The wild one, p.5
The Wild One, page 5
Rachel and Quinn looked at each other.
"I know Adam would really enjoy the train ride. What do you think, Quinn?"
Quinn nodded. "I can't remember when I last took a ride on a train. Sounds like fun. What say Katie and I pick you up, and then you won't have to leave your car at the station? Not even a New Year's Eve reveler is going to try to steal my Gemini. I'd have to pay them to take it."
They made arrangements about times, and it was all set. Rachel found herself smiling all the way home. Suddenly she was looking forward to New Year's Eve even more. It was a, well, comfortable way to get to know Quinn again, she rationalized.
Chapter Eight
The three children were pressed against the glass window, pointing at the lights of houses as the train flashed past. Rachel sat across from Quinn, wishing she could be as relaxed as the other woman so obviously was.
Quinn sat back in her seat in a pose Rachel now associated with her, one jean-clad leg crossed casually over the other, her sneaker-clad foot moving slightly with the sway of the train. Quinn's arm rested along the back of the seat, her hand lightly holding the belt of Katie's shorts, steadying the child as she knelt beside the window.
"Katie will be okay," said Fliss as she slipped onto the seat between Quinn and the little girl. "I'll hold her for you."
Ten-year-old Fliss had inherited her father's height and her mother's fair coloring. Adam, Rachel felt, took after her father's family and had a stockier build and dark hair.
Quinn smiled at Fliss and turned back to Rachel. "The fireworks were fantastic, weren't they?"
"The best I've seen," Rachel agreed, wishing she had the nerve to add what she was really thinking. And they were all the more fantastic because you were there with us.
Rachel silently chastised herself. She had to keep the situation light, social. Any thoughts of anything else were . . . She had to stop this right now. It was just a carryover from her adolescent fantasies, she told herself.
But the problem was, this thing she had for Quinn, had always had for Quinn, didn't feel like some infantile teenage crush. If it ever had. That's what had scared her years ago. However, what was relevant, and always had been relevant, was the fact that she knew she couldn't act on any of it.
"So, have you decided to make any New Year's resolutions?" Quinn asked, and Rachel pulled her tortured thoughts into order.
"New Year resolutions? I usually do make some. Of course, keeping them is another thing altogether." Rachel pretended to give the question grave thought. To stop trying to revive old dreams about you. What would Quinn say if Rachel voiced such outrageous thoughts? "I guess I'll make the same one I made last year. To be more organized."
"You seem pretty organized to me," Quinn said.
Rachel grimaced. "It's all an illusion, believe me."
"Daddy used to say Mum ran around like a chook with its head cut off," Fliss told Quinn, and Quinn raised her eyebrows.
"The implication was that I was a trifle disorganized," Rachel said without rancor, knowing it had been partly true. Since she'd been on her own she rather thought she'd learned the hard way that she had to have some semblance of organization or everything fell apart.
"Well, I still stick by what I said. Running the business. Organizing your home and family. That mustn't be easy. You seem to manage really well."
Rachel laughed softly. "Sometimes I feel like it's all teetering like a house of cards. One slight tremor and the whole thing will collapse."
She looked across the small space at Quinn and then quickly away again, suspecting that she could drown in those clear gray eyes. "What about you? Any resolutions of your own?"
Quinn shrugged. "Not a resolution as such, but I do know I have to find somewhere for Katie and me to live. We've been with Johnno and Josie since we returned, and I only intended staying for a couple of weeks. I want to be settled before Katie has to start school at the end of the month."
Quinn sat forward, rested her elbows on her knees, and Rachel felt a warm heat flow through her body at Quinn's nearness. She swallowed, suppressing the urge to reach out, run her fingers along the line of Quinn's jaw, feel the softness of her lips.
This was getting totally out of hand. She had to keep reminding herself about the difference between fantasy and reality.
She was a married woman, a mother with the responsibility of raising two children, the widow of a well-liked man who had spent his whole life in this district. She was a business entity in her own right. There was no way she could allow these feelings to intrude on any part of her life. But, oh how Rachel wanted to.
"Not that Johnno has asked us to leave," Quinn was continuing. "Their house is fairly spacious. But Katie and I are in Kerrod's room, and he has to share with his brother, so that's not really fair on him. Apart from that, I like to be independent."
Rachel nodded. And suddenly a thought occurred to her, a wild, totally inappropriate idea that made her heartbeats fall all over themselves. "What" — she swallowed again — "what will you be looking for? A house?"
"Probably." Quinn frowned slightly. "I'd like a bit of a garden for Katie. Then again, I guess a flat or a unit would be more practical." She grimaced. "The bottom line would be the price. Rents these days aren't cheap. They're much higher than I expected them to be."
"Why can't Quinn and Katie have our flat, Mum?" asked Fliss, and both women turned to the young girl. "Well, you said the other day you were going to rent it out again, now that Tom and Bazza have left."
Out of the mouths of babes, Rachel thought to herself. Her daughter had casually voiced Rachel's own idea before Rachel could formulate a spontaneous sounding way to offer Quinn their unit.
But would it be sensible to have Quinn Farrelly so close? Rachel knew the answer to that, but she pushed it away.
"I, we do have a unit at our place," Rachel began. "It's not big, but it's self-contained. Just one bedroom and an open plan living-dining-kitchen area. The bedroom's quite big, though."
"And you rent it out?" Quinn asked.
"Yes. Usually to a couple of students attending the college. We've rented it to students ever since my mother-in-law remarried and moved out to the farm." She told Quinn how much she usually charged for the unit. "Actually, we, that is, Rob and I, built it for his mother when she decided her house was too big for her. There's a connecting door into the main house, but it's a double door and we just keep it locked when it's rented out. So it's quite private. And there's a carport for your car."
"Now that's a must." Quinn laughed easily. "I'm sure the Gemini wouldn't know itself if it got to have its own garage."
Rachel laughed too.
"I think you should trade the Gemini in," suggested Adam seriously. "Otherwise no one will give you even ten dollars for it."
"I doubt they'd give me that now," Quinn told him. "But," she sighed, "there's no way we'll be able to afford a new car for a while yet."
"Maybe Grandpa Charlie could look at it." Adam beamed. "Gran says he's a whiz with machinery."
"I think maybe the Gemini needs a miracle." Quinn chuckled and then turned back to Rachel. "But I would like to have a look at the unit. If it's all right with you."
"Of course. Whenever you'd like."
"Here's our station, Mum," said Adam, standing up, and they all filed out to leave the train.
"Taking the train was the best idea," Rachel said as the Gemini coughed up the hill toward Rachel's place. "Thanks for suggesting it."
"No problem." Quinn dropped down a gear, and the car seemed to heave a sigh of relief as it crested the rise. Quinn drew to a halt in front of the house.
Now that they were home Rachel was loath to have the evening finally over. It was the best New Year's Eve she'd spent in, well, for as long as she could remember.
Rob had always been in a party mood on New Year's Eve and dragged them to as many parties as he could manage. Rachel had had to drive so Rob could enjoy a drink, and he'd usually been asleep in the car before they finally reached home. The next morning they'd had to tiptoe around the house because of his hangover.
"Would you like to come in and look at the unit now?" Rachel asked quickly. "Unless it's too late."
Quinn glanced at the wristwatch on her arm, her eyes narrowing in the dull interior light of the car. "No. It's okay. If it's not inconvenient for you."
"It's a good opportunity." Rachel climbed from the car.
"Mum, I can't get out," said Adam from the back, and Rachel leaned inside to help him untangle his seat belt.
"There's a lot to be said for the retractable numbers," Quinn said wryly as she climbed in the other side and deftly undid Adam's belt. "You weren't holding your mouth right, mate," she said and Adam giggled as he scrambled out of the car.
They walked up the front path, Fliss giving Katie a piggyback ride, setting her down on the step. "That's the unit on that side of the house," she told Quinn.
"It has its own driveway, and the carport's around in back," Rachel said as she unlocked the door to the house. She switched on the light in the foyer, and they went inside.
"This is nice," Quinn said as she looked around.
"The door to the unit's through here," said Adam, running across to get to the door before his sister. He pulled open the door and then pushed the matching door into the unit.
"I want to show Quinn and Katie," said Fliss, giving her brother a shove. "I thought of it first."
"Quit it, you two." Rachel admonished them. "Otherwise Quinn will think twice about living next door to two precocious brats." She pulled a face at Quinn. "As I said, the door's usually locked, so you'd have your privacy. And it's well insulated so you wouldn't have to listen to me screaming at these two." She leaned around the corner and flicked on the light before standing back to let Quinn go inside.
Quinn walked through to the unit, and they all followed her.
"The bedroom's through here." Fliss opened the door with a flourish. "It's got its own bathroom, too."
"You're right," Quinn said. "The bedroom's quite large. And the furniture comes with it?"
The room held two single beds, two chests of drawers, and one entire wall of built-in cupboards.
"Yes. As is. But we can always store the furniture if you have your own."
"No. I don't. Not much anyway. That's been the problem.
Finding the rental bond and then having to buy furniture. We sold off our other stuff before we came home."
"And this is the bathroom." Adam flicked on the light. "It's as big as ours."
The three children followed Quinn into the bathroom, and Rachel stood at the door. "Maybe not so big with the whole football team crowding inside," she said wryly.
Quinn laughed. "It's big enough."
They retraced their steps and went into the small kitchenette.
"Look, Mummy. It has a fridge, too," exclaimed Katie.
"And a microwave," added Fliss, opening and shutting the door like a hopeful real estate agent.
"And a washing machine," said Quinn softly as she looked into the small laundry.
"That's old, but it works well," Rachel told her. "You can share our clothesline or use the one under the carport. The carport's outside the back door there, by the way. Rose got Rob to build that after a hailstorm dented her car." She chuckled. "A bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. But we were ready for the next big storm. We had a spate of bad ones a few years ago."
"And Katie can use our garden any time," said Fliss. "And the pool."
"You have a pool?" Katie clapped her small hands. "I love swimming."
"We wouldn't impose on you," Quinn began. "I mean, I'd love to take the flat. And Katie and I wouldn't trouble you."
"It's no trouble." Rachel felt as though a full choir were singing "Hallelujah" inside her. While a small part of her chided herself, reminded her that this was totally insane. Having Quinn so close was . . .
"It's great. So when can we move in?" Quinn said with a smile.
"Tomorrow?" suggested Katie eagerly, and Rachel laughed.
"If you want to. I had it professionally cleaned when the boys left, so it should only need dusting."
"I could bring some stuff around tomorrow or Monday." Quinn flushed a little. "It would be great to get settled before going back to work on Tuesday. Would that be okay?"
"Fine." Rachel smiled.
"Excellent," said Fliss as Adam danced up and down.
"You'll be living with us. You'll be living with us," he yelled excitedly.
"They'll change their minds if you continue making so much noise," Rachel reprimanded him.
"Boys can be a drag sometimes," Fliss told Katie as they went back into the main house.
"So can girls," Adam retorted and turned to his mother. "I'm hot, Mum. Can we have a swim? Want to come for a swim, Katie?"
"We'd better be getting off home," Quinn said quickly. "We don't want to outstay our welcome."
"Oh, Mummy," Katie appealed. "Can't we have a swim first?"
"We didn't bring our swimsuits." Quinn glanced apologetically at Rachel.
"We've got spare suits," Fliss said, and Rachel laughed.
"There's nothing like a swim to cool you down on a hot summer night," Rachel said softly and felt her throat constrict on the words. And was she imagining the dull flush that colored Quinn's cheeks? Rachel's breath caught somewhere in her chest, and she coughed slightly.
Chapter Nine
Of course she'd imagined it, she told herself brutally. She'd better have imagined it, she added ruthlessly, because if she hadn't, well ... It had all been too hard twelve years ago. And it was even harder now.
"We've just sorted through our clothes, so we have stacks of stuff for you to choose from," Fliss was saying as they moved back into the main house.
"Mum's going to give them to Saint Vinnie's because we don't wear them any more," Adam added, continuing the story.
"It was a job I'd been going to do all last year," Rachel explained to Quinn. "Finally got it done a couple of days ago." She pulled open a large storage bag.
"Here." Rachel held out a swimsuit. "This should fit you. I've sort of outgrown it."
Quinn's gray eyes moved over Rachel, making Rachel's skin prickle with nervous awareness. "I wouldn't have said you'd put on weight."
Rachel grimaced. "That's exceptionally generous of you to say, but my clothes tell me a totally different story."
"Well, what's a few pounds here or there? You look pretty good regardless."
"Of all the mothers in my class, Mum's the prettiest," Adam said, and Rachel gave him a quick hug, feeling her cheeks warm with a blush.
Quinn laughed easily. "There you go. We all can't be wrong."
"If the togs don't fit, maybe you could use a T-shirt and shorts." Even as she suggested it, Rachel's mind threw up a rather graphic picture of Quinn in a wet T-shirt, the thin material clinging to the curve of breasts and hips.
"How about these for Katie?" Fliss said as she pulled a discarded pair of swimmers of her own from the large plastic bag she was rummaging in. "Do you think they'll be too big?"
Rachel was grateful she could turn her attention to her daughter. "They should be fine. Thanks, love. Now, Quinn and Katie can use the laundry here to change, and we'll dash upstairs. Oh, there's clean towels there on the shelf. Just help yourselves."
"Thanks," said Quinn.
"Are you going to wear your new Christmas togs, Mum?" Fliss asked, and Rachel could only nod. "Gran Richardson gave them to Mum," Fliss explained to Quinn. "And they're really pretty."
"I like the color of mine," said Katie, holding up the swimmers Fliss had given her. She began to wriggle out of her shirt.
"Whoa. Where's your modesty, young lady?" Quinn said quickly, and Rachel laughed.
"Come on," she said to her two. "We'll all meet back here in a couple of minutes."
As Rachel left Quinn and Katie, she heard the little girl ask her mother what modesty was. Rachel's grin broadened.
Adam and Fliss ran down the hall to their own rooms, and Rachel went into hers. She opened the door to her walk-in closet and took her new swimsuit off the shelf.
As Fliss had informed Quinn, Rachel's mother had given the suit to her for Christmas, telling her to throw away the old one she had been wearing for years. Her mother had very good taste, Rachel acknowledged, as she held up the one-piece suit. The material was a swirl of wonderfully rich shades of blue, but Rachel knew she would have preferred a pair that didn't show so much of her generous cleavage.
When she'd said as much, after they'd opened their presents on Christmas Day, Sandy had laughingly suggested Rachel be daring for a change. Colleen had rolled her eyes exasperatedly and remarked that Rachel wouldn't know how.
Rachel pulled a face as she remembered. What would her cousin Colleen say if Rachel told her of her fantasies about Quinn Farrelly? Would that be daring enough for Colleen?
Rachel slipped out of her clothes and into the new swimsuit. She caught sight of herself in the long, mirrored door.
She didn't cut a terribly fine figure in next to nothing, she thought ruefully, making a self-derisive face at herself in the mirror. She wasn't exactly model material. She pulled at the top of the suit, settling it more comfortably over her full breasts.
Unconsciously she sucked in her tummy, only succeeding in accentuating her breasts. Since she'd had the children, her breasts, always fuller than most young women her age, had grown somewhat, well, tired, she decided was the best description. And tired, she told herself, was teetering on the edge of full-blown sagging.
She suppressed an almost hysterical giggle and then sobered. She'd lay odds that tired and sagging would be words that wouldn't have one thing in common with Quinn's breasts.
As a teenager Quinn had always been long and lithe, the complete antithesis of Rachel. And yet Quinn had also been totally feminine. The day Rachel had inadvertently come upon her in the showers . . . Rachel stopped, her hand going to the prickle of awareness that teased at her stomach.
The memory careered back and forth in her mind with amazing clarity.
