Fat chance.“I could do with stretching my legs.”
“You’ll follow police instructions.”
Frustration filled him.“Drug smugglers are dangerous, Dot.I’m not letting you stumble on something by yourself.”
Her gaze sharpened.“What do you know about it?”
Did she really suspect him?“I was there, remember?”
A definite eye-roll.“I’m capable and armed.You’ll get in my way if I do run into anyone.”
“You’re the most capable person I know,” he retorted, as his earlier anger returned with a vengeance.“You’re determined to think the worst of me, but I’ve done nothing wrong.”His pulse raced.It was time to lay it all out.If this didn’t work, he’d accept there was nothing between them anymore.“I loved you once and Istillcare for you, Dot.I don’t want you going into danger alone.”
Her eyes narrowed.“You never loved me,” she spat, walking away.
She’d gone too far.He grabbed her arm, stopping her.“Don’t you tell me how I feel.It wasyouwho wouldn’t give us a shot.Youghosted me and I had no way of knowing why.I loved you more than I’d loved anyone in my life.”
Her eyes widened, and then narrowed to slits.“Don’t you dare blame our breakup on me.Youleft me.Your job was more important than our relationship.”
Shock pierced him, and he shook his head.“I wanted to do long distance, but you didn’t even consider it.”
Her hands closed and opened as if fighting the urge to punch him, and she took a moment before she replied.“We had just agreed to move in together,” she stated, her voice even and viciously controlled.“I turned down the job I wanted in order to stay in Perth with you.And the very next day, you tell me you’re leaving to spend a year overseas.You didn’t even discuss it with me.Tell me, how is that love?”
Oliver had no words.He couldn’t remember anything about Dot being offered a position.“What job?”
She took a step back, shaking her head.“I had the choice between a place in Carnarvon, or a place in the city.I chose Perth, despite hating living in the city, for you.”
He remembered her often complaining about the noise, the traffic and the people, but he hadn’t paid attention to it.“Carnarvon wouldn’t have given you any career progression.”
She laughed.“I didn’t want career progression.I wanted to be closer to home.”
His muscles tightened as he defended his actions.“Why?Your parents never cared where you lived.”
Hurt flashed across her face.Shit.What a way to convince her he was right.
“They didn’t, but I had others who did.It might make no sense to you, but I love Retribution Bay.I love the ocean and the ranges, and I love the people here.”She spoke with passion for the first time, her arms waving like they used to when she was younger and less controlled.“I love the quiet, the space, the landscapes.I was never happy in the city.I only stayed because of you.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she kept talking, on a roll now.
“I talked to you about my job options, and you convinced me to turn down the job in Carnarvon so we could be together.Then the very next day you announced you’d accepted the job in Papua New Guinea.”
“That was a once in a lifetime opportunity.I wanted to continue our relationship.You ghosted me.”
“Because your job was more important than I was,” Dot said.“I’ve lived with being second-best all my life.I wasn’t doing it again.Not with you.I thought you were different.”Her voice broke.“I was wrong.”
This time when she walked away, Oliver didn’t stop her.He couldn’t.He was stuck in place as if her words were chains holding him down.The flash of realisation almost knocked him on his arse.Finally he understood why Dot had cut him off.And to his older and wiser self, it made perfect sense.
He was an imbecile.
He’d been self-absorbed, so cocky about what he wanted, he hadn’t thought how his actions might have affected anyone else.His childhood had been full of love and acceptance and support.
Dot’s on the other hand…
He vividly remembered the night she’d confided in him.It was a couple of months after they had started dating.They were lying in bed, in the dark, talking, getting to know one another.He’d wanted to know everything about her, so when she’d brushed off his question about her parents, he’d pushed for more information.
“They’re parents,” she’d said.“They did their bit for the world by procreating and couldn’t wait until I moved out.”
He hadn’t been able to comprehend it.They’d never been to a school assembly, or sports carnival, they’d never let her have any friends sleep over, but she could go to as many as she liked.They barely remembered her birthday.They’d been disinterested and absent.
