Gone Phishing

by Bowes, K T

  Chapter 46

  New Beginnings

  Sophia stepped through the ranch slider and down the steps, trying not to break her neck on the uneven concrete. A stranger led her by the arm through the garden in Hamilton East, met only moments before he offered to escort her. The light summer dress fluttered around her legs, a hole in the seam but still Dane’s favourite. Her soul mate stood waiting for her by the stunning girl with blonde hair piled on top of her head in a clip.

  “Welcome,” the celebrant said, a smile touching her lips. She spoke with confidence and straightened her back to deliver her speech to an absent audience. The young man handed Sophia over with relief and stepped back, his momentary paternal responsibility relinquished. “Marriage is an intentional act between two people.” She smiled at her flat mate as he stared at his bare feet, his gaming headphones still dangling round his neck and his defenseless warlords being decimated by other online gamers in the darkened bedroom behind him. “It’s not to be taken lightly.”

  Dane glanced at Sophia and winked, his lips pulsing with nervous ticks as his jaw worked behind the shaven cheek.

  “Stop it!” Will said loudly and the couple jumped, turning to see him reject Maisie’s proffered hand. The little girl’s face crumpled and she sniffed. The second guest at the hastily organised wedding slumped in a deckchair behind the group, texting without looking and watching the little kids with suspicion like they carried some awful contagion. Sophia wiggled her fingers behind her and Maisie rushed forward and gripped them, as though scared she might be cast adrift in the absence of human contact. She buried her face in Sophia’s hip and everyone heard her inhale the scent of safety.

  The sun beat down on their heads like a blessing of divine warmth and Sophia let the nerves leave her. The celebrant named Elizabeth charged them nothing, inspecting their documents with calm assurance and seeming unsurprised at their weird circumstances. Two eighteen-year-olds with primary aged children, a crumpled court document and a marriage band from the cheaper end of a well-known jewelry chain store, knocked on her front door seeking her clemency. She smiled, nodded and agreed to perform the short ceremony to legalise their teenage romance and give them a firm grounding on which to secure their ready-made family. She smiled around, joy in her eyes as she said the words to ratify their plans and seal their future.

  “Come on inside,” she said, pausing while Dane placed a tender kiss on Sophia’s lips. “We’ll do the paperwork in the lounge.”

  Will pointed at Dane who prolonged the kiss. “Yuk!” he said in a loud voice.

  The celebrant laughed and nudged her seated flat mate with a painted toe as the group trooped past him. “I need you to witness the signatures.” A smile slid across her lips as both flat mates followed her in like obedient puppies.

  Dane squeezed Sophia’s spare hand and glanced down at Maisie. “Happy?” he whispered, bringing her fingers to his lips. She beamed and inspected the gold band on her finger.

  “Pretty much.” She kept the reply casual, stringing him along and grinning as he raised an eyebrow at her. Sophia’s expression grew sad. “I wish I’d got a ring to give you.”

  “One day.” Dane kissed her again.

  The paperwork took only seconds and Elizabeth offered to post it for them. “I’ll do it tonight,” she promised. “Then it’ll be official.”

  The little group of students followed the newlyweds back onto the street, a short twenty minutes after they first answered the knock on the door. Elizabeth drew Sophia into a firm hug and kissed her cheek. “Good luck in Palmy,” she said with a smile. “I’ve got sisters there if you get into trouble. I can put you in touch with them.” Her head jerked towards Will as he attempted to tuck his school shirt into his trousers again. “I hope it works out for you.”

  “It will.” Sophia forced confidence into her voice as they walked out onto the quiet street to retrieve the vehicles. The tattered booster seats sat in the back of her car, the polystyrene showing. Dane’s car looked so full of their gear he couldn’t see through the back window. The little rural church Sophia took the children to donated bedding and furniture to help start their new life. An electric blanket nestled in a box squashed against the back window; a leaving gift from the vicar’s wife. Dane’s pocket contained the scrap of paper she pushed into his hand, containing the address of a sister church in Palmy.

  “Ready?” he asked, opening Sophia’s rear door and telling the little kids to get in. Will bounced over with his usual exuberance but Maisie hung back, still clutching Sophia’s hand.

  “Get in, Maisie,” Sophia said, nudging her shoulder. The child looked terrified and pushed herself so close into Sophia’s thigh, she almost overbalanced her. “What’s wrong?”

  “You’re coming, isn’t ya?” The dark eyes looked accusatory. “You’re not leavin’ me?”

  “No!” Sophia looked astounded. “We talked about this. We’re going together, remember?”

  Maisie nodded and her grip relaxed. “So, we don’t have to play pretend fambly anymore?” Her face looked earnest, eyelashes blinking with innocence and hope. “We can be a real fambly?”

  “Yes, but only if you get in the car.” Sophia swallowed back her impatience and forced herself to stay calm. Dane warned her it might be this way; constant doubt and mistrust from a child let down more times than most adults in their entire lifetime. “We can’t go without you.” She took slow breaths and waited for Maisie to study her face with a gaze far too perceptive for a seven-year-old.

  “You get in first.” Maisie patted her leg. “Then them men can’t take you off us.”

  “What?” Sophia followed the slender pointing finger and inhaled as Bob slammed the door of his expensive car and jogged across the road towards them. Her heart clenched in her chest as Matt got out of the passenger side and followed him, his footsteps more urgent and his expression angry.

  “Dane!” Her shout sounded panicked and he looked up from fastening Will’s seat belt, his brow furrowed at her tone of voice. She jerked her head towards the approaching males and he looked over his shoulder and swore. Closing the door on Will, he ran around the back of the car, swung Maisie into his arms and stood in front of Sophia.

  Elizabeth looked unnerved and her two flatmates stopped acting bored and stiffened, Dane’s body language alerting them to trouble. Sophia raised her hands in self-defence and backed away from the knot of bodies, her eyes never leaving the men bearing down on them.

  “Soph! What the hell are you doing?” Matt’s voice sounded high and unnatural as he tried to skirt Dane to get to her, finding the younger male in his way at every turn.

  “Leave her alone!” Dane’s voice sounded laced with acid and he put out a hand to ward off Matt. “I’m warning you!” he stressed, his face expression thunderous.

  Matt took a shot at Dane, not caring about the little girl in his opponent’s arms. “I told you to stay away from my sister years ago!” he snarled. Dane dodged out of the way and Matt’s fist missed by centimetres. “Or did you forget the black eye I gave you in your first week at school?” He swung again, missing as Dane moved.

  “I’m not fighting you,” Dane hissed, cradling Maisie as terror back-lit her eyes. “I didn’t then and I won’t now. You don’t raise your fists to family!”

  “Family!” Matt sneered. “You’ll never be my family; you’re trash just like my mum said you were.”

  “Matt! Stop making a show of yourself.” Bob glared at Elizabeth. “Miss Bowes, when I commended you for acting as a celebrant free of charge to struggling couples, I didn’t expect you to exercise that authority with my god-daughter.”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “Nor did I.” Her face remained impassive and Sophia admired her calm aura in the face of the angry barrister. “But it’s legal and done now. Shame you missed it.” Elizabeth jerked her head towards one of her flatmates and he strolled back towards the house and locked the front door. Sophia watched the curious action and then remembered the essential piece
of documentation sitting on the coffee table in Elizabeth’s lounge. She held her breath but Bob’s fury turned to despair and he tried to skirt Dane to get to Sophia, failing.

  Dane took a sideways step, still carrying Maisie and fielding Matt at the same time. Needing both hands he bent to set Maisie on the ground, struggling as she wailed and clung on to his arms. “No! You can’t take my new mummy!” she screamed. “Leave her alone!” Feeling her feet touch the floor she became apoplectic, letting go of Dane and lurching for Matt’s legs. She weighed almost nothing but the shock of her hitting his knees took him by surprise and knocked him off balance. Not satisfied, Maisie thumped him in the groin with the side of her fist, not hard but unexpected and painful enough. He bent with a grunt and the whirling dervish turned her attention to Bob. She kicked him in the shin and he jumped back as though stung by a wasp.

  “I’m not taking her!” he insisted, holding the child at bay with a hand on her forehead. Her spindle-like arms punched fresh air; unable to reach. “I just want to talk to her.”

  With his sister having incapacitated both his opponents, Dane grabbed Maisie from behind, keeping her arms tight to her body and whispering in her ear. Sophia heard him ask her to trust him and the child’s stiff body relaxed. He sat her in the car seat and closed the door without belting her in and she knelt up and stared through the window, never taking her eyes off Sophia.

  “I wanted to talk,” Bob repeated, staring at Sophia. His face saddened. “You didn’t come to dinner the other night,” he said, his voice heavy. “We waited for you both; Ellen made a roast to celebrate your fine exam results.”

  Sophia looked at the ground and shook her head. “I won’t ask how you knew my results. Dane’s too?” She looked up and detected the slight smirk on Bob’s lips. “How could I trust you? Every time I saw Ellen she insisted I speak to Sal and you wanted me to play nice with Edgar. That’s why Dane moved in with the little kids; we couldn’t take it anymore. We needed support and love, Bob, not lecturing every time we saw you. Can you imagine how hard the last seven months has been? I’ll deal with my parents in my own time but for now, I need space to regain some perspective. Maybe it will be okay in the end but you can’t tell someone to forgive and expect an instant fix.”

  Bob took a step forward and Sophia countered it, backing until her spine pressed against Elizabeth’s fence. The celebrant slid alongside her in solidarity and she felt grateful for her support. “This isn’t appropriate,” Elizabeth said, her voice cool. “She doesn’t want to speak to you and you’re both trespassing.” Her blue-eyed gaze took in Matt, who stood on the grass verge rubbing his balls. “You should leave.”

  “I let you down.” Bob’s voice broke and his brow knitted. “I should’ve let you both live with us and finish school. Edgar told me this morning why you stayed with him and I understand now. You shouldn’t be anyone’s cash cow. He’s a fool, Sophia and he made one of us all.”

  Sophia snorted. “Yeah, he definitely made one of me. Re-mortgaging the house to raise the loan for his catfish meant he priced the house too high. That meant it didn’t sell until last week. Edgar made the repayments with his wages and commission but it left nothing for bills or food. He needed the financial help which single parents get to survive and to be entitled to that, he needed me.” She swallowed, her tone dull. “The accommodation assistance ended on my birthday so he took my allowance for being eighteen and in full time education after that. He begged me at your house that day and I ran out of choices.”

  Bob shook his head, his face sad and strained. “We didn’t know, Soph. You should’ve said something.” He waved his hand behind him at Matt. “Your brother wanted to see you but I guess it’s too little and too late? Sal broke up with her new man and all the promises of soccer contacts came to nothing. He feels he sold you out.”

  Sophia closed her eyes, sadness engulfing her. These people built their houses on sand and grieved when they subsided. “You all sold me out. But I don’t have the energy to do this right now, Uncle Bob. It’s my wedding day and I have somewhere else to be. I’ll get in touch once we’re settled.”

  Bob took a step back, dismissing her like a hostile witness. “There’s not much left to say, is there?”

  Sophia shook her head and asked, “How did you find us? We told nobody about this.” Bob winced and her eyes narrowed. “You kept your little pocket detective on me then? I should be flattered.” Her eyes flicked to Dane, seeing the anxiety in his face and the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he took quick, ragged swallows. She squared her shoulders and gave Elizabeth a last hug and smiled at the flatmate flanking her. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Matthew watched as she walked towards her new husband, dangling her car key from rigid fingers. His gaze bore into her back with belated affection and she ignored him, his treachery a thing to be dealt with in the future and not then. Not on her wedding day. Dane looked relieved and forced a smile on his lips. “Come on, Mrs McArdle,” he said, his tone light. “We’ve a long drive ahead of us.” He jerked his head towards Bob and Matt. “You know you’ll have to forgive them eventually, don’t you?”

  Sophia nodded. “I will,” she acknowledged. “I just need some time and distance.” She reached up for a kiss and smiled at him. “You’re sounding like the vicar.”

  “Shut up, woman.” Dane’s lips curved up in amusement. “Although maybe that old dude with the dog collar knows what he’s talking about.” He guarded her while she settled in the driver’s seat and started the engine, motioning her to lock her doors before walking back to his car. With a last wave at the gorgeous celebrant both teens pulled away from the curb, ignoring the young man whose face crumpled in grief and the old barrister who looked like he’d lost a dollar and found ten cents.

  “Mummy?” Maisie said and Sophia glanced around in panic at the roundabout filtering traffic from Galloway Street to Cobham Drive. Dane’s brake lights went off and he pulled away without her.

  “What? Where?” Sophia stuttered, examining the back of the car and the vehicle behind. Another vehicle hooted her, eager to be on the expressway out of Hamilton.

  “Mummy,” Maisie repeated, looking straight at her. “How long till we see the big mountain?”

  Sophia turned back to the roundabout and pressed the gas pedal, her leg wobbling as the adrenaline worked its way through her blood stream. She slipped between a car and a truck, fitting neatly and following the road south, noticing Dane’s brake lights ahead as he slowed trying to see her. She swallowed and thought about the six-hour drive in two vehicles with debatable reliability and sighed. “Ruapehu? Probably about four hours,” she replied. “But it’s too hot; there won’t be any snow.”

  “I don’t care,” Maisie said with a sigh, over the sound of Will’s contented humming. “Our fambly doesn’t mind about no snow.”

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  K T Bowes was born in England to soldiering parents who settled in the County of Lincolnshire. Immigrating to New Zealand in 2006 with her family, she began writing avidly. She currently has seventeen bestsellers in the teen, mystery and romance genres.

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  OTHER BOOKS BY K T BOWES

  The Hana Du R
ose Mysteries

  Logan Du Rose

  About Hana - FREE HERE

  Hana Du Rose

  Du Rose Legacy

  The New Du Rose Matriarch

  One Heartbeat

  The Du Rose Prophecy

  Du Rose Sons

  Du Rose Family Ties

  The boxed set is available containing the first 4 novels HERE

  Novels for teens/young adults:

  Free from the Tracks -FREE HERE

  Sophia’s Dilemma

  A Trail of Lies – FREE to subscribers

  Gone Phishing

  UK based mystery/romances:

  Artifact

  Demons on Her Shoulder

  The Calculated Risk Series, based in UK

  The Actuary - FREE HERE

  The Actuary’s Wife

  The Actuary in Trouble

  New Zealand Soccer Referee Series

  All Saints

  Small Town New Zealand Romance Series

  Deleilah

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