‘One thing.’
‘Name it.’
His eyes took on a puppy-dog appearance as he said, ‘Dump Daniel.’
‘Stevie! I told you in the hospital that I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. There has to be an explanation for what he did.’
‘Does it matter? Surely nothing excuses behaviour like that. Please, Elise. Dump him and go out with…’ He stopped and looked away.
For a moment, I thought he was about to add ‘me’. I bit my lip. ‘Go out with whom?’
He smiled as he looked back at me. ‘Someone who will treat you like you deserve to be treated.’
‘Like a princess?’ I joked.
‘If that’s what you’d like. I was thinking more like a beautiful, intelligent, funny woman who deserves respect and understanding.’
‘Oh. Is there such a person? Right now, I’d settle for someone who doesn’t lie.’
He held my gaze. ‘Not all men lie, you know.’ Bonnie nudged his leg, making him look down. ‘Looks like nature calls.’
‘Please send my apologies to your Uncle George and I’ll call you tomorrow.’
As I passed a turn-off to Shellby Bay ten minutes later, I knew what I had to do. I checked nobody was behind me then slammed on the brakes, reversed down the road, turned left and sped towards Daniel’s. I wanted an apology. And I wanted answers.
Daniel’s car was parked in front of the cottage alongside Michael’s jeep. I banged on the door. No answer. I banged again. Still no answer but the downstairs was lit. Exasperated, I lifted the letterbox and shouted through it, ‘I know you’re in there, Daniel. We need to talk.’ I let the letterbox slam shut then banged on the door again.
‘All right, I’m coming. Keep your hair on,’ yelled a man’s voice. The door flung open. ‘What the hell…? Oh, it’s you.’
‘Sorry. I was after Daniel.’ I tried to avert my gaze from Michael’s wet, naked torso and the towel fastened loosely around his hips.
‘He’s not here.’
‘His car is.’
‘Well, he’s not.’
‘Then where is he? You live in the middle of nowhere. He can’t be far away.’
‘I don’t know where he is. Come in and search if you don’t believe me.’ Michael stepped aside.
‘I will if you don’t mind.’
‘Be my guest. As you know, I’m not exactly his biggest fan so, believe me, I’m not hiding him from whatever it is he’s done to upset you so much.’
I paused at the bottom of the stairs. ‘Who says I’m upset?’
‘Erm… perhaps the beating the crap out of the door and the screeching through the letterbox like something possessed might be a clue?’
‘Sorry about that.’ I bit my lip. ‘Am I okay to go upstairs?’
‘Help yourself. Don’t forget to check under his bed, under my bed, the shower and the airing cupboard.’
I’m ashamed to say that I did. I checked everywhere, but Michael was right; Daniel wasn’t there. My legs shook as I made my way back down the stairs, cheeks burning. ‘I feel a bit silly now. Apologies for the irrational behaviour.’
‘Don’t worry about it. You look like you could use this.’ Michael handed me a cup of tea. I breathed it in. Camomile. I could have done with a stiff drink but this was the next best thing.
‘Why don’t you sit down and drink that while I put some clothes on?’
‘Oh, you don’t have to.’ I felt heat rush to my already flushed cheeks and squirmed. ‘That came out wrong. I just meant don’t put yourself out. Continue with your shower or whatever you were doing. I’ll just drink this then leave you in peace.’
Michael smiled then sprinted upstairs. When he came down less than ten minutes later, he’d shaved and put on a pair of jeans and a plain royal-blue T-shirt, which accentuated the blue of his eyes. I found myself staring at him thinking that he was actually better-looking than Daniel when he wasn’t scowling.
‘So what’s he done?’ He curled up on the other end of the corner sofa.
I looked at my tea instead and blew on it to keep me from staring at him. ‘He punched my friend Stevie and broke his nose.’
Michael whistled. ‘I’m assuming it wasn’t an accident.’
‘Do you think I’d have been “beating the crap out of the door and screeching through the letterbox like something possessed” if it had been?’
‘Fair point. Is your friend okay?’
‘He will be.’
‘Why did he do it?’
I shrugged. ‘He saw Stevie hugging me and went into what I’m assuming was some sort of jealous rage. Stevie and I are just friends. I was upset and he was comforting me, but even if it had been more than that, it doesn’t excuse what he did.’
‘In my mind, there’s never an excuse for violence. He didn’t hit you, did he?’
‘No. I don’t think he would have done.’
Michael ran a hand through his damp hair then shook his head. ‘I can’t believe he got jealous and hit your friend. How hypocritical can he get?’
I put my tea down. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Sorry, Elise, it’s between you and Daniel. I don’t want to get involved.’
‘Seriously, Michael, you have to stop this.’
‘Stop what?’
‘The cryptic comments. On Monday you told Sarah to tell me to be careful, then you repeated the warning to my face earlier, and now you’re saying Daniel’s hypocritical for being jealous, but you won’t expand.’
‘Can you forget I spoke?’
‘If you’ve got something to say, I’d rather you just came out and said it. I’m a big girl. I can take it.’
Michael gazed into my eyes for a while and I found myself holding my breath. ‘No,’ he said eventually. ‘I can’t. There’s a big enough wedge between us as it is. I’m not going to cause any further problems.’
I toyed with pushing it but changed my mind. I felt emotionally drained and wasn’t sure I really wanted to know. ‘Does he have a history of violence?’ I asked.
Michael laughed. ‘You sound like the police! He used to beat me up when we were kids and I wasn’t allowed to touch him because I was older and bigger, but beyond that, I’ve never known him to hit anyone so I’m a bit surprised. Something must have really riled him. Not that I condone what he’s done, even if he was wound up.’
I sighed. ‘I guess there’s a first time for everything. Let’s change the subject. How was photography today?’
Michael’s eyes lit up. ‘The best. We went to Kittrigg Forest then on to Shellby Bay. It was one of those days where everything seems to come together: the weather, the colours, the wildlife…’
Curling up on the sofa with my tea, I listened to him enthuse about his day. I asked him about the greatest photography experiences he’d had and he told me about amazing trips to South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, South America, and Russia. At one point, he jumped up and ran upstairs, returning with a MacBook.