Someone Like You(26)

Ry fought back, grabbing her wrists in a lightning-fast manoeuvre and  then spun Julia around so they were both looking out onto the street.  His arms slipped around her shoulders. 'That car belongs to the one, the  only, Anna Morelli.'

'Who's she?'

Ry chuckled. 'Dan's first girlfriend, that's who.'

A couple of hours later, Julia called Lizzie. She couldn't let Lizzie stew any longer.

'Can't talk. Working.' The sounds of the pub filtered down the line.

'Oh, for God's sake. Surely you get a tea break. Go somewhere quiet. I have news.'

'You've got your first big client?'

'Yes I have, as a matter of fact. Two of them. But that's not it.'

Julia could hear the resignation in Lizzie's sigh. 'Yes, I know.  Apparently I slept with Dan McSwaine. And then we followed it up with a  knee-trembling kiss in the car park.'         

     



 

'Ooh, I didn't know about the kiss. How exciting.'

'You know about the sleeping with him part?'

'Oops.'

'Look, Jools, I really have to go.'

'No, wait. I have to tell you something.'

'Yes, I know about her, too.'

Julia slapped herself on the side of the head. 'How the hell did you know I was calling about her?'

'She came into the pub, Jools. Her name's Anna.' Lizzie's voice was full of weary acknowledgment. 'She seems nice. I like her.'

'Really? I didn't think you'd react that way to meeting Dan's old girlfriend.'

Dan's old girlfriend.

Lizzie's heart dropped like a stone into the pit of her stomach. That  explained the look on his face. The one she couldn't get out of her  head. She sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly to calm  herself while she figured out what to say.

'Wait 'til you see her up close. Lips like plumped up pillows. Better than Angelina's. Eyelashes to die for. And they're real.'

'I suppose you also know that her car's parked outside Dan's place.'

'Jools. Stop it.'

'I'm just telling you-'

'Jools.'

'Okay.'

'He doesn't have to explain himself to me. He is free to catch up with  an old friend, one he's clearly very fond of. We don't owe each other  anything.'

'Lizzie … ' Julia trailed off. 'We haven't talked in ages. What's going on? I miss you.'

Lizzie knew it was the truth. Between work, the renovation at the pub,  spending time with Dan, organising the first Christmas market and  keeping an eye on Harri next door, she'd had no time lately for her best  friend. Lizzie realised that with the arrival of Anna, a spot had just  opened up in her diary. The time she'd been planning to spend with Dan  was now suddenly free.

'Jools … I miss you too. Let's catch up tonight. Why don't we drive into Goolwa, grab some fish and chips and sit by the river?'

'Sounds fabulous. I'll come and pick you up. And if you want to talk about what's been going on, I'm all ears.'

Lizzie sighed. 'Hope you've got more than two.'





CHAPTER


13


'He's too complicated, Jools.' Lizzie crunched on a hot chip, the  vinegary tang hitting her tastebuds the way she liked it. Sheets of  butcher's paper were spread out on the grass between the two women and  they'd propped two cans of Diet Coke on each end to stop them blowing  away. To their left was the Hindmarsh Island Bridge, crossing the River  Murray in a curving arc, and to their right, the river flowed away over  the barrages and out to sea at the Murray Mouth. It was peaceful, a  light breeze rustling the paper and cooling the chips. The grassed area  was away from the busy main road and a few people sauntered by with  their dogs. Seagulls gathered overhead and landed nearby, squawking  their demands, their uncanny radar for their target better than the US  Military's heat-seeking missiles.

'What do you mean too complicated? I think blokes are pretty simple.  Feed them, flirt with them, figure out of they're a leg man or a breast  man and seduce accordingly.'

Lizzie allowed herself a smile and bit into another chip. 'What was he like in hospital, after the accident?'

Julia took a minute to think and to remember those awful days. 'He was a  little flat at first. No surprise given he'd been heavily sedated in  the first week, but he picked up as time went on. He seemed happy when  he was discharged and even though he had some physical healing to do, Ry  thought he seemed like his old self.'

Lizzie pondered just exactly who the old Dan was. There'd been hints of  that person, drifting to the surface every now and then but, for the  most part, he'd been different since he'd moved to the point. Reserved,  he'd retreated inside himself. A loner.

'Did you and Ry ever wonder why he spent so long holed up in the house?  Why he didn't want any visitors? Why he slammed the door in my face?'

Julia shrugged. 'We figured he was being stubborn about us wanting to  help him out, with food and doctors appointments, that kind of thing.  We'd been all over him when he was in hospital, so he was probably sick  of the sight of us.' She peered into Lizzie's eyes. 'You think there's  something more, don't you?'

'Yeah, I do.'

'Why? What have you seen?'

Lizzie took a deep breath and a swig of her soft drink. She shifted her  gaze out to the river, concentrated on the water rippling in the breeze.  A small wooden sailing boat in the distance bobbed up and down and,  overhead, pelicans soared on outstretched wings.         

     



 

'I'm no doctor Jools, but I think it will take him longer to recover than you think.'

'Why do you say that?'

Lizzie felt the swell of secrets bursting in her chest but swallowed them back. I've been in that place where he is.

'I went through some hard things in … when I came back from London. Mum  had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. After she died, I kind of  fell into a hole.'

'You were only twenty. I'm not surprised you did. But you never said anything. Why didn't you tell me?'

Lizzie shook her head and shrugged. 'I couldn't.' She'd never told anyone.

'Joe was here, back home, wasn't he?'

Joe. Her big brother. Her protector who had fallen apart, too. 'He was  here when he could be but he'd just scored a cadetship on one of the big  Sydney papers. He was here for the end. For the funeral.'

'Did you get any professional help?' Julia asked, softly and cautiously.

Lizzie nodded. 'Yeah, I did. That's why I'm pretty sure I know what's  been going on with Dan. You see, that was me, Jools. I hid away from the  world, too. Some days I couldn't get out of bed. I was a blank.  Happiness, sadness, anger. I didn't feel anything.'

Julia covered her face with her hands. 'Oh God, and Ry and I asked you to help him. We didn't have a clue.'

'How could you know? I didn't tell you then. I haven't ever told anybody  else, besides my GP. I was too ashamed and scared that I'd have a label  pinned on me for the rest of my life. You know what small towns are  like. "There goes the girl who fell apart."'

'Oh, Lizzie. No one would have judged you. You do know how common depression is, don't you? Look around you … you can't be alone.'

Lizzie looked at Julia, managed a sad smile. 'It's all very simple to say when it's not you.'

'You're right. Sometimes we keep secrets when we shouldn't.' Julia took a  deep breath. 'I kept mine too. I was too proud to tell anyone but I was  so miserable for so long in Melbourne. I found it really hard to make  any friends at uni and it seemed like all those huge plans I'd had for  my life were a pipedream. Who the hell was I? A young girl, fresh from  Middle Point. I'd left Ry behind. I didn't have my best friend. I don't  think I ever got as down as you were but they were really hard times. I  hid in my room for months. Lied to Mum about it.'

'You lied to me too, then. You never told me any of that.'

'And admit that I'd made a huge mistake? That was never going to happen. You know how stubborn I can be.'

'Stubborn? You were the brave one, Jools. You left and didn't come back  for fifteen years. You stuck it out. I was the one who came home.'

'Don't you dare, Lizzie. Can't you see that you were the brave one? I  jumped in my car and drove to Melbourne. Big deal. I was a  forty-five-minute plane trip from home. You,' she pointed at Lizzie,  'You flew to London on a one-way ticket. Don't you get it? I took the  safe option. You were so much braver than me.'

Lizzie blinked. She'd never felt brave. Ever. 'That's not true, Jools.'

'When you got on that plane for London, I was so proud of you and kind  of jealous. You had bigger plans for your life than I ever did.' She  reached for her friend's hand and held it tight. 'And look at us now.  We've come full circle. Both of us here, back in Middle Point.'

Lizzie laughed with her. 'Maybe we're not made to be anywhere else. You  know what they say: you can take the girl out of Middle Point … '

Julia joined her in the familiar refrain, ' … but you can't take the Middle Point out of the girl.'

They fell back on the grass, laughing, staring up into the sky.

'Lizzie, when we asked you to help Dan, we didn't know any of this.'

'I know.'

'I'm sorry about what happened to you,' Julia said. 'I'm so glad you told me.'

'Me too.'





CHAPTER


14


Dan didn't quite understand why but he needed to tell Anna what had  really been going on. He knew she wouldn't judge him and since he hadn't  wanted to sleep with her for a good ten years, that took a whole lot of  pressure off.