Page 56 of One More Time

‘I’d best be getting home before Rodger thinks I’ve run off with you.’ She chuckled a little awkwardly then came to her feet. ‘Thanks for the chat. I’d forgotten what a great listener you are, Charlie.’

‘No need to thank me.’ Wishing they could run off together, Charlie stood. ‘I could sit here and listen to you talking all night long, Grace.’ He walked her across the verandah, down the steps and toward where she’d parked her car around the side of the homestead. ‘About the divorce, Grace.’ He wasn’t about to let her get away without explaining. ‘Are we …?’

Clearing her throat, she swallowed down hard and, after a slight hesitation, forced a wobbly smile. ‘Can we talk about this another time, please? We’ve covered enough for one day.’

He wasn’t about to push her to explain when they’d ended her visit on a high note. ‘Yes, of course. When you’re ready.’ She looked incredibly anxious, and his chest tightened at witnessing her so troubled, so fragile. ‘Can … can I give you a hug?’

She stood silently for a moment, and then a moment more, but then she opened her arms to him. ‘Yes, of course.’

Charlie didn’t need any more of an invitation to hold the woman he’d loved, dreamt about, adored and admired for almost all of his life. Grace was the woman he lived for, and would die for. The same went for his four children. Always. Whether living under the same roof or worlds apart, his life was finally all about them.

Slipping his arms around her, he pulled her close, and after a few seconds, she melted against him as though instinctively. With a heavy heart, he could tell she needed this closeness just as much as he did. If only they could go back to being together, and so very much in love. With her head resting against his chest, he felt as if she were right where she should be. He was born to love her, to protect her. He wanted to tell her so, but he held the words back. It would only complicate what was a rare, real, pure, undying love.

They stayed like that for a few glorious heartbeats, lost in one another as the world faded away, but then she unravelled from his arms and stepped out of his reach, her expression a picture of tenderness.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Charlie rocked back on his heels. ‘Goodnight, Grace.’

‘Goodnight, Charlie.’ She stepped forward, reaching up on her tippy toes, and pecked his cheek. ‘It’s been really nice catching up. We’ll see you tomorrow, around two-ish?’

‘You most certainly will.’

She flashed a careful smile over her shoulder before climbing behind the wheel, revving the engine to life then, after one more reflective glance, driving away.

The faint scent of her familiar floral perfume lingered as Charlie watched her rear lights fade into the darkness of night, before turning, climbing the stairs and heading inside to his big, lonely house.

Just across the water, under Rodger’s roof, was a family who could fill it – his family. If only he could try to be a husband and father again, one more time.

CHAPTER

17

2002

The sweet singsong of the honeyeaters’ morning choir serenaded Grace through the bathroom window. She tried her best to lose herself to their melody like she usually could, but today her mind was elsewhere. Dabbing her favourite perfume on her pulse points, she felt a tinge of nerves as she thought about Rodger and Charlie sitting at opposite ends of the dining table tonight. They hadn’t had to be together a lot over the past six years, but it was Hudson’s and Bryn’s eighteenth birthdays and they’d specifically requested for them to all be together. Both men had been warned that they’d better be on their best behaviour or there’d be hell to pay from Grace. Not that she had reason to think otherwise. They’d both been, for want of a better word, civil when in the vicinity of one another, but the undercurrent of their abhorrence was still clear, at least to her, but sometimes also to the children, not to mention their mutual friends. Poor Jenny and Marty were quite often the ones stuck in the middle.

Huffing with her worrisome train of thought, Grace lifted her chin and sucked in a breath as she rubbed her face cream on.

It’ll all be okay.

A few minutes later, Rodger’s reflection appeared in the mirror above the sink, followed by a waft of his spicy aftershave. ‘I’m off to work, darling. I’ll see you tonight,’ he called over the whirr of the hairdryer.

‘Okay.’ Turning, she leant toward him, pecking him on the lips. ‘Have a good day.’ She flicked the off button, and the bathroom fell silent.

‘I’ll do my best to try to enjoy a long day of mind-numbing meetings.’ Rolling his eyes, he flashed her a smile. ‘Would you like me to pick up anything for the party?’

‘No, I have it covered, but thanks for the offer.’

‘I thought as much, Little Miss Organised.’ Catching his reflection again, he straightened his tie. ‘Have you reminded Charlie to bring the gifts you hid at his place?’

‘I have.’ Grace kept her replies short. This was a conversation that had led to a few heated arguments over the past couple of weeks.

‘Excellent.’ He turned back to her, his face a picture of uncertainty. ‘But the question remains, will he remember to bring them?’

‘Rodger,’ she said warningly.

He stopped in the doorway. ‘Sorry, Grace, but his inability to be depended upon is beyond my comprehension.’

‘Charlie is very dependable when it comes to important issues, Rodger, you know that. He’s just forgetful with the smaller things.’