Second Time Around (3 page)

With all that money going her way Mrs Rice had a big incentive to dote on his daughter, and she did, he assured himself. When he came home she was usually reading Em a story or they were in the middle of a board game which she would reluctantly leave for next time.

By the time he opened his own front door he realised he didn’t even know what his neighbour’s name was. Whatever it was, he’d make her eat her words.

Five minutes later Alec found himself heading back to Halley’s door feeling contrite and embarrassed. Em had not only backed up everything his neighbour had said but she had added that Mrs Rice only started reading to her once she saw his car in the driveway, opening to a page in the book at random. Any board games they ‘played’ were likewise set up at the last moment and counters placed where they fell.

Alec considered himself astute and it was a blow to his ego to have discovered that a pensioner had been taking him for a ride. He owed his neighbour an apology and at least an offer of payment for all those hours she had been minding Em.

As he marched up her side of their shared driveway to her front door it occurred to him that there was the remote possibility that both Em and his neighbour were exaggerating.

To be on the safe side he decided he would take his neighbour’s advice and shuffle around a few appointments tomorrow so that he could come home early. He would even leave his car in the driveway and enter through the front door instead of using the internal access from the garage so as not to give Mrs Rice advance warning of his impending arrival.

One way or another Mrs Rice’s future as his employee would soon be determined. In the meanwhile he had to return the favour his neighbour had done for him. Alec yanked open the screen and rapped directly on the door.

As Halley threw herself into the task of emptying the dishwasher she felt irked by her good looking neighbour’s attitude and she relished the emotion. It certainly beat the despair that had filled her days since the accident that had claimed her sister, brother-in-law and husband.

Although it seemed like last week, it had been almost three months since Krystal, Paul and Rob had been driving to Auckland International Airport to collect her and the boys after their flight from Sydney. The plan had been to go straight to the wedding of friends of Paul and Rob’s.

At the time Halley hadn’t wanted to go on the trip. She was still getting morning sickness and she was worried about saving money for when the baby arrived. On top of that she hadn’t been on the best terms with Krystal.

To encourage her to go, her husband Rob had pointed out that it would be her last holiday before she became a mother. Her brother-in-law Paul had done his share of coaxing as well because the groom was someone he and Rob had been friends with for years. And knowing Halley’s preoccupation with her finances, Krystal had added that there would be no accommodation cost because they were staying with the groom’s family.

After they worked out that they could get cheaper flights if one of them travelled with the boys several days later Halley grudgingly gave in and volunteered to be that person. Being the one to travel later would limit her expenses and exposure to people she didn’t feel like being sociable with.

At first Krystal hadn’t been keen to be parted from the boys for a week until Rob had pointed out that she and Paul hadn’t had a break from the kids since Corey had been born. Casey was Paul’s son from his first marriage and they had shared custody with Paul’s ex-wife Liz, a nurse. A couple of years ago Liz had joined an international aid agency and been posted to Ethiopia so Casey had come to stay with them full-time.

After a brief worry that Krystal might not be able to travel at seven and a half months pregnant they had checked and discovered that she would be back home before it was an issue. With her sister’s contagious excitement over going home to New Zealand and catching up with friends she hadn’t seen in years, Halley felt she couldn’t say no.

The accident that had claimed Krystal, Paul and Rob’s lives had simply been a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They had been driving to the airport to collect Halley and the boys when they realised they had forgotten to bring the helium balloons that they had bought for the boys. Seeing as they had planned to be early to meet the flight they had taken the next motorway exit and turned back.

Halley had been told that they had been on the Northern Motorway when a truck travelling beside them had lost its brakes, went up the side of the median barrier and flipped onto the car they were travelling in. Her husband Rob and his brother Paul had died instantly. Krystal, who had been in the front passenger’s seat, was found unconscious in the wreck and taken to North Shore Hospital. The staff there hadn’t been able to save her but they had been able to keep her alive long enough to deliver Cassie seven week’s premature.

When Halley and the boys had found themselves stranded at the airport Halley had phoned Krystal only to have her call answered by a nurse at the hospital. That was how she had learned that her husband, brother-in-law and sister were dead.

The rest of the trip had been a nightmare for Halley.

Somehow through a fog of grief she had arranged funerals and cared for her nephews until their new sister was considered healthy enough to travel back to Australia. Once home, Halley had done her best to try and keep the boys’ life as normal as possible. Since she had planned to go on maternity leave anyway she took it sooner so that she could give the boys and Cassie full time care.

Her husband hadn’t had life insurance and without an income she couldn’t afford to pay all the bills for two households. It had made sense to move into Krystal and Paul’s place so at least her money went into an asset rather than pay off her landlord’s mortgage. It also meant that the boys could stay at their school.

The lawyer executing Paul and Krystal’s will assured her that Paul’s life insurance would cover the mortgage on the house they were in but until it was all settled Halley was drip feeding her savings into the mortgage.

Halley was getting fed up with the lawyer as she felt the will had been straight forward. If anything was to happen to Paul and Krystal, she and Rob were to get custody of the children and all their assets to provide for the children. Without Rob, she was the only one left.

She was convinced that the lawyer was drawing everything out to increase his bill. It had been three months now and in their last conversation a few weeks ago he had asked her whether there were other family members who might feel entitled to a share of the estate.

Halley had explained that Rob and Paul were late-in-life children and their parents had died years ago. When he had pressed her she had told him about Casey’s mother but said she didn’t know how to find her to tell her the news. He had asked a few details then said he would take care of it for her.

That had been a relief. She had only met Casey’s mother Liz once and she had seemed a warm and genuine person. Krystal who had been rather cynical about people in general had only ever had nice things to say about Liz, especially since Liz made the effort to not only send presents to Casey for his birthday and Christmas but to Corey as well.

When the lawyer had asked about Krystal’s parents Halley had felt disloyal admitting that she didn’t know who Krystal’s father was. The lawyer had latched onto that statement and Halley found herself reluctantly telling him that she had a different father to Krystal and no, she didn’t know who he was either.

As for her mother, a term she nearly choked on, she hadn’t seen Chantelle Baker for the last thirteen years, and no, they hadn’t stayed in touch and no, she had no interest in finding her to tell her the news about Krystal. For some reason the lawyer had still been keen on getting in touch with Chantelle so Halley had flippantly suggested he try phoning every pub in the North Island of New Zealand on a week night and he would eventually find her.

When she had left after that meeting, Halley had been so fed up with the lawyer’s obsession for knowledge that she considered irrelevant to Krystal and Paul’s will that she had considered finding another lawyer to take over. She had also been spurred on by the inconvenience of having to make several trips to the lawyer’s office for brief meetings where she had been asked to sign documents after a lengthy absence by the lawyer to make photocopies.

However, after taking several days to calm down Halley had decided not to change lawyers. She told herself that by now he must be near the end of the process and she loathed the idea of the possibility of having to start over with a different lawyer.

Having spent most of her life watching every cent, she wasn’t about to risk extending the tedious process of executing the will, especially with the extra expense of bringing the new lawyer up to date.

On her thirtieth birthday which was several months away, she should finally be able to access the money that Krystal had squirreled away on her behalf. Unfortunately she had already worked out that her savings and credit wouldn’t last until then unless Paul’s life insurance paid off the mortgage in the meanwhile.

With the circumstances being what they were she decided it was best to stay with the devil she knew.

As Halley pulled the last pair of glasses from the top rack of the dishwasher she heard the front door buzzer. She set the glasses on the bench and glanced out the window at the darkening sky.

“It’s a bit late for Girl Guides,” she commented.

Cassie kicked her legs in her bouncinette nearby and made a sound of agreement. Halley slipped her out and set her against her shoulder.

“Let’s go see who it is,” she murmured.

Opening the front door revealed the neighbour and irritation roiled in Halley’s gut. What did he want now?

Alec wasn’t surprised that his neighbour didn’t seem pleased to see him. He hoped to redeem himself in her eyes.

“I’ve just been talking to Em and I believe I owe you an apology,” he said contritely.

Halley pushed the screen door open and he took it from her. She didn’t want anything in the way when she heard it.

“Well?” she prompted when he just seemed to stare at her.

“Do I know you?” Alec asked instead of what she had been expecting. Upon seeing her again he had been hit with a sense of déjà vu but he couldn’t explain it. He told himself she had opened the screen door in the same manner about quarter of an hour ago but he was sure that wasn’t it.

She still had the same dark gold hair caught up in an untidy ponytail and the same deep brown eyes that seemed to draw his gaze.

Halley shook her head, feeling a little uncomfortable under his intense scrutiny.

“No. I’m sure we’ve never met. Perhaps you’re thinking of Krystal, my sister. She used to live in this house.”

“Yes, maybe that’s it,” Alec agreed although he didn’t think so. He was hopeless at recognising people he seldom saw and in this neighbourhood everybody kept to themselves. Alec mused that at least now he had a reason why he hadn’t seen any for sale signs in front of the driveway. Paul and Krystal Clarke hadn’t needed to advertise to sell or rent the place to Krystal’s sister.

Halley adjusted Cassie on her shoulder and watched him expectantly. After several long seconds Alec realised she was waiting for him to say something then remembered the purpose for his presence.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” Alec said, shifting his weight to his other foot. He seldom needed to apologise and he found it uncomfortable to do so on those few occasions it was necessary. “Em pretty much repeated what you just told me and I have decided to take up your suggestion and catch Mrs Rice out in person tomorrow.”

As Alec spoke it occurred to him that since he would likely be firing Mrs Rice tomorrow he would then be short of a babysitter.

“Because I have no doubt of tomorrow’s outcome I was wondering whether I could officially interest you in looking after Em while I’m at work. Of course I don’t expect you to do it for free,” he added quickly then named the sum he had been paying Mrs Rice.

Halley struggled to keep a blank expression on her face. The sum her neighbour was offering was more than generous. She couldn’t believe that Mrs Rice jeopardised her employment when she received so much for doing so little. Then she scowled. If she hadn’t said something to Alec then Em would still be going hungry and Mrs Rice would still be getting that sum for just putting in a token appearance before Alec returned home for the day.

Alec mistook the reason for her expression.

“Of course you’ve already got three children and it would be an imposition to add a fourth. Would an extra twenty dollars a day suffice?” he asked, trying not to sound desperate. After school care would be considerably cheaper but unfortunately its hours didn’t extend to the time he sometimes got home. “And I’ll pay you for all those days you’ve already had Em,” he added.

It was on the tip of Halley’s tongue to say she was happy to continue to look after Em for free when common sense overrode her. She wouldn’t be financially secure until she gained access to the bank account Krystal had opened for her without their mother’s knowledge. It contained most of what she had earned as a teenager and with interest the balance should now be a considerable sum.

As an adult Halley had left Krystal in charge of the account, hoping to prevent the temptation of spending it but now she wished she hadn’t. With the baby on the way she had wanted to use it on a deposit for a house but Krystal had been surprisingly reticent on the matter and had urged her to wait until the current term deposit rolled over which would be the day she turned thirty.

Despite her initial frenzied search for the account details after she had moved in, Halley hadn’t found any records of its existence. Since then she had started going through all of Krystal and Paul’s paperwork methodically when she had spare time. So far no hint of it had turned up.

Halley returned Alec’s blue-eyed gaze and realised that until she could find the details to her account it would make sense to have a regular source of income in the event that the lawyer continued to drag out executing the will. Looking after Em amongst everything else she had to deal with would be relatively effortless.

“I’d be pleased to officially have Em,” she said honestly but an innate sense of fairness and concern over Alec’s finances compelled her to add “But you don’t have to worry about paying me until I officially have the job.” She gave a shrug at Alec’s look of surprise. “Em’s been helpful with Cassie and she’s a pleasure to have.”

Alec smiled with relief. Although he would have followed through with his offer of back payment if she had wanted it, he was glad that his bank account wouldn’t have to take such a hit.

“I guess I can use some of that money to fix the fence then,” he joked.

Halley’s cheeks flushed at the reminder that Buddy had been digging holes next door.

“I’m really sorry Buddy did that. When the ground dries out I’ll come over and fix things,” she promised.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alec told her. “I think it’ll be a great spot for a tree.”

They smiled at each other. Cassie broke the shared moment of accord by starting to cry.