I’ll be telling him no such thing. As if things aren’t complicated enough without having to explainyourexistence. Imagine if Dad mentioned Ben to Richard. I shudder at the thought.
‘They won’t miss me for an hour or two,’ I say without even thinking. That’s nowhere near enough time! ‘Or longer,’ I blurt out, feeling panicky again. ‘I can get away for the day if you like?’ But it’s his day off. Why would he want to spend his whole day off with me? ‘Sorry, I bet you’ve got stuff to do.’
‘No, not really. But I’ll feel bad if I take you away from your family. You haven’t seen them for two years.’
‘I haven’t seen you for ten,’ I can’t help but say.
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
He repeats himself, but softly this time. ‘I’m not going anywhere, Lily.’ The sound of my name on his tongue fills me up with contentment. I close my eyes. If I listen hard enough, I can make out the sound of him breathing.
I can’t lose you again.
Stop it.
‘So what shall we do?’ I ask. ‘One of us is going to have to make a decision.’
‘Fishing?’
‘Pardon?’
‘Fishing.’
‘You have a boat?’
‘A yacht, yes.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yep.’
‘You’re finally going to make good on your promise?’
He chuckles. ‘It would seem so. If you’re up for it.’
‘Hell, yeah.’
He moors his yacht in Middle Harbour, which is less than a twenty-minute drive from Manly. He offers to collect me because he’s got a car, but I don’t want him coming to the house, so I insist on catching a bus. I call him when I’m ten minutes away so he’s already waiting by the bus stop with the engine turned on as I climb off the bus. He’s driving a dark-grey Audi Allroad, which is a bit of a change from the white Holden Commodore he used to drive back in Adelaide.
‘Nice car,’ I comment as I climb in.
‘I got a good deal on a second-hand one,’ he explains as he pulls out quickly into traffic.
‘I don’t remember you driving this fast ten years ago,’ I say after a while.
He laughs. ‘I guess I was more responsible back then.’
‘Hmm.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
I give him a meaningful look and he waves me away. ‘Don’t answer that. Anyway, I should be lettingyoudrive – see if those lessons paid off.’
‘I hardly ever drive these days. I miss driving, actually. R—’ Shit! I almost said ‘Richard drives a truck’!
‘Sorry?’ He glances across at me, suspecting I cut a sentence short.
