The Sun in Her Eyes (7 page)

‘What about blending?’ I ask as he gently chinks his glass against mine.

‘Blending the wines?’ He raises one eyebrow.

I shrug.

‘You know, taking them out of barrels, mixing them together so they taste better and more consistent?’

‘I really know absolutely nothing at all about how a bunch of grapes ends up like this,’ I reply candidly, indicating my glass.

‘How about I give you a tour of the winery sometime?’ he suggests, a smile tipping the corners of his lips.

‘Okay.’ I grin at him.

‘What about you?’ he asks. ‘What are you up to these days? Still teaching?’

My face falls. ‘No. I quit last summer. Went to work as a commodities broker at a start-up in the City. It is as dull as it sounds, I’m afraid. The money was good, but I’ve
just been made redundant, unfortunately.’

‘Oh no.’ His eyebrows pull together with concern. ‘When?’

‘Last Wednesday. The same day I found out about Dad,’ I elaborate.

‘Christ,’ he says. ‘We need to drink more.’

‘I’ll second that,’ I say with a laugh, even though my head is already feeling decidedly fuzzy as I watch him top up our glasses. ‘Anyway, my lack of employment means I
can stay here for as long as necessary.’

‘Well, that’s something, at least,’ he agrees with a nod. ‘Cheers.’

‘Cheers.’

Chink.

‘Hey, what are you doing on Monday night?’ he asks suddenly.

‘Nothing, why?’

‘Want to come to an outdoor screening of
Pulp Fiction
at Botanic Park?’

‘I thought you were going with Michelle?’ Josh interrupts.

Tina puts her fingers in her ears and sings, ‘La, la, la.’

‘No,’ Ethan says dismissively, before shooting Tina a dark look.

‘Who’s Michelle?’ I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer.

‘Just a girl I’ve been on a couple of dates with. It’s not happening,’ he adds to my misguided relief. ‘Come with me,’ he urges. ‘You seem like you
could do with some laughs.’

‘That’s true,’ I concede. ‘Okay, why not?’

The night wears on and we move to yet another venue. A few people have left, including Nell and Julian, and Josh and Tina are chatting to some friends they’ve bumped
into.

I’m having the best night I’ve had in ages and Ethan is showing no signs of calling it quits.

‘Don’t have to get back home for anyone these days,’ he grumbles.

‘Where are you living now?’ I ask.

‘Mum and Dad’s.’ He stares into his drink. ‘It is what it is.’ He glances at me and smiles a small smile. ‘You haven’t changed a bit, you know,’
he says warmly, shaking his head. ‘I like your hair long.’ He reaches across and tugs lightly at my locks. He really has no idea of the effect he has on me. He never has.

‘My hair has been long for years,’ I reply flippantly.

‘Was it long at your wedding?’ He looks confused as he tries to remember.

‘Yeah, I wore it up.’

‘So you did.’ He smiles sweetly, his dimple in place. ‘I remember you weren’t wearing glasses.’

‘No, I’d had my eyes done by then.’

My head is feeling woozier by the minute.

‘I think I’d better stop drinking,’ I say.

‘I forgot you were a lightweight,’ he teases. ‘Want me to get you some water?’

‘I can go.’ I stand up and wobble slightly.

His hand shoots out to steady me. ‘Are you sure?’ he asks worriedly, his grip searing my arm.

‘I’m fine. I’m going to nip to the loo, first.’

Oh dear. I am
really
drunk. I swerve my way to the bathroom, stumbling into a couple of people as I go. Ned and I don’t really go out that much. When did we become so boring? We
used to have fun with each other. Now it seems like we only have fun when we’re apart.

Ethan is at the bar with Tina and Josh when I exit the bathroom.

‘I said I’d get it,’ I say as he hands me a large glass of water.

‘Drink up,’ he commands, so I do. ‘These guys have a taxi coming in a bit,’ he says. ‘We can go via yours?’

‘Yeah. Okay.’

Somewhere along the way, I must have dozed off in the car, because the next thing I know Ethan is guiding me to the front door of Liz and Dad’s place.

‘Keys,’ he prompts.

I fling my handbag at his stomach. ‘Oof,’ he says, before rummaging around fruitlessly for about five hours.

‘Ring bell,’ I snap, although I have no idea what time it is.

‘Got them,’ he replies suddenly, unlocking the door.

I somehow make it into my room and onto my bed.

‘Shoes,’ he instructs. I can barely lift my feet, so he takes them off for me.

‘How you getting home?’ I slur.

‘Taxi.’ He looks a bit blurry, but I see him glance at his watch. ‘I’ll call for one in a bit. You go to sleep, though. I might be waiting a while.’

‘Crash on sofa,’ I say, missing out non-vital words from my sentences.

‘Really?’

‘Course.’

‘Okay, A .’ He bends down and kisses my forehead.

Mmm. Did I say that out loud? I don’t know. Don’t care, either.

‘Call if you need anything,’ he says.

A moment later, my bedroom light is off and I pass out.

‘AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!’

What the
flip
was
that
? I bolt upright. Did someone scream?

‘You scared the life out of me!’ Liz yells.

Oh shit.

I practically fall out of bed before looking down at myself to check that I’m dressed. Yep, still in my little black dress. That’s when someone takes a sledgehammer to my head. Damn,
that hurts!

‘Sorry!’ I hear Ethan’s panicked reply.

I stumble out of the room and into the living room to see him lying on the sofa in his underwear with Liz standing over him. Both of them look as shocked as the other as Ethan scrambles around
to find a pillow big enough to cover his man bits.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Liz demands to know.

‘Chill
out
, Liz,’ I say wearily. ‘You know Ethan, my old school friend. He couldn’t get a taxi home last night.’

I find his T-shirt and jeans and pass them to him. He takes them gratefully and slips the former over his, whoa, really quite muscular chest. The last time I saw him in this half-naked state was
when he was a skinny teenager at the beach.

Er, hello? Yes, you! You! The married woman! You remember your husband, right? Ned? Yeah, him.

While he pulls on his jeans and buttons them up, I force myself to avert my gaze and come face-to-face with Liz. She looks
evil
.

‘I was about to see if you wanted to come with me to see Len, but I’ll take it as a no,’ she says coldly.

‘I’ll see him later,’ I reply. Who the hell does she think she is, trying to make me feel bad? It’s not like I’m allowed to stay at the hospital all day.

‘Fine,’ she snaps, glaring at me one last time before leaving the room.

‘Jeez, my head,’ I say on an exhalation of breath when she’s gone, collapsing on the sofa next to Ethan. ‘How much did I drink last night?’

‘Too much,’ he empathises. ‘I think that might have been my fault.’

‘I’m a big girl.’ I put my hand to my head. ‘I can’t actually believe I haven’t been sick.’

He clears his throat.

‘What?’ I glance at him.

‘You were. Twice.’

‘What?’ I’m aghast.

‘It was like old times,’ he says with a grin.

‘Urgh, you have got to be kidding me.’

Still smiling, he gets up and walks out of the room. I don’t know where he’s gone and my head hurts too much to follow him so I lie down on the sofa, feeling sorry for myself.

‘Coffee?’ he shouts through to me.

Aha! He’s in the kitchen.

‘Yes, please,’ I call back with a very croaky voice.

‘Milk, one sugar?’

I’ve actually cut out the sugar in the last few years, but I could do with a pick-me-up so I say yes. He brings it through a short while later, along with a couple of headache tablets
which he tips onto my palm.

‘Where did you find these?’

‘Kitchen drawer.’

‘Nice one.’ I tuck them away.

He lifts up my feet and sits down, letting my legs drape across him. This is so weird. It’s as if we’ve slotted back into our past. He might be a wine buff now with a sexy chest, but
he’s remarkably similar to the boy I used to know.

‘What was Liz’s face like?’ I ask him with a smirk.

‘She was pretty shocked,’ he replies, mirroring my look.

Out of the blue, I crack up at the thought of Liz finding him half naked on the sofa. My laughter must be infectious because soon we’re both clutching our sides.

The phone rings and I waggle my hand in its direction on the other side of the sofa, trying to stifle my giggles. Ethan passes it to me without answering it.

‘Hello?’ I say into the receiver.

‘Is that you, Amber?’

Christ, it’s Ned.

‘Hello!’ I cry, sitting upright and swinging my legs off Ethan’s lap.

‘Hey,’ he says fondly. ‘I wasn’t sure if I’d catch you before you go to the hospital.’

‘I’m heading in later.’ It’s an effort to sound bright and breezy, but I’m giving it a good shot. ‘What’s the time?’ I haven’t even looked
at a clock yet.

‘It’s just after midnight here,’ he replies as Ethan shoves his watch in my face. ‘I don’t know about where you are,’ Ned adds.

‘Ten fifteen,’ I tell him, glancing at Ethan and giving him a silent thumbs-up.

‘Say hello from me,’ Ethan whispers, waving.

I put my finger to my lips and then make a swiping motion across my throat. He looks bewildered.

‘Have you been out with Zara again?’ I ask Ned, registering the time he’s calling me.

‘No, Tate,’ he replies, prompting a hypocritical surge of relief to rush through me.

‘I thought he was in New York.’

Ned yawns loudly. ‘He came back for a client meeting. We wanted to go over a few things before I head out there next week.’

‘You sound knackered,’ I point out.

‘You sound a bit rough yourself. Are you alright?’ he asks.

‘Yeah, had a pretty big night with Tina and Nell.’

‘Aah, okay,’ he says. He asks a few questions about Dad before calling it a night. We agree to chat in a couple of days before he flies out to the US.

‘Love you,’ he says.

‘Night-night, love you too,’ I reply, hanging up and glancing at Ethan. He’s staring at me strangely. ‘What?’

‘Why didn’t you say hi to him from me?’ he asks with a frown.

‘Because you stayed the night at my house,’ I reply. Duh. ‘He doesn’t know you that well. He’ll probably think you’re trying to get into my knickers or
something.’

He casts his eyes heavenwards.

‘What are you up to for the rest of the weekend?’ I ask, nursing my coffee cup. I don’t put my legs back across him.

‘Manning the Cellar Door. Mum’s covering for me this morning. What about you?’

‘Hanging out at the hospital.’

Ethan gets to his feet, placing the coffee mug on a side table. ‘I’d better get going.’

‘Want a lift home?’ I ask.

‘You’re probably still drunk,’ he points out with amusement.

‘Oh.’ My brow furrows. If that’s true, how am I going to get to the hospital?

‘Go back to bed,’ he says, reading my mind. ‘Sleep it off and head in this arvo, after you’ve had some lunch. I’m going to jump on a bus.’

I feel a twinge of guilt at not going to see Dad right away, but I doubt he’ll want to breathe in my boozy fumes.

I walk Ethan to the door and put his number into my phone, letting it ring until he pats his pocket. ‘Got it,’ he says with a sleepy grin. There’s that dimple again. ‘See
you Monday,’ he says, giving me a quick hug before turning away.

I watch from the doorway until he’s out of sight.

‘Here she is at last,’ Liz says nonchalantly when I appear at Dad’s bedside a few hours later. ‘How’s your head?’ she booms, making me wish
I was a turtle so I could retract said head back into its protective shell.

‘Fine, unless I’m being shouted at,’ I reply pointedly. ‘Hi, Dad.’ I smile sweetly and go over to kiss his cheek. ‘Ooh, I need to give you another
shave,’ I add, stroking his stubble.

‘Liz wanted to,’ he slurs slowly. The effort to speak is still immense, but he’s getting easier to understand. ‘I said no.’

I laugh under my breath. ‘Good one, Dad. You know I won’t cut you.’

Liz tuts, but I don’t look over my shoulder to see if she’s smiling. If she doesn’t know by now when Dad is teasing her, tough.

‘Shall I make a start now?’ I ask, opening his bedside drawer to check his shaving kit is inside. It is.

‘No. Something to show you,’ he says.

I stare at him with confusion before glancing at Liz to see her nodding with encouragement.

His limbs shake as he moves, painfully slowly, off the bed, then to my joy and amazement, a few minutes later he is shuffling his way across the room, with only the use of a walking stick to aid
him.

‘Oh Dad,’ I cry, beaming at Liz to see that her eyes are shining, too. Our earlier run-in is all but forgotten.

It’s supposed to rain on Tuesday, but on Monday afternoon the skies are clear. We should be able to see the stars from the park tonight.

I’ve been having words with myself about Ethan. Obviously I know that I shouldn’t be feeling like this for a man who isn’t my husband and, in the cold light of day, I feel
guilty.

If our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t want Ned to go tonight, but I can’t bring myself to cancel. The truth is, on Friday night I felt like I got the old Ethan back – my
friend, Ethan. And I’ve missed him.

I love Ned, and even though we’ve been arguing a lot lately, I know in my heart that we’re good for each other. He has absolutely nothing to worry about, just like Sadie had no
grounds for concern when Ethan and I were younger.

I may have fantasised about Ethan for years, but at the end of the day it’s harmless, because nothing is ever going to come of it.

‘What’s the deal with the E-Type?’ I ask him when we walk outside to see a grey Golf GTI pulled up on the road. ‘Josh said your dad gave it to you as an engagement
present.’

‘He did.’ He flashes me a wry look over the car’s roof. ‘Think he regrets it now. Not because of Sadie and me,’ he clarifies as we get in and shut the doors.
‘He just wishes it was still his.’