Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters) - By Caitlyn Robertson Page 0,28
in bed and that, but we didn’t really have anything in common. What are the chances of me finding a girl who likes the kind of things I like, and who’s good in the sack?”
“They are out there,” Chase said, “but the point is that when you meet the one who sets you alight, it doesn’t matter if they don’t know one end of the kitchen from the other or don’t know every trick in the book in bed. You show them, for a start! And you just enjoy being together.”
They all stared at him, then started laughing. “You going to write romances now?” Jude teased.
“You wait,” Chase said, disgruntled. “Fifty bucks says we’re all sitting here in five years’ time, married and with kids on the way, eating our words.”
Dex smiled and finished off his coffee. “I’ve got to go. Thanks for lunch.”
“See you, Dex.”
He left them talking and laughing, waved goodbye to Cam and walked slowly back toward the station.
Would he be sitting there with them in five years’ time? Married, and Honey with little ones around her, maybe pregnant again?
His heart felt hollow, his spirits low. He couldn’t see it. Cathryn’s presence and the shadow of his past hung over him, eclipsing the bright sun of his future. He had to do something or he was going to go mad. He couldn’t talk to anyone about it. But he had to make sure she was gone and wasn’t coming back.
He entered the station, sat beside his desk and began to try and work out a plan for finding out who her cousin was and where she was staying. But then the local supermarket rang saying they’d caught a pair of young shoplifters—in school uniform, for heaven’s sake—and he had to pick them up, take them back to school and call their parents. After that there was a burglary at Waipapa to sort out, and then the news came through of a pile-up on the road to Kaeo. Five cars were involved, there’d been some major injuries and the road was blocked. So he drove up there and spent several hours directing traffic, taking statements and calming those involved. He didn’t return to the office, so there was no further time to find out anything about Cathryn.
He finally got home to the house he shared with Jude just after seven. Jude was out, and he seemed to remember him saying something about taking a girl to the cinema. Dex walked into the living room and threw his keys on the table, slipped off his jacket and left it over a chair. Tiredly, he poured himself a whiskey, then walked to the large windows and studied the garden.
Next week, while he and Honey were on honeymoon, Jude was going to shift house. Chase and Koru had a spare room in the house they shared, and Jude would be staying there for a while. When Honey and Dex got back from honeymoon, she would be moving in with him. He owned the house—had saved enough for a deposit and bought it shortly after relocating to Kerikeri from Wellington. It wasn’t huge but it was comfortable, close to town, with a garden big enough for a swing and a slide, should children come along.
His fingers tightened on the whiskey glass. He felt as if he were looking at the future through fog. Nothing seemed clear anymore. It was only days to the wedding, but it seemed like an eternity. How was he going to cope until then? And could he really go through with it, with the knowledge of what he’d done hanging over his head?
He took out his mobile, flipped it open and brought up Honey’s mobile number, not wanting to call the house and have to speak to one of the sisters—or Cam—for half an hour.
Honey answered within a few rings.
“It’s me,” he said.
“Hey.” Her gentle voice soothed his frayed nerves. “Long time no speak.”
“Sorry, love. It’s been a really busy afternoon.”
“Problems?”
“There was a huge crash near Kaeo, amongst other things.”
“Oh no, any fatalities?”
“Luckily, no. But some serious injuries and it took an hour to get the road clear.” He lowered himself into one of the armchairs. “How are you? How’s the case going?”
“Okay. The defence lawyer finished today. Tomorrow it’s the prosecution’s turn, and then we make our decision Thursday, I think.”
His head throbbed and he rested the glass against his temple. “Is it still a difficult one?”
“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate. “So…what are you up to this evening?”