Chapter 8
Leonie bit her tongue, knowing if she didn’t she’d grind her teeth down to nothing. She counted to ten, focusing on the texture of soft pasta sheet, supple lamb mince, and creamy bechamel. “Okay,” she replied, coolly, “but I’m not trying again with him.”
“Okay, good.”
“Good?” She looked up. Now it’s good, as if last week at the restaurant didn’t even happen?
“Your Dad and I understand you know what you’re doing.” Mum held up her hands placatingly. “I just want to know—did we push you too hard?”
“Too . . . hard? About what, dentistry?”
“No, lah, we didn’t care what you did at school as long as you could earn a good living. I’m still talking about Mark.”
“I . . .” Leonie hesitated. “You want to know if you pushed me into a relationship with Mark?”
Mum nodded. “We just wanted you to find a good match, and to be happy and successful in life. We had no idea he was a liar and a cheat.”
“I didn’t either. Even when I kind of suspected, I didn’t want to believe it for ages.
” Agitated, she put a piece of lasagna into her mouth, regretting instantly how it made it hard to talk.
“Bu’ you and Dad didn’ pu’h me into it .
. . sorry. I gotta be honest, Mum, I don’t know whether to believe you about just wanting me to be happy. ”
Mum’s face fell. “How can you say that, Nee?”
“Well . . .” Leonie took a breath and tamped down on the guilt, an instant reaction to doubting her parents to their faces, that creeping feeling that she was a disappointment to her family.
It had shut her up so many times before, made her take back things she’d wanted to say, feelings she’d wanted to express.
She couldn’t go on like that now, still tamping down on herself just to please them.
That’s how she ended up staying with Mark so long, only to discover now that even though she couldn’t think of a time where they’d pushed her, she’d still felt funnelled into some narrow lane that seemed to lead only to marrying him.
She glanced at the kitchen and saw Hayden grinning over what looked like Lupe teasing Mackie about something. Knowing he was nearby made her feel strong.
“Look, I don’t mean you guys don’t love me,” she began. “I know you do, and I love you guys too. I just . . . Do you remember when we still lived north and you and Dad got mad at me for being friends with a shifter boy?”
“Yes?”
“Well, how can you say you care about my happiness when I couldn’t even hang out with my own best friend?”
“I thought Samantha was your best friend.”
“Hayden was my other best friend, Mum. And you told me to stay away from him. Then we moved so suddenly. Was that just so I wouldn’t be able to see him anymore?”
“I remember.” Mum nodded again. She was quiet for a moment, long enough for Leonie to wonder if her concern was about to be dismissed or diminished.
But then Mum gently pushed her plate away and leaned back.
“Haiya . . . There was a lot your Dad and I didn’t know back then.
Life is different here to where we used to live.
It’s why we came, so you could grow up in a bigger world with more opportunity.
But we weren’t prepared for how big it was or how fast you would grow up.
We were scared all the time that you would join a bad crowd and get in trouble.
Like your Aunty Mary, pregnant at fifteen.
And your cousin Ah Gim, become a gambler, choi! ”
“I’ve never even met them, Mum. And besides, shifters aren’t bad.”
“I know now, lah. But we never know shifters before. Then come here, and see all the news. Robbery here, home invasion there; shifter this, lah, shifter that. We just worry. Maybe we make wrong assuming but we just want to keep you safe.”
Leonie bit her lip. “If I’d dated a shifter instead of Mark, would you have minded?” she asked, not totally convinced of her Mum’s suggestion of becoming more open-minded.
“Of course not! I know about shifter by then already, lah. By the time you finish uni, I already understand.”
“You understand?”
Mum sat up proudly. “Yes! Some like dog, like cat, like bird, like snake—all different. Different personality as well, just like normal people.”
“Ah, Mum, they are normal people.”
“Aiyah, you know what I mean lah. You know, Aunty Daisy is a shifter.” She patted the underside of her short bob hairdo.
“Is that your hairdresser who works out of her house?”
“She got salon now, but I still go to her house. We good friends, you know.” Mum sniffed. “She has two daughters—one peacock like her, the other one no shift but big hair like peacock tail. see? I understand shifters not bad people. News make too much fuss!”
Leonie cracked a smile. She couldn’t help it. This wasn’t quite the turnaround for her parents she’d always wanted but never dared to hope for. But it was genuine, her mother’s own version of learning and growing. It seemed she really had gotten over her prejudice.
“What about Dad?” Leonie asked.
Mum snorted softly. “You know what your father is like, paranoid about anyone he doesn’t know. But he goes to Aunty Daisy for haircut, and he’s fine with her. And Uncle Simon at his work is a shifter as well.”
“Hasn’t he always grumbled about Uncle Simon?”
“Because Uncle Simon eats smelly lunches, not because he’s a shifter.” Mum sighed. “If he knows them, he’s okay. But he still watches too much news, I think.”
At this, Leonie relaxed. Maybe living in Australia all these years had helped her folks shake off the fears they’d left home with, even if echoes of old attitudes still lingered.
Nothing was perfect, but then, progress itself was a kind of perfection.
It was comforting just to know things could get better.
As she and her mum got back to eating, she looked once more at the front counter and caught Hayden watching her through the kitchen window. He started and looked away, only to look back with a shy smile.
There was something between them, more than definitely, even forgetting about the kiss they almost shared at his place.
They hadn’t addressed it yet—sure, they’d flirted and hinted, but that’s as far as it got.
Leonie wasn’t ready for more, and with the divorce proceedings soon to be underway, she appreciated Hayden just seeming to sense she needed space.
In any case, there was no rush. He and Lara had a long-term lease on this place for The Spice Pelage, so they’d be around a while.
And Leonie could happily guarantee she wasn’t going anywhere.
When she looked back, her Mum was smiling, watching her thoughtfully.
Immediately, she felt a rush of self-consciousness, like she’d been caught sneaking lollies from the pantry.
Had Mum put two and two together? Did she realise Hayden was more than just “the other best friend” from school and that he was that very same shifter boy?
But Mum just remarked that the lasagna was the best she’d ever tasted, and Leonie let out a quiet breath of relief. She hoped her mum realised without needing to be told, but if she didn’t, then maybe telling her eventually wouldn’t be a problem. Not anymore.