Ember Flowers (28 page)

Jean’s eyes
cast to the ground. “Tash and I aren’t together anymore, she went
away.” It was easier than breaking it to him that she was gone,
again. It would be like a fresh wound. Sometimes he remembered,
other times he didn’t. She made the best of things.

He was
surprised, then his eyes fell, he patted her knee. “Ah. Lo siento.
How long?”

Her eyes
softened. “A while, a while.”

“Oh.” He
realised he’s said something off. It happened from time to time and
frustrated him no end. It was like one moment his thoughts were
clear, the next they were not. He clung to the clarity he could
still remember.

Jean smiled not
wanting to break the mood. “Scott’s doing well, Alex grows up so
fast, he’s five now. Ellie is pregnant again.”

He grinned at
her. “Five? Such a big boy now. You must show me pictures Yesenia.
I have no’ seen him in so long.”

She pulled her
phone from her cargo pant pocket. He disapproved when she wore more
masculine clothes, and tch tched at her pixie hair. But hadn’t
pestered her today. He put on his glasses, thick frames that sat
low on his nose.

A flick of the
screen and she cycled to the photo gallery, handing her father the
device. “OK, you just use your fingertip to toggle through, like
this.” She showed him, pressing her finger on the side of the
screen. He nodded, and took the phone with care. They chatted over
pictures as they came up. Some of Scott and Ellie, with Alex
pulling faces. Some work related, photographs of gardens. The
newest pictures came into view. Joanne sitting on the porch with
Annabelle on her lap. Smiling at the camera with white teeth, a
gentle curve of her lips, grey eyes under an elegantly arched
blonde brow.

“Oh, I forgot I
had these on here.” She went to take the phone back.

His brows were
raised into his hair. “Wait a minute..Wait..a..minute..Who is
this?”

She sighed
softly. “That’s Joanne, and her daughter, Annabelle.”

He winked at
her devilishly, a good natured smile. “Ah, I see why you have not
called so often mm? She is..friend of yours?” His curious eyes
still looking at the screen.

The gardener
sighed softly, studying the carpet. “She was. It didn’t work out.
Very sad.”

René looked at
her astounded. “Why?”

“She said some
very hurtful things.”

René flattened
his grey beard in a smoothing gesture with his fingertips, leaning
back on the sofa.

“We all say
things we do not mean my child. Your mother, oh! She could make my
hair fall out. The fights we had..”

She smiled at
the image of her mother sassing her father to the point where his
then jet black hair fell out. She remembered their disagreements.
Her parents had never been hostile to each other, they just had
some very passionate opinions. “It’s more complicated than
that.”

He nodded.
“Complicated. Complicated..” Flicking through more pictures. He
came across a shakily taken one, courtesy of Annabelle. Jo standing
beside her in uniform, they held hands, laughing. The look of
affection was visible to anyone.

He looked at
his daughter over the brim of his glasses. “Ah. Ah I see. Oh! Big
trouble.”

Jean frowned at
him. “What? Why?”

René slipped
back into Spanish as he sometimes did. His first language, deeply
rooted in memory like an old tree. She was fortunate that she
remembered a lot of it from early years at home.

“Yesenia. You
love this woman. I see it in your face.” He flicked through a
couple more pictures, one with Joanne looking back at the camera.
He could feel the warmth almost through the lens.

She studied her
hands, replying in lightly accented tongue, her knew her too well.
“I do. I do. But she doesn’t love me. She doesn’t trust me.”

He sighed
unhappily. “That’s not what I see. But, you think you know best.
For a moment I thought I was seeing my grandchild.” To him they
seemed like a ready made family.

Jean groaned
softly, covering her eyes. He’d always been on at her for that,
chiding her, reminding her he was getting older. She reverted back
to English, hoping he would do the same. He found it easier to
express himself, but she sometimes struggled for the subtle nuances
of the language.

Her father
studied her unhappiness. “Tell me how you met this girl? This
Joanne.”

She smiled
wryly to herself. “Sorry Dad, I didn’t sweep her off her feet like
you and Mum. She bumped her car into mine on the freeway. We
clicked ever since.”

He was
genuinely smiling from ear to ear. “Si, is fate tapping you on the
shoulder my darling. You would do well to listen?” Jean sighed,
shaking her head.

The old man
smiled at her, biting his bottom lip. “Yesenia, do you know how
your mother and I met?”

It made her
grin. “Sure. You’ve both told me a dozen times. You taught her to
dance, you met on holiday?”

Smoothing his
moustache, he shook his head. “No my princess. That is the story we
told you..”

Jean looked
confused. “What?”

He chuckled low
in his throat. “Working in a dry cleaner store not so romantic eh?
She burn my shirt, feel so bad, insist to take me to dinner.”

She smiled,
baffled. “But Papi?..Why? Why the elaborate story?”
Stories of
flamenco music, a moonlit bar and rum running wild, love at first
glance.

René patted her
shoulder. “We wanted you to find romance, to look for love, to feel
with your heart. The passion. Is good story no? You need love my
darling, in whatever form it take.”

His daughter
looked at him with wide eyes. Sparkling eyes gentled, a burr of his
old smoky voice. “Love is a precious thing. Do no’ be so hasty in
letting her go.”

Jean sighed. He
had that sad hangdog look, but she knew he felt for her. He was
right.

“Maybe I just
need some time, some space, to work it all out?” She mused, her
hands folded under her chin.

“Don’t wait too
long Yesenia. I bet she want to talk as much as you do.”

Chapter
39

Her colleagues
had noticed her moodiness. She hadn’t meant to snap at every little
thing, but all but the senior Officers had been avoiding her.
Joanne’s head bobbed up at the sudden call of her name.

“Myers, Roy,
get in here.” Her Captain’s serious face for a moment visible
beside his office door.

Roy looked over
at her and shrugged his shoulders. He too had been acting strangely
toward her lately, asking her about her hobbies and interests.
Fishing for information on what she did in her spare time.

She abandoned
her paper strewn desk and report and followed her burly partner
into the Captain’s tinted office. Roy closed the door behind her
and they both stood in front of the oversized wooden desk.

Captain Pursloe
leant back in his chair, his pale eyes always serious, but the man
was not beyond dry wit and banter with his Officers. Always had a
soft spot for her. He smoothed his woven vest over the slight fold
in his belly, his voice brusque and to the point.

“Myers, Roy.
Cancel whatever you are doing Saturday, you two have got a new
assignment.”

Jo’s brows
furrowed, it was fortunate her mother was baby sitting. “What is
it?”

Their Captain
smiled. “You two upstanding young Officers have been selected to
represent the precinct in this year’s annual Fun Run. Aren’t you
excited?” He smirked.

The response
was less than enthusiastic. The tall woman responding first with a
question. “Fun Run Sir? Don’t we already have a team? And why
us?”

Pursloe leant
forward on his elbows. “Myers, don’t get your knickers in a twist.
Yes we have a team - our runners had to bow out at the last minute,
logistics - so you two are ring ins. Why you? Well, I’ve seen you
out running Myers, this will be a walk in the park for you -
literally.”

Roy piped in
with a huff. “I still don’t see why I have to do this?”

The chair
creaked as the Captain leant back. “Because I said so Fleming, and
besides, we should all get behind a good cause.”

She and Roy
looked at each other, her partner shrugged his shoulders, sighing
resigned to his bitter fate. Puffing along the city streets was not
his idea of time off well spent.

Pursloe smiled
and moved his hand in a shuffling motion. “Go on you two,
dismissed, shoo. Any info you need is already in your inbox.”

Jo groaned
softly as she made her way back to her desk, the Captain’s smirk
could still be heard in his voice. He snickered between bites of
his lunch, calling out into the hall. “C’mon!? Show a little
enthusiasm! Winner even gets their mug on TV!”

Chapter
40

She smiled as
she ran the brush over McKenzie’s dark coat. Sifting a tangle out
of the coarse mane. Humming softly to herself, her dark eyes
thoughtful, a pensive gaze drifting over the rows of chaff and
wildflowers. A last pat on the withers before grabbing the saddle.
Georgia would graze alone as Jean set off over the gravel trail.
She needed space, to think things through. Real space, with only
the birds and the clouds for company.

It would be
freeing to leave it behind for a day or so.
She hadn’t said
anything to Scott, he’d just get worried. The serenity of the hills
and the trees would help bathe her wounds. Her phone and laptop
were waiting patiently on the table for her return. The essentials
brought with her in a bag slung over the bay’s broad rump.

Jean felt the
easy rolling gait of the animal underneath her. A predictable
pattern lulling her thoughts. The quipped chirp of the birds in the
trees made for a soothing ambience.

She remembered
coming this way with Joanne. They snuck looks at each other as they
rode along. Even through her dark sunglasses she could see the
blonde watching her when she thought she wasn’t looking. The
Officer’s lips pulling into pretty, hidden smiles. From there is
had been a roller coaster ride. Ups and downs.
It hurt, the way
things had turned out.
Oddly, aside from the lows, it felt like
one of the most stable relationships she’d ever had.

Scottie had
been supportive. Years ago she’d cried on his shoulder. It had been
the same again this time. She told him they were over, and he gave
her a sad frown, a squeeze of her shoulder.

Sometimes the
anger would wane, and she would want to turn up on the tall woman’s
doorstep with kisses and forgiveness. Other times..she wondered if
Joanne trusted her at all, to ask such a question of her.

She sighed as
she approached the valley, the grass thickening, parting around the
mare’s dark hocks. Jean dismounted as the mottled threads of violet
sunset began to slip across the sky. Evening was coming, the
tranquil night. Nothing but starlight, crickets, and an internal
debate awaited her.

Chapter
41

Barely warmed
muscles quivered draped in shadow from the city skyline.

Her branded
breathable singlet and shorts left little to the imagination, but
at least they were cool and eased her movement. Jacket and pants
removed earlier. Modesty had never entered her mind when she
exercised, though she felt aware of it now. Jo straightened her
numbered jersey as she glanced over at Roy. Others prepared
themselves at the starting line.

He looked
miserable, and she couldn’t resist grinning at him, which made him
sulk even more.

“Don’t worry
Roy, it’s only five k’s.”

He grumbled
softly, stretching. “You can carry me there if you like,
Claudia?”

The nickname
made her smirk as she pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes.
“Now I know why you’re always the corpse during training
drills..”

“Damn right.
There better be something good at the finish line. Lackin’
motivation here.”

Jo smiled to
herself as they rallied at the spray painted line marker. Roy
bantered back jibes with nearby competitors as the timer ticked
down. Feeling confident. She tried to just focus on the goal. The
gun was held in the air and the participants jostled anxiously. A
loud pop and they were off, running down the street to the cheer of
onlookers and banners in the wind.

***

She kept her
breathing steady and slow, felt her heartbeat gradually increase.
Passing by Roy some ten minutes before, and now with sneakered
footfalls moving swiftly along the tree lined streets. Ahead of her
a strand of runners, the white jerseys flapping as they moved.

Through her
dark glasses she could see the gathered crowd who cheered them on.
Tourists mostly, the streets blocked with detours. Her head turned
as she passed a woman with short brown hair and sun kissed skin.
Jean. I miss you.

The road rose
to meet her as Joanne kept her pace. Up ahead the pack had started
to thin out. Casual or costumed participants still straggled behind
her a few blocks back. She could smell the coast, the salt and the
sand as she ran. Soon there were few between her and the last
stretch. A fellow officer waved at her as she passed, their
breathing becoming laboured. Jo waved back and kept running. Her
thighs had started to burn, a light sheen over her skin.
Only
two more kilometres.
A slow smile crept across her face.

***

The crowd was
thick with cops and their families. The presenter grinned beneath
his glasses as he joined her by the sidelines. “Congratulations
Sergeant, how do you feel?”

The blonde
woman leant over as she spoke to the microphone. Wiping trickling
sweat, and yet she couldn’t stop grinning. Heart rate and breathing
gradually slowing to normal. A few strands had escaped her tightly
wound tail, feathered by the breeze.