Page 31

The door opened fully and David stepped over the two children, tossing the car keys onto the low wooden cupboard in the entry foyer.

Relief and anger bubbled up into her throat. The serenity of the massage and facial had long since fled. ‘Where have you been? I thought you had to be in Darwin by five?’

He met her gaze but Andrew stood and pushed between them. ‘Mummy! We saw pigs, and crocodiles and ducks and funny birds.’ He ran to the television and plonked himself on the floor, followed closely by his sister. ‘Now can we watch Diego?’

She turned away from David before he could answer, and picked up the remote from the kitchen bench. She switched on the television and turned to stare out the window. The afternoon sun was glinting on the pool and children were crying and splashing in the pool, but she could hear no sound.

David locked the door, walked across to the kitchen and stood behind her. ‘A whole nature walk and now nothing is as good as Diego.’ He put his hands on her shoulders and dropped a quick kiss on the side of her neck. ‘Mm. You smell good. How was your afternoon?’

She turned slowly and he dropped his hands and stepped back with a frown as her voice tightened.

‘I thought you’d all been taken away. Taken by that man who threatened you.’ Her voice was low but the words sprayed from her tight lips like bullets. David reached for her again.

‘No, don’t touch me.’ Gina turned back to the window, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Just leave us. Go to your precious meeting. You’re going to be late as it is.’

David put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him, his touch gentle on her tense shoulder. ‘No, I won’t. I rang back and postponed the meeting. It can wait. I’ll leave after lunch tomorrow.’

Gina blinked as unwanted tears filled her eyes.

David frowned as he looked at her. ‘I’m sorry, darling. I thought we’d get back before you, but the kids were fascinated by the wild pigs and the crocodiles we could see from the boardwalk.’

Gina shuddered with revulsion. ‘Will that matter, not going today?’

‘No. I’ll work around it.’ He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. ‘I’m really sorry.’

Finally, she let her head rest on his shoulder.

‘I didn’t even think about you being worried. I thought you’d be enjoying being pampered.’

‘I was.’ She sniffed. ‘Until I came back and couldn’t find you at the pool. And your phone was here. You never leave your phone.’ Another sniff and Gina lifted her hand and wiped her eyes. ‘And then I saw that the car was gone. I was frightened.’

David rested his chin on the top of her head. ‘My phone was flat. And I should have left a note before we drove down to the river.’

‘That wouldn’t have done any good. I didn’t take my card to get back in.’ This time she allowed a tremulous smile to tip her lips as she looked up at him. ‘I had to go to reception and get another door card. It was just thinking about what that man said to you. I couldn’t get it out of my head and I overreacted.’

David held her close and Gina’s breathing eased as the warmth of his body soothed her.

‘You do smell nice.’

David smiled as he held her gaze, before dropping his head and capturing her lips in a swift kiss. ‘I left my bags in the car.’

She glanced across at the children, now engrossed in the television show. ‘I’ll come with you. I left my Kindle in the glove box.’

Outside a storm was building in the north and the clouds that had threatened all day were closing in quickly. David held her hand as he grabbed at his cap, and pushed it down hard as a gust of wind lifted the brim. They stood back and let a small red car go past before they crossed the road to the car and David opened the boot.

‘Daddy!’

Gina turned as Binny’s voice reached them. She was running from the building and heading for the road.

‘Binny, stop,’ Gina yelled.

‘I wanna see the pigs some more.’ The little girl stopped and teetered on the edge of the kerb.

‘I’ll get her.’ David ran across and picked her up. There were no other cars apart from the one that had just passed them but Gina’s legs were shaking.

‘No more pigs today,’ David said.

Gina put her trembling hand to her mouth. She knew she was overreacting; there’d been no danger.