Three Words: A Novella Collection Read online

  “Now that we’ve established that you’re not going to faint on me, can you show me to the shower?”

  Daisy walked, mute, around the bench. In a daze, she led Henry to the bathroom where she showed him where to find the toiletries she kept for guests and then handed him two fresh towels from the linen cupboard knowing that she’d never be able to wash them again. In fact, she’d have to have them framed. As Henry took them, the tips of his fingers touched hers and a surge of electricity bolted around her body. She stopped. She glanced up at him wondering if he’d felt it too. His face gave nothing away.

  “I guess I’ll leave you to it, then.”

  Or I could come in and wash your back, she thought. Then I could frame the washcloth too.

  “Cheers.”

  Henry shut the door between them, leaving Daisy standing with her nose almost touching it. Her feet left the floor in a little happy dance as she let out a silent, ecstatic whoop and punched the air. This couldn’t be true. Hawk Moon, the Hawk Moon who had multiple Number One hits and more Top Ten albums in the last five years than anyone known to man, was here. In her shower. She was his all time, for all eternity, biggest, hugest fan.

  Wait till Avery heard about this.

  ~ 4 ~

  As soon as she heard the water running, Daisy sprang into action like a woman possessed. Running this way and that in the small country kitchen, she shoved dirty dishes into the dishwasher and sprayed a few drops of essential oil spray to freshen the air. This was just like that movie, Notting Hill, except she was the bumbling Hugh Grant character and Henry was Julia Roberts. By her reckoning she had five or six minutes to find Hawk or Henry or whoever he was some clean clothes from Jack’s wardrobe and spruce herself up a bit before he reappeared. She couldn’t sit in the lounge with a rock star wearing her PJ’s, now could she? That would be dreadfully bad manners.

  Swiping the phone from the bench on the way, she dashed into the bedroom and speed-dialled Avery. She set the phone to speaker and began to rummage through her drawers looking for a suitable t-shirt, jumper, anything really as long as it wasn’t fluffy and covered in blue and pink stars and looked like something you’d wear to bed. There was no way she was showing herself to him like that again. He was rock star. It was bad enough that he’d seen that daggy cardigan of Jack’s.

  Daisy pulled a black long sleeved peasant top out and held it up before her. That would do. Deciding against dragging the brush through her hair because of lack of time, she settled on pulling a few wisps free and smearing some clear gloss over her lips. She slipped on her jeans, zipped them and pulled the top over her head, swapping her Ugg boots for striped bed socks so she wouldn’t appear too dressy. She didn’t want to embarrass the man. Not that he’d be embarrassed. He was Hawk Moon, for Pete’s sake. He didn’t look like the type to be embarrassed.

  “Hello? Mum? What’s wrong?”

  From the dresser where Daisy had placed the phone, Avery’s worried voice filled the room.

  Daisy ran to turn the volume down, scrambling to tuck herself in at the same time. She did a twirl in the mirror. “Nothing’s wrong, Honey, I just wanted to share something very exciting with you.”

  “It’s nine-thirty Mum. Aren’t you usually in bed by now?”

  “Well yes, but I have a sort of visitor. Hawk Moon is here.” She didn’t know how else to put it so she didn’t sound like a lunatic.

  On the other end of the line her daughter went silent. Daisy could practically hear her young mind ticking over. This time her mother had lost the plot. “Have you been drinking, Mum?”

  “No, I have not been drinking, you minx. There was a storm and Marsha got onto the road and Hawk Moon was driving past and almost ran her over. He’s doing a concert at Margaret River tomorrow night but Marsha pee’d on him, so I offered him a shower and some of your father’s old clothes while he waits for his lift. His car went in the ditch.”

  Phew. It was amazing how she got that out in one go.

  “You’re for real, aren’t you?” Avery began to sound like the excitable thirteen year old that she was.

  “Yep. He’s in the shower right now. He’s very handsome.”

  “Oh duh. He’s, like, the hottest guy on the planet. Wow, how awesome that he’s, like, in our house. Do you think you can get me a photo on your phone and an autograph? Hannah and Charlotte will die.”

  “I’m not taking a photo of him in the shower, Avery.”

  “Of course not. I meant, like, when he gets out of the shower.”

  “I’ll ask. But I can’t promise. I don’t want to annoy him. People probably annoy him for autographs all the time.”

  Avery was indignant. “But you have to get proof that he’s there. Nobody will ever believe you otherwise. Can you imagine the look on Mrs. Hanson’s face if you showed a photo like that around town and she didn’t know about it? She’d totally spew.”

  Daisy smiled at the idea. “It would be funny. Look, I have to go. He’ll be out of the shower any minute and I need to find him some clothes to wear.”

  “Text me when he’s gone. Let me know if he tries to pash you.”

  “I will not text you when he’s gone!” Daisy replied emphatically. “You have ballet at nine tomorrow, young lady. You need your sleep.”

  “Like I’ll be able to sleep now.”

  *****

  Back in the kitchen, Daisy tried to calm herself while she waited for Henry-slash- Hawk to appear from the bathroom. She sat at the bench in the tidied room and sipped her wine. She crossed her legs on one side and then the other. Then she tried plain sitting with her knees together while looking as nonchalant as she could but she knew it wasn’t working. Her leg was jiggling like jelly on a plate and a stupid smile had plastered itself across her face with no hope of leaving. She was like a nervous seventeen year old again, like the night she and Jack had taken each other’s virginity in the barn out the back of her parents’ house. And that had been nerve racking to the extreme. They’d had no idea what they were doing. The result had been Avery and though it had been hard to adjust to the fact that she was swapping University for motherhood and nights out with friends for nappies, Daisy had been confident she and Jack were making the right decision when they told their parents they were in love and wanted to get married.

  They’d been so in love, so much so that it hurt.

  Then one day, after Avery’s thirteenth birthday, Jack had announced that he no longer found her attractive. That her wider hips made him cringe and that he was leaving to live in Broome with Anna from the bakery ~ who was nineteen if she was a day. He would still be there for Avery, of course, but he could no longer be her husband. So much for true love.

  Daisy had been devastated. She’d stopped eating and lost so much weight the whole town had begun to speculate that she had cancer or something. She couldn’t tell them the embarrassing truth ~ that Jack had left her because she was too fat. Instead she wept in the shower for weeks on end and tried to do all the things he did around the house at night so people wouldn’t catch on that he wasn’t there.

  It had been a disaster.

  All she’d accomplished was to make herself sick, which caused even more conjecture. Mrs Hanson had been the worst. She’d been at the front door at all hours of the day and night on the pretext of delivering home-cooked meals. She’d made so many pies and casseroles it was a wonder Daisy and Avery weren’t the size of the log trucks that thundered through town. In a way, it was lucky that Daisy hadn’t been able to stomach anything.

  Then one night, when Mrs. Hanson had arrived at the door ~ bearing a duck curry of all things ~ Daisy decided that the only way to get rid of her for good was to tell her an abridged version of the truth. It had done no good. By then, the town already knew ~ courtesy of the flapping jaw of Anna’s mother during her appointment at the hair salon the previous day. Daisy was more mortified than ever. And the only way she knew how to deal with it was to stay out of sight.

  For the last two months this
had carried on. Daisy had talked to no one. She’d locked every emotion in a big black bag and buried it in a hole in the garden. It was as if ignoring Jack’s disappearance would make the incident cease to exist.

  Worried about the state of her family, Avery had begged to stay home with her mother, which Daisy had allowed because she couldn’t stand the thought of being alone. Avery had tried to carry on as if her father had simply gone to the shops; tried to get her mother to accept what had happened to them. Yet no matter what she did, the child couldn’t pull Daisy out of the funk she’d gotten in. It had been a blessing in disguise when she’d had announced at breakfast one morning that she was going back to boarding school in the city. Avery needed time away from everything too, it seemed.

  The door to the bathroom opened and Henry appeared, wearing a checked winter shirt of Jack’s and a pair of his navy workpants. Daisy looked him up and down. It was difficult not to. The two men were very similar in build but Henry was far more handsome. Incredibly so.

  Breathe, Daisy. Breathe, she thought, as she put her hand on her knee trying to make it stay still. Just be calm. And normal. It was ridiculous and immature, she knew but she couldn’t help the way she was feeling. Hawk Moon was in her house! This was better than winning tickets for the front row of a Bon Jovi concert.

  “So. Looks like you’ve got mobile reception in your bathroom,” Henry commented. “I just got a text from Georgia. She’s going to be longer than expected. At least an hour. Another squall’s come in from the coast and some of the roads are covered with trees.”

  Daisy could understand that. The road between here and Margaret River was bad in the dark at the best of times. Huge kangaroos were everywhere and it was treacherously narrow. A storm would make it ten times worse.

  “That’s no problem. The roads are hideous around here at night. It’d be safer if she didn’t come at all until morning. I can always make you a bed in the spare room if you want to ring her.”

  That sounded calm, didn’t it? And not too much like she wanted to share her bed with him?

  “That’s a very kind offer, but she’s already left.”

  “Oh well. It was only a thought.”

  Henry walked further into the kitchen, coming to stand close by Daisy’s side. He smelled of eucalyptus soap and shampoo. “That shower was so good. Really warmed me up.”

  “Good. Give me your things and I’ll chuck them in the wash.”

  He put the pile of damp clothes on Daisy’s lap. She tried not to turn up her nose at the stench. She was the farm girl after all.

  “Do you have a hanger I can put my jacket on? I’ll put it by the fire for a while.”

  “Sure.”

  Daisy jumped up, almost losing the pile in the process. Henry’s shirt floated to the floor and they both bent to pick it up with a clash of heads.

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. Ouch.”

  Henry reached over and gave Daisy’s forehead a playful rub. His fingertips felt hot on her skin. Suddenly, he was too near. It was all too real. The fresh clean smell of him and the simplicity of his touch sent sparks of longing shooting around her body. She wanted to lick him to see if he really was as sweet as he looked. God, what was happening to her?

  He rubbed for a second longer, then removed his hand. “Better?”

  She couldn’t speak. All she could do was look into his eyes and nod silently.

  Henry indicated her change of clothes. “You’ve changed. You didn’t have to do that. What you had on before was fine. Though that looks nice, too.”

  “I know but I felt like a dick standing there in my PJ’s. They weren’t even my best ones.”

  “You probably don’t want to hear that your top is inside out then.”

  Daisy looked down. Shit. Now she looked like a fool as well as a try hard. “I like to wear it with the seams showing. I’m trying to start a new fashion. Think it’ll catch on?”

  Henry laughed. “Nice try but I doubt it.”

  Bundling Henry’s clothes into a knot, Daisy raced to put them in the washer. She didn’t want to miss a minute of his being in her house. It was never likely to happen again. She stowed the clothes in the washing machine, added detergent and softener and turned it to cold. Then she ripped a hanger from the laundry cupboard and put his leather jacket on it, hanging it on the rail above the tub. She stopped for a second only to admire the softness of the fabric. Daisy had never seen anything like that. It was obviously very expensive. Imagine being able to afford such a thing. Even with Jack’s wage at the bakery and her own from the Day Care Centre put together, they’d had to scrimp to send Avery to boarding school so she could get a good education. There was no room for luxuries.

  Back in the living room, Henry had made himself at home. He was stretched out on the floor in front of the fire, his muscular legs crossed at the ankle as he leant on his elbow, alternately sipping from his wine and stroking Marsha’s nose.

  Daisy watched him for a minute before going to join him on the rug. What would it be like if he stroked her hair that way? She stared into the fire, letting the dream become a reality in her head for a second, knowing it was the only place it ever would.

  “Thanks for the clothes,” Henry said, handing her one of the glasses of wine he’d brought over to the fire with him.

  Daisy turned away from the fire to face him. His dark brown eyes made her want to roll over like Rex and beg to be kissed. “Don’t mention it. It’s not like I have a use for them anyway.”

  “So, I’m not taking them from a husband or a boyfriend? He’s not going to come barging through the front door armed with a shotgun at any minute?”

  “Not unless he’s flying back on his girlfriend’s broomstick.”

  “I’m gathering you’re no longer together.”

  “You gathered right. He left me.”

  Daisy picked up her wine from where she’d sat it on the hearth. Why had she brought Jack up? The very thought of what he’d done still made her over-emotional and the mention of his name had her hand shaking so much she almost sloshed her wine over the rug. Guzzling the drink down, Daisy got to her feet. She needed another drink and now.

  She walked to the coffee table, picked up the wine bottle and refilled her glass. She took another gulp. What was wrong with her? She never talked about Jack yet here she was telling a total stranger. A very friendly stranger, but a stranger all the same. There was something about Henry that had made her want to share, something that made her feel comfortable enough to do so. It was a weird feeling. But then, this whole situation was bordering on bizarre so who was she to discount how she felt.

  And now Henry appeared to be concerned which was utterly sweet. “Let me know if I’m being too nosy,” he said.

  “You’re not nosy at all. In fact, it’s a bit of a relief to share with someone. I’ve sort of been avoiding the truth.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess I was embarrassed that Jack left me for the bakery tart. Apparently she makes a mean coffee scroll.”

  “Seriously? He left you because you can’t cook?”

  “No, he left me because I cook too well.” Daisy sucked in a breath. “You see Jack didn’t like my curves. He told me I was too fat and that he couldn’t have sex with me unless I lost some weight. Then he left me for Anna, one of his co-workers who I might add has boobs twice the size of mine.”

  Henry shook his head. “Excuse me for stating the obvious but you’re not fat. You have a nice figure.”

  “That’s the ironic part. I was so cut up after Jack left I didn’t eat for weeks. I weigh less now than I did when I was seventeen.”

  “Does Jack know this? Maybe he’d come back if you sent him a photo or something.”

  “I don’t want him back. I’d sooner become a lesbian.”

  “Right. So you’re not bitter at all, then?” A hint of amusement played in Henry’s eyes. Under other circumstances, Daisy might have been a bit put out at his words but for some reason his sarcasm ma
de her want to laugh. He was very easy to like.

  “Uh, not unless you call planning the ten most tortuous ways to kill my husband bitter,” she smiled.

  Henry gave a chuckle and rolled over to take up the wine bottle, refilling his glass. Next to him Marsha stirred but didn’t wake.

  “Were you together long?”

  “Since we were sixteen - more than half a lifetime. I met Jack at a horse show. He was very good with horses. We were inseparable from the moment we met. Then, when I was seventeen, I got pregnant. Totally by accident, of course. We had to beg our parents to let us get married. We were like Romeo and Juliet but without the death bit.”

  “Wow. I’ve never met anyone with that type of long-term commitment before. The people I hang with tend to move on quicker than you can say ‘divorce’. Being together for that amount of time is a real achievement.”

  “Not any more. I feel like a failure.”

  “But you did nothing wrong.”

  How was it that this man was single? He was so normal and down to Earth. Not at all the way she imagined a mega famous rock star would be. If Jack had been so understanding she was positive things would have worked out differently, but after the first five years he’d become remote and cold, as if he’d woken up one morning, looked at her and realised he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. His loving looks had turned to revulsion or disdain. It was enough to make Daisy want to cry. In fact if she didn’t get out of the room this instant that was exactly what she was going to do. All over her guest.

  “Um, Can you excuse me for a sec’? I just need to check on something. I’ll be right back. Grab another bottle from the pantry if you like.” She pointed to its location as she all but flew from the room.