Someone Like You(2)

She was walking off into the distance with a spring in her step, her  arms swinging by her sides, the late spring sunshine all around her like  a spotlight. She looked like she didn't have a worry in the world and  part of him envied her. Dan tried to remember how long it had been since  he'd felt like that. Too long. So long that he'd begun to distrust the  memories of his other life, figuring they were coming back to him  through a distorted lens.         

     



 

There would always, from now on, be the time before the accident. And  everything after. And the stuff that came after, the reality he was  living now was, for the most part, shit. The only bright spots in the  past three months, besides getting out of hospital, had been leaving his  old life behind and buying the beach house. Just as he'd hoped, it had  given him a place to escape. A place to hide.

When he took a final glance at Elizabeth and realised she was  empty-handed, he shook his head. She'd left the damn food. His spine  stiffened and he scratched his jaw. Since when did Ry and Julia  –  or  Elizabeth for that matter  –  think of him as a charity case?

When he'd moved down to Middle Point, he'd flat-out told his best friend  that all he wanted was time and space. He hadn't wanted Ry or his  fiancée hovering around him waiting for some miraculous recovery. He  knew he would need time to get his head around what had happened on that  dark winter's night. Or rather, what had almost happened, when his car  was slammed by a truck on the winding road back to Adelaide.

In the days and weeks after the accident, Ry had done the best friend  thing and taken care of business. He'd said afterwards that it was no  biggie, that it was what best mates did for each other. Ry had been at  the hospital every day; he and Julia had taken charge, flown Dan's  parents thousands of kilometres from Queensland and fed and watered them  while he recovered. He'd managed to convince his mum and dad that he  was okay. They had returned to their caravan and were grey-nomading  around the country, which suited Dan just fine. Last time he heard from  them they were in Broome, in the far north of Western Australia. Which  was about the right distance away, he figured. Having his mother around  fussing over him would drive him bat-shit crazy.

And now everyone else was starting to drive him bat-shit crazy. Ry and  Julia were still trying to take care of everything and that included  trying to run his life. Ry had refused to let Dan go back to work as the  Director of Special Projects at Ry's company, Blackburn and Son  Developments, even though he was still paying him his regular salary.  That just didn't sit right with Dan, considering he'd been sitting  around on his arse for the past three months. And the happy couple had  tried to pop around every chance they got which, considering they lived  in the glass palace next door, was way too often. He hated seeing the  worry in their eyes when he turned them back at the front door, pleading  whatever the hell lame excuse he could come up with to be left alone.  He didn't want company. Liked it better on his own, with music cranked  up so loud that he didn't have to listen to what was flying around in  his head. Ry and Julia had persisted longer than he thought they would,  but had given up in the past month.

Funnily enough, the only person who hadn't come knocking on his door was  Elizabeth. She hadn't once visited him while he was in hospital either.  He hadn't seen her in all the months he'd been back in Middle Point.  Until today. So why now?

And what did he care anyway?

Dan was simply going to have to tell Ry to fuck off and leave him alone.  Mates could say that to each another, he knew, and it would be taken in  the spirit with which it was intended. Which was, 'fuck off and leave  me alone'.

Dan turned from the window and wondered where the hell his phone was. He wanted to make sure Ry got the message, loud and clear.

Lizzie squinted against the scorching wind and the burning hot sun. It  felt like a bushfire day, the air was tinder dry and ready to snap, the  low-lying hills behind the Point already transformed from their winter  patchwork of green fields to parched brown fire hazards. It wasn't  unusual to see such a hot day in November, with the northerlies blowing,  gathering up every molecule of desert heat from central Australia and  dumping it in great gusty draughts on Australia's southern coast.

She looked both ways along the road for cars and then crossed it,  stepping onto the wooden path that cut through the shrubbed dunes,  covered with grey-green bushes, bright white seaside daisies and coastal  grasses. The tide was on its way in but there was still enough beach  for walkers, roaming dogs, beach cricket champions and joggers. Out in  the distance, committed surfers were waiting for the final wave of the  day.

Lizzie gazed out at the expanse of white beach that she loved so much.  The early evening sun shone so brightly on the water that the waves  looked like mirrors in the distance, too bright to look at without  squinting. Miles and miles of deep, sapphire blue water before her and a  brilliant shimmering southern Australian sky above her. Home was very  sweet, she thought with a satisfaction that she felt all the way to her  bones.         

     



 

Slipping off her sandals, Lizzie jumped on tiptoes over the hot white  sand until she reached the water line, splashing her feet in the  deliciously cool waves. In the distance, the majestic stone pub she'd  worked in for years sat dramatically atop the rise of Middle Point, its  walls proud and determined, its windows casting their gaze over the best  view in the world. She was on her way back there to break the news  about Dan to Ry and Julia.

Although she'd actually laid eyes on the man that half of the Middle  Point population was beginning to doubt actually existed, her story  would be pretty threadbare. When Dan moved to the Point, locals were  buzzing. The news that the hot guy helping Ry Blackburn build the  Windswept Development was moving into town swept through town like a  cool change on a hot day. The fact that he was single and six foot, four  inches tall made that news even more interesting to a number of the  women of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The rumble of curiosity and interest in Middle Point's newest citizen,  however, had faded in the past couple of months. Dan hadn't been seen at  the pub. He was never spotted walking along the beach, just a few dozen  steps from his front door. No one had seen him at the local supermarket  or newsagent. It was as if he'd moved in and disappeared.

Lizzie climbed the fifty stairs from the sand to the top of the Point,  where the pub lights had already begun to glisten like stars in the  twilight, and tried to figure out where to start. She pushed open the  heavy front door of the pub and was relieved at the rush of cool air  that hit her. Surveying the crowd, she did a quick estimate of bums on  seats. She saw a few regulars, some people she didn't recognise.

'Lizzie!'

She turned at the urgent whisper of her name and walked over to the  dining area to the table where Julia sat with Ry. They both stared at  her with wide-eyed anticipation.

'How'd it go?' Julia asked. Her hands were tightly clasped together,  resting in front of her on the white linen tablecloth. Ry leaned in to  Julia, an arm around the back of her chair.

'Well,' Lizzie pulled out a chair and joined them. 'That was mission not accomplished.'

'What happened?' Ry demanded.

'Do you mean before or after he slammed the door in my face?'

'You're joking.'

Lizzie shook her head. 'It was totally uncalled for. I was perfectly  polite. Oh and, Ry, you'll be getting a phone call if you haven't had  one already.'

'Hell.' Ry pulled his phone from the pocket of his tan-coloured shorts.  After a tap on the screen, he shook his head. 'No missed calls. I'll get  us a drink.'

When he was out of earshot, Julia leaned over to Lizzie. 'How did he look?'

Lizzie took a moment to get the description exactly right. 'Like the  wild man of Borneo. And distinctly like someone who doesn't want  visitors.'

Julia exhaled a frustrated breath. 'We just want him back, you know?  Especially Ry. It's killing him to see Dan go through this. It's been  months now and we haven't seen any change. And there's no way we can  think about getting married when we can't be sure Dan will want to be  there. There's only one person Ry wants to be his best man.'

Ry returned to the table with a chilled bottle of white wine.

'I don't know about you two, but I definitely need one of these.' Ry  poured the pale liquid into their glasses. They sipped while they  pondered what to do.

'I warned you it was a terrible idea to send me,' Lizzie said.

There was a none-too-subtle exchange of glances between Julia and Ry.

'I still don't agree with you on that,' Ry said.

'I told you this morning. He's your friend, not mine. You're his best  mate Ry, and Julia, you spent all that time with him when he was in  hospital. I don't know why you think he'd want an almost complete  stranger turning up on his doorstep.'