by Iris Blobel
Warmth spread inside her. He was going to be such a great dad.
They stepped into the kitchen. Tiffany loved the rustic look with all the modern conveniences.
“Tell me about Mat,” Tiffany said as she sat, watching her sister-in-law opening one cupboard door after the other until she had cups, tea, and sugar.
Mel tilted her head with a shrug. “And I was about to ask you the same question.”
“C’mon, Mel, as soon as you found out that Liam knows him you were dying to get all the information.”
With a little flick of the finger, she turned on the kettle before joining Tiffany at the table. “You know I’m really glad I’ve got a sister-in-law like you. I like it that we’re able to sit down and talk like this.”
Tiffany choked back a chuckle. “It’s been quite a year, I suppose. I’ve come a long way and appreciate the people around me nowadays.”
Mel nodded. “I know. Awful, though, that you had to go through this first.”
She shrugged. “Better late than never, I suppose.”
“Anyway,” her sister-in-law piped up, most likely to not let the mood turn too depressing. “Of course, I asked Liam about Mat. You know how nosy I am. And protective.” She leaned back into the chair. “Liam had only good things to say about Mat. Oh, except his dad used to be an All Black. You know the boys, especially with the kiwis winning the World Cup. That doesn’t sit well with any of them.” She shrugged. “Dad’s rich, but Mat always took the hard way, wanting to prove he could do it on his own. I think he spent quite a few months with a Maori tribe to learn about that part of his history, before studying to be a Phys Ed teacher.”
“I didn’t know any of this,” Tiffany admitted.
“Honey, once you meet someone, you don’t tell them your life’s story on your first date.”
“True,” she replied. “He mostly told me about where he works and what he does.”
“Because that’s what he loves. People tend to talk about what they like. You do it. All I’ve heard the last few months is about legalities in business, debits and credits, and God knows what,” she finished with a laugh. Mel stood when the kettle whistled. “I’d say all you will hear from me over the next few months is an encyclopaedia worth of pregnancy details.”
“Lord, have mercy on me,” Tiffany replied with a laugh.
Taking the cup of tea from her sister-in-law, she sniffed the steam and crinkled her nose at the aroma. “Are you sure about the calming effect?”
“Oh, you’re such a wuss, just like your brother. Try it. It tastes good, especially if you add a little bit of sugar.”
She pulled the sugar bowl closer, took a teaspoon, and added some more of the sweetener...one teaspoon and then another. Hesitating, she looked at her sister-in-law who shook her head, although with a smile on her face, and decided two was enough.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
Tiffany stirred the sugar into the tea. “Dad will take me to the police station this afternoon. I want to clarify a few things, and I suppose Dad wants to chat to Harris as well.” A trace of a smile played across her lips as she lifted the cup. “I have a feeling he worries and would like to have the full story from the police.”
“Of course he worries, Tiff,” Mel said, as she placed her hand on Tiffany’s. “I know your relationship with him was never the best, but it’s improving, and in his awkward way, he wants to show you he’s there for you.”
Taking a sip of the tea and trying hard not to show her dislike of the taste, she finally replied, “I know. And, you know, it feels nice. Not only being at Mum and Dad’s, but also to be able to talk things through. I feel safe, I suppose.”
“Talking about safe. Liam said he talked to you last night and mentioned there was no news regarding the attacker.”
A little shiver ran down Tiffany’s spine when reminded about the assault. “It feels surreal. I’m staying away from the house because I’m too scared that’s the only place this guy knows I could be, but even a couple of drive bys by the police didn’t result in anything.” She placed the cup on the table. “I’m starting to think they’ve found the damn list and forgotten about me.”
“Don’t get too complacent, though,” Mel cautioned.
She shook her head and huffed out a snort. “Now that Mat’s returned to New Zealand I will really have to get my head around it and get it sorted. I’m glad Dad’s coming with me to see the police.”
“You know we’re here for you, too. And so is Steve.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you.”
“So,” Mel exclaimed, as she slid her slippers off her feet and propped her legs on the chair next to her. “Tell me more about Mat.”
Trying to keep an expressionless face was much harder when it came to this new man in her life, and that smile she’d been wearing for the last few days was back again. “Dad must’ve talked to Liam and then offered to help me financially to visit him in New Zealand. If the police give me a clearance to go, I probably will. It’d be perfect timing with my studies and such.” She expelled a sigh. “It’s scary, though, to trust a man again. Especially when there’s going to be so much water between me and my family.”
“Oh, honey. From what I hear, you don’t have to worry about that. And from what I also hear, your dad would not let you go if he had any doubts what-so-ever.”
Tiffany smiled at her sister-in-law’s statement. It was true that if her father had any doubts, or even Liam, they wouldn’t let her leave.
Mel placed a hand on Tiffany’s. “New Zealand is stunning—”
“Have you been there?” Tiffany interrupted her.
She wrapped her hands around the teacup. “No, but I watch all the travel shows, hoping that one day Liam will have enough time off to explore the world with us.”
Tiffany chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
“It’s a beautiful place. And if it doesn’t work out, you’ll grab a rental car and explore the island on your own.”
On your own. The words struck her. She was good at being on her own. She liked being able to make her own plans. To come and go as she pleased. And what if it didn’t work out with Mat? What if he discovered she wasn’t at all what he wanted? She’d still have the time of her life exploring New Zealand.
“My new motto is to think positive, though. It’s going to work out, and it’s going to be wonderful,” she said with more conviction than she felt, because being in New Zealand on her own wasn’t what she had in mind. She wanted to be with Mat.
Tiffany finished the last little bit of her herbal tea that, in the end, didn’t taste as bad as she’d initially thought, and stood. “I think I’d better get going. I still have to catch the bus back to Mum and Dad’s.”
“Would you like me to give you a lift?” her sister-in-law asked.
Tiffany appreciated the offer, but there was no way she would, even though unintentional, put Mel into danger, and replied, “No, thank you. I’m fine. It’s one changeover between busses, and I enjoy the time on a bus at this time of the day. It gives me time to think and time to read a little bit of my books on the tablet as well.”
Mel stood, too, and took the empty cups to the sink before she turned to Tiffany. “I don’t want to worry you or be over cautious here, but please do take care. I wouldn’t like anything to happen to you. It seems like these people are dangerous.”
A sizzle of undefined emotions rushed over Tiffany, and she wasn’t sure whether it was fear, worry, or the appreciation of her pregnant sister-in-law’s concern. Which in return worried her so much, hoping it wouldn’t put the pregnancy at risk.
Of course, she had thought about the idea that this stranger could pop up at anytime and anywhere again because, after all, the twenty-four hours had been long over and this wasn’t the movies. This was real. Somebody had been at her house, threatening her with a knife at her throat, insisting on her giving him some damn list. She had no ide
a about any list. Whenever she hadn’t been distracted by Mat, she had thought it through from every possible angle, but always came up with a blank.
The touch of Mel’s hand on her arm brought her back to the present.
“I’ll be careful,” she promised, knowing that she would because she didn’t want to be in a scary situation like this ever again.
She gave her sister-in-law a kiss goodbye on the cheek and headed for the door.
“Keep us in the loop,” Mel insisted.
She replied a quiet, “Will do.”
The walk from Liam’s house to the bus stop was only around the block, possibly five minutes, and even though it wasn’t a busy street, there was always some traffic. And in her opinion, nobody in their right mind would attack her on a bus or at the bus stop.
Or so she hoped.
She quickened her step as soon as she turned the corner and saw a bus approaching. But before she hopped onto the bus a minute later, she watched a black car driving down the street.
Slowly.
Too slow.
A shiver ran down her spine, and she looked up to the bus driver who stared at her in return, waiting for her to make up her mind. Once inside, she swiped her card and found a seat near the driver, watching the car. It slowly caught up with the bus and was right next to her at the next intersection. She was able to look inside and saw an old couple with a street map.
Relief rushed through her as well as anger. She was annoyed with herself and the situation that she was now seeing things that weren’t there. She’d be a nervous wreck by the end of the week.
Tiffany exhaled a long breath and as she looked out the window, her mind went back to her problem at hand. It’d been all about a damn list. The police assumed it was a list of people involved in the drug trafficking or production, but she didn’t know where Hudson could’ve hidden it. Another one of the many curses left her lips as the thought came to mind it’d been Hudson‘s way of getting back at her because, after all, she’d been the one responsible to get him behind bars for a few months. Again, she wracked her brain about where it could be at her place. The other day, her and Mat had turned her house upside down trying to locate anything. They’d even considered the notion the list wasn’t on a piece of paper but something like a tape, a USB, or a disc. But they couldn’t even find anything similar to that.
Fifteen minutes later, she hopped off the bus and moved over to the timetable to check for her connection before she sat on a small bench to wait.
Her gaze drifted into the distance where she saw a small travel agency. She smiled as she checked the time. A quick calculation in her head told her that Mat would be close to landing in Queenstown. The police had to give her what she would consider a free pass to leave the country. Ultimately, and although her knowledge of the criminal law was limited, she was the victim of a crime and not the suspect. And she didn’t believe the victim had to stay around.
****
Mat’s flight back to New Zealand was uneventful. As usual, there’d been some turbulence as they’d approached the southern part of the country. As a helicopter pilot, he’d had to learn about the meteorological reasoning behind it all, about the westerly winds a few thousand feet up, and the northerly at the surface, but his stomach always turned upside down knowing he wasn’t in control of the aircraft.
With the time difference, it was late afternoon by the time he arrived at Queenstown, and following a quick check-out, he took a taxi to his new place he’d bought in town a few weeks earlier. Once they arrived, he paid and went into the house with a sense of excitement building inside him. He placed his bag on the floor and pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket.
After a quick call to Adam, he gave his parents a call. He ambled into the lounge room and leaned against the window frame as he admired the view across Lake Wakatipu.
“Matiu. How are you? Are you back home?” his mother asked.
He stepped outside onto the terrace, inhaling deeply. He’d missed the fresh air after the a few days in a big metropolitan city like Melbourne.
“I’m in Queenstown for the rest of the week to get a few things organised.”
“So you got the contract with the Australian company?”
Mat bit back a chuckle, hearing his mother’s excitement about the possible news. “Yes, we have a handshake deal. It’s all in the lawyers’ hands now.”
“Expect any problems?”
Another smile. “Not at all. Anyway, is Dad around?”
“He’s out tonight. Some coach meeting at the school.”
Hemi Apanui had been one of the great players in New Zealand Rugby history. He’d retired twenty years ago and following his departure from the game, there’d been plenty of offers from all sorts of businesses. But he’d re-located his family to Sydney to escape some of the attention they’d received at home. For a few years, his income had been from occasional television contracts, but when he’d been offered a coaching job at a local school in Auckland, he hadn’t been able to resist. A position he still held and loved.
“Could you ask Dad to give me a call, please? I might need some help moving my stuff from Fox to here.”
“When will you start the new company?”
“If all goes through, not for another six months, but there’s lots of organisation involved.” He moved away from the window and headed towards the kitchen to get a packet of chips. “I’ll drive up to Fox on Saturday for a week or two to have someone cover my flights while I get this house fixed up and sort out a helipad around here. Not to mention establishing the loan for it.”
“It does sound like a lot of work,” she said with some concern.
“But it’ll be well worth it considering I’ll be back in Queenstown.”
“I will come as well when your father comes south to help you in the house. Nothing better than a bit of a female touch.”
He grinned. “It most certainly is in need of just that.”
After he disconnected the call, he opened the pack of chips and went back to the lounge room. His mouth edged up as he stared at the two camping chairs and the foldout table in the middle of the big room. It looked odd and reminded him that he had to buy some furniture sooner rather than later. He sat on the old camping chair, crossed his legs as he leaned back, and thought of Tiffany. His gaze drifted across the lake to the Remarkables, the mountain range along the shore. A sense of contentment spread through him.
You’re about the luckiest man in this world.
He fidgeted in the chair as he took a little box out of his pocket. With a flick of his thumb, he opened it and looked at the necklace in front of him. Carefully, he pulled the pikorua out of the small box and ran the necklace through his fingers. He’d come up with the idea when he rushed through the airport and saw the duty free shops. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out what to get her. The jade pikorua was a twist symbolising the strength of the bond between two people, and Mat was certain that there was something between Tiffany and him. He’d make sure to mail it the next day.
He reached over to the small camping table for his phone. Her number was already stored on the speed dial…and she answered after one ring. The relief at hearing her voice gave him an immediate lift.
“Hi, it’s me,” he said as he pictured her face, framed by her brown hair.
“My little Kiwi man.”
Her voice had given him a lift, but the word my did him in. He closed his eyes imagining her on her bed, despite knowing she was at her parents’ place.
“Did you just call me little?” he asked with a chuckle.
“In the most complimentary way,” she explained without hesitation, but with a soft laugh in her voice.
“I cannot say I’ve ever received a compliment like this before.”
“How was your flight?”
“Boring and long as usual.” He paused, hesitating whether to ask about any news regarding the recent events. Carefully, he chose his word
s. “Hearing your voice is a relief, meaning you’ve either found the list or the guy hasn’t found you, thank goodness.”
Her sigh didn’t go unnoticed, and he kicked himself for bringing it up.
“No,” she replied, the cheer in her voice gone. He waited, confused about the no which didn’t make sense in regard to his statement, and he gave her the time she obviously still needed.
“No sign of this guy. I’m hoping he’s given up on the whole thing or has found the damn list somewhere else.” There was another small pause, and he thought he heard a background noise of the soft whistle of a kettle and of a mug being set down. “Dad and I went to the police today.”
The words Any news? lay on the tip of his tongue, but he knew better than to say them out loud. He opened his eyes, admiring the colours in the sky as the sun was about to set.
“I think Dad wanted to meet Sergeant Harris and get all the information first hand. He was good at asking the right question and such. There isn’t any progress, though. They’ve declared Hudson’s death as murder and searched his house from top to bottom. I don’t know much about the legal stuff and, to be honest, I don’t want to, either.”
“I take it you’re not a suspect.”
The sound of the kettle stopped, and he heard what he assumed was a spoon being stirred in a cup.
“No.” She paused before she said, “I looked at airfares before.”
He raised his brows. “I love the sound of that.”
“Should I look for Christchurch or Queenstown?”
“Queenstown.” Searching for the right words, he was silent for a few seconds before continuing. “Baby, what would your reaction be if I’d offer to pay for the airfare?”
There was a moment of silence, which wasn’t unexpected. The question hadn’t come across as subtle as he would’ve loved to, but he wanted to see her again so much, it was a constant ache inside him. And if he could help her financially, it might happen earlier rather than later.
“I’d ignore you,” she whispered.