Public Property (19 page)

‘I love you,’ she whispered.

‘I love you too.’

He kissed her cheek then entered the security code for the front gate into the pad.

‘
Notice anything? No photographers
,’ he stated, leading the way through the gate as
it
swung open.

‘
We are going to be
B-list celebrities before too much longer
.’

‘
Well that wouldn
’
t bother me
.
W
e would save a fortune on tea
.’

As they approached the front porch
Freya
saw Willis sat
by the door
clawing savagely at something lying on the deck.

‘
Oh
,
Ni
ck he’s got a bird or something.
U
rgh
, go and stop him
.’ She turned away and concentrating on finishing her ice cream.

‘
It’s a crow. Hey
,
boy, get off it.
Le
t me open the door and you can go inside
,’ he said to the cat, kicking the dead bird out of his reach.

‘
Is it dead?
’
Freya called
.

‘
Ye
a
h it’s dead
.
L
ooks l
ike it flew into the front door.
T
he glass is smashed
.’

Freya looked up at their front door and observed the jagged edges where the circular panel of glass had been.

‘L
ooks like I
’
ll have to call a glazier. I’m surprised it didn’t set the alarm off
.
I
t must have hit quite hard
,’ Nicholas said, pushing open the door.

‘
Um, I think I might have forgotten to set the alarm when we left
,’
she admitted.

‘
Freya! You
must
set t
he alarm! Remember you promised.
Y
ou said you
’
d cope with an alarm as long as we didn’t have the electric fence or CCTV. You have to keep your end of the bargain
.’

‘
I know, I know and I usually do
.
I just forgot. Blame Bruce and the lure of the spring rolls.
Urgh
!
God
,
Willis, don’t rub your face against me it’s got feathers and guts all over it
.’ She tried to evade the cat by hopping from one foot to the other.

‘
I’ll call the window
guys
,
see if they can come out tonight
.’ He headed into the kitchen.

‘
Ooo
move the dead bird first please
.
I’m sure I read somewhere that crows are unlucky
.’

‘T
hat one certainly was
.’

‘
Do you think Matt and Susannah will still be able to make the wedding if we decide on Corfu?
’
Freya asked.

It was the following morning and t
hey were sat
at the dining table
, eating for breakfast
the Chinese they had started the night before.

‘
I’m sure they will and we can always pay for their flights
.’

‘
I’m making a list of people to invite. I’ve got Matt and Susannah and little
Jo
obviously
.
Roger and Dionne, Emma,
Yiannis
and
Melly
,
Mr
and
Mrs
P.
T
hen I’m kind of struggling
.’ She chewed the pen she was writing with. There was no one else she could think of unless she invited her ex-boyfriend Russell or people she’d met in jail.

‘
Well
,
you can add my Uncle Ted and my Aunt Carol
.
T
hough I don’t expect they
’
ll come because I haven’t seen them
since my parents’ funeral
. I ought to ask though.’ He raised his head out of the script he was reading.

‘
So that’s twelve. Do you think that’s enough? I mean
,
I know we said we wanted a small wedding but
ten people and two under fours?’

At this rate they wouldn’t need catering, they could just ask Samos to open the kebab shop and serve everyone
gyros
.

‘
We only need two witnesses
,
so ten is good
.
A
nd probably just enough for a game of beach volleyball after the ceremony
,’ he joked.

‘I keep telling you it isn’t that warm there in December. There might be snow. Are you reading through that same script?’ She put her pen down and jabbed at a sweet and sour ball with her fork.

‘
Ye
a
h, I’m still not sure about it. It’s not a role that
’
s going to stretch me
.’

‘
So don’t do it. What’s the point of doing something if you aren’t going to get anything out of it?
’

‘
They’ve offered me
fifteen
million
.’

‘
Shit!
Fifteen million!
That could
…’

‘
Go towards building another hospital
.
O
r buying more equipment
.
O
r helping set up another Every Day centre
.’

He’d read her mind. Fifteen million for one movie was extortionate but how much good could that do for so many other people?

‘
But
,
Nick, regardless of the money
,
d
on’t
do it if it isn’t right for you
.’

‘
I don’t know
.
I
t’s a whole lot of money for not a lot of work
.’ He sighed.

‘
Money isn’t everything
.
N
o matter how wisely you spend it, or give it away
.’

‘
No, I know. Hey, why don’t you read the script, see what you think
.’
He pushed the wad of paperwork over to her.

‘
Me? Oh
,
I don’t know
.
Y
ou know I’m not really one for reading
.’

She got bored halfway through a postcard.

‘
No, but you
are
one for films
.
I’d
value your opinion
.’

‘
Well OK, I’ll give it a go
.’ The intercom buzzed and Freya jumped up.
‘
O
oo
that’s Amos with the post
.’

‘
Are you expecting something important because you leapt up like your life depended on
it
.
’

‘
Not my life, our wedding. I called
Sharona
Owen yesterday afternoon and asked her to send me some wedding dress catalogues
.’

Sharona
Owen was a well-known designer and one of her
specialties
was plus-size gowns.

‘
Sadie Fox not getting your business then?
’

‘
Sadie Fox would never be able to get hold
of enough material to dress me.
S
he
’
s
used to
dressing
models with stomachs as flat as ironing board
s and personalities to match. H
ello
!’
Freya
greeted
, pressing the button to speak into the intercom.

‘
Hello
,
Freya this is Brian
.
Are you receiving me?
O
ver
.’

‘
Brian? What are you doing here? I thought you were Amos
.’

‘
Today I
am
Amos
.
Over.
I have the mail
. R
epeat
.
I have the mail
.
Over
.’

‘
Oh
, OK.
I’m buzzing you in
.
Come up to the house.
Over
.’
She
press
ed
the button to open the front gate.

‘
Brian?
’
Nicholas questioned
, putting the breakfast plates on the countertop.

‘
Yes and he has the mail
.
Over
.’
She headed to the
front door.

She opened
it up
and Brian, dressed in a postman’s uniform, hurried up the driveway towards the house.

‘
Good morning
,
Nick
.
G
ood morning
,
Freya
.
Over
.’
Brian
walked up the steps
and
onto the front porch.

‘
You don’t have to say
over
now
,
Brian
.
W
e’re no
t
on the intercom, we’re right here
,’
Freya said, smiling
.

‘
Sorry. Right, here is your mail
.’
H
e dug into the sack across his shoulder and pulled out two large packets and two smaller letters.

‘
Gimme
!
Gimme
!”
Freya ordered
. She
snatch
ed
the large packets from Brian’s hands and
ran back into the house
.

‘
One of those was for you
,
’
Brian informed Nicholas
,
hand
ing
him the smaller letters.

‘
Thanks
,
Brian
.
Freya’s a little over excited about wedding dresses
.’

‘
I heard about that
.
T
ell
me, is her father really dead?’
He adjusted his hat.

‘
Sorry?
’

‘
It’s on the front page of
The Gazette
this morning.
H
ere, I’ve got a copy with me, and I
’
m sure I heard something about it on the news too. Although
,
I
was
eating at the time and my hearing
’
s not quite as good
when I’m eating as it is when I’m not
.’ H
e produced the newspaper from the mail sack.

Nicholas took hold of the paper and read the headline
.
‘Freya
Fuels
Father
Feud’
.
He
looked at the photograph
. It was
one of the publicity shots from their hospital visit the previous day.

‘
Brian, can I keep this?
’
Nicholas asked him, folding the paper up.

‘
It was seventy five cents
.’

‘
I’ll shout you a meal at Casey’s the next time you’r
e
there
.’