Tumble Creek (19 page)

Utter disillusionment marred her daughter's beautiful face, now twisted with hate. Sofie's guilt, remorse, love, crashed in on her and tears rolled silently down her cheeks. It broke her heart to see her baby girl going through her own form of hell.

‘You didn't give a shit about
me
or
Mum
. Get out!' Claudia screamed again and kicked him in the shins.

‘Jesus, fuck!' Jett rubbed his leg. ‘What is wrong with you, Claudia?'

‘You have to be kidding me!' she screeched.

The restaurant door swung open. Brock's big frame filled the doorway and his powerful aura electrified the room.

With emotions flying around, Sofie didn't know whether to feel relieved he was here, or embarrassed.
Hold on.
Her eyes darted to Claudia who shook from head to toe.
Shit no—absolutely no!
She was not going to give embarrassment a look-in, not this time. Sofie's mother would be mortified but Sofie didn't care; if she was here, Sofie would give her the finger and take this confrontation as emotionally purging. No matter what the outcome, she would try and turn it around, make it a positive one for Claudia and damn everybody else. She turned her attention back to Brock, watching him closely. He'd assessed the situation the moment he walked in.
So now what?
Her only concern was Claudia; blind to everything around her, Claudia continued on her rant.

‘Get out!' Claudia screamed at her father again and made ready to throw another punch. Brock's hand cupped her fist, enveloping it, very effectively putting an end to her physical thumping of her dad. Enraged she turned her anger on him. ‘Don't touch me!'

Brock remained calm and said, ‘Miss Dove … Claudia, I need you to step away.'

In the mood to take on the world regardless, Claudia raised herself up on her toes, lifted her chin and yelled in Brock's face, ‘NO!'

Hands out in front, as if imploring Claudia to understand and accept him, Jett edged forward.

Brock pointed at him. ‘I'm Detective Sergeant Brock Stewart.' And in a low growl he ordered, ‘Don't move.'

‘She's not Miss Dove,' Jett began with a sneer, ‘she's Claudia Olsen.'

Claudia rounded on her father, an aura of white hot-anger surrounding her. She leaned forward and yelled in his face, ‘After you left I changed my name to D-O-V-E Dove! You don't deserve me, or Mum! I will never have your shit name again—
ever
!'

Ready to take preventative measures before Claudia shattered into a thousand pieces, Sofie took a step closer. Brock turned his head towards her, his warning look saying,
Don't.
Brock didn't have children, she didn't know what he had planned, but based on the man she'd grown to know, gave him her trust. Maybe this is what Claudia needed, a solid, trustworthy bloke. A father figure she could call her friend.

‘Miss Dove, move away,' Brock asked, his tone firm but gentle.

‘I—said—no,' Claudia hissed, eyes sending daggers at Brock, but at the same time she was on the verge of tears, her mouth and chin trembling.

Back straight, brow furrowed, eyes like flint, Brock sliced a glance Sofie's way. For a fleeting moment she read indecision, then nothing, the frown was gone, and so was the hard look. His expression had become blank, unreadable, a side of Brock she'd never seen before.

Jett tried to sidle towards the door. Brock's body remained still, except for his head which he turned to Jett, and then in a quiet, scary manner, he growled, ‘I wouldn't if I were you.' When Jett stopped moving, Brock's attention went back to Claudia and this time he said, ‘Claudia, please go and look after your mother.'

And bloody hell, Claudia nodded and headed straight for Sofie.

‘Sweetheart,' Sofie whispered, wrapping her in a tight hug, which thankfully, Claudia allowed. Sofie wanted to say, ‘Yes, he's a moron, and not the man I married,' but refrained.

Fists low on his hips, Brock moved in, almost nose to nose with Jett. ‘You need to keep away from Ms Dove and her daughter—'

‘No I don't,' Jett cut in, ‘they're my family.'

‘What?' Sofie shouted, enraged.

Still shaking, Claudia growled, her hand fisting in her mother's shirt.

Sofie held her breath as Brock's sharp eyes narrowed in on Jett, studying him, and with a lip curl finding him, lacking, inadequate. Or was it something else … like, what a dickhead? Head slanted, his expression baffled, questioning, perhaps trying to understand what this man was about.

He straightened and said, decisively, ‘Their name is Dove, which tells me they want nothing to do with you.' Muscles tense, Brock's arms were straight down his side, fists clenched. Sofie could see he was fighting for control and silently begged he would keep it. Eyes not leaving Jett, Brock asked, ‘Sofie, do you want to speak or have anything to do with your ex?'

‘No! I don't want him anywhere near me or Claudia ever!'

Brock gave Sofie a patient look, then turned to her daughter, ‘Claudia?'

‘I'm with Mum!'

Sounding fierce, Brock laid it out for Jett, ‘Take my advice and do as they ask, or there will be consequences.'

Eyes wide, Sofie gasped. Coming from a police detective that warning had to mean something.

Claudia lifted her head and twisted around to look at Brock.

Jett's face paled. Still the bastard had the audacity to ask, ‘Are you threatening me?'

Takumi came in, he was just as quick at assessing the situation. ‘Detective Stewart,' Takumi acknowledged his superior.

‘Mr Olsen, go with Sergeant Edward, I'd like to ask you a few questions.'

‘Wait!' Sofie cried out. ‘I want to know—' she leaned forward, angry, her eyes narrowed in on Jett, watching out for any flicker or change in his expression, ‘—how did you know about my house? How, Jett?'

‘I—I word got around.'

Sofie let go of Claudia. Fuming, she closed in on Jett. ‘You've been speaking to my mother,' she hissed accusingly. ‘She hated you from the start, but I'm not stupid, Jett,' she snapped out his name with contempt. ‘You've ingratiated yourself with my parents. They saw your fancy clothes, Italian shoes, your styled hair and thought, it takes money to look like that. Their hated son in-law has made something of himself.' She didn't miss the briefest change in the back of Jett's eyes. Guilt. ‘Get out of my sight, you miserable human being.' Sofie turned her back on him and opened her arms for Claudia.

‘Mr Olsen, it would be easier on everyone if you went to the station.'

‘What questions?' Jett asked, voice on edge.

‘It's just routine. We're talking to everyone who knows or has heard about Ms Dove's house.'

Seconds later Takumi escorted Jett out to the police car.

Unable to move, Sofie stared at the spectacle playing out as Jett questioned the need to get into the police car. Of course it didn't work. Takumi simply shrugged in a please-yourself kind of way, but adding a whole bunch of words which Jett didn't seem to like. Patience ready to snap, Takumi slapped his hand on Jett's head and pushed him down into the car.

‘Mum?' To get her attention, Claudia yanked at Sofie's T-shirt. ‘Tak's not going to punch Dad in the jaw is he?'

‘Are you worried about your dad getting hurt?'

‘Shit no, I don't want Tak to get into any trouble.'

‘Oh, okay then, I don't know.'

‘Sergeant Edwards can sometimes get impatient, but he's not an idiot,' Brock told them as he waited for the police car to leave. He ushered them to the back of the restaurant, and that's when Sofie spotted Jennifer, her worried frown quickly disappearing as they headed her way down past the kitchen. They left Brock's side and hurried into Jennifer's open her arms for some great hugging and loving.

‘I was getting a drink upstairs. I came down as quickly as I could. But you were doing such a great job giving Whatsisface the business, I didn't dare interrupt. Had you backed down for some unfathomable reason, I would've been at him so hard he'd need emergency treatment. But you both did great, and I'm so very proud. Thank goodness it's over now. Whatsisface is gone.'

Claudia gave a half-hearted giggle through her tears. ‘Whatsisface? You're funny, Aunt Jenn.

‘Yeah well. I never could call Whatsisface, by his real name, now I know why, he's a prick.'

That made Sofie smile. It should've made her laugh, but she just couldn't find any humour in this sorry episode, after all, fourteen years ago she'd made the monumental decision to marry an idiot. Claudia had no say in her predestined life, so she had every right not to laugh. There was no way to fix this, except maybe forging adoption papers.
Now there's a thought.
Feeling a presence behind her, Sofie pulled out of the hug and tucked Claudia in with her aunt, then she walked straight back to Brock who was giving them time and space.

‘Babe,' he murmured. He held her tightly, shoved his face in her neck, and kissed her there. ‘It's over now, for both of you, I'll make sure of it.'

‘Thank you, Brock.' He straightened, giving Sofie a moment to focus on his face. He didn't look happy. ‘Are you okay?'

Brock held her upper arms. ‘I'm personally involved. So far there's no case against Jett if at some point that changes, it'll get tricky. That's all. I care about you and Claudia.
You
matter a great deal to me.' Then Brock's thoughts turned inward, and chuckling, he added. ‘Claudia's growing on me, she's one feisty girl.'

Liking the sound of that, Sofie smiled, which helped her racing heart to ease. ‘I'm so glad you were here. And God, I'm so sor—'

‘Sofe!' Brock said, his tone warning, demanding her full attention. ‘Don't you dare say sorry. There's not one thing you should be sorry about—not one!'

She gulped and did her utmost to stay strong and not fall in a blubbering heap. ‘Okay, for what it's worth, he's never done this before. I'm thinking his easy money pool has dried up, and now he thinks he can get it here. He knows about my house, how would he know that?'

Taking in that information, Brock's eyes hardened. He stared over her shoulder, processing. She guessed police did that with snippets of information, trying to piece the puzzle together, hoping there weren't any bits missing.

‘Okay,' he quietly said and kissed her forehead, then he ushered her to the stairs that led to the flat above the restaurant, affectionately called The Penthouse.

The stairs creaked and Sofie looked up to see Claudia rush back down. She smiled. ‘What is it, sweetie?'

Claudia didn't say anything, but stopped a tread above them, her red-rimmed, troubled eyes on Brock. His soft ones on hers. Then he asked, ‘You okay?'

‘I hit my dad.' Claudia shook her head and nodded at the same time, which was quite a feat. Then she lunged at Brock, her arms went flying around his neck, she buried her face in his shoulder and broke into heartbreaking sobs.

Hesitantly, his arms went around her back. Brock's awkwardness didn't faze Claudia. And in his own rigid way, he did his best to comfort her. Sofie was ready to burst into tears, and quickly put a hand over her mouth to cover an involuntary sob. Brock twisted his head to look at her, brow scrunched causing deep lines above the bridge of his nose; his eyes were a mixture of ‘what's going on?' and ‘what do I do?' Sofie was in no condition to help. Then he asked again, ‘Claudia, you okay?'

Tears trickled down Sofie's cheeks at the same time Claudia's weeping subsided; she sniffed a few times, then silently nodded into his chest.

Slowly, she moved back, stepped away, wiped the tears from her face and said, ‘Thank you. I'm okay now, I'll just go and …' She waved her hand towards the top of the stairs. Before she left, Claudia hugged and kissed Sofie, muttering, ‘See you tomorrow, Mum.' Then ran up the stairs to her aunt Jennifer who was waiting on the landing.

Sofie raised her arms and let them flop to her sides. ‘You sure you want to get involved with a couple of weeping women?'

‘Now more than ever,' he grinned.

‘Are you nuts?'

‘Definitely, but not the kind you're thinking of.'

‘You—' she waved a hand at him ‘—you have to stop being so nice. I mean, fancy having to deal with me and my ex as well as Claudia,' Sofie said, voice breaking. She couldn't stop the embarrassment creeping back inside her, she hated it, it made her stomach hurt. ‘Probably everyone in town thinks you're dealing with maniacs or something.'

‘Sofe, none of it was your doing, and
not
your fault.' Soft eyes peering into her face, he cupped her jaw and neck. ‘You're feeling history fall on you like a sledgehammer, and shit is stirring around in your head. Stop thinking. You can't change anything, the past is done. It is what it is. To a certain degree, you can control the future. But even then, you're thrown a curve ball, and suddenly you have to rethink and come up with something different.'

‘You're right, but it's so hard. Claudia is …' Unable to say what was on her mind, Sofie shook her head.

‘You feel guilty?'

Sofie caught his eyes and nodded.

‘Babe …' Brock gave her a small, but very warm and understanding smile. ‘That bloke Jett, you marry him knowing he behaved like that?'

‘No! I wouldn't have gone near him.'

Brock merely gave her a look and said, ‘
Right
.'

‘Who made you so clever?'

‘You did, Babe.' He chuckled. ‘You okay now, mostly?'

‘Yes thank you.' She gave him a weak smile. ‘I suppose it's too early for a gin and tonic.'

‘Yeah, and I have to get back to the station.' He gave her a sexy, lopsided grin. ‘See if Takumi has left Whatsisface in one piece.'

‘Oh shit!' Sofie cried.