Second Time Around (7 page)

He was cheerful when he entered the office, something that his business partner Rufus immediately noticed.

“Good weekend huh?” he queried as he followed Alec into his office.

“What? No, it was average,” Alec replied.

Rufus wasn’t convinced.

“Nothing out of the ordinary happen?” he queried.

“I fired Mrs Rice,” Alec admitted.

“You what?” Rufus asked, thinking that he had misheard.

“I fired Mrs Rice,” Alec repeated as he set his briefcase on his desk then sat down. He removed a pile of manila folders he had worked through during the weekend and set them to one side for Leonora, their shared PA, to take care of.

Rufus plonked himself on the edge of the desk, nudging the intercom behind him as he did so.

“What happened?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Let’s see,” Alec mused. “Mrs Rice was giving Em the same awful minimal lunch every day despite being paid extra to provide something decent,” he began. “Then she was getting the neighbour to look after Em every day after school while she swanned off to a bingo parlour only to return before I got home. On those days she collected Em from school she’d send Em outside so as not to distract her while she watched TV and drank your gin.”

Rufus latched onto the most important piece of information.

“I hope you took the cost of the gin out of her wages,” he said, outraged. “That stuff I left at your place was a quality brand.”

“I was more concerned with firing her,” Alec returned dryly.

“You don’t say,” Rufus muttered. Then something else sank in. “Oh no, where did we go wrong?” he asked, feeling mildly panicked. He caught himself and levelled his gaze on Alec. “Did that woman lie on her application form and we missed it?”

“No. She didn’t fill in any of our forms,” Alec told him, mentally sighing. He knew he’d have to come clean or Rufus would be reviewing applicant forms until doomsday. “I needed to look for a new minder for Em about the same time your appendix burst and we got the exclusive recruitment deal with Sunburst Finance and were submitting our proposal to First Bank management. With you in hospital there was so much to do here I delegated the task to Mrs Weiss,” he finished on a mumble.

Rufus gave a bark of laughter.

“That’s ironic,” he said, not trying to hide his amusement. “I was worried there was a flaw in our system but it turns out that you let an amateur do our job.” He studied Alec. “So why did you arrive in a good mood?” he queried. “I would have thought you’d be stressed out having to replace Mrs Rice.”

There was a knock at the door and Leonora entered. In her mid-thirties, she was the backbone of the company although her appearance and behaviour belied it. Shortly after starting with them she had broken up with a long term boyfriend then had started dyeing her hair startling colours on a weekly basis. She was now long over her ex but her hair colour continued to change.

Today her magenta coloured hair was knotted in a messy bun at the back of her head. When Leonora saw the thickness of the pile of folders on Alec’s desk she groaned.

“I’d just caught up,” she complained, stomping over to get them.

“And good morning to you too, dearest,” Rufus said when she leaned past him to grab them. Leonora ignored him and picked up the pile.

“I suppose you want all these taken care of before lunch,” she said testily.

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” Alec replied amiably.

“It is but I’ll get through it,” Leonora said crossly.

“Thanks,” Alec said. He was pretty sure Leonora’s attitude was all for show. At least he hoped so. “Is that all you came in for?”

“No. I’ve vetted that candidate you emailed me on
Saturday
morning,” she said. “I came in to tell you that the results are online in file E1037C.” Alec quickly scribbled down the file’s name on his blotter next to a left handed, generously proportioned rendition of Leonora that Rufus had drawn while using his desk last week.

“Thanks again,” Alec said, looking up. “What were your findings?”

Leonora tucked the folders under one arm and put her hand on her hip.

“You don’t think I spent the best part of my weekend writing up a report on my findings from the CV and think I’m going to just tell you what was in it?” she said incredulously. “If I went to all that trouble don’t you think you should at least pretend to read it first?”

“If writing reports was the best part of your weekend what do you do for fun? Watch paint dry?” Rufus asked blandly.

Alec and Leonora ignored him.

“I will read it,” Alec assured her. “Your reports are a work of art in words.”

Rufus snorted and Leonora shot him a filthy look.

“That’s flattering to hear but I’m still not telling,” Leonora said as she backed towards the door.

“Leonora darling, would you please make me a coffee and bring it into my office in a couple of minutes?” Rufus asked.

“I’m busy, make it yourself. You know where the kettle is,” Leonora replied then left the office, pulling the door shut behind her.

“I don’t know why we put up with her,” Rufus complained as Alec logged onto his computer.

The door to the office abruptly opened and Leonora poked her head in.

“Because I’m efficient, productive, great with customers and I’m the only one around who is capable of keeping your sorry arse in line,” she snapped.

“Leonora sweetie,” Rufus crooned. “Your ear will fall off if you keep listening at the door.”

“I wasn’t listening at the door,” Leonora corrected sweetly. “You’ve turned the intercom on with your butt again.” Having got in the last word, Leonora yanked the door shut.

At her comment Rufus jumped off the desk and switched off the intercom. Alec, who had only been half paying attention to the byplay as he called up the file, looked up.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Eventually,” Rufus said, carefully resettling himself on the edge of the desk so he didn’t knock the intercom again. “Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?” he asked rhetorically. “I know. We were discussing your good mood.”

“No we weren’t,” Alec disagreed, his focus on the file he had just opened.

“Yes, we were,” Rufus contradicted.

“Don’t worry about it, I think it has gone now,” Alec murmured as he started reading.

While he read Rufus picked up a pen and embellished his earlier caricature of Leonora with horns and a trident. Just as he was adding the final stroke Leonora barged back in and placed a mug of hot coffee near Alec’s hand.

“It’s blacker than usual because I used up the last of the milk and can’t be bothered to scrounge around the other companies in this building for more,” she told him.

“Thanks,” Alec said then took a sip and grimaced.

“Is something wrong?” Leonora asked, her eyes narrowing.

“It’s a little strong,” Alec admitted. “But don’t worry it’s the thought that counts.”

Leonora beamed smugly at Rufus.

“Where’s mine?” Rufus asked her.

“I told you. I’m. Too. Busy. Besides, we’re out of milk,” Leonora said then practically skipped out of the room to ensure Rufus didn’t have enough time to ask her to get some.

Rufus sighed and Alec stopped reading.

“What?” Alec said.

“How come you get coffee and I don’t? She’s my PA too,” he complained.

Alec studied his partner. Physically Rufus was incredibly good looking, not that Alec would ever admit it aloud. Blessed with good genes that made him tall and toned, Rufus had slightly long, sun bleached hair and bronzed skin from weekends spent surfing. No one looking at him would guess that he was in his early forties.

In addition, he had dark blue eyes that Alec had overheard more than one woman exclaim over. Sometimes Alec found it hard to take, especially when they were out socially because he often felt overlooked by women while in Rufus’ presence. On occasions Alec had been tempted to start carrying a high school photo of his friend around – from before he had his teeth straightened and whitened.

Rufus also had no trouble finding women as his two divorces attested to. Alec sometimes wondered about the divorces as Rufus still got on well with both ex-wives. But then he was such a genuinely nice guy it would be hard to hate him.

At the moment he was a serial dater which was effortless on his part because women were always giving him their number. He never seemed to get beyond a handful of dates with any of them and because of this Alec had given up keeping track of the women’s names.

Perhaps Rufus’ problem was that everything had come too easily to him, Alec mused. Maybe he should encourage Leonora to keep him humble.

He thoughtfully pushed his coffee towards Rufus.

“You want a coffee? Here, have mine. I promise you that you haven’t missed anything.”

Rufus accepted the mug on principle and took a cautious sip.

“Mmm,” he said determinedly, even as one of his eyebrows shot up and his cheek twitched.

“You know you would probably have Leonora eating out of the palm of your hand if you stopped baiting her,” Alec said as he continued to read.

“I don’t bait her,” Rufus replied indignantly then took another mouthful of coffee.

“Then what’s with all the darlings and sweeties?” Alec asked. “You don’t speak that way to anyone else.”

“But she enjoys it,” Rufus said brushing Alec’s observation off.

“No. I think that Leonora is a professional and doesn’t like being talked to like she is a nineteen fifties housewife,” Alec corrected. “In fact unless I’m mistaken she’s probably retaliating right now,” he added as Rufus pinched his nose and took a large gulp of coffee.

He waited for Rufus to swallow before he gestured to the mug in Rufus’ hand.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she laced that coffee with something.”

“But she made it for you,” Rufus replied, frowning at the mug he was holding.

“But she knows that I wouldn’t drink it if it didn’t taste right and there would be a good chance you would, just so you could think you’d got one over her,” Alec countered.

“Sounds too Machiavellian for Leonora,” Rufus said dismissively.

“Let’s see about that.” Alec reached past Rufus to switch on the intercom. “Leonora?”

“What do you want now?” her voice grumbled.

“What did you put in the coffee?” he asked as Rufus’ stomach rumbled.

“Um… coffee, milk, water and a handful of laxatives,” she replied.

“Thank you. That’s all,” Alec said then switched off the intercom. He looked up at Rufus. “See?”

Rufus peered into the mug and tried to estimate how much he had drunk then set the mug onto the desk and pushed it towards Alec.

“I hope she’s got little hands,” he muttered, getting off the desk as his stomach rumbled again. “I’m going out now,” he said with dignity. “And it could be some time before I return.”

Alec nodded and returned his attention to the screen. He waited for Rufus to leave before grinning.

A short while later Alec had all his answers. Leonora as usual had been thorough. So much so that he had only read the first three pages detailing Halley’s recent work history and summations of verbal referees then skipped to the front to read the executive summary.

Everything checked out. Halley was a primary school teacher who had most recently taught a composite year three and four class. Her last employer couldn’t say enough positive things about her and she was currently considered to be on maternity leave.

Alec chewed his top lip as he considered that he wouldn’t have Halley to look after Em indefinitely. After a few moments he decided she would have to extend the maternity leave for the new baby. It would be something he would worry about later, he decided as he flicked the screen to his appointment calendar.

The week sped by and on Friday afternoon Alec found himself unusually eager to get home. In addition to seeing Em he would be able to enjoy Halley’s company for a short while. Although he wanted to spend more time with Halley he didn’t want to press his luck. Instead he planned to wait for her invitation.

Somehow Halley’s situation had struck a chord inside him. He knew it was hard work having to take care of a new born as part of a couple, let alone another two, sometimes three children on your own. Halley always did her best to appear upbeat but Alec sensed the sadness that lurked behind her eyes. He wondered whether it was because she missed her husband and then he would find himself inexplicably jealous of a dead man.

When he got to her house, he knocked on the door but there was no answer. Alec was just about to knock again when he heard Halley shriek.

Upon hearing Halley cry out, Alec twisted the doorknob instead of knocking. The door gave way and he sprinted inside. Had she fallen? Was there an armed intruder? He had warned her about leaving the front door unlocked but she obviously hadn’t listened.

Sensing that her cry had come from the back yard, he ran through the lounge and out onto the deck to be greeted by Halley wearing a nearly transparent t-shirt.

“Are you okay?” he asked with concern as he struggled to keep his gaze on her face. Against his will his eyes dropped and he couldn’t help but notice she was wearing a pink bra that showed a generous amount of cleavage.

“Of course I am,” she replied, sounding surprised, making Alec return his attention to her face. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I heard you scream,” he said, wondering whether he had been hearing things.

“That’s because I started an impromptu water fight,” she said with a laugh.

“And lost?” he asked, finally taking in that her hair was drenched and her t-shirt was dripping.

“Ah, yeah,” Halley agreed, smiling. “Those kids might be smaller than me but they are sneakier.” She ran a hand over her head, smoothing her hair away from her face. “We were all hot and I thought it would be a good way to cool down,” she explained.

Alec put his hand in his pockets and pulled out his wallet, keys and a folded handkerchief which he set on the coffee table.

“What are you doing?” she asked as heeled off his black ‘work’ sneakers then tugged off his socks.

“I thought I’d show you that I could be sneakier,” he said conspiratorially, glad that he embraced casual Fridays in the office. Water wouldn’t ruin his polo shirt or his jeans.

A cry came from inside and Halley immediately went indoors to tend to Cassie in her bassinette. By the time she started changing Cassie’s nappy, thrilled shrieks were coming from outside.

“That’ll be you in another year,” Halley murmured although she was unable to picture what their lives would be like by that time.

The phone went and she placed Cassie against her shoulder to answer it. When Alec returned several minutes later he grabbed a towel from the pile Halley had left by the door and wiped his face.

“You’re right, they are sneaky,” he agreed as he started patting his arms and chest with the towel. Then he noticed Halley sitting rigidly on the couch with the phone in her hand.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, as he quickly blotted his jeans then strode to her. He considered the couch for a moment then dropped the towel on it and sat down beside her.

“That was Liz Casey, Casey’s Mum and she’s mad,” Halley said.

Alec took the phone from her hand and set it on the coffee table.

“Is she mad that you didn’t tell her about Paul and Krystal’s deaths?” Alec ventured when she didn’t continue.

“No, nothing like that,” Halley said. She raised one hand and started fanning her face then met Alec’s worried eyes. “You’ll have to excuse me. I think I’m in shock.”

“Let me have Cassie,” Alec said.

“But you’re wet,” Halley protested.

“It’s a hot day, she’ll be fine,” Alec said, taking Cassie from her grasp and settling her against his shoulder. A thought suddenly occurred to him. “She hasn’t just been fed?” he asked suspiciously.

“No. You weren’t outside long enough for that,” Halley told him.

Alec relaxed a little and Cassie started sucking the side of her fist.

“Now tell me about this phone call,” Alec cajoled.

“All right.” Halley heaved a sigh. “Long story short. Liz just got off the phone to the lawyer executing Paul and Krystal’s will. She’s somewhere in Sudan and his letter had been sent to her last posting in Ethiopia which is why it took so long to catch up to her.

“He asked her if she wanted custody of Casey and suggested that she’d be entitled to some of Paul and Krystal’s estate if she wanted to pursue it.”

Halley looked at Alec indignantly.

“Liz is a humanitarian for crying out loud. If money was what did it for her she would be back here in the rat race like everyone else,” she explained.

“Anyway, when Liz found out that I have custody of the children and approved of it the lawyer insinuated that having the three children was too much for me especially when I’m about to have my own. She said he didn’t come out and say it but he implied that Casey would wind up in foster care simply because he wasn’t related to me,” Halley said sounding upset. “He told her it was in Casey’s best interests for her to return to Australia and get custody.”

Alec muttered something unrepeatable under his breath.

“I hope you told her that wouldn’t happen,” he said roughly. In the short time he’d known Halley he’d only ever observed a nurturing mother. She had even taken in Em despite the fact Mrs Rice was supposed to be dedicated to her care.

“No, I would never split the kids up,” Halley agreed, rubbing her forehead.

“Then why is Liz Casey angry?” Alec asked.

“Because she thought the lawyer was stirring up trouble so the will would wind up being contested and he could rack up more billable hours. That’s why when he asked whether her parents would be interested in taking Casey she told him that they had died years ago.” Halley gave him a wry smile.

“Liz told me that they are both in a retirement village south of Cairns. She said that they haven’t had much to do with Casey since he was a baby, partly because of the distance but mostly because her mother has dementia and looking after her is almost too much for her father who recently had a stroke. She doesn’t want the lawyer upsetting them.”

“She sounds as though she is on your side,” Alec remarked.

“She is. She even told me not to volunteer any other names to the lawyer because she’s concerned he’s doing it to create conflict so he can make more money out of the estate.”

“Have you told the lawyer about anyone else?” Alec asked.

“There isn’t anyone apart from Chantelle,” Halley said, placing her hands on her lap. “I’m not terribly worried about her though. He’d have to overturn a lot of rocks before he’d find the one she’d crawled under,” she added on a mutter.

“Is Chantelle another sister?” Alec asked.

“No. Krystal and I had the misfortune of having her give birth to us.”

“She’s your mother?”

“I wouldn’t use that word,” Halley said, shaking her head. “That woman dumped us on her mother when we were small and took off. We didn’t see her again until I was twelve and she only came back for us because I was of use to her. As soon as I wasn’t she left again. I haven’t seen her for…” Halley glanced upwards. “Coming up to thirteen years now.”

Alec had questions about what she had just said but he was more concerned with her current state of mind. Halley had almost seemed frozen with the phone in her hand when he had come inside.

“Is Chantelle what you were thinking about when I came in?” he prodded gently.

Halley took a deep breath then slowly let it out and turned to him.

“No. I couldn’t care less about Chantelle. If I seemed stunned it was because Liz said that she was going to get hold of her family’s lawyer and arrange to give me guardianship of Casey.”

“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Alec asked.

“Yes, absolutely. It’ll mean that I can sign for him to receive medical care and so forth,” Halley agreed. “It’s just that when we hung up it suddenly hit me. I’m completely on my own with three children and I’ll soon have four.”

She took a deep breath at the thought.

“Before that moment, in the back of my mind Liz was my backstop,” she explained in a rush. “I was unconsciously counting on her to drop everything and come running and somehow help out. But when we talked it became clear to me that she was relieved that I wanted custody of the children,” Halley said. “Liz is a warm, wonderful person but her purpose in life is to care for those who have so little. How could I demand her presence here when in comparison these children have so much?”

“But Casey is her son,” Alec gritted out. He didn’t know why he felt compelled to say that, especially after his own experience where his ex-wife Miranda had so easily dropped Em from her life to suit herself.

“Yes he is,” Halley agreed. “That’s why Liz offered to take all three children and said something about them living in a community which would help raise them.”

“I have to admit I was tempted,” she confessed, avoiding his eye by concentrating on plucking at a loose thread on the hem of her shorts “But Krystal and Paul had wanted me to take care of the boys and Cassie. Besides, can you imagine Casey living in the conditions there?” she asked rhetorically, brushing the thread she’d pulled free away. “With his fair skin he’d be a walking red blister.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alec smile at her description.

“When it comes down to it I want to be the one there for the children.” Halley finally looked up at him. “It’s just daunting.”

“I think you’re doing a great job,” Alec told her honestly.

“Thanks,” she said, sounding a little sceptical.

“I mean it,” he insisted.

Further conversation was prevented by Corey chasing Em inside with the hose.

“No!” Halley cried as a spray of water blasted Em’s back. “Corey! Take it outside!”

The next day Alec was making Em waffles for breakfast when he spied Buddy in his back yard sniffing around. Before he could place the bowl of batter on the bench so he could go after the dog, the bull terrier had raised its leg and watered a small gardenia bush that had recently started losing leaves.

Alec glanced at Em who was sitting eating the breakfast bar and toned down what he had been going to say.

“Dratted dog,” he muttered under his breath as he flipped a waffle onto a plate.

With that taken care of, he left Em happily munching and stormed through the lounge ranch slider to get outside. From the deck Buddy was nowhere to be seen.

“I bet he hasn’t gone home,” Alec said to himself as he placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the backyard.

Moments later, beyond the cover of a large clump of leafy African Irises, a spray of dirt sailed out and hit the ground.

“I hope you’re digging it deep enough for your grave,” Alec muttered as he stalked towards the flying earth.

He rounded the irises to discover Buddy furiously digging.

“Stop that,” he growled as he reached for Buddy’s collar.

Before he could grab hold, Buddy leapt out of the shallow hole and barked at him with excitement.

“You think this is a game?” Alec asked the dog with irritation.

Buddy wagged his tail then barked again.

Alec took a step towards him and Buddy stepped back.

“Why do you want to dig up my garden?” Alec asked as he lunged for the dog and missed. “I’m sure there’s room for more holes in your own.”

Alec’s eyes dropped to the hole as Buddy stopped just out of reach. In it was a dirty tennis ball. It gave him an idea.

“Do you want to play fetch?” he asked, picking the ball up.

Alec tried not to notice the slobber on the ball as he lobbed it over the fence to Halley’s house. Buddy immediately streaked after it.

“There,” said Alec with satisfaction as he dusted his hands off. “That takes care of you.”

He wandered back to the house and was about to go inside when something thudded on the deck behind him. Alec turned around to see a slobbery ball rolling towards him. Beyond it Buddy was watching him, his tail thumping expectantly.

“You’re kidding,” he muttered.

Alec flung the ball over the fence again then followed Buddy as he took off after it. As soon as the dog disappeared through a gap in the fence Alec bent over and picked up a paling that was lying on the ground and leaned it against the fence.

He smiled when Buddy returned to the fence with the ball in his mouth and whined upon seeing that the gap had been blocked.

“That’s right Buddy,” Alec smirked. “My place is now off limits to you.”

Buddy head butted the paling and the end clipped Alec’s nose as it fell. Alec gasped in pain then cursed as he brought his hand up to check whether his nose had been broken. A few tentative touches assured him that his nose seemed to be in the right place.

Buddy stepped through the gap and dropped the ball at Alec’s feet.

“Get off my property!” Alec growled at the dog. He gave the ball a vicious kick which sent it straight at the fence. It immediately rebounded, hitting Alec in a sensitive spot.

“Ugh,” Alec gasped as he dropped to the ground and curled up in a foetal position. He thought he was going to be sick.

Em came running out onto the deck as Buddy picked up the ball and dropped it by Alec’s head.

“Where are you Daddy? The waffle iron is smoking!” she cried.

Alec took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

“Can you unplug it?” he asked feebly. “I’ll be in in a minute.” Buddy nudged the ball closer to Alec’s face until all Alec could see was a filthy, slobbered-over tennis ball.