Handle Me with Care by Helen J Rolfe Read Free Book Online

air in quick succession, lighting up the ground beneath and warming the faces of onlookers, highlighting their smiles against the night sky. The heat between them as Evan stood beside her and his arm brushing against hers felt as intense as the flames themselves, and Maddie didn’t ever want the moment to end.
    ‘Pretty spectacular don’t you think?’ His voice flickered in her ear when he dipped his head to her height. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing those.’
    ‘Me either.’ She gulped.
    They stayed there until the columns fell silent once again.
    The autumn days were still bathed in sunshine, but come the evening Melburnians were reminded that summer had passed once again. ‘Are you warm enough?’ Evan asked as they continued along the banks of the river, away from the crowds and towards the steps that would take them back up to street level.
    Maddie pulled her cardigan tighter around herself. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’
    They took the flight of steps leading up to St Kilda Road, and Maddie said, ‘I’ll wait for a tram, shouldn’t be long.’ She indicated the tram stop in the centre of the road where people jostled about checking the timetable against their watches.
    ‘How about I walk you home tonight? Seeing as it’s our first date.’
    She hesitated, and then said, ‘Come on.’ She tilted her head in the direction of home.
    As they left the city behind them, Evan said, ‘Tell me a bit more about yourself.’
    ‘What else would you like to know?’
    She wondered whether he was going to say ‘everything’, but instead he said, ‘You mentioned that you have a sister.’
    ‘That’s right. Jennifer. She lives overseas, in London.’ She felt a jolt of electricity as Evan moved her in front of him to let two elderly gentlemen pass as the pavement thinned. ‘Jennifer loves the London vibe, and her job in events means she’s with a young, energetic crowd.’
    ‘How long has she been over there?’
    ‘It’s coming up to two years now.’
    ‘Do you miss her?’
    ‘Yes, of course.’ Jennifer had been there alongside Ally when Riley died and had shown such strength for a girl whose sister had fallen apart in front of her. Jennifer and Ally had held Maddie up for long enough so that eventually she took her own steps back into the world.
    ‘We chat over the iPad when we can, we text, and she visited last April.’
    ‘Have you been over to London?’
    ‘I’m busy with work these days, but if she’s stays on much longer then I’ll think about it. Mum and Dad are thinking of going over there soon, now that they’ve both retired.’
    ‘I bet they miss having their kids around though. I know my mum did when we first left home.’
    ‘I’m not sure about that. They’ve downsized and moved up to Palm Beach, and I think the beautiful location probably makes it bearable.’ She grinned. ‘They’ve never had so many hobbies since us girls left: hiking, Mum has taken up yoga – Dad refused and got more into his golf – and the latest is pottery classes, which sound amusing. Dad says his creations are an embarrassment, but I bet they’re not. He’s always been good with his hands right from when I was a little girl, and he made me the best doll’s house ever. He was so proud of it, said it was the best thing he’d ever done with his free time.’
    ‘Do you still have it?’
    ‘It’s stored at my parents’ place for now. I don’t think I’d ever get rid of it.’
    It felt like the right time to mention it. ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, Evan, but how old were you when your dad died?’
    ‘Eight.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’ She looked up at him as he passed beneath a street lamp. She didn’t need to ask how much Evan missed his dad; she could hear it in the catch of his voice, see it in the tension of his jaw.
    ‘It was a long time ago,’ he said.
    ‘That doesn’t matter, I bet it still hurts.’
    ‘Whoever said time is a great healer was right, but the wound never