Burning Lies

by Helene Young

  ‘Ryan, what a pleasant surprise.’ She held out her hand to shake, knowing she sounded like she looked: flustered.

  When he raised her hands to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss on the soft skin beside her thumb she almost melted at his feet.

  ‘A pleasant surprise indeed.’ His voice was low, a hint of gravel. ‘You look lovely. Not a day over twenty-one.’ The look he shot her sent her heart rate off the scale, adding elevated blood pressure to wobbly knees. ‘Happy birthday, Kait.’

  In his other hand he held out a beautiful bunch of flowers. Grateful for a camouflage she took them and cooed, burying her face in the bright petals to hide the flush in her cheeks. What the hell was she thinking? She knew the answer, just didn’t want to admit it. Lust. And it was so misplaced, so damn overpowering, it was almost debilitating. It must be hormones.

  ‘Come through, I better check the oven.’ Julia took charge and turned for the kitchen, leaving them to follow. Dan and Nero were practically doing circles around them.

  Kaitlyn couldn’t stop the tiny shiver that rippled from head to toe when she felt Ryan’s hand on her back, just above her waist, the pressure gentle, the touch warm through the silky fabric.

  If she was going to spend the whole time this hyper-aware of his nearness, it was going to be a very long evening.

  ‘So, who’s this gorgeous couple getting married?’

  She stumbled and Dan cannoned into her legs. Reaching out with one hand she steadied him and turned to where Ryan was pointing. She relaxed. It wasn’t her in the photo.

  ‘Nana and Grandpa,’ supplied the ever-helpful Dan.

  ‘Julia and Stephen.’ Kait elaborated. ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’

  And they were. Married in a simple ceremony with a small gathering of friends, they were an elegant older couple. A matron of honour and a best man were the only attendants. The day was a golden haze around them, sending the light through Julia’s upswept hair.

  ‘You look so much alike.’ Ryan smiled into Kait’s eyes and she had to laugh it off. This was too intense.

  ‘I don’t think so.’ She touched her hair, feeling stray curls already escaping around her temples. ‘Mum’s always been so stylish. Elegant.’

  ‘More of the same, from where I’m standing.’

  ‘That’s because my mother still dresses me,’ she replied, with a flippant flick of her fingers. ‘Not something I’m proud of, but there you have it.’ She needed to find level ground. Didn’t care that she might look like a fool. It was better this way. Get in first.

  She breezed ahead of him, leaving him to look at the photo wall with Dan. Her own wedding photo was less prominently displayed in the bottom-left corner. She could hear Dan explaining each photo in great deal.

  ‘Drink? A beer, wine, gin and tonic?’ she called, reaching for one of her mother’s cut-crystal vases.

  ‘Thanks, beer would be good. Do they put breathalysers up your road very often?’

  She smiled, snipping an inch off the stems before settling the flowers in water. ‘That would be a no. Waste of resources. Just don’t drive off the edge.’

  ‘Not planning to,’ he replied, joining her by the bench.

  ‘Neither was I,’ she retorted, with an arch of her eyebrow.

  ‘No,’ he acknowledged. ‘What did the police say?’

  ‘Without a registration there wasn’t much they could do. In the light of day the damage is more superficial. The insurance company is yet to get back to me.’

  ‘You got it checked out?’

  ‘Julia did. I’ve had her car all week. Glen from the garage came out and crawled underneath, then drove it in and put it up on the hoist. It’s mechanically sound. Just needs four new panels on the driver’s side.’ She opened a beer, poured wine into two glasses.

  ‘They might write it off, then.’

  ‘Possibly, but meanwhile it’s still driveable. Too far out of town to be stuck without a car.’

  ‘Mum,’ Dan interrupted. ‘Look what Nero just did.’ He was hugging the dog. Any reservations Kait had had about the puppy had been swept away by the instant bond between son and dog. Julia, as usual, was right.

  ‘Oh, great. More socks.’ How could you be angry at a coal-black dog with a bright red sock hanging out either side of his muzzle? ‘Nero, drop!’

  She didn’t know who was more surprised when the dog spat out the sock. It landed on Ryan’s boot.

  He picked it up between thumb and finger. ‘Red, pink hearts? Must be Dan’s sock.’

  ‘No way.’ Her son screwed up his face. ‘Mine don’t have hearts on them. It’s Mum’s.’

  Kaitlyn grabbed it out of Ryan’s fingers, cutting off any discussion about her socks. ‘Thank you. I’ll be sure not to leave anything lying around.’

  ‘The birthday present, huh? Who chose the name?’

  Dan smiled. ‘I did.’

  ‘Big name for a small dog.’

  ‘Mum and Nana were talking about the fires and Nana said the police were like Nero fiddling while Rome burned.’

  ‘Right, that will do, Dan,’ Kaitlyn interrupted. ‘Thanks for sharing that with our guest.’ Ryan at least looked amused. ‘It was funny at the time.’

  Dan wasn’t going to be silenced that easily. ‘And anyway, I wanted a horse, but Nana said we couldn’t because Mum would be upset with us and then she’d tell us off.’

  ‘Upset, huh?’ Kaitlyn was not keen on having the family discussion aired with Ryan.

  ‘Yep, you get that look on your face and you call me Daniel.’ He sat up straight and screwed up his eyes in what he clearly thought was a stern look. ‘And you call Nana Ju-li-ah.’ He was a gifted mimic, syllable-perfect. And then you talk really slowly.’

  Julia was trying hard not to laugh, but it wasn’t working. Ryan wasn’t even trying.

  ‘And who was Brutus again, Daniel?’ Kait asked her son with pursed lips.

  ‘That would be me.’ He buried his face in Nero’s neck and looked up at his mother with a wicked grin.

  Kaitlyn shook her head. ‘It’s a regular riot around here. Dan’s favourite movies are comedies and Ancient Roman tragedies.’

  ‘Really? Wouldn’t have guessed that.’ Ryan was poker-faced. ‘And of course it is every young lad’s duty to scheme. Otherwise how would they get up to mischief?’

  ‘Ha. He can get up to mischief on your patch, then.’

  Dan cut in again. ‘Hey, Ryan, did you find any more of those cogs?’

  ‘Nah, been a bit busy, mate. Maybe on the weekend.’

  Kaitlyn hid her surprise at the easy connection between the two. She let Dan hold court for another couple of minutes. Ryan seemed happy enough to talk to him. Not everyone tolerated a precocious seven-year-old this well.

  The beer glass had left a puddle on the gleaming benchtop by the time Ryan reached for it and took a long swallow.

  ‘Okay, Dan,’ said Kaitlyn. ‘Time to put Nero down and wash your hands. Dinner’s almost ready.’

  For once, he went without protest, Nero trotting at his heels.

  ‘Good-looking dog.’

  ‘He is, isn’t he? They say he won’t get much bigger. I hope so.’

  ‘Looks sturdy. Bet he has a good bark. Keep the hawkers at bay.’

  ‘It’s impressive for a dog his size,’ Kait confirmed. ‘Sounds pretty vicious.’

  ‘But he’ll lick you to death first,’ Julia chimed in.

  ‘Yep, and chew me out of socks if I’m not careful.’

  Ryan propped his foot on one of the stools and leant on the granite top. ‘That smells divine, Julia.’

  ‘Goat’s cheese soufflés for starters, coral trout for main, then a decadent chocolate cake for dessert. I hope you brought your appetite with you.’

  ‘The smell of cooking has been tormenting me since I moved in. You’ve even inspired me to experiment myself.’

  ‘Oh, really?’ Kaitlyn couldn’t help having a dig. ‘Cheese with the baked beans?’

  He laughed and
she liked the way his face softened when he did. ‘No, but thanks for the tip. You do that often?’

  It was her turn to smile. ‘It’s possible I may have resorted to that a couple of times when Julia’s been away.’

  ‘She’s an excellent cook,’ Julia said. ‘She used to follow me around the kitchen when she was young. Always had an opinion on what went with what. Do you remember when you went through your edible flowers fad?’

  Kaitlyn laughed. ‘Oh God, yes. Those nasturtium leaves were dreadful and I insisted we serve them to Dad’s colleagues. It’s a wonder I didn’t poison someone. They all politely pushed them around their plates.’

  ‘Yuk.’ Dan stuck his tongue out as he returned and sidled up next to Ryan. ‘She makes me eat broccoli, too.’

  Kait lifted an eyebrow. ‘That’s not poisonous, Dan.’

  ‘But it’s a flower. Gross.’

  ‘Technically he’s right,’ Julia said. ‘And then there was the Christmas cake you thought needed more rum, except you didn’t bother telling me that you’d added it. I still remember cutting the cake to share it around and realising it smelt too strong.’

  ‘And meanwhile, Dad had convinced himself that you’d taken to having a tipple when he was at work, because his litre of Bundy had vanished.’ They were both smiling at the memory.

  ‘But you did improve. You’re even better than me now, not that you have time any more. You used to love to cook.’

  ‘I did. I do. And maybe I will again. So, Ryan, no call outs for the RFB recently?’ She steered the conversation away before it got caught in a downward spiral. ‘Seems like the fires have died down a bit.’

  ‘They called yesterday morning when it looked like the regulars couldn’t get there quick enough. By the time we were ready to go they called back and canned us. I spent some time tinkering with the gear, getting to know your set-up better. Been a busy season up here so far.’

  ‘It has. We hope the end’s in sight. Normally the wet-season rains don’t come until late December, early January. If this keeps up, the whole place will have been torched by then.’

  ‘Everyone’s saying it’s got to be the work of an arsonist.’ Ryan leant forward as he spoke.

  Kaitlyn didn’t look at her mother as she weighed up the answer. ‘Certainly there have been a lot of fires, but we’ve had a bad storm season too. More dry thunderstorms than usual. They’re normally further west and south. Record numbers of lightning strikes. In this sort of country, that can start fires in the most inaccessible places.’

  ‘Doesn’t mean someone isn’t giving nature a helping hand.’

  ‘You’d know a bit about arson in your job.’

  He shrugged. ‘You get to learn the signs, the patterns. Makes it easier to pick what started by accident and what was callously created.’

  Julia placed feathery lengths of fennel on the edge of the plates. ‘You must have seen some horrendous things. I think I mentioned last time you were here that my husband was an arson investigator. He started as a fireman many years ago, but specialised in house arson. There were days he was almost speechless from what he’d seen.’

  Kaitlyn saw the shift in emotion behind Ryan’s polite facade. Something had hit home there. She knew how heavily her father had worn the weight of his responsibilities. Some days he’d come home from work looking shorter than when he’d left, his skin grey with fatigue. For all the flippant charm Ryan exuded, Kait sensed a more serious, maybe even troubled man hiding behind that pretence.

  ‘Yeah, you do. I’m on stress leave.’ He shifted on the stool, lowered his chin. ‘Not proud of that, but the last fire I fought we lost a family.’ His eyes were bleak, the tension in his jaw obvious.

  She sensed that his hurt and anger went bone-deep. It explained the sadness, the weariness she’d witnessed before.

  Kaitlyn reached over and touched his shoulder, feeling solid muscle under her touch. ‘That would be hard, to lose anyone like that.’ She knew her voice would wobble, but she had to fill the silence. ‘It’s not possible to save them all. No matter how good a firefighter you are.’

  His face relaxed a millimetre, and she waved her hand in a sweeping gesture, moving to lighten the mood. ‘Well, you’re standing in my contribution to the fire-resistant building code. Maybe you’ve heard the stories about me and my mad designs. The guys from Oakey Creek are less polite than most. What do they call it, Dan?’

  ‘Kait’s Crazy Castle, Kait’s Crazy Castle.’ Dan’s voice was singsong. ‘But I call it Dan’s Deadly Dungeon.’

  Kait tossed her head, feeling more strands come loose from the knot. ‘And we wear those names as a badge of honour, don’t we?’

  ‘Yep. My friends think it’s awesome, especially when you let me turn the sprinklers on all around the roof.’

  ‘Sprinklers on the roof?’ Ryan asked.

  ‘We lost our home in a bushfire in Canberra, five years ago. Suffice to say we took what we had left and headed north. And here we are.’ She gestured around the house, not meeting his eyes, afraid he might see the pain she tried to hide. ‘Fire suppressants, fire retardant, water sprayers, fire breaks. It’s all here. Hopefully we’ll never need it.’

  Her mother raised her wine glass. ‘And if we do, the house has everything going for it. Everything your father believed in.’

  ‘And he knew his stuff.’

  Julia smiled. ‘He did.’

  ‘You do too.’ Dan’s pride was obvious.

  Kait winked at him. ‘I love my fan club.’

  ‘Can I have a horse?’

  They all laughed and Kait waved a finger at Dan. ‘Manners.’ She could see the tension ease in Ryan’s shoulders as he followed the shift of conversation, took a sip of his beer and smiled. He took it in another direction altogether.

  ‘So, Julia, your husband is the good-looking guy in those wedding photos? You looked pretty special on your wedding day. He was some lucky guy.’

  There, Kaitlyn thought, we’ve blown the sadness away for now. Julia lined up the plates, their white reflecting in the dark bench.

  ‘I was one lucky woman …’ Julia folded a tea towel and leant on the counter. Kait knew what was coming next. This was family folklore and she never tired of hearing it. She listened to her mother’s voice take on the lilt of her hometown in England.

  ‘We were war evacuees in 1944, Stephen and I. Just seven-year-olds, the same age as Daniel, sent to a tiny town called Ullswater in the Lake District. A wee speck on the map. They figured we’d be safe there and my mum had too many mouths to feed. Stephen’s parents were already dead, killed in the blitz.’

  She sipped her wine. No one interrupted, not even Dan.

  ‘When the war was over, no one could find my family. We lived in an orphanage for two more years before they sent us to Australia. Stephen stayed with me that whole time. He was my rock, my friend, my protector. He kept me warm at night through the snow in winter. And then Australia. We were separated. I went to a family in Sydney. He went to an orphanage run by a church. And so I lost him. For thirty years, I lost him. Then he found me. I was a pianist and he saw a newspaper story and a photograph. It took him three more years to find the courage to contact me.’ She pressed a hand to her cheek, her eyes bright with the memory.

  ‘When he did, he came backstage with the most gorgeous bunch of flowers. Lilies, they were. You see …’ She shook her head. ‘Lilies grew through the snow every spring while we were in England. I didn’t recognise the man he’d grown into, but his eyes … his eyes were the same deep, deep blue. My Stephen.’

  Kaitlyn reached across and laid her hand over her mother’s as she continued. ‘So we married. Just as soon as he could get a licence. Kaitlyn was our miracle. Born when we were both forty-one. I miss Stephen, but I have my family, I have my memories.’

  Kait didn’t miss the tear that slid down her mother’s cheek as she turned to the oven.

  ‘And your music,’ Ryan said. Julia nodded as she bent to retrieve trays of perfectly puf
fed soufflés. His perceptiveness surprised Kait. Music had saved Julia from depression after the Canberra fires.

  She turned the spotlight back to him. ‘So, what about you, Ryan? Family? Ex-wife? Kids?’

  ‘An ex-wife, a mother, father and a few distant relatives.’

  Another only child. Tonight the house was full of them. Kait dug some more, curious, wanting to unravel this complex man. The glimpses of softness, compassion, didn’t sit with the cocky, almost arrogant side of him.

  ‘They live in Sydney?’

  ‘They do.’

  Right … She drew the word out in her head. So, nothing he was going to share there. ‘And you’ve always been a fireman?’

  ‘No, joined the armed forces when I left school. Wanted to see the world and they promised to pay me to do that. Advertising executives have a lot to answer for.’

  Kait laughed. ‘And why do I sense some disappointment there? Did they not deliver on the travel?’

  Her mother slid the plates across the benchtop and Kait carried two to the table, Ryan following with the other two as he replied.

  ‘Oh, no, they delivered all right, just unfortunate that most destinations were godforsaken places torn apart by war. Not so much as a cocktail umbrella in sight, let alone a market umbrella shading a sun-lounger by a resort pool. Not my kind of adventure, really.’

  Okay, they were back on flippant. ‘Hmm, and the added disadvantage of being shot at, I’m guessing.’

  ‘Absolutely. No fun there. You want to take pot shots then head to the nearest sideshow alley and pop a couple of ducks. I bet Dan would do well with one of those knock-’em-down stalls.’

  Dan needed to have the whole concept explained and soon the conversation headed into the land of superheroes and games.

  While the merits of the latest Thor movie were being discussed, main course came and went. Kaitlyn was charmed. No hint of condescension in Ryan. Amazing, she thought, listening to him talk roses with Julia a moment after dissecting the intricacies of Battleships, Dan’s latest online game craze. He looked relaxed in a way she hadn’t seen before. His guard was down and she liked the man behind the glossy veneer.