Deleilah

by Bowes, K T

  Chapter 32

  Family Divisions

  Vaughan crawled into Leilah’s bed when she refused to get into his; the photos of his wife seeming to watch her every move. He held her all night, waking her so many times she wondered if she’d be able to sit down at the lawyer’s office when he’d finished satisfying them both. “My walk of shame will be like a bow-legged cowboy impression,” she murmured in the pre-dawn haze and Vaughan sighed with contentment.

  “Didn’t notice you complaining.” He reached up and fondled a nipple between finger and thumb and Leilah crossed her legs to hold back the moan of yearning in her gut.

  “You’re bad for me,” she groaned, giving into his charms again and revelling in every touch of his lips and fingers. Her phone rang as she escaped to the bathroom and Leilah snatched it from the bedside table, frowning as the sound ceased after two rings.

  “Reception’s crap up here,” Vaughan sighed, snuggling back into the covers.

  Leilah hunted in her jeans pocket for the spare sim card and put it into the phone in the bathroom, waiting while it sent her loud texts detailing a complimentary credit balance and extra, which Tane must have added. Leilah texted Derek’s cell phone with her new number and rang Seline’s from memory, hoping she wouldn’t rant about Michael.

  “Where have you been?” her daughter scolded. “I’ve been worried sick.”

  “I told you I was fine,” Leilah said, irritation burgeoning.

  “But I’ve been ringing and texting you!” Seline insisted. “Why didn’t you call back?”

  “I am calling back!” Leilah spat. “But if it’s more rubbish about Michael, I don’t care, Seline. He’s not my problem anymore. How can I make you understand that?”

  “I didn’t know you could be so cold! You’re being such a bitch!” Seline’s words felt like a slap to the face and Leilah stumbled backwards.

  “I can’t do this,” she gasped, clutching her stomach. The emotional pain radiated as a physical reaction and she pressed her fingers over her mouth, afraid she might vomit. The phone clattered to the floor and Leilah crouched next to the bath, her daughter’s cruelty as a knife wound in her flesh.

  “Mum! Mum!” Seline’s voice sounded tinny, echoing against the floorboards. Leilah hugged her naked body and tears doused her breasts and knees. She didn’t hear the bathroom door open or see Vaughan press the button to disconnect the call, but she felt his arms pulling her up and the scratchiness of his jeans against her stomach.

  “It’s ok,” he soothed. “It’s ok.”

  He led her back to bed and held her while she cried. Her lips formed the words to tell him the truth about Seline but she couldn’t release the sounds, knowing he’d hate her from the bottom of his heart for her foolishness. Tane knowing seemed hard enough to bear. An image of Dante’s face floated across her inner vision, younger and less worldly wise. He held her hand as the labour pains began and his blue eyes shone brightly in his terrified face. “What will we do, Leilah? What will we do?”

  Her phone rang numerous times in the bathroom, ceasing for a few moments before beginning again. Vaughan got up to take his antibiotics and fetch tea for Leilah and returned with the device in his hand. “There’s two different numbers ringing you,” he said, swallowing as his eyes communicated anxiety. “I don’t know whether to answer or not.”

  Leilah took the phone with a hitching chest and looked through the list of missed calls. Seline’s were interspersed with another number. “I haven’t transferred anything over yet,” she said, her throat giving an involuntary hiccough. “I don’t know who it is.”

  “Want me to ring them?” Vaughan offered and Leilah chewed her lip.

  “It might be Michael,” she admitted. “He’s not very happy with me.”

  Vaughan held his hand out for the phone and sat on the bed to call back the second number. Even with the phone against his ear, Leilah recognised Derek shouting down it. She shook her head and grabbed it from Vaughan, answering with a single word. “What?”

  “You texted me!” he bit. “Daft girl!”

  “You’re not ringing from your phone.” Leilah sounded dubious and Derek conceded defeat.

  “Sorry. I just picked up the wife’s. Doesn’t matter, does it? I can’t read a number on the screen and dial it at the same time; it’s not possible.”

  Leilah rolled her eyes. “You could’ve hit ‘reply’ or ‘call’. Any of those would do.”

  “Oh.” Derek sounded crestfallen. “I’m not good with this new fangle dangle stuff. Be at Lloyd Hinkley’s by lunchtime and sign everything there. He knows what to do.”

  “Is that midday or one o’clock?” Leilah asked. She grabbed Vaughan’s wrist and pulled his watch towards her. He stretched out on the bed and rubbed at a spot above the staples, wrinkling his nose in pain.

  “Just lunchtime!” Derek grumbled. “Whatever that is down there.”

  “I’ll be there,” Leilah promised.

  Vaughan ran a lazy finger up Leilah’s spine as she rang off, tangling his fingers in her long dark hair and sighing. “What are you up to now, Deleilah Dereham?”

  “I have no idea,” she admitted, chewing the inside of her lip. “Probably making a bigger mess than the one I’m already in.”

  “As long as you include me in your mess, I don’t care.” Vaughan tilted his head and gave her a wistful smile.

  “Have you got somewhere to be?” Leilah swallowed and sought a distraction for her woes, snatching up the phone and turning it off when Seline’s number flashed on screen again.

  “Nowhere special.” Vaughan spoke the words and Leilah watched his full lips caress them, his pink tongue licking the corner of his mouth in a nervous tick. She reached for his unbuttoned jeans and drew them down, finding only flesh beneath. The soft skin over his hip tasted salty as she bent and licked, hearing his hiss of anticipation as she tugged to release him from the fabric.

  “I’ve got three hours,” she breathed, allowing her warm exhale to tantalise his flesh. “And I need to keep busy.”

  Chapter 33

  A Done Deal

  Lloyd Hinkley was just as Leilah remembered, small, austere but with a twinkle in his eye. She hadn’t recalled him by name but on sight; she knew the round spectacles and tufts of brown hair which stuck out at right angles from his head. One of Hector’s drinking buddies, he held out a wrinkled hand to her. “Ah, lovely to meet up with Hector’s girl again.” His hooded eyes smiled genuine pleasure and Leilah relaxed. “It hasn’t seemed the same at the pub on a Friday night without him.”

  Leilah winced. Hector’s Friday nights were her opportunity to roam free. She’d conceived Seline on a Friday night. She bit her lip and kept her mouth closed and her face suitably demure. Lloyd indicated a seat on the other side of his huge desk. “Derek’s couriered everything through,” he said, sifting through the paperwork in front of him. “What would you like to deal with first? Aloadae or Hector’s place?”

  “Aloadae.” Leilah’s answer sounded clear and firm. “Let me get rid of the old before I bring in the new.”

  “Very good, very good,” Lloyd said, his arthritic hand pushing papers aside. For the next half an hour he explained things to her which Leilah would never remember. She wrote her name countless times and followed the old man into another room where a computer sat on a younger man’s desk. They spoke for a moment, Lloyd made a call and the young man punched letters and numbers into the keyboard. When he swivelled the screen around for Leilah to view, she gasped at the amount sitting in her current account, not comprehending what it was at first glance. Lloyd looked to her for confirmation and rang off when Leilah gave a shaky nod.

  Lloyd dealt with the conveyancing of the house next, speaking to a colleague in Southland. He produced signed documents from the bottom of the pile of papers and tapped a line marked with a pen-drawn cross. “Sign there,” he said, dropping a pen onto the line. Leilah added her full name, Deleilah Jane Hanover, resenting the last name and determine
d to erase it forever after this final signature. The Hanover moniker seemed to sully her new start and a sickening chill crawled up her spine in foreboding.

  She used the computer to transfer funds out of her account and into that of the Southland lawyer’s and the legal assistant logged her out of the bank portal. Lloyd held out his hand to her and smiled. “Congratulations, Deleilah,” he said. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you. I’m glad you’re back.”

  Leilah shook his hand and glanced at the assistant with an anxious look on her face. Lloyd cocked his head. “We’re a legal firm, Deleilah. Nobody will hear anything from us.” He slipped his spectacles down his nose and leaned towards her, his tone confidential. “Hector Dereham was one of my dearest friends. You come back here if you need help with anything.”

  Leilah nodded and left before his sincerity released the bout of weeping which lurked beneath the surface. She clattered out onto the pavement feeling oddly numb and walked towards the centre of town without purpose.

  Mari’s cafe buzzed with the lunchtime rush which seemed to begin at ten thirty and finish around three o’clock. Derek was right; lunchtime was a huge block in the centre of the day and Leilah smirked at his inability to pinpoint it. She’d aimed for twelve to arrive at Hinkley’s and still felt late. Her smart grey suit and high-heeled shoes singled her out amidst the locals and a hush fell over the room as she entered. Leilah ignored the bystanders and gawkers and headed straight through to the kitchen. Mari sang to herself over a stack of sandwiches as she buttered bread and added fillings.

  “I’m sorry,” Leilah began, chewing her lip in the doorway as she observed the old woman. “I’ve made a mess of things and I don’t want to stay dirty at you.”

  Mari’s face crumpled and a tear rolled down her hollow cheek. “I screwed up,” she sniffed. “T’is none of my business.” She raised her head and her rheumy eyes looked swollen and red. “I didn’t sleep last night worrying about ya. I never knew they locked you up, girl. It’s hurt my poor heart.”

  Leilah took a step back, wanting to make this complicated relationship right but dreading the pain it could wreak in her life. Mari raised a hand in placation, sensing Leilah’s fear. “Don’t go, girl. Just give a silly old woman a hug and let her go back to lovin’ ya like she wants to.”

  Relieved, Leilah pitched forward and embraced the slender frame, getting butter and grated cheese on her expensive jacket. Ted poked his head through the door and burbled something unintelligible and Mari swore at him.

  “Mari!” Leilah let her go in shock. “I didn’t think you’d know words like that!”

  Mari snorted. “Well, ‘im owns this place but makes me run it. Then ‘im sits in there all day and bosses me around. Old fool.”

  “I figured you’d be married by now,” Leilah joked, leaning back against the sink. “He’s fancied you as long as I can remember.”

  “Na.” Mari shook her head and her face drooped with sadness. “Only one man for me and it’s in the past.”

  Leilah frowned. She almost asked but stopped herself, figuring much could have happened in the last twenty years. “Do you know any builders?” she asked, inspecting her nails and noticing chips in the polish.

  “Claus,” Mari replied, her tone definite. “Vaughan having work done?”

  Leilah studied the old woman, revelation on the tip of her tongue and Mari stopped her bread cutting and looked at her. Leilah swallowed. “Seeing as you’ve kept my other secret for so long, there’s something else I’d like to tell you. But it’s also a secret and Tane will hear it from me.”

  Mari laid the knife on the table and waited, her face hovering between pleasure and dread. Leilah fixed a blank expression on her face but she needn’t have worried. “I bought Hector’s old place today,” she said, keeping her voice level.

  Mari clapped both hands over her eyes and dipped forward, the front of her knitted hat brushing the sticky top of an open mayonnaise jar. “I’m so glad,” she hissed, moving her hands from her eyes to her mouth to keep the emotion inside. “Oh, I hoped and prayed and it’s come true.” She straightened herself as much as she ever could and tears rolled down her cheeks; tears of happiness. “Your pa will be celebrating in heaven right now!” she declared and Leilah smiled, hoping it was true.

  Chapter 34

  Out With the Old

  The next few days involved taking care of Vaughan’s wounds and working with Hinga. The mare grew calmer and allowed Leilah to have more contact, hooking on with ease during lunge sessions and growing healthier through good feed and company.

  “Just finish her front hooves and then give up for today.” Vaughan watched over the fence as Leilah bent double, balancing Hinga’s foreleg between her knees. Both woman and mare exhibited huge trust in the compromising position and Hinga kept turning her head to touch Leilah’s back with her nose.

  “Nearly done, girl.” Leilah’s breath came in heaves with the exertion of rasping the fibrous hoof into a decent shape and the mare snorted out warm air. “My back is killing me,” Leilah groaned, letting go of the upturned hoof and standing up straight as the hairy leg uncurled and reached for the ground. Hinga nuzzled Leilah’s shirt and rubbed her giant forehead on her hip.

  “Here.” Vaughan handed a tub of paste over the fence and waggled a paintbrush in his other hand. “Lather that onto her hooves and then seal it with tar.”

  “What is it?” Leilah took the offering, her fingers brushing Vaughan’s in the action. She pursed her lips and resisted the electrical connection, refusing to catch his eye.

  “Copper sulfate mixed with a little water to make a paste. Then brush tar over the top to seal it from mud and bacteria.” He smiled with knowing and Leilah heard it in his tone. “An old horseman’s trick.”

  Sighing, Leilah doused the brush and spread the paste over Hinga’s cracked hooves. The mare stood still and watched but her companion pushed in to investigate, her face next to Leilah’s and her tongue scenting the air. “Goodness, you’re so nosey!” Leilah went back to the fence and swapped the tub of paste for a tin of tar and another brush, with bristles fused together and sticking out at odd angles.

  “Will she let you do the back feet?” Vaughan asked, eyeing the mare with a frown. “At least it might stop them cracking more before you rasp them.”

  “I dunno.” Leilah watched the rear hooves stamping against flies and shook her head. “Today’s gone well. I don’t want to mess it all up for the sake of rushing her.”

  “True.” Vaughan watched as Leilah used the gate to exit, pushing the lid onto the tar. Corey puttered around in the tack room and Leilah sensed the awkwardness born of being under a microscope, understanding why Vaughan didn’t reach for her.

  “Sit on the deck with me for a while?” he asked, calling over his shoulder as he put the hoof rasp and the treatments away.

  Corey made kissing sounds on his arm and Leilah heard a grunt as Vaughan shoved him in the darkness of the tack room. “Hey, Leilah.” Corey pushed his face round the door, a length of bridle in one hand and a yellow sponge in the other. Leilah smelled the saddle soap and a sense of her father overwhelmed her. When she didn’t answer, he pushed on. “This guy’s been looking for you in town. Mari said he’ll be at the cafe for afternoon tea.”

  Leilah saw Vaughan’s body stiffen and his eyes were dark and foreboding as he stopped and studied her face. She kept her tone neutral and nodded. “Ah yep. I know who that is. What time’s afternoon tea around here?”

  Corey shrugged. “Any time between lunch and dinner,” he replied and went back to soaping the brow band in his fingers.

  “Helpful.” Leilah sighed and brushed dust from her jeans. Vaughan handed her the buckets and she went back into the pen and fed the mares. She knew he wanted to ask but wouldn’t and it pained her. Their relationship felt tenuous, founded on physical attraction left over from a childhood crush and sex left Leilah feeling ragged and vulnerable. Vaughan said little outside of the bedroom and it frightene
d her, fearful of filling a physical need in him which possessed no other function.

  The mares finished vacuuming up the grain and Leilah swilled out the buckets and hung them up. Corey cleaned the dismantled bridle and raised an eyebrow at her. “Hope you know what you’re getting into.” His comment startled her, demonstrating a wise head on young shoulders.

  “Do we ever?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light.

  “Don’t hurt him.” Corey’s tone contained warning and Leilah’s face darkened. “I mean it.” Corey buckled the throat lash into place and began rubbing saddle soap into the cheek piece of the bridle. His narrowed eyes carried unspoken threat and Leilah blanched.

  “I don’t intend to hurt or be hurt,” she snapped and left the tack room, her emotions rattled and upset.

  Vaughan handed her iced water and settled into a battered armchair on the deck. Leilah found it hard to sit, leaning over the balustrade and sipping the liquid. “What’s up?” Vaughan asked and she sighed.

  “What is this?” she asked, waving her hand to encompass the distance between them. “Am I a temporary distraction for you or what?”

  Vaughan frowned, his eyebrows knitting into a dark line. He opened his mouth and closed it again. “What is it for you?” he asked, answering with a question Leilah had no reply for.

  She shook her head in exasperation and left her drink on the deck, snatching the ute keys from her pocket and striding out onto the driveway. Dust puffed up behind the ute’s wheels and left a long cloud following her along the lane to the main road. “What did you expect?” she berated herself. “If you don’t know; how can you expect him to?”