend.”

“I heard about Max.” He decided not to tell her that Mel had
never been madly in love with him. And that if he ever laid eyes on the weasel,
he’d squeeze the life out of the pathetic excuse for a man. On the other hand,
Max’s cowardice had meant Mel was free and he owed him for that. “Max wasn’t
good enough for your daughter, Ellie.”

“Confident, aren’t you?” Hugh muttered.

Heck, no
. He rubbed his hands through his hair.
“Ellie, you have to help me find her.”

Ellie sighed. “That’s the problem, Daniel. She did come to
see me yesterday.”

Frustration clawed at him. There was a great big “but” in
there. “And?” he pressed.

Ellie shook her head. “She didn’t tell me where she was
going or what she was doing. I’m sorry, Daniel, but I can’t help you because
right now, I don’t know where Mel is.”

Sir Arthur’s funeral was attended by dignitaries from state
and federal government, by businesspeople who preferred to stay out of the
limelight but weren’t going to miss this send off, by reporters from major
media outlets, by employees who had respected the venerable old man and by
countless onlookers curious as to the life of one of Australia’s leading
business figures.

Daniel was about to climb into the car to head home from the
cemetery, when he paused to wait for Hugh. His grandfather would, as per his
wishes, be cremated. His ashes would be scattered off the coast of Bondi, in
the sea that he loved. Members of the surf lifesaving club were preparing to
grant Sir Arthur his final wish at the end of the week.

Daniel had wondered if Mel would show up. Surely she would.
He'd scanned the mourners as they were leaving the gardens but there was no
sign of her.

He was at a loss. He’d rung her mother again. Ellie had said
that Mel had called and told her she’d needed to get away for a few days to
think about life or something vague, and Ellie had reminded Daniel he was to
pop over with Hugh for a cup of tea some time.

Hugh came up and pressed his hands across his shoulders to
indicate it was time to leave.

Daniel swallowed on a thick, sore throat. “I know.”

As they climbed in to the Jaguar, he put his hand to his
chest, over the familiar ache in his heart. He’d believed his life revolved
around the company until his dying day, but it wasn’t the business at all. He
had gently mocked Hugh his lifetime marriage but now he knew. Hugh had it
right.

As the car began to move away towards the main road, Daniel
checked his cell phone for messages, flicking through them. None were urgent
and he didn’t feel up to responding to any of them. Absently, he tapped his
phone on his knee. A scotch, he thought dryly, would go down well about now.
Preferably a bottle of the stuff.

His cell suddenly went off, the sound shocking him out of
his thoughts and he quickly muted it and cursed himself for not switching it
off. He checked the screen but didn’t recognise the number. He was about to
switch it to voice mail when a thought struck him.

What if Mel had a new number?

His heart began to race. What if it was Mel?

He quickly put it to his ear, said “Daniel speaking.”

There was hesitation. “Oh. I’m not sure if you’re the right
person.” It was the voice of a stranger, a female, and Daniel squeezed his eyes
shut. Not Mel.

“Go on,” he muttered, stifling the exasperation in his
voice.

“My name is Enid and…well, the thing is, I’ve got a little
dog here.” She hesitated again. “The tag says his name is Barnaby.”

The Jaguar pulled up outside a small house near Coogee and
Daniel leapt from the back seat before it had a chance to come to a complete
stop.

His nerves shattered as he strode to the front door, and
knocked hard, tempted to pull the damn thing down and get the dog himself. If
it was his Barnaby.

The door opened wide and the older woman’s eyes flashed with
surprise as she took in the Jaguar at the gate, and Daniel in Armani. “You must
be Mr Christie?”

“Yes. Daniel.” He could barely breathe. “I’ve come for Barnaby.”

“I’ll just go and find him. He’s been lying on a blanket but
he just hasn’t moved. I think he’ll need to see a vet-”

She broke off and they both glanced down the long hall. The
sound of dog paws, of claws clicking on polished floorboards, moved from a room
and out into the hall.

A small desolate figure paused, then began to trot
cautiously down the hall towards Daniel. He stopped half way, and his sad,
brown eyes watched Daniel warily.

Relief swamped Daniel and at the same time his body began to
tremble, and then to shake. Tears began to build up in his eyes, and he blinked
them back.

He had not been able to cry when his grandfather had died.
He couldn’t recall if he’d ever cried in his life. But now, seeing Barnaby, the
tears came quickly and he blinked them back some more. He saw his grandfather,
a man who had raised Daniel and loved him, and he saw Mel, who had taken
Barnaby in and loved him and had been loved back by this crazy little dog.

He couldn’t hold the tears in any longer. They gathered,
swelled and suddenly, they streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks and as he
bent to his knees on the cold wooden floorboards, and held out his arms,
Barnaby ran and hurled his small, exhausted body into Daniel’s embrace.

The woman had found Barnaby collapsed on her lawn late last
evening. She’d fed him cat food, which he didn’t seem to mind, and had followed
it up with a bowl of water. He had no name tag, but she guessed he was
microchipped and planned to take him to the SPCA. But that morning, as she
fetched her newspaper from the letterbox, she’d spotted a nametag under her
lemon tree.

Even then, it hadn’t been easy to get Daniel’s number. Sir
Arthur’s housekeeping staff were at the funeral, and it taken a while for the
acting housekeeper to realise what the call was about and to make the decision
to pass on Daniel’s private number, even though no one was ever permitted to do
so. Daniel had already texted Nora to make sure the acting housekeeper and Enid
in Coogee were well rewarded.

Now Barnaby lay asleep on the patchwork blanket in his
basket. He’d been to the vet for a check up and been pronounced fine. He just
needed rest and a lot of TLC.

Daniel sat cross legged on the floor next to Barnaby, a
tumbler of barely touched Scotch in his hand, and tried to figure out where
he’d gone wrong in a life that had been so ordered.

He didn’t believe in signs. He snorted at the notion. But
he’d lost Barnaby and he’d found him again. He took a long gulp of scotch and
let it burn its way down his throat.

He’d lost Mel – but he’d never actually had her. Not really.
He rubbed his chest at the ache that had been sitting there for days.

Except… Mel had sent the cheque back. He still didn’t
understand that.

Most people would have taken the money with a two fingered
salute and run. It was her money. She deserved the cheque. Why on earth hadn’t
she kept it?

Unless… Daniel suddenly rose to his feet, the glass falling
to the ground and the whiskey spilling in a spreading puddle across the floor.

He ignored it as he stared blankly ahead of him.

He’d lied to her and she still hadn’t taken that money.
Which could only mean one thing. The money had something attached to it,
something she had no wish to be associated with. It might have been hatred. She
could have considered the money nothing less than blood money.

But Mel’s mum was too important for her to do that. Ellie’s
welfare meant the world to Mel for her not to take the cheque.

Which meant something else. Like maybe it had too many
memories attached to it, too much emotion. She wasn’t taking that cheque with a
finger raised and a 'stuff-you, Daniel' attached to it.

She’d thrown it back in his face – because he had hurt her.
He had hurt her feelings. And if her feelings were hurt, it was because she
cared.

She cared what he thought of her.

Something Ellie had said yesterday jumped out at him. Mel
had mentioned to her mum she was going away to think about life. The day they’d
met, beside her striped tent at the campground, she had said the same thing.

Hope began to surge in his heart, and he glanced down at
Barnaby. He was asleep, his eyelids twitching as he dreamt.

Daniel was going to find Mel. He stood up, grabbed his keys
and hesitated. He couldn’t leave Barnaby behind, and he didn’t want to waste
another minute finding her.

“Never thought I’d say it,” he muttered as he bent down to
grab the basket, “but you’re okay, Barnaby. Grandfather had good taste.”

He eased the basket up with a grunt. Barnaby opened one eye
a fleeting second, caught sight of Daniel, then closed it. For a small dog he
was heavy. A second later he was snoring.

I’m bloody certifiable, Daniel muttered, as he carried the
basket to the foyer and jammed the button with his elbow to avoid losing his
balance and dropping Barnaby.

As he waited for the elevator, his landline began to ring.

Daniel glanced behind him to the kitchen, where the ringing
seemed to grow louder. Balancing Barnaby, he went back and checked the caller
ID. The number wasn’t one he recognized.

He was about to turn away, when the number jogged something
in his mind and his heart gave a violent jolt. He set Barnaby down on the
floor, stared at the number again, and realised it was an overseas number. It
couldn't be. He picked it up before it went to the answerphone. It stopped
ringing, and he held it to his ear.

He swallowed hard. “Daniel here.” He shut his eyes and held
his breath, and prayed it wasn't bad news.

Down the phone line there was a click, a pause, and finally,
a voice.

“Hey, Danny. It’s me. Everett.”

Mel had been at the campsite two days and had one more night
to go on her permit pass before she had to leave. She had walked the beach
copious times, started to read two mysteries, and hadn’t got past chapter two
with either of them. She’d lain on her sleeping bag looking out the doorway of
her tent and watched people go back and forth. Generally happy people, she
noted. And she officially loathed cold showers.

The freezing cold water felt like a penance.

A penance for being stupid enough to fall in love.

She went over to the gas element and took the pot of hot
water, and poured it into her cup with the teaspoon of coffee. She added
powdered milk she'd made up. Hopefully Diane would be back soon. She’d taken
Brits and Eli up the road to get some more food supplies.

This time it was Diane doing Mel the favour by being the
friend, the one she could talk to, although Mel hadn’t told her the full story.
Yet just being with Diane and the kids for a few days was helping. She was
following her own advice – for a change.

She stirred sugar in for energy, and sat cross legged in
front of the tent. Sir Arthur’s funeral had been this morning. She’d wanted to
go, to offer her respects to the man, but the last person she wanted to see was
Daniel.

A lump lodged in her throat. Even though he was the only
person she wanted to see.

While she’d been with him, there were times, quiet times,
she’d harboured a fantasy of a perfect world, but that perfect world had
disappeared off into the distance.

She took her sweatshirt from the back of the chair and
slipped in to it, hugging herself against a sudden chill of sea breeze. She had
to go home tomorrow, back to her mum’s place. She could use the library’s
wireless internet to apply for jobs online and look for an established flat closer
to Ellie.

Her thoughts slipped back to Daniel. Would she still have
gone ahead with it, if she’d known the truth?

The answer popped into her head, made her jerk up straight.
The sun dipped in and out behind clouds. Yes.