The Road Home Read online

  “You got this, Em.”

  I accept his reassurance and offer a weak smile in reply.

  “Remember that time I said we should climb the harbour bridge?”

  “Yes, it was yesterday.” Dryly I answer him.

  “What is scarier? Melbourne traffic or climbing over a hundred meters in the air?”

  “I have no idea what your point is Gabe, they are apples and oranges.”

  “My point, dear Emerson, is this. You have successfully merged lane.”

  “Holy shit, I did it.”

  “See, not a big deal. You just got to decide what you want and take it. It’s yours.”

  Again we are grinning at each other like idiots. Gabe’s hand still resting on my shoulder causes an unexpected sensation to travel through my body at the single point of contact. For a moment, from the look in his eyes, I thought he may have felt it as well.

  Pulling his hand away, I instantly feel the loss of the warmth from it, but the sensation remains.

  Gabe clears his throat before he speaks. “So, you were engaged.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What happened?”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  “Sure, if you want to tell me.”

  “Why not? We’ve still got another couple of hours before we stop,” I shrug at him, “Mark and I were together forever and I’m not just saying this to toot my own horn, but we were kind of a perfect couple. On paper anyway. I told you our parents were friends, our mother had gone through school and were practically sisters. So of course, you can imagine their delight when Mark and I started dating. They were practically picking out matching Mother of the Bride and Groom outfits. We dated and went to the end of year formal together. You know, High School sweethearts and all the cliché bullshit that goes along with it.” Gabe sits quietly, listening and nodding along. “His family were quite,” I ponder the right words to describe the Belfort family accurately. “Well off, my mother had to keep up with the Jones’ so to speak, the lifestyle and holiday homes were always a competition. They were traditionalists as well, Mark even asked my dad’s permission to propose. I remember the look on dad’s face when Mark got down on bended knee to ask me. He wasn’t smiling like I had expected you know, his first born daughter getting engaged to a well-established family in our town; a stud estate which had been in their family for generations. Mum liked to refer to them as old money. Anyway,” I knew I was rambling but I was merciless to stop. “He looked concerned more than elated.”

  “Did you ever ask him about it?”

  “No.” I answer simply.

  “How long were you engaged?”

  “Seventeen months and two weeks. I called it off two weeks before we were due to walk down the aisle because I felt like I had lost who I was. I had always been Mark’s girlfriend and never just been Emerson. Even the guy at the service station had referred to me as that when I went to pick up a tyre that I’d had repaired. It was kind of the final straw. Boy, my mum was pissed. I got one hell of a lecture about how much money they were going to lose on deposits. That particular storm was still raging on whilst I was packing my car the next day. I got in, drove to the place I was working at the time and told them I was taking a leave of absence. It was on them if they wanted to replace me because I had no idea where I was going or for how long.”

  “So where did you?”

  “I went to Adelaide first, the city of Churches. There is some really amazing and beautiful ancient architecture in that city. It was the first place I stayed in a backpacker hostel. Scared the shit out of me and I barely slept a wink thinking someone would come and murder me in my sleep. Obviously, no one did. I went to the Art Gallery of South Australia, amazing. Of course, nothing on the one I went to with you. I went to Cooper Pedy after that. Mined an opal at one of those tourist places and had it made into this necklace.” Untucking the chain from beneath my t-shirt I present him a small opal encased in white gold. It had cost me a small fortune and a couple of days to get it made, I figured I would give it to Amelia for a wedding present. But I think I changed my mind on that because every time I rubbed the semi-precious stone I am filled with a sense of my own independence.

  “I had never been to the desert, there was sand everywhere! And it got in everything and I mean everything.”

  A chuckle rumbles in Gabe’s chest as he listens to the story. It was true though, the sand and dirt got in to everything, every crack, literally.

  “After I was sick of the desert I went to the coast. Ended up in Esperance after that, it was quite the trek across the Nullabor too. It was beautiful there. I stayed a month or so working in behind the bar in a little pub. I had never seen water so blue or the sand so white. I took so many photos there because it was like nothing back home. After that, I went north.”

  “You travelled all that way in this little car?”

  Beaming with pride I nod. “You don’t need to be so surprised, she really is a good car.”

  “She? Don’t tell me you have named it as well.”

  Blushing, I whisper “Velma.”

  Gabe throws his head back and laughs. “Velma the Volkswagen. I should have guessed. A German name for a German car.”

  “If you’re done laughing at Velma and me, how about you tell me something more about you?”

  “Sure, what do you want to know?”

  I already know what I want to ask him but I don’t want to jump right in and ask him. “Okay, first question.”

  “First? How many do you have?”

  Rolling my eyes at him, I ignore his questions and continue with my own. “First question, how long has it been since you saw your family?”

  “My mum and sister, it’s been two months. My dad, about thirteen years. My brother, it has been five years since he moved to New Zealand.”

  “Don’t you miss them?”

  “Sure. Of course, I do. Didn’t you miss your family after you left? Or Mark?”

  “Amelia I did, so bad. And my dad. There was no way I could break things off with Mark and stay in the same house as my mother. I think I missed the idea of Mark for about the first couple of weeks. I almost gave in and went home I got so homesick. But instead, I went further away to Esperance. I’m asking you the questions now, buddy.”

  Gabe lifts his hands in surrender. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “How long have you been travelling for?”

  “This time?”

  “Sure.” I continue to watch the road whilst I wait for his answer but from the corner of my eye I can see him using his fingers to do a calculation.

  “All up, three years but I would say that was over a span of four years. I had short stops with my family after I got back from overseas and for the odd Christmas or birthday.”

  “Three years is a long time to be travelling, what about money and stuff?”

  “You’d be surprised how much it doesn’t cost to get around. I get a lot of travelling and accommodation for free. Mostly I have to cover the costs of my flights and what have you but travelling around doesn’t cost all that much. Like Europe for example, there are a lot of countries that are so close together that you can take a train or a bus to get to each of them.”

  “How do you get free accommodation?” I was intrigued. My suspicious mind wondered what he had to do to get these kinds of freebies. Was he a criminal doing shonky things?

  “I have a travel blog. It’s pretty respectable really.” Gabe interprets the blank look on my face correctly before going on to explain. “Some places invite me to stay and review their accommodation with a criteria I have set out on the blog.”

  “Let me see if I understand. Like a restaurant critic reviews location, food, ambience and all that you do the same for accommodation places?”

  “Yeah, kind of. Depending on what the place is there could be some other perks. It’s about reviewing the overall experience.”

  “What’s it called? This blog of yours?”

  “Wanderlust: A Nomad�
�s Guide to the World”

  “You actually call yourself a nomad?” I laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

  “Why is that funny?”

  “Aren’t you a little tall to me a nomad?”

  “Wha– ?” His mouth hangs open for a moment before he too starts laughing. “Em, are you thinking of a gnome? You know with a pointed hat, lives in the garden or with Snow White?”

  “Snow White lived with Dwarfs until she met Prince Charming. But maybe gnomes. Yes.”

  A squeal like you would expect from a schoolgirl meeting her celebrity crush fills the car, startling me. Thinking I had hit something I check the rearview mirror.

  “What the heck, Gabe?”

  All he does is grin and point. In front of us was the Bell Beach kilometre marker. I shake my head at him as my heart continues to race.

  “You idiot, you scared me half to death.”

  “I’m sorry, Em. Only twenty to go, though. Did you see?”

  “Yeah, I saw.” I mutter, still not thrilled by his dramatics.

  “Tell me you’ll come surfing with me?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not exactly the best swimmer.”

  “You think I’m about to let my ride drown? C’mon. You’ll love it.” Hearing those few words “You’ll love it” was like a red flag to a bull. Mark had used those exact words on a regular basis when he was trying to convince me to do something he knew he wanted to try or something he loved. My skin prickled at the thought of him using those words.

  “Gabe, you barely know me. So you don’t know what I would and wouldn’t love.” My words sound harsh, even to me and immediately I apologise. “I’m sorry, Mark used to do that to me all the time, try to convince me to do things I know I didn’t want to because he said I would love it.”

  “I didn’t know. I’m sorry too.” Gabe was right, he didn’t know and I ended up feeling like a complete arsehole for going off on him like that.

  We ride the rest of the way to Bells Beach in silence. Following the directions and signs, we pull into an already crowded car park.

  “Look at all these cars. If I said I wasn’t already intimidated I would be lying.”

  We climb out together and cross to the fenced off cliff area overlooking the beach below.

  Stepping closer to Gabe, so as not to be overheard by the other spectators and surfers. “Do people, you know, die out there?”

  ‘I honestly don’t know.” He whispers back.

  “It looks kind of scary, Gabe. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “No, but I ran with the bulls in Spain and I survived that. How bad can it be?”

  “Firstly, you are an idiot and secondly, this is different. All that testosterone and risk of drowning, not to mention if there are sharks out there.”

  Laughing, he pulls me into his side. “Em, are you worried about me?”

  “Yes, Gabe. I am. I need you alive to start my car. How else am I going to get home in time for the wedding?”

  Unexpectedly he brushes the top of my head with his lips before releasing me.

  “I’m going to do it.” He claps his hands and raises his voice which draws attention to us.

  “Come on then, we better go find somewhere to hire you a board then.”

  Driving back into the town centre we find a couple of places boasting they hire boards, wetsuits and gives surf lessons. Gabe chooses one at random as we park the car.

  Inside the store I stand back and watch as Gabe chats with the sales clerk and negotiates a discount. They joke back and forth as if they were already long-time friends. Glancing around the store one entire wall if filled with boards with clothes on racks dotting the floor. Posters are hung on the opposite walls of some of the most famous surfers in the world. The dinging of the bell brings my focus to the door, as two well-tanned and blonde girls in bikinis tops and board shorts walk into the store with a board under their arm. The guy talking to Gabe nods at them and they smile back, chatting and giggling amongst themselves. Seeing the girls smiling and in their bathing suits had me feeling a little self-conscious in my own racer back singlet and shorts.

  The smile on Gabe’s face as we leave the store is magnetic. “I told him if I survived I would post on my blog about his extensive knowledge and blind confidence in me.”

  “I still think you are crazy.”

  “Probably.” He chuckles as he adjusts the angle of the board to fit into the already cramped car. “I guess we are about to find out.”

  As Gabe strips down I can’t help but stare at him. Physically he was perfect. Flawless. The way his toned and tanned muscles moved and flexed as he pulled on the wetsuit had me feeling jealous of the neoprene.

  Gabe catches my eye as I continue to shamelessly ogle him, a cheeky smile playing on his lips.

  I clear my throat, “You’ve still got time to back out.”

  “Come down the beach with me and I will be fine. You’ll see.”

  I follow along behind him as he successfully navigates the path whilst carrying the board. I could appreciate the way the wetsuit hugged his backside from this angle.

  Down on the beach, I hadn’t been expecting the scent of spray from the sea to be so refreshing. I wrestled with my hair as it whipped and tangled around my face. Turning my head to counteract the wind moving I catch sight of Gabe staring at me, his jaw hanging slack.

  “What?”

  “I, ah.” He stutters. “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck, Gabe.”

  “Em, I could die out there, so for my last wish could I trouble you for a kiss?”

  “A kiss?” I choke out. “You’re talking about dying? Are you kidding me?”

  I don’t get another chance to get another word out as Gabe’s lips crush mine. I feel as the smile spread across his face at my being silenced. Without hesitation, I open my mouth to let his tongue gain entry as the kiss deepens. Breathless we break apart. The kiss affected me in a way that had me feeling like I’d been asleep until that moment and awoke for the first time. From the look on Gabe’s face, he hadn’t been left unaffected by the passion of it either.

  Quickly, Gabe turns and heads into the glistening blue water to meet the other surfers some way off the shore. Shielding my eyes from the sun I watch as he continues to paddle out to the group.

  It takes him to catch his first wave to realise how silly it was worrying about him out there, he clearly knew what he was doing and this was not his first time on a board. He zipped and zagged along the waves like he’d been surfing for his entire life.

  I press my fingers to my lips, where Gabe’s had been. It has been completely unexpected but not remotely unwelcome making me wonder if it would happen again.

  I wrapped my arms around myself as I sat in the sand watching for Gabe. The sun was still high in the sky but the wind was biting me to the bone. I didn’t want to leave Gabe out there with no one to keep an eye on him, so I stayed and over-analyzed the kiss again. I was on my third dissection when Gabe appeared in front of me, soaking wet but happier than a kid at Christmas.

  “Aren’t you cold sitting down here?”

  I shrug, the view had been worth the minor discomfort.

  “How was it?”

  “Oh, Emmy. It was awesome. I wish you’d come out so you could see for yourself.”

  Holding out his hand he helps me up from the sand.

  “Let’s go return this gear and get a coffee.” It was like he’d read my mind.

  We stumble across the sand together as Gabe recounts every detail of his time on the waves. I was happy for him and happy I got to share it with him.

  The guy at the surf shop was happy to see Gabe, they shook hands in a kind of non-traditional way before bumping opposite shoulders.

  “So how did your boy go?” Turning to me the guy behind the counter asks.

  “He did great. Didn’t die, so bonus.” I give him two thumbs up.

  They chat some more before Gabe left details of how to find his blog and after anot
her handshake, we leave.

  “Come on, I owe you a coffee for freezing your arse off down there.”

  ~ CHAPTER six ~

  The view of the coast is incredible as we snake our way further through the Great Ocean Road. With each curve of the road another majestic sight is exposed.

  “Is this your first time through here?” Gabe asks without turning his face away from the window.

  “Yes. Yours?”

  “Yeah.”

  It is a while before either of us speak, Gabe continues to take in the outside world around us and I concentrate on navigating the twisting road ahead of us. By my calculations, once we have passed through Lorne we had only a couple of hours left before we stopped for dinner, a toilet break, a stretch and for the night.

  The thought of stopping for the night had me feeling a bit apprehensive. Did Gabe think we were going to share a room? Oh God, what if we shared and it only had one bedroom. Or only one bed! I made myself take a deep breath and a slow exhale. I was making it out to be a bigger deal that it really needed to be. We were both adults. We knew how to act like adults.

  I still had one question I hadn’t gotten around to asking Gabe, and now without the buildup buffer of the other questions, I needed to just come out with it. Now it seemed more important to know the answer; given the time ahead and what happened on the beach, more than ever.

  “Gabe?”

  Averting his eyes from the window he turns to me. “Hmm?”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Smiling, he answers, “Was that it?”

  “Ah no.” Laughing uncomfortably, I begin to lose my nerve. The words were bouncing around my head like a pinball crashing into the delicate matter on the inside. Clearing my throat, I speak up. “No.”

  “Em, I’ve spent more time with you over the last couple of days than I have with anyone for a very long time, you’re practically my longest relationship. So yes, you can ask me anything.”

  “Oh.” I was caught a little off guard by his answer, he’d practically answered the question I wanted to ask him without even knowing what that question was. “I was just going to ask you if you had someone special waiting for you back home. I know you said you didn’t have a home exactly, but,” I rush on, rambling again. “Well you know.”