This Time Around (3 page)

“Oh baby, I missed you so much. Have you enjoyed spending time with Grams and Pops?” I ask.

“Yeah, it has been awesome. Grams showed me how to make homemade jam and Pops took me fishing again, but I didn’t catch anything. Plus, between you and me the fish stink,” she says, as she pinches her nose and pulls a disgusted face. My father has always wanted boys but he got stuck with me and my sister Darla. My sister is two years older than me and lives just down the street from me, with her husband Matt and their six year old son Justin and two month old son Calvin. We are all a very close family, we love and support each other with an open mind.

“Why don’t we go in the house so I can say hi to Grams and Pops,” I tell her, as a loud thundering bark breaks the air around us. I look up just in time to see Hetch come bounding towards us. We bought him when he was just ten weeks old and even then he was a giant black fur ball. Being a Newfoundland he is the size of a beast, but he is the softest dog I have ever known. He is nearly nine years old and he is so big that he is taller than me when he stands on his back legs.

“Down Hetch,” I command.

“Grams is making dinner because she said that you would be too tired to make us something, and Pops is watching last nights game. He said that we should have won but the referee was a as-” I cover her mouth with my hand and give her the look. She knows how I feel about her using bad language.

“I think I need another word with Pops about his language when you are watching a game with him. C'mon kiddo let's go inside.” Taking a hold of my luggage I drag the suitcase up the rest of the garden path and lift it onto the front porch. It can stay there for now, it isn’t like anyone is going to steal it. We live in Bell Harbor for Christ sakes. Connie opens the front door for us to enter and the smell of homemade curry drifts through the house. My family are very big curry lovers. Where my dad and my brother-in-law Matt are concerned the hotter the better. But I kind of like my taste buds in working order. I can hear my mum humming to the radio and I smile to myself. I know how lucky I am to have such a loving family to support me and Connie. I sneak up on her and wrap my arms around her waist, holding her tight to me. She lets out a loud scream and I let her go, smiling at her as she turns to face me. A big beautiful smile spreads across her face and she screams again, pulling me in for a tight bone crushing hug. Hetch barks once letting us know that he has arrived in the kitchen, before he goes and lies down on his big doggy bed. That pooch is spoilt.

“Oh honey, you are home. It is so bloody good to have you home,” she states and pushes me away from her but keeps me at arm’s length, I know what is coming. “Oh Penny, darling you have lost weight. What were they feeding you over there or in this case
not
feeding you?”

“Mum, I am fine. Really. The food was nice. Okay, so we didn’t have burgers or steak, but it was decent. I ate what was given to me but Mum, we worked hard and very long hours. Not that hours were set. You should have seen it there Mum, the bad conditions the people had to live in. The water was dirty and the scraps of food they had was unthinkable. I am just happy to have helped the injured, and it was amazing to see the workers finish the water well so the people finally have fresh clean water now. Some of the children there had never seen water so clear before, their smiles showed how happy and thankful they truly were. I can never imagine Connie being in that state. Living in the tin huts and eating very little. It was unbearable to look at, at times. But knowing that I did my part, even the little I did, it helps knowing that they have some sort of help over there.” I look at my mum and see tears in her eyes, but she is also wearing her ‘proud of you smile’ on her face.

I feel arms wrap around me from behind, and I know who it is from his smell. My dad, Nick, has always had the same smell about him ever since I was a child. A smell that made me feel safe and loved. “Proud of you, baby girl. Damned proud of you,” he says, with a slight crack of emotion slipping through. I lean back into his embrace and feel the love wash over me again like it has done many times over the years. I could not ask for better parents.

“Okay, that is enough of the emotional trip let’s eat, I am starving. Feed me woman.” My dad winks at me and he slaps my mum on her arse making her squeal and whip him with the dish cloth. Both Connie and I burst out laughing and sit at the table. I love watching my parents, they have that fun loving relationship. They worship each other.

I turn to my left and see Connie on her new iPhone that I bought her just before I went away. It was a big decision to give her one but as my brother-in-law told me, ‘You need to let her be a cool kid. All the kids her age have one. Just cap it. Control what she can use’. So Matt took both Connie and myself shopping and she picked up the new iPhone. I know from the Skype chats we have had and the Facebook messages we have had over the last month that Connie and the phone have become attached at the hand. I reach over and remove the phone from her grip and she whips her head up to face me.

“No phones at the dinner table, Con, you know the rule,” I tell her.

“But, Muuuuum, I was talking to Lydia. She wants to know if I can go to the beach with her and the girls after we have had dinner. Please, Mum, pleassssse. With a juicy cherry on top.” She links her fingers together and places them under her chin as if praying to me to let her go out with her friends. Bell Harbor is a tight and supportive community and I know that I can let Connie visit her friends, and I know that the people in this town will keep a close eye on her and all of the other children.

“But I just got home, I thought we could spend the day together,” I try to say, but a yawn takes over my body and Connie giggles.

“Mum, I’m sure you are tired from all the travelling, you need to get some sleep. We can hang tomorrow,” she shrugs her shoulders. I give her a pouty face and she bursts into a fit of giggles. “Oh Mum, please don’t pout it is not a good look for you.” Her giggles get louder and my parents join in as she throws my own words back at me. Little witch.

“Fine, go and spend time with Miss Lydia. I guess that you can wait for your gifts that I bought whilst I was away.”

“What? You bought me presents?” I nod my head and dig into my food. My mum’s cooking is amazing. Thank God she taught me how to cook also. Dinner goes by all too quickly with Connie cramming as much food in her mouth as possible so she can bolt and meet up with Lydia and her friends. I am pleased that she is a cheerful child and she enjoys socialising and being in with the in crowd, but in a good way. People love Connie she is never mean to anyone and she enjoys taking care of those around her. Her character is a bright light and she brings that light to everyone's lives.

“Honey, why don’t you go up on the deck and relax. Me and your father with clean this up and we will stay here tonight so you can catch up on some sleep.” God I love this woman.

“Are you sure?” I ask while yawning again.

“Baby girl, listen to your mother. We will sort that pesky daughter of yours so you can sleep. Your mum will be here in the morning, I have to get down to the store in the morning. Oh and don’t forgot to let Adrian know that you are home. He has been keeping busy since you left. Oh and did he tell you that he took on a new partner at the garage?” My dad asks.

“No, he did not. He didn’t say anything before I went away. The garage wasn’t in trouble was it? Why the hell didn’t he say something? I am going to kick his arse for not saying anything,” I fume.

“No, nothing like that. He told us that the bloke was looking at setting down some roots and he had some money and offered to help Adrian expand the garage. He knows what he is doing, he restores cars and from what Ade has told us, this guy had brought some of his clients with him,” my dad explains.

“So have you met him? The new guy?”

“Yeah, he seems like a good lad.” I yawn again. “Now off to bed and get some sleep.” I nod my head. I lean over and kiss the top of my dad’s head and hug him from behind and I do the same with my mum.

“Thank you, for taking care of Connie and Hetch for me. I am so grateful to you both, that I have no word to express my love for you.”

“Hey, giving us you as a daughter and this little girl as a granddaughter is enough. Now go. Sleep.” My mum points to the stairs. I don’t argue with her as I drag my tired body up to my bedroom and strip out of my clothes. Not even bothering with a shower, I am simply too tired. I feel the darkness pull me in and I let it. It takes me to the dream land where my roadie is there making love to me, making me scream his name. Just like he has for the past ten years.

Connie was true to her word and we decided to spend the whole day together. So it is swimming for us and some lunch and some shopping if we are not too tired. I watch as Connie splashes around the outdoor pool with Lydia and a few of her friends that I agreed could come along with us. I smile at them playing together. She is wearing the new bathing suit I bought her just before I went away to work. It is a pink, purple and white tie dye one piece. She loves that design. I really do not like young girls wearing bikinis, I think there are way too many creepers in the world, even though I know that BH is a great place for kids. And Connie is a beautiful girl. I wore my navy pin-up style bathing suit with white anchors print.

Shading my eyes with my hands, I look around the pool and watch as families play together enjoying the sun during the summer holidays. I love people watching. There is a father and his baby daughter in the shallow end of the pool, the baby is kicking her feet in the water and the dad is laughing while the mum takes photos. Treasured moments. I remember doing this with Connie when she was a baby. She is a water baby; she has always loved the water. Connie grew up with Adrian’s two children; Harry and Jorja. Harry is a few months younger than Connie, and Jorja is a little over a year younger, so the three of them grew up together like blood siblings. Following the path around the pool I watch as a tall man walks around the seating area wearing a pair of black swim shorts and a baseball cap on backwards. His body looks familiar to me, my body obviously likes what it sees because goosebumps spread across my already heated skin. I watch the low riding shorts sit snug on his hips and cling wetly to his perfect arse. My breathing picks up speed as I notice the arm tattoos and the tattoo running along his spine.

NO. No way is that…

Connie’s squeals rip me from my sudden panic attack of the possibility that the man could have been my roadie. My Liam. I look away and search the pool area for Connie, only to see her running around the pool side while a boy from her class sprays her with water from one of the water cannons. I let out a big breath that I didn’t realise I was holding. I swing my head back to the seating area to see if the Liam-look-a-like is still there, but my body sags into my lounger when I can no longer see him. Shit. I am seeing things now. I know I see him in my dreams but my tired brain must be playing tricks on me. I need to get laid, but I know I won’t do it. I have only had sex with one other person since my mind blowing sex with Liam. I was dating a guy for about four months and we had sex maybe three times and believe me he wasn’t that great. No one will ever compare to how Liam made me feel. We both decided that it just was not working out, so we called it quits.

God, I still remember how Liam’s hands felt on my skin. How he made me feel beautiful, wanted. Even after ten years I think of him often and most nights he makes love to me in my dreams. I am not delusional to think that he thinks of me or that he mourns me and doesn’t sleep with any other girls. He is a roadie, for one of the biggest rock bands out there. But that spinal tattoo on that man has brought all thoughts of Liam to the forefront of my brain and I know that I will have very nice dreams tonight.

The thing is that I didn’t recognise that man that I thought was Liam, he must be a tourist. I shrug my shoulders and turn to start packing mine and Connie’s things up.

“Connie, come on it is time to go. Get everyone together, please,” I tell her, while I pull my shorts up my tanned legs. Adrian’s wife Claire always tells me that they are my best asset. She would say that, as she is only five foot two and I am five foot seven. I tower over her and Rachel. Once I have my shorts on I watch as Connie rounds up her friends so we can drop them all off at their homes, so we can go and have some lunch and meet Rachel for some girly shopping time. I follow the kids out to my car glancing around the pool area and the parking lot for maybe another glimpse of the hot back tattoo guy. Was he here with friends of his family? Oh God, maybe he was here with his wife and children. Shit. I am lusting after a guy with a family. I am no home wrecker. Shaking my head I unlock the car so the girls can climb in. Once I put the bags into the boot, I climb in and connect my phone to the bluetooth so the girls can have music.

Music is a big part of mine and Connie’s lives, there is always music playing through our house. At the moment Connie is in her pop faze, so we always have boybands and chart toppers or any young male singers blasting through the car or the house. I scroll through my play list and find the perfect song for them to sing. Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ plays through the car and the girls squeal and start singing along to the song. I laugh at them and join in. We drop the girls off one at a time, before heading home to shower and change to go get some food before the shopping starts.