Authors: Bec Johnson
‘You know each other?’ Confused, Lori frowned and pointed back and forth between the three of them.
Jenny shared a 'look' with Kristy. ‘Of course! I met Simon on one of his early morning deliveries here and he and I got talking. Then when I was in Green Bay in the week I met Kristy, and we had a nice chat too.’
‘About the shop I presume?’ Lori raised an eyebrow.
‘Anyway, I just thought it might be nice if we all had a little dinner together.’ Jenny ignored Lori's question.
‘And then you called the Bakery this morning and happened to mention this?’ Lori pointed at her lip and tried to sound incredulous. She was annoyed, but it didn't surprise her. The minute Jonah had told Jenny, the secret was out. He may as well have hung a large neon sign above the front verandah.
‘What on earth gives you that idea?’ Kristy and Simon spoke in unison.
Lori shook her head. She didn't want to cause a scene, it was fairly obvious that a fat lip the size of a gobstopper would normally elicit a shocked response on first sight. Kristy though, hadn't even flinched.
‘How about I pop next door and rustle up some salad to go with that.’ Jenny pointed at a big brown bag Simon had in his hand. Leaving Lori on the deck with her guests she disappeared back inside. She knew Lori needed all the friends possible at the moment, and if those friends happened to come with some brilliant business ideas that could spark something inside her, then well that was a bonus.
‘I'm going to grab some things from the kitchen.’ Simon took off with the bag, uncomfortable with Jenny's scheming. He liked Lori, and she was his wife's new friend, but if she wanted to leave Murfey's Beach he didn't think anyone should be forcing her to stay, regardless of the potential goldmine the shop was.
Kristy stepped out on to the deck and took a deep breath. ‘Wow. I've been here what, a few times? And still every time, I get this immense sense of comfort.’
‘Yes, well, don't get too comfortable.’ Lori laughed and leant forward to hug her friend. ‘I should throw you out for sneaking around behind my back!’
‘Don't be so dramatic Lori, she's perfectly harmless.’ Kristy rolled her eyes and held Lori's face in her hands, studying her lip. ‘This Casper bloke however, really did a number on you didn't he? The bastard.’
Lori sighed, ‘I'm lucky Zeb and Jonah were there.’
‘The sexy policeman and the gay masseuse?’
‘They are both policemen, and I never said he was sexy.’ Lori sat back down and motioned for Kristy to sit beside her.
‘You didn't have to, I've seen him for myself now. He came into the bakery the other day.’ Kristy licked her lips and gave a little moan, ‘Mmm Mmm.’
‘Oh my god, you are like a lecherous old man!’ They both burst out laughing.
‘Am I interrupting anything?’ Simon reappeared in the door way causing the pair to cackle even louder.
‘No, no, not at all darling, Lori was just asking me about our latest bread,’ she spoke pan-faced.
Lori stifled a giggle and patted the table. ‘Here, put those down.’
Simon slid two huge plates onto the table. On one, a selection of his most delicious artisan breads, cut into neat doorstep style chunks, were piled high. Lori could see her, and what had also become the village's, favourite - the olive and rosemary. On the other plate, which was really more of a platter, seven different cheeses sat airing. He returned briefly to the kitchen leaving Lori salivating.
‘I am starving!’ Lori pinched the corner off some sort of blue vein cheese and popped it in her mouth.
‘That'll be all the fresh air you're getting.’ Kristy winked and grabbed a piece of bread.
‘Mmm, this cheese is incredible! Where did you get it?’ Lori pulled the plate towards her to study the speckled wedge.
‘That, is from Watersleigh Farm.’ Simon stepped back outside. ‘It's this bloody amazing little hobby farm, well, I say little but I think it's like two hundred and fifty acres, it's only about half an hour from here, straight across the highway due west.’
Kristy cut in, ‘It's the place I told you about Lori, they sell to a specialty cheese shop in Fisherman's Bay but I know they'd love a new outlet for their products.’
Lori wasn't stupid, she could see what this dinner was about. ‘Look, both of you, I'm touched you are keen to help out with ideas for this place, but I've told you, in fact I've told everyone, not that they're listening, that my plan remains the same. I'm selling. End of story.’
Simon gave his wife a 'told you so' look and set down the cutlery and crockery.
‘I hear you Lori, really I do, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to get just a few more local products on the shelves. It could be a win win. The residents will think you're doing the best thing for the community, and any potential buyers will see the place as something more than just a beat up run down village shop selling packet soup and single ply loo roll.’ Kristy squeezed Lori's hand.
‘Here here!’ Jenny chimed in from the doorway. Her arms were laden with an enormous bowl of salad.
‘For god's sake you three, this is tantamount to bullying!’ Lori raised her voice, ‘Will everyone shut up if I agree to think about it?’
‘Yes.’ Jenny looked sufficiently sheepish.
‘I didn't...’ Simon started to object but on receiving Lori's steely glare, changed his tack. ‘Yes ma'am.’
Only Kristy remained. Lori turned to her friend, her head tilted in anticipation.
‘Think about it isn't enough for me,’ she pushed on.
‘I'd quit while you're ahead.’ Simon sat down beside his wife.
Kristy grimaced. ‘Ok... yes.’ It clearly pained her having to give in.
As the evening sun dipped below the horizon the sound of crickets filled the air. Bob came back up from the garden and slunk between the chairs, settling himself under the table, at Lori's feet. Every few minutes the sky lit up and the distant roll of thunder crept closer. After the high emotions of the morning Lori enjoyed the easy conversation that flowed amongst the four of them. Several hours passed and by the time the salad bowl was empty it was getting on for ten o'clock.
Lori tried to suppress a yawn.
‘Look at you kiddo, you're exhausted!’ Jenny stood up and started tidying away the dishes.
‘Yes, we really ought to be going, Simon needs to be up in six hours.’ Kristy stood up too and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. He picked up her fingers and kissed them, resting his head on her wrist.
‘I don't know how you do it Simon.’ Lori smiled at him. He looked even more tired that she felt.
‘Easy,’ he replied, ‘every day I get up before the sun and I walk down into the bakery. I sit at the front counter with my coffee and I look at everything we've created. Before Dough Raise Me I was making nearly seven figures a year and not once did I ever experience the same level of satisfaction that I get every day, sat at that counter, at four in the morning.’
Kristy leant down and kissed the top of his greying head. ‘Come on you big sook, let's go to bed.’
‘You three get out of here, I'll tidy this lot up.’ Lori shooed her guests back through the shop and out onto the verandah. Tomorrow was the start of a new week and she had a million tasks to get through before Saturday and the second open home.
Once the sleek black Porsche had crept slowly up the road and Jenny had disappeared across the driveway into the dark, Lori shut tight the front door.
As she flicked off the lights and the shop was thrown into darkness she paused a moment, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Running her fingers over the counter she walked silently into the middle of the shop and turned, slowly, full circle. Visualising the fridges and shelves rearranged, repainted and stacked high with fresh, beautiful, local produce Lori had to admit, the place really did have huge potential.
‘Un-freaking-believable.’ Lori slapped a little piece of paper onto the kitchen counter in front of Jenny.
‘I told you,’ Jenny grabbed the slip and scurried to the fridge, ‘you can set your watch by it.’
As predicted, the holiday exodus from Sydney had hit Murfey’s Beach almost exactly three hours after school kicked out for the summer. The procession of large black four-wheel drive vehicles looked like an army of ants as they drove down the hill, past the shop and into the village. Each one packed to bursting with an assortment of kids, canoes and car-sick pets.
After several days of intense preparations, mostly involving Jenny conducting numerous shopping trips, the cafe had today begun its first official day of trading and Lori, running between serving in the shop and taking orders for tall skinny lattes and chocolate milkshakes, was already worried that they had bitten off more than they could chew.
Despite her concerns, Lori had to admit that the place looked incredible. She had worked non-stop since Monday stocking the shop with a huge array of locally sourced products. Victor Kelly’s honey now sat proudly beside new oversized wicker baskets filled with a variety of organic fruit and veg. The little area beside the counter displayed an impressive selection of handmade chocolates, home brewed beers and fruit wines. And even the enormous old side-by-side fridges, scrubbed clean, showcased a great range of Watersleigh cheeses and several strings of gourmet sausages from the free range pig farm north of the bay.
Behind the shop Jenny had worked just as hard. Repainting the shutters with a fresh coat of bright white she had instantly lightened the room. Little glass bowls filled with pretty seashells adorned the middle of each table while pieces of twisted and gnarly drift wood stopped the stacks of napkins from blowing away. An entire wall had been given a coat of blackboard paint and Lori had been enlisted to chalk up the menu in her best handwriting. The kitchen had been through a bit of a revamp too. The long white worktops had been bleached to within an inch of their life and all the old, and frankly dangerous, gadgets had been thrown out, replaced by shiny new machines. Even the eclectic old mix of cutlery, crockery and glassware had been retired to a charity shop in Fisherman’s Bay and substituted with catering quality, and quantity, pieces.
‘Well, if I thought we could afford it I’d say we should get a junior in to wait tables.’ Lori balanced a cup and a plate in one hand and grabbed a second cup with her other. As she turned to leave the kitchen she collided with someone in the doorway.
‘Oww!’ Two black coffees and a slice of banana bread crashed to the floor with such force that the hot liquid bounced back up coating the legs and feet of a very tall, very handsome, very burnt man.
‘Oh my god I’m so sorry!’ Lori glanced up just long enough to see a look of searing pain on his chiselled face before dropping to her knees frantically trying to mop up the dark rich roast as it ran down his shins.
‘Tyler!’ Jenny squealed, pushing past Lori with such excitement she knocked her on to her bottom.
‘Hey beautiful, miss me?’ Almost twice as tall and apparently incredibly strong he picked Jenny cleanly up off the ground in an embrace.
Lori watched in awe as the muscles in his arms twitched. From the bulges evident under a tight white t-shirt and pair of grey cargo shorts it was obvious this Tyler worked out, a lot. Her vantage point on the floor meant she was also able to ascertain that his leg hair removal routine was much stricter than her own.
‘Of course I missed you silly, it’s been a whole year. How is uni?’ Jenny asked as she was lowered carefully back down.
‘Uni’s great. Just one more year to go.’ Tyler clapped his hands together.
Neither he nor Jenny seemed to notice Lori still sat on the floor beneath them and as she wasn't going to be introduced it seemed, she set about mopping up the mess around their feet.
‘Wonderful, wonderful.’ Jenny squeezed his hands and gazed into his eyes. She was clearly smitten.
‘Tyler Westerly, fancy seeing your ugly face again,’
a booming voice approached from the direction of the shop’s front door.
Lori shivered.
‘Zebediah Turner you brute.’ Tyler turned and gave him a man hug - half handshake, half shoulder bump ending with a hard thwack on the back. It was like watching two stags lock antlers.
‘Tyler, you remember my little brother, Jonah?’ Zeb put a guiding hand on his brother’s back and pushed him forward.
‘I most certainly do, it’s been a while though.’ Tyler replicated the greeting with him, only when they hugged, it was a lot less brusque and lingered a fraction of a second longer.
Lori saw it immediately. Tyler was gay. In comparison to Jonah’s outwardly masculine manner, probably as a result of his career, Tyler was a fair way down the other end of the spectrum. Ignoring his bodybuilder-like physique he was actually quite camp.
‘What the hell are you doing down there Lorikeet?’ Zeb crouched down on his hunches and looked straight at her through three pairs of legs, his eyes piercing under the brim of his ‘Police’ cap.
She hadn’t seen him all week, Jonah had managed Youth Club alone on Tuesday night, Zeb had apparently been in Sydney for a few days giving evidence at a court case, and since she had been so busy with the shop their paths simply hadn't crossed. Sitting in a puddle of coffee, her thighs smearing banana bread into the floor wasn't exactly how she had imagined she’d look when they saw each other again. His final words from Sunday came flooding back to her, raising a pink glow in her cheeks. Not trusting herself to speak she just waved the dripping wet tea towel at him in silent explanation.
‘My goodness! I completely lost track of what I was doing,’ Jenny gasped. Picking up the crockery, she rushed back to the counter to make a replacement order.
Lori rolled her eyes making Zeb chuckle. He stood back up and stepped forward, almost on top of her, holding out his hand for her to take. As he pulled her up she was so close to him that her face almost grazed the huge leather utility belt around his waist. The smell of him made her stomach cartwheel.
‘Tyler Westerly, meet Lorikeet James.’ Zeb let go of Lori’s hand slowly, his fingers grazing the inside of her wrist as he did so.
‘Westerly? As in…?’ Lori rubbed her arms roughly, trying to subdue the goose bumps that Zeb’s touch had aroused.
‘Yes, she's my grandmother,’ Tyler smiled and kissed Lori on both cheeks, before adding with a wink, ‘and I bet she doesn’t like you one bit.’
‘Tyler!’ Jenny reprimanded him as she placed two new coffees and a plate of banana bread on to the counter beside Lori.
‘Just my observation. I mean look at you both.’ He glanced from Lori to Zeb and back again.
Jonah began to snigger but, on the receiving end on his brother's icy glare, quickly choked it back down again.
Perhaps she should have stayed on the floor Lori thought, feeling her cheeks burn. That way, if the ground hadn’t opened up to swallow her whole as she was willing it to, then maybe she could have clawed it open.
‘I… think I need to get this.’ Lori pointed at the order, wiped the last bit of mush off her thighs and took off more cautiously with the crockery in the direction of the probably by now quite dissatisfied couple on the deck.
Apologising profusely for the delay Lori served her customers and then left them alone, heading off into the garden for some fresh air.
It had been such a hectic week she’d been sleeping barely six hours a night, and with the second open home scheduled for nine tomorrow morning she couldn’t see that she’d be in bed before midnight tonight either. Every muscle in her body ached. She wrapped her arms around herself and massaged her shoulder blades with her sticky fingers. Ugh! She needed to make sure that she made time for a shower too. Her list of things to get done this evening was growing by the hour.
First things first though, she needed to get a grip. If her behaviour around Zeb was so obvious that strangers could see it then it had clearly gone too far. Doing anything with her frustrations, which was all they were, would just complicate the time she had left here. She pleaded her body to get into check with her mind. Zeb was an incredibly sexy, moody, kind, infuriating, man. Absolutely not what she needed right now.
‘You look tired.’
Shit.
His warm voice, so close that it tickled Lori’s neck and fingers, made her jump. The grass had silenced his footsteps. She took an in-breath and held it, closing her eyes for a few moments before breathing slowly, steadily back out again. Opening her eyes she turned to face him.
‘It’s been a hard week,’ she said matter-of-factly. Mind over body, mind over body.
‘I can see. You've done an amazing job on the place.'‘ Zeb smiled as his eyes bore into hers.
‘Have I? Thanks, yes,’ Lori grimaced. Mind over body seemed to be affecting her ability to form coherent sentences.
‘Are you ok?’ His eyes searched hers, looking for a connection.
‘Tired! Busy and tired,’ Lori chirped. Smiling like a loon she patted his arm in what was meant to be a placatory gesture. It came out as more of a smack. God even the feel of his overalls against her fingers elicited a reaction from deep within her.
Shitting shit! Maybe avoidance was the only way to go. She’d managed all week not seeing him, and although it had led to some fairly outrageous dreams, she had at least still been able to function during the day. Nodding as though a customer on the deck had beckoned her Lori side stepped him and practically ran up the garden.
Inside the kitchen Jenny was busy washing up the various pieces of jigsaw that made up her new food processor while Tyler and Jonah, leaning against opposite counters, were drying up for her, discussing the various benefits of a good cardio workout.
As Lori walked in Jonah put down his tea towel and turned to her. ‘All sorted now?’
‘Umm... yes, no problem.’ She was touched by his concern for her customers even if it was a little misplaced.
‘Good, it would have been a bit awkward if we’d had to take you down the station, wouldn’t it?’ Jonah laughed nervously.
‘Sorry Jonah, am I missing something?’ Lori didn’t have a clue what he was on about.
‘No but we are.’ Zeb walked back into the kitchen. ‘I need to see your driver’s licence please.’
‘You what?’ Lori baulked at the tone in his voice.
‘I thought you were going to sort...’ Jonah looked at his brother and raised his hands in confusion.
Zeb ignored him and growled again, ‘I said, I need to see your licence please.’
‘Zebediah, what do you think you’re doing?’ Jenny stepped forward.
Tyler watched on with glee as Lori raised her hands to her hips.
‘Lorikeet, I need you to get me your licence, and Jenny,’ Zeb took out his little black note book and turned to her, ‘I need you to confirm that on the night of the eighth of December you gave permission for her to drive your vehicle.’
‘Of course I did! What a ridiculous question to ask. Are you going to tell us what this is all about?’ Jenny puffed out her chest.
‘Fucking hell! The little blue slip!’ It suddenly came back to Lori that she hadn’t gone into the station with her licence and Jenny’s insurance documents after Officer Schroff had stopped her on the way back from Fisherman’s Bay a week and a half ago.
‘It’s just a formality,’ Jonah cut in, trying to break the tension in the room.
‘Actually it’s more than a formality Constable Turner, failure to produce is an offence, and as Lorikeet didn’t come to the station within seven days she’s lucky to be getting this second chance.’ Zeb held out his hand as Lori stormed over to her desk to rummage through her filing tray.
Between a pile of invoices and her stock list Lori found her licence. She marched back over to Zeb and slapped the licence into his waiting hand, giving him a filthy look for good measure. There had been nothing wrong with him barely five minutes ago, yet now, it was as though something had flicked his menacing switch back on.
‘I’m still completely lost, what did she fail to produce?’ Jenny’s voice began to falter.
Despite Lori’s defiant independence, Jenny felt an enormous sense of responsibility for her while she was here. No matter what it was Jack had done to lose the love of his beautiful and headstrong daughter all those years ago, Jenny had made a promise to him, right here in the shop, merely days before he died, that she would be here for her, to see what ever she chose to do with the shop through to it’s conclusion. Zeb’s ridiculous insistence on antagonising Lori would surely only feed her desire to leave.