Alex led the way to the bus stop then stood waiting in line with other people, looking down the ranks for his bus number. He pulled out the money she’d given him and hurried to follow a lady further down the line to another bus. Spying his number, he jostled through the crowd to get on it. Billie grabbed his arm. “Don’t I get a goodbye?”
His was face animated. “Sorry, Mom. Getting a bit excited I guess.” He reached out and put his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. With his chin resting on her head, he wished her a great day. A small wave of emotion flooded her system and she gave it free reign for a moment, then swallowed and pulled back, a practised smile plastered on her face.
Billie gazed into her son’s eyes, which were so much like his father’s. If she was honest, it was Stephen’s eyes that had caught her attention more than anything else. What she wouldn’t have done to speak to the hot guy at the skating rink with the sexy light-grey eyes. The moment he’d opened his mouth to speak, she was smitten. That cute posh American accent was all it had taken for her to fall for him, hook line and sinker, and he’d had her heart every day since.
“You can do this. Don’t let them bust your balls, okay?”
Hamish’s lips twitched at her son’s words.
She batted Alex on the arm. “Don’t let your grandmother hear you talking like that. She’ll have a blue fit.”
He wiggled his eyebrows, blew her a kiss and turned away. Every time she watched him go she lost another piece of her heart wondering if he would come home at the end of the day. He was such an awesome kid. He’d been a rock since Stephen had died, and if anything happened to him, Billie couldn’t contemplate life without him.
He climbed on the bus, shuffled down to the back, throwing his bag onto a seat, before dropping down. She lifted her hands to cup her mouth and shouted over the din of the early-morning commuting ruckus. “Love you, Batman.” He rewarded her with a half-head turn and a lopsided grin before the bus pulled away from the curb.
“You’re worried about him. It must be hard for both of you starting all over again.” Hamish stood beside her like a sturdy guardian, his briefcase tucked under his arm while the buses pulled in, picked up passengers and left again in a constant stream of traffic.
Billie sighed and attempted a smile that didn’t scream pathetic and needy. Goodbyes were hard ever since the last flippant ‘love you, bye’ she’d shouted at Stephen. A decision she’d regret no matter how hard anyone argued otherwise. No warning. Nothing she could have done. One of those things. A brain aneurysm. Lethal and rarely predictable.
Still, Billie would never forgive herself for rushing out that last morning. It had been the start of the most miserable day of her life.
She glanced at Hamish standing close by watching her, noted the concern in his observant grey eyes. Alex had taken to the psychology professor the first day they’d met and in the short time they’d been in Sydney, had become firm friends with him. It hadn’t worried Billie, rather she’d been thrilled that her son had warmed to him. She hoped it would go some way to filling the void his father’s death had left.
“I believe you’ll be on the same bus as me, different stop though.” He cupped a hand under her elbow and gently moved her along the path to the head of the bus line, checked the number and nodded his head. “Stick with me and I’ll lead you not astray, my lady.”
“Thanks. My mind is all over the place this morning, not sure if I’m Arthur or Martha.” She followed the passengers up the stairs and shuffled her way down to a vacant seat. Billie dropped down, and Hamish sat beside her. “You enjoy lecturing at the university, then?”
“Yes. Nothing quite like it in my mind.” He rested his briefcase on his knees and glanced at her. “It’s my life actually. Standing in those halls of wisdom consumed me completely from the moment I attended my first lecture back in my university days. Call me a nerd if you will but from that first day of study, I was hooked. So much so that it takes over my life more than it probably should do. Now I pass on what I know.”
“That’s wonderful. It must be fascinating moulding young minds.” He didn’t answer, a smile on his lips. He glanced out the window lost in his own thoughts.
By the time she made it to the newspaper office, her nerves were a little bit more frayed than normal which was sad considering her past exploits, the places she’d been and the danger she’d faced. But the last eighteen months had seen to that. The once fearless reporter had changed into a desperately neurotic woman who was scared of her own shadow. Curling up with a blanket in front of the television seemed more appealing than meeting a new editor and trying to convince him he’d made a wise choice employing her. After all, her experience had to mean something. She hoped the skills she had would override the mess she’d left behind. Perhaps being in a different country, nobody would connect her with the reporter in America who had stuffed up so dramatically. She doubted her luck though.
Billie hurried up the stairs and pushed open the heavy glass door. A receptionist sat at a curved wooden counter, the company logo on the wall behind her the only colour on the dull brown wall. Billie stepped up to the desk, paused next to an arrangement of primroses that dripped a couple of silken petals on the polished timber. She sucked in a deep breath to steady her nerves. “I have an appointment with Sam Fletcher. I’m Billie
