| |
They retrieved Wiri’s truck from the horse paddock and he drove into town. The main street buzzed with activity.
Farmers strode through the rain wearing shorts and gumboots, camouflage jackets hanging to the backs of their knees. The rural uniform meant Phoenix didn’t stand out in Wiri’s oversized clothing. He left the truck in the angled parking outside the cafe and led Phoenix through the front door. The place resembled an ant’s nest, with bodies moving around and almost every table filled. The bell jangled and Ted looked up from his corner.
“Ah, have you come to make me decent coffee?” he demanded. All conversation ceased and knives and forks stilled, as though waiting for the response.
Wiri winced as Mari appeared through the archway from the kitchen. She carried two plates filled with toast and scrambled eggs to a table of men talking in lowered voices. “Shut up, old man!” she barked across at Ted. Her gaze coasted from Wiri to Phoenix and back again before she smiled. “What can I get you?” she asked.
“Same as them, please?” Wiri eyed the fluffiness of the eggs as the men unwrapped cutlery from folded napkins. His stomach growled.
“And me.” Phoenix smiled at Mari, offering encouragement after Ted’s cruel jibe. She slipped her arm around Wiri’s waist and tucked her fingers into the back pocket of his jeans. Mari’s lips quirked up at the edges as Phoenix staked her possession. Wiri’s cheeks flushed as he dug in his front pocket for his wallet. He tried and failed to fathom the undercurrent of feminine communication, no wiser when he gave up than when he started.
Phoenix released him and they wandered to the only free table. She pulled out a chair, her arm brushing the back of Ted’s jacket. The old man spun on his stool to eye her with a frown. He jerked his head towards Mari. “She’s in a snit because she got stopped by the cops. The postman just bought the ticket.” His lips parted to reveal his pink gums.
“Shut up!” Mari appeared and snatched the mug from in front of him. “Don’t be telling everyone my business, old man!” She bore the mug away to the kitchen and Ted turned back to the newspaper laid out before him. The world continued through the window in front of him and he ignored it.
“What was all that about at the cash register?” Wiri dipped forward. “Cuddling up to me in public.” He jerked his head in Ted’s direction to indicate the eavesdropper.
Phoenix nodded and replied in a whisper. “There’s a photo on the wall behind the counter. Didn’t you see it?”
Wiri shifted his gaze in a casual arc and took in the wall she referred to, noticing the picture of Leilah and Seline on horseback. He pursed his lips and stared at the knots in the table’s grain. “Ah. You think Mari might be related?”
Phoenix shrugged. “I don’t care. That skank isn’t coming anywhere near you again.” Her eyes flashed and her jaw tightened. “It’s another reason I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“You don’t trust me?” The words caught in his throat. “If I’d been interested, do you think you’d have found me still standing in the doorway?”
She crinkled her face into a sneer. “Maybe I should have hung around and waited to find out what you’d do,” she bit. Her tone rose to a hiss. “Then it would all be over.”
“What would?” Wiri demanded. He jumped as Mari placed two mugs between them.
“On the house,” she said. She grinned to reveal black spaces from missing front teeth. They stared at the floating scum on top of the coffee and floundered.
“Thanks,” Wiri managed, his tone faltering. “You didn’t need to do that.”
Mari shrugged and spun away, her steps lighter than her years dictated.
Phoenix leaned forward and lowered her voice to a hiss. “Do you think she heard what I said about her skank relative?”
“No.” Wiri sighed. He studied Phoenix’s flushed cheeks and reached across the table to take her hand. She’d pressed her fingers through the handle of the mug and he pried them free. “Do you want this to all be over, Phoe?”
“No.” Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. A gulp punctuated the sentence. “It’s all too hard. I didn’t think this through properly. I’ve abandoned everything on the strength of a kiss and it seems so stupid and yet so right.” She appealed to him for understanding. “I left Mikaere for you.” Wiri watched her swallow and knew she thought of her prized horse waiting for her in his paddock. He’d been her only genuine friend at the disastrous summer camp and she’d abandoned him at a moment’s notice.
For him.
For his promises.
Wiri exhaled. “We need to eat and then talk about what we’re going to do next.” His hand shook as he clasped her fingers. “I can’t come home with you until the police sort out who tried to hurt me and who killed Hendricks.”
“I think that girl hit Vaughan over the head and closed the lid on you.” Phoenix lifted the mug with her free hand and sipped the liquid. She recoiled. “Do you think that lady reuses washing up water to make the coffee?” she whispered.
Wiri’s mind filled with bigger issues than Mari’s beverage making skills. He gnawed on the inside of his cheek. “I accused Seline of locking me in the tank,” he said. He spoke so quietly, Phoenix bobbed her head to lip read. Ted shifted behind them and she glanced up at him. Then her expression brightened, and she shook off his grasp of her hand.
“Sign.” She performed the action with her fingers and he grinned. Mac’s deafness demanded they all learn the rudiments of sign language for his benefit. His cochlear implants had given him some hearing, but he still relied on lip reading and signing, especially in crowded, confusing situations.
Wiri nodded and lifted his right hand. He curled his fingers into a ball, raising his index finger to signify his agreement. They continued their discussion in silence, safe in the knowledge Ted couldn’t overhear their business.
“Why would Seline try to hurt you?” Phoenix asked. She spread her hands in question, forced to spell out the letters of Seline’s name against her palm. She blinked as Mari set their plates in front of them. “Thank you,” she said out loud, but her widening eyes towards Wiri communicated her gratitude they’d switched to sign.
“She hates Vaughan,” Wiri replied. “His farm is in trouble and she wants it to fail. Hurting him and trapping me attracted interest from the wrong quarters.”
The bell over the door jangled as the group of men left. They waved to Mari and shrugged hoods over their heads as they dashed from the safety of the overhang to their waiting utility vehicles. Table by table, the cafe emptied until just a few die hards remained.
Phoenix rolled her eyes. “It’s too hard to sign while eating,” she said with a sigh. Her black lashes fluttered and when she looked up, Wiri met her gaze with a smile.
“This is nice,” he agreed, swallowing before speaking. He swivelled in his chair and looked around the cafe before dipping to peer at Ted. The old man snoozed on his stool, his body listing and his eyes closed. His cap had slipped to one side to make him look like a cutesy shelf ornament. The newspaper lay open on the counter in front of him, a brown ring covering the headline where he’d rested his mug. He’d propped his elbow on the counter and his chin balanced on the heel of his hand. Wiri caught Phoenix’s eye and jerked his head towards him. She turned and winced.
“That looks precarious,” she whispered. Her fringe tangled with her eyelashes and she lifted her shoulders and shook with silent laughter.
Wiri bit his lip and enjoyed the moment of levity. “Wonder how many times he’s fallen off his stool,” he remarked, keeping his voice low.
Phoenix shrugged and stabbed a piece of toast onto her fork. She used the knife to add a fluffy ball of scrambled egg and closed her eyes as she popped it into her mouth. “I’m so hungry,” she admitted. “It seems ages since yesterday’s lunch.”
