It didn’t take long to leave the town behind. Her hair blew back over her shoulders in the wind. There wasn’t a single car on the road. Her nostrils filled with the scent of salt and sunshine. She grinned as she crested a hill, then raised her feet high as the bike picked up speed down the other side.
Betsy had given her the afternoon off, since they didn’t have much going on. She’d done all the prep work for the upcoming week, and Betsy had declared she didn’t know how she’d managed before Charmaine came along. Charmaine had fought back the tears at her words. Encouragement over a job well done, appreciation for her hard work—these were things she wasn’t accustomed to receiving. Betsy was an encourager. Even when Charmaine made mistakes, Betsy rarely admonished her, instead taking the opportunity to point out something good she’d done instead.
That afternoon, Betsy and Sam were both camped out in the shop, doing homework and baking brownies in the small kitchen. Betsy said they didn’t need Charmaine and since she’d put in so many extra hours lately, she should go out and enjoy herself.
“You’re only young once, honey,” she’d stated with a wink.
Charmaine sometimes felt as though she’d never really been young. She was an old soul living in a young body, or something like that. At least, that’s what Mum used to say when the two of them would sit and play a game of chess on a Sunday afternoon, or would read, side by side, in their swinging hammocks late into the evening.
“Why don’t you go out with some friends your own age?” Mum had asked on more than one occasion.
But Charmaine had simply shrugged and turned the page of her book. “I do sometimes, but I like being here with you. It’s my favourite thing to do.”
Mum would laugh at that. “But we’re not really doing anything.”
“Exactly,” Charmaine would reply.
Then the two of them would chuckle together before falling back into quiet reading in their garden, bees humming around them, birds twittering, and mosquitos readying themselves in the hedgerows for the moment the sun dipped beyond the horizon.
Afternoon and early evening were Charmaine’s favourite times of the day. She usually finished work by five, and with the autumn days still long, she could often stay out swimming until sundown and riding until well after seven. The heat of the day was no longer oppressive by afternoon, and she enjoyed the cool breeze that picked up over the ocean and gently buffeted the island each day.
The cove where she snorkelled came into view quickly, and she aimed the bike to the left to follow the potholed track that veered away from the road between two tall gum trees, their smoky green leaves shushing in the wind as the tallest branches swayed to a steady rhythm.
A tiny brown dog rushed at Charmaine’s bike, barking furiously. She swerved to miss it, and her bike struck a tree root. Then the front tyre landed in a soft patch of sand, dug in, and she went hurtling over the handlebars. She landed on her back in the sand with a thud. The wind was knocked from her lungs, and she lay still a moment, staring up at the sky, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Suddenly all the world rushed in at her, banishing her sense of goodwill. There was no pain, and no air. Then the feeling passed, and she heaved in a big breath.
“Oh, my goodness. Are you okay? Fudge, that was very naughty. Look what you did.” Beatrice Rushton hurried over to Charmaine and helped her sit. Then, she stared at her worriedly until Charmaine was able to stand to her feet with a wobbly smile.
“I’m okay. Nothing broken. At least, it doesn’t seem so. Maybe I’m still in shock, though.”
It was meant as a joke, but Bea’s frown only deepened and she wrung her hands together. “I told you not to run off like that,” she scolded the dog. She was puffing lightly, and a pair of sunglasses sat on top of her head as though she’d pushed them there in a hurry. Her hair was askew and spiked above the glasses in all directions. “I’m sorry, Chaz, but Fudge can be very wilful, and he decided to chase a bird. Then you came along on your bike, and I’m afraid he thought it was all a big game.”
“It’s fine.” Charmaine bent to pat the dog’s head. The animal immediately resorted to licking her hand all over. A leash was attached to a red collar and lay coiled in the sand beside the dog.
Bea picked up the leash and looped it around her hand. “Now you can’t get away from me.”
“What are you doing here?” Charmaine asked, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she regarded the cove, the sparkling water and the clear blue sky overhead. It was a perfect day for snorkelling, and she was more than ready to get started. Her entire body was covered in a film of sweat and now a layer of sand and grit after her tumble.
“Aiden and I came down for a quick swim after work. Are you swimming?”
“I’m going to snorkel.”
“Oh, perfect. It’s lovely here. And I promise to keep Fudge well away.”
“I don’t mind,” Charmaine replied, tickling Fudge under the chin. “I love animals. I only swerved because I didn’t want to run over him. I’m still not great on the bike yet. It’s been a long time since I owned one.”
“Do you have any pets?”
She considered the empty unit above the floral shop, her heart constricting. “No.”
“Maybe you should get one. They’re great company.” Bea’s voice was compassionate.
“There is a cat.” She pressed a half smile to her face. “He came in through my pet door. He’s not mine, but seems to think he owns the place. He visited me a few days ago, and now he keeps coming back at the same time every afternoon. I’ve been feeding him — so that’s probably why.”
“What’s he look like?” Bea asked.
“Grey with green eyes.”
“Oh, that’s Watson.”
