Chapter Seven The Price of Love

Dani and Scott smiled at each other and Hayley felt another stab of jealously. "Dan! I finally remodelled the boat," Scott said conversationally.

"About time!" Dani laughed.

"Did you want to come and see?" Scott asked.

"Oh, alright. That's okay isn't it Stafford?" Dani asked. Scott looked at her curiously. Dani Sutherland didn't ask anybody for permission to do anything. "I guess," Stafford said glaring at Scott. When Dani and Scott got out of the house Scott turned to Dani. "Are you happy with Stafford?" he asked softly.

"Sure," Dani said a lot more certainly than she felt.

"Really? Hayles said that when she talked to you, you sounded miserable," Scott said.

"I'm not miserable. It's different, Stafford's way of life," Dani said.

"Yeah? No joke," Scott laughed. "Is that him now?" he asked as Stafford lopped over to them dressed in a body-hugging white singlet and black boardshorts. His sunglasses on his gelled black hair gleamed in the sun. He looked more like an advert than a real person Scott thought to himself.

"Hey honey! I thought I'd come and see Scott's boat," he said slipping an arm around her slender shoulders. "Oh! Great!" Dani said and Scott detected an edge of resentment in her voice.

"Hey Stafford, you're into investing aren't you?" Scott asked.

"I'm interested in it," Stafford corrected. "Why do you want me to invest in your little boat?" he laughed. Hayley joined them looking at Scott her eyes soft. Scott didn't even look at her; his eyes were trained on Dani and her deep green eyes. She felt a twinge of resentment towards Dani and then silently berated herself for it.

"No. Do you remember Natasha Andrews?" he asked referring to Tasha.

"Yes. Sure. Of course. She's my boss's daughter," he said.

"That's right. Well she's been given the Caravan Park and to my knowledge she was looking for help to remodel it. She's planning on totally re-vamping the facilities and I think she could use some help. She's willing to pay," Scott said truthfully.

"Oh…maybe I could pop over there now and ask her if she'd be interested in some of my ideas?" he asked. "Dan? Do you mind? You could spend the afternoon with your friends and I'll pick you up on the way back home?" he asked.

"Sure!" Dani exclaimed happily. He looked at Scott warily and then seemed to think better of it and smiled insincerely at Scott. "Didn't you have a dress you wanted to get at that shop in Yabbie Creek?" he asked Dani.

"For the cocktail party! I completely forgot. Maybe we could go to Yabbie Creek?" she asked Hayley and Scott. "Of course!" Scott exclaimed.

"Don't you have a charter?" Hayley reminded him.

"I can ask Kane to take it for me. It's only for two hours and I really don't feel like going out on the water," Scott said.

"Oh…" Hayley said. She looked at Dani confused as she turned her wide forest-green eyes on Scott. "You don't have to cancel on account of me," she smiled her full dark pink lips curving up into a seductive smile. Scott nearly dropped his phone. "It's no bother," he said calling Kane. Kane seemed preoccupied and asked if he could bring Kirsty along on the charter. "Yeah…of course," Scott said.

"Yabbie Creek Dan?" he asked as they headed back to the palace with Hayley a few steps behind as the old lovers began chatting in soft voices. Her laughter floated down to Hayley and Hayley grimaced.