be sarcastic. It doesn’t suit you.’ Tammy tried to keep a straight face. There was a lot of muttering going on under Jack’s breath and she thought she heard, ‘I’d kill to not have to go to school.’ She could remember thinking the same thing a lot of years ago.
She parked outside and walked the path of the old doctor’s residence and up the stairs onto the verandah. Tammy knocked and opened the door. The residence was always open and Louisa would be out the back in the kitchen.
The tantalising aroma of fresh baking wafted down the hallway and she sighed philosophically about her new jeans that were a little tight already. Louisa’s scones were legendary.
‘Hello, Jack.’ Tiny Louisa held out her snuggly-grandma arms and smiled hugely as she enveloped him in a big hug. Louisa was the only person he’d suffer a hug from and the sight made Tammy smile too.
Jack emerged pink cheeked, grinned shyly, and he leaned up and kissed Louisa’s cheek. ‘Hello, Aunty Lou.’
‘You need fattening up, my boy. You and Paulo are like two skinny peas in a pod.’ She glanced fondly over at Paulo, who sat beside the window with an open book in front of him. ‘Paulo’s been forcing down my scones. Haven’t you, Paulo?’
Paulo smiled shyly at Louisa and kissed his fingers. ‘Delizioso.’
Tammy stepped in for her own hug, and she squeezed Louisa’s waist which suddenly seemed smaller than she remembered. She frowned. ‘You losing weight, Louisa?’
Louisa patted her round tummy. ‘Oh, I’m not cooking as much, though I’ve put on a pound or three since two more gorgeous Italians moved in.’
Tammy felt slightly reassured but decided she’d mention Louisa’s health to her dad next time she saw him.
She noticed Jack had wolfed down his scones by the time Peta and Nicola arrived. Misty and Ben’s girls were both fair-headed like their mother and Nicola stood half a head taller than her sister.
More hugs and more homemade strawberry jam and freshly whipped cream to be piled onto disappearing scones and then the children all trooped off to play outside. Tammy felt Paulo dragged his feet a little and she frowned after him.
She glanced at Louisa. ‘Maybe I should ring Montana? Paulo seemed happiest talking to Grace at the wedding.’ Grace was staying with Montana and Andy’s daughter while Gianni and Emma were on their first few nights of the honeymoon.
Louisa laughed. ‘She’ll be here soon. She and Dawn have been over every afternoon after school. The three get on very well.’
Tammy nodded, and helped Louisa carry their tea to the verandah. The women sat looking out over the green lawns, talked together easily while the children played and drank tea.
The sun shone on the red roof of the hospital across the road and fluffy white clouds made magical shapes in the blue of the sky. The breeze from the lake helped keep the temperature down and Tammy decided the two boys seemed to be getting on well enough.
The children’s games started simply, though even to a casual observer the boys competed for most stakes. They always seemed to be the last two to be found in hide-and-seek and were the fastest at finding people. Both were better than the girls at shooting hoops and it quickly became apparent how important it was to be the boy with the best score. Tammy shook her head as Jack whooped when he won the latest game.
The afternoon sun sank lower and Louisa went back inside to start dinner while Tammy flicked through a magazine as she watched them play.
Leon would be home soon, and her thoughts returned to the man who had erupted into her life with a compelling force she wasn’t prepared for.
She’d already seen his concern for Louisa but what was he like while he stayed here? Was he tidy and thoughtful? Did he wait to be served his meals or jump up to help? Was he a good father, attending to all Paulo’s needs? At the last thought she pulled herself up. It didn’t matter what the answer was to any of these questions, he was leaving on Sunday. And she was not going to waste her time wondering about things that didn’t concern her.
She called out to the children to suggest they finish off their games and come in. Stinky barked as he tried to join in and the sound echoed over the quiet, tree-lined street.
Tammy glanced at her watch again. He’d be here soon. The questions she’d asked herself itched like a raised rash at the back of her mind and she gave in to the urge to search out Louisa for some of the answers before it was too late.
Her mind wandered to whether or not Leon would visit her house tonight as well.
Wandered to the night after he left for his home country and how empty her den would feel.
Wandered to whether the tension she could feel heating between them could be contained to prevent an inferno, a conflagration that could damage them both as they went their separate ways in the very near future.
Her hip buzzed and she reached for her phone. It was Misty and she opened it with a smile.
Her smile fell at the unease plain in her stepmother’s voice. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling.’ Misty sounded shaky and Tammy felt her stomach drop. Misty went on. ‘Where’s your car?’
Tammy frowned into the phone. ‘Outside. Why?’
‘I’m coming over.’ Misty hung up.
Outside, the girls were happy to quit but the boys had one more point they wanted to settle and the ultimate test was Jack’s idea.
‘Just one last race. A longer one. I’ll race you past the last tree and around that car down the end of the road and back. No stopping.’
Paulo looked at the distance, pondering the slight incline in the hill over the rough stones and the fact that they both had bare feet. He’d always run well in bare feet. And he was fast.
‘Sì. Then we must go in, for my father will be here soon.’
‘You’re on.’ Jack looked at the girls. ‘Grace? You be starter.’
Paulo looked confused and Grace whispered, ‘I say, “Ready, set, go.” On “go” you run like the clappers.’
Paulo nodded. He understood ‘go’.
The other girls were silent as Grace counted. ‘Ready. Set. Go.’ The two boys took off like deer in the bush, along the path, down the hill, and Stinky ran with them, barking the whole way. The girls cheered as the two distant figures ran neck and neck and then split each side of the car as they came to it and turned for the return journey. Then a strange thing happened.
The car doors opened wide and two men got out and suddenly the boys disappeared. Almost as if they were sucked into the vehicle. Both of them. The doors shut and the car pulled away on the road out of town in a skid of gravel and the roar of an engine even the girls could hear.
All that was left was the dust and the tiny four-legged figure of Stinky chasing the black sedan down the road.
Grace blinked and looked at Nicky and Peta and then she spun on her heel and raced into the house. ‘Tammyyyyy. Someone’s taken them!’
Grace
