Tell Me, Darling Page 18

  Joe laughed. “I find it fascinating. It’s a unique situation. Have you ever been on that wheel?”

  Sadie grinned at the rapid change of subject, and looked over at the enormous white Ferris wheel that towered over the waterfront. “I have not,” she said. “Tourist prices, you know.”

  “I’ve got two of these,” he said, digging in his pocket and pulling out two tickets. “I got an international employees orientation pack and there were some tickets for the wheel in it. Will you join me? I don’t know who they thought newly-arrived international employees would find to invite, though.”

  “I’d love to,” she said. “Yay for orientation packs!”

  And that was how Sadie found herself alone with Joe Donovan in a little compartment hanging from an enormous wheel, looking down over the twinkling lights and bustling commotion of the Cape Town Waterfront. They sat close beside each other as she pointed out landmarks, and Sadie was reminded of that night around the tiny fire in Paris. There were no awkward silences, and no embarrassing moments, just two people having a good time together, discovering almost every moment another thing they had in common, another topic that was interesting, another hope they shared. It was after midnight by the time Sadie dropped Joe off outside the flat that was going to be his home for the next six months. It was only a ten-minute drive from her parents’ house, and it was on the way to her church, and as she drove away towards home she shook her head at how unbelievable the whole thing was. In one evening, he had gone from being so incredibly far out of reach that she had had to put him in the back of her mind and shelve him there as an impossibility, to being quite the opposite. Sure, it was a temporary situation for now, but this time Sadie was the one on her home turf, and as far as she was concerned there was nothing in the way now. The years in between her overseas trip and now had taught her something – that there isn’t always something better waiting around the corner. A good thing was worth going after, and she knew, even after this one brief evening, that this could be a second chance at the relationship she had believed could never happen. He wasn’t her boss any more. He wasn’t out of reach any more. He had suddenly, incredibly, amazingly fallen back into her life.

  Chapter 36

  Three weeks had passed since Joe’s sudden and reappearance in Sadie’s world, and it felt to her as if they had flown by. His job was going well so far; he had met his colleagues and was already getting stuck in to research. Sadie’s patients had benefitted from her happy mood, and Anthea had been pestering her about why she was so happy, rightly guessing that it had something to do with a new man in her life. Sadie certainly didn’t see Joe as a “new man in her life” quite yet – it was still early days; as far as she was concerned they were still testing the waters and getting to know each other again. She was in no hurry for anything to happen quite yet – she knew Joe well enough to know that if he was going to figure out that he liked her, he would do it in his own time. She was quite sure of her feelings for him already, absolutely certain that he was the one for her in a way that she sometimes worried was unwise, but then she reasoned that she had a head start on him. There had been a few moments when he had looked at her in a certain way, or given her a little compliment, that had made her feel quite confident that he was at least heading in the right direction. But nothing had been said yet, and for now, that was okay.

  Joe had come along to Sadie’s church and was quite happy to stay and get involved. He had been twice already to the weekly Bible Study that she went to at a friend’s house, even going along by himself when she had to work one evening and couldn’t make it. He liked the minister and he liked the music, and so far, he seemed to like sitting next to Sadie during the services, meeting her friends and going out for coffee afterwards with the usual crowd. Right now it was Saturday morning, and he was standing outside the coffee shop at Kirstenbosch Gardens with Sadie and some friends from church, about to hike up Table Mountain.

  “Have you done much hiking before, Joe?” asked Linda, adjusting the straps on her backpack. When Sadie had introduced them a few weeks before, Linda had taken one look at Joe and then at Sadie’s face and known exactly what was going on. She had told Sadie that she wasn’t quite sure yet if she approved; she was still trying to figure out how this good-looking blonde guy had appeared out of nowhere and sent her bridesmaid into a spin so quickly.

  “I have done some hiking, yes,” said Joe. “I was a Scout in England and we hiked quite a lot.”

  “Derek and I did some hiking in the Alps when we were overseas,” she said.

  “Ah,” said Joe. “Austrian or Swiss? Or French? I’ve done some climbing in the Alps.”

  “Swiss,” said Linda. “We went on a bus tour. Most of the people on it were old and just wanted to stroll around looking at the sights and sit in restaurants, so it wasn’t much fun. But at least it was safe and organized, and we did get one short hike in. I wasn’t as brave as Sadie to go off camping in foreign places.”

  “I wasn’t brave,” said Sadie. “I was with my friends. And we just went camping in France and Spain. I have so many good memories of those days.”

  “Were you on that trip, Joe?” asked Linda.

  “No, I wasn’t,” he said. “I joined them for a night, but I was on holiday with my family at the time.”

  Sadie smiled at the memory of that evening. “We should organise a camping trip,” she said. “Before your wedding, Linda. You should try it at least once.”

  Linda sighed. “Derek loves camping. He’s gone with his friends a few times without me. I suppose I do need to try it, or after we get married he will keep going off and leaving me behind. And I suppose it’s a nice thing to do with children one day. You’re right, Sadie. Before the weather gets cold. There’s a long weekend coming up in March. I’ll organize.”

  “Brilliant!” said Sadie. “We should go to the Cederberg. Are you in, Joe? I can show you how completely different South African camping is to the European version.”

  “Not just a picnic with tents?” he asked, smiling.

  “Not at all,” laughed Sadie. “The Cederberg is wild and rugged – it can be harsh but it’s beautiful. You must see it if you can.”

  “If I’m not travelling for work, I’m in,” he said.

  Soon the group was assembled and they set off up the mountain. Besides Derek and Linda, there was Kyle, Derek’s skinny younger cousin, Denver, a tall young guy with dark skin, a goatee and an accent the same as Alvin’s, and his sister Tarryn. Then there was Rudzani, Sadie’s friend from nursing school, and her husband Sibusiso. Rudzani and Sibusiso joked that they had a cross-cultural marriage – she was from Venda, a small area far in the North of the country, and he was from the Eastern Cape. Last was Hannes, the guitar player at church, who spoke English with a thick Afrikaans accent and was by far the heaviest of the group. Sadie was a little concerned about whether he would make it all the way up Skeleton Gorge. He didn’t seem worried, though.

  It wasn’t an easy hike, but it was a beautiful one. They walked on gravel paths at first, and then up steps made of poles and planks. Soon the walk was entirely beside and in the gorge itself – which was beautifully shady and strewn with massive granite boulders. They stopped for a quick break at a huge waterfall – or at least what should have been one. Cape Town’s summer was its dry season, and the waterfall was barely a trickle. Joe walked with Derek for a while, and when they stopped at the waterfall Sadie noticed that he was talking to Denver. She didn’t want to monopolize him – she wanted him to get to know her friends and she knew he did too, so she hung back a little, even though she would have liked to be by his side as much as she could. She could see that he was getting on well with them so far, and it made her glad. For so long she had been the single one, tagging along with Linda and Derek, and with Rudzani and Sibs. Even though Joe was still just a friend, he was her special friend for now and it made her happy to know it.

  After the break, the going got steep. Hannes was struggling, breathing ha
rd and sweating buckets in the heat, but he persevered. Sadie felt bad for him and stayed at the back with him, and so did Denver and Tarryn. Linda soldiered on at the front – she approached hiking as she approached life: she set a goal and then worked towards it without wavering. Sometimes Sadie wondered if she even liked hiking – she would set her face and charge up the mountain, her long legs clearing the boulders with ease. It was a good strategy for getting to the top first, but someone had to stay in the back with Hannes. Sadie didn’t really mind; she could have gone faster but she was tired too and not concerned about personal records.

  “Thanks, Sadie,” puffed Hannes, stopping to mop his face and take a sip of water. “You guys can go on ahead if you like. I know I’m slow.”

  “It’s okay, Hannes,” said Sadie. “I don’t mind, and what’s the point of going on a hike with your friends and then leaving them behind?”

  “Chill, Hannes,” said Tarryn. “My legs are killing me and you are a great excuse to go slower.”

  Hannes laughed. He was too out of breath to say anything.

  “Your friend is interesting,” said Denver, as they waited at the bottom of a short iron ladder for Hannes to finish climbing it. “Funny accent! Like Mr Bean.”

  “He does not sound like Mr Bean!” protested Sadie.

  “Prince William, then,” said Tarryn. “Maybe not quite so posh.”

  “I hardly notice his accent,” said Sadie.

  “When we first met you, you had a funny accent,” said Tarryn. “You had just come back from overseas.”

  “Yes, I remember,” said Sadie. “Everyone teased me, but I couldn’t hear it myself. I suppose I just absorbed it while I was there.”

  “Did you meet him there?” asked Denver, climbing up the ladder in about a third of the time it had taken Hannes. He out his hand out to pull Tarryn up.

  “I did,” said Sadie. “He was my boss.”

  “What?” said Tarryn, as Sadie climbed up. Again there was a pause as Hannes climbed the next ladder.

  “He was my boss on a summer camp I worked on.”

  “Did you have a crush on him?” whispered Tarryn as Denver climbed up the second ladder where Hannes stood resting.

  “Maybe,” said Sadie. She didn’t want to lie but at the same she didn’t want to share what she was feeling now with her friends just yet. It still felt fragile, and besides, nothing at all had happened.

  “Well I’m going to watch this space,” said Tarryn. “He is so nice for you Sadie. Like, the perfect match.”

  Sadie didn’t trust herself to answer. She was glad that Tarryn thought so. But what mattered was what Joe thought, and so far, that was unsaid.

  Hannes made it to the top eventually and sat down on a rock, his head between his knees. Sadie was relieved, and a little concerned about the journey down. Getting an injured person off the mountain was not a simple task, and if Hannes injured himself there was no way they would be able to get him down themselves. The others had all been at the top for a while, which was not very pleasant today. The sun was harsh and Sadie could feel it burning her skin despite the sunblock she wore, and the famous South Easter wind was so strong that they had to go back into the gorge to find a sheltered spot to eat their lunch and rest before continuing on their way.

  “Hey,” said Joe, coming to sit next to Sadie on the scattering of rocks they had found out of the wind. “Can I join you?”

  “Of course,” she said, scooting up on the rock.

  “Sorry I went on ahead.” Joe opened his water bottle and took a long drink. “I was talking to Kyle and didn’t realise we had left you behind.”

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I’m glad you’re getting to know my friends. Although I don’t really know Kyle at all, he just came along with Derek.”

  “This is really unique, you know, having a mountain like this in your back yard.”

  “I know. I try to get into my boots at least once a week. But it isn’t really safe for a girl on her own. I have to get a group together if I want to go.”

  “So you’re on your own? Single, I mean?”

  “Joe!” Sadie had not been expecting that question. She was amazed that he had asked it. “Do you see a boyfriend anywhere?”

  “No, but I wondered. Maybe there was someone who wasn’t around.”

  “No. No boyfriend.” Sadie shook her head. Did Joe really think that she would have spent that evening at the waterfront with him, floating above the ground in the Ferris wheel together, talking for hours and hours, if she had a boyfriend? “I remember you thought I was with the Spanish guy on camp. Gabriel. And I was not.”

  “Oh yes,” he said, looking pensive. “Maybe it’s just hard to believe that a girl like you would be single.”

  “A girl like me?”

  “Yes. A girl like you.” Sadie looked into his eyes, searching for a clue. Did he like her so much that he couldn’t believe she wasn’t taken already? Or did she seem to him like the kind of girl who needed a guy around all the time? His face wasn’t giving anything away.

  “You mentioned a guy once. Who treated you badly.”

  Whoa. She hadn’t thought about that in ages. “Yes. Paul. The one who thought love meant constant criticism and verbal abuse. I haven’t seen him in years, and I hope I never do again. In fact – tell me if this surprises you, Joe. I have only ever had one real boyfriend, and he was it. Since then I have not had one relationship with anyone. Not one.”

  “It surprises me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are … you know.” He didn’t look uncomfortable. He looked as if he expected her to understand what he meant.

  “I don’t know,” said Sadie.

  “Because you are a wonderful girl – you’re smart and kind and fun to be with. You walk up mountains. And you’re very pretty.”

  He ended there, and Sadie sat with her sandwich in her hand, not knowing what to think. She wanted to laugh, actually, but Joe didn’t seem to think he had said anything funny, and she didn’t want to offend him.

  “Thanks, I think,” she said at last. “You know – lots of girls walk up mountains.”

  “I haven’t met many.”

  She nodded. There was quiet for a while, while Joe ate his sandwich and drank his water. Sadie sat there and thought how she could continue this strange conversation. She could ask him if he would like to do something about her being single. If he would like to help her change that. But then she thought that the way it was going, he was unlikely to get the hint, and besides, it was a little too soon for that. She decided to use it to find out a little more about him.

  “When was the last time you were not single?” she asked. He asked direct questions, so she would too.

  He shook his head. “I met someone a couple of years ago,” he said. “I thought I really liked her and she seemed to like me so … but after a couple of months she said she couldn’t take it.”

  “She couldn’t take what?”

  “Me. She said I was the worst boyfriend she had ever had.”

  Sadie burst out laughing. “That was cruel, Joe! I’m sorry to laugh, but that’s a terrible thing to say.”

  He shrugged. “She was probably right. She said I was boring and I never did anything romantic. I know I can be boring, but the romantic part – I never worked out what she was expecting.”

  “I don’t think you’re boring, Joe,” she said. Silly girl. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could think Joe wasn’t good enough.

  “I know you don’t,” he said. “But I am romantically handicapped. It would take someone unusually patient and long-suffering to put up with me, I think. Mostly I am resigned to being single.”

  Sadie felt a little stunned. If he was resigned to being single then he wasn’t going to be making any moves any time soon, no matter how pretty and wonderful he thought she was. She remembered how Joe had been so clueless about Ingrid having a crush on him at camp, and how he had made that joke about being able to count the serious relati
onships he had had on one finger. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as simple as spending time together, letting friendship and attraction grow until he realised what was so obvious to her already. It might be a little more difficult than she had thought.

  Chapter 37

  When Sadie heard the doorbell ring she jumped. She was standing at the stove, checking if the rice was ready, and she almost dropped the spoon. Don’t do this, Sadie, she tried to tell herself. He’s just coming for dinner. It’s no big deal.

  But it was a big deal. A week had passed since the hike, and she had seen Joe at church, at Bible Study, and again the previous evening at a housewarming party that someone from church had invited Joe to. She hadn’t only seen him – they had arrived together, sat together and hung out together on every occasion. He was getting to know her friends and a few others at church, but he was still very much Sadie’s friend, Joe. A few people had asked her if they were together and she still had to say no, they were just friends, and try not to let her face betray that she hoped for more. He had been interested, attentive, complimentary and even once or twice downright affectionate, but still he had said nothing. It’s only been a few weeks, she told herself. He’s just taking it slow, letting things develop naturally. Wasn’t that what she had wanted? It was good that he was taking his time; it meant he took these things seriously. But she still had moments where she wondered if she was seeing things that weren’t there. This whole thing could very well be completely one-sided; so far Joe had given her no clear reason to assume anything at all. It puzzled Linda, who had had “the chat” with Derek exactly six days after meeting him, but Sadie knew that if she and Joe were going to get together it was very unlikely to be in a way similar to Linda and Derek. And now – she had been brave and had invited him over for supper with her parents, and he had accepted very gladly. Now she could see him through the dining room window, standing at the gate, a bottle of wine in his hand.

  “Sadie, the bell!” she heard her mom call from outside where she was setting the table on the veranda. Mom and Dad had met Joe at church, and knew that Sadie had met him during her time overseas. More than that, Sadie had not discussed, but she suspected that her mom had guessed what was going on with her.