by Grace York
Arson at the Art Gallery
Grace York
Copyright © 2018 by Grace York
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organisations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
For more information about the author, including other books in the series, please go to graceyorkauthor.com
Cover design by James, GoOnWrite.com
Edited by Phoenix Editing, phoenixeditingandproofreading.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Note from the Author
1
"It's this street here," Addison said, pointing wildly just as her daughter drove them past it.
"Can you tell me a little quicker next time?" said Olivia, pulling over to turn the fully-laden car around. "This one?"
"Yes." Addison checked the map on her phone again to be sure. It had been three months since she'd been here and bought the place, and she'd never been very good at directions anyway.
Olivia turned into Seaview Drive, and the beach house came quickly into view. "That's it!" Addison cried. She looked over to her daughter, who'd slowed the car and was craning her neck to see the building out of the front windscreen. "What do you think?"
"It looks old." Olivia parked the car in the driveway and they both got out.
"It is old. It was built in the nineteen-twenties. But it's beautiful, isn't it?"
Olivia raised her eyebrows. "I think we might have different perceptions of beauty, Mum."
Addison stood back to admire the house as Olivia started grabbing bags from the back of the Rav 4. It was rundown, sure, but the house was beautiful to her. And now it was home. "You've got the keys, I presume?" asked Olivia. She'd climbed onto the verandah and was waiting, arms laden with bags. Addison was struck again by how quickly her daughter was growing into a woman. Olivia was taller than her now, and her long dark hair was just like Addison's had been before she'd cut it short a few years ago.
"What's your rush?"
"We've been driving for two days, Mum. I stink. I need a shower. And food."
Addison smiled. Ever practical, was her daughter. Eighteen going on thirty, her father used to say. No he didn't. He said sixteen going on thirty. That's how old she was when he'd died.
Rob would have loved this place.
Addison shook thoughts of her late husband from her mind and unlocked the front door. It opened into a huge, empty, great room with a fireplace on one wall and windows everywhere. She could see the use for the windows, the fireplace not so much. They were in Queensland. It wasn't supposed to get cold enough for a fire up here.
There was ample space on one side of the great room for a large lounge area, and a dining space on the other. In the corner was a staircase leading to the first and second floors. As Addison recalled, there was a second staircase at the back of the house from the kitchen.
Olivia dumped the bags in the middle of the room and went off exploring. Addison had already been through the house twice last time she was here, and figured she had time for exploring later. She went back outside and stood on the verandah. It ran the entire length of the front of the house, and circled down the northern side and around the back as well. There was another one above her, attached to the first-floor bedrooms, while the bedrooms on the second floor had windows that all overlooked the view Addison smiled at now. The view that had made her buy this house on a whim three months ago.
Their new home was directly opposite one of the most beautiful sandy beaches Addison had ever seen. Her childhood memories of this beach were of its golden sand and sparkling blue water. She'd thought she'd romanticised it all these years – built it up in her head as something more beautiful than it actually was. But she hadn't. It was stunning.
"I can see why you like this place," said Olivia, putting her arm around Addison and leaning on the verandah railing. She tilted her head towards the water. "You going to go in?"
Addison turned to see Olivia in a swimsuit. She'd obviously chosen to rid herself of the travel stink in the ocean, rather than the shower.
"I'm more of a 'walk on the beach' type of person. You go ahead. Be careful out there." Her daughter had officially been an adult for three months now, but Addison would always worry. And even though the water looked calm, the ocean was not something you took for granted.
"I will." Olivia headed for the beach, then turned back to wave. "Go check out the backyard," she said, grinning. "There's a mango tree."
Addison smiled and watched her only daughter cross the road and walk down the track to the beach. Olivia turned back and yelled something Addison didn't quite catch.
"What?"
"They've got flags!"
"Great!" Addison gave her a thumbs up, and breathed a sigh of relief. The beach was patrolled. Of course it was, she realised. Getaway Bay was a tourist town, after all. People travelled miles for that beach. It's why she'd bought the beach house. She wanted to turn it into a bed and breakfast.
Addison pottered around for a while, checking all the nooks and crannies of the house as she waited for the removalist truck to show up. Yes, the house needed a lot of work, but most of it was cosmetic. She'd hired a local handyman to come and give her a quote on fixing anything too complicated to handle herself. Like the hot water system, for example. Holding her hand under the hot tap in the kitchen, Addison realised why Olivia had chosen the ocean over a shower.
"You're here!"
Addison turned in the direction of the voice to find her cousin, Layla, standing in the doorway with an enormous bunch of flowers in one hand, and a tray of coffee in the other. A paper bag dangled from the coffee hand.
A wide grin spread instantly across Addison's face as she rushed over to greet her favourite cousin. Layla was as colourful as ever, a bright floral dress setting off her long red hair. She was short in stature, but she made up for it and then some with her warm nature.
"Yes, we made it," said Addison. "Finally. Last time I drove that far I was a kid in the back seat, begging my parents to play Eye Spy."
"It's definitely quicker to fly." Layla handed the flowers over, and Addison searched the room for somewhere to put them, settling on the wide mantlepiece.
"Thanks for these. We'll have to wait for my stuff to arrive before we can get them into a vase. How are you?"
"Excited to have you here. Where's Olivia? I'm dying to meet her."
"She's freshening up out there," said Addison, pointing to the waves. "She shouldn't be too much longer. Let's sit outside and wait for her. What have you got there?"
"Coffee and scones from Hazel's. Best coffee in Getaway Bay. Hazel threw in three of her scones when she heard I was coming out to welcome you."
"That's lovely of her." Addison led the way back out onto the verandah, and they both lowered themselves to the steps. It was the only available seating until the truck arrived.<
br />
"You haven't tasted Hazel's scones."
"Oh. Good or bad?"
Layla screwed up her nose. "She lost her baker a month ago, and hasn't been able to get another one. She's struggling. Lucky she makes good coffee. Anyway, that's a long story for another time. I'm so excited you're here. It's been forever."
"I was here three months ago."
"Well, yes, but that was a flying visit. I still can't believe you saw this place and bought it the next day." Layla turned and surveyed the rundown building. "Are you sure you want to tackle something like this?"
"You sound like Olivia. I'm fifty-five, not seventy-five. There's plenty of life in me yet."
"Fair enough. I'm just glad to have you nearby again after all these years."
The cousins reminisced on the steps until Olivia came striding up the path and across the road at the exact same time the truck arrived.
"Finally, we'll get something to sit on." Addison quickly introduced Olivia and Layla, before going out to greet the truck driver, Jacko. They'd met in Sydney two days ago when he'd arrived with his two sons to load the truck. Jacko was one of the biggest guys Addison had ever seen, and covered in tattoos. He would've looked more at home as a nightclub bouncer, but he'd turned out to be one of the sweetest guys Addison had met. His sons were almost as big as their father, and just as lovely.
"You made it," Addison said as Jacko and the boys climbed out of the truck. "Good trip?"
"Always. I love the open road." Jacko shook her hand and looked up into the sky. "Few hours of daylight left yet. We'd better get cracking."
"You don't want to take a little break first?" Addison asked, before realising she had nothing to offer them.
"Nah. Been sitting in the cab all day. Need to get the circulation flowing. Come on, boys."
For the next three hours Jacko and his boys unloaded furniture and boxes while Addison and Olivia told them where to put it. Layla busied herself unpacking boxes in the kitchen, which was a great help. By the time the truck was empty and Jacko and the boys were on their way back to Sydney, Addison was ready for a cup of tea.
"Did you find the kettle?" she asked Layla, sinking into one of the chairs of her dining table, which fit perfectly in the beach house's large eat-in kitchen.
"I sure did. Cups and tea bags, too."
"You're a gem."
Layla smiled and put the kettle on. "So Olivia, what do you think of Getaway Bay?"
Olivia shrugged; she was still in her swimming costume, but had added a pair of cut-off denim shorts and a yellow tank top. Her long dark hair had made a wet patch down her back. "The beach is great. Less crowded than Bondi, too. And less posers."
"What about the house?" asked Addison.
"It's okay, I suppose. Can we get some food? I'm starving."
Addison figured 'okay I suppose' was the best she was going to get. Layla put a cup of tea in front of her, and Addison gripped it with both hands. "Is there somewhere in town we can go for dinner?" she asked Layla, then looked down at the state of her clothes. "Or maybe takeaway?"
"I was going to make you something and bring it over to heat up, but I ran out of time," said Layla, fishing in her handbag. "So I brought this." She handed over a pizza menu. "They deliver. Sorry, it was the best I could do."
"You've done plenty," said Addison, wrapping her cousin a hug. "Thanks for coming today. Oh, I almost forgot to ask – how is your dad?"
Layla's face dropped. "Not great, I'm afraid. But I'll tell you all about that tomorrow. I've got to run, Jenna's been home alone all afternoon. I hate to think what she's been up to."
"Jenna's here?" Addison held Layla at arm's length. "Why didn't you say?"
Layla laughed. "Didn't want to scare you off before you'd unpacked. See ya!"
"Who's Jenna?" asked Olivia, one eye on the pizza menu.
"Layla's younger sister. My other cousin."
"Oh. Why didn't she come over too?"
Addison tried to think of a way to explain Jenna, but she was too tired and hungry. "I don't think unpacking boxes is quite Jenna's style." She fished her mobile phone out of her back pocket. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's order."
2
Addison woke at six to sunlight streaming through the window. She'd forgotten how early the sun rose in Queensland. Curtains made their way to the top of her mental to-do list.
She lay in bed for a few minutes, stretching and enjoying the sun. She felt relaxed already. It was late January, so it was already hot at this time of the morning. But the good part about the weather up here was that it was consistent. Unlike Sydney, known for its wild weather fluctuations, here it was just hot all the time.
Addison's relaxation didn't last long.
A loud scream came from Olivia's bedroom. Addison jumped out of bed and raced down the hall, knowing anything that even had her daughter awake at this hour was cause for alarm.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Addison burst into Olivia's room to find her crouched on tiptoes in her bed, pressing herself as far into the wall as possible.
"What the heck is that?" Olivia yelled as she pointed across the room.
Addison followed her finger to the gecko glued to the opposite wall. She let out the breath she'd been holding and laughed. "It's just a gecko. Relax. He won't hurt you."
"Does he have to be in my room? While I'm trying to sleep? Nature is supposed to stay on the outside of the house."
Addison shrugged. "It's Queensland, honey. They have a lot of things with more legs than us here. You should be happy. He'll eat most of the other bugs."
Olivia climbed down from her bed, her expression now the more familiar one of teenage grumpiness.
Addison tried to distract her. "Come on. Let's go see if that mango tree has any ripe fruit we can eat for breakfast."
They both gave up on any more sleep and dressed quickly. Addison was first to the back door off the kitchen, and when she pulled it open she realised just how big her new mango tree was.
"I see a couple of ripe ones," Olivia said over her shoulder, pointing up into the tree.
Addison squinted. "Oh yeah. How are we going to get up there?"
Olivia sidled past her and went out into the yard. She was wearing the same shorts and tank top from yesterday.
"Don't you have any clean clothes?"
"Haven't unpacked the rest yet. These smell okay." Olivia continued off towards a shed at the bottom of the garden. She opened the shed door tentatively.
"Watch out for spiders," Addison called, then slapped her hat on her head and set off after her daughter.
"I'm used to spiders," Olivia replied. Before Addison reached the shed Olivia reappeared with a ladder. "Here you go."
"I'm not going up on that."
"Really? How do you think you're going to paint the house, Mum? Are you just going to do the bottom half of each wall?" Olivia took the ladder over to the tree and leaned it up against the trunk.
"Oh, very funny. There's a wall to lean the ladder against inside a house, Olivia. Out here there's…"
"The tree trunk?" Olivia tested the stability of the ladder by stepping on the first rung and wobbling.
"That doesn't look very safe, sweetheart. Why don't we forget the mangoes and go into town for breakfast? We need supplies anyway." Addison's heart leapt into her mouth for the second time that morning as Olivia began to climb.
"We can do that too. But what's the point of having a mango tree in your backyard if you can't eat the mangoes? Here, hold the ladder. I'll be fine."
Addison took hold and Olivia scuttled up the ladder and into the tree. She reached over and plucked the two ripest-looking mangoes, and then looked about.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't hold them and climb down at the same time."
"Oh, right." Addison took off her hat and held it out. "Drop them down, I'll catch them." Olivia dropped the mangoes, one at a time, and Addison caught them both in her hat. She put them on the ground and held the ladder while Oli
via climbed back down to safety.
"That makes me and nature one-all, I reckon," Olivia said with a grin.
They ate the mangoes on the back verandah, made a glorious mess, and Addison thoroughly enjoyed herself. It was good to see Olivia smile. She'd been through so much, losing her father at sixteen, her older brother moving away not long after, and then going through the stress of her end of year exams while her entire life was being packed up around her. She'd done well in her exams regardless, and was off to study forensic science at Griffith University in a couple of weeks' time. Addison hoped to spend as much time as possible before that watching her daughter smile.
After cleaning themselves up and a quick trip to the local supermarket for supplies, Addison and Olivia set to work making a list of everything that needed to be done around the beach house. It was a long list.
"When is your handyman supposed to get here?" Olivia asked, sticking her pencil behind her ear.
As if on cue, there was a knock at the front of the house. "Hello?" a voice called through the open doorway. "Mrs Lake?"
Addison and Olivia followed the voice and came upon a good-looking young man in a tool belt standing just outside the door. Addison turned to see her daughter blush and quickly take off up the stairs. He must be more than just good-looking.
"Hi," said Addison, holding out a hand for the young man to shake. "You must be Jason. I'm Mrs Lake. You can call me Addison. That flash you just saw was my daughter, Olivia. I'm sure she'll be back down soon enough. Come in, please."
Jason kicked his boots off outside and then crossed the threshold. He was tall, with sandy blond hair, and had muscles befitting a young handyman. There wasn't a tattoo in sight, but otherwise Jason reminded Addison of a young Jacko.
