Title: February
Author: Katerina
Rating: PG
Pairing: J/S, of course… with mentions of M/S
Disclaimer: Nope. Promise. And Laura, Max et al belong to ABC TV, and SeaChange.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Marielfor all her posting work, and to Sun-walker for all the nudging.
Chapter ElevenEarly evening is arriving, and the air is finally starting to cool. A now wide-awake Rex follows her around the house as she opens blinds and windows, allowing the sea breeze to brush away the day's heat.
She feels a little like the tiny Australian marsupials, emerging from her burrow into the cool night.
From the rear of the house, she can hear the shower running as Jack washes away the grime of twenty-four hours travel.
She's not sure if she can believe Jack's news. Already, she feels lighter, freer than she has in years.
A knock on the front door interrupts her thoughts, and she turns to Rex.
"That will be your Mom, Rex. You want to go answer it?"
The boy clings to her hand, suddenly shy, and she grins. "Okay, honey. We'll go together."
In fact, it is not Laura at the door, but Rex's father.
"How'd ya be?" he asks, his standard greeting in a broad Aussie accent. She has known Max for too long to be taken in, though. He's far smarter than that greeting leads people to believe, which is probably why he does it.
She hands over his suddenly exuberant son with a smile. "Not bad, Max. Where's Laura?"
He shrugs. "Work, probably. She left a note for me to stop by and get Rex." He hugs the boy clinging to his neck. "Did you have a good time with Jaime?"
Rex nods, all enthusiasm, and begins to tell his father about the 'very special' story Jaime is saving just for him. She can't help but laugh. Max eyes her.
"You're in a good mood. Something to do with your mystery visitor?"
She blinks, surprised for a moment. She has forgotten Pearl Bay's infallible telegraph system.
"Let me guess," she says. "Laura may have mentioned something to Meredith, who then passed it on to everyone in the pub, who then – "
"Something like that," Max replies. He looks her over again, noting the brightness in her eyes, the added width of her smile, and can't help but smile back. "Take care," he says, and carries his frantically waving son off the porch. She waves back until they turn the corner in the track, and are lost from sight.
Taking a deep breath of salt air, she leans against the salt-bleached wooden railings of her verandah, and watches the summer sun paint the sea with strips of crimson and orange. The waves are oily and low, as if the heat of the day has sapped all their energy. A gull circles low with a raucous cry, and she follows its flight inland.
In this indefinable peace, she lets Jack's news wash over her, keeping time with the lazy waves. For the first time, she allows herself to believe it.
He's gone.
It worked.
I'm free.
She takes a long breath of cooling air, taking in the faint tang of salt.
I'm really free.
XXXXX
When Jack emerges from the bathroom, dressed but with his hair still dripping on his neck, it is oddly quiet in the house. The windows have been opened, letting in fresh breaths of ocean air, but of her there is no sign.
His bare feet are silent on the wooden floor as he makes his way through the darkening house, one hand trailing lightly on the white painted walls. She is not anywhere inside.
He spots her through the kitchen door, sitting on the edge of the wooden steps leading down from the porch. The screen door squeaks slightly as he opens it, but she does not turn. He knows she knows he is there, but neither of them speaks as he takes up a position next to her.
"Rex gone?" he asks finally, voice hushed over the soft breath of the waves. She nods, but does not reply. He shifts, and on the narrow step their shoulders brush. He feels her sigh.
"Sam?" he asks, and she turns her head to face him. He starts at the shine of tears on her cheeks. He reaches out a hand, gently wiping them away. "What - ? " He begins, but stops as smiles.
Sam has always smiled with her whole face. He knows this, remembers countless of these smiles for him, before things got bad.
And he has never, ever been able to resist smiling back.
She looks so happy now, as if the past had gone elsewhere, where it could never be touched again. She is young, and fresh, reminding him of something he lost long ago, something he thought he'd never get back.
And that look is for him.
He does not protest, although he knows he probably should, as she gently reaches out to touch his face. Her fingers trace over the freshly shaved skin, feeling lines and subtle puffiness where there should be none.
His skin reveals the secret she has already suspected, but this time she only feels acceptance, and an odd sort of peace.
"I didn't want to do this to you," she whispers. "I wanted to help."
"It doesn't matter anymore," he replies. "We're here now."
He will never be sure who starts it, but their lips meet, softly, tentative in the last of the sunlight.
Completeness.
End Chapter Eleven.