Page 24 of The Reality of Us
“She’s wrong about a lot of things. And we’re not friends. We’re not anything to each other.”
The air in the apartment changed, becoming heavier, reflecting the tone of their conversation, and she wanted to ask more questions. Camille was obviously an ex of some sort. Warning, warning, chirped the voice of reason in her mind.
But her mouth didn’t listen. “You know, I was thinking of watching a movie. You could hang around, too, if you wanted?”
Owen’s phone rang, and he looked at the screen before whispering that he’d have to take a raincheck. Heat rushed to Alice’s cheeks, and she gripped the kitchen counter so she didn’t drop to the floor and hide behind it.
What am I doing? Why did I ask that?
Owen nodded farewell and opened the door as he answered his call. “Can you give me a second, Jessica?”
Mortification seeped through Alice’s body.
He was probably doing more than watching movies with Jessica.
“You can’t come up here,” Alice heard Owen say. “This is private property. I’ll call the police.”
“I want to see my wife,” Phoenix said.
“No,” Owen said firmly. “Now get lost.”
Two seconds later, Alice’s phone buzzed.
Owen: Sit tight. I’ll get rid of him. Might take a while.
Great. She was stuck inside for the rest of the night. She huffed out a big sigh, resting her elbows on the bench and staring at the takeaway menu for Tino’s Italian on the fridge. Twice a week they offered a different cuisine and tonight was Mexican. Teddy swore the rotating menu was part of the small town charm or something? When she looked up, her gaze snagged on the present from Dougie and Rico.
Tacos and candle making sounded pretty good. Besides, it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.
Owen shifted in his seat, trying to focus on the agenda for the committee meeting instead of the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.
He could’ve stayed. Watched a movie.
He scribbled a note in the margin to change all the lights in the driveway and car park to motion detector ones. At least then Alice would know if there was someone outside. He was going to install an alarm with cameras, too.
“We didn’t get the full council grant,” Lulu said, and a sigh rolled around the table. Most of the Old Girls Gossip Brigade pulled double duty as committee members for Kathleen’s Place.
“Real shame considering our waitlist is getting longer by the day,” Mrs Mandrill, one of his old primary school teachers, said, fiddling with the tea bag in her mug. “We’ll have to shelve the renovation plans for the old shearers’ shed.”
The community house had grown significantly over the years and was now able to house up to ten families in the main house, refurbished stables and old servants’ quarters. Renovating the original shearers’ shed would increase their capacity even more. Most of their funding came from the trust his great-grandmother Kathleen had established, and each year, a swag of grants were secured to help with the upkeep and programs they offered.
His stomach rumbled. His mum’s chocolate chip cookies sat atop a mosaic platter made from bits of old china. Learning how to mosaic was one of Eloise’s most popular art therapy classes. All the broken pieces on the tray formed a rainbow, stark white glue visible in the gaps. The reds, greens and blues shone under the trio of pendant lights above. Owen’s thoughts returned to Alice. At first glance, she was bright and glittery—often literally—but the truth lurked below the surface. Signs she’d patched herself up time and time again and covered herself in shimmery armour so no one would look too closely.
The problem was Owen wanted to know all her secrets.
“Darling?” Lulu stirred her black coffee. “Any ideas?”
He sat up straight. “Hmmm?”
“Even without the reno, we’re struggling to keep up with operational costs. We need more money, and we can’t always ask Nate. He donates so much already and runs all the sports programs for the kids here.”
Owen knew all about drowning in costs. Business was picking up—finally. He’d written three wills this week and two old clients had reached out to ask for help with estate planning after seeing his name connected to Alice’s. But this wasn’t about him. The rest of the committee stared back at him.
He looked around the wooden table with its mismatched chairs. Like everything else here, all the furniture had been donated. The oversized teak table had come from Somers Gully’s old council chambers. Nate had stripped all the lacquer and sanded it back, exposing the notches and imperfections. Its natural honey colour was much more suited to the rest of the homey kitchen with its ruffled green and white checked curtains and laminate benchtops. The commercial oven and cooktop they had installed recently stuck out like sore thumbs, all shiny newness and energy rating stickers.
Owen toyed with his pen. There was another option to raise a significant amount of money, but it would involve a lot more effort from him. He hadn’t asked Nate yet, either.
“What did Eloise mention? Something about puppies? The animal shelter?” Lulu asked Mrs Mandrill.
