Home Truths (27 page)

‘You'd better have a word with your missus,' Fry said, slapping a fist into his cupped hand.

‘Don't threaten my missus,' Calum said, staring down past his nose at Fry. He felt his lip twitch and hoped it added power to his message.

Fry stared back, flexed his neck and said nothing. Calum turned and stepped up to Jennifer. A whisper of air separated his face from hers.

‘They're a couple of uglies and you're naive. Don't say another word unless you want to see blood.' Slowly, Jennifer nodded. ‘Theirs, of course.' He winked. ‘Stay put. And I mean it this time.' He turned back, feeling a deal was imminent.

‘Boys,' Calum said with a sideways nod, ‘come with me.' He headed towards his parked Range Rover. Arms crossed, he rested his butt casually on the bonnet. ‘We're country folk. We provide you with steak and veg. There has to be a way around this problem.'

‘I'm a vegetarian,' Stefan informed him loftily.

‘Shut-the-fuck-up, you idiot,' Fry barked.

‘I'm willing to meet you halfway.' Calum rested a foot on the bumper. ‘Five grand.'

Stefan looked as if he were in pain. Fry stiffened, balled his fists, and took a deep breath. ‘How's this? Five grand, plus two for expenses?'

‘What sort of expenses are we talking here?' Calum wanted to know.

‘Oh for fuck's sake!' Fry lost his cool. ‘Petrol money, motels, nervous tension, I don't care — whatever you like to call it — but that little fuck is gunna pay.' Fry leaned forward, chin out. He jabbed the air inches from Calum's chest. ‘That friggin' little aggravation owes us. It's the principle. Part of good business practice. No one owes us — no one!'

‘I'll give you six. A cheque do?'

Stefan grumbled. Fry paused long and hard. He rolled his shoulders again.

‘Okay. For fuck's sake,' he spat out, ‘write the fucking cheque so we can get the fuck outta this fucking hole.'

Calum opened the glove compartment, pulled out his chequebook and wrote out the cheque. Fry snatched it from his hand, scrutinised it, then he and Stefan jumped into their black Mazda Sports. Fry made a u-turn and gave them the finger as he drove past.

‘Oh, very nice.' Jennifer's tone cracked with sarcasm.

Calum ushered her inside. ‘Don't look at me like that. Go tell Bret it's done.'

He was about to close the door when he saw Bruce casually clomping towards him in his farm co-op overalls, T-shirt stretched over burly man-muscles. Calum wondered how much Bruce had seen, and did it matter anyway?

‘Evening, Cal.' Bruce gave a slight nod. He had a perpetual puppy face that made women want to mother him.

‘Hey, Bruce, how's married life?'

‘Bloody brilliant, mate. Bloody brilliant. Mum's come around; she's knitting a layette, whatever that is.' Bruce extended his left hand. ‘You got a moment?'

‘What's all this?' Calum nodded towards Bruce's leftie handshake.

Bruce brought his right hand out from behind his back, and held up a middle finger firmly wrapped in white bandages. ‘I squashed it in the extendable ladder, dislocated the last knuckle.'

‘Shit, Bruce, that would've hurt.'

‘Shit yeah!' Bruce sucked air in through his teeth.

‘When'd you do a stupid thing like that?'

‘This arvo during a drill. The fire chief wanted to make sure we were ready for the wine festival.'

A thought crossed Calum's mind. He knew what was coming and looked steadfastly at Bruce.

‘Definitely not. No way!'

‘But Cal, there isn't anyone else. You have to.'

‘No, I don't,' Calum pointed out emphatically. ‘And anyway, last time I practised the cattle freaked.'

‘Jeez, Cal, it's not so much for me, but what about the rest of the town? Our reputation will be shot.'

‘You can't use guilt tactics, Bruce. You're hopeless at it.' The desperate look on Bruce's face was another thing. ‘Christ!' Calum sighed. ‘You owe me, big time. Fuck, I don't believe I've agreed to this — shit!'

‘You'll be fine.' Bruce laid his good hand on Calum's shoulder. ‘I have bucket-loads of confidence in you.'

‘You'll need more than that. You'd better talk to the universal dudes. Or whoever thinks this is some sort of perverse payback for leaving.' Calum turned to go.

‘There's something else.' Bruce said. ‘The heritage committee wants to know if you've got extinguishers in the restaurant kitchen. It's not mandatory, but it probably wouldn't hurt to have one upstairs as well.'

‘Yep, there's two in the restaurant and one in the pantry upstairs. Might not be a bad idea to come by and show Jen how they work.'

‘I can do that.' Bruce's face wrinkled up. He seemed full of misgivings as he scratched his head.

‘Now what?' Calum asked.

‘Well, I kinda scared the pants off her — hey, not literally. Jeez that came out all wrong.' Calum smiled, admiring the big man. ‘Yeah, no wonder Jennifer squealed when you took her down the ladder the day she threw the toaster out the window. What've you been eating?'

‘Nothin',' Bruce said with wide-eyed innocence. He peered down at his ample belly. ‘Free doughnuts at the station, and Kathleen's an amazing cook.'

‘Listen mate, Jennifer has never mentioned that she was scared.' Calum stated with a grin. ‘I think she's very proud of herself. But for her sake and her guests', you'd better give her instructions on how to use extinguishers. While you're at it, tell her anything else she needs to know — like what to do with a full restaurant in case of fire.'

‘Okay, will do. Hey, I didn't interrupt anything earlier? Those two blokes you were talkin' to left in an awful hurry.'

‘No, it's good. Hope Brock catches up with them. A couple of speeding tickets would be good, say a thousand dollars worth.'

‘Yep, that'd hurt,' Bruce said. ‘Not friends then?'

‘No. I'll tell you all about it one day.' Calum turned to go back inside. ‘Don't forget Jen and her fire drills.'

‘I won't. I'll drop by soon as I can. And don't forget to practise.'

‘Yeah right, wonder where I'm going to do that.' Calum felt a grin coming on and said, ‘I know. I'll come to your place.' He left Bruce, standing on the footpath, mouth open.

* * *

Upstairs, Jennifer paced the hall and every time she passed the kitchen door, Bret looked up from twisting a piece of cotton he'd plucked from his hoodie. She was angry, yet her heart went out to him.

At last, familiar footsteps sounded on the stairs. Seconds later, Calum strode towards her.

‘What kept you?' she asked, relieved to see him unharmed. ‘I saw them take off.'

‘Got to chatting with Bruce.'

‘What did he want? Did Bruce see anything — did anyone?'
Damn,
Jennifer thought,
I sound like my mother.

‘Yeah, he asked. I told him they weren't friends and hoped Brock would book them for speeding.' Calum studied her face.

‘What were you doing over by your car?'

Calum cocked an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look. ‘Let's get Bret. Then I don't have to repeat myself.'

‘Don't go getting all — thingy on me,' Jennifer protested, and instantly regretted her uppity tone.

‘Thingy?' Calum couldn't hide his amusement.

‘The hero who looks after the little woman and is taking control — thingy, like you did outside.'

‘Wait a minute, I get it. You were worried about me.' He gave her one of his quirky half-smiles and put a hand on his chest. ‘I'm touched.'

Jennifer strode off down the hall. Calum followed close behind, his amusement almost like a feathery tickle up her back.

‘You're a farmer from a country town. They're nasties from the city. And now you're involved in my brother's dodgy affairs.'
And probably the whole town is as well — bloody
hell.

‘Hey, I can look after myself. I've got brawn.' His eyes smouldered, and then he whispered in her ear, ‘And I can make you pant and scream for more.'

Jennifer couldn't deny it. ‘And that makes everything okay?'

‘Lots of things should make it okay.' He leant in and kissed her cheek.

Jennifer thumped his shoulder. ‘Bret's in the kitchen.' She glared at the grin he tried to hide.

Bret looked up from the table. Worry lines etched his tired face.

‘Let's talk.' Calum swung a chair around, straddled it, and rested his arms on the back.

Bret rubbed a hand over his face. The light of the hanging lamp made the dark circles under his eyes stand out. ‘Are they gone?'

‘Yep,' Calum replied.

‘I think it's time
you
were responsible for your actions.' Jennifer told her brother. ‘Get a job like a normal person. Learn a trade. I'll show you how to julienne carrots.'

Bret's face screwed up in distaste. ‘No thanks. I'd rather do something outdoors.'

‘You what?' Jennifer slammed her hands on the table in front of him and leaning forward closed in on his face. ‘Listen, you don't have a say anymore, got that?' She straightened and clipped him up the side of his head.

Calum cut in. ‘You can help on the farm. Since the renovations here, I've got a truckload of chores.'

‘Um…' Bret mumbled, worried eyes flitting from one to the other.

Jennifer was ready to throttle both of them — one for hesitating at a wonderful opportunity, the other for giving it.

‘Wait just a minute, Calum. My brother is a schemer. He uses people, even his own sisters.'

‘Fair go, sis.'

‘It's true. You're constantly looking at ways to make a quick buck to impress Mother and Father, and on the way you leave a path of destruction. The goons won't give up, they'll be…' A thought occurred to Jennifer. She swung around to face Calum. ‘Just what did happen out there? Don't tell me they took a cheque?'

‘I paid six grand to save Bret's legs. To my way of thinking, he can work it off on the farm, one leg at a time.'

It took a moment for Calum's bombshell to register. ‘You what!' Jennifer yelled.

‘Six?' Bret asked. ‘I've just been sweating over ten for nothing! How?'

‘I negotiated,' Calum replied with a smile.

He was enjoying this family feud; Jennifer could see it in his eyes. She glanced at her brother. He gazed in wonder at his saviour.

‘I knew I'd made a mistake the minute you talked to me about — blood, and I listened. What makes you think they won't come back for the rest?'

Calum eyed her as if to say, give me
some
credit. ‘They won't be back. Asking for ten was a tactic they hoped would work. What better way to make another five grand — which you would have given them unnecessarily.'

‘You heard him, sis.' Bret looked at Calum in awe.

‘Who says I would've? Don't assume you know everything about me, because you do
not
.' Jennifer clenched her fists, trying to contain herself. ‘This is our affair — we could've sorted it out. But oh no, Mr Hero had to stick his nose in, and now you've probably endangered yourself, your gran and your sister. Crap follows my brother, and anyone near will get sucked into his dodgy, fucked-up life!' She paused for breath, then added, ‘I'll go to the bank Monday morning and you'll have the money back.'

Calum pursed his lips against a smile. ‘I don't want it.'

‘Well, you're getting it. And what's so funny?' she demanded.

‘You look hot when you're angry, and it makes me want to laugh — I can't help that. You're gorgeous, I love to see you fiery. If Bret weren't here, I'd —'

‘Oh really?' Jennifer said, chin up, but melting inside.

‘Anyway, despite all your objections, this is between Bret and me, man to man.' Calum's tone was final.

‘Man to man? Now I've heard it all. You think treating him like an adult will make a difference? He's twenty-two and behaves like an irresponsible teenager! When it suits him, he'll just walk off — disappear.' And gossip would race through town.
You know that girl who's opening a restaurant? Well her brother…
Jennifer cringed inside.

Calum said to Bret, ‘Do I have your word that you'll stay and work off your debt?' Hand extended, Calum waited for Bret to shake on it.

Bret's eyes were everywhere except on Calum. ‘I don't know anything about farming.'

‘You see?' Jennifer said. ‘He's already making excuses. He's allergic to hard work.'

Calum glanced her way with a cut-the-crap expression.

‘Don't you dare give me that
look
.' She glared back. ‘I've seen worse and they had knives.'

Calum turned back to Bret, eyebrows raised in question.

‘Chefs,' Bret explained. ‘Big ones — big knives.'

Calum grinned. ‘You're one hell of a woman.'

‘You can say that again.' Jennifer stepped closer, her body tense, determined. ‘This is not funny.
You
are interfering. Everyone will learn that I have a brother who brings thugs to their town. How will that look — I'm about to open a classy restaurant. Some townspeople will thank you for giving them juicy gossip, all because you stuck your nose into something that doesn't concern you. You wanted to play the big man, the hero.' Her statement rang in her ears. She regretted every word the moment it popped out of her mouth, but it was too late. Not only did she sound like her mother, she sounded ungrateful. Oh God, what had she done? Jennifer wanted a hole in the floor to swallow her up then spit her out somewhere far away. Maybe she'd land back in the past so she could start anew. She felt embarrassment burn her face.

All humour left Calum's eyes. ‘I'll be back for Bret in the morning.' Without another word, he turned and walked out the door.