‘Haven’t you been home yet?’ Mia looked at the shopping bags piled on the rear seat.
‘No.’
‘Have you contacted Linda?’
‘No, I’ve been looking at potholes.’
‘Is that a hobby of yours?’ She looked at him as she spoke and discovered him looking at her with that crinkly attractive smile that made her insides warm.
‘It’s for the paper.’
His home was as he’d said, very close to her house. The white-painted building was on the corner with a sign over the door on the side street announcing ‘Round the Bend’ in dark green letters. A café shared the building but its entrance was on the main street. Handy.
Next door to the newspaper office was a residential house with a business sign near the gate but she couldn’t read what it was. Opposite that was a doctor but the rest of the houses in the street were homes.
Arlo drove down a driveway between the two properties and under a carport. A door led into the rear of the building, presumably to the attached flat where he lived.
She helped carry his groceries indoors, following him through a short passage to the kitchen. An open plan living room on the other side of a workbench was furnished comfortably with a squashy looking brown leather couch, a coffee table strewn with mail and other paperwork, and a couple of easy chairs facing a small TV in the corner.
She dumped her grocery bag on the small round kitchen table and took out milk and eggs. ‘Both in the fridge?’ she asked, opening the door. His fridge was bare. No doubt he ate in that café round the corner.
‘Yes, please but I can put this away. Would you like a glass of wine?’
‘Yes, but I’d like to help.’
While they completed the task he said, ‘Do you know Glenda’s parents very well?’
‘Not really. I told you what her father said.’
‘I know but that was some time ago. Apparently the ex is visiting them.’
‘Glenda’s ex? Why?’
‘Don’t know. I guess it’s reasonable. They were married a long time and they do have the children in common.’
‘I never knew him. Glenda didn’t mention him.’
‘Did Tony?’
‘Only to say he was a sleazy guy and she was better off without him. He said it wasn’t his first affair.’
‘Really? How did he know that?’
‘Maybe Glenda told him or someone else. Could have been anyone.’
‘What did he mean by sleazy?’
Mia pictured her father’s disgusted face as he said it. ‘I think he meant untrustworthy. Dad couldn’t stand liars. He made a point of always being honest with his clients. With everyone.’
‘And the guy was a liar?’
‘He had an affair, or affairs, behind Glenda’s back. That’s lying.’ Mia folded the empty grocery bag and put it on the bench.
‘Sit down and I’ll start dinner.’ Arlo opened a cupboard and produced a salad bowl and two wine glasses. He’d already unpacked a bottle of red from his shopping bag.
‘I’ll make the salad,’ she said.
That took all of five minutes then she leaned against the table and watched him chop and slice and sauté. He knew what he was doing in the kitchen much better than she did. He didn’t use a recipe so maybe his Italian Nonna story was true.
‘Smells good already.’
Arlo stirred the sauce, tasted, nodded and said, ‘Might take a while.’
‘That’s okay, it’s not late.’ Winter darkness had fallen early because of the gloomy low cloud cover. Rain drops slid in slow motion down the kitchen window. He had a view of the back wall of the café across a wooden fence and an access lane.
‘Come and sit in the living room.’
She picked up her wine glass and followed. It was a cosy room. Bookshelves took up a large portion of one wall and two large framed black and white images, photographs, dominated another on either side of a curtained window. One was of a spectacular waterfall surrounded by tropical plants, the other a desert scene with a lone camel and rider silhouetted against the sky.
Photos sat on the top of a crammed bookshelf. Arlo with colleagues, an older couple, a dark-haired woman with a baby, a boy with a lopsided grin, in shorts and with messy windblown hair …
‘Is that your son?’
‘Yes. Riley. He was twelve in that photo.’
Arlo sat in one of the chairs. She sat on the couch facing him. It wasn’t as comfortable as it looked. She sank into it like a stone in mud. He tossed her a cushion.
‘Here. You’ll need it.’
‘It’s like quicksand.’
He laughed. ‘Why do you think I’m sitting here?’
‘You should warn your guests.’ She tucked the cushion under her bottom.
‘That’s no fun.’
‘Or you could get a new couch.’
He shrugged. ‘Not worth the bother. I don’t have many visitors.’
***
Silence descended.
Arlo didn’t want to break it with talk of murder and deception, the light intimacy was relaxing, comfortable. Mia was different somehow to his expectation. What he’d taken for cold aloofness was reserve. She was a woman under strain but not trying to prove anything or make an impression, which in itself made an impression.
His phone shrieked into the room with a violence that startled him. He fished it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID then Mia. ‘Sorry. It’s Riley. I’ll have to take it.’
Mia heaved herself out of the depths of the couch. The cushion hadn’t made a lot of difference. He knew it wouldn’t. Maybe she was right. He should go shopping.
‘Of course. Where’s the bathroom?’
He pointed to the hallway leading to the front of the apartment. ‘First door.’
She nodded and left him to it.
Arlo frowned as he pressed the green button. What could Riley want? It was a school night and he rarely called during the week unless he wanted something.
‘Hi, matey. How are you?’
‘Dad, I want to live with you.’ His voice cracked in distress. ‘Please say I can.’
‘Hang on, what’s going on? What’s happened?’ He’d never heard Riley so upset. Usually he was the typical monosyllabic teen who wanted to be left alone to get on with his life in his own way.
‘I can’t stand it here anymore. Mum treats me as though I’m a baby. She won’t let me do anything. I hate it here and I hate school.’
‘You’d have to go to school if you lived with me,’ Arlo said mildly. What the hell?
‘I know but it’d be different. Can I come? Please?’
‘What does your mum say?’
‘She won’t care. She’ll be glad to be rid of me. She’s too busy with her boyfriend.’
‘Who? James? You like him.’ Surely they hadn’t split up? Debra, James and Riley had gone on holiday to Fiji together a few weeks ago and he said they’d had a great time.
‘He’s all right but he’s not my father … can’t I live with you?’
‘If it was up to me I’d say yes but I have to talk to your mum about it, you know that.’
‘She’ll say no.’
‘Have you asked her?’
‘She says no to everything I ask her.’
‘Riley, that’s not fair and you know it.’
‘I want to live with you.’
‘Put her on.’
‘If you don’t let me I’ll run away and come anyway.’
‘Let me talk to her, please.’
‘Okay.’
Scuffling sounds, footsteps, Debra’s voice saying something he couldn’t understand then, ‘Hi, Arlo,’ in the defeated, angry voice he knew so well.
‘Hi, Debra. What’s happened?’
‘He’s being impossible, as usual. This time I vetoed a party. We don’t know the family at all and the boy is a couple of years older.’
‘Fair enough. He said he wants to live with me.’
‘Right now I’d be more than happy to let him. I’ve had it with his tantrums and his attitude.’
‘I’d be happy to have him.’ His boy needed him and for once he could be there for him. The truth of it slammed home.
‘Sure you would, until something came up and he was a nuisance.’
‘I mean it. I’d love to have him. He didn’t come last holidays because of that trip you took and … I missed so much before … I don’t want to miss everything.’
She gave a short bark of laughter. ‘Better late than never? Sometimes it’s better never than late.’
He let that slide by. ‘He sounds pretty upset. Maybe we should let him come for a while. See how we go, see if he settles down. Willoughby High is a good school. The kids catch the bus from here and he already knows some of them from when he visits me.’
‘I don’t know. You mean pull him out now at the beginning of the term?’
‘Why not? If he’s that upset he’s not going to do any work, is he? He’s more likely to get into trouble. Is there a problem at school?’
‘Not specially that I’ve heard although his results aren’t brilliant. Why?’
‘He said he hates school. Maybe there’s something going on there.’
‘I’ll find out. Arlo … thanks for the offer. I’ll let you know.’
He knew that tone. She didn’t think he meant it, or at least, thought he did for now but would rethink tomorrow and pull out. He couldn’t blame her. He gave it one final try.
‘I think it’d be good for him and for me. He needs to get to know his dad and I want to get to know him. And it’ll give you a breather.’
She said nothing for a moment. ‘You might be right. We haven’t been getting on very well all year actually. He seems to resent James all of a sudden and I can’t do anything right.’
‘James is a good bloke but he’s not his dad and Riley knows it.’
‘Okay. Let’s do it. Till Christmas. Six months.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, but remember you can’t just send him back if it gets too hard.’
‘Deal. Can he fly here? If you send him to Wagga I can pick him up.’
‘I can but he’ll have more stuff than he can carry on a plane. We might have to drive. I’ll let you know.’
‘Thanks. I’ll let you tell him. Earn yourself some brownie points. I’ll get onto the school and warn them of incoming.’
Arlo disconnected in a state of disbelief. Had that actually happened? Riley coming to live with him? Not just for a week or two but properly living here? He’d have to get his act together. So would Riley. That school bus left town early. Seven forty-five.
‘Judging by the smile on your face I’d say that was good news.’ Mia sat down.
‘I think so.’ He told her the decision. ‘I missed a lot of his childhood with work. It’s time I stepped up and shared the responsibility.’
‘How long have you been divorced?’
‘Five years but we separated earlier. Her new man is a good bloke and they were very supportive while I was ill. I’ll be forever grateful for that.’ Enough. He picked up his wine glass and put it back down. Empty. ‘Anyway, you’re not interested in my doings. I’d better check the sauce or my reputation will be in tatters.’
‘I stirred it on my way back. It looks fine. Not that I’m any sort of cook.’
‘Hmmm.’ He got up and had a look for himself, added water and took the wine bottle back to the living room.
‘Good thing I can walk home,’ she said.
‘I’ll walk you.’
‘Thank you. How about I call Linda?’ Her expression was intent, eyes focused on his. He cursed himself for an idiot.
‘Okay.’ Mia wasn’t interested in his personal life or him, she wanted action on her problem which was why she would have accepted the dinner invitation. ‘Sorry.’
‘That’s okay. I don’t mean to push you but it’s a good time seeing as we’re both here.’
She had her phone out, scrolling through for the number.
Arlo went to get his notebook and pen from his jacket pocket. When he returned she was saying, ‘It’s a bit depressing but I’ve packed up a lot of it … Yes, I know but I’m fine, really … Thanks, Linda … I know you did.’ She glanced at him. ‘Why I’m ringing—I have the local newspaper editor here, Arlo McGuiness … Yes, he was. He knew them both … I know … he wants to do a piece on Dad, about what sort of man he was and to remind people he wasn’t a monster and why they all liked him. I want him to do it. He’d like to have a chat with you. Is that okay? … Great, thanks. Here he is. Bye.’
She handed the phone to Arlo.
‘Hello, Linda, Arlo here. Thanks for talking to me.’
A gush of words hit him in the ear basically saying she was more than happy to help set the record straight about what a lovely man Tony was. He asked a few innocuous questions about her memories of him and took notes as she rattled on then, when she paused for air, he said, ‘Mia mentioned you told her that you thought he and his wife were murdered. What gave you that idea? Was it anything specific?’
‘Only that he didn’t have a vicious bone in his body. I’ve met some real bastards in my time and believe me the signs are there if you know what to look out for. Starts out as jealousy and control dressed up as love and concern and goes from there. And depression, my eye. Tony never got depressed. He was the most positive, optimistic man I’ve ever met. He rarely got angry and he never raised a hand to me or any other woman and that’s a fact. I know a few girls he dated and they all stayed friends with him. The abusive ones always say their ex was a maniac, and oddly enough so were all their ex-girlfriends. It’s never their fault the relationships went bad. They blame everyone else. Tony wasn’t like that. He was more likely to give me a kiss when I annoyed him. He’d make me laugh.’ She sniffed loudly.
‘I don’t mean to sound sceptical, Linda, but you hadn’t seen him for a long time and people can change.’
‘Some do, that’s true but not at their core they don’t. If someone’s a miserable young bastard he’ll be a miserable old bastard and if they’re an optimist they’ll always be an optimist. That was Tony. And honest as the day is long. If something was going on he didn’t think was right he’d call it out. Put a few noses out of joint that way.’
‘How badly?’
‘Well, as you said, this was going back a long time so I think that’s all water under the bridge by now. Everyone from that crowd has moved on from those days.’
‘That’s all really interesting. Thanks, Linda. Mind if I call you if I think of anything else?’
‘Not at all. Do right by Mia, won’t you? She’s a sweet girl. Tony taught her to be independent and she’s smart as paint. She’s all on her own now so she’ll need to be.’
‘I will and I agree with you. Thank you. Goodnight.’
He disconnected and gave Mia her phone. ‘She’s a character, isn’t she?’
Mia nodded. ‘What do you agree about?’
‘She said you’re as smart as paint.’ He smiled. ‘I’ll put the water on for the pasta.’ A sweet girl? She was no girl, she was all woman—but maybe … sweet hadn’t sprung to mind but under the circumstances it wasn’t surprising. Independent? Definitely. Intriguing? Very.