She glowed from his praise; or that could just be the fire. ‘I’m not much of a talker but I like to listen.’
‘That’s about the only thing I missed when Nora and I divorced. She was a good listener too.’
‘How long ago was that?’
‘Thirty-nine years.’ He grimaced and swiped his free hand over his face. ‘We married when she got pregnant and were okay for the first few years. But we divorced when Christopher turned five because she resented the long hours I was putting in at the real estate agency where I worked and it eventually took its toll. We shared custody of Christopher until he hit his early teens, then she took off for London, got remarried and had another three kids.’
She liked that he didn’t sound bitter. ‘Were they close?’
‘Not really. Chris resented his mum taking off and he only got to visit her once in London. She didn’t return to Australia in those early days because she had little kids with her new hubby. She only came back for Chris’s funeral.’
Heidi squeezed his hand, glad to learn more about this enigmatic man she could fall for given half a chance. ‘Karly doesn’t remember much about her parents?’
He shook his head. ‘She was only two when they died. I tried to do the best job I could raising her, but I sometimes worry …’
‘About?’
‘She’s fiercely independent and I always thought that was an admirable quality, but she’s a bit rigid in her thinking sometimes and I wonder what will happen when I leave town.’
Heidi stiffened, every nerve ending in her body snapping to attention.
Jem was leaving?
She should’ve known their burgeoning relationship was too good to be true. For the first time ever she had a real connection with a man—she flicked a glance heavenwards and thought,Sorry, Bert—and after living here for the last thirty years, he suddenly wanted to up and leave. Just her luck.
‘You’re leaving?’
She tried to sound casual, like his answer meant little, but he must’ve heard the slightest quaver in her voice because he swivelled to face her.
‘Not immediately, but yeah, that’s the plan. I’ve been tied to this town for too long because of Karly, and while I don’t resent a single second, once the agency sells I want to travel. See the rest of Australia, maybe even the world. Squeeze in as many adventures as I can before I cark it. Though I’ll eventually return, whenever that is.’
He scanned her face as if looking for something and she’d never been so thankful for the unreadable expression she’d used to great effect in her marriage. With Bert’s thoughtless jibes over the years like, ‘Do women really want all that fake romantic bullshit?’, she’d honed this expression she summoned for Jem now, showing no emotion while hiding her frustration.
‘You’ve gone quiet,’ he said when she didn’t respond, and she forced herself to smile like she didn’t have a care in the world.
‘I think we’ve already established I like listening to you.’
But after his last bombshell, she didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say, so she slipped her hand out from his and reached for the quiche container. ‘Are you hungry? I’m starving.’
To prove it, she chose a mini quiche and made herself eat it, hoping she wouldn’t choke. If Jem suspected she’d shut down he didn’t show it, and as they moved on to safer topics—how she enjoyed managing the shop, the new menu at the pub, the spring fling coming up to raise money for the school—she couldn’t dislodge the lump of resentment that settled in her gut along with that sole quiche.
Jem only saw her as a short-term plaything. A quick conquest, like how she’d viewed all those young guys she’d dated on Happy. It shouldn’t bother her because he wasn’t doing anything wrong. After all, she’d made it more than clear she was up for it when she’d come on to him in such a blatant fashion after their pub dinner. What did she expect?
She had no right to feel this way, a confusing mix of anger and disappointment. Angry at herself for daring to believe they could be more, disappointment she’d never get to find out.
She had two choices. Enjoy her time with Jem while it lasted, knowing any relationship they embarked upon had an expiration date, or keep things strictly platonic. Sounded easy enough, but making a decision and sticking to it would be tough.
CHAPTER
26
Hudson had just finished eating a heated-up steak and onion pie when he heard a loud splash outside. He hadn’t seen Jem’s car when he’d arrived home about half an hour ago so that meant the twilight swimmer had to be Karly.
He wasn’t in the habit of spying on women, especially one who thought he spouted horns and a pointy tail, but he found himself drawn to the window regardless. Nudging aside the dusty curtain, he watched Karly haul herself out of the deep end of the pool like an elite swimmer, then pause at the edge before executing a perfect dive.
However, it wasn’t her aquatic skills that had him frozen. Uh-uh. His stunned reaction had more to do with the minuscule black bikini barely covering what it was supposed to.
Wow.