The Girl in the Yellow Vest (36 page)

‘So you’re the famous best mate?’ he heard the cheeky drafter say. ‘I thought Boy Scout had made you up.’

Will’s head snapped up so quickly he almost broke his neck. He pushed out his chair and snatched the phone off Nova, nearly pulling it off the desk.

‘Why are you calling this number?’

‘You never called me back before.’

‘I’ll call you back now.’

With a glare at Nova, he hung up and then walked outside, mobile in hand. A few seconds later he had Trent on the line again, though this time next to Augustus’s pen. The turkey eavesdropped with interest.

‘You haven’t been returning my calls,’ Trent explained, ‘and I was beginning to wonder whether your phone was stuffed.’

‘No, no.’ Will sighed. ‘I’ve been busy at work. Real busy. The shiploader is arriving in a matter of days.’

‘Wow. You must be getting excited. I know that’s the reason you took on this job.’

‘Not so much excited as stressed,’ Will replied.

‘Still, it’s good that you’ve got a chance to do something that gives you so much satisfaction.’

Stop being nice to me. I don’t deserve it.
‘Er, thanks,’ Will said. ‘How’s your work going?’

‘Badly: I can’t stop thinking about Em,’ Trent groaned. ‘How is she?’

‘She’s good,’ Will began cautiously.

‘How was her date with that Dipper fellow?’

‘She says it was good.’

Trent swore. ‘So she likes him.’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But you wouldn’t rule it out.’

‘Trent,’ Will closed his eyes as he forced himself to say the words, ‘if you want Emily, you have to do something. You can’t just wait around in Perth hoping she’ll come back. Because I’m telling you,’ he swallowed hard, ‘there’re a lot of guys in Queensland who would love to make a move on her and are going to.’

Myself included.

‘Thanks for the advice, Will,’ Trent replied grimly. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

After a few more pleasantries they rang off, leaving Will feeling rather empty inside. At least he’d given Trent fair warning, if not complete honesty. Not that he had time to think about where he himself stood with Em, of course.

The shiploader was due to arrive the next day. As it stood, he had Caesar up his arse and a number of other blokes relying on him to get his part done before evening. He worked late that night and as a result overslept.

It was his mobile that jolted him awake at seven-thirty the next morning. Nova was on the line.

‘Where the hell are you? The shiploader is here! And it’s fuckin’ amazing.’

Will threw his covers off but his legs were tangled in them so he followed them off the bed onto the floor. ‘Omph,’ he groaned as he hit the ground. ‘Okay, okay. Be right there.’

In a mad rush, he showered, dressed and exited his unit but was immediately frustrated by the fact that he was going to have to walk to site – there were no utes in the car park. Everyone had already left.

‘Hey, excuse me? Where is everyone?’

Will turned around and saw a man in his late fifties standing by the entrance to reception. He had short, fizzy hair that was both thinning and going grey on the top of his head. He indicated the windows with a flick of his hand. The blinds were drawn and there was a sign on the door that said
Closed
.

‘Isn’t this supposed to be a motel?’ the stranger asked again. ‘How do I rent a room?’

‘You won’t today,’ Will said with a chuckle. ‘The shiploader has arrived at the wharf.’

The older man didn’t look too impressed with this. He scratched his head. ‘What’s a shiploader?’

‘A giant piece of machinery that loads ships. Do you want to come watch us instal it?’

‘No, I need to see Virginia Templeton. Is she on the wharf?’

Will smiled. ‘No. I think she’s staying with her son for the next few days.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘I have no idea. But her daughters Charlotte or Zara will know.’

The man nodded, seemingly thoughtful. ‘Where can I find Charlotte?’

‘She’ll be on the wharf.’

‘Where is that?’

An idea struck Will. ‘Would you like to go there now? Cause I could do with a lift?’

The man’s mouth stretched into a smile. ‘Perfect.’

They hopped into his too-clean green Mazda and Will gazed down at the spotless car mats.

‘Are you from out of town?’

‘Brisbane,’ the man said as he started up the engine.

‘I’m Will Steward.’ Will held out his hand.

The man shook it cordially. ‘Dennis Mayer. Good to meet you.’

The office was a flurry of activity. There were people everywhere. Some of them didn’t even work there. Ann was handling a couple of reporters and their camera guys who had just finished watching a twenty-minute induction DVD in one of the meeting rooms. Due to the bad press about the turtles, Caesar had gone into overdrive with PR. He’d even roped in Charlotte to work a few extra hours on the big day. There was going to be a media viewing area on the wharf and Charlotte was put in charge of it.

Emily was glad it was their nightmare, not hers. Looking after reporters was like walking a bunch of dogs that had been locked up for hours. They were too eager, had no sense of danger and didn’t want to stay on their leashes. But she was sure the forthright resort owner would be able to rein them in. As if to echo her thoughts, Charlotte walked into the main office donga carrying hard hats and vests for the guests waiting by Ann’s desk.

‘Now have you all completed your forms and got your visitor identification cards?’

The media personnel nodded, holding up their white necklaces, which consisted of a shoelace-style cord and laminated visitor’s card.

‘If you’ll come with me,’ Charlotte smiled at the group, ‘I’ve got a ute waiting out the front to take us to the wharf.’

They all nodded excitedly and left with her.

This is crazy, Em thought, I need to get out to the wharf where the real action is.

Having given up her guests to Charlotte, Ann walked over and echoed her thoughts. ‘I would have thought you’d be out looking at the shiploader by now.’

‘I thought I’d wait for Will. Where is he?’

Nova sidled up as though he hadn’t been eavesdropping on their conversation. ‘Just called him. He’s on his way.’

‘Well, he better get here soon,’ Emily grumbled, ‘or he’ll miss it.’

Nova laughed. ‘They don’t lift it that fast, sweetheart. Speed of snail is about right. It’s going to take four or five hours minimum. But,’ he acknowledged, ‘there’re currently only two utes left in the yard. I’ll take you and him out together if you like.’

‘That’ll be great.’

All their eyes swung to the door as three more people walked in. Will, and two other men she didn’t recognise. He lifted a hand and waved apologetically at her.

‘He’s turned into a rather tasty morsel, hasn’t he?’ Ann said in her ear. ‘I mean, with the new haircut and all. What do you think my chances are?’

Emily looked at her in horror. ‘I beg your pardon?’

Unfortunately, before Ann could respond, Will and his two companions had reached them.

‘Hi, guys, this is Dennis and Aaron. They both need to see Charlotte. Aaron is one of the camera operators.’

‘Sorry I’m late.’ Aaron wrung his hands. ‘Are the others from Channel 7 here yet?’

Ann rolled her eyes. ‘They’ve already left for the wharf with Charlotte.’

‘Is she coming back to the office soon?’ Dennis asked.

‘No.’ Ann shook her head. ‘She can’t leave those reporters on their own. They’re like children. No offence.’

Dennis shrugged. ‘None taken.’ His features looked rather familiar and Emily tried to pick out where she’d seen them before but couldn’t quite place it.

Aaron glared at him and stepped forwards. ‘Well, I need to get out there or I’m going to get fired.’

‘Aren’t we all?’ Nova murmured.

‘So.’ Aaron ignored him. ‘What do I need to do?’

‘Well, first you need to have a short induction, get some PPE together and then Nova can drive you both out.’

‘Hang on a second there.’ Nova shook his head. ‘I’m not waiting for half an hour.’ He patted the rolled-up documents under his arm. ‘I’ve got drawings to give to Fish.’

Ann immediately turned to Will, eyelashes batting and placed a hand on his arm. ‘Can you do it, Will? There’s one ute left in the yard after Nova takes his.’

Will frowned. ‘I wasn’t planning on hanging around either.’

Emily glanced smugly at Ann.
Damn straight!
Why would he want to hang around waiting on media personnel, when a mammoth shiploader was being lifted by two kick-arse cranes?

‘Can’t you take them?’ she demanded of Ann.

‘Then who will look after reception?’ Caesar’s assistant demanded with some of her boss’s pomp. ‘It can’t be left unmanned on a day like today. Please, Will.’ She put her hand on Will’s arm again and Emily groaned inwardly. This was torture to watch.

But as usual, Will, the Boy Scout, who always came to the rescue of any woman who ever asked, stepped up to the mark. ‘All right.’ His moan echoed Emily’s internal one. Why did he have to be such a nice guy?

He looked at Emily. ‘Are you going out now?’

‘I was going to wait for you.’

‘Nah.’ He waved her off. ‘Go with Nova. You’ll want to see it all from the beginning.’

Nova was already heading for the door. ‘Come on, Toots.’

Great!
She glared briefly at Nova before looking back at Will. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Positive.’

She threw him a grateful if frustrated smile before grabbing her hard hat. ‘Okay, I’ll meet you out there.’

She’d been looking forward to sharing this experience with him. It was a shame that it had to be ruined by Can’t-keep-her-hands-to-herself Ann.

Emily frowned as she followed Nova to the car park, her mind harking back to the conversation she’d had with Charlotte the day before. As much as she didn’t want to go there, her friend was right. She had to reveal her feelings for Will and, by the looks of Ann, sooner rather than later. She got into the ute and barely registered Nova driving out of the car park and onto the dirt track that led to the top of the jetty.

The creases on her brow deepened as she visualised Ann with her hand on Will’s arm, batting her eyelashes at him like she was so helpless.
Come on.
The week before the assistant barely gave him the time of day. She was in lust.
Not in love.

The thought yanked Ann out of her head and threw her off the side of the jetty.

Oh shit, am I in love with Will?

After asking the question, she didn’t really need more than a second to answer it.
Of course I am.
How could she not be? He was the perfect guy for her. Perfect in every way. And had been for years.
You’re such an idiot.

‘Penny for your thoughts,’ said Nova, making her nearly jump right out of her skin. ‘You look pretty intense over there.’

She chuckled nervously, running sweaty palms down her Hard Yakka pants. ‘Just worried about the shiploader.’

‘Not your problem really,’ Nova said reassuringly. ‘It’s Caesar’s arse on the line today. Can’t say he’s been taking it too well either.’

Yes, Caesar had been in an awful mood that morning. And she didn’t blame him. But even dropping a million-dollar structure that weighed more than a thousand cars into the ocean didn’t seem as important to her as the fact that all the smoke in her head was clearing.

I’m in love with Will. I love Will Steward. What the hell am I going to do about that?

As Charlotte had been only too quick to point out yesterday, there really was only one option and that was to reveal her feelings. She had to tell him or kiss him.

As the latter thought shot madly through her head, it brought all her screaming nerves to a shattering halt. She repeated the words again. Savouring the idea. Letting it roll around in her head until it reformed into a goal.
I’ll kiss Will. Tonight.

And then doubt returned. She couldn’t say that her skills in seduction were that much more sophisticated than Ann’s. But what was the harm in just going with tried and true? Invite him over for dinner, make sure the wine was flowing freely and then make a move on him.