by Iris Blobel
Darren’s eyes shot open. He obviously hadn't expected that.
“And, I’ll fight, not only for Mia, but also for Clara,” Zach continued.
Well, that sealed the lid. Darren seemed to not only be lost for words. No, he was utterly speechless. Not a sound. And Zach actually wondered whether he should check for a pulse.
But finally he did utter a few words. “Who did you say you are?”
Chapter Five
There were about a thousand answers going through Zach’s mind, from your worst nightmare to the man who was next to your ex-wife’s bedside when she died or even your daughter’s babysitter.
But he didn’t get the chance to say anything.
A boy on a bike stopped in front of them at the same time as Mia came back outside. Zach clenched his mouth tight. Just what he needed. He muttered some obscenities under his breath, but smiled at the young boy.
“You must be Josh.”
The young fella nodded while taking his helmet off. “Yes.” Then he turned to Mia. “Hi, Mia!”
Zach noticed how Darren’s face went pale. Curiosity spread across the man’s face. And something else. Zach wasn’t sure what exactly. After all, this was the first time he'd stood face-to-face with his daughter. Pride? Worry? He met Darren’s gaze spot on that made it very clear not to say a word to Mia.
Then he turned to the teenagers. “You guys go inside already. I’ll be there in a tick.” He looked after them until he knew they were well and truly inside the house. This was not going well. Not at all. So much for agreeing to something that he shouldn’t have. It always bit you in the butt straight away. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.
Feeling out of his league here, Zach knew he needed to be inside the house as soon as possible. Of course, he trusted Mia. Probably trusted her more than he would actually admit, but he also knew he couldn’t rush Darren off in a hurry. The last thing he wanted was to tick this guy off and blurt out details little minds were not ready to hear. Or shouldn’t hear at all. At least for the moment.
“Okay,” Zach said hesitantly, wanting to make sure he got his words right. “This is Mia. She doesn’t know. As in, she doesn’t know about you. And in my opinion, it’s up to Sophie to tell her.”
Darren nodded.
“There are a couple of issues here,” Zach continued. He let out a mighty breath. “Soph’s pregnant. The last thing we want is for her to hype up over this and risk the baby. Agreed?”
Darren nodded again.
Hands on hips now, Zach said, “How about you give me your number, and I’ll contact Mark to make a decision how to proceed. Proceed in the sense of whether we’ll tell Sophie after their return on Monday, or she might give you a call earlier.”
Darren pondered on that and then slowly nodded for the third time. “Agreed.” He pulled out his wallet to get a business card and as he did he asked, “Any chance to talk to Mia.”
“Nope.”
“How do you know Clara?” he suddenly asked.
“You might wanna put two and two together.” Zach pointed at Sophie’s house across the road. “This is Sophie’s house. I live here.”
“Neighbours?”
“Yup.”
“Not a man of many words.”
“Nope.”
Darren's eyes wandered towards Zach’s house. Zach assumed that the urge to talk to Mia must’ve been eating him up. But why after all these years? Why now? All these years he had not made one small effort to contact Mia. Although not all that sure about the exact details, Zach had always had the idea that Darren had been reliable with his payments for Mia’s education. Sometimes even that little bit more for uniform, camps or excursions. Never a word, though. It bugged him. It bugged him big time, and there was nothing more at the moment he wanted to know more than why now? Trying to focus, he heard noises from inside the house.
“Mate, I’ve gotta go inside. I trust Mia with my life, but I don’t trust hormones. Got that?”
A smile spread across the guy’s face. “I'll hear from you?”
It was Zach’s turn to nod as he lifted the business card in a way that said I’ve got your number. Then he left Darren standing and went into the house. He tried to relax and settle his inner emotions to concentrate on the next issue – two teenagers in his lounge room. He cursed and walked to the kitchen to grab a cool drink before joining the kids.
“Who was that?” Mia asked.
Zach shrugged. “Some guy wanting to talk to Soph.” Sick to his stomach, he lied to Mia. “So,” he tried to change the subject. “You must be the infamous Josh.”
“Zaaach!”
He laughed as he winked at Josh. “I need to do make a quick phone call. You kids behave. All right?”
As he walked down the hall to his bedroom he thought of Clara. Mrs. ex-Schuster. She’d moved across the road about ten years earlier. He had been an escort in Sydney. Still was. It gave him a reasonably good living and anonymity in Hobart. He’d been out with Clara a couple of times, so when she'd wanted to start a new life on the small island at the very southern tip of Australia, she nearly fainted when she’d spotted him on the other side of the road. It still made him smile thinking about her reaction. She'd just stood there and stared. He had gone over and gently nudged her back into the house. It had taken coffee to make her speak again, though, but it had been like an icebreaker and they had become very good friends.
Zach threw himself on his bed and dialled Mark’s number. As he counted the rings he placed his hand over his eyes. How much he wished he didn’t have to do this.
“Mate, this better be good,” Mark answered.
Zach choked back a chuckle. No pleasantries, but he'd expected that. “We’ve had a visitor here today.”
“Who?”
“Darren Schuster.”
Zach thought he had done his fair share of cursing that day, but Mark really topped the list.
****
Mia’s whole body tingled when Josh sat next to her. There was no doubt she was aware something was wrong with Zach. He wouldn’t have left them alone in the lounge room if it hadn’t been important or urgent. Thoughts ran wild, trying to connect the strange man who was looking for Sophie with Zach’s unusual behaviour. Especially after their discussion that afternoon, about Josh and her staying within his sight.
With her mind so occupied, she didn’t even notice Josh approach until she felt his warm hand on her leg. She flinched slightly.
“What are you doing?”
He shrugged. “Don’t you like it?”
“I… I–” she muttered, not being able to think clearly. She pushed his hand away and stood. “No, I don’t.” That wasn't the truth, though. She had liked it. “I’m sorry, Josh. But something’s completely wrong here.”
Josh stood as well. “Want me to go?”
Mia fiddled with her fingers, lacing and unlacing them. Her gaze darted around the room not knowing how to handle the situation. There was so much going on inside, including frustration that Zach had been able to ruin her time with Josh. But why? She was beyond curios as to what had happened and what was going on in the bedroom. Who was Zach talking to? And she felt embarrassed that the hottest guy in school had had his hand on her lap, and she had pushed him away. Hearing his words, but not listening to any, Mia startled at his unexpected touch on her face. She looked straight into his beautiful eyes. But when he tried to kiss her, she stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Are you okay?” he asked, and she thought she’d heard concern in his voice.
Mia turned and looked towards the door. “I’m not sure.”
“Did you get into trouble?”
She shook her head. “I really have no idea what’s going on. The man before–“
His hand touched her arm. “Mia?” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I’d better go.” And with that he walked to the door, picked up his helmet, and left.
Tears burned behind her eyes, and she su
ddenly felt lost and alone. Eventually, what seemed like an eternity, she moved and was met halfway down the hall by Zach, who she assumed had heard the door. Sobbing, she threw herself into his arms.
“Hey, pumpkin. What happened?”
Mia shook her head. “I’ve been such an idiot. Complete and utterly stupid.” Then she moved her head to look up at him, “But I was so worried about that man and you leaving us alone, I couldn’t think of anything else.”
“Hush, baby.” And he pulled her back in tight until her breathing became steadier.
It would take her a while to sort things in her head. To work out what had happened and, at the same time, understand. But she couldn’t. How could she understand? All she had wanted for weeks was to spend some time with Josh outside of school, and when he had sat there next to her, she’d more or less wanted him to leave. How was that possible? All she had been able to think about was Zach being in the other room. All she had thought about was that something had gone wrong. The man must’ve told Zach something that had brought chaos to her day. Who was the man? What was so important that Zach had left her alone with Josh?
Sophie!
Chapter Six
Zach was having a very vivid dream in which he was about to kiss Natasha Peterson. His hands were cupping her face, his thumb tracing her jaw. He was gently touching her flawless skin, when a persistent voice called his name. Zach. Zach! Not now, he thought, savouring the moment, but the voice kept on calling him. Oh, good grief. He opened one eye and saw Sophie standing above him. Quickly, he shut his eye again and tried to refocus on Natasha’s face.
“For crying out loud, Zach, will you just wake up!”
He made another effort to open his eyes, when he realised that Sophie was supposed to be two hundred kilometres north of Hobart in Launceston. His eyes flew open, but he had no chance to say a word.
“There’s no way, this guy is having Mia. She’s mine. Only mine.”
Zach turned and tried to focus on the digital alarm clock. Two o’clock in the middle of the night!
“Zach! Are you listening to me?”
He tried to concentrate, to figure out what was going on. One minute his hands were over Natasha’s naked body, feeling every inch, enjoying her nearness, and next, Sophie was in front of him saying words, but not making sense. It was like going from a daydream to a nightmare.
Sophie folded her arms and waited. He opened his mouth, but when she arched a brow, nodding towards his lower body, he shut his mouth again. Slowly, he placed a pillow on his legs to cover up the effects of his nice dream.
“Give me a minute,” he murmured, rubbing his scruffy jaw.
She inhaled deeply before she slumped onto the bed and said quietly, “What does he want?”
“Where’s Mark?”
“Parking the car.”
Zach rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his hands and tried to put two and two together. It was in the middle of the night, and Sophie was sitting on his bed.
“What did Mark tell you?” he asked, his voice still hoarse from sleep.
She merely shrugged. “Nothing much. Darren Schuster gave you a visit this afternoon.”
He shook his head. “And that makes you come all the way back to Hobart in the middle of the night. Good grief, Soph, you’re about to drop a baby. You’re in no position to do stunts like that.”
Just one wee look into her eyes, and it was obvious she didn’t like what he had said. Even though she glared at him, Zach noticed her effort to hold back the tears. He pulled her closer, and as he took her into his arms, she began sobbing.
“Cupcake, shh… Hey, you need to relax.” His hands moved up and down her back to calm her. “I’m pretty sure Mark would’ve told you that this guy has no rights when it comes to Mia. You know that, right?”
“I told her.” Mark joined them in the room. “It’s been madness to come home in the middle of the night, but there’s no reasoning with her.”
Zach sighed. “I’ve got his number. He’s here in Hobart. Give him a call in the morning, but, for Pete’s sake, try to have a sleep first.”
“No!”
“Yes! And I can go back to my dreams.”
Sophie choked back a laugh as she slapped his chest. “You’re terrible.” Her gaze moved over to Mark. “You’re sure there’s nothing else he said?”
Mark, who casually leaned against the doorjamb, crossed his arms over his broad chest. “You know everything I know.”
“He came, asked whether you’re home. I said no. He then introduced himself. He handed me his card, and I promised him you’d get in touch with him,” Zach said.
“Nothing else?”
“Nope.”
“Where was Mia?”
Zach avoided her gaze. It was in the middle of the night. With his dream still obvious between his thighs, he had no idea how to approach this question. The initial thought he’d had that afternoon was to slam his fist into Darren’s face. For Clara. And for Mia. And probably a third one for himself. It wouldn’t have changed much, and one of the few things his father had instilled in him was that violence didn’t solve anything. He was still pondering the question as he finally returned her gaze. Two o’clock in the morning. Good grief! Did anybody think clearly at this time of the night? He wondered how easy it was for a woman to lose a child. How important was it that Darren had seen Mia? How much should he tell her?
“She was in the house,” he finally replied.
Sophie let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.” She looked over to Mark and for the first time that night a little smile appeared on her face. “Okay, let’s get some sleep. I’ll just check on Mia.”
She left the room, and Zach threw himself back onto the pillow, covering his face with his hands. But he quickly noticed he wasn’t alone. He moved his hands aside and stared at Mark.
“Now what?”
“You have two minutes to tell me about Mia.”
“Tell you what?”
Mark arched an eyebrow. “Let’s try everything!” Hands on hips, he asked. “Did he see Mia or vice versa?”
He had promised Mia to cut back on his cursing and was quite pleased she wasn’t around. It would have cost him half the house, the way he was going that day.
“Yes and yes.”
Mark persisted. “More!”
“Yes, Mia was here when he came over. No, she has no idea who he is. Yes, he figured out who she was when her friend came over and called her by her name.”
“Friend?”
“Buzz off. It’s in the middle of the night.”
“Friend?”
“That’s for her to tell you. Not me.”
Mark turned and muttered something Zach didn’t hear, but it sounded like it would fill the cursing jar as well.
At last, he closed his eyes and tried to picture Natasha again, but to no avail. His head was spinning with the information given to and taken from him, until he found sleep a short while later.
****
Mia’s whole body was tense from trying to listen to and understand what everyone was saying. She thought she was dreaming when she had heard Sophie’s voice, but when she got out of bed and stepped closer, she’d noticed that their words sounded frustrated and responses were tense. Straining her ears, she wasn’t certain what the conversation was about. She recognised her name a couple of times. With a frown, she wondered whether it was about the man who had been at the house that afternoon. It had to be, since Zach had been odd for the rest of the day. Odd was an understatement. He had been like a different person. Initially she’d been worried about Sophie, but he quickly had assured her that everything was okay with her sister. He even pinkie-swore on it, which Mia knew meant he was a hundred and ten per cent truthful about it. But when her questions steered towards the strange man, he had just shrugged her off, saying he didn’t know him either, but had only taken a number for Sophie.
Mia knew he’d lied and it hurt big time. He had never done that before. Or had he?
She loved Zach, more so because he had always been there for her, especially when she'd needed to talk. Not baby talk, or child-friendly talk. No, Zach had always been honest with her, up until that day. So, as she put one and one together, she realised this guy must have been bad news. Big time. Beyond big time. Zach’s lie and Sophie coming home in the middle of the night – at nine months pregnant! — meant bad news for sure.
Then there had been the moment he’d hardly listened to her as she had opened her heart and told him about Josh. Instead of flying off the handle when hearing about Josh’s attempt to kiss her, he'd muttered something about hormones and boys, and no wonder, considering how pretty she was. Say what? Just a few weeks ago, a few boys had whistled after her when they'd strolled along the Salamanca Markets, and Zach had nearly had a fit making sure the guys had known he was her protector. So embarrassing, but in a very nice way. So, tonight had been completely out of character.
As she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, she heard somebody’s step on the floor. Mia quickly rushed back into her room and jumped into her bed, pulling the duvet right up. Snuggling into the new sheets, which at that moment felt so comforting, she tried to slow her breathing. She looked around into the dark, still able to see the outline of the furniture. It was a plain room with the bed, a desk and a chest of drawers, but Zach had made a big effort to make it as girlie as possible for her, but right now it felt foreign. The door opened slowly, and even with her eyes closed, she could sense the dim light of the hallway falling into her room. Trying hard to steady her breathing, she felt a surge of emotions when Sophie softly kissed her on her forehead. Emotions like worry, but feeling safe at the same time now that her sister was here. Emotions like curiosity, but not wanting to know, because she was too scared she wouldn’t like what she’d find out. Emotions like anxiety — the not knowing part! As well as not knowing whether she even wanted to know.
