The Goodbye Girl (27 page)

“
He doesn’t think you’re ready?  How does he know that?”  Harly sounded genuinely perplexed.

“Well, doesn’t Alex know when you’re not in the mood?”

“Sweetie, when it comes to Alex, I’m
always
in the mood.”  Harly laughed at Bree’s expression.  “Okay, yes, he knows when I’m not in the mood.  It’s rare, but does happen.  Sometimes I just want to cuddle.  He knows it, and we cuddle.”

“When you’re not boinking like bunnies,”
Bree said dryly.

“Yep.”  Harly said it so happily that Bree had to laugh again.
  “Okay, back to you.  So Nick doesn’t think you’re ready.”

“
Yeah.”

“
What gave him that idea?”

Bree took several mouthfuls of iced
chocolate, welcoming the cool slide of it down her throat.  “Well, my Mum was a little loose when it came to men, not fussy, you know?  Turned me off a little.”  Ah, to hell with it.  She sighed.  “I decided not to settle for second best.  I waited for that special man.  I wasn’t dropping my daks for just anyone.”

“And you told Nick
.”

“Yeah.”

“I think I’m starting to understand now.”

“Good.  He won’t have sex until I’m ready.”

“Right.”

“I’m ready.”  Bree sighed.  “I think.”

“You think.  Bree, you have to be certain.”

“Look, I want the man.  I’m ready.  I’m just…I mean, hell,
Harly, when do I know is
the
right time?”

“To tell him?”

“No, to ride him like a wild bull and surprise him.”

Harly’s lips twitched, but give the woman credit, she didn’t break out into laughter.  “Yeah, that’d surprise him.”

“Make him run a mile.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Bree sighed.  “So when do I know is the right time to tell him?”

“How about when you’re doing some of that kissing and groping?”

“We did that the other week, and he backed off and said I wasn’t ready.”

“So he was mistaken.  He’s only human.”

“Well, I guess…”

“You weren’t ready after all.”  Thank God there was no judgemental expression in her friend’s face or voice.

“Well, it wouldn’t have taken much.  I was kind of riding a high, you know?”

“And Nick didn’t take advantage of it.”  Harly clucked her tongue admiringly.  “What a man.”

“Yeah, he’s a real peach.”

“So you’re upset because he didn’t push you?”

“His respect is kind of driving me a little wild.”

“Wild.”

“It’d be easier if he took control.”

Harly did laugh this time.  “Sweetie, believe me, when the time comes Nick isn’t the kind
of man
not
to take control.”

“So when did you know…with Alex?”

Cheeks blooming softly, Harly’s eyes grew decidedly dreamy.  “It just happened.”

“Just happened,” Bree echoed.

“Yes.  The time, the place, the mood.  It just happened.”  Harly picked up a potato, weighed it in her hands as she refocussed on Bree.  “I can’t tell you when the time is right.  It just is.”

“Oh,
thanks.  That’s so much clearer now.”  Disgruntled, Bree dropped her chin in her palm.

“Just tell Nick you
’re ready.”

“Oh yes.  ‘Hi Nick. 
Listen, should we schedule that sex into the calendar?  Say, one o’clock Tuesday, week after next?  I’ll be ready then.’  Kind of a mood killer, don’t you think?”

“Your way?”  Harly chuckled.  “Yeah.”

“Argh!”  Bree flung up her hands.  “Why isn’t this easy?”

“
Because you’re making too much out of it.”

“You don’t think swapping bodily
fluids falls into that category?”

“You’ll insist Nick wears a condom so there is no swap
ping of body fluids.  Or not much, anyway.”  Harly put the potato down and fixed a steady gaze on Bree.  “There will come a moment when it all falls into place.  When it seems right, when it
is
right.  Go with your gut.”

“It’s too busy jiggling with butterflies when he kisses me.”

“Good sign.  If you’re ready, let him know.  However you do it, let him know.”

“Maybe I can send him a letter.”

“He might think you’re saying goodbye.”

Bree raised her eyebrows.  “
He told you.”

“About your letter writing? 
Wasn’t hard to put two and two together.  And yes, he did tell me.  I think it’s romantic.”  Harly touched one hand to her chest.  “You actually knew each other a long time ago.”

“Yeah.  Kinda cosmic like, right?”

“Don’t know about cosmic stuff, but I think it means something.”

“You do?”  Bree brightened.

Harly nodded.  “Anyone can see that you two are meant to be together.  You fit each other perfectly.”

“Two pieces of a
puzzle, huh?”  Bree liked that idea.

“Now you just have to get those two pieces together.”  Harly resumed slicing and dicing.

“So, you know, it’s a little intimidating…”

“It’s wonderful between two people who love each
other.”

“
I’m sure it is.  I mean, he’s so perfect.  Great body, muscled, well-conditioned, and I’m…”  Bree poked her belly.  “Kinda squishy.”

Harly nodded.  “I thought the same when Alex and I were
first together.”

“You did?”  Bree was surprised.  Somehow, she’d thought Harly had always been comfortable with
herself.

“At
first.  Had the doubts, you know?  I was big, he was perfect.  But Alex didn’t care.  He saw below my exterior, saw me for me.”  Harly smiled, again all soft and sweet and a little dreamy.  “He loves every part of me, really loves me.  All of me.  That’s what makes him so perfect.”

“Well, I’ve never doubted he loves you
.  Any idiot with half a brain can see he dotes on you.  Man always looks hungry as soon as you walk into the room, and it’s not for food, I can tell you.”

Harly looked pleased, but she didn’t try to deny it.  False modesty wasn’t part
of her nature.  Quiet modesty, yes, but not when it came to her husband.  The doting was returned tenfold. Yeah, Alex and Harly were definitely two pieces of the one puzzle, and they fit perfectly.

Feeling a lot better and deciding to let nature take its course, because it was really starting to freak her out, Bree changed the subject and settled down to enjoy the remainder of the visit.

When she left, it was starting to drizzle.  Alex’s Jeep passed her on the way to his house, and he flashed his headlights at her, both he and Nick waving to her through the windshield.

She smiled and waved back, watching the jeep disappear in the rear-view mirror.  Before she had a chance to ponder further on
a certain rugged soldier, the mobile rang from the holder on the dashboard.  Switching it onto speaker, she answered, “Hello?”

“Bree?”

“Jackie.  How are you?”

“You alone?”

“Nothing but me and the rain.  And the van.”

“No sunshine?”

Bree rolled her eyes.  ‘No sunshine’ was Jackie’s secret code in case there was someone in Bree’s presence who was forcing her to say she was alone.  Paranoia ran a little rampant in Jackie’s veins.  In the whole lot the UFO Hunter Team, in fact.  Many UFO hunters weren’t paranoid, but this particular team had a stranglehold on the rights of the word ‘paranoia’.

“Sun ain’t shining today,” she replied, giving the secret password.  “
Now that the paranoid pleasantries are out of the way, what’s cooking good looking?”

“There have been reports of lights heading in your direction.”

“Yeah, there’s a truck approaching now.  Fancy you knowing that.”

“This is no joking matter.  These lights are in the sky.”

Bree peered up at the sky.  “Nothing here.”

“I said
heading
in your direction.”

“Right.  So do I have an ETA?”

“Twenty hundred hours.”

“Destination?”

“What am I, a mind reader?”

“That thought has crossed my mind more than once.”  Bree grinned.  “What, you didn’t pick that up earlier?”

Jackie ignored her.  “All I know at this time is that the lights are heading in your direction.”

Interesting
.  “Is someone watching them now?”

“No.  If that was so, then it’d be on the news.  Providing the government didn’t put a cloak of silence on the
media, of course.”

Well, that was likely.

“But various reports over the last few days have given the general direction of Whicha.  They will possibly pass over the town tonight.”

“Okay, I’ll be out there, camera at the
ready.”  Feeling enthused, Bree started mentally planning what she’d bring.

“
Report to me before, during and after,” Jackie ordered.  “We need to know you’re safe and haven’t been abducted.”

“They’d need a hell
of a strong beam.”

“Not funny.”  Jackie hung up.

Cool.  A hunt.  That’d take her mind off things.  She’d need to pack some hot tea to drink, a couple of apples to munch on, the Full Spectrum HD camcorder, and the camera for still shots.

And Nick.

Smiling, she reached forward and pressed the speed dial.  Nick answered within seconds.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey, honey.” His voice was smooth, deep, and made her toes curl.  “What’s up?”

“We’re going UFO hunting tonight.”

He didn’t miss a beat.  “Is that so?”

“Yep.”

“Well now, what time do I pick you up?”

“Sweetie, we’re taking the van.  I’m picking you up
at nineteen thirty hours.  Toodles!”  Smiling hugely, Bree hung up.

~*~

Getting into the van, Nick put the small backpack on the floor behind the seats before sitting down.

“Supplies?” Bree glanced at it curiously.

“Grenades for when the aliens land.”

“Nick, really.  They come in peace.”

“I heard they probe in delicate areas.”

“
Okay, yes, apparently they do have a bit of a fascination for the rear end.  Try to think of it as having a colonoscopy in exotic surroundings.”

“Honey, nothing gets near my rear.  You, of course, are free to cop a feel anytime.”

“Wow, I feel so special.”

“That’s because you are.”  Leaning across the gap separating them, Nick kissed her lightly on her
laughing lips, smiling down at her when he lifted his head.

Holy crap, one light kiss and she was ready to forget about the
unexplained lights and take Nick home.

“So, what’s the plan?” Settling back in the passenger seat, he clipped on the seatbelt.

Refocussing on the task at hand, Bree pulled onto the driveway.  “The plan is we find somewhere to park and wait.”

“That’s the plan?”

“That’s always the plan.”

“Huh.”  He looked out at the darkness through the door window.  “No hunting through the bushes with that electro thing?”

Bree grinned.  “That may still happen.”

“Good. Just what I want to do on a wet, cold night.”

She glanced at him.  “You don’t have to come.  I’m fine on my own.”

“And I’m happy to come with you.”

“But you don’t want to crawl through bushes on a wet, cold night.”

“It’s not on my top ten favourite list, but for you I’ll crawl anywhere.”

“That’s sweet in a creepy kind of way.”  Bree flicked her gaze between the road and the sky.

“It’s also kind of interesting to watch a pro at work.”

“I’m definitely not a pro.  I just like the hunt.”

“I read you.”

Remembering that Nick had probably done hundreds of hunts in his job, dangerous hunts, Bree murmured, “I guess you do.”

There was a comfortable silence
between them as the road passed beneath the van.  It was broken by the mobile ringing.

Bree switched it on.  “Hello.”

“How’s the weather?” Jackie asked.

“Wet and cold.  Dark.”

“No lightening?”

Secret
code again.  “Not one iota.”  Bree glanced to where Nick rested comfortably in the seat beside her.  “There is a little spark present, though.”

There was an ominous silence from
the mobile, and he looked from it to her questioningly.