this time?’
‘Nuffin’, Mrs Yates. I got nuffin.’
‘You want me to call the cops or do you want to deal directly with me?’ she asked, placing her hands on her hips in a don’t-mess-with-me manner.
Kellie couldn’t help feeling a carload of burly cops might be preferable to facing the ire of the large-framed woman. The youth scowled and emptied his pockets just as someone came into the store.
‘What’s going on, Cheryl?’ Matt asked.
‘Ty here decided he wanted to borrow a few items but he’s since changed his mind,’ Cheryl said as she escorted the boy to the front door. ‘Haven’t you, Ty?’
Ty’s expression was all brooding surly teenager but Kellie could see beyond it to the lost little boy inside. He reminded her of her brother Nick who had often wound up in trouble in an effort to draw attention to himself.
‘How’s it going with Mrs Williams looking after you guys?’ Matt asked Ty.
‘All right, I s’pose,’ the boy mumbled.
He gave Ty’s shoulder a quick squeeze. ‘Go easy on her, mate,’ he said. ‘She’s not as young as your mum, you know.’
‘I know …’
Kellie stepped forward. ‘Hi, Ty, I’m Kellie Thorne, the new doctor in town. I was thinking about coming to visit Ruth at your place. I can give you a lift if you like then you can show me the way.’
‘All right,’ Ty said in a grudging tone. ‘But it’s not far. I can easily walk.’
‘Then why don’t we do that?’ she suggested. ‘I need the exercise. I’ve been cooped up inside all day. A walk in the fresh air is just what I need, and I have no idea where your house is. Ruth did tell me but I’ve completely forgotten.’
The boy gave an indifferent shrug, which Kellie took to be an affirmative. She turned to Cheryl and snatched up three chocolate bars from the counter. ‘I’ll take these as well,’ she said with a little smile as she handed over some money.
Cheryl turned to Matt once Kellie had left the store with the boy at her side. ‘Pretty little thing, isn’t she?’ she commented.
‘Stop it, Cheryl,’ he growled. ‘You’re starting to sound like Trish. I’m sure Tim and Claire have colluded with her about appointing Dr Thorne. In fact, I think the whole town’s been in on it. Everywhere I go people give me a knowing look.’
‘But she is very pretty,’ she said. ‘And it’s well and truly time you moved on. You’re young, Matt. Too young to be denying yourself a bit of fun. Why don’t you ask her out to your place for a meal?’
Matt schooled his features into a blank mask. ‘I’m not interested.’
Cheryl chuckled as she handed him the groceries she had got ready for him earlier. ‘You can’t fool me, Matt, any more than Ty Smithton or his wayward brothers can. You’re interested all right, it’s just your head hasn’t caught up with your body and your heart.’
Matt frowned as he made his way back to his car. He didn’t want to be interested but he just couldn’t help it. Kellie was like a magnet he couldn’t resist. He felt himself being drawn towards her in spite of his efforts to keep his distance. She exuded life and hope and joy. He had never met someone with such an exuberant boots-and-all mentality before. She went at everything like a bull at a gate, which made him realise how much he had shut himself away over the years. He was lonely, there was no point denying it. He craved the easy companionship of a secure relationship, having been denied it during his formative years.
Madeleine had been so stable, so dependable and reliable.
But totally predictable, a little voice piped up, seemingly from nowhere.
He got behind the wheel and gripped it with both hands until his knuckles turned white.
He liked predictable, at least in his private life. He liked knowing what was going to happen next.
Matt couldn’t imagine Kellie being predictable, or at least not from what he had seen from her so far. She was impulsive, for one thing. Her scheme to bring the single mothers together was well meaning but fraught with disaster. She was new to the community. She had no idea of how things worked out here. She would no doubt go in with all her social-conscience guns blazing and end up with some of her bullets ricocheting back to hurt her.
He gunned the engine and put the car into gear. It wasn’t his problem if she got hurt. What did he care? He had only met her a couple of days ago. She was a city chick who was here for six months and six months only.
But somehow as he drove towards his property he couldn’t quite rid himself of the image of Kellie walking alongside the spotty-faced, scowling Ty Smithton. She had taken the time to stop and speak in a respectful way to a troubled young boy who was hell bent on ruining his life. She hadn’t turned up her nose or shrunk away in fear. She had faced the young boy as an equal and asked him to help her.
The least Matt could do was support her during the time she was here, which reminded him he had promised to organise for someone to fix that sticking window.
No reason why it couldn’t be him.
Kellie couldn’t believe the chaos at the Smithtons’ house. Ruth had clearly made some headway but there was still a lot to be done. There was a roomful of clothes that had been washed and dried but not sorted. Kellie had never seen such a mould-ridden bathroom and the boys’ rooms were like war zones.
Ruth was clearly finding it harder than she had expected and communicated that once the boys had retreated to their rooms. ‘I can’t believe how messy they are,’ she said as she wiped the benchtops yet again. ‘I no sooner clean up after them and they’re at it again. And eat! I can’t believe what they can put away.’
‘They’re boys and they’re fully loaded with testosterone,’ Kellie said, ‘It’s entirely normal for them to eat like gannets, believe me.’
Ruth gave a sigh. ‘Tegan was the opposite. She hardly ate a thing, especially after I married Dirk. I often wonder if things would have been different … you know, if I hadn’t gone ahead with the marriage. Tegan missed her father—he died when she was eight. I was lonely and then Dirk came along and we got along quite well. I hadn’t worked since before Tegan was born so I think I might have been looking for security more than anything. It was a disaster from the word go.’
‘Stepparenting is a difficult task for most people,’ Kellie offered.
‘Yes,’ Ruth said, sighing again. ‘Dirk wasn’t the most patient of men and he had rather strict ideas on what girls should and shouldn’t do. There have been rumours over the years that he had something to do with her disappearance but I wouldn’t have thought him capable of something like that. But even now I lie awake at night and wonder if I missed something somewhere.’
‘I really don’t know how you’ve remained so strong,’ Kellie said.
‘The first few years were the worst,’ Ruth said. ‘Dirk passed away eighteen months after Tegan disappeared. He had a massive heart attack. I had to keep myself together in case Tegan came back. I kept
