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Half an hour later, Angelina made her way slowly along the path that ran from the restaurant and past the cellar door before branching into two paths. One led to the winery, the other followed the driveway that led to the resort proper, a distance of about a hundred metres. She headed for the resort, her shoes crunching on the gravel, her head down in thought as she walked down the gentle incline.
Kevin had advised her to tell Jake the truth as soon as possible, especially since Alex himself wanted to meet his father. He’d said he would want to know if he had a son and would be seriously annoyed if such news was held back from him.
‘And that’s bulldust about this Jake saying he’d be a rotten father,’ Kevin had pronounced. ‘Lots of men talk like that. You wait till he finds out he has a son for real, especially a great kid like Alex. He’ll be falling over himself to be the best father he possibly can.’
Wilomena hadn’t shared Kevin’s optimism. There again, she had more jaundiced views about the opposite sex and their ability to be good fathers.
‘What fantasyland do you live in, Kevin?’ she’d countered tartly. ‘Obviously, you’ve never been a father. From my experience, lots of men these days soon get very bored with the day-to-day responsibilities of fatherhood. Guys like Jake, especially. He admitted to Angelina he was selfish. And damaged, whatever that means. I think Angelina’s right to be careful. I don’t think she should tell him anything for a while. If nothing else, it gives Alex time to grow up some more. It’ll be weeks before this Dorothy lady moves up here. Meanwhile, Arnold’s not going to say anything.’
They’d argued back and forth, with Angelina a bemused onlooker. In the end, Kevin had thrown up his hands and told Wilomena it was no wonder she was still single, if she was so distrusting and contemptuous of men.
Angelina had done her best to smooth things over between them but by the time she’d left, there’d been a chilling silence in the kitchen. She was relieved she wasn’t working there tonight. Or on the reception desk. She’d already planned to take the evening off, to do some female things, like have a long bath, shave her legs, put a treatment in her hair and do her nails. It would be good to be alone, to think.
‘Angelina, Angelina!’
Angelina turned to find Wilomena running after her.
‘Sorry about the ruckus in there,’ Wilomena said on reaching her. ‘Don’t worry about it. Kevin will be fine later tonight. And yes, before you ask, we are sleeping together.’
‘I…I wasn’t going to ask.’
Wilomena frowned. ‘No, you wouldn’t, would you? You’re not like other girls. It almost killed you to tell us what you told us in there, didn’t it? I mean, you’re not one to gossip, or to confide.’
‘No, I…I guess not.’ When you spent the amount of time she had spent alone, you lost the knack of confiding in other people. You tried to solve your problems yourself.
‘Look, I just wanted to say that I think you should go out with Jake, but without telling him about Alex. Aside from having a bit of long-overdue fun, you can go see where Jake lives, and how he lives. See what kind of man he is.’
‘But how did you…?’
‘Yeah, I know, you didn’t tell us he’d asked you out. But I didn’t come down in the last shower, honey, and I watched you two today. Both times. He asked you out all right and you said no, didn’t you?’
‘I haven’t actually given him an answer yet.’
‘What does he want you to do?’
‘Stay at his place when I go to Sydney for the expo next weekend.’
‘Wow. He’s a fast mover all right. It took Kevin two years to ask me out, then two months to get me in the sack.’
‘It took Jake about two minutes the first time,’ Angelina said drily.
‘Ooooh. That good, eh?’
‘His kisses were. The sex itself was not great. I froze, and he just went ahead.’
‘But you wouldn’t freeze this time,’ Wilomena said intuitively.
Angelina stiffened. ‘I have no intention of finding out if I would or I wouldn’t. And I have no intention of staying at his place next weekend.’
‘But why not? I wouldn’t be able to resist, if it were me. The guy’s a hunk of the first order.’
Angelina didn’t need to be told that. Jake, the man, had even more sex appeal than Jake, the bad boy. And he’d had oodles.
‘If it was anyone other than Alex’s father, I would.’
‘If it was anyone other than Alex’s father, you wouldn’t want to,’ Wilomena said. ‘I’ve known girls like you before, Angelina. You’re a one-man woman. And he’s the man.’
‘That’s romantic nonsense!’
‘Is it?’ Wilomena probed softly.
‘Yes,’ Angelina said stubbornly whilst secretly thinking that Wilomena could be right. Why else hadn’t she accepted dates with other men? It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been asked. She couldn’t even claim to be protecting Alex any more, now that he was at boarding school most of the time.
Wilomena shrugged. ‘Have it your way. So, you’re really not going to see Jake next weekend? Not at all?’
‘I…I might go to lunch with him.’
The look on Wilomena’s face was telling.
‘Just lunch!’ Angelina insisted. ‘As you yourself said, I need to find out some more about him.’
‘Sounds like an excuse to gaze at him some more.’
‘I didn’t gaze at him today. I was just shocked at how much he looks like Alex.’
‘Who do you think you’re kidding?’
Angelina groaned. ‘I did stare, didn’t I?’
‘Don’t beat yourself up over it. The man was worth a stare. I ogled myself. So did every other woman in the place.’
‘Which is why I can’t risk being alone with him again. The man’s a right devil where women are concerned. He always was.’
‘Mmm. But aren’t you curious over what it would be like with him now? I mean, he’s sure to be very good in the sack. If what you say about him is true, he’s had plenty of practice.’
‘Too much practice. No, I’m not curious about his lovemaking abilities,’ she lied. ‘Only about his character and whether he’s going to be good for Alex.’
‘You know, Angelina, you’re a woman as well as a mother. Do you ever think of your own needs?’
‘Yes, of course I do.’
‘But I’ve never known you to go out on a date. Not during the time I’ve worked here, anyway.’
‘Dating is seriously overrated. And so is sex.’
‘Don’t knock it till you try it.’
Angelina flushed. ‘Who says I haven’t?’
‘I have eyes, honey. And ears. If you’d slept with someone around here, I’d know about it. Look, your father’s gone now and Alex is almost grown up. Time for you to live a little.’
‘Maybe. But not with Jake.’ I’d probably fall in love with him again and then where would I be?
‘Yeah, perhaps you’re right. If you slept with him, it could be awkward once he finds out about Alex. He might think you were trying to trap him into marriage.’
‘I’d be more concerned over what Alex thought.’
‘I dare say you would. You’re a very good mother, Angelina. You put me to shame sometimes.’
‘Nonsense. You’re a great mother.’
‘I try to be. Talking of kids, I have to go and ring mine. See what the little devils are up to.’
‘And I have to ring Alex and see how he did at cricket today.’
‘Being a mother just never stops, does it?’ And with a parting grin, Wilomena hurried off.
Angelina sighed and made her way down the rest of the path and through the covered archway that provided protection for arriving guests. A green Jaguar was parked there, with a middle-aged couple inside booking in. Angelina slipped through a side-gate just past Reception that led into a private courtyard attached to the manager’s quarters, a spacious two-bedroomed unit with an en suite to the main.
She and Alex had moved in there two years ago after Angelina had started doing night shifts at the reception desk. The excuse she’d used for the move was that the old farmhouse where they’d been living, and where she’d been born and brought up, was a couple of hundred metres away, far too long a walk for her at night. Or so she had told her father. Papa had not been happy with their move at first, but he’d got used to it. Besides, when Alex came home on holiday, he’d often stayed with his grandfather in his old room.
Angelina rarely ventured back there, the house not having all that many good memories for her. She’d been a lonely child living there, and an even lonelier single mother. She much preferred her memoryless apartment with its fresh cream walls, cream floor coverings and all mod cons. She liked the modern furniture too, having never been fond of the heavy and ornate furniture her father had preferred. Now that her father was gone, Arnold was living in the old farmhouse, free accommodation being part of his contract as Ambrosia’s wine-maker.
Of course, Alex hadn’t liked that at all, having someone else living in his grandfather’s house. But that was just too bad.
Another sigh escaped Angelina’s lips as she let herself in the front door. What a day it had been so far. And it wasn’t over yet.
She moved straight across the cream carpet to the side-table where she kept the phone, sitting down on the green and cream checked sofa and calling Alex on his cellphone. He should have finished playing cricket by now.
‘Yes, Mum,’ he answered after the second ring.
‘You lost,’ she said, knowing that tone of voice.
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ he grumped.
‘Never mind. You’ll wallop them at the swimming carnival.’
‘We’d better. They’ll be insufferable if they win that, too.’
Alex had a killer competitive instinct. He was the one who would be insufferable.
‘So how’s things up there?’ he asked.
‘Everything’s fine. Arnold sold his place today.’ And your father showed up out of the blue.
Alex groaned. ‘Does that mean we’re stuck with him forever?’
‘Alex, I’m not sure what your problem is with Arnold. He’s a really nice man. You could learn a lot from him. Your grandfather said he was brilliant with whites. You know Papa was not at his best with whites. He was more of a red man. But no, we’re not stuck with him forever. He said he’s going to buy a little place over in Port Stephens with what he gets for his place, with enough left over for his retirement. He’s well aware how keen you are to take over and is more than willing to stand aside when you feel ready to take on the job of wine-maker.’
‘Good. Because I intend to do just that as soon as I finish my higher-school certificate.’
A prickle ran down Angelina’s spine. He sounded like Jake had today. So strong and so determined.
‘I won’t stand in your way, Alex,’ she said. ‘This place is your inheritance, and the job of wine-maker is your right.’
‘And I’m going to find my father, too. Not in November. I can’t wait that long. I’m going to start next holidays. At Easter.’
Angelina grimaced. Easter! That was only a few weeks away. Still, maybe it was for the best. She couldn’t stand the tension of such a long wait herself.
‘All right, Alex. You’ll get no further argument from me on that score. Come Easter, we’ll go find your father.’
‘Honest?’ Alex sounded amazed. ‘You’re not going to make a fuss?’
‘No.’
‘Cool. You’re the best, Mum.’
‘Mmm.’
‘Got to go. The dinner bell’s gone. Love ya.’
‘Love you, too,’ she replied, but he’d already hung up.
Tears filled her eyes as she hung up too.
‘Lord knows what you’re crying over, Angelina,’ she muttered. ‘Things could be worse, as Arnold said.’
But she wasn’t entirely convinced.
CHAPTER SIX
JAKE paced back and forth across his living room, unable to eat, unable to sit and watch television or work or do any of the other activities that usually filled his alone-time.
The sleek, round, silver-framed clock on the wall pronounced that it was getting on for half-past eight. He’d dropped Dorothy off at her place in Rose Bay at seven-thirty, an hour earlier. The drive back from the Hunter Valley had taken a lot longer than the drive up. They’d been caught up in the Saturday-night traffic coming into the city, slowing to a crawl near the Harbour Bridge.
‘I won’t miss this when I move to the country,’ Dorothy had declared impatiently, which had rather amused Jake at the time. She should see how bad the traffic was in peak hours on a weekday. If there was an accident on the bridge, or in the tunnel, the lines of traffic didn’t crawl. They just stopped.
But that was city living for you.
Jake had declined Dorothy’s invitation to come in for a bite to eat, and now here he was, unfed and unable to relax, becoming increasingly agitated and angry. With himself.
He’d handled Angelina all wrong today. He’d come on to her way too strong, and way too fast. That might work with city babes in wine bars on a Friday night, but not girls like Angelina. Even when she was fifteen, she hadn’t been easy. She’d made him wait, forcing him to make endless small talk that summer before finally agreeing to meet him alone.
He could see now that her still being attracted to him in a physical sense wasn’t enough for her to drop her current boyfriend and go out with him. She claimed she was a modern woman who’d been around, but he suspected—like Dorothy—that Angelina was not as sophisticated as she thought she was. She had an old-fashioned core.
She was going to say no when he finally rang her. Nothing was surer in his mind. And the prospect was killing him.
He had to change his tactics. Hell, he was a smart guy, wasn’t he? A lawyer. Changing tactics midstream came naturally to him.
