Oh shut up, she told the voice. Greg was the least of her worries in any case. It was Joe she cared about. She didn’t want Joe to leave just like that. She wanted to see him tonight, tomorrow night, lots of nights. Damn Greg. Damn him for whatever it was he’d said. He’d ruined everything.
She sat down in the armchair, landing right on top of a hardback book. She picked it up. It was Joe’s book. She hadn’t even had a chance to return that to him either. How could she contact him? Track him down and explain? Then she remembered he’d told Greg he was catching the train to Adelaide. But which train? From where? And what time?
Several quick phone calls later she knew. The overnight train to Adelaide was leaving from Spencer Street station in the city in less than an hour.
Would she have time to get there? The traffic in the city centre would be heavy. Her sense of direction wasn’t the best and Lainey’s car wasn’t the fastest. But she might just make it.
She was halfway down the stairs when she remembered Rex. Napping in his basket. What if he woke up hungry, distressed, and no-one was there? More to the point, what if Lainey heard that he had woken up hungry, distressed, and no-one was there?
She turned and ran back up the stairs before she had time to think. She picked up the basket, trying not to bump Rex around too much. She was nearly out the door again when she remembered she’d promised to ring Lainey and give her a report on Rex’s operation. Oh hell. Did she have time?
She dialled Lainey’s mobile number. ‘Come on, come on,’ she said, impatiently. It rang several times, then switched to Lainey’s message bank. She was probably in a meeting, Eva thought. She listened to Lainey’s businesslike voice on the recorded message, waited for the beep, then quickly left her own brief message. ‘Lain, it’s me. Just to let you know Rex is fine. It all went well. He’s a star patient. I’ll give you all the gory details later, okay? Bye now.’ She hung up, then ran out of the apartment and down the stairs.
Five minutes later she was on the road.
On the Overland train at Spencer Street station, Joseph walked into his first-class sleeper cabin. It was fine. Compact, clean. Good.
His mind was clear. Businesslike, even. The conversation with Greg had served that purpose at least. He must have been living in some strange dream world the past few days. Spending time with Niamh. Talking to her. Laughing with her. Kissing her. Having fun. But he’d been mistaken. She hadn’t been interested in him after all. It had all been to get at Greg. And he’d been taken in so easily. It was as well he’d discovered the truth now, before he started feeling even more … He stopped his thoughts there.
He needed to forget about Niamh. Think about Lewis instead. And Kate. He looked at his watch. It was a good time to ring London. He stepped off the train and dialled her number on his mobile. He hoped the battery would last. He hadn’t charged it for a few days.
‘Hello, Kate.’
‘Joseph! How are you? I’ve been thinking so much about you. Is the trip going well?’
‘It’s going fine,’ he said briefly. He thought about what a different answer he might have given if he’d spoken to her yesterday. Yesterday he’d felt optimistic, on the verge of something great. As though his life was about to change from black and white into colour. Today he felt … Today he just felt like himself again.
‘And where are you? In Sydney still?’
‘No, at the railway station in Melbourne. I’m on my way to see Lewis.’
‘Oh Joseph, I’m so glad. Thank you.’
‘Should I call him, let him know I’m on my way …’
She interrupted. ‘No, no you don’t need to do that. I’ll call him for you. He’ll be very pleased to see you, whenever you arrive. I know that.’
‘And is there anything I should know before I meet him?’
There was a long pause. ‘Yes, there is a lot you should know. But you shouldn’t hear it from me. It’s time you heard things from Lewis.’
He was surprised at the depth of feeling in her voice. ‘What things?’
‘Talk to Lewis, Joseph. Please. And I’ll be thinking about you both, I promise you.’
‘Are you okay?’ Her voice sounded odd.
‘I’m fine, I’m fine. And I love you very much. Never forget that, will you?’ She hung up before he had a chance to answer.
Two hundred metres away, Eva was cursing as she drove round and round the short-term carpark. Had everyone in Melbourne decided to catch a train today? To hell with it, she decided. She’d park in the long-term area, pay the extra fee. At least there were spaces there.
It was a warm night. Humid, even. Eva pulled into a parking space and quickly wound up the window, leaving it open an inch or two to give Rex some fresh air. She peered in at him in his basket in the back seat. He looked back at her, eyes shining through the bars. Poor little fellow. She hoped he wasn’t feeling too uncomfortable. ‘It was for your own good, Rexie.’
She locked the car doors and had just turned to go into the station when she stopped again. She couldn’t leave him in that warm car. Lainey would be furious if she heard. She’d be cross enough that Eva had left him alone, but if she cooked him as well? She quickly unlocked the door again.
‘Come on, Rexie, come and see the lovely train.’ With the basket in one hand and her handbag and the Bill Bryson book in the other, she headed for the entrance. Now all she had to do was find the right platform. She hoped she’d be in time.
Back in his cabin, Joseph took out his notebook and tried sketching some more designs. Nothing. The door to his imagination seemed to have locked tight again.
He stared out the train window. The station was crammed with people. Last-minute passengers running down the platform. People wheeling trolleys piled with luggage. Couples having tearful farewells.
Niamh carrying a shopping basket in one hand and what seemed to be his book in the other …
Niamh?
He looked again.
It was Niamh. Peering into each carriage window as if she was looking for someone. Him?
She drew level with his window. He watched as her face cleared and a smile of relief came over it. She waved the book, then quickly walked out of sight. Seconds later she was at the entrance to his cabin.
She put the basket on the floor and stepped inside. ‘Joe, thank God I found you. I was sure the train was about to start moving.’
He was very surprised to see her. ‘Why are you here?’
She paused, then held out the book. ‘I wanted to return this to you.’
‘Oh. Thank you.’ He took one end while she held the other. It was almost as if they were holding hands. She let go first. Then they both spoke at the same time.
‘Joe, I can only guess what Greg said to you …’ ‘Niamh, Greg told me …’
They both stopped. ‘You first,’ he said.
‘No, after you.’
‘Please.’ His voice was firm.
She glanced at the clock on the platform. She was running out of time. ‘Joe, I don’t know what Greg said to you, but all I know is that you rang to talk to
me about going out tonight and the next thing I knew you were going to South Australia. So I’m assuming it was because of something he said.’
‘Niamh, it’s fine. I should have realised you and Greg were a couple.’
The and Greg? Is that what he said? That we’re a couple?’
Joseph nodded.
‘Oh no, Joe. That’s not true,’ she said passionately. ‘He’s a friend of Lainey’s. My friend Lainey. The one I’m staying with. She needed someone to be at the house while a carpenter came. Because the carpenter had been through her cupboards last time he was there on his own and it gave her the creeps. I couldn’t because I had to take her cat to the vet’s, so she got Greg to do it instead. I only know Greg through Lainey. He’s not even my friend. Not really. Let alone anything else.’ She knew she was talking too much but she wanted him to know all the facts.
‘So you didn’t meet him in Ireland last year?’
‘He said that as well?’
Joseph nodded again.
‘No, I didn’t. I only met him here, in Melbourne, nearly two weeks ago. I can’t believe he said all that. Was there anything else?’
Joseph paused. ‘He said you’d been using me to make him jealous.’
Eva’s face showed her dismay. ‘Oh Joe. That must have made you feel awful.’
He gave a ghost of a smile. ‘Yes, it did, actually.’
A voice came over the PA system, making them both jump. ‘Five minutes to departure. Would all non-passengers please Leave the train immediately.’
Eva started talking even more quickly. ‘Joe, it was all lies, everything Greg said. I don’t know why he said what he did and I wouldn’t go out with him in a million years, I’d much rather go out with -‘ She blushed and tried again. ‘Go out to dinner with you.’
This time he did smile. Properly.
Since she had gone this far, Eva decided she may as well keep going. ‘I felt sick when I guessed that he’d done something like this, and I couldn’t let you go without saying goodbye.’ She came to a halt, thrown by the look in his eyes. The warmth again. And something else. ‘I’d better go, you’re about to leave, but I just wanted you to know the truth.’ About Greg at least, she realised with a heavy heart. This was hardly the time to tell him the truth about Niamh. She turned to pick up Rex’s basket.
Behind her Joseph spoke suddenly. ‘Come with me, Niamh.’
She spun around. ‘What?’
‘Come to South Australia with me. Tonight. It’s just an overnight trip.’
‘To South Australia?’
‘You’re on holiday, aren’t you? Do you have to be in Melbourne tonight? Or tomorrow?’
She thought quickly. Lainey wasn’t coming back for a few more days. Did she need to be in Melbourne? The train was creaking. ‘No, I don’t. Not really.’
He spoke quickly. Persuasively. ‘Then come with me, on the train tonight. I’m just going to South Australia for the day. We could fly back to Melbourne tomorrow night.’
Go to South Australia just for one day. Fly back?
‘I’ve got thousands of frequent flyer points,’ he lied. ‘Let me cash them in for you. My treat. The train trip as well, I insist.’ She needn’t know he didn’t have a frequent flyer point to his name, he couldn’t be bothered with them, but he’d happily buy her a hundred flights and a hundred train tickets if she’d come with him.
She shook her head. ‘Joe, I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘I haven’t got any clothes. A toothbrush.’
‘I’m sure you could buy a toothbrush on the train. Or in Adelaide. I can loan you a T-shirt tonight if you need it. But you look lovely in that dress. I don’t mind seeing it all day tomorrow as well.’
Eva glanced down at her simple shift dress. He thought she looked lovely in it?
‘Will you come with me?’
Very, very tempted, Eva was about to nod when she remembered something else. Rex. Down at her feet, he was asleep in the basket.
The train gave a jolt. ‘Oh Joe, I’m sorry. Of course I can’t come with you. There’s Rex.’
‘Rex? Another man?’
Eva laughed and pointed down to the basket. ‘No. That Rex. Kitten Rex.’
She had a kitten in there? He’d heard of kitten heel shoes. But kitten baskets?
A whistle sounded on the platform. The train gave another jolt and slowly started to move. Joseph felt very light-hearted again. He didn’t care if she had an alligator in that basket. ‘Great. Bring him too. And then over a bottle of wine you can tell me exactly why you’re carrying a live kitten around Melbourne.’
‘Over a bottle of wine?’
‘In the bar. On this train. Tonight.’
Eva blinked at him. Was she going completely mad? She couldn’t just jump on a train like this, could she? With a near stranger and a post-surgery cat. Even if it did feel like the most wonderful, stupid thing in the world to do …
She looked out of the window. The platform had disappeared. The train was moving very quickly. It seemed she didn’t have any choice.
Joseph had realised the same thing. ‘Welcome aboard,’ he said.
The conductor was very put out about his extra passenger.
As Eva listened to a lecture about the inconvenience to both him and the catering staff of not booking in advance, she thought it was probably just as well he didn’t know about Rex. The kitten and the basket were hidden away in the tiny bathroom in Joseph’s cabin. It had seemed the safest option.
The conductor hummed and hahed, as he checked the bookings sheet. There were quite a few empty sleeper cabins on the train but he didn’t want them to know that. Yet. He stared at them both, standing in the corridor smiling like two cats that had got the cream. What did they have to be so happy about?
‘So, do you want another cabin or will you be sharing this one?’
There was a split-second awkward pause, then
Eva leapt in. ‘Oh, another one please.’ She felt she should explain why. ‘We’ve really only just met, you see.’ They’d only just met but they’d decided to go on an overnight train trip? Why didn’t they just go and have a drink together like normal people? Looking down at his booking sheet one more time, the conductor finally relented. ‘Well, luckily there does seem to be one empty cabin. Two carriages down. So, cash or credit card?’ He watched with some bemusement as the couple had a spirited discussion about who would pay. First the English man insisted it was his idea, so he would pay. Then the woman - Scottish, was she, or Irish? insisted it had been her decision, so she would pay, and she could probably afford it as much if not better than he could. The conductor couldn’t believe his ears. What had happened to the days when women did exactly what they were told? He blamed Germaine Greer. Finally the woman agreed to let the man pay as long as he agreed to let her pay for their lunch the next day. And any drinks tonight. The conductor hoped to God this pair would never think about getting married. Their pre-nuptial agreement would take years to sort out. He took the credit card and started to write out the ticket. ‘Name?’ Eva was on the verge of saying Eva Kennedy
when she stopped herself. Oh hell, it would have to be Niamh again. This was certainly no time to break the news to Joe. And the conductor seemed cranky enough as it was. She couldn’t imagine him standing there patiently while she explained about her real name and her real job and her real address …