“Oh my gosh! Did you really fix this?” a high-pitched chipmunk voice cooed.
“Yes, ma’am. Some fine craftsmanship indeed.”
Oh, hell no!
I peeked through the bush as dread seeped into every fibre of my body. I knew that voice. And, sure enough, there he stood, all six foot three of him, beer in one hand, arm slung around some blonde bimbo.
This was not happening.
I shrank back and scooted as far back on the table as I could manage, hoping not to be seen.
A tremor of anger ran through me. I was annoyed at my parents, at Matt and at Melba, but mostly I was furious at myself. How had I thought I could save this sinking ship all by myself? And, more importantly, why did I even want to? There was nothing here for me now. Any friends, any fond memories I’d had, had drowned that night in Lake Onslow. I wiped at a tear that dribbled down my cheeks, a tear that made me angrier at how stupid I was for letting everything get to me, and the angrier I got, the more emotional I became.
“I bet you’re really good with your hands,” the blonde bimbo crooned.
I felt sick.
Blondie pulled Sean off the verandah and led him along the drive. Their feet crunched underfoot as they came into view, clearly lit by the lights that flooded out through the windows of the hotel.
Sean’s arm was slung over her petite frame again. I didn’t want to watch this. I slid my hand sideways to give myself leverage off the table, when a rough splinter jammed into my finger.
“Shit!” I cried out in pain. The sharp stab was all I needed for the tears to flow. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sean and Blondie stopped still, turned back, and peered into the darkness. Sean stepped forward, his arm still around the girl’s shoulders. He frowned … “Amy?”
Oh, fuck! Go away.
“Are you all right?”
“Yep!”
No.
“Fine, thanks.” I tried to keep my voice even, but it was so not working.
Sean’s arm fell away from the girl and he left her in the drive and closed the distance towards me.
“Hey!” she pouted, hands on her hips in annoyance.
“Hang on a sec,” Sean said, without looking back.
I squeezed my finger, trying to prevent the throbbing sting. I turned my body away from him, hoping that he would just leave.
“Amy?”
“Go away.”
“What’s going on?” His voice was low, gentle.
“Nothing, please just leave me alone.”
I felt the table dip next to me.
Yeah, that really worked.
His hand grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him, revealing my shiny, bloodshot eyes to the light.
I swallowed hard. “I’m fine.”
“I can see that.” His eyebrows were furrowed. “You going to tell me what this is all about?”
My chin trembled and I held up my hand. “I have a splinter.”
God, I was pathetic.
Sean’s eyes bored into me as if he was waging on whether I was seriously crying over a splinter or not.
“Seeeeaaaaaaaaaan!” a long whiny cry came from Blondie. “Are we going yet?”
“In a minute,” Sean said, turning back to face her. “Hey, how about you go grab us some takeaways?” He reached into his back pocket.
This seemed to work as she strode over, snatched the money from Sean, shot me a parting death stare, and hobbled on her high heels back inside.
With her gone, Sean focused his attention back on me. “Let me see.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer, turning it towards the light. “I think you’ll live, it’s not that deep.” He half smiled at me. He held my gaze as he pulled my hand to his mouth. “Hold still.”
The words whispered onto my flesh and my eyes widened as his lips covered my finger, his teeth gently nipping at my flesh and, with the slightest of pressure, he sucked the splinter shard out of my finger. I watched on in frozen awe as he lowered my finger, now free from the shard. It was so insanely intimate, all tears and self-pity had been wiped from my mind, until he broke the silence.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s really wrong?”
I tore myself away from his gaze and looked out into the dark. He tilted his head, getting into my line of vision to try to coerce me to look at him.
“Come on, I just saved you from losing a finger, the least you could do is tell me what’s got you so worked up. I thought you’d be happy; the place is jumping like the days of old.”
I shook my head, emotions threatening to spill over the edge. I hated being so vulnerable, especially in front of Sean.
“I can’t do it. It’s too massive. It’s too big; I was kidding myself to think I could fix this place by myself.”
I could feel Sean’s eyes burning into my profile. I thought he would never speak; his silence obviously meant I was right. This wasn’t for me – what did I know about renovations and running a pub? The sooner I just let it go and went back to the city, the better.