Chapter 4
Leonie sat with Hayden on upturned milk crates, so close their knees almost touched. After hearing what happened—that some random guy had asked for money, then got aggressive when Leonie said she had no cash—Hayden’s older sister scowled.
“Probably still pinging from some bender,” she muttered, darkly. “Perth’s drug problem ain’t improving.” Then she stopped herself and, with a determined nod, insisted on making hot chocolate for everyone to help calm things down.
Leonie wasn’t shaken by the incident. Both the guy’s hands were empty, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t run into the café or screamed for help or, if it came down to it, smack the guy in the face with one of the milk crates.
But he’d caught her off-guard, and she was exhausted.
This was the last thing she needed after everything that got her here.
So when Lara handed over a thick ceramic mug swaddled in a tea towel, her hands took it gratefully, and she savoured the warm, rich chocolate liquid with a hint of sweet fruit.
“I have so many questions,” she confessed to Hayden, practically glowing with the warm drink in her and the joy of seeing her long-lost friend again.
“Me too.” He seemed to glow back at her.
There was something so inviting about his smile, though she couldn’t place what it was.
His teeth weren’t pearly white, nor painfully straight, nor anything her training had taught her to value.
They were just so, she figured, shaped by smiling and tinted by a love for life and good food.
Of course, she couldn’t know that for sure about him, but nonetheless, seeing his smile made her feel good, an interesting kind of good on top of feeling happy and relieved to have run into him.
Silence followed for a long moment, one that seemed loaded with uncertainty and yet bathed in hope and comfort.
A fat raven landed roughy on a roof nearby.
Its loud appreciation of the afternoon sunshine broke the silence.
Leonie wiped a bit of chocolate from her lip and nodded to Hayden. “You first,” she said.
“Where did you go?” he blurted, as if he’d been waiting all these years for the chance to ask. The look in his eyes when he said it cracked Leonie’s heart.
“We moved south of the river,” she replied. “I didn’t know until the last minute. That last day of term, the day before you left for music camp, I got home to a bunch of boxes and the house already half-packed.”
“You didn’t even tell Sam.”
“I couldn’t get away, and then We left for the new place that weekend.
” Leonie was past the point of crying about this; it wouldn’t have changed anything.
But the unfairness of it still burned. She clutched the cup so tightly, the heat seeped through the tea towel and pricked her fingers. “I’m sorry, Hayds.”
“Don’t be. Sounds like you had it worse than I did. All I thought was that I upset you or something.”
“What could you possibly have done to upset me? It just wouldn’t happen.”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged, jaw moving like he was thinking. “I’m sure I was just being paranoid, but I thought maybe seeing me shift might’ve scared you.”
“You mean that day in my backyard? When I threw the tart at you?”
“Well, yeah . . .”
“As if, Furball! Why would that scare me?”
“You just hear things, you know? About what humans think about shifters. It’s hard not to take that on board sometimes, even if you know it’s not true.” Hayden broke into a sheepish smile.
“Of course it wasn’t true.” Leonie fidgeted, re-wrapping the cup with the tea towel, just to give her hands something to do. “Besides, humans aren’t so great themselves, you know.”
“Any human in particular?” Hayden added quickly, “Only if you want to tell me.”
She absolutely wanted to, but was it okay to just dump all her problems on him the first chance she got after twenty years? A cloud passed across the sun, leaving the alley shaded and cold. Leonie shivered, wishing she’d kept her coat on instead of leaving it with her suitcase.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, a warm arm wrapped around her shoulders.
She had a flash, then, a remembered moment from back in school when she and Hayden waited on the brick wall near the bike sheds.
Him for his sister to get out of detention, she for her mum to drive her to after-school tuition.
She’d forgotten her jacket that day, and he put an arm around her to keep her warm, then offered her his own jacket since he’d be going straight home anyway.
Adult Hayden’s body stiffened. “Um, sorry, is this weird?”
Leonie poked him, then curled her own arm around his torso, surprised how much it felt like they were picking up where they left off. “You’re weird, furball.”
“You are.”
She sighed. “His name’s Mark. We met at my first job, when I was doing regional work. In hindsight, diving into a serious relationship with the first guy you meet out of school wasn’t the smartest thing, but I just assumed that’s how it’s supposed to go.”
The cloud passed, leaving the alley in warm sunshine once more. Leonie reluctantly pulled away and sipped her hot chocolate. “We got married a few years later and started a dental practice together—it’s the one just up the road. I think that’s about where things turned.”
“Turned?” Hayden’s face darkened. “As in, turned nasty?”
“Nothing like that! We just drifted apart, almost immediately after the practice opened. I’m pretty sure he’s slept with all three of the receptionists we’ve had over the years.
I never outright caught him, but there were hints, you know?
I’d find things that don’t belong to me around the house.
He’d insist they’re mine, but I know they’re not.
Phone calls at night he’d be cagey about.
And then the weekend conferences where he’d take them along as his assistant . . .”
“But you never confronted him?”
“I thought about it, at first, but figured it was better not to rock the boat, not when we had so much invested. Then after a while I realised I just didn’t .
. . want to. There wasn’t anything in our relationship that seemed worth saving.
I know that’s an awful thing to say, but if I’m being honest, I guess we’d only stayed together this long because it was easier.
” Leonie dropped the tea towel in her lap, the cup now cool enough to hold with her bare hands.
The heat was a comfort. “But that’s no way to live, is it, to always take the path of least resistance? ”
“It works for some people,” Hayden replied. “But, no, it’s no way I want to live. Sometimes you need to fight for what you want.”
She leaned against him with a sigh. They sat shoulder to shoulder as the golden light cooled, always too quickly this time of year.
Lara and little Mackie—who wasn’t so little anymore—laughed inside the kitchen, whipping each other with tea towels.
Leonie smiled as Mackie got Lara good, and she chased him around the counter, threatening him with a wet finger.
“It’s so good to see you again, Hayds,” she said.
“Sorry your marriage was a stinker,” he replied with a nudge. “But hey, I’m glad it brought you here.”
“Yeah, me too.” A manly squeal from the kitchen cut the air. “Sounds like Lara caught him.”
Hayden laughed. “That’s my family. Don’t know how much you remember from before.”
“I don’t remember Mackie being huge. But I do remember Lara being the boss.”
“That hasn’t changed.”
“And what about you? What’s been—”
Leonie’s phone rang, loud and obnoxious. Puzzled, she looked down at the silencer switch, which she must have accidentally flicked off. “It’s my mum,” she said. “She usually texts.”
“You better pick up.”
She regretted the moment she put the phone to her ear, and noticed even Hayden winced at the barrage of talk streaming through the phone.
“Yes . . . he shouldn’t have called you .
. . no . . . Mum . . . Mum?” Leonie sighed quietly, knowing it might be awhile before she could get a word in edgewise.
“No, I’m not staying at Sam’s. Her kid is sick .
. . yes, I’m still in Subi . . . you don’t have to . . . fine.”
It took all her self-control not to roll her eyes once her mum got off the phone. “Sorry, that was awkward.”
“Um, I’ve got a spare room if you need somewhere to stay,” Hayden offered. “I was totally eavesdropping, by the way.”
Leonie’s heart panged. Hayden was always so thoughtful. “That’s really kind of you, but I’ll be okay. Mum’s insisted I stay with her. She’s coming to pick me up now, actually.”
“Well, you know where to find me, if you change your mind. I’ve got heaps of space, and we don’t have to get in each other’s hair or anything.” He patted his pockets. “You’re not leaving right now, are you?”
“She said she’s five or ten minutes away. Why?”
“I was hoping to get your number, but I left my phone in the office.”
“I’ll come with you. I gotta get my suitcase anyway.”
“Oh, right, of course. You don’t mind, right? I don’t want to assume.”
“About me giving you my number?” Leonie held a finger to her cheek as she followed him inside. “Hmm, swap you yours for mine. Deal?”
“Deal.”
He smiled, again that inviting smile, and a feeling of hope bloomed in her chest.