Outback Blaze (23 page)

‘When you find him though,' Jonas continued, ‘be sure to shake his hand for me. That bitch and her parents deserve a shake up after what they put me and my family through.'

‘Jonas,' Saskia warned, shifting beside Drew.

‘What?' Jonas shot a look at his sister. ‘It's true. She can burn in hell as far as I'm concerned.'

Saskia nodded.

Drew thought of Ruby, how soft her lips had felt against his, and rage coiled within him. He clenched his fists, resisting the urge to get up and plant one in Jonas's face. ‘So you think it's okay to beat up on women and that you didn't deserve punishment for it?'

Jonas leaned forward, narrowed his eyes and glared right back at Drew. He slammed his bottle hard onto the glass coffee table and both Drew and Saskia flinched. ‘That bitch deserves everything she got. When a woman has your diamond on her finger, she should put out.'

Drew's nails dug into his palms at the thought of this idiot's hands anywhere near Ruby. Just the thought of them sleeping together made his skin crawl and his chest hurt. He'd heard more than enough and needed to leave before he did or said something he'd regret.

He imagined Jonas the type to whip horses for his own amusement. What was hard to understand was how someone like Ruby – so soft, gentle and caring – had ever fallen for him. Of course the answer was probably obvious. How many cases of domestic abuse had he witnessed where the men were absolute charmers, ‘he was oh so romantic', until they moved in together or got married? Then the real man surfaced.

When he thought about it, it wasn't much different to him thinking Belinda was a sweet, fun woman who actually enjoyed his company and then finding out she had a crazy streak and an inability to stay faithful to one guy.

He stood, indicating he was almost done. ‘Can I have the names and contact details of the people who would have seen you at the rehearsal dinner? Other than family that is.'

‘Sure.' Jonas lifted one shoulder and returned his attention to the TV as if he hadn't just nearly broken the coffee table. ‘See Leah on your way out and she'll organise a list for you, but I'm telling you you're wasting your time.'

Drew smiled thinly and started towards the door. ‘I'll be the judge of that.'

Saskia jumped up and followed him. ‘I'll go get Leah for you.'

He wasn't sure what to make of her. She was supportive of Jonas, but like a child eager to please. ‘Where are your parents?' he asked as they headed for the front door.

‘Oh, they're away in Europe at the moment.' She drew her lips together in a pout. ‘It's still apparently okay for some.'

Having no clue what she meant, he waited on the porch while the spoilt little rich girl tottered over to the office block and, as he watched her retreat, he suddenly clicked why he recognised her. Well, not her exactly. Belinda's best friend Natasha could have been Saskia Vanderbrek's doppelganger.

Ruby thought it a contrary state of affairs that one's world could be falling apart in so many ways yet the mundane chores still needed to be done. Clothes still needed to be washed, bodies still required food to function, dust still fell over furniture and the horses still needed love and attention. Not that this last part was a chore. Without Riley and Roxie, Ruby would have gone insane.

Today the most pressing of duties was shopping.

In the time since the fire, she and her parents had managed to live on a well-stocked pantry and donated casseroles, only nipping into the IGA to get milk and bread a couple of times. But the supplies were running low and Ruby could no longer put off a trip to the supermarket.

Usually she didn't mind grocery shopping. She and her mum often did it on Saturday mornings when her dad and a couple of casuals manned The Ag Store, and usually finished with morning tea at Frankie's café, but all routine had flown out the window with the fire. Her parents used to get up with the sparrows but were now still in bed at eleven o'clock in the morning. Sighing, she flicked the switch on the kettle and picked up the notebook her mum used to write shopping lists. While the water boiled, she checked the pantry and started scribbling.

‘Morning, sweetheart.'

At the sound of her mum's voice, Ruby stuck her head around the pantry door and smiled. ‘Hey Mum, how are you feeling today?'

Lyn sighed and took a seat at the table. ‘Still a little fatigued after yesterday. I seriously thought we were going to be thrown in the slammer.'

‘That is so not going to happen,' Ruby said, accidentally clanging two mugs together as she set to making coffee. ‘Drew, I mean, Constable Noble doesn't think you did it.'

‘I don't think the police are sure about anything at the moment,' Lyn said, sounding defeated.

‘Where's Dad?' Ruby asked.

‘He's gone into his shed to find something to do. You know he can't stand being idle.'

‘Well, maybe he should come shopping with us?' Even as Ruby suggested this she knew her dad would never go for the idea. He believed shopping to be women's business. Taking him anywhere near a store was more painful than escorting a group of toddlers through an art gallery.

Lyn gave her a skeptical look and then said, ‘Do we need to buy food?'

‘Desperately.' Just the fact that her mum hadn't noticed the virtual desert in their cupboards showed how much all that had happened recently had affected her. ‘Maybe we can grab an early lunch at Frankie's and then do the shopping after?'

Lyn shook her head. ‘I'm not in the mood for going out, darling. Do you mind if I leave it to you this time?'

Ruby swallowed a sigh. It was hard work trying to keep her parents' spirits up. ‘No, of course not. Is there anything special you'd like me to get?'

‘No thanks.' Lyn turned to stare out of the kitchen window. Even when Ruby plonked a steaming mug of coffee in front of her, she didn't stir.

Feeling flattened, Ruby finished the list and her own coffee in silence and decided she'd head to Frankie's café anyway. It would do
her
good to get out.

‘How are you?' Frankie asked, her pen poised over a small notepad ready to take Ruby's order. It was almost lunchtime and Frankie's café – reputed to have the best damn food between Perth and Geraldton – was filling quickly.

‘Over it,' Ruby said bluntly. She didn't know Frankie that well, but she was the type of person who made you feel as if you could share your life story within moments of meeting her.

‘Don't blame ya.' Frankie sucked on the end of her pen for a few moments. ‘I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'd rather you hear it from me than some silly busybody. Word is your parents threw the match, so to speak.'

Ruby closed her eyes for a moment, wondering why she was surprised. It was the obvious conclusion that would have been made in response to her mum and dad being whisked off in the police car. ‘They were only questioned,' she said. ‘They didn't do it, so no charges were laid.' Why couldn't
that
news spread as fast?

‘Hey, I believe you.' Frankie reached over and squeezed Ruby's hand. ‘I just wanted you to be prepared.'

‘Thanks.' Ruby placed her order even though she no longer felt like eating. ‘I'll have the sweet potato quiche and salad, please.'

‘Sure thing, darl. It's on me.'

She went to argue but Frankie tossed her a look and she swallowed her words, instead grabbing a glass and filling it from the iced-water pitcher at the other end of the counter. She'd barely sat down and taken the first sip when the group of old ladies at the table in front of her got up, grabbed their bags and hurried to the other side of the café. Her eyes boggled as they repositioned themselves, whispering behind wrinkly hands as they did so. She couldn't hear their words, but the way they kept glancing in her direction and shaking their heads explained the gist of their conversation.

Ruby forced herself to stop looking at them and focus on the
Marie-Claire
magazine Frankie had left on the table. The door to the café opened and closed a number of times and the lunch rush filled tables all around her. Yet, when Frankie's offsider brought over Ruby's lunch, the table closest to her remained empty. She tried not to read too much into this but it was hard when, every time she looked up, someone at another table made a point to move away. The quiche tasted delicious but she couldn't enjoy it. Leaving at least a quarter of it still on the plate, she pushed back her chair and picked up her bag, desperate to escape the toxic atmosphere.

‘Thanks Frankie,' she called as she passed the counter.

‘You're welcome.' Frankie returned a wave with an encouraging smile.

Ruby weaved through the tables to the exit, encouraged when Mrs O'Neil's hand shot out and stopped her. ‘Hello, sweetheart. Macy's been telling me all about her horse-riding lessons. This town is so lucky to have you here to offer something like that to our kids.'

It was an obvious attempt to cheer her up and Ruby appreciated it. ‘Thank you, Mrs O'Neil. Macy is a pleasure to teach.'

‘I was horrified to hear about your parents being hauled down to the station like regular criminals yesterday.' She shot a look to her friend across the table and then looked back to Ruby. ‘Anyone with half a brain knows Robert and Lyn aren't capable of such a crime. Don't lose heart, dear.'

A lump formed at the back of her throat as Ruby smiled her thanks and continued towards the door. As she hurried down the main street to the supermarket, she found herself the victim of some more harsh stares, but she distracted herself looking out for Drew. She had no idea whether he was out on patrol or busy in the station, but she thought maybe since it was now midday he'd pop out to grab a bite to eat. Her interactions with him so far indicated he wasn't the sort to bring his own lunch in from home. She smiled at the thought.

Her feelings for Drew were like a rollercoaster. One minute the anger inside her burned so strongly she thought she would explode and the next moment he made her burn for entirely different reasons. He'd been so gentle and caring the night of the fire, then there was that ‘moment' in her car! Yet, his harsh judgment of her parents had threatened all of that.

Until he'd gone and told her he believed them to be innocent.

Now she was back to wishing he'd kiss her again. She let out a frustrated sigh as she headed for the supermarket and had almost forgotten the hostility at the café until she stepped inside.

‘She's got guts showing her face around here after what her folks put the town through the other night,' commented a customer from The Ag Store as she loaded her shopping onto the checkout. ‘To think I made them three ice-cream containers full of my famous tuna and mushroom casserole.'

‘It was really delicious, thanks, Mrs Brady.' Ruby smiled thinly, fuming. The casserole had made her want to vomit, much like its chef did now.

‘Hmph.' As if disgusted that the daughter of criminals dared speak to her, Eileen Brady turned back to her task.

The twenty-something behind the counter, an older sister of one of Ruby's horse-riding students, offered her a sympathetic smile, but it appeared the checkout chick was in the minority. Each time Ruby turned down an aisle, the customers would hurry the other way. It'd be amusing if it wasn't so downright despicable. Thank the Lord her mum insisted on staying home. The last thing Lyn needed was people she considered friends snubbing her.

As she turned down into the pasta and sauces aisle, Ruby noticed a couple perusing the spice shelf at the other end. Silently, she counted to three, waiting for them to look up in horror and then scuttle away, but she got to five before they noticed her. When they turned, they threw a tiny jar into their trolley and began to continue down the aisle – in
her
direction – she recognised them. She braced herself for Simone and Ryan to ignore her, or worse, say something cutting, but the other woman's face lit up.

Simone rushed towards her and wrapped her arms around her in a supportive hug. ‘Are you okay?' she whispered into her hair. ‘You'd have to be dead not to hear what people are saying about your parents, but I've been telling them all if I hear them say another word of those lies, I'll see to it they are dead.'

Ruby couldn't help smiling at Simone's words. She liked that Simone, like Frankie, didn't try and shelter her from the harsh reality of what people were saying.

‘I'll be okay. We just have to bide our time until the real arsonist is caught or some other scandal occurs.'

Ryan raised one eyebrow and smirked. ‘This is Bunyip Bay. That shouldn't take long. I hear we have a new year one teacher. The principal is bound to throw himself at her sooner or later.'

Earlier that year scandal had come in the form of an affair between a newly minted teacher, fresh from the city, and the married principal who'd called Bunyip Bay home for over twenty years. Needless to say the teacher didn't last long. To Ruby's surprise, the marriage seemed to be intact.

‘Anyway, what are you two doing?' she asked, peering into their trolley.

‘Ryan here said he hasn't had a good meal since Faith left,' explained Simone, digging him in the side. He smiled good-naturedly at her. ‘So I invited him to my place for dinner.' She paused, then added, ‘You're welcome to come if you like.'

As much as the idea of getting out of her house for the night appealed, Ruby couldn't accept. Simone might not have verbalised her desire for something to happen between herself and Ryan Forrester but that didn't mean it wasn't there. Hopefully Harriet and Grace would make themselves scarce for the evening because Simone and Ryan deserved to find happiness.

‘Thank you, but I don't want to leave Mum and Dad too long, not at the moment.'

Ryan and Simone nodded and both said, ‘Totally understandable.'