by Iris Blobel
Chapter Seven
Zach knocked on Mia’s door. Initially gently then a wee bit harder when he heard no response.
“Mi?”
Nothing.
“Miaaa?”
“Whaaat?”
If he hadn't had that massive ache behind his eyes from the lack of sleep he would have probably laughed at her response. But with a tense gut as well, he wasn’t able to curve his lips into even the slightest smile.
“Breakfast is over at forty-six. Soph and Mark are home.”
Mia opened the door with such force he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Glaring at her he said, “Morning, pumpkin.”
But she went right past him and into the bathroom. Inhaling deeply, he followed and stood in front of her after only a few steps.
“Rewind two minutes, young lass. I say Morning, you reply, Good Morning. What happened?”
With an intensity only a teenager could come up with, she stared at her feet, avoiding his gaze. Something that didn’t make sense nagged at the back of his mind. Something about that didn't add up. But he couldn’t really figure it out. It was there. Somewhere.
“Mi?” He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her into an embrace. “Tell me, pumpkin.”
As soon as the words were spoken she pressed her face into his chest. The waves of sobs shook her small body, and he placed a kiss on her forehead as he waited for her to calm herself enough to speak.
“Let’s have this breakfast, and hopefully all will be sorted, okay?”
And then it clicked. Breakfast. Mia had not questioned the fact that he'd said Sophie and Mark had come home the previous night.
“You know about Sophie and Mark being home?”
She was flustered. It was obvious she knew, but didn’t want to go into details.
“The car’s in the driveway.”
He arched a challenging brow at her. “And it wasn’t the first thing to pop up in your head to ask why?”
A tear rolled down her cheek and he softened towards her, but her reply cut right to his gut.
“I’m too worried I won’t like the answer.”
Pulling her into his arms again, he placed another kiss on her forehead. “All’s okay. There’s no reason to be worried, pumpkin. Go, get ready, and let’s have brekkie.”
She nodded, but didn’t move.
“Mi?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re not moving.”
“I think I’m worried,” she whispered into his chest.
Zach pushed her slightly away from him and took her face in his hands. “There’s no need to.” His voice nearly cracked he was so tense and nervous, trying to get the words right. “Sophie loves you. Mark loves as well. And it goes without saying you’re my favourite girl, right?”
Her reply was interrupted by a hiccup. So she simply nodded. Then she slowly looked up at him and met his gaze. “I think I just ruined everything. Especially with Josh.”
With a wink he said, “He’s a man and will come back. Trust me. The way he looked at you, I have no doubts.”
With a slap on his chest she moved past him and into the bathroom. Once the door was shut he leaned against the wall, bending over with his hands against his knees. This was going to be one bad day. And he wasn’t sure whether he should be part of it or not.
Suddenly the bathroom door opened, and for the second time that morning he felt his heart skip a beat.
“Soph didn’t lose the baby, did she?” Mia asked, her face pale and her eyes wide with concern.
“Nope. I told you there’s nothing to be worried about,” was all he was able to say. “She’s right.” Zach straightened and rubbed his face. “If you throw open the door like that again–”
But Mia didn’t listen and instead slammed the door shut from inside the bathroom.
“That’s why I don’t have kids,” he muttered.
“I heard that,” Mia shouted from the other side of the door, and he shook his head laughing.
****
Half an hour later, Mia sat across the table from Sophie and Mark, having breakfast at number forty-six. Even the familiar kitchen didn’t ease the unrest within Mia. She looked around. Sophie had loved the kitchen from the very first moment she had stepped into it and not much had changed since. The cupboards had a pine timber look, and the table and chairs near the bay window seemed to be made of the same material. The cooking area had a very old-fashioned stove with pots and pans hanging on hooks from the ceiling.
The air was tense like the calm before the storm. Nobody really ate, but Mia noticed her sister was nervously fiddling with something in her hands.
Then Sophie took a deep breath. “Zach told me you had a friend over yesterday.”
Taken aback by the opening of this conversation, Mia just stared at her sister.
“A boy friend,” Sophie added.
Mia shot Zach a look to let him know how mad she was. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
But Zach just held up his arms in defence. For a moment Mia wondered whether he hadn’t expected that line of conversation, either. He seemed too gobsmacked to add anything.
“I didn’t mean boyfriend, but your male friend,” Sophie explained.
“Josh?”
Sophie took a bite of her toast and nodded. “Is that his name?”
Or at least that was what Mia thought her sister had said. “Yes.” Eyes wide open, she inquired again. “Josh? You wanna know about Josh?” She stared at Zach as to say What have you told her?
Zach shrugged.
Without moving her head, Mia's eyes darted to Mark. But he avoided her. She suddenly leaned back into her chair, crossed her arms, and exhaled. “Really? You’ve come home in the middle of the night to ask about Josh?”
She noticed Zach and Mark focusing on Sophie. It was obvious they wanted to know as well.
“What? Can’t I know?” Sophie reached for her cup of tea, but frowned when she found it empty. “I feel like I’m missing something here, Mia.”
“You’re missing something?” Mia exclaimed. “Hey, wanna sit on my chair for a minute or two. You’d be surprised how much of a hole I’m missing here.”
“Sweetie, I’m sorry.” Sophie looked at Mark and slowly back to Mia. “We had a bit of a baby scare, so I wanted to come home. That’s all. But we didn’t want to scare you with this.” Sophie stood and moved her chair next to Mia’s. “Okay,” she said as she placed her hands on her sister’s arm. “It wasn’t fair. I agree, and I’m truly sorry.”
Mia stared at her sister. “Is the baby okay?”
Sophie nodded. “All okay,” she confirmed calmly.
Mia was really missing a whole lot of information. Her sister wasn’t the kind of person who would drive to the other side of Tasmania and return because she'd had a scare. Had she been to the doctor? There hadn’t been a mention of a doctor or hospital visit. Merely a plain All okay. It couldn’t have been the baby. She was about to ask whether Sophie had been to see a doctor, but startled by Zach’s sudden movement, Mia turned towards him.
“Let me know when you need me. No need for me to hang around,” he said to Sophie and left.
Mia watched him walk off. No goodbye or cheers? No questions about the baby? No, of course not. That was obviously what they had talked about the previous night. She was getting a headache. Or at least she thought so. What had happened over the last twenty-four hours? How had everything become so confusing?
“Soph?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
Mia shrugged. “He’s just a friend, but after yesterday–” She paused and stood. “I suppose after yesterday, we’re not even friends anymore.”
“Wanna talk about it?” Mark asked.
Not looking at him, she shook her head. It was evident that she hadn't been told everything, and in turn, wasn’t in the mood to open up and talk about Josh. “I’ll just grab my stuff from Zach’s and do some work for Monday.” When she reached the door she turned. “
So glad the little Connor is okay.”
“Who?” Sophie and Mark ask simultaneously.
“The baby. Olivia and I call him Connor. Like O’Connor. Your surname.”
Seeing them smile made her feel a bit better, but not much. “Oh, by the way. No medals this year. And Zach was flirting heavily with Miss Peterson.”
Mia heard Sophie throwing questions at her, but she ignored her sister.
****
Zach heard Mia come back, and he joined her in her room. “I’m sorry.”
But she didn’t look up at him. “Sorry for what?”
He pulled her close and made her sit next to him on the bed. “Need another cry session?”
“Buzz off!”
He chuckled. “Pumpkin. I’m sorry you’re kinda the meat in the sandwich. Look, trust me, but most importantly, trust Sophie and Mark. Okay?”
“I thought all was okay?” When she turned to look at him she noticed he was lost. “The baby?”
“Oh, yes. Right. All’s okay.” After a moment’s pause he added. “I think.”
“You’re lying, right?”
His eyes darted around the room, and she noticed how messy it actually was. After less than twenty-four hours.
“Zach? I thought I could trust you?”
Zach scratched the back of his neck and mumbled some curses which earned him a bump into his ribs. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” he muttered. “Look, Mi. It’s got to do with the guy coming here yesterday. It’s not up to me to give you details, but I’m sure you’ll get more this afternoon, once Soph and Mark have talked to him.”
Numbing silence engulfed the room for some long seconds.
“She lied, didn’t she?”
“About what?”
Looking up, but still avoiding Zach’s eyes, Mia replied, “About Connor.”
“Who?”
“The baby.” She moved and pulled her right leg under her left. “How many Connors are there?”
“None?”
And that got him a whack on his arm.
“You’re having a real attitude problem, Mia.” His voice suddenly sounded more serious than usual. “The baby is fine. At least as far as I know. Try and be less teenager and more understanding. I know you have it in you somewhere.”
He poked at her shoulder, but she slapped it off straight away.
“I’ll head over to Sophie now and check out what’s going on. You stay put until someone comes back here. Is that understood?”
Mia ignored him.
“Mi?”
She let out a big breath and nodded.
Chapter Eight
Zach knocked at the door across the road, fuming inside. Actually, he was more than fuming, not sure what the whole breakfast scenario had been about, and not sure why he was so adamant to be involved.
Okay, the second one was easy. Since the two Levesque girls had moved in, he'd been more or less part of their life. Even after Mark had proposed, his and Sophie’s friendship had grown. And after an emergency babysitting stunt when Mark had broken his leg and Sophie had wanted to see him at the hospital, a special bond between him and Mia had formed. From then on he'd made sure they'd had their regular movie evenings and shopping trips. He loved the girls dearly and it tore inside him the way everything had turned into chaos the last twenty-four hours. Not to mention the fact that his hands were bound.
Mark opened the door and just moved aside for Zach to come in. “Good luck. There’s no talking to her.”
Zach shook his head in frustration. “What in Pete’s name was she doing this morning?”
“Stuffed if I know.” Mark looked past Zach. “Where’s Mia?”
“Back at my place. She’s not in the best of moods. Mucking up her first date and Sophie lying to her has thrown her into a hormonal madness.”
Mark shot him a glare. “Date?”
Zach cursed at the slip of the tongue. “For the lack of a better word,” he replied casually. He stared down the hall avoiding Mark’s intense glare, knowing that although technically Mia’s brother-in-law, in actuality he was more like a father. He cared. Enormously.
Mark pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, let’s get one thing after the other sorted. First Darren, then the date.”
Zach shot him a look. “Give me a break.”
They both walked down the hall into the study, where Sophie sat on the sofa pretending to be reading a magazine.
“Hi, Zach.”
“Don’t you hi me. What kind of crap was that this morning?”
Sophie looked questioningly over to Mark, but when he nodded she slowly placed her magazine onto the side table. “She doesn’t have to know.”
He stared at her, not sure whether he'd heard right. Sure that she must have been making a joke, he stood still and held her gaze. That smile on her face was tense, and the room filled with silence.
He remembered the day when Sophie had told him that she’d found out about Mia’s father. Initially, he’d been convinced the right thing for Sophie was to tell Mia, but she had thought her sister too young. He’d agreed, reluctantly, but little had he known about small kids. When the time’s right, she had said, and he was convinced the right couldn’t be more right than that day.
“Tell me you’re kidding.” He finally broke the silence.
She stood and walked over to him. “No. I’ve left a message and asked him to give me a call as soon as possible.”
Zach looked over to Mark for some help. “I've bruised my lips talking the last hour. There’s no nudging her.”
“She deserves to know. We agreed on that, Soph.”
She shook her head. “We agreed on when the time’s right. It’s not.” With one hand on each of the guys’ arms, she made an exaggerated gesture for them to step aside and let her through.
“Don’t you walk away from me, Soph,” Zach demanded.
With hands on hips, she turned. “I am about to have a baby, Zach. I am not, do you hear me, not going to let this guy take away my sister. Neither will I let him endanger the life of my unborn child. Full-stop. The end. Finito. Finished.”
But she wasn’t able to make more than another two steps when she suddenly hunched over, holding on to her baby belly. Her groans were an obvious reflection of her pain, and Mark was on her side in an instant.
****
Mia threw herself back, spread like an eagle onto the bed. Being a teenager sucked. Big time. Too old for this, too young for that. It just wasn’t right. But for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what was actually wrong. The baby, Josh, or the mystery man? Well, tick off the baby, Zach had told her Connor was okay. Another tick for Josh – hopefully – because Sophie wouldn’t have let her leave without more details. The mystery man! Mia got off the bed and walked into the kitchen. She vaguely remembered Zach coming back inside the house with a little business card in his hand after the man had left. She checked the usual spots where he left things, including his bedroom and clothes, but to no avail.
“Blast you, Zach!”
She looked around, but decided to let it go. What was his name again? The Internet might have some information on him. But before she was able to put her brain into gear to think about the name, the doorbell rang. Frustrated, she got up, took the phone with the emergency button connected to Mark’s mobile, and walked towards the front of the house. When she opened the door, the man from the previous day stood right in front of her. Subconsciously, she made sure the security door was locked.
“Well, if it isn’t the mystery man.”
His eyebrows shot up and his mouth slowly curved into a smile. Mia didn’t think he looked bad considering the age he probably was. Quite a casual, but good dresser, she thought and took in the grey suit and the white shirt, no tie. Movie star good looks, like one who played a grandfather. At least much better than Mark’s dad, who she called Grandpa to avoid confusion to his actual relation to her.
“You’re Mia.”
“That’s me, all
right. And Sophie’s across the road. She returned just for you in the middle of the night. Isn’t she a sweetie?”
Mia had no idea where the cheekiness had come from. She was a bit surprised by her reply and avoided his gaze. But it didn’t go past her that he checked her out from top to toe, and it made her uncomfortable. Actually, she was near freaking point, and her knuckles around the phone started to turn white.
“Zach home?”
“Nope.”
Now she was getting scared and the finger was on the emergency button. Nifty little thing. She just had to push it, and like a walkie-talkie, it rang Mark’s mobile with a tune that told him there was an emergency. But the old guy just stood there. At a reasonable distance.
“My name is Darren Schuster.”
“Good for you,” she replied nonchalantly, trying to hide her apprehension.
“I take it the name doesn’t mean anything to you.”
Mia shook her head.
“I knew your mum.”
That hit her for a moment, and in a quick second she decided that he was the source of every problem that had happened the previous twenty-four hours. He knew her mother. Good grief, she had so many questions rushing through her head. She’d been only four when her mother had died, and even though Sophie had talked a lot about their mum, the urge to hear stories from another person was suddenly so intense, she had to focus hard on what, or better, who was in front of her. Him, the cause of her miserable day.
“Well, aren’t you a lucky duck. Why don’t you buy a lotto ticket?”
He smiled. His mobile rang, but he ignored it.
“You look like her,” Darren finally said quietly.
“Lucky me, eh. Don’t ask me to get a ticket though.”
His chuckle sounded genuine. Real. Not creepy. But her fingers were still around that phone.
“Listen, mister. I’m really sorry. It’s kinda nice talking to you, but you know what adults say about talking to strangers.”
“I’m your dad.”
