Blood Ties (42 page)

She nodded and looked up at the Sarge in awe. He must have seemed like a giant to her.

“Kids and mums, this is Sergeant Maguire. He’s the town’s new police officer. He’s my boss now.” The mothers smiled in a friendly way at him, while the kids regarded him with all of a child’s blunt curiosity.

“Do you have a gun too?” asked one inquisitive fourth-grader.

“Yes, I do. All police officers have a gun, but we try never to use them,” he said, looking down at the kids tolerantly.

“Have you ever shot anybody?” asked the same curious kid.

“No, but I don’t think we should talk about things like that. It’s not a nice thing to talk about in front of the little kids,” he reproved gently. The child’s mother grabbed his hand, embarrassed by his questions.

“Oh Tessie, look what’s happened to you,” said a familiar but upset voice from behind. I turned to find my friend Gretel, one of the two teachers at the school gazing at me, aghast. She gave me an awkward hug, Toni still clinging to me and some of the other little girls hanging off my arm. I was a bit of a role model to the young girls in town for some reason. They were always mobbing me. Maybe it was the uniform? Or maybe because I gave regular talks at the school on stranger danger, crossing the road safely, fire safety, bike safety and other kid-friendly topics and handed out lollies at the end to the kids who had listened.

“I’m okay really, Gretel. It was nothing. Just another day at the office,” I dismissed airily with the best smile I could muster. She laughed with me at my mock toughness and then noticed the Sarge standing next to me. The change that swept over her face was embarrassingly transparent. I think it was love at first sight for her. I guess I should be grateful that she’d noticed me first, otherwise I don’t think I would have got a look-in.

“Gretel, this is Sergeant Finn Maguire, the new officer to replace Des. Sarge, this is my very good friend, Gretel Harcourt. Gretel is one of the two teachers here at the primary school.” They shook hands politely but Gretel’s eyes didn’t leave his face for a second. She was completely dumbstruck and only managed to splurt out some inane greeting in response to his that I knew she’d be kicking herself about for the rest of her life.

Oh dear, another heart I was going to have to shatter by telling her that he was already engaged.
Why couldn’t men wear an engagement ring like women did
, I thought in irritation. Then everybody would instantly know they were taken and someone like me wouldn’t have to go around breaking hearts as I broke the bad news. Gretel was single, but left nobody in any doubt that she wanted to change the status of that situation as soon as humanly possible. Being a reasonably sensible woman though, and in close contact with Bycraft brats every work day, she refused to have anything to do with the Bycraft men, so her options in Little Town were significantly limited. A man like the Sarge turning up in town would have been a dream come true for her. If he hadn’t been taken already, that was.

The man I really hoped she would end up with, Abe, came strolling down the footpath at that moment to pick up Toni. I had tried everything I could think of to get those two hooked up, but it never seemed to pan out. I know they liked and respected each other, and had even gone on some dates. And from the coy hints they’d both dropped, I think they’d maybe even slept together a few times, but there didn’t seem to be that spark between them needed to set a friendship on fire to something hotter.

He stopped in shock when he saw me and I gave him a rueful half-smile. “My God, Tessie.” His face grew grim. “I’m going to kill those fu–”

“Abe!” I said sharply, reminding him that we were surrounded by little children with big ears.

He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. I let him for a minute, but then struggled to free myself. I was always very circumspect around him, knowing that he had amorous feelings for me that I wasn’t keen to encourage in any way. But he was a dear friend and a great support for me and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. It was a difficult balancing act at times and I wasn’t sure that I always managed it well.

“Why don’t you and Trev come to dinner at the bistro tonight?” he suggested. “On the house.”

“Thanks Abe, that’s so nice of you. But I’d put all your paying customers off their dinner looking like this. Can I take a raincheck until I’m more presentable?” It killed me to turn down a free meal. Especially when I hadn’t had a chance to do the grocery shopping for the week.

“Sure Tessie, if that’s how you feel, but I couldn’t care less what other people think. It pains me to see you hurt like this.”

I was sincerely touched by the sentiment and reached up to give him a pat on the cheek. “Thanks Abe, that’s such a sweet thing to say. But I’m just doing my job.”

“No you’re not, Tessie. And we both know that,” he said seriously, his big palm affectionately cupping my cheek in return. Our eyes met, so full of dark emotion, the ghost of Marcelle between us, that we both needed to look away immediately. Then he deliberately lightened up before bending down to Toni, tweaking her nose, “Let’s go home, little possum. I need you to set the tables in the bistro this afternoon for me before you do your homework. We have a big group booked in tonight celebrating a wedding anniversary.”

“Okay Daddy,” she smiled, slipping her hand into his. They both gave me a kiss on the cheek in farewell and I watched them walk back towards the pub fondly, hand-in-hand, waving back at them when they turned to wave. He was a great father and a good man and would make a lucky woman a wonderful partner. I looked over to Gretel, hoping she was paying attention to his many sterling qualities. She wasn’t, her concentration and eyes firmly fixed on the Sarge. Unfortunately for her though, he hadn’t noticed because he was too busy shooting me meaningful glances that I correctly interpreted as “come on, I’m bored, let’s get moving”.

I said goodbye to everyone and the Sarge and I headed off again, Gretel watching after us as we did. We walked around for another three-quarters of an hour, being stopped every few minutes by someone who wanted to talk to me.

“You’re well-loved in this town, Tess. I’ve never seen a cop hugged and kissed so much in my life. Not even on New Year’s Eve in the city, surrounded by drunk people,” he commented neutrally.

I shrugged, smiling. “I was born and raised here and I’m not a Bycraft, and that’s pretty much all you need to do to be well-loved in Little Town.”

“There you go again, being modest. You’re an outstanding local community cop, but I’ve been thinking that you should definitely consider leaving Little Town at some point to build up some experience in the city. It would be good for you – help you develop professionally. Take you out of your comfort zone. Maybe when I return to the city in a few years, I could take you back with me?”

I turned to him with a thousand-megawatt smile. “What a great idea, Sarge. Thanks for thinking well enough of me to offer.”

At that, his eyebrows knitted together and his eyes changed colour to that darker stormy blue. I barely noticed though as I watched the school bus from Big Town pull up at the bus stop, releasing its load of pushy and rowdy teenagers, a fair few of them Bycrafts. We were on a direct collision course with them.

I nudged him and nodded towards the bus. “Sarge, trouble at twelve o’clock.”

Romi spotted us immediately as she stepped off the bus and forgetting her heartbreak from this morning, ran up to us, giving me a quick hug and looking up at the Sarge adoringly. Her best friend Tina was in tow, and was also instantly captivated by him. Again, unfortunately for them, he was too busy eyeing off the Bycraft teens to notice them. He never seemed to pay much attention to other women and wasn’t one of those guys who compulsively checked out every female body he came across.
His fiancee was a lucky woman
, I thought. He must be deeply in love with her.

The Bycraft juniors came sauntering past us, casting me derisive and amused glances, muttering to and elbowing each other and laughing rudely, obviously at my expense. I didn’t really care what they said because they were just kids, and hey, stick and stones
et cetera
. But the Sarge was on full alert, hostility bristling from him, not prepared to put up with any rubbish from them today. It wasn’t him who went into battle for me though.

“Don’t you dare laugh at Tessie like that, you bunch of ignorant bogans!” Romi screamed at them unexpectedly, her fists clenched, looking as though she was prepared to launch herself onto them at any second.

“Go fuck yourself, pub slut!” yelled back Larissa, laughing, and then they all spent the next minute taunting her, which made her even angrier.

“You kids watch your language!” bellowed the Sarge, taking a few steps towards them. They shut up but their attitude remained aggressive and unpredictable. Unbelievably, Romi took a step forward herself.

I placed a calm, restraining hand on her arm. “It’s all right, sweetie. Don’t worry about them. They don’t bother me at all.” She looked up at me uncertainly, not quite believing me, but I smiled to reinforce my lack of interest in what the Bycraft teens said to me. “And I don’t want you ever getting involved between the Bycrafts and me. I’m serious, Romi. Understand? It’s my business, it’s adult business and it’s police business. Nothing you can help with. Okay? Promise me.”

She nodded, her lovely blue eyes large and moistly emotional as she looked up at me. “Okay,” she said quietly.

I patted her arm and kissed her forehead. “You better run off home now. Abe’s got Toni setting the tables this afternoon, so he might need your help as well. And Tina, isn’t that your dad over there waiting for you? He’s looking a bit impatient. Better get over there quick smart. You know what he’s like when he’s kept waiting too long.”

The two girls obediently departed, heading off in different directions, the Bycraft teens further down the street in the direction of their houses, jostling and teasing each other, not causing any further trouble for us either. I released a breath and turned to the Sarge, wondering why he wasn’t moving – we were free to keep walking once more.

“Why do you let me patronise you, Tess?” he asked, a barely hidden undercurrent of some strong feeling in his voice. Anger?

“What do you mean?” I asked, eyes wide in surprise.

“Before, when I suggested you go to the city for a while for some experience? You’ve already done city time, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” I admitted.

He sighed impatiently. “Then why not tell me that I’m being a patronising arse again?”

I shrugged and turned away, walking down the street. He grabbed me roughly by the arm to turn me around again. Angrily I jerked my arm away from his, my temper flaring.

“I didn’t feel like explaining myself. People will think what they want about me. I can’t stop that. You met me and immediately assumed, probably because I’m younger and female and from the country, that I was some kind of clueless sleepy yokel cop with grass behind my ears and sheep shit on my boots, and that’s your prerogative. But you don’t know the first thing about me and I don’t think I should have to justify myself to you because of that.”

“How can I ever know anything about you if you don’t tell me anything?” he shouted and strode off away from me in temper. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with himself or me, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to run after him soothing his ruffled feathers. If he couldn’t take a bit of plain honest speaking, he had no business being a sergeant or a cop. And as for me not telling him anything, all I had to say to him was pot meet kettle.

Instead of worrying about him, I detoured over to the cafe/bakery where the owner, Fran, was out the front. She was sitting on a bench, taking a smoko, dragging blissfully and deeply on a cigarette, and probably gawking at all the drama with the Bycraft teens and between the Sarge and me.

“Don’t go anywhere, Tess,” she demanded, crushing her cigarette out and tactfully not staring at my ruined face. She ducked into the bakery and returned with a paper bag that she pressed into my hands. “I want you and Trev to test this new flavour of focaccia for me. It’s olive and chorizo with a topping of caramelised chilli-onion jam and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.”

“Yummo!” I said enthusiastically. “But I don’t think you need to test that on anyone, Frannie. It sounds like a sure winner.”

She pushed it on me and I knew she didn’t really want the flavour tested. She was showing her appreciation to me, and while I guess that technically it could be considered as a bribe, I often had small gifts such as this given to me by the townsfolk. Someone would forever be at the station dropping off a watermelon or some strawberries or an extra cake they’d just made. It would have been unforgivably rude of me to refuse such small acts of kindness, so I closed my eyes to the ethical considerations of the situation and accepted each gift with profuse thanks. My own dad and Nana Fuller had often done the same for the local cops, so it wasn’t anything new in town. I also occasionally accepted a free meal from Abe or from the lovely couple from Guangdong who ran the Chinese takeaway.

“I need you to tell me if it’s too spicy for the normal palate,” Fran insisted, keeping up the charade. She didn’t like to admit that she gave me gifts, but I’d been asked to ‘test’ some things more than once over the couple of years I’d been back in town. When I’d pointed out that inconvenient fact to her, she’d always insisted, rather unconvincingly, that she’d fiddled with the recipe a bit and that particular product needed to be retested.

I thanked her again and took my time strolling over to where the Sarge was waiting for me, leaning against one of the beautiful, almost century-old fig trees planted down Timber Street in memory of every local boy killed serving his country in World War I. There were eleven of the trees originally, although the town had lost one in a ferocious storm during the 1950s and one had to be chopped down by the Council last year as it had become dangerously unsound with disease. That had been a very unpopular decision and we’d almost had a riot when the arborists arrived from Big Town to do the deed. I’d had to call in extra help from the Big Town cops and four locals had been arrested for public disorder, most of them from the nearby hippy commune. I’d been rather unpopular myself in town for a while after that little incident, but everyone eventually forgave and forgot, the court-imposed fines were paid and life went on as usual. Nobody went to jail over it and, sadly, the tree was chopped down.