Elle felt alive and excited for the first time in a long time. Guess she was in need of a holiday. It was coming up to two years since Blake's passing and she could do with some distraction on the weekend. Lucky for her, Chloe had remembered the fast approaching doomsday and in typical Chloe-style had called up, demanding, as usual.
"You are dropping everything you're doing this weekend, which is absolutely nothing and coming to see me. No excuses!" she said. "I'm emailing you a flight itinerary and ticket, etcetera, and will absolutely come and murder you if you pass up on the offer."
"What are you talking about?" Such had been Elle's non-committal question.
"Peter and I are having a small get-together at our new place, and I know you want some distraction for the day, so I've already talked to Uncle Bert. He'll pick you and Maya up from your work and then drop you off at the airport. And the best thing is, they're happy to look after Maya for the weekend."
"And what makes you think I'm going to take up this offer?" Elle chuckled.
"A free holiday for one! And you don't have a choice, really. Uncle Bert's already left." Chloe giggled, delighted at her own brilliance. "You better send that girly home and lock up before he gets there."
"Who else is coming?"
"Ethan and Bree, and a few of Peter's friends from work. No biggie! And maybe Harry... if you want."
"What if I had work this weekend?" Elle asked after a while.
"I already called Bonnie at lunch and checked." Chloe gloated. "And stop trying to find excuses. You're coming. That's final!"
Elle stood looking out the window at the darkening street, wondering what clothes she should pack for the weekend. Bonnie had been successfully shooed off an hour earlier, soon after she'd gotten off her phone. She knew she'd only get a short time to chuck things in her weekender. She grabbed her handbag and walked out, locking the door as soon as her father's car pulled in.
"Sorry, love, I ran a bit late. Your mother was asking for things as I ran out the door," Bert said as Elle got into the car. "You all packed?"
"Dad, Chloe only called me a couple of hours ago at work," she answered, kissing his cheek and fastening the seat belt.
"Righto. Where's Maya?"
"At the Taits place. They pick her up from childcare along with their boys, remember?"
"We better hurry, then. Just chuck a few things in, all right?" he advised, speeding down the road towards Elle's home. "Even if you don't pack, I'm sure Chloe will lend you stuff."
In less than two hours, she was sitting at her parent's dinner table eating as fast as she could pumpkin soup with homemade white bread. Her dad had finished eating and was outside talking to Mr. Cott, their nosy neighbour who was out on his daily evening walk.
"How's the bread, honey?" Trish asked, blowing on Maya's spoonful of soup.
"Goob Mum!" Elle managed.
"Grab another piece. There's plenty."
Elle shook her head. "Can't, getting late." She swallowed the last spoonful of soup and scooped up the bowl before Trish could pour another sneaky ladleful into it. She rushed to the sink, drank a glass of water, then rushed back to the table to kiss both Trish's and Maya's heads, scoop up her handbag, and rush out the door. "See you on Monday," she called out, closing the door behind her. "Let's go, Dad!"
Soon enough, the plane was lifting off from Tamworth Regional Airport and touching down at Sydney. It was late when the passengers spilled out. Once outside, Elle scanned faces for Chloe's familiar one.
"Ellie!" She heard her name being called and saw Chloe swishing down the footpath. Peter a pace behind her. "How was the flight?" she asked, giving Elle a crushing hug.
"Fine."
"Have you had anything to eat, Elle?" Peter took the chance to kiss Elle's cheek while she was all but a floating head in Chloe's arms.
Chloe chuckled, letting go. "Yep," the two said in unison. "As if Aunt Trish was going to let Elle go without dinner. How about a drink?" she asked cheekily.
"Sounds good! We'll grab one from a Bottle-O on the way?" Peter grabbed Elle's weekender bag and led the ladies to his car, a Black BMW convertible that stood next to a small Suzuki Swift. Or so Elle thought and eagerly walked towards it.
"It's this one, Elle." Chloe turned her to the small Swift with a wide grin.
Elle smiled. "I'm sorry, I thought." She watched Peter put her bag in the boot.
"A common misconception," he said. "After you."
Elle's jaw dropped when she entered the apartment. It was bigger than her house.
"What do you think?" Chloe grinned. "Better than the one we were renting?"
Elle shook her head. "Are you kidding me? It's gorgeous."
"And cost me an arm and a leg." Peter closed the door behind him and fake limped his way to them.
Chloe hit him playfully on the arm and kissed his cheek. "Pour us some wine, will you, my crippled little man?"
Elle smiled contently. Chloe had finally found the love of her life. Peter rose to his full six feet two inches and excused himself. "And to think you made him wait so many years," she whispered. "How are you two?"
Chloe looked at the kitchen with a big smile on her face. "Better than I'd hoped. It sometimes feels such a waste that I'd known him for so long and never really saw him." She led Elle around the apartment.
"You two always looked beautiful to me." Elle smiled. "Any plans on adding to the family yet?"
"Elle!" Chloe frowned. "We've only just got married."
"Mum asked me to ask." Elle laughed.
"Trish asked what?" Peter interjected, bringing three glasses of red wine and a platter of cheese and crackers. "Thought you might like some nibbles," he said, dropping next to Chloe on the couch.
Elle took the wine and sipped, savouring its bitter dry taste.
"So what did Trish ask?" Peter continued. "Or is it simply girl talk?"
"Mum was asking when you two were thinking of adding to the family. You know, give Maya someone to play with." She smiled, grabbed a cracker laden with a thick chunk of Camembert, and crunched it loudly.
"You can add to the family, too." Chloe pretended annoyance. "I'm a newlywed and will pretend I'm a newlywed till I bloody well feel like it."
Elle grabbed another cracker. "You seem to forget I'm missing something on that front."
"Elle!" Chloe chuckled with abandon.
"Have you met anyone since?" Peter took a sip of his wine and put his arm around his wife's waist.
Elle's smile disappeared, and she reached for another cracker. "No."
"Have you thought about it?" he asked. "It's been a while, don't you think?"
Elle sighed, wanting to change the subject. She'd come on Chloe's behest, and to get away from her loneliness, not add salt to it. "To be honest, I haven't really thought about it much."
"Aha! But you have thought about it a little?" Chloe plastered a big smile on her face and Elle had a strange feeling she was in for a surprise that weekend.
"What have you done?"
Peter laughed loud beside his beaming wife, a burst of thunderous laughter that rang around the apartment. "I told you, Chloe."
"Told her what?" Elle watched Chloe try to keep a straight face.
"That you really wouldn't be interested in it."
"In what?" She almost barked with impatience.
"Dating," Chloe said. "And he's a really nice guy, I mean." Elle opened her mouth to protest, but Chloe was on a roll. "He's handsome, loaded, really mature, has a great sense of humour, and responsible." She turned sharply to Peter. "I think they'd make a great couple."
"Hang on a moment." Elle tried to butt in but couldn't grab their attention.
"It's time they both put the past behind them and gave someone else a chance, you know," Chloe was still talking to her husband, trying to convince him. "Between the two of them, the third time has to be a charm."
Peter laughed. He'd never seen Chloe so passionate about anyone other than the boys she dated and flaunted in his face, never realising he was simply biding time, waiting for that very slow tube light in her head to flick on.
"I never said they won't make a good pair," he said defensively, still laughing, and roared louder when Chloe tried to hit him. "I just think you should leave it up to them to decide."
"Who and what are you two talking about?" Elle yelled over their excited voices.
Chloe ignored her. "I already know he's interested."
Peter sat up. "What are you talking about?"
"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Elle snapped. "What is going on here?"
"He's met her already." Chloe smiled mischievously.
Elle's mouth opened, and she frowned, not knowing what Chloe was on about.
"Dean's met her?" Peter asked, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me that?"
Chloe shrugged. "You would have warned her that he was headed her way."
"Hang on a moment," Elle choked on her words. "You sent him?"
Chloe smiled. "Yes. I want you to be happy again, you know. I miss your smile."
"I smile." Elle blinked back tears and tried a haphazard crack at a grin, but tears came just the same, flooding her eyes. "He said he liked my work."
"And he does! And he likes you too." Chloe said.
"He wants me to work for him at his brother's wedding," Elle muttered. How could they have fooled her so easily?
"And he is!" Chloe stated. "Next month. But you've landed him in trouble, haven't you?"
Elle glared at Chloe. "What are you talking about?"
Chloe looked guilty. "It was my fault. I almost guaranteed him you'd cover the wedding. But he told me about the vineyard thing. He understands. Poor thing! He's disappointed, but he understands."
Elle frowned. "Understands what?"
"He's looking for other photographers. He can't expect you to talk to him again. But it's pushing it so close; he's been having trouble finding ones that suit them."
"Chloe, what did you do?" Peter said.
Elle opened and closed her mouth like a fish a few times, not knowing what it was she wanted to say. "I didn't say I wouldn't."
Chloe frowned. "But he said you barely talked to him." She watched Elle, who was trying not to make eye contact with her cousin. "What happened that weekend?" she finally asked, having had an itch to ask that since the day Dean had called up, highly disheartened.
"A weekend?" Peter murmured, confused. "Dean spent a weekend with Elle?"
"Shh!" Chloe waved him off. "What happened, Elle? He said you were mad at him."
"Nothing. I just froze." Guilt squirmed in Elle like a can of worms. She hadn't actually gotten mad at him. She'd been mad at herself for getting swept away by him so quickly, a man who was very much a stranger.
"Why?"
"I didn't know what to say or do. I panicked."
"Why?" Chloe fired again, and Elle could see Peter itching to ask a ton of questions, but lucky for her, she also knew those questions were mostly for Chloe.
Elle took a deep breath. She hadn't actually talked about this to anyone, not even Bonnie. "He said he liked me."
"My god. And I thought something untoward had happened." Peter drained his wine. "A top-up, anyone?"
"I could do with a few." Elle chuckled and Peter nodded, disappearing into the kitchen to fetch the bottle. "No gossiping while I'm gone, ladies," he ordered as he disappeared behind the door.
They waited obediently, Chloe impatiently drumming her fingers on the soft leather seat. Peter reappeared before long, a bottle in each hand. "I thought we might need more," he said, filling Elle's glass. "Say when."
Elle didn't say 'when' till the wine was dancing to the rim, threatening to spill onto the fluffy cream carpet. She took a grateful sip, draining half and welcoming the sudden wooziness it offered. She wasn't a heavy drinker, but today her need was great.
"Ah! You seem thirsty." Peter topped up her glass again with a knowing smile.
He emptied the bottle into Chloe's glass and sat down again, opening the next bottle. "So Dean said he liked you, and you froze?"
Elle gulped another glug of wine and nodded. "Stupid, huh?"
"Indeed." Peter smiled, raising his glass to Elle. "To the crazy you."
Elle smiled, raising her glass and drinking more gingerly.
"And what about you?" Chloe asked, cozying up to Peter once again, slumping into his warmth.
"What about me?" she asked, realising she was getting tipsy. She leaned back on the couch and sighed. Boy, she was tired.
"Do you like him?"
Such a simple, direct question, and any other time Elle would have denied anything to do with Dean Stewart, but not today. "Yes, I think I do." She downed the glass in one go.
"More wine?" Peter asked.
Elle nodded, and once more didn't say 'when' till a drop actually spilled onto her black jeans. She drank again before Chloe could protest. "So what's tomorrow?"
"Just a small housewarming party, if you will," Peter obliged. "Dean will come," and felt Chloe's elbow jab into his side. "What?"
Elle chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Ethan's bringing Bree," Chloe added, sleepily. It was almost midnight. "And I invited Harriett and James. She might come if they can find someone to watch out for Mitchell."
Elle smiled through her drunken stupor. She had always liked Mitchell. He was a good boy.
"And Dean and Jared are coming," Peter added, stifling a yawn.
Elle simply nodded, the names not really registering in her mind. She was thinking about Dean. The last time they'd met was a couple of weeks ago. It was stupid what she'd done. She could see it now. But it was too late, wasn't it? Dean was already looking for her replacement. He'd lost interest in her. She couldn't blame him. She had nothing to hold him. What? Was she sad that she'd lost him? Did she ever want him in the first place? Oh, boy! This was getting to her head, and she drank every drop of the red in her glass.
"...more, Elle?" Peter's voice floated in, intruding on her thoughts.
"What?"
"More?" he asked, swinging the half-full bottle in front of him.
Elle shrugged, and he poured her another glass and put the bottle back on the table.
"What about you?" she slurred. The room bending and yawning at her.
Peter shook his head. "That's it for me tonight." He eyed Chloe, who'd already fallen asleep with an empty wineglass still in hand. "Better turn in."
"Goodnight." She nodded.
"You know which room's yours?" he asked, coaxing Chloe awake.
"Chloe showed me earlier."
He nodded, hoisting Chloe into his arms. "Goodnight, Elle. See you in the morning."
"Goodnight."
(...Chapter 13 continues...)