stomach felt like a worm farm.
She fiercely told herself she had no personal claim on him. Had no right to make one. Yet everything within her burned with a deeply primitive desire to have him as hers and hers alone.
The Land Rover stood just ahead of them, Johnny’s Cessna behind it, ready for take off.
‘If the shooting of the movie runs to schedule, it should be finished in three months,’ he informed her. ‘Do you have any problem with my coming back then, Megan?’
‘No,’ she shot out, elated that he had no problem with it.
‘You’l always be welcome home, Johnny,’ she added as
‘You’l always be welcome home, Johnny,’ she added as warmly as she could, acutely aware of not having welcomed him for far too many years.
He stopped, pausing her, as wel . Drawn by the mountain of tension emanating from him, Megan half-turned, steeling herself to glance up at him. He stepped to face her ful on, his free hand lifting, tilting back the wide-brimmed Akubra hat she always wore outside to protect her fair skin from the sun. His eyes were a piercing green, scouring hers for truth.
‘Do you mean that, Megan?’
She held his gaze with determined steadiness. ‘I do, Johnny. I’m deeply sorry I was such a mean bitch to you.’
She managed an appealing little smile as she final y acknowledged, ‘My father knew best.’
His face relaxed, returning a smile that held whimsical irony. ‘Patrick…yes…I think he did.’ His voice was furred with feelings, instantly stirring up her own.
A huge lump of emotion wel ed into her throat. Tears pricked her eyes. Desperate to keep this leave-taking on some kind of even keel, she babbled, ‘I hope your movie goes wel .’
Stil the whimsical half smile. ‘More important is the movie of my life.’
She didn’t understand.
He saw the confusion in her eyes and quoted…
“‘Al the world’s a stage,
And al the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances: And one man in his time plays many parts.” Shakespeare.’
He gave the credit drily, then added, ‘I’m not entirely uneducated, Megan.’
‘You’ve taken out honours in the school of life, Johnny,’
she quickly replied, wanting to acknowledge how wrong she’d been in her judgement of him.
He shook his head, as though his successes were irrelevant. ‘I wish I didn’t have to make this exit, leaving you with so much work to carry through alone.’ His voice gathered an urgent intensity and he took both her hands in his in pressing persuasion. ‘Promise me you’l let me know if you run into difficulties that seem insurmountable.’
And he’d come running to the rescue?
Maybe he would…for Gundamurra.
But for her?
‘Okay. But this is my stage, Johnny,’ she felt compel ed to remind him. ‘I know how to play it. And I don’t want other roles. This is who I am.’
He nodded. His eyelids lowered to half-mast, thick lashes veiling the expression in his eyes. He took a deep breath as though inwardly gathering strength for what he had to say next. Al Megan’s senses were on sharp alert, anxious to glean some hint of what he was thinking. Yet when he spoke, they were simple words of farewel .
‘Until next time.’
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then stood back, smiling a ful blast of Johnny El is charm.
‘I like your hair loose. They say a woman’s hair is her crowning glory. Yours outshines al the rest, Megan.’
His hands slid from hers and he was off, striding for the open door of the waiting plane.
Was her cheek better than her forehead? Megan wondered as she watched him go. Her hat would have made her forehead a harder place to reach. Better that he hadn’t kissed her mouth, she told herself. It would have been too tempting to cling to him, turn it into more than a friendly goodbye kiss.
Next time, she kept repeating in her mind.
The door of the plane was closed.
She waited for Johnny to make this exit from her life, listening to the plane’s
She fiercely told herself she had no personal claim on him. Had no right to make one. Yet everything within her burned with a deeply primitive desire to have him as hers and hers alone.
The Land Rover stood just ahead of them, Johnny’s Cessna behind it, ready for take off.
‘If the shooting of the movie runs to schedule, it should be finished in three months,’ he informed her. ‘Do you have any problem with my coming back then, Megan?’
‘No,’ she shot out, elated that he had no problem with it.
‘You’l always be welcome home, Johnny,’ she added as
‘You’l always be welcome home, Johnny,’ she added as warmly as she could, acutely aware of not having welcomed him for far too many years.
He stopped, pausing her, as wel . Drawn by the mountain of tension emanating from him, Megan half-turned, steeling herself to glance up at him. He stepped to face her ful on, his free hand lifting, tilting back the wide-brimmed Akubra hat she always wore outside to protect her fair skin from the sun. His eyes were a piercing green, scouring hers for truth.
‘Do you mean that, Megan?’
She held his gaze with determined steadiness. ‘I do, Johnny. I’m deeply sorry I was such a mean bitch to you.’
She managed an appealing little smile as she final y acknowledged, ‘My father knew best.’
His face relaxed, returning a smile that held whimsical irony. ‘Patrick…yes…I think he did.’ His voice was furred with feelings, instantly stirring up her own.
A huge lump of emotion wel ed into her throat. Tears pricked her eyes. Desperate to keep this leave-taking on some kind of even keel, she babbled, ‘I hope your movie goes wel .’
Stil the whimsical half smile. ‘More important is the movie of my life.’
She didn’t understand.
He saw the confusion in her eyes and quoted…
“‘Al the world’s a stage,
And al the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances: And one man in his time plays many parts.” Shakespeare.’
He gave the credit drily, then added, ‘I’m not entirely uneducated, Megan.’
‘You’ve taken out honours in the school of life, Johnny,’
she quickly replied, wanting to acknowledge how wrong she’d been in her judgement of him.
He shook his head, as though his successes were irrelevant. ‘I wish I didn’t have to make this exit, leaving you with so much work to carry through alone.’ His voice gathered an urgent intensity and he took both her hands in his in pressing persuasion. ‘Promise me you’l let me know if you run into difficulties that seem insurmountable.’
And he’d come running to the rescue?
Maybe he would…for Gundamurra.
But for her?
‘Okay. But this is my stage, Johnny,’ she felt compel ed to remind him. ‘I know how to play it. And I don’t want other roles. This is who I am.’
He nodded. His eyelids lowered to half-mast, thick lashes veiling the expression in his eyes. He took a deep breath as though inwardly gathering strength for what he had to say next. Al Megan’s senses were on sharp alert, anxious to glean some hint of what he was thinking. Yet when he spoke, they were simple words of farewel .
‘Until next time.’
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then stood back, smiling a ful blast of Johnny El is charm.
‘I like your hair loose. They say a woman’s hair is her crowning glory. Yours outshines al the rest, Megan.’
His hands slid from hers and he was off, striding for the open door of the waiting plane.
Was her cheek better than her forehead? Megan wondered as she watched him go. Her hat would have made her forehead a harder place to reach. Better that he hadn’t kissed her mouth, she told herself. It would have been too tempting to cling to him, turn it into more than a friendly goodbye kiss.
Next time, she kept repeating in her mind.
The door of the plane was closed.
She waited for Johnny to make this exit from her life, listening to the plane’s
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