It was hard to feel anything other than happy when the weather was so nice and the air so fresh. But Isla was not happy.
‘Another day with just a two year old for company,’ she moaned as Aiden drank his morning coffee.
‘You just need to make some friends around here, that’s all.’
‘I’ve tried and no one here wants to be my friend. No one here gets me.’
‘I’m sorry, hon, I’m sure you’ll meet someone on your wavelength soon enough.’ Aiden wasn’t paying that much attention to his wife as his mind was already at the office, thinking about the working day which lay ahead of him.
‘Aid, I’m lonely.’
Aiden sighed and placed his mug of hot stimulant down and gave his wife a steady, long look. He was as tired as she was lonely of being caught in the same argument. She didn’t like Avalon, he did. She had come because of him, had sacrificed the life she knew. But in his mind it was done now and she needed to at least try and make the best of it. From where he was standing, Isla seemed reluctant to even try, preferring instead to dig in her heels and just lament about how miserable she was.
‘Just give it time,’ he told her sternly, hoping the tone of his voice would encourage her to drop the topic for at least one morning.
‘I’ve given it time!’ she exclaimed angrily, not sensing his annoyance.
‘A couple of months is nothing. It can years to settle somewhere new. Be patient.’
‘Patient! Aid, I’m wasting away here!’ Isla bunched her hands into fists as she spoke and began to pace around the kitchen.
Aiden gestured towards their daughter who was happily eating her breakfast, oblivious to their heated exchange.
‘She is the sole reason we are here,’ he said. ‘Her wellbeing matters more than our own. That’s what happens when you become a parent. So next time you feel lonely, or isolated, or frustrated because you can’t get your nails done how you like them, think of our little girl and how much she is benefitting from being around you, from living somewhere without copious amounts of air pollution.’
‘Are you calling me a bad mother?’ Isla’s hands instantly moved to her hips as she delivered the accusation, glaring at her husband.
‘Jeez, no,’ Aiden sighed, regretting having tried to even make the point about Meegan’s welfare.
‘Because it sounds like you’re calling me a bad mother!’ Isla declared again, becoming confrontational.
‘Isla, no. You’re not a bad mother; I’m just suggesting you need to get some perspective on the situation.’
He rose up and went over to his wife and, placing his hands on her shoulders, bent down and softly kissed her cheek. Her body was stiff beneath his touch but loosened slightly when he kissed her.
He needed the argument to be over, for Isla to be in a decent mood when he left so that he wouldn’t come home to further animosity.
‘Meegan loves it here and you will too,’ he whispered soothingly and Isla managed to smile slightly.
‘So you don’t think I’m a bad mother?’
‘Of course not. You can just be a little self-involved,’ he added the last part lightly, as a tease, so she wouldn’t get wound up again.
‘Whatever, get out of here. Go earn the money to put bread on this table!’ Isla’s bad mood had passed and she was now appearing almost cheerful. She always looked so much prettier when she smiled. Aiden wished her temperament would allow her to do it more often.
‘See you later! Bye, princess.’ He kissed both his wife and daughter on their foreheads before stepping out the door and into the sunshine to commence a new working day.
*
Aiden drove through Avalon with his windows down and his radio on. The station he was tuned in to was playing a country song about loving someone who was with someone else. Though the lyrics were pained, the melody was upbeat and Aiden happily tapped along on his steering wheel.
He was in a good, possibly great, mood until he saw the flash of blue lights in his rear-view mirror, which was shortly after joined by the scream of a police siren which drowned out the radio completely.
Checking his mirrors, Aiden signalled and pulled over, unsure what exactly he had done to deserve being stopped. His music wasn’t loud, he had been well within the speed limit, there hadn’t been a stop sign he had overlooked.
He was still pondering on why he had been pulled over when he saw a familiar figure emerge from the police squad car which had parked up a few feet behind him. Buck Fern stepped out into the sunshine. A large Stetson shielded his eyes from the sun but he still squinted as he strode over towards Aiden.
Buck took his time walking over, taking arrogant, deliberate steps, as though he were taking some special joy in forcing Aiden to take time out of his day for him. Eventually he reached Aiden’s car and leant down to look in through the open window.
‘Morning, Mr Connelly,’ he drawled the words out almost as slowly as he moved.
‘Good morning, Sheriff, is everything all right?’
‘You’ve got a tail light out.’ Buck glanced to the back of the car.
Of course he had. Aiden inwardly groaned at not having noticed it sooner and thus preventing this awkward encounter.
‘I have? I must not have noticed. I’ll get that sorted out later today.’ Aiden answered politely.
‘There’s a good garage up near the turn pike,’ Buck offered, shifting his weight so that he was leaning against the car, clearly in no hurry to conclude their conversation.
‘Okay, thanks, I’ll check them out.’
‘Offer good prices too. Not that you lawyer types need worry about money.’ There it was. Aiden knew the old man would struggle to last five minutes without insulting him somehow.
Buck leant away briefly to spit on the ground and his breath suggested he’d been chewing tobacco.
Aiden wanted to leave, to drive off and get away from Buck Fern and his bitterness but he felt that the old man wasn’t done with him yet. That the out tail light was merely a front for something else he wanted to discuss.
‘I hear you’re working on my brother’s case,’ Buck said lightly, as though it were common knowledge around town.
Aiden had to give the sheriff credit; he’d certainly wasted little time getting to the point.
‘How do you know about that?’ He’d only just started work on the case so he was surprised word could have got round so quickly.
‘Nothing goes on in this town that I don’t know about,’ Buck replied arrogantly.
Aiden wanted to point out that, actually, an awful lot occurred in Avalon that Buck didn’t know about. Like horrific domestic abuse or priests who were driven to murder but then tried to
