Finding Elizabeth (25 page)

Jack’s mouth broke into a wide grin. “And I thought we were having dinner.”

“We’re running a little behind schedule. I was hoping to have everything done and us showered and changed and looking gorgeous.” Katherine went through to the kitchen. Bubbles and their dates trooped in after.

“Does your mother leave you in the kitchen unsupervised?” Jack asked, looking at the carnage.

“Okay, so it’s been a while. I lived on lettuce and cheese for years.”

“How about we finish off the bird and put it in the oven while you two go and do the girlie thing?” Jack suggested.

Katherine looked at Leandra, and there was no choice. “You’re on. We’ll go and titivate ourselves, and you can cook,” she said. “I was just about to hack the turkey into smaller pieces—yes, the gloves are a joke. Everything’s here. I bought dessert, it’s in the refrigerator. All I have to do is grab it and dish it up.”

“Off you go and leave us to it. Need a back scrub, just sing out,” Jack grinned.

“Yeah, Lea,” Dave wiggled his eyebrows. “What Jack said, only I’ve had more experience.”

“And don’t we all know it,” Leandra shot back.

“Ouch,” Dave winced as he watched them disappear. He turned on Jack. “Are you out of your friggin’ mind? I don’t cook or clean.”

“I know, mate,” Jack slapped him on the back a couple of times. “You only recently found out how to use a knife and fork.”

Dave thumped him on the arm. Jack thumped him back. Then it was on, a friendly tussle, with Bubbles trying to intervene, until they’d reached a deadlock.

“Okay,” Dave panted. “That was good, like old times.”

“Yep, at least we’re fit,” Jack quipped, slightly out of breath. “We’re not feeling our age?”

“No way,” Dave panted. “I need a drink of water.”

“Get me one while you’re at it,” Jack said, surveying the mess strewn around the kitchen. Bubbles nudged his hand. “Yeah, you’re a good girl, trying to save me from the bad dude.” He ruffled her head.

“Watch it, you’ll be asking for my help in a minute.”

“Good girl. On your bed and I’ll give you a chew bone.” Jack pointed to her place in the living room.

“Okay, next step, order takeout.” Jack hooked out his mobile. “No connection. Shit, where’s the phone?”

“Not in here,” Dave said.

Jack found the phone on the living room sideboard. “Who do we ring?”

Dave found a directory on a corner bookshelf, and flipped through it. “Here.
Dinner In A Box Express
. It says they can do just about anything within reason.”

They settled on a Thai banquet. While waiting for it to arrive, Jack peered at the turkey and knob of butter. “Okay, massacre the bird and throw it in the oven with all the veggies.” Jack scratched his head in thought. “Why are we doing the turkey?”

“Beats me,” Dave shrugged.

“Let’s put the whole lot back in the fridge, and Kate can deal with it tomorrow.”

Less than half an hour later, they were cleaning up the mess.

Jack searched the kitchen cupboards for serving bowls and spoons, while Dave organised mood music and stoked the fire.

Down the hall, doors creaked open. The sweet smell of soap and light perfume hit them first.

“God love ’em,” Dave sighed.

“They’re from another world,” Jack murmured, awestruck by the vision in red coming towards him.

“Hello, boys, hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long?” Katherine said, her voice husky. “I’m hungry.”

“I’m ravenous,” Leandra purred, and licked her lips.

Everything that came to mind seemed either cheesy or too much too soon—like, ‘I’ve been waiting a lifetime, and now here you are.’ All Jack could do was smile and shake his head.

“How’s the turkey?” Katherine asked.

“In the fridge,” Jack answered, “waiting for you to deal with it tomorrow. We took a short cut. Should be here any minute.”

Bubbles got up out of her bed, stretched and headed for the front door, tail wagging. Moments later, there was a knock. Bubbles woofed, and Jack hurried to open the door. A young man waited with two carry bags stacked with their order. Jack paid and gave the kid a decent tip for the express delivery. He waited for Bubbles, who briefly gambolled in the snow, and peed.

Back inside, he held out the bags and said, “Dinner’s ready.”

“Sorry about the turkey,” Katherine said, giving him a look to match. “Where would you like me to sit?”

On my lap
. Jack bit his tongue and pulled a chair out. Opposite them, Leandra and Dave were already exchanging wicked looks and the odd playful barb.

Halfway through dinner, Dave and Leandra were feeding each other. They’d barely finished their dessert and they were out the door and gone.

Katherine wandered out of the kitchen, making sure the lid on a plastic container was secure. “Where’d they go? I’ve got leftovers for them.”

“Who cares? We’re alone,” he smiled and, without taking his eyes off Katherine, he took the container and placed it on the table, then wrapped his arms firmly around her. “Are you okay with this?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

Waking up to a menacing rumble low in Bubbles’ chest was scary enough, but a noise in the kitchen made her heart thump. She eased her eyes open. Her room was semi-dark except for slivers of daylight that shone through tiny gaps at the edges of the drapes. She turned and flung an arm across, expecting to find Jack. The bed was empty. She propped herself up and listened for the shower, but there were no sounds coming from the bathroom. Bubbles continued growling. Katherine found a note on Jack’s pillow: ‘Cupboards are bare. Drove into town for fresh buns, and supplies. Back soon. Put the coffee on, sleepy head.’

The sound of feet tiptoeing towards the living room made her smile; Jack must be stoking the fires. Bubbles moved stealthily across the floor to the bedroom door. “It’s Jack,” Katherine reassured her dog. “You’d better have breakfast ready, I’m starving!” she called out.

Bubbles looked at her and whined, turned back to face the door and growled, a deep, chilling growl. “Good girl, it’s all right, girl.” She shoved the bedclothes aside and dressed quickly in grey sweats and fleecy boots, then headed down the hall to the living room.

Eric!
Her heart hammered and her mouth went dry. He obviously wasn’t too bright. Surely the police had warned him not to go anywhere near her. How the hell did he get in, and how the hell was she going to handle this?
Think!
Okay, it appeared Eric was making himself at home, with his usual arrogance.

Furious, she stomped into the living room. Bubbles hugged Katherine’s side, shielding her.

“Eric!” Katherine could barely control her anger. Her loyal dog, head low, eyes fixed on her target, growled but didn’t leave her.

“Katarina! You slept in.” Staring at the dog, Eric backtracked a couple of steps. He held her mother’s tin, the one she’d found in the attic, against his chest. “Not surprising when you behave like a whore.” He bit the words out. “You’ve made me very angry. You’re such a cheap, depraved lay.”

“Give me that!” Katherine yelled. Taking a couple of steps forward, she grabbed the tin with such force that Eric stumbled. She could feel Bubbles tense, as if ready to leap. “Stay, girl, with me.”

“There—see! No manners. You could’ve just asked. Obviously you need me to look after you. And the first thing is—no more boyfriends! I’m the one,” he ranted, and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Me!”

“Fuck you! Who the
hell
do you think you are and how
dare
you invade our family home! And how the hell did you get in?”

“You shouldn’t leave keys lying around the place. Anyone could—”

“Could what, Eric?” She shoved him. “Come on—you’re so clever—could what?!”

Bubbles forced her body between Katherine and Eric. Growling, she grabbed Eric’s wrist and began to pull him away.

“Get your dog off me!” Eric’s face twisted in shock. The bluster was gone, and his eyes showed the first signs of fear.

“Bubbles, with me,” Katherine said. She was surprised when Bubbles came to her.

Eric sidled behind the dining table. “You and your friends are always taking off for the bathroom together, leaving stuff all over the table.” Chin down, he eyed her with a crooked, deranged smile.

“Unless you want to spend a very long time in a gaol cell, give me the keys—now!”

He dangled them—and Jack’s bow-tie—in front of her. “You won’t get them this time,” he jeered.

She threw the tin like a fat Frisbee, aiming for his head. His hands flew up to protect his face. The sharp edge of the tin hit his knuckles, then fell and bounced on the timber floor. The lid popped off the tin and rolled under the Christmas tree. Bubbles leapt and two dinner plate-sized paws, and one hundred and ten pounds of dog, landed on Eric’s chest. He dropped like a bag of sand. Bubbles stood over him, drooling. Eric dropped the keys, and the bow-tie. Katherine snatched them up and shoved them in the pocket of her sweats. The biscuit tin sat on its round edge and rocked back and forth. Letters, bound in coloured ribbon, spilled out.

Fuming with rage, Katherine pulled Bubbles back, saying, “With me, with me.”

Eric scrambled to his feet, and she shoved him. “Get out!”

He rubbed his knuckles and stumbled back. Katherine grabbed her bag, rummaged for her mobile, pulled it out and took photos of Eric before dialling. “I have speed dial to the police. They’ll be here within minutes. I have reported you three times, but now I have more than enough evidence to take you to court!” She turned her phone around, showed him the photos, and pressed
Send
.

Eric gritted his teeth, and tried to give her a scathing look that didn’t quite make it. His eyes darted around the room, looking through windows, then back at her and Bubbles.

“You don’t deserve me.”

“You’re so right, Eric. But then, nobody does.”

He swung around and scurried out the back door. Katherine picked up the landline phone and called the police. She stood on a chair and waved her mobile back and forth until she had enough reception to send the photos. The police said they would take immediate steps to make an arrest. Relieved the officer was taking action, Katherine took a moment to collect herself, and hugged Bubbles. “You are my perfect brave girl. Not once did you leave my side, so brave, so brave.”

The bundles of love letters, stark against the dark timber floor caught her eye. Katherine picked them up and was about to put them back when something sparkled inside the tin. She reached in and lifted out a large, solitaire diamond engagement ring.
That’s weird
. She’d never seen her mother wear it. A letter floated to the floor. Thinking it was a game, Bubbles pounced on it.

“Give it to me, thank you. Good girl.”

It was an official letter from the Australian Armed Forces, stating that Andrew Riley was dead. All blood drained from Katherine’s face. Irrational fear ran like ice through her veins.

“This can’t be,” she whispered, her mouth dry. Her legs gave way and she dropped to the couch.

Katherine started to shake. There had to be a mistake. But, like rapid fire, words, moments, memories came flooding back. An awkward moment came to mind: it was a summer’s day; she’d walked in barefoot and heard her mother talking with her father. Their heated argument had stopped the moment they saw her. Unspoken words had hung heavy in the room. Katherine could only remember that it had to do with her, and it was serious. Her lips parted, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. Dizziness clouded her brain, but she couldn’t sit still and she pushed herself out of the couch.

She began to pace. “It’s absurd.”
Deny, deny, deny
. “This is ridiculous. There has to be a simple explanation.”

In a panic, she gathered all the letters, shoved them into the tin, jammed the lid back on, and threaded the ring onto a chain she wore around her neck. Who could she talk to? Her mother was on a plane. Pierre knew something, she was sure of it. When Jack was explaining about his search, Pierre had turned ashen. Quickly, she dialled his mobile number.

“Katy, what’s up, sweetie?”

“Can you talk?”

“Of course, I’m just having breakfast at the Hyatt.”

Katherine explained what she’d found and strode to the kitchen. She put the tin on the table and, with a wet cloth, wiped the top. Silence at the other end intensified Katherine’s apprehension; it told her there was more to this than an old boyfriend’s love letters. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“Pierre! I need to prepare myself for when Mum gets here. I’m not delusional, am I? She’s not keeping this tin for a friend? Mum is the one Andrew is looking for?” She stared at the tin. A banner across the top, in rusty, faded script said:
ANZAC Biscuits. Australian Army Edition
.

“Pierre, talk to me!”

“Please, dear Katy,” he said gently, “I can’t help you with this. You need to speak to your mother.”

“I can’t ring her—Pierre!” Katherine pushed. “Mum’s on a plane.”

“Sweet lord, Katherine, I can’t! This is between you and your mother!”

“Oh for goodness sake, Uncle,” Katherine snapped. “Was Andrew my mother’s boyfriend—lover?” She was nearing the end of her patience. “Mum and Dad were childhood sweethearts! They loved each other,” Katherine cried out. “I saw it every day. Loving touches. Loving words. They never argued.”