He used both hands to push down in a gesture of calm. ‘Kate exaggerates. Kate and the old-school people who were here before Dolphin Bay became a hotspot for escapees from the city. They all mind each other’s business.’
Sandy’s chin tilted upwards. ‘And your business in particular, if Kate’s to be believed.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s no big deal.’
‘Are you telling me that’s part and parcel of living in a small town?’
He picked up his coffee. Drank a few mouthfuls to give him time to think. It was just as he had predicted. Ben’s old girlfriend is back. He could practically hear the hot news humming through cyberspace. ‘Yeah. Better get used to it.’
‘I don’t know if I can.’ Her voice rose to a higher pitch. ‘I’m used to the don’t-give-a-damn attitude of the city.’
Ben thought back to how the town had pulled together for him after the fire. How it had become so stifling he’d had to get away. He’d thrown himself into high-risk money-making ventures because he’d had nothing to lose when he’d already lost everything. They’d paid off in spades. And he’d come back. Dolphin Bay would always be home. No matter that sad memories haunted him at every turn.
But why should that hothouse concern for him bother Sandy?
Her arms were crossed defensively against her chest. Was she using her fear of the townfolk’s gossip to mask some deeper reluctance? Some concern she had about him?
He chose his words carefully. ‘I can see that. But you’re only here for four more days. We’re not thinking beyond that, right? Why worry about what they think?’
‘I just do,’ she said, in a very small voice.
He put down his coffee, put his finger under her chin and tilted it upwards so she was forced to meet his gaze. ‘What else did Kate say?’
‘It wasn’t Kate. There were some other women. Customers. They...they were talking about...about Jodi.’
Pain knifed through him at the sound of Jodi’s name. People tended to avoid saying it in front of him.
His feelings must have shown on his face, because Sandy looked stricken.
‘Ben, I’m so sorry...’
She went to twist away from him, but he stopped her.
‘I should tell you about Jodi.’
The words would be wrenched from him, but he had to tell Sandy about his wife. There should be no secrets between them. Not if they were to enjoy the four days they had together.
‘Ben. No. You don’t have to—’
He gently put his hand over her mouth to silence her and she nodded.
He dropped his hand. ‘I loved Jodi. Don’t ever think otherwise. She was a good wife and a wonderful mother.’
‘Of course.’ Sandy’s eyes were warm with compassion—and a touch of wariness.
‘I’d known her all my life. But I didn’t date her until I’d finished university and was working in Melbourne.’
Sandy’s brows rose. ‘University? You said—’
‘You wouldn’t catch me in a classroom again?’
‘That’s right. You said it more than once. I remember because I was looking forward to going to uni.’
‘You can thank your father for my business degree.’
She frowned. ‘My father? I—’
‘He used to look at me as if I were something scraped off the bottom of his shoe. Left me in no doubt that I wasn’t worthy of his daughter.’ Ben would have liked to apply some apt swear words to his memories of Dr Randall Adams, but Sandy might not appreciate that.
Sandy protested. ‘Surely he didn’t say that to you? I can’t believe he—’
‘He didn’t have to say it. I saw his sneer.’
Her mouth twisted. ‘No wonder I never got your letters.’
Teen testosterone had made him want to flatten the guy. ‘But he had a point. To be worthy of his daughter I needed to get off my surfboard and make something of myself. I had deferred places at universities in both Sydney and Melbourne to choose from.’
‘You never said...’
‘At the time I had no intention of taking either. I just wanted to surf every good break at Big Ray Beach and work for my dad when I needed money to travel to other surf beaches. That summer... I guess it made me grow up.’
He’d been determined to prove Dr Adams wrong. And broadening his horizons had been the right choice, even if made for the wrong reasons. And now fate had brought Sandy back to him. Now they met as equals in every way.
‘You could have been studying at the same uni as me,’ Sandy said slowly. She pulled a face that looked sad rather than funny. ‘I won’t say if only again.’
They both fell silent. But Ben refused to give in to musing about what might have been. He had tortured himself enough.
Sandy cleared her throat. ‘What happened after you finished uni?’
‘I was offered a job in a big stockbroking firm in Melbourne. Got an apartment and stayed down there.’
‘But you came home for holidays? And...and met up with Jodi again?’
He could tell Sandy was finding the conversation awkward. She twisted the fabric of her skirt between the fingers of her right hand without seeming to be aware she was doing it.
‘I had an accident in the surf. Got hit in the face with the fin of my board.’ His hand went to the scar on his lip. ‘Jodi was the nurse who looked after me at the hospital.’
And it had started from there. A relaxed, no-strings relationship with a sweet, kind-hearted girl that had resulted in an unplanned pregnancy.
He’d said there were to be no secrets from Sandy, but Liam’s unexpected conception was something he didn’t want to share with her. Not yet. Maybe never.
‘Jodi moved down to Melbourne with me after we got married.’
‘What...what brought you both back to Dolphin Bay?’
‘I’m not a city guy. I’d had it with Melbourne. The insane work hours, the crowds, the traffic. Mum and Dad were tired of running the guesthouse. Jodi wanted to be with family when she had the baby.’
He gritted his teeth, trying not to let himself be overwhelmed by emotion when he thought of his baby son. The son he’d loved so fiercely from the moment he’d been placed in his arms as a newborn and yet hadn’t been able to protect.
‘I could trade shares from here. Start business projects here.’
There was another pause. Sandy twisted the edge of her skirt even tighter. ‘Those ladies... They...they said Jodi’s parents wouldn’t be happy with me coming onto the scene.’
Ben clenched his hands into fists. Who were these busybody troublemakers? If he found out he’d tell them to damn well butt out of his business.
He shook his head. ‘Not true. Jodi’s mum and dad are good people. They want me to...to have someone in my life again.’
Sandy’s eyes widened. ‘You know that for sure?’
‘Yes. They’ve told me not to let the...the tragedy ruin my life. That...that it’s not what Jodi would have wanted.’
‘And you believe that? About Jodi?’
He nodded. His words were constricted in his throat. ‘The night Liam was born she told me that if anything happened to her—she was