The Girl in the Yellow Vest (13 page)

As usual the deck engineer had more on his plate than he could handle so the little graduate had been called in to deal with the issue, because obviously he had ‘nothing better to do’.

It looked as though he was going to be working late today as well. He pushed himself and Fish’s men for the next hour, hoping to get back to the office as soon as possible to see Em.

Just as he was finishing up, his phone rang. Thinking it was one of his suppliers he briskly picked it up. ‘Will Steward speaking.’

‘What the hell were you thinking?’ The voice was easily recognisable.

‘Trent?’ he said in surprise.

‘Of course it’s bloody me.’

‘How are you doing?’ he began tentatively.

‘Worse since I found out you’ve carted Em off to Queensland.’

Will’s fingers tightened around the phone. ‘I didn’t cart her off. She made that decision herself.’

‘At your prompting,’ Trent threw at him.

Will lowered his voice and walked away from any eavesdroppers that might be near him. ‘She was feeling really down. I wanted to help her out.’

‘It’s not up to you to interfere in
our
relationship.’

At this, Will gritted his teeth. ‘You haven’t had a relationship since you dumped her, Trent. And thanks for telling me about it, by the way.’

There was a frustrated sigh on the other end of the phone and he knew from experience that his friend was trying to calm himself down. ‘Look, I’m sorry,’ Trent said at last. ‘I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for not telling you and I’m sorry for having a go at you just now. I shouldn’t have done that.’

Will relaxed a little. ‘It’s okay. You’re going through something. I get it. But why didn’t you tell me? According to Em, it’s been weeks since you two split.’

‘I know, I know.’ Trent sounded down and Will couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. ‘I just couldn’t. It seemed premature or something. It . . . it still does.’

Uh-oh.

There was an awkward silence on the other end of the phone – a silence he didn’t trust.

‘I didn’t
mean
to break up with her,’ Trent said finally.

Will closed his eyes.
This is not what I want to hear.

‘I mean, I love her. You know I love her.’

‘Are you sure?’ It was hard not to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

‘Of course I do. You know how great she is.’ He seemed adamant until he started to explain himself. ‘It’s just that, well you know, she was getting too clingy and baby-crazy and . . . and I was just feeling really pressured . . . you know . . . about the whole
marriage
thing.’

‘Well, you have been together for five years.’

‘That’s the point. I haven’t been in a serious relationship with anyone but Em. She was my first real girlfriend. So how do I know that I’m making the right choice?’

I would know it.

‘I can’t help you with that, Trent.’

‘You’re right,’ his best mate agreed. ‘I have to work it out for myself. But, Will, there is something you could do for me.’

Unease spread up Will’s neck. ‘Like what?’

‘I want you to keep her out of trouble.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t want her meeting anyone new. All I’m looking for is some time out before I commit myself completely.’

Will frowned. Em had seen a girl at Trent’s place when she’d gone to pick up her stuff. ‘And by that do you mean time to play the field?’

‘Come on, Will. You know what a big deal marriage is,’ Trent replied impatiently. ‘Can you blame me for just wanting a little time to myself before going into lockdown?’

‘I don’t know, Trent.’

His friend immediately became defensive. ‘After getting her to leave the bloody state, I would think you would at least help me make this right.’

Will took a deep breath. ‘I just don’t want to see her getting hurt again.’

‘I’ve told you that I love her and do want to marry her . . . eventually. Doesn’t that tell you something? I get that you want to be a friend to her too. I’ve always been glad that you’ve made an effort with her.’

‘I didn’t do it for you, Trent,’ Will said quietly.

Trent ignored this statement. ‘The point is, all I’m really asking you to do is look out for her as you always have. Please, Will, it would mean a lot to me.’

Will paused. Trent had his moments, but overall he wasn’t a bad person. Even though they were no longer that close, they had been as kids. When they were teenagers Trent had always been the bigger, stronger one. In school he’d been head boy, captain of the football team, popular and proud of it. Will had always been the nerd – the four-eyed science geek who knew his
Star Trek
minutiae just a little too well. He’d lost count of the number of times Trent had protected him from bullies and threatened to beat up any kid who so much as looked sideways at him. He’d always stuck up for him, given him advice and done all the big-brother stuff that had made up for Will’s lack of siblings. They’d had their first beers together, choked on their first cigarettes at the same time.

Fallen in love with the same frickin’ girl.

Not that Trent knew it. Will had always been careful to keep his feelings for Em a secret from him. There was one thing best mates should never fight over.

Will took a deep breath. ‘Okay, all right. I’ll keep an eye on her for you. But that’s all.’

‘Thank you!’ Trent fired at him triumphantly. ‘You’re the best, Will. I really mean that.’

Damn!

Will clicked the phone off, looking around the wharf but not really seeing anything, as his moral obligations seemed to surround him like the metal bars of a cage.

You don’t hit on your best mate’s girl. You just don’t do it. You don’t even think about doing it.

Even though he doesn’t deserve her.

‘Man overboard!’ someone cried out as the siren on the wharf began to wail.

What the?!

Will shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked around. The men beside him were also glancing around for evidence of an emergency. The siren continued to sing. Apparently, it wasn’t a drill.

Great!

Time for the climax of his day from hell. The guys next to him began putting down their equipment. His crane driver hopped out of his seat. Dipper grabbed him by the arm.

‘Come on, Boy Scout, gotta get to the muster point.’

‘I know, I know.’ He wrenched his arm free. ‘I went to the safety induction too, you know.’

Dipper grinned. ‘Did ya? Didn’t see ya. But then didn’t see anyone go overboard just now either.’

‘Neither did I.’ Will frowned. ‘It’s gotta be a false alarm.’

‘Well, you can’t just ignore it,’ Dipper grunted and walked off.

He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t considered it. Em was probably in the office by now. He wanted to catch her before the day ended.

He glanced at his watch. It was knock-off. Too late. Emily would be going back to the resort.

Great!

He followed Dipper to the muster point. It was marked with a big red sign located in the right corner where the wharf met the jetty. Wardens in orange hard hats had their lists. You had to get your name ticked off so they could work out who had gone over. It was going to be a time-consuming process given there had to be at least a hundred men there. In the meantime, rescuers were already heading for the tugboat.

With a bit of time on their hands, Dipper began to regale the boys with his adventures from two days earlier.

‘Picked her up from the airport in the afternoon. And,
mate
,’ he gave them all the look, ‘she’s a looker!’

Will’s ears immediately pricked but he tried to keep his interest out of his face. He hoped Dipper wasn’t talking about Emily.

‘Hot?’ the crane driver inquired.

‘Smokin’,’ said Dipper as the men around him began to close in eagerly.

‘Big tits?’ asked a rigger.

‘Nah,’ Dipper shook his head, ‘wouldn’t say she’s got more than a handful but nice legs. Really nice legs.’

‘Blonde?’ another man asked.

‘Brunette,’ Dipper informed. ‘Big brown eyes. Nice smile.’

Will frowned. They had to be talking about Emily.

Although discussing a good-looking woman was a popular pastime for the guys, he had to admit he wasn’t enjoying listening to them discuss Emily’s physical attributes like items on a dessert menu. His protective nature was roused even without Trent’s request.

‘And just so you all know,’ Dipper shook his finger at the crowd, ‘I saw her first.’ They all laughed, but Will couldn’t crack a smile. He began to wonder at the wisdom of having invited her to a place where there were so many men. All he’d been thinking about was improving her job situation.

And getting her away from Trent. And maybe finally having a chance with her yourself.

He didn’t want to think about his own motives just now. If he’d really brought Emily here to try and hit on her, then he was just as manipulative as Trent, who was busy playing the field back in Perth.

The truth was, it was just one big mess and the person it most concerned didn’t even know it. There was also one other issue that he hadn’t counted on, which was dawning on him more brightly with each passing second. There were at least four hundred female-starved men on this job, all with their own agenda.

Good one, Will.
These guys fought over girls like seagulls over bread scraps. He should have known she was going to be popular.

His thoughts were broken as someone punched him lightly in the arm. ‘You’re awfully quiet.’

He blushed as everyone looked at him.

‘I think the little graduate’s considering his chances.’

‘Is that so?’ Dipper raised his eyebrows in challenge.

‘My money’s on Boy Scout,’ a welder announced.

‘I’m backing Dipper. Women like older men,’ remarked a crane driver who had to be close to retirement.

A man they called Spooks lifted a long nose to the wind. ‘I smell a bet coming!’

‘Er, guys,’ Will began desperately.

But Spooks, who had always been a bit of a showman, whipped off his hard hat and held it out. Half bowed, he stretched out his other arm, gathering the crowd to him like a circus ringmaster. ‘Okay, this is how it’s going to work. Place your IOUs now, gentlemen. Dipper or Boy Scout? Choose your horse! Winners will get their money back plus a share in the loser kitty proportional to their bet.’

‘Well that’s easy.’ Dipper laughed, taking out his pocket notepad. In large letters he wrote,
Dipper for $10
, signed it and threw it in the pot.

This unfortunate gesture started a frenzy. To Will’s horror several IOUs fluttered into the hard hat and not just ones backing Dipper. He was equally popular.

This is not good.

Spooks turned on him, his eyes twinkling wickedly. ‘Not going to back yourself, Boy Scout? Where’s your fighting spirit?’

He glared at Spooks. ‘You can’t do this.’

‘Oh, can’t I now?’

Just then the warden stepped into the fray to take their names and Spooks smoothly put his hard hat back on head, IOUs and all. The warden was none the wiser.

Five minutes later, they were all told they could go. No man had gone overboard: it was a false alarm triggered by a power failure. The electricity had gone out briefly and when it had resumed one of the alarms had been set off accidently. In frustration, Will turned to confront Spooks and saw him already backing away. The pieces of notepaper were now in his hand and he was shuffling them like a deck of cards. With a wink at Will and a small salute, he turned away. Will wanted to catch him but two other men joined him and Spooks folded the documents and put them in the back pocket of his pants. His gambling operation was now officially under the table.

Damn him!

Will gritted his teeth. Spooks was not going to let this go. The man thrived on drama. He and Dipper had just signed themselves on to Hay Point’s own personal reality TV show. Only it was live!

He glanced at his watch. It was nearly six o’clock. By the time he got back to shore, Em would have well and truly left the office. He pulled out his phone, wondering if he should call her.

There was a voicemail message.

‘Hi, my safety induction finished at four so I got back to my unit early. If I’m not home when you get here, I’ve gone to sit by the pool. After all, I should soak up some of this resort magic while I can, right?’

Shit! Could things get any worse?

Her message had been left nearly two hours earlier so he knew it was probably too late to warn her but he sent her an urgent text message anyway.

Don’t go to the pool!