Chapter 32
32
Hamish
The malicious pettiness of whoever had dumped their cast-offs at Ruth’s door had astounded Hamish and that didn’t happen often; as a rule, he approached his ponderings of the human condition with detachment. What nagged at him the most about what had happened was that Ruth had not deserved it, whichever way you chose to look at it. And the incident had certainly rattled her.
That’s why, without reservation, he’d put his work on hold to build the frame and hang the door to make the service lane safer for her and the staff. With Laurie’s help he’d almost completed the job by the time the cafe closed on Saturday afternoon. The trickiest part had been installing the lock and keypad, but they’d worked it out between the two of them.
Ruth had come out to take stock of their achievement.
‘All that’s left to do is to paint it,’ Hamish said, proudly.
‘I can do that.’
‘I’m sure you can, but I won’t consider the job complete until it’s painted. First thing tomorrow morning the primer goes on and then the paint on Monday. Same colour as the woodwork at the front of the shop.’
‘It looks terrific. Much more secure. Thank you both. I don’t know why I didn’t do it years ago. Let me shout you and Laurie dinner at the pub tonight?’
‘I’m up for it,’ Hamish said and Laurie readily agreed. They packed up the tools and arranged to meet at the hotel at six.
As pubs went, the Cutlers Arms was functional, if old and shabby. Because it was the only operating hotel in town, it was well patronised. Hamish elbowed his way through to the bar and ordered a beer. He’d barely taken the first mouthful when Laurie pushed in beside him, looking spruce in slacks and a dress shirt, with what was left of his hair slicked back over his bald patch.
‘My buy,’ Hamish said, raising his voice over the rabble.
‘My lucky day,’ Laurie replied and clapped Hamish on the back.
Ruth was a few minutes late. Hamish had been watching out for her and he had several seconds to take her in when she stepped into the hotel foyer before she clapped eyes on him and waved. She looked good.
Laurie nudged him with his elbow. ‘Scrubs up all right, eh?’ he said, a twinkle in his eyes. ‘If I was fifteen years younger myself—’
‘She is a remarkable woman,’ Hamish said, half to himself, recalling that’s how Bryan Chalmers had described her.
Ruth gestured that she’d see them in the dining room and then she pushed through the frosted-glass doors and disappeared from view.
‘Is there anywhere else you can eat out in this town?’ Hamish asked Laurie as they strolled through to the dining room, furnishings circa 1970s. ‘Apart from the cafe and the fish and chip shop, that is.’
‘The motel has a pretty flash restaurant. They tell me the tucker’s not bad but pricey. The golf club used to do meals on a weekend, but not anymore. Covid put the kibosh on a lot of things in the country.’
The dining room was empty except for a family of four. Ruth was studying the faded historical photographs hanging around the walls: the Cutlers Arms and Cutlers Bay in their heyday.
‘That’s our table there,’ she said and made her way over to it. Her name was scrawled on a laminated reserved sign. ‘When I rang earlier to book, Leon informed me it was the lucky last table.’
Hamish’s sceptical gaze slid around the near-empty dining room.
A slim—no, make that skinny—woman in a black skirt and grey polo shirt zoomed into the dining room. ‘You blokes ready to order?’ she said to the family of four. She whipped out a notepad and waited, pencil poised.
Hamish noticed that the small dining room bar was unattended. ‘Do you want something to drink, Ruth? Another beer, Laurie?’
‘I can take your drinks order in a sec, Ruth,’ the woman said with a quick glance their way. ‘After I’ve sorted out these blokes.’
‘Okay, thanks, Gabby,’ Ruth replied.
Hamish sat down and passed around the laminated menus. He expected them to be sticky with fingermarks and food but they weren’t. Ruth sniffed and when he glanced her way, she was smiling. She leaned towards him and he got a whiff of the perfume or shampoo she favoured. He liked it.
‘The pub might be old and rundown but you can’t fault its cleanliness,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Gabby wouldn’t have it any other way.’
‘Does the publican own the hotel?’
‘Leasehold,’ Laurie said, peering over his reading glasses. ‘East-coast city folk own it and they couldn’t care less about the upkeep of the place. As long as it meets licensing requirements and makes ’em money.’
Gabby took their drink order: beer for Hamish and Laurie and a dry white wine for Ruth. ‘Put them on the bill, please,’ Ruth said and Gabby nodded.
‘I’ll take your food orders when I come back with the drinks,’ she said and zipped off.
Hamish wondered what the rush was all about, but then the diners began to steadily trickle in. Not long after they’d ordered their meals, the dining room was full and another waitress had appeared.
‘It’s like the cafe,’ Ruth said. ‘Fills up at mealtimes, is hectic for a couple of hours and then they all disappear.’
‘I take it the slow-food movement has yet to reach Cutlers Bay.’
‘It’s your typical pub fare, Hamish. Most of it deep fried and not meant to be lingered over,’ Ruth said.
When the time came, Hamish had eaten better schnitzels, but he’d also eaten a lot worse. At least the chips were hot and crispy and the salad fresh.
‘They’ve got a new cook,’ Laurie said. ‘Business certainly has picked up.’ After he’d demolished his chicken parmigiana, he thanked Ruth for the meal, wiped his mouth with the paper napkin and stood. ‘But if you don’t mind, a couple of my mates are in the bar and I’d like to have a beer and a catch up with them. And before you ask, I walked down.’
‘No dessert, Laurie? Not like you at all.’
‘Couldn’t fit it in, but don’t let me stop you.’ He ambled off towards the front bar.
‘Another drink?’ Hamish was in no hurry to leave. ‘Or dessert?’
No sooner were the words out than Gabby materialised at their table.
‘Nothing wrong with your hearing,’ he said and she smirked. ‘I’ll have another beer, light this time.’
‘And another glass of wine for me, dry white. I take it there’s a second sitting for dinner?’
‘Yep,’ Gabby said.
Hamish blinked and she was gone. ‘Amazing,’ he said. ‘Do you eat here often?’
‘No, but if you want a meal that won’t break the budget that’s not takeaway, the hotel is your only choice.’
‘Not that it’s necessarily what I think, but a person couldn’t be blamed for thinking the town hasn’t got a real lot going for it. Hope I’ve done the right thing, buying Mum and Dad’s house. What if I spend a bucketload of money on it and then can’t sell it when the time comes?’
‘My employer at the time said something similar when I told him I’d bought an old shop in the country and was going to turn it into a cafe. He said I was crazy, that I was putting all my eggs into one basket and I’d be trapped here if I couldn’t sell it when I decided I’d had enough.’
‘Was he right? Do you feel as if you are trapped?’
‘I hadn’t, not until Graham Wurst from Cutlers Bay Financial Services retired and I started thinking about my retirement plan—that is, that I didn’t have one. Is it too late for you to change your mind? Not buy out your sister?’
Gabby came with their drinks. ‘Yell out when you’re ready for your bill, Ruth. No rush.’ Gabby flitted to the next table, tucking the tray under her arm and pulling out pencil and pad to take orders.
Hamish gazed at his glass of beer, pondering what Ruth had asked. ‘It probably isn’t too late to pull out.’ He grinned slowly. ‘And almost worth considering, just to see the look on Nat’s face when I tell her.’
Ruth rested her chin on her hand and studied him. ‘Why do you dislike your sister so much, if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘You’ve met her. Did you like her?’
‘She was a bit … abrasive, but your dad had just died. And I don’t know her.’
‘Trust me, she gets more abrasive the better you get to know her.’
Ruth sat back and sipped up her wine. ‘Robert used to irritate me, drove me batty, if you really want to know. He was so pedantic about everything, but I miss him, more for his wife and Elliot than for myself.’
‘You’re a much kinder and more generous person than I am and probably ever will be.’
She tilted her to head to one side. ‘Oh, I don’t know, I reckon you could surprise yourself if you let yourself go. You’ve been kind and generous to me,’ she said. Then her gaze shifted and she smiled moments before a heavy hand dropped onto Hamish’s shoulder.
‘Fancy seeing you two here. Cosy,’ Zach Cooper said and wiggled his eyebrows. ‘Mind if I pull up a pew for a sec?’
‘Be my guest,’ Hamish said and Ruth nodded.
Zach pulled out the chair Laurie had vacated and sat down. He wasn’t in uniform, but his presence was intimidating nevertheless. ‘Ruth, it’s you I wanted to talk to. Laurie said you were in here. It’s about what we discussed the other day.’ Zach’s attention shifted briefly to Hamish.
‘It’s okay, Zach, you can say whatever you need to say in front of Hamish. He knows the whole story. And by the way, Audrey Franco apologised to me yesterday.’
‘I don’t think her intention ever was to be malicious, Ruth. Anyway, I tracked down who did it and you can rest assured they won’t do it again.’
‘How did you manage that?’
‘I wish I could say unparalleled police work, but Daphne Russell thought she recognised a corduroy jacket in one of the bags.’ He laughed with genuine mirth. ‘And, believe it or not, in another bag there was an addressed envelope in the back pocket of an old pair of jeans. I took it from there. I wish all policing was that simple.’ Zach pushed away from the table and stood.
‘Thank you, Zach. It’s a relief to know you’ve tracked down the culprit. I can stop being suspicious of everyone I serve at the cafe!’
‘Cheers. I’ll leave you to it. I told Angie I’d only stay for one beer.’
The noise level in the dining room had steadily increased as the tables began to fill again while they’d talked to Zach. Ruth pushed away her half-finished wine. ‘That’s not the same drop I had the first time around. Way too sweet for me.’
‘Shall I get you another wine? Or something else?’
‘No, I think I’ll head home, thanks. Are you going back to the bar?’
He shook his head. ‘I’ll walk you home.’
‘I’m only across the road, Hamish.’
‘Don’t argue.’
‘All right, you can walk me home, the long way. Then I can report to my doctor that I’ve been for two walks in the fresh air and with company. Finish your beer while I go and pay the bill.’
Hamish waited for her in the foyer. He didn’t miss the curious interest displayed by the locals as he and Ruth left together. Ruth didn’t appear to notice—or to take any notice if she did—and Hamish found the inquisitiveness didn’t bother him one iota. Let them speculate to their hearts’ content.