Short Soup(2)

For thirty years the Laus and the Chans had been turning out unpretentious Cantonese meals; the husbands manning the woks while the wives took care of everything else, but recently there had been a radical change. According to her mother, the two couples were moving into semi-retirement and leaving most of the operations to Dion.

“You’re braver than me,” she said. “They’ve been running the place the same way for so long, I don’t know how you convinced them to hand over the reins to you.”

“It’s conditional, didn’t you know? If I don’t make a good fist of it and very soon, my dad will step in.”

That was no idle threat. The relationship between Dion and his dad had often been testy. “I’m sure it won’t come down to that,” she said.

He shrugged, still cagey. “Tomorrow, we’ll see.”

Tomorrow night was when the Happy Palace would be relaunched after several weeks of renovation. A party would be held, with lots of influential people invited. Toni had heard all the details via her mother and been none too subtly urged to come up to Piper Bay for the event. Toni had been meaning to visit her parents anyway, and she was curious about the changes Dion would make. Plus, it was her birthday in three days’ time. She’d be turning twenty-seven. Damn – not even thirty and already divorced. Not a record she’d envisaged in her teens.

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” she said. “You always do.”

For as long as she’d known him Dion had coasted through life, reluctant to break out in a sweat over anything. She was the one who’d stressed out over her marks, her friends, her future. Dion didn’t care about grades. He had more friends than he could handle. Even ex-girlfriends couldn’t stay mad with him. And he never worried about the future.

Except right now he didn’t look all that carefree. There was a frown between his eyes and his shoulders were tense. Could he be nervous about taking on the responsibility of the restaurant? No, he’d been helping out there since he was twelve. His dad had taught him how to cook, and he’d worked overseas in Hong Kong and Beijing for three years. Was there something else then? She chewed on her lower lip, conscious of the distance between them. Five years was a long time. In the years they’d been apart they’d exchanged emails and Facebook updates, but cyberspace was no substitute for personal communication. They’d grown apart, and the gap couldn’t be bridged with a few minutes of casual conversation.

“Dion?” she asked hesitantly. “Is everything okay? With you, I mean.”

A strange expression flitted over his face, one she couldn’t interpret.

“I’m great.” He sucked in a breath, his T-shirt stretching tight across his chest. “I’ve just got a lot of things on my mind.” He slung the towel over his shoulder. “I need a shower. You coming?”

For a split second she had a powerful visual of Dion in the shower, water cascading over his tanned, naked body. She blushed furiously. Jeez, how inappropriate could she get? Dion was practically her cousin, and you didn’t mentally undress your cousin. It was too … bizarre.

Hurriedly she spun away, hiding her hot face behind a curtain of hair. “Yes, I should get going or my mum will start ringing.” She began to walk back to the stairs, Dion following close behind. “Um, I’ll see you soon.”

“Tonight, to be precise.”

“Oh?” She swung round. She hadn’t realised how close he was. He bumped into her, the solidness of his chest surprising her.

He hissed out a breath, took a quick step back. “Yup, your, er, mum invited us over for dinner.”

The front of her torso was still tingling from the brief contact with his body. What was the matter with her? Low blood sugar? PMS? Post-divorce craziness? She had to get out of here before she made a complete fool of herself.

“Right, right. Okay. See you tonight.”

Glaring sunshine poured over her as she scrambled up the wooden stairs. The back of her neck was sticky, but somehow she didn’t think that was entirely due to the air temperature.


Dion stared after Toni as she hurried up the stairs to her car. His gaze was glued to the tantalising sight of her thighs flashing beneath the short hem of her dress. Damn, she had sexy legs. And a luscious bottom. Did she know what an eyeful she was giving him from this angle? Probably not. Toni had never been a flirt.

Sunlight glinted off her blue-black hair. Her hair was like a midnight waterfall, shiny and immaculate. Probably cost a fortune to maintain. She looked a million dollars, despite her divorce … or maybe because of it. Her figure had rounded out, become more attractive, if that was possible. He stared after her until his eyeballs hurt. Eventually she disappeared from sight, and a few moments later he heard a car pulling off. Only then did he realise he’d been holding his breath. He exhaled, rubbing the dull ache in the centre of his chest.

Well, that could have gone better. How could he be so dumbstruck in front of such an old friend? This was Toni, for chrissakes. They’d shared baths when they were toddlers, discussed pimple creams when they were teenagers, argued over music and TV, seen each other almost every day for the first eighteen years of their lives. But everything was different now. He was different. For the first time in his life he was nervous around a woman.

Scowling, he tramped up the wooden stairs, his bare soles slapping on the rough boards. His SUV was parked a short distance up the road. He got in and pulled off in a flurry of gravel.

Trouble was, he didn’t know how to act around Toni any more. Until the end of high school he’d taken her for granted. She was just a part of his life, always there, like his right arm. Then she’d left. With her drive and academic smarts it was a given she’d go to university. Everyone expected her to succeed, including him. While she went off to Sydney uni, he’d stayed behind in Piper Bay, doing what he did best which was not to take life too seriously.

When had he come to realise what a gaping hole she’d left in his life? Was it before or after his big blow up with his dad? He couldn’t even label the emotion he’d felt every time he thought of her. Even now he couldn’t. Those few minutes with her on the beach had been all kinds of things – terrific, terrifying, and miserable all at the same time. When her face had clouded over at the mention of her ex, he’d felt so furious and hamstrung. Furious that someone had hurt her so badly; hamstrung because he couldn’t act on his instincts – which were to pull her into his arms, stroke her hair, and tell her everything was going to be all right. Nick had screwed her over, but at least the bastard was out of the picture now. Maybe now Toni would finally begin to notice him, not as a platonic friend, but as a man.

He definitely wanted more than friendship. He wanted to hold her close and smell her hair. Wanted to slide his hands over those tasty legs of hers, pull off that dress and get down and dirty with her. Wanted it more than ever after bumping into her near the stairs. The memory of her breasts squishing against his chest brought the heat seething through his body.

He pulled up in his driveway and jumped out the car. What was wrong with him? Five minutes with his childhood buddy and his brain was a mess. Where was his cool? Sure, he’d carried a yen for Toni for too long, but that was no excuse to lose it with her. She was here for a few days only. She’d split with her husband. And this was the worst time for him to become distracted. The relaunch of the restaurant was his golden opportunity to finally prove himself to his dad. No time to fool around with a woman, especially one in a vulnerable state like Toni. He’d just have to bring his balls into line. Keep things light between himself and Toni. Be the easy-going guy she’d always known.

And maybe a cold shower wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

As he hustled into his house, the phone started to ring.

“Where are you?” his dad grumbled as soon as he picked up the call. “I’m at the restaurant. Why aren’t you?”

Dion sucked in his stomach. His father wasn’t supposed to be at the restaurant. The entire relaunch was meant to be Dion’s baby, but of course his dad couldn’t help himself interfering. “I’m just going to take a shower and I’ll be right over,” Dion said evenly.

His dad snorted. “So much work to do and you taking shower? How you going to be ready tomorrow?”

Dion gritted his teeth. “Dad, it’s my responsibility. Let me handle it.”

“I don’t know if you’re ready.”

“Dad, just give me a proper chance, why don’t you? I won’t let you down.”

His father groused further, but eventually hung up. Dion tilted back his head and let out a deep sigh. He stood for a while, flexing his toes against the cool floorboards, his thoughts returning compulsively to Toni despite his best intentions. He should focus on the restaurant and forget about Toni for a while. But he knew he couldn’t. After all these years she was back, and available.

Blood thumped in his veins. He exhaled a long breath. Somehow he didn’t think the cold shower would do it for him.





Chapter 2


“Aiya, you too thin. Sit down. I make you something to eat.”

A lump lodged in Toni’s throat. Trust her mum to greet her as if nothing had happened. She gave her mum another hug. At sixty-five Pearl Lau was as energetic as ever, her hair still defiantly permed and coloured. She was dressed in her usual outfit of polyester slacks – beige because of the season – and bright floral top, covered by a blue and white checked pinafore. A heavy jade bracelet weighed on her reed-thin wrist.