The Grass is Greener (35 page)

‘Damn it! We're in a blind spot,' she cried. ‘There's no signal out here.'

Bronwyn shook her head. ‘That can't be right. We're not that far out of the city. What about if you try it outside the car? I'll try mine too.'

They exited the vehicle, waving their phones around trying to get a signal. So focused were they on what they were doing, they didn't see another car approaching until it was too late.

A silver Mercedes Benz pulled up on the road beside them. The tinted window slid down like a Hollywood reveal.

Bronwyn's arms dropped to her sides as she looked at the driver in shock. ‘
Mum?
'

Bianca Hanks removed her sunglasses and eyed her daughter with equal surprise. ‘To be quite honest, Bronwyn, I had no idea you could be this resourceful.'

The shock of seeing Bronwyn's mother on the side of the road was completely trumped when a second later they heard barking from within her vehicle.

Bronwyn gasped. ‘Elsa!'

The honey-brown bullmastiff was panting heavily against the back passenger window, creating a large moist fog on the glass.

How on earth did she get you to stay in your seat?

Bronwyn raced towards the door just as Bianca hit the central locking button on her dash. The door was secure by the time she got there and pulling angrily on the handle was useless. She slammed a fist on the window, as Elsa barked excitedly. She peered beyond the happy canine and saw a full cardboard box also on the back seat.

‘You took my puppies!' she cried.

‘So you didn't know,' Bianca smiled. ‘And here I was crediting you with having put it all together. Oh well, I guess I'll see you later then.'

On these words, she wound up her window and drove on, her wheels kicking dust in Bronwyn's face.

‘
What is going on here?
' Claudia cried as she stumbled up beside Bronwyn.

‘I don't know,' Bronwyn turned around. ‘But I'm sure as hell going to find out.' She raced back to their car. ‘Who's driving? Me or you?'

‘I better.' Claudia nodded. They created their own cloud of dust as she spun the wheels down the dirt road after Bianca Hanks.

‘What is your mum doing with those dogs?'

Bronwyn clutched the dash in front of her as she perched as far forward on her seat as her seatbelt would let her. Her knuckles were going white as her eyes remained fixed on her mother's car.

‘Revenge obviously, or some lesson she wants to teach me,' she ground out. ‘I wouldn't go back to law so she had to find some way to coerce me.'

‘By stealing your dogs in the dead of night?' Claudia rolled her eyes. ‘Sounds a little extreme.'

‘My mother is not above extreme.' Bronwyn sucked in a breath. ‘She was the one who got Jack to go to Bordeaux. He didn't abandon you guys, you know. He thought he was being kicked out of the country.'

‘
No.
' Claudia refused to believe it. ‘That doesn't make sense.'

‘It's a long story,' Bronwyn sighed. ‘But, to cut it
really
short, Jack thought your dad kicked him out of the country. Only it was my mum who sent him a ticket and a job offer. She did it just to make sure I stayed in law and didn't move to Yallingup, which was kind of my idea at the time.'

‘Okay,' Claudia took a hand off the wheel briefly to shake a finger at her, ‘you are definitely leaving parts of that story out. Do you mean to tell me that you've been in love with my brother all this time and you've said nothing to me till now?'

Bronwyn winced.

‘We are going to have some serious words after this, let me tell you.'

‘Definitely later,' Bronwyn agreed. ‘Right now, we really need to focus on what my mother plans to do next.'

Claudia's nose wrinkled. ‘What I still don't get is how she knew where to steal the dogs from. I mean, we were so careful about keeping your whereabouts a secret.'

‘It was me.' Bronwyn looked sheepish.

‘What was you?'

‘I blabbed. I told her where I was when I rang up to yell at her for interfering in my life, and Jack's too, for that matter.'

‘Looks like she's still interfering,' Claudia commented dryly as she swerved to miss a pothole. ‘You don't think she's in cahoots with Leon McCall, do you? I mean, your mother can be cruel, but she's definitely not a criminal.'

Bronwyn shook her head firmly. ‘There's no way she'd put her license to practice law in jeopardy. She
loves
what she does.'

Far more than me, anyway.

‘So if we're not going to a dog fight,' Claudia mused, ‘where are we going?'

Even as she posed the question, the road ended suddenly in a clearing – a massive oval in fact. Their mouths dropped opened as myriad colours and sounds and smells assaulted their senses – tents, stalls, people, candy floss, rides, music and … lots and lots of animals. Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, snakes, fish in bags. There was even a camel being led around with an Arabian carpet on its back.

Claudia's foot fell off the clutch and the car jerked and stalled.

They were at a fair.

The Great South-West Pet Show, apparently. There were flags and banners flying everywhere in red, white and yellow.

Well I'll be damned.

Clearly they'd just taken a shortcut through a national park to reach the showgrounds. Frank and his men were setting up the lights and fencing off to one side. There was an elevated
stage there and heaps of people were laying out picnic rugs in front of it to watch. It looked like whatever was about to take place on the stage was the main event of the day. They needed the lights because it might continue after dark.

A car behind them tooted noisily.

‘Quick, drive over to the car park.' Bronwyn pointed in the distance. ‘I can see it over there. My mum too.'

Claudia tried to follow her instructions, although the car park was a nightmare to navigate. Narrow lanes, horns tooting, cars parked both legally and illegally, kids running dangerously across the bitumen. Literally every man and his dog were there.

‘I don't understand,' Claudia cried as she circled the block yet again. ‘I was so sure, Frank, Peter and Leon were all connected. I never factored in your mum at all.'

‘Maybe she's not involved with them. My mum could be acting completely under her own steam.'

‘So do you think Leon McCall is still after you then?' Claudia asked.

‘He very well could be,' Bronwyn cringed and then spotted a space. ‘There!' she pointed urgently for Claudia's benefit.

It wasn't a car park. More like a vacant patch of grass and gravel close to the kerb. Everybody else was illegally parking though, so Bronwyn figured why the hell not.

‘I'll pay the fine,' she offered, just in case Claudia had a problem with it.

‘We'll go halves.' Claudia swung in to the spot.

They jumped out of the car, making it back on foot to where they'd seen Bianca parking earlier. Bronwyn had not expected to find her mother still there, however good old Elsa had had other ideas. The large bullmastiff had wound its leash around Bianca and pinned her up against the side of her car, front paws up on her chest.

‘Get off me! Get off me! You stupid dog,' Bianca cried, her features contorted in both terror and desperation. Elsa responded by licking her face from chin to hairline.

Claudia and Bronwyn skidded to a halt in front of them, taking it all in with frank enjoyment. The box of puppies was on the ground at Bianca's feet – clearly dropped there if the dent in the side was anything to go by. Luckily, the dogs had all stayed in the box.

‘Help me!' Bianca turned frantic eyes upon her daughter. ‘Don't just stand there!'

Bronwyn folded her arms and Claudia made no move to step forward either. They grinned at each other instead. Bronwyn couldn't recall a time in her life when her mother had ever needed her help. Let alone been completely at her mercy. She was going to milk this for all it was worth.

She turned back to Bianca. ‘I think we need to have a little chat first.'

Elsa licked Bianca's face again, lapping at her cheek like it was an ice-cream.

‘Ugh! Ugh!' Bianca cried. ‘Make her stop.'

‘Sure,' Bronwyn replied. ‘I just want your agreement on a few points first.'

‘Anything.'

‘One, you will stop antagonising my friend Claudia and endorse her position at Hanks and Eddings. Two, you will accept my decision to live and work in Yallingup without any more manipulations calculated to change my mind. And, three, you will return those dogs to me immediately.'

A shadow flicked across Bianca's features. ‘I can do that, of course, but I can't see why you would want to hide the dogs from a man as dangerous as Leon McCall.'

Bronwyn was surprised by two things. First, that her mother actually cared about what happened to her and second, that she knew about Leon's involvement. She hesitated.

‘Claudia,' she turned to her friend, ‘let's get Elsa off her.'

‘Right.'

Together, they pulled Elsa back and the dog dropped to all fours.

‘Good girl,' Claudia encouraged her as Bianca spun around, untangling the lead.

‘Thank you!' Bianca exclaimed as she deposited the end of the lead in Bronwyn's outstretched palm.

‘Now,' Bronwyn prompted, ‘explain to me what you know about Leon McCall's connection to these dogs.'

‘He owns the puppies but wants their mother too after Peter attempted to double-cross him.'

‘Peter attempted to double-cross him?'

Bianca sighed. ‘Your client made the big mistake of giving his dog to you for safe-keeping. Nobody, I suppose, could have predicted you would quit your job and disappear so suddenly without a care for anyone but yourself.'

‘Oh yes,' Bronwyn snapped, ‘because this is all about me being selfish.'

Claudia stepped forward. ‘Hold up, hold up, hold up.' She held up her palms for their attention. ‘How are you connected to Peter Goldman?' Her gaze fixed on Bianca.

Bronwyn's mother shrugged. ‘I'm not. I honestly couldn't care less about Peter Goldman or his gambling debts. My concern is for my client.'

‘Who is?' Claudia prompted.

‘Linda McCall.'

Bronwyn gasped. ‘Leon's new wife.'

‘Exactly.' Bianca raised her chin. ‘I've been handling her defamation case. But that aside, she's quite the animal lover. Those prize pedigree puppies were Leon's wedding present to her. You can imagine how angry he was when they just disappeared.'

‘And Peter Goldman got the brunt of it …' Claudia tapped a finger thoughtfully to her chin.

‘When they found out Bronwyn had them, they did come to me,' Bianca admitted. ‘Both of them, Leon and Linda. I had a meeting with them in my office just a couple of weeks ago.' She averted her eyes. ‘I must admit, Leon does have many
interesting suits filed against him and almost every member of his family. Having his business would be an excellent windfall for me.'

‘But you didn't tell him where I was,' Bronwyn whispered.

‘Of course not,' Bianca scoffed. ‘I am still your mother, after all.'

They looked at each other long and hard. It was strange seeing her mother in this new light. She had always thought of her as one hundred per cent ruthless, but maybe now she could shave off ten per cent.

Bianca examined the knuckles on the back of one hand. ‘I did think, however, that your recklessness deserved to be punished and those dogs ought to be returned. If not for my business advancement, then your own safety. So I stole them … er …' she amended, ‘paid a grape picker to do it for me.'

And there's the other ten per cent.

‘Who are you meeting with today?' Claudia's eyes narrowed on her mother.

‘Linda,' Bianca replied. ‘She will be very pleased to finally receive these dogs.'

‘As will you, when her husband gives you more of his business,' Claudia suggested.

‘Exactly.'

Claudia turned to Bronwyn with raised eyebrows. ‘What do you reckon?'

Bronwyn looked down at Elsa, who hadn't stopped tugging on her lead since the conversation had started. The dog looked back, a smile in her eyes, as her panting tongue dripped drool on the hot bitumen. How could she lose this dog now? True, there was no horror story in Elsa's future. Linda McCall was obviously not an animal torturer of any kind and Elsa would be treated well. If only she, Bronwyn, had not grown to love her.

Leon had only wanted the puppies for his wife originally. Perhaps they could come to some sort of arrangement.

Bronwyn licked her lips. ‘I think I'd like to talk to Linda McCall myself.'

Claudia sighed. ‘I was afraid you were going to say that.' She picked up the box containing the puppies and said to Bianca, ‘We'll take it from here if you don't mind.'

Bianca inclined her head regally, smoothing her crushed skirt with her palms. ‘Be my guest. Linda is in the biggest tent next to the stage. You can't miss it. Give me a call when you have a result. I'd like to know the final outcome.'

‘We will,' Bronwyn agreed, ‘but I hope our other agreements still stand.'

‘Yes,' Bianca assented grumpily. ‘They do.'

Her mother held her gaze for a second longer than necessary before turning away to get into her car. As she started her engine, Bronwyn's heart felt a little lighter. Was it possible that her mother was finally going to accept her for who she was?

As Bianca drove away, Claudia nudged her. ‘So, shall we do this?'

They took off towards the main tent and hadn't been walking long before a man selling dog ears on headbands started harassing them. ‘Buy one, get one free. Pay another two dollars and get your free glow-in-the-dark stick for the talent show tonight.'

‘Talent show?' Claudia laughed.

‘Look, they're putting a banner up.' Bronwyn pointed.

Sure enough, Frank and some other guys were hanging the words ‘Linda McCall's Pet Talent Show' across the front of the stage right next to the giant white tent they were heading for – clearly this was backstage.

‘Hey, watch it!' cried a fat woman in a hot-pink sequinned leotard as they entered the tent. Claudia, still carrying the box of puppies, had almost run into the woman's greyhound. The animal was wearing a very similar-looking leotard and walking on its hind legs with a ribbon on a stick in its mouth. It let it go, dropped back to four legs and barked loudly in protest.

‘We're trying to have a rehearsal here,' the woman growled at her.

‘I'm so sorry,' Claudia apologised, momentarily taken aback by the pandemonium all around. Bronwyn didn't blame her. There were three parrots playing a ditty on some tin cans to her right, a cat dressed in a clown suit balancing on a ball on her left and a host of other horrors directly in front of her. Involuntarily, her fingers tightened on Elsa's leash and she wound it more securely around her wrist. The last thing everyone needed was a cat amongst the pigeons.