Learning To Trust Again

Rebecca flicked her gaze away. He had seemed almost sad when he’d made the statement about her calling but now his expression was altogether different. She didn’t understand what had happened to cause such a black look and wasn’t sure she really wanted to know. Maybe he’d changed his mind about not caring about her waking him up. Not that she’d do it, no matter how anxious she was. Then again maybe it was something else she’d done. She hoped not, but she was not about to ask him. At the moment he was making her feel a little uneasy and in an unconscious movement, she edged away from him.

They lapsed into a tense silence.

As they reached her building Rebecca was not sure anymore whether she wanted him knowing where she lived. But she could hardly keep him walking all night. Nor could she pretend to go into the wrong apartment building, what if he decided to walk her all the way to her door? Plus he had her name and he was a cop, she was sure he could find out anyway. Taking a deep breath she pointed to the small brick apartment block ‘this is it. I’m on the first floor.’

Jake turned his head and glanced at her before he moved his eyes to the building. Without inflection, he said ‘okay, I’ll see you to the door, make sure you get in alright.’

Rebecca was still trying to understand the cause for the change in his attitude and she felt a little saddened by it. He had been so nice before, but now he had distanced himself and she had no idea what she had done to cause it. Her voice was flat as she said ‘that’s okay, I’ll be fine.’

Jake was silent for a minute then ignoring her statement, he said again ‘I’ll walk you up.’

Rebecca looked at him, puzzled. She was trying to make it easier for him to go, thinking that maybe he was sorry he’d got involved at all but instead of taking her up on it he was insisting on prolonging the contact. And given his insistence, if she didn’t want to be rude, there was little else she could do but comply. ‘Okay’ she muttered as she led the way upstairs to her door.

Learning To Trust Again

A few minutes later Jake came jogging back. He shook the hand of the other officer and after saying good bye to Rebecca, the constable quickly moved off in the direction Jake had come from. Jake looked at Rebecca and asked ‘okay, you ready to go?’

‘Absolutely’ she answered with feeling, pushing off the wall. ‘I think I’ve seen all the delights this lane has to offer.’

Jake gave her a crooked smile. ‘Well let’s go then’ he said and walking side by side they headed out of the lane and turned to the left.

As they walked along Jake asked ‘so where do you work?’

‘At the hospital, I’m a nurse.’

He nodded and after a few moments silence he asked ‘will there be someone at home when you get there?’

Rebecca shook her head and replied ‘no I live by myself.’

‘Is there someone you can call to come and stay with you tonight? It might help you to be able to talk about it. This kind of thing can sneak up on you.’ he said with a concerned expression.

She shook her head again and without looking at him said ‘no but I’ll be fine. I could call my brother but then I’d have to explain what happened and he’d only worry about me every night from here on out. It would drive him crazy. My parents don’t live close enough to come.’

‘What about friends?’

‘To be honest, the questions I’d have to answer, concern me more than being alone. I’m just too tired to face it. Once I’m home and have locked the door, I’ll be fine.’

Jake looked at her for a minute and then nodded ‘okay, but I don’t live far from you. I’ll give you my number. If you need to talk, or if you’re worried about anything just give me a call.’

Surprised, Rebecca looked over at him for a minute. She wondered if he normally gave out his number to people he rescued.

But if he sensed her concern he didn’t say anything. He just put his hand out.

Unsure about it, but telling herself it wasn’t like he was asking for her number she pulled her phone out of her bag and placed it in his hand so he could enter his number. She couldn’t imagine calling him, but it did make her feel better just knowing she had his number and could call if she needed to. As he handed it back she said ‘thanks Jake’ and joking, she added ‘I’ll try not to drag you out of bed in the middle of the night.’

But Jake didn’t respond in the way she expected. He didn’t smile or treat the statement in the light hearted manner that she had intended. Instead he seemed to take it at face value. Shrugging and without looking at her, he replied ‘it doesn’t matter.’ 

Rebecca’s smile faded as she watched a frown came down on his face.

Going Home

Part 87

Thinking for a minute Margaret looked out at the night as she remembered her youngest son. “Gavin was different to Josh in many ways. But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to be exactly like his big brother. He idolised Josh and wanted to do everything Josh did. But really he was quieter and more introverted. Josh was full of charm and very out going when he was younger. He was always smiling and had a wicked sense of humour. And whereas Josh was always moving about the property riding or on a motor bike Gavin was happy working with the animals. Josh also excelled at anything he tried. But for Gavin it was different he had to work hard to be good at the things Josh did with ease. But their differences never affected their relationship. There was no jealousy and Josh was always happy to help Gavin succeed.” Margaret smiled as she recalled what her boys were like as kids and adolescents.

She continued “but in other ways they were very similar. They were both intensely loyal and were not boys others wanted to cross. They knew how to stand up for themselves and for each other. And there were activities they both enjoyed. We’d spend part of each summer at Lake Eildon and the boys both loved to fish.” Smiling Margaret remembered the friendly competition between them as to who would catch the most fish. Then remembering something else she said “they also both loved to snow ski. We took them up to the snow every winter and they were really quite good, in fact if anything Gavin was probably better than Josh. That was probably one of the few physical activities he did better than his older brother, not that Josh would ever admit it.” Remembering those winter holidays Margaret smiled for a second then her expression going somber she turned to Grace “is that the sort of thing you wanted to know? I’m not sure if I’ve helped any.”

Thoughtful, Grace said “no Margaret that was perfect.”  She didn’t know how yet but Grace was certain there was something in what Margaret told her that she could use to help Josh.

Then putting it aside until later Grace changed the subject “Josh and I thought we’d have lunch along the river somewhere tomorrow and then walk down past the casino. Is there anything special you’d like to do afterwards?”

Smiling Margaret said “that sounds perfect, although I would like to see the Aquarium.”

“Well that’s easy” Grace said “the Aquarium is right near where we’ll be. What about Robert do you know if there’s something he particularly like to see?”

“I have no idea I think he’ll just be happy to spend time with you and Josh.”

Learning To Trust Again

Sensing Jake’s regard Rebecca opened her eyes. She watched him put the phone back in his pocket as he walked back towards her. ‘They’ll be here in a couple of minutes’ he said ‘just let me identify the men for them and then we can go.’ After studying her for a minute, he added ‘are you okay to wait?’

Rebecca nodded. Surprisingly she didn’t feel too bad, other than wanting to sit down, that is. But working in a job where she spent all day on her feet, she was used to that. And she’d rather wait until she got home to do that anyway. If she sat down now it would only be worse when she eventually had to get up again to walk the rest of the way home. So it was better if she stayed on her feet for now. She did hope it wouldn’t be for too long though. Making do with resting back against the wall, she watched Jake move back up to the top of the lane and scan the street beyond.

Within a couple of minutes she saw two police cars pull up across the top of the lane. Jake squatted down to speak to the officers through the car window of the first one before turning to point in her direction. Two officers got out of the car and another two got out of the second car. One walked towards her as Jake and the other three men disappeared around the corner in the direction of the pub.

‘Are you okay?’ the young officer asked as he approached.

 Rebecca looked at him and nodded, but her eyes moved of their own accord back to the corner that Jake had disappeared around. For some reason she didn’t feel as easy now he was out of sight, despite having the other officer standing next to her.

‘I’m constable Keenan, Roy’ he introduced himself and pulling out his note book, he used the time while they waited to make a note of her details and told her they’d be in touch for her statement.

Rebecca told him her name and address and gave him a brief rundown on what had happened. His eyes held a sympathetic expression as he listened. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said when she’d finished ‘we’ll get them off the street for now and do our best to make sure they don’t do it again.’

‘I hope so’ Rebecca said as she looked away. She wasn’t interested in talking anymore. She’d had enough now. She just wanted to go home.

Loss and Longing

As promised her car was back before Stevie finished work and she couldn’t believe how good it looked. They’d washed and polished it as well as fixing the dint. She rubbed her hand over the new paint work and couldn’t even tell where the damage had been. After locking up the shop she drove straight to the address the man from the panel shop had given her. She wanted this sorted out straight away.

When she arrived at the number she’d been given, she couldn’t see the house. All she could see was a set of open gates and a letter box, everything beyond was hidden by foliage. She drove in through the gates and up a gently curving driveway. When the house finally came into view she saw that it was a long, single story, stone dwelling with white trim and a veranda running all the way around the outside. It looked to be set in large grounds, some of which Stevie had driven through on her trip up the long drive way. She couldn’t see another house from where she was standing.

She stepped onto the veranda and taking a deep breath she knocked on the red front door. Within a few seconds, the door swung open, revealing the man himself. “Stevie, hi” he said looking a little surprised to see her.

Grant wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Stevie was in a state of shock at the sight of the man before her. It was the first time she had seen him in the light of day, not to mention dry. He was even better looking than she’d thought with strong masculine features. He was lean and tall and while his hair wasn’t as dark as it had looked wet, it was darker than her own mid brown colour. The look of his eyes she had committed to memory but of their colour she had no idea until now. Now she could see they were like the colour of the sea, a beautiful, blue-green. They were eyes you could get lost in and without being aware of it, she did. After a second she realised she was staring and dragged her eyes away. Embarrassed, she muttered “sorry to disturb you at home but I didn’t know where else to contact you.”

“No problem” he said with a smile and stepping back he added “come in.”

She shook her head and forcing her brain to focus on why she was there, she said “no.” Holding out the envelope she’d placed the money in, she added “I just came to pay you for fixing my car. I can’t let you pay for the repairs, but thank you for organising it. I hope it covers what you paid but if not, let me know.”

Learning To Trust Again

Walking away a few steps Jake considered the woman he had just saved as he searched his contacts for the number of the local station. Seeing her smile earlier and the dimples that appeared in her cheeks, he had had to work to remember what he had asked as he felt a stirring of his senses he hadn’t felt in over a year. The unexpectedness of it confused him. He didn’t want to be interested in her as a person. He didn’t want to be interested in anyone, so he needed to maintain a professional distance. Turning his back on her he moved his focus back to what he was doing as he heard the phone ringing down the line. This was his area and he knew the sergeant stationed there well. ‘Mal, it’s Jake Hunter’ he said as the other man identified himself.

‘Jake’ the man on the other end of the phone said, his pleasure at hearing who the caller was, was obvious in his voice. ‘Where have you been?’

‘Working mate’ Jake said ‘even when I’m not on duty.’                             

‘Really?’ the other man said sounding interested, ‘what’s going on?’

‘I just stumbled across an attempted assault on my way home.’

‘Where?’

‘In the lane next to The Commercial. Can you send some of your boys down to round these guys up?’

‘What you haven’t got them cuffed ready to go?’ the sergeant joked ‘you losing your touch mate?’

‘There were four of them’ Jake said with a frown, his voice stern, not in the mood for jokes ‘all I could do was scare them off.’

The other man laughed ‘Since when does being outnumbered stop you.’

‘When I’m unarmed and there is an innocent civilian thrown into the mix’ Jake replied, a hint of steel in his voice.

The other man dropped the levity. Slipping back into his professional demeanour he said, ‘okay Jake, I’ll send a couple of cars over. Will you be there to meet them?’

‘Yep, I’ll be here. How long?’

After a pause where Jake could hear him turning pages, the sergeant said ‘five minutes.’

‘Copy that. Thanks Mal.’

‘No problem. Stop by the station sometime, so we can catch up.’

‘Will do’ Jake said.

Turning back around, he inspected Rebecca as she leaned against the wall, her eyes closed.

Going Home

 Part 86

“Well I’m glad he had your family behind him even if he didn’t have his own.” Margaret said in a sad voice.

It was Grace’s turn to be reassuring now and touching the older woman’s arm she said “Margaret Josh has forgiven you. I think you need to forgive your self now.”

Smiling weakly Margaret said “it seems I’m not as forgiving as my son. I’m finding it hard to get past this.”

Grace smiled “I know Margaret, it’s much easier to forgive someone else than it is to forgive ourselves.”

Nodding Margaret sat back in the chair and sipped her wine.

Grace watched Margaret for a minute aand then said “Margaret can I ask you something?”

Margaret smiled and turned to look at Grace, “sure, fire away.”

Looking down at her hands then back at Margaret, Grace said “can you tell me about Gavin?”

For the second time that night Grace had surprised Margaret.

Noticing the shocked expression on Margaret’s face Grace looked away and tried to give her a way out. “It’s fine if you don’t want to or can’t. It’s just that Josh can’t talk about him yet and I’d like to find a way to help him with that but I don’t know anything about what sort of person he was.”

Glad that Grace was trying to help and wanting to help Josh too, Margaret pulled herself together and gave Grace a small smile. “No that’s fine” she said “what did you want to know?”

Pleased that Margaret was willing to talk about him Grace said “oh just what he was like, was he anything like Josh, what sort of things he liked to do.”