'Sorry.' Lizzie yawned. 'Brain fade.'
'I totally understand. I should have noticed earlier that you've been working yourself to the bone. I'm sorry. I've been a little distracted myself. Work has picked up and I've been head down tail up in my clients' problems. But now, I need to talk to you about the wedding.'
'I know I haven't been much help, not as much as I'd like to be.'
Julia batted that away. 'Oh shoosh. Listen up. Ry and I have decided to ditch all our big wedding plans. I don't know what I was thinking. Got a little bridezilla there for a minute or two. We want the ceremony here.'
Lizzie crunched on a salt and vinegar chip. Her favourite kind. 'That's not news. I already knew you were getting married in Middle Point. You thinking of the Memorial Hall for the reception?'
'No, Lizzie. We want to get married at the pub.'
Lizzie flopped back down on the sofa and sighed at the simplicity of the plan. 'Of course.'
'I know I've been harbouring all these fantasy plans about the perfect wedding, but I realised it would be perfect there. Simple. Uncomplicated. And The Market looks so brilliant, thanks to you and Dan, so we're going to have the ceremony out there. There'll be platters of food rather than a sit-down dinner and an open bar. We can set up a dance floor outside too, and we're going to hire in some caterers so you won't have to lift a finger. Except, of course, to look gorgeous in your bridesmaid's dress.'
Lizzie held three fingers to her forehead in a girl guide's salute. 'I promise to look gorgeous but not as gorgeous as you.'
'That goes without saying,' Julia laughed. 'And I've ditched the whole idea of getting a make-up artist to drive down from Adelaide to make us look as gorgeous as we need to be. I've booked us in to Megan's in Port Elliot for our hair and make-up. And … '
Lizzie saw the tears in Julia's eyes.
' … I've decided to wear Mum's wedding dress.'
Lizzie's let out a sigh. 'Oh, Jools. She would be so happy.'
'It'll be my "something old" and "something borrowed" all wrapped up in one.'
Lizzie raised her glass. 'To your beautiful mother, Mary.' Julia clinked her glass with Lizzie's and wiped the tears from her face.
Lizzie took another sip of her wine and then laughed aloud at what she was going to say. 'So what exactly did you need my help with? Sounds like you've organised this down to the weather.'
'If only I could order the sunshine too, I would have. I've had a little time on my hands. It's all done.'
Of course it was. Lizzie knew Julia. She had a plan and she was executing it with military precision. Lizzie had never stuck to plans very much. In her experience, they usually came unstuck.
Julia grabbed the remote control and pointed it at Hugh Grant on the TV, still paused. 'More Hugh or should we talk about Dan?'
Lizzie gave a little shake of her head. 'Hugh. Definitely Hugh.'
The next scene in the movie unfolded. Lizzie could almost recite the dialogue in her sleep she'd seen it so many times.
'Seen him lately?' Julia mentioned, trying to sound casual.
'No. He hasn't had a film out in a while, has he?'
Julia jabbed the remote at the screen and the image paused again. 'Funny. Very funny.'
'I thought I was going to get rom-com therapy? Talking about Dan is not a rom-com. It's a disaster movie.'
'Oh, Lizzie.'
'I can't think about Dan anymore. It hurts my brain.' And my heart.
'You know he's back at work, right in the thick of it with Windswept.'
'That's great. He needed to get back to it. When does all the work kick off?'
'Mid February. Just after the wedding.'
The wedding. Lizzie knew she still had to get through that day. At least she would be occupying familiar territory. And, unlike anyone else there, she had a key to her office in case she wanted to hide.
The next day, blissfully still one of her R&R days, it was warm and clear and bright. Lizzie had slept for a full ten hours, had woken up in the same position she'd fallen asleep in, so she knew she'd had her fill of rest. Blissfully, Joe hadn't returned so she still had the house to herself.
She brewed a coffee and slid open the doors to her deck, leaving them open to air the house. Her old cane chair welcomed her and she settled in for a Zen moment with the fresh air and the warbling magpies and the view.
'Morning, doll! Got a spare one for me?' Harri waved up at Lizzie from the driveway.
'Of course, Harri, come on in.'
A few minutes later, Lizzie placed a steaming cup in Harri's hands. She responded with a grateful sigh. Lizzie appreciated the chance to see to Harri, treat her a little. Harri's own children, grown-up sons, lived in Adelaide and didn't often visit their mother. Lizzie just couldn't fathom it. If they'd spent more time with her, they'd know that her hip wasn't getting any better and that she was clearly struggling with the increasing pain. Harri would never admit as such to Lizzie, but Lizzie could see it in her friend.
'Where's Joe this morning?' Harri asked, with a curious glance at Lizzie.
'He's staying at Julia and Ry's for a couple of days.'
'That sounds interesting. You thinking you might get lucky?' The old woman's eyes gleamed with mischief.
'If only. Julia scared him off to give me some peace and quiet. I love Stinkface, and it's great to have him home, but … '
Harri nodded, her eyes trained on Lizzie. 'But … he's not the man you imagined living with at your age, is he?'
Lizzie almost choked on her coffee. That woman, she decided, was some kind of spooky. She had the unerring ability to cut right through and find the truth.
'God, Harri. How do you do that?'
'I have an expertly trained bullshit-meter. Too many years in politics, doll. I take it Julia figured out that Joe's giving you the shits.'
'Something like that. I've been flat-out at work and I'm buggered, to tell you the truth.'
'Far too busy to see that handsome young man of yours, I suppose. I haven't seen Dan around lately.'
Lizzie looked to the horizon and away from Harri's perceptive gaze. Did nothing get past this woman?
'I've been keeping my distance there, Harri.'
'What's wrong with him? Is he a bit dodgy?'
'No.' Far from dodgy.
'Has he found someone else's bed to slip his shoes under?'
Lizzie shook her head, frowned.
'So, maybe it means he's just not that into you.'
Lizzie laughed in relief, shook her head once again at Harri. 'What did you say?'
'I get around. I've seen Sex and the City.'
Lizzie leaned over and gave Harri a huge hug. 'Harri, thanks for making me laugh.' And making me think. 'I really needed it today.'
Harri handed her empty cup to Lizzie. 'Thanks for the cuppa. When you see Joe, tell him he owes me a crossword.'
'Huh?'
'While you been working, we've been doing the crossword in the paper every day. He's whip-smart, that brother of yours.'
'As are you, Harri.'
Lizzie stood at the top of the wooden walkway in the dunes, looking out to sea. She needed to get out there. It was too nice a day to be lying on the sofa watching movies. She needed to get out onto the beach. She hadn't wriggled her toes in the sand for weeks and she needed to be in the water, let the waves wash her clean, clear her head. Recharge her rundown batteries.
A few steps onto the warm sand, Lizzie kicked off her thongs, dropped her sunglasses next to them, dropped her bottle of water on top, and tightened the velcro strap of her bodyboard around her right wrist.
As she walked towards the waterline, she took a look over her shoulder at the row of houses on the esplanade. Harri's questions had made her feel twitchy, restless. Confused about Dan. She wondered if he was in there, inside his little green beach shack, which stood humble and proud, dwarfed almost into insignificance by Julia and Ry's glass palace right next door to it. His place was now one of the few remaining original houses on this stretch of the coast.
Would it stay there for long?
Would he?
Lizzie picked up her steps and ran into the surf, the cool of the water bracing and invigorating as it hit her. Within a minute, she'd picked a perfect wave and launched onto it, propelled forward by its sheer force, skimming along on the white foam, a squealing smile she hadn't felt in so long escaping her lips and shooting adrenalin right through her. As she gripped the top of the board, her elbows rested in front of her, she thought of nothing else but the rush, the wave, the sand looming fast in front of her. She didn't turn her board to drop off the back of the wave, but let it carry her right onto the beach. When it jagged into the sand and stopped, she rolled off and lay on her back, lazily letting the next wave float her, her eyes squeezed shut against the blazing sunshine, her heart pounding at the pure thrill of the ride she'd just had.
When she caught her breath and opened her eyes, she realised something was blocking out the sun. Something tall and broad and in a wetsuit. Something reaching out his hand to help her to her feet.
'Good wave?'
Lizzie lifted her forearm to shield her eyes, the sun behind Dan carving a silhouette of his frame. Dan took it as an attempt to reach out to him and when he leaned over and grabbed her hand, she let herself be pulled to her feet, dragging her bodyboard by its wrist strap with her.