by Stella Quinn
The diners lingering over dessert were lined up at the window, and even the crafters had put aside their projects to wander out. Before Vera and Marigold could reach the front door, it flicked open, bringing with it a waft of smoke smell and Kev Jones.
His eyes met Vera’s. ‘Honey, it’s the vet clinic on fire.’
‘What?’ The clinic! And Josh and Graeme had gone down there! With two sharp claps she silenced the rising din. ‘Everyone! Please, the café is going to shut. You can pay next time you’re in if you haven’t paid already.’
Marigold was by her side, and she grasped the woman’s arm. ‘Can you see the craft group safely to their cars? I have to go. I don’t know if—’
She stopped there. She didn’t know anything. She just knew she needed to go find out.
‘Leave it to me. You got spare keys? I’ll lock up when I’m done.’
‘Marigold, thank you.’
‘Well now. This is the first time you’ve leaned on me, Vera, and I’m pleased I can help. I reckon you’re thinking like a local now.’
Vera grabbed for her coat then pulled the spare set of keys out of the till drawer and handed them over.
‘You go on and make sure my Kev doesn’t forget himself and start acting like a hero. God will snap that man up for himself first chance he gets, and I’m not done with him.’
Hanrahan’s residents had congregated in the corner of the park and watched the blaze take hold. Two fire trucks blocked Dandaloo Street, their strobe lights a whirlpool of dizzying blue and red. Vera squeezed through, nudging shoulders and handbags as she made her way to the front of the crowd. A cordon had been rolled out, and she could see Alex—Graeme’s partner—hauling hose equipment down from one of the trucks. A policewoman was urging the onlookers to stay back, move along, remember where their homes were and go to them.
The reality, when she saw it for herself, took her breath. The Cody building was in darkness—someone must have cut the power—but the lower storey was ablaze. It looked like a meteor had torn through the reception.
Raised voices, the crackle of radio traffic, and everywhere action, water, hoses thicker than elephant trunks, all directed on the beautiful old building. Where was Josh? Where was Graeme? She pushed forward to the cordon, ignoring the frowns from the police officer.
A man, vaguely familiar from the café, stood by a red-and-white traffic cone.
‘Do you know what’s happened?’ she asked him.
‘I know my stock will be ruined.’
She raised her eyebrows at him and he pointed to Bits and Bobs, the small gift shop that operated out of the ground floor of the next building. Vera’d been in there once searching for a book on Hanrahan’s history to read to Jill.
‘Has the fire spread there too?’
‘Not yet, but the smoke stink will have. A lot of my stock is fabric: cushions, tea towels, scarves, that sort of thing. Worthless now, and my landlord’s so stingy she won’t give a damn.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Stock could be replaced, she thought. People couldn’t … kind-eyed vets and outrageous gold-hearted baristas couldn’t.
To her side she caught sight of a green corduroy cap—Kev. ‘Do you know what’s going on?’ she said.
‘I’ve spoken to Alex. He says they’re trying to work out if Hannah was in there, and they’re trying to get the animals out.’
‘My god, is that safe? Alex wouldn’t let them go inside, surely.’
‘Hold your horses, pet. Let’s not get the worry beads out until we have to.’
Vera scanned the crowd and was relieved to see Marigold swooping in on them like a hippy rescue angel. She would know what was going on.
‘Keep away from the cordon, please, ma’am.’
Marigold patted the policewoman on the arm. ‘Sergeant King, thank heaven you’re here. What can you tell us?’
‘It’s too soon to know much, but the Fire Chief—’ The policewoman turned away mid-speech as the radio she wore crackled to life. ‘Copy that,’ she said into her mike. Her face was more relaxed when she turned back to them. ‘Everyone’s clear of the building.’
Shouts sounded from the laneway around the corner, and Vera squinted through the smoky darkness. Was that— Not Josh, but Graeme, carrying one end of a cage. As he reached the street, she saw Hannah was holding the other end of the cage, her face covered in ash, an old oilskin riding coat miles too big eroding her of shape.
But where in heaven’s name was Josh? As she thought it, the sturdy shape of the brown dog who’d adopted him came barrelling across to the park. Behind her the unmistakable silhouette of the vet. Her vet. The man she’d been having inappropriate fantasies about not half an hour ago.
She dragged in a breath of smoky air. He was safe.
Close behind Josh was a firewoman, with something—puppies?—in her hands. The firewoman herded the group over to the cordon and lifted it so they could duck through.
‘Kev, grab a pup from Lorraine, will you?’ said Josh. ‘If we put them down out here, they’ll get trampled. Vera, would you mind taking the other? I need to find a crate.’
Wordlessly, she held out her hands and the firewoman handed her a squirming yellow lump of fur. Her eyes clashed with Josh’s for a charged moment. ‘Josh. I’m so sorry. Is there anyth—’
‘Next time I give you an order, Josh Cody,’ cut in the firewoman, ‘you’re going to pay attention, you got that?’
He turned to her. ‘Yes, Chief.’
‘Now, you get those animals you’ve got stuck in your pockets sorted out. And if I see that snake loose, I’m gonna cause a ruckus the likes of which Hanrahan has never seen.’
‘Now, Lorraine, he’s harmless to everyone here except the guinea pig he’s currently sharing a cage with.’
‘A snake’s a snake, Cody. If you don’t want to see the chief of the Rural Fire Brigade—namely me—crying like a toddler in front of all the stickybeaks cluttering up this park, you keep that thing out of sight, that’s all I’m saying. Now, get yourself sorted and stay outside the cordon. I’ll come find you when we’ve got this fire contained.’
‘Thanks, Lorraine. Appreciate it.’
‘Meg, arrest him if he crosses through.’
The policewoman nodded. ‘No worries.’
Lorraine patted Josh on the cheek then headed over to the broken windows where the main fire seemed, finally, to be losing its battle.
‘Josh,’ said Hannah, ‘what about Max and the other pups?’
Josh reached into the jacket he was wearing. ‘How many pockets you got in that coat?’
‘Plenty.’
He handed three of the pups over. ‘Zip them into your jacket, will you, Han? It’s pretty cold out here. I’ll keep Max.’
‘How on earth are we going to tell Mum and Dad about this?’ said Hannah.
‘Hopefully they’re out of range of a cell tower. We can ring them when we know more,’ her brother replied.
The two Codys stood shoulder to shoulder, the smouldering shell of their home lit up before them. Vera knew what it was like to lose everything, to have the foundations you thought you could count on ripped out from under you. She knew … but what words of comfort could she offer?
A half-date that had ended with a hot-handed kiss on a bridle trail and her charging off in tears like a crazy woman, a few charged looks over a busy café counter, a dozen midnight fantasies in the privacy of her own home … that wasn’t enough. She wasn’t part of Josh’s life, she was a bystander.
And she was a mess. This wasn’t even her home burning down, and she could feel her eyes stinging from more than smoke. A wet nose snuffled into her hand and she looked down at the golden pup she held. His eyes were open, and regarded her like she was his rescuer, not the big capable guy standing on the kerb with his sister. She pressed her nose into his fur and hoped it would dry the tears on her cheeks. ‘Don’t look at me like that, big guy,’ she murmured. ‘I didn’t run into a burning building and haul you out.’
No. But she could do something. A crate, Josh had said. She had a dozen or more fruit boxes stacked outside the back door of The Billy Button Café. She tucked the pup firmly into the crook of her arm and slipped off to the opposite side of the park.
She’d find the Codys a crate. And then she needed to get in her car and drive two hundred kilometres to see if she could find herself a future.
CHAPTER
24
Josh saw Vera’s face, looking as beat down as he felt, before she backed away through the crowd. He went after her, and caught the tail of her jacket by the clocktower in the centre of the park.
‘Vera.’
She turned, and he froze when he saw the tear tracks down her cheeks.
‘Honey. Are you okay?’
With a squirming pup in her hands, she made an unsuccessful effort to wipe her face. ‘Oh, Josh. I’m not the one whose home was just on fire. Don’t worry about me.’
He moved in front of her and took the yellow dog, tucking him into the large pocket of his jacket with his brown brother. ‘It’s bad at the front, in the clinic, but the back stairs and the apartments aren’t even wet. It’s awful, but the fire brigade were able to put it out and it’s not a tragedy. Are those …’
He almost didn’t want to say it. The messages Vera had been throwing in his direction had been kind of confusing, and she was beginning to mean too much to him for him to get this wrong. ‘Are those tears for me?’
She pulled up the apron she was still wearing and wiped her face with it. ‘I’m not sure,’ she mumbled. ‘I just cry these days, and often I don’t even know why.’
He reached for her and felt no resistance as he brought her up against him. She smelled like plum crumble and tomato relish and about a dozen other delectable things, and he rested his hand on her neck and just held her for a moment. ‘I’d be okay with it if they were,’ he said.
A pup let out an annoyed don’t-squash-me yip and she pulled away from him. ‘I’m sorry. I always seem to be saying that, don’t I? Seeing you and Hannah there, together, surrounded by just about everyone in Hanrahan, and everyone was hugging each other … it made me a bit teary, that’s all.’
‘Don’t you have family, Vera?’
She gave a half nod. ‘My aunt.’
‘No-one else?’
‘No.’
He ran his hand down her arm. ‘Lucky you moved to Hanrahan then. We take care of people here. Even when they’re not sure they want to be taken care of.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Is that what I am to you? A stray who needs to be taken care of?’
Woah. Where had that come from? He hooked a finger into the apron strap that rose from her breast to her neck and tugged on it until she was a breath away. ‘Not at all. You are a thorn in my side, Vera. A dream I can’t wake from, a feeling I can’t shake. Have you not figured that out yet?’
He could feel the shiver riding her skin, and he let his finger rest on the collarbone visible above her blouse. His home and business were just on fire, he had nowhere to sleep, his dog was about to be taken from him, and yet all he seemed to want at this exact moment was her.
A sigh escaped her. ‘I wish I could be the dream you want me to be, Josh. I really do.’
She was pulling back, and her eyes had grown bleak.
‘Problem is, you get too close to me and you’re going to work out I’m more of a nightmare. I’ve wrecked enough, Josh. Don’t let me wreck you, too.’
‘You don’t think you’re sounding a little melodramatic?’ he said, as gently as he could.
‘No,’ she said baldly. ‘Look, there are crates in the back of the café if you need something to keep the pups in. Help yourself. I have to go.’
She stepped into Paterson Street and disappeared into the shadows up Curlew, and he let her go. Whatever was going on in Vera’s life, she wasn’t ready to share it. Yet. Luckily he had plenty of practice with being patient.
The crowds had dispersed by the time he’d found a suitable crate, tucked the rescued pets into the tray of his ute, seen Hannah off to her friend Kylie’s for the night, organised a room for himself at the Hanrahan Pub, and had a last brief from Lorraine, the acting chief of the local Rural Fire Brigade.
Graeme jangled his car keys beside him, his offer of a nearby shed where the animals could be housed for a few days too welcome to refuse. ‘You want to follow me over in your truck? Alex will be here for a while yet making sure nothing’s simmering away on the ground floor. You and I can get the menagerie sorted.’
‘Thanks, man,’ he said. ‘You sure you and Alex don’t mind playing surrogate dads for the night?’
‘Of course not. I have no idea what to feed them, but I can pour water into a bowl like a boss.’
‘They’ll be fine for tonight. I’ll collect them tomorrow and deliver them back to their owners. Gracie at the pub is letting me keep Jane Doe and her pups with me. If Alex isn’t cool with minding them overnight, you let me know.’
‘Mate, relax, it’ll be fine.’
Relax. As though that would be possible. His thoughts hadn’t been this churned up since he’d cracked his piggy bank to buy two one-way tickets on the bus out of Hanrahan for him and his pregnant schoolteacher girlfriend.
That building that currently had smoke pouring out of it represented everything he’d strived for in the years since. And the woman who’d just walked away from him in his hour of need? What did she represent, exactly?
He was damned if he knew. Or why he cared so much.
CHAPTER
25
Vera smoothed the wool of her black dress over her knees with fingers that trembled.
Walking into the local court in downtown Queanbeyan had been as frightening as anything she’d ever done. Bored faces. Impassive faces. The couldn’t-give-a-damn faces of security personnel who watched her drop her phone and car keys into a plastic tub as they were scanned for bomb residue or bigotry or whatever the heck these machines were calibrated for. This bland assortment of strangers would listen and judge and make decisions about her … and there was nothing she could do to change that. She was in the grip of a system that she no longer believed in.
She found her name on a list sticky-taped to a wall beside a dull red door and hovered uncertainly. Did she go in? Did she wait outside?
‘Sorry, had to pee.’
A waft of exotic perfume and nicotine draped about her like a cloak as her lawyer materialised beside her.
‘Let’s go in, shall we? The magistrate will be in soon, and we can get ourselves settled. We’re not first on the docket, so there’ll be some other charges to be dealt with before your name is called. It’s better that way, helps settle the nerves.’
It was going to take more than a few minutes in a courtroom to settle her nerves. Her stomach felt like it was being cauterised by hot wire.
‘How’re you feeling?’ Sue said, as she thrust open the door and marched in to the front row of seats.
‘Sick. And like I’ve had about three minutes’ sleep.’
‘That’s the spirit. Vera, work with me here. I’m going to ask you again: how are you feeling?’
She closed her eyes as she sat down. She had this. ‘Okay. I’m appalled by the charges I’ve been called here to face. I have acted as any concerned and caring citizen would have acted, and I confirm my plea is not guilty.’
Sue pursed her lips, then gave a nod of her sleek-haired, impeccably made-up head. ‘You’ll do. Try not to fall apart when you’re called. A tear or two, no problem. But you’re a professional journalist who makes informed decisions, that’s our strategy, and we don’t want to puncture it by having you show them otherwise.’
‘Got it. Two tears total.’
‘Snarky, I like it. Better that than being too emotional. Be pissed off. It’ll keep you strong. Remember that when they ask you to stand.’
Vera shut her eyes. ‘Has Aaron turned up? What about Chris Sykes? I’ve been too chicken to look behind me.’
Sue started sliding notebooks and folders out of her attaché case. ‘Both here. Your ex-boyfriend’s standing up the back with a shiny blue suit and a fresh haircut by the looks. Going for clean-cut.’
‘Clean as the devil’s doormat,’ Vera muttered.
‘Now, where is Sykes?’ Sue twisted in her seat. ‘Oh yeah, nice play, he’s taken a seat in the row right behind us. Mr Confidence. There’s a lawyer sitting beside him with a nose like a fox. I’ve not run up against him before, but he’s got a reputation.’
‘Philanthropist? Ladies’ man? Bingo addict?’
‘Not that sort of reputation, no. Don’t worry, I’ll break him like a twig. Forget him—we’re here to play our game, so let’s not worry about theirs.’
‘I wish I had your confidence.’
‘Girlfriend, everyone wishes they had my confidence.’
The clerk of the court sounded a bell and an older woman with no-nonsense glasses and a forehead that looked well-practised in frowning walked into the court through an inner door.
‘Carmel Grant,’ whispered Sue in her ear. ‘Smart, fair, and doesn’t take any crap.’
‘All rise.’
Vera stood. So she was to look like a professional journalist, was she? She wasn’t one. Not anymore. Not since that rat she’d thought she was in love with fired her. But she could remember what it felt like to be confident and eager, full of questions and the resolve to find answers. She could fake professional journalist if she had to.
She breathed in, slowly, then let out a long breath. Perhaps Sue’s confidence was cloaked about her as surely as her perfume and cigarette smoke was.
As the magistrate dealt with a few other cases, the words just buzzed in Vera’s ears. Aaron was here, in the same room as her, for the first time since … when? Had it really been eleven months since this whole thing began?
She closed her eyes and was right there, back in his bed, reliving the moment when her world was ripped out from under her …
It had been early morning, on a fine spring Sunday with the hint of summer in the breeze.
‘I’m popping in to see Jill this morning, Aaron,’ she’d said as they lay in bed. He was lying against a pillow, his chest bare, but his funky reading glasses perched on his nose while he scrolled through his phone.
