Second Chance (3 page)

“She’s Maree’s niece, she’s not
going to need much encouragement,” Harry replied easily.

Mr Haddell squinted at Tam, who
smiled sweetly at him.  He gave a grunt, but the twinkle in his eyes belied his
stern expression.

“Hey, have you heard that the
Stealth Thief has struck again?” Harry queried.

“Stealth Thief?” Tam echoed.

“Yep.  Things are going missing
and no one knows who is doing it.”

“Be kids,” Mr Haddell grunted.  “Only
kids would take that stuff.”

“Maybe.”  Harry stroked his jaw
thoughtfully.  “It’s weird stuff that gets taken.”

Tam was intrigued.  “How weird?”

“Over the last few months, socks,
undies, toys, a newspaper, one of my slippers, for crying out loud.”  Harry
shrugged.  “No one knows.”

“Wow.  Weird.”

“Yep.”

The phone in the ute peeled out, a
quacking of a duck that had Tiny’s head up, his tail in the air, his big head
swivelling around so he could stare at the utes cabin.

“Whoops, better get a move on. 
The boss is on the warpath.”  Tam patted Tiny, waved good bye to the two men
and got into the ute.  Flicking on the hands-free phone, she reversed out onto
the quiet street.  “Hello, boss.”

“Where are you?” Aunt Maree
queried.

“Just delivered Tiny home.  He’s
been poked, prodded and pricked.”

“You’re supposed to be at Shelley
Preston’s house.”

“Nice try, but I’m not meant to be
there for another twenty minutes.”

“She doesn’t like to be kept
waiting.”

“Aunt Maree, you did get the
‘twenty minutes early’ part, right?”

“Of course I did.”

“So stop worrying.  It’s under
control.”

“Okay.”

Picturing her Aunt checking the
time, the schedule list and her diary all at once, Tam grinned.  “Go do your
paperwork and stop worrying.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Sure.”

In the background came the sound
of a phone ringing.  “Sweetie, I have to go.  Don’t forget to have your lunch
after you’ve taken Shelley shopping.”

“I’m onto it.”

“I’m sure you are.”  The phone
went dead.

Flicking it off, Tam drove through
the main street of Gully’s Fall, marvelling at the old buildings of stone and
wood that housed the different shops, the bull nose verandas casting shade on
the footpath.  For a small town, it had a nice variety - supermarket, butcher,
baker, bookshop, café, furniture store, newsagent, clothes shop, and service
station, while on the other side of the road were the tavern, electrician,
estate agent, a park, police station, small courthouse, ambulance depot and
fire station.  Side roads led to houses on small blocks and gradually out
further to larger blocks.  Other side roads had the hospital, veterinary
clinic, an auto shop and a boarding house.  The motel was on the other side of
town. The bitumen road wound through the street, rolling and dipping gently. 
Several big gum trees grew out of the footpath.  Having horses tied at the
posts wouldn’t have looked odd, but instead there was angle parking on either
side of the street.

Yep, she could live in a place
like this.  She’d come here to gain some breathing space and regenerate without
the pressure, and to decide how long she was going to drag it out before
letting them know.  This quaint little town was more than a temporary retreat
though, it was soothing, the slowness of it relaxing her, the friendliness of
the people smoothing her ruffled feathers and quietening her emotions.

No doubt she’d find some people
she wouldn’t get on with, but that was life.  Not everyone was going to like
everyone, and that was cool.  But in general, yeah, this place was looking more
appealing every day.

Still it was early days, too early
to decide a life-changing decision like that.

Turning into a side street, she
pulled up in front of a pristine little house.  Pristine garden, pristine
driveway, the roses looked like they’d been dusted and the garden gnomes stood
to attention. 

Parking the car, she walked
through the side gate, up onto a veranda that had been swept to within an inch
of its life, and knocked on the door.  It opened within seconds, no doubt
because Mrs Preston had been watching for her.

Before she could say anything, Tam
pointed to her wrist watch.  “Ten minutes early.”

“Humph.”  Mrs Preston peered
through thick glasses at Tam’s watch.

Obligingly, Tam held her arm up
higher.

“I’m sure I can see all right,
young lady.”  Mrs Preston moved aside her four-wheel walker.  “Come in, come
in, you’ll let in the flies.”

“Would one dare enter your home?” 
Tam walked past her into the pot-pourri-scented hallway.

“Not if it valued its life.”  The elderly
woman ushered her into the kitchen.  “Now, you’ll have a nice cup of tea before
you do the shopping.”

It wasn’t a question.  There were
already two dainty tea cups and saucers on a small tray, along with a fragile
glass dish containing two thin slivers of fruit cake.  Two dainty, small plates
to match the tea cups waited on the tray.  Draped over it all was a thin, lacy
netting.

“Won’t this make us late for your
shopping?” Tam asked.

“Don’t be smart, Miss.”

In the corner of the kitchen on a
high stand stood a large bird cage, inside which a blue budgie stood guard on
its perch.  A piece of cuttlefish was poked between the bars on which he
sharpened his beak.

That beak was primed just for Tam.

“How about I clean Oliver’s cage
while we’re waiting for the kettle to boil?” she suggested.

“Oh, no, dear.  Take a seat, we’ll
have a cuppa and a nice piece of cake, then go shopping, and after we come back
you can do Oliver’s cage.”

Great.  There went all hope of
doing the little monster’s cage and getting the worst part over with, now she’d
have visions of the blue beast’s vicious intent haunting her the whole time.

Shelley Preston proceeded to fill
Tam in on the goings-on of Gully’s Fall while Tam filled the little tea pot
with the boiling water and took it to the table.  Over cake and tea, she
continued to inform Tam of who was marrying who, who was pregnant, who was
getting the Nurse Manager job at the hospital, and the fact that every council
member should be shot for allowing the roads to get in such a bad state.

“The roads aren’t too bad,” Tam
replied.

“They’re a disgrace.”

“The councillors or the road?”

“Don’t be smart,” came the
expected reply.  “And stop grinning, Miss.  You need a strong man to keep you
under control.”

“I’m not exactly out of control.”

“You’re not exactly in control,
either.”

“And I don’t need a man to keep me
under control.”  Amused, Tam started packing the dainty dishes onto the tray. 
“Men don’t control women nowadays.”

“Humph.  All this feminism.”

“Now, now, Mrs Preston.  These are
enlightened times.”

“Could have fooled me.”  Mrs
Preston sniffed haughtily before her gaze slid to the large framed photo on the
wall.  “My Billy was a wonderful man.  Had a firm hand about him, firm ideas,
fair ideas.”

Hearing the sudden longing in the
elderly woman’s voice, Tam looked up at the photo of a young man standing
proudly in the Australian Army uniform.  He was handsome, a familiarity about
him that Tam couldn’t quite place, a twinkle in his eyes, a smile on his lips,
his jaw strong, his shoulders straight.

“Handsome bloke,” she commented.

“Went to war when he was sixteen,
lied about his age, silly boy.”  Mrs Preston shook her head.  “A lot of young
chaps did, thought it a great lark, thought they’d have World War 2 all done
and dusted and be home for Christmas.”  Her eyes held a distant expression as
she thought back.  “A lot of them never came home at all.”

Tam studied Mrs Preston’s face,
seeing the sadness there, the years of memories both good and bad rolling
through her still-agile mind.  “Did Billy…?”

“Yes.  Yes, he did.”  Turning from
the photo, her hands braced on the four-wheeled walker, Mrs Preston moved across
to stand beside Tam at the sink.  “He was one of the lucky ones.”  Her plump
hip nudged at Tam’s more ample one.  “Move across, dear.  I’ll wash, you dry.”

“Why don’t you get ready for the
shopping and I’ll do the dishes?  There’s not many.”

“It’ll be quicker if I wash.”

Resigning herself to the fact that
Mrs Preston was not going to be hurried, Tam obediently dried the dishes and put
them away under Mrs Preston’s directions.  Only then did the elderly woman go
to get ready.

Leaving Tam eyeing Oliver, who
eyed her back, his little head cocked onto one side.  Geez, who knew a tiny budgie
could look so blood-thirsty?  If her aunt expected her to clean this vicious
beast’s cage, she should start paying her danger money.

“You and me, buddy.”  She pointed
at the budgie.  “Later.”

One beady little eye studied her
right back.  She could swear there was a gleam in there.

Pointing two fingers at her eyes,
she then pointed them at Oliver before repeating the gesture.  “I’m watching
you, boy.”

“What?”

Whoops.  Hoping she hadn’t been
spotted being a complete twerp, Tam turned to see Mrs Preston entering the
room.  “Um…just having a chat with Oliver.”

Face lighting up, Mrs Preston walked across to the cage, the four-wheeled walker steadying her steps.  Her voice
changed dramatically as she cooed at the budgie.  “Who’s Mummy’s good little
boy, then?  Hmm?  Does Oliver like his cuttlefish?  Does he want another toy? 
Does Oliver want a new mirror?”  She leaned forward, making kissy sounds.

Tam mentally rolled her eyes as
Oliver fluffed his feathers, angled his head and made kissy sounds back at Mrs
Preston before pressing the top of his head to the cage to allow his owner to gently
rub his little head.

Cripes, if Tam tried it, he’d rip
her finger off.

“Such a good boy.”  Mrs Preston
straightened.  “Okay, dear, let’s go and do this shopping.  I first have to go
to the bank to draw out my pension.”

“No worries.”

The main street was busy for
Gully’s Fall, which would have been quiet back in the city.  The bank had a
spattering of elderly residents who all knew each other and stopped to chat. 

Leaning back against the wall as
she waited for Mrs Preston to finish talking to Harry, Tam took the mobile from
her small shoulder bag, flipped it open and dialled.  Before the voice on the
other end could say anything, she said, “So I’m at the bank.  Everyone is doing
a meet’n’greet.”

“Don’t worry,” Aunt Maree replied. 
“I always schedule extra time for Shelley.”

“I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be
back on time.”

“You will.  She won’t miss an
episode of Heart’s Desire.  She’ll make sure she’s back before then.”

“Okay.”

A tall, broad-shouldered figure in
the local fireman’s uniform of dark blue walked into the bank just as Mrs
Preston started to make her way to where Tam waited.  The man took one look at Mrs
Preston and crossed to her side, bending down to lay a kiss on the wrinkled
cheek.

“Hi, Aunt Shelley.”

“Hello, Scott.”  She beamed up at
him while straightening his shirt and giving it a quick brush down the front. 
“Tuck your shirt in, son, you’re a mess.”

“What?”  He looked down at his
front.  “Where?”

“At the back.”

“Oh.  Thanks.”  He tucked in the tiniest
bit of uniform shirt that was partially out.  “What are you doing?”

“Shopping.”

He glanced around, a frown
settling on his handsome features.  Ah, now Tam knew why the photo of Billy
Preston looked familiar.  His great nephew had inherited the Preston features.

“Where’s Charlotte?  Are you here
on your own?  Auntie, I’ve told you before, you need anything you just call me
or Ash or Mum.  We don’t want you going out on your own.  You know we’re just a
call away.”

“Don’t get your knickers in a
knot, boy.  You’re busy, your Mum’s got a boarding house to run, and Ash has
the baby.  I’m not alone, I have a new girl taking me out.”  She gestured to
where Tam leaned against the wall.  “Tam, come here.  I want you to meet my
great nephew.”

The relief in the big firie’s eyes
was plain to see, but so was a touch of curiosity and wariness.  Fair enough,
she was a stranger to town and he didn’t know her.  His protectiveness of his
elderly Aunt was evident in the way he towered over her, his hand on her
shoulder.

“Hi,” Tam greeted him, holding out
her hand.  “I’m Tam, Maree’s niece.”

“Scott.”  He shook her hand, his
smile friendly.  “You haven’t been here long.”

“About a week, but you know Aunt
Maree, idle hands and all that.”

“Woman knows what she’s talking
about,” Mrs Preston stated.

The door to the bank opened, a
familiar man entering.  Though tall and broad-shouldered, he didn’t carry the
same bulk as Scott, having a leaner strength about him.  Muscle flexed beneath
his shirt as he ran a hand through black hair, pushing it back off his brow,
his pale grey eyes taking in the room.  A bit of a dick, Tam thought, but
yummy.  No denying that.

  “Oh, look, there’s that nice
vet, Grant.  Now.”  Mrs Preston turned to Tam.  “He’s single.”

Tam nodded absentmindedly.

“You’re single.”

Scott made a choked sound.

Tam’s gaze shot to Mrs Preston. 
“What?”

“You’re single.  He’s single.”

Good God, surely she’s not
suggesting…?

Before Tam knew what was happening,
Mrs Preston turned and called out, “Dr Wilson!”

“Shit!”  The profanity slipped out
before Tam could stop it.

Scott gave a bark of laughter
while Mrs Preston ignored her.

Grant saw Mrs Preston, smiled, saw
Scott, smiled, saw Tam, his smile faltered.

Great, just great.