by Anne Ashby
“Furniture?”
“Yep,” Leath forced any excitement from her voice. “Robby will be here in a couple of hours. This place will be finished by Sunday.”
“Then what?” his voice sounded rather strangled, Leath thought.
“We start on the next one, of course.” He didn’t seem to grasp this concept, she decided. “We have big plans for this place.” Some imp forced her to add, “And a stack of money to spend on it.”
Honesty almost choked Leath as she watched his lips tighten and a grim expression settle on his face. But it was important he believed they had money, not just tonnes of energy and enthusiasm and dreams. She must never allow this man to guess their need to budget or he’d never leave them alone.
A deep breath indicated his fall into a negative mood. Silently she applauded. He believed they were capable of achieving the resurrection of this place.
“This is amazing. You’re very talented.” His voice was rough, but intuition told Leath the words were genuine.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she accepted his praise with a slight nod of her head.
“Would I be right in assuming you and your brother aren’t open to another offer for the property?”
Leath’s head shot up and her back stiffened. When would he listen to their answer and accept it? She shook her head sharply.
“Even if I offered you another tonne of money?” His tone was resigned now.
“Even if,” she replied, hoping the momentary droop of his shoulders indicated his acquiescence.
“Oh, well.”
She watched him roll those shoulders and sensed his deep disappointment.
“Thanks for showing me these,” he nodded toward the murals as he walked stiffly out of the unit, leaving Leath wondering if she’d dreamt the uncomfortable feelings she’d had earlier.
“Wait.” She dashed after him as he slipped into the low-slung car.
But her nerve deserted her. What did she think she was going to say? She couldn’t demand he stop looking at her like that, especially now when she wondered if she’d imagined it. His hunched shoulders and a strange defeated look on his face displayed no sign of male appreciation now.
She bit her lip as the brittle silence continued. His left eyebrow rose as he waited. Then inspiration struck. “What did you mean when you said Penelope would hate this?” She tried to keep her voice even.
The breath rushed out of his mouth before he spoke. “The motels were George’s. Penny liked the quiet, the solitude up here.” His glance swept over the buildings before coming to rest on her face. “There hasn’t been a soul in any of them since George died about twenty years ago.”
They’d guessed the units hadn’t been used for a long time, but twenty years?
With a last faint smile, Kirk started the car and swinging it around, zoomed down the driveway, leaving Leath staring after him.
She chewed on her bottom lip. She must have been mistaken. The surprise of seeing him smile confused her when he’d only ever snapped and snarled before. Yes, that was it.
Removing paintbrushes from her hair she returned to the unit. She’d been knocked off-balance by his unexpected friendly approach and read too much into it.
She couldn’t bear to think such a lovely lady as Fiona might have a philandering husband.
Forcing Kirk Buchanan from her mind, she thumbed the speed dial she’d entered into her phone earlier. For the umpteenth time she listened and waited as it rang. Where was Amy when Leath needed her so badly?
Slipping the phone back into her pocket, she straightened her slumped shoulders and began adding the final touches to her mural.
Moments later she stopped. Now she had another tiny piece of the who-was-Penelope-Maguire puzzle—her husband’s name and an approximate wedding date. Was that any good for anything? Could it help her?
She had to continue digging for clues herself in case Aunt Amy never answered her damn phone. Carrie’s mother would know. She’d traced relatives in Scotland. Could you do the same here?
But what if the connection wasn’t a blood link that could be traced?
Would finding George and Penelope’s marriage certificate disclose anything to help solve the puzzle?
Or would it lead to another dead end?
Chapter Seven
Leath was surprised to see Carrie in the borrowed truck with Robby when he arrived that evening.
“John and I had a fight.”
Their flatmate and her boyfriend had had an on-again off-again relationship for almost as long as Leath had known her, so this news neither alarmed nor surprised her. The wry smile Carrie threw at her as she stomped inside and dumped a huge pack of takeaways on the kitchen table drew a bubble of laughter from Leath. “When are you two going to sort yourselves out?”
“Who knows?” Carrie shrugged. “It’s always fun making up.” She turned as Robby came in the door. “Where’s the wine we bought?”
Soon the three flatmates were stretched out in the lounge demolishing fish and chips and sharing the news from the last few days.
After their meal Leath resisted when the others wanted to inspect her work in the unit. “No, wait until the morning. It’ll look better in natural light. I hope you guys like it.” She hugged herself and shared a tremendous smile with the others. “I can’t believe we’re nearly finished one unit.”
“Another reason I came up.” Carrie threw her legs up onto the sofa and took a sip of wine. “I couldn’t trust either of you to take decent pictures for the web page.”
Leath threw a cushion across the room at her.
“Hey, watch the liquid refreshment.”
It was a very excited and slightly tipsy Leath who crawled into bed. When they unloaded the furniture tomorrow, she’d find out if her inspiration for the first unit was really inspiration or a huge gaffe.
“So what do you think? Has it worked?” Leath held her breath, waiting for a response. It wasn’t long in coming. Robby grabbed her and began dancing her around.
“It’s fantastic, sis. I didn’t realise it would look like this.” His delighted grin filled her heart. “You’re a genius.”
“Not bad, girl.” Carrie’s droll comment belied the enthusiasm Leath could see in her face.
“Okay, let’s get the furniture in and see what it’s really going to look like.” Robby was halfway out the door as he spoke.
With three of them working, it didn’t take long to install the furniture, iron and hang the curtains, and make up the bed. They’d had to make some concessions to the theme; the home entertainment system and sofa looking out of place in what Leath had designed to look like a tent in the jungle. But hugging herself as she looked around, Leath couldn’t stop a huge grin from breaking out. She’d done it. The place looked just like she’d pictured it in her mind.
“This looks wonderful, Leath.” Carrie threw an arm across her shoulders and hugged her. “You’ve done a fantastic job. These units will be so different from what’s offered at a normal motel. With the beach right here”—she waved at the sparkling water visible through the glass doors—“and the bush behind, you’ve got a great setting, privacy, and quiet. We’ll be able to market this place as an ultimate retreat.”
Carrie took out her camera and began click-click-clicking.
“I’ll wait until I download them to see which ones best show off the place.” She turned into the bathroom.
“Don’t take any photos in there yet. I need to get some pot plants.” Leath grinned at the others. “I hoped we might feel like treating ourselves to lunch in town, and we could go to the nursery then.”
“Sounds like a choice idea to me. I’m feeling a bit peckish.” Robby rubbed his stomach.
“It’s not even morning tea time yet, you idiot.”
“But you had us up at the crack of dawn,” he moaned.
He wasn’t far wrong. Leath had been too excited to rest and had cooked a hearty breakfast and banged on their doors just as the sun was rising.
“This is truly amazing, Leath.” Carrie hugged her. “I had no idea you could make it appear so real, so alive.”
Leath’s face heated at her friend’s praise.
“Make up with John and be our first guest.”
Carrie grinned. “You’ve got a deal.”
“Let’s hope we don’t have trouble with the neighbours.” Robby’s dour comment dumped Leath back to the real world with a crash.
“I think he’s accepted we’re here to stay.” Last night Leath had told them about her encounters with both Buchanans.
“Yeah, well, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Robby’s scepticism rattled Leath, who’d become a little more relaxed about their neighbours.
Robby was frowning up in the direction of the tin roofs visible on the hill. “We’re not going to have any idea of what they get up to when we’re not here, are we? They could make life unpleasant for our guests.” His fists clenched. “Word could spread, and we’d have spent all this money for nothing.”
“Perhaps you should think of getting a live-in caretaker,” Carrie suggested as they trudged back to the house. Their ecstatic mood was gone.
“No,” Leath vetoed. She wanted the house to be theirs, for now at least. If they had to employ someone on site...well they might be forced to review it later, but not yet.
“How are you going to manage the place, anyway?” Carrie asked. “You’ll need someone here to clean up and stuff.”
“Yeah, I know. I thought I’d ask in town. There must be someone reliable who’d like a little extra cash. It won’t be regular so—”
“Why don’t you ask this Fiona chick you met?” Robby suggested. “She’d probably know of someone who could use the money.”
Leath had thought of asking Fiona, in fact she still might, but in the back of her mind was the knowledge Fiona was a Buchanan. Her loyalty must lie with her family. If she realised how determined her husband had been to get them off the place, might she feel uncomfortable helping Leath?
“I’m not worrying about all that now. This visit, we’re celebrating.” She grimaced. “Next time I come up will be soon enough for me to find a cleaner. Let’s go and see if that café’s still as good as it was when we first visited.”
They trooped into Leath’s old rust bucket and headed for town, their high spirits back.
Glad of Carrie’s input when selecting pot plants at the nursery, Leath cringed at the unexpected high cost. She reminded herself the effect in the tiny bathroom would be well worth the expense.
After a stroll around the small shopping area and a few more purchases they headed for the café, Robby humorously pointing out it was better to beat the midday rush.
Chatting over their celebratory meal, Leath’s attention wandered. Since she’d noticed a dirty, red farm truck parked a little along from the café, and visible from her seat, she’d found her gaze sliding across to check it remained empty.
Coughing, she managed to cover her slight gasp when a tall, lithe figure approached the vehicle and began a conversation with two other men. Her gaze kept straying, noticing how broad his shoulders looked in comparison with the men beside him. He was taller, too.
The breath caught in her throat when he flipped down the tailgate, leapt onto the flat deck, and leaned over to lift something to show his companions. His back was facing her. No, his back wasn’t even visible. All she could see of him was a pair of long legs and his butt.
She felt heat rise in her face as her mouth dried. The denim of his jeans strained tight against his thighs and bottom. Leath grabbed her glass of water, sucking desperately at the straw, horrified to realize she’d been checking him out. She dipped her head, guilt washing over her. He was a married man.
“What the hell do you keep looking at?” Carrie demanded swinging around in her chair. “Ahh, yummy-yum. Now that’s what I call nice.”
Leath kept her chin tucked in and took a bite of her hamburger.
“Do you know him?” Carrie demanded, still eyeing the scene outside. “Maybe we could invite him to share a chip or something with us.”
“Don’t you dare!” Leath grabbed Carrie’s arm. Her friend was just sassy enough to go out and extend an invitation.
“Why not?” Uncertain whether Carrie was joking, Leath kept a tight grasp on her arm.
“Why would you want to bother?” Robby glanced out the window, nonplussed.
Both women burst out laughing, then proceeded to ignore the unappreciative male in their midst.
“He’s real dishy. Do you know him?” Carrie didn’t wait for an answer. “Go out and say hello, see if he’d like a coffee or something.” She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. “You never know what might happen.”
“Oh, shut up, Carrie,” Leath muttered.
“He’d be a hell of an improvement on that creep―”
“Peter wasn’t a creep...” Leath’s indignant voice faded away. Actually her partner had been a creep, a monumental creep.
She’d considered him her life partner, while he’d obviously viewed their relationship differently. Instead of providing help and support when her parents’ debts had emerged, he’d run so fast he almost set the carpet alight.
“Go and introduce yourself. Hurry up; it looks like he’s leaving.” Under the table Carrie’s foot shoved against one of Leath’s chair legs, pushing her out from the table. “Go on. Move. It’s time you had some fun.”
“Shut up, Carrie,” she hissed. “I don’t need to introduce myself...”
Carrie’s face split into a delightful grin.
“That guy’s married, with kids. That’s Kirk Buchanan.”
Two heads whipped around to stare out the window. Leath kept her gaze focused on the unappealing food she’d been enjoying up until moments ago.
“That’s Kirk Buchanan? Your neighbour from hell?”
At least Carrie’s voice had dropped, Leath was relieved to notice. Others in the café weren’t liable to hear her now.
Leath nodded.
“Oh.”
Leath looked up sharply at the tone in her friend’s voice. She cringed at the sympathetic look she caught but couldn’t hold. Biting her lip very hard, she forced herself to look out the window again and couldn’t control the little jab of pain as she watched Kirk lifting a pretty little girl into the cab. The smile they shared and the kiss he planted on top of her head was filled with affection. Thank God he started the vehicle and they were gone.
Leath continued staring out the window, telling herself the sagging of her shoulders was due to a release of tension. She’d been tense he might come into the café. Tense Robby might make a scene. Tense there might be a public confrontation with her neighbour. That was all.
She refused to look at Carrie and was relieved when Robby began querying her plans for the next unit. Thank heavens for something to thrust Kirk Buchanan into the background.
****
Kirk was pouring himself a coffee when the kitchen door burst open.
“Have you seen Dad? He’s gone again.”
About to chastise his brother for his carelessness, Kirk bit his tongue. He had no right to berate anybody. He’d only just returned to the scene, while his family had lived with the onslaught of Alzheimer’s for years.
“What happened?” he asked, leaving his coffee on the bench and tugging on a pair of boots.
“What always happens?” Cade punched his fist against the door jamb before grimacing and shaking his painful fingers. “We were working on the tractor, I went into the utility shed for the welder, and he’d disappeared.”
“We’ll find him.” Kirk gripped his brother’s shoulder as he passed, only beginning to understand how much his father’s illness affected not only their mother, but the whole family. “He’ll be fine, Cade.”
“Yeah, I know.” Cade consulted his watch. “We have less than an hour before Mum gets home. We’d better have him found by then, or she’ll skin us alive.” They shared an ironic smile
at the memory of their mother’s often-used dire threat from their childhood.
“Got your cell?” Cade patted his own pocket as Kirk grabbed the mobile phone from on top of the fridge. “I’ll go north, you go south.”
“Ah, couldn’t you go south?” South meant the beach and Penny Maguire’s place.
Kirk’s words stopped Cade as he was about to climb into his jeep. He glanced back over his shoulder and laughed. “No way. You already have such a great rapport with the woman, I’m sure she won’t mind you searching her property again.” He laughed some more. “Fiona says she’s real pretty, with big brown eyes. Ahhh.”
Kirk muttered a variety of swear words at his brother under his breath. He left to search for their father. Again.
Something had to be done about limiting Terry’s access away from the house. Kirk chewed his lip as he dreaded the thought of turning the home his parents had built into a prison.
****
“Mum will help you put some of the pieces together.” Carrie looked up from the photos Leath had spread out on the kitchen table. “It’s definitely weird, this whole thing. Even spooky.”
Leath watched her friend shuffle through the photos occasionally picking one up. “Are you sure you don’t remember your mother ever mentioning this woman?”
Leath rubbed the tight discomfort sitting across her forehead. “Absolutely. I’ve been over and over it in my mind. I can’t fathom where she fits into our lives.” Leath’s fist thumped the table. “But these prove without doubt she does.”
“At least you’ve got something to start with now.” Carrie dug into her purse for her phone. “I’ll text Mum and see if she’s free tomorrow. What time will you be getting up?”
Leath moaned. She’d forgotten she was working tonight. “Ah, about three o’clock, I guess. But are you sure your Mum—”
“Come on, Mum’s busting a gut to sort out your riddle.”
Sure enough, moments after sending her text, Carrie showed Leath the reply. It seemed tomorrow afternoon Leath would have a genealogy expert beside her when she began her search through official channels.
“You’ll have fun. Mum loves digging around in all the records. Who knows what you might find out?”