The Peppercorn Project (23 page)

‘No one as far as I know, unless Leah’s said anything.’

Matt pushed his unfinished meal away, scowling. ‘I can’t believe Leah didn’t say anything either. She knows my thoughts on drugs.’

There was stony silence between them and Isabelle felt like she’d made a huge mistake and let him down.

‘If his car’s there, maybe you could go and see him,’ she suggested.

Suddenly Matt sat forward, wincing and grabbing at his stomach.

‘Matt! What’s wrong?’ Worry shot straight through her like a warm knife through butter.

‘I think I’ve got appendicitis,’ Matt said.

She sprang up. ‘WHAT?’

Matt leaned back in this chair and grinned. ‘I’m only joking.’

Isabelle dropped back into her chair and exhaled. ‘Don’t do that to me. I thought you were really sick.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t meant to scare you. I just had a thought. If I show up at the clinic with appendicitis, Hugo won’t know I’m joking. If he’s up to anything, I’ll be able to tell.’

‘You’re crazy,’ she said with a laugh.

‘Nothing to lose. I need to find out where the drugs are coming from.’

‘Have there been more reports?’

‘No, not from anyone local, but it sounds like it’s only a matter of time. There’s been some problems in other districts.’ Matt put a twenty dollar note under his plate and shoved back his chair. ‘Come on, let’s go and visit the good doctor and see if he can diagnose me.’

Isabelle followed him out the door. ‘If you want him to believe you, you’d better make sure you’re clutching your right side, not your left,’ she said.

Matt stopped and put both hands on the right side of his belly and squeezed. ‘Like this?’

‘Lower.’

‘Right. Got it,’ he said. ‘Let’s go. While we walk to the clinic you can tell me what other signs and symptoms I’d be displaying if it really was appendicitis.’ He took off again and this time Isabelle almost had to jog to keep up with his long strides.

Two minutes they were standing outside the clinic. Three cars were parked in front. One was Hugo’s Audi, the others were both unfamiliar to Matt.

‘They don’t belong to anyone local,’ he said.

The street was eerily quiet – even the birds seemed unusually silent. The sun beat down on them as they stood deciding what to do next.

‘Do you need to call for back up or something?’ Isabelle asked. Her stomach clenched. She was more nervous than she’d ever been in her life, and suddenly had a new respect for the police.

Matt squeezed her hand. ‘I’m not doing a drug bust, Issie, I’m just seeing a doctor about my about-to-burst appendix.’

Isabelle forced herself to relax. Nothing could go wrong if she was with Matt. Above all, he’d protect her. ‘Then make sure you tell him you’ve been sick. Nauseated and vomiting. Fevers too, otherwise he definitely won’t believe you.’

Matt frowned then. ‘I’m not a very good actor.’

‘But I am,’ Isabelle said.

The clinic door was locked but Isabelle used her key, turning it quietly in the lock. Inside the waiting room was dark. The curtains were drawn, the lights were off and it was stifling hot. Maybe they’d made a mistake. There was no sign that anyone had been inside since she’d left and locked up the night before. She turned to Matt and shrugged.

Matt indicated Hugo’s partially open office door and raised his eyebrows in question.

‘I locked that door when I left last night,’ she whispered.

‘Why are you whispering?’ Matt whispered back.

‘In case he’s in here,’ she hissed.

‘We want him to be here, remember? I’m sick. I need a doctor.’ For effect, Matt groaned softly.

Isabelle punched him lightly on the arm. The back door slammed, making them both jump. Outside, a car engine revved.

‘Something’s definitely going on,’ Matt said. He raced to the front door and flung it open. Isabelle got there just in time to see the dust billowing from a car hooning down the street. Hugo’s car was still out front, alongside a black hatchback.

A noise inside had them spinning around to find Hugo standing in the waiting room watching them. Where had he come from? Isabelle couldn’t read the expression on his face, but his eyes were narrowed, his face flushed. If guilty had a look, Hugo was wearing it.

He flicked back his hair. ‘Hi, Isabelle. Matthew. What’s wrong? The clinic’s closed.’

‘I know it’s closed,’ Isabelle said. ‘But Matt’s really sick. He told me he’d seen your car here so I brought him over to see you.’

Matt groaned for effect. Isabelle stifled a smile. He really was a shocking actor.

‘If it’s an emergency you should have taken him to Booleroo.’

‘Why? If you’re here, you can see him.’

‘I’m here on personal business.’

Leah’s warning words echoed in Isabelle’s mind.

‘What kind of personal business?’ Matt asked, dropping his charade.

Hugo glared at him. ‘None of
your
business.’

‘It is if you’re doing something illegal,’ Matt retorted.

Hugo snorted, the sound bouncing off the walls. Matt scowled, and once again Isabelle was glad she was on the right side of the law. Matt was very intimidating when he was in work mode.

A noise had them all turning as the door to the treatment room swung open and a dishevelled woman tottered out on high heels, her short skirt twisted sideways. She took one look at them, turned and bolted, dropping a small plastic packet of white powder. Matt roared for her to stop and then swore when she didn’t.

He chased after her and a second later the back door slammed. After all the commotion, suddenly everything went quiet. Isabelle shuddered. She was alone with Hugo. She spun around just as he took a step towards her. Fear laced itself around her spine and her breathing became shallow. She inched backwards towards the front door. What if he had a gun? She forced herself to take a deep breath. She’d been watching far too much television.

‘As you can see,
Belle
, I’m here on personal business,’ Hugo winked and took another step closer. His eyes were glazed.

She stiffened and stood her ground, drawing herself tall. ‘With a woman who looks like that?’ Isabelle scoffed. ‘You must be really desperate. She’d have to be over twice your age, Hugo.’

‘Ah, Belle, you’re just regretting you didn’t say yes to me when you had the chance.’

‘As if,’ Isabelle spluttered.

*

The woman ahead of Matt stumbled in her high heels and he caught her easily before she was even halfway to her car. He didn’t have to ask what she was doing – she admitted to purchasing drugs from Hugo, and not for the first time.

He was leading her back inside when he heard Isabelle’s voice, low and filled with fury and disgust, telling Hugo to back off and leave her alone.

Matt was filled with a different kind of anger.

‘Care to explain what’s going on?’ he demanded. He was fighting hard to control his temper. What he wanted to do was grab Hugo by the throat and shove him against the wall. Firstly for threatening Issie, and secondly for bringing drugs into Stony Creek.

‘Do you always jump to conclusions?’ Hugo asked.

‘Hardly need to when she’s just admitted you sold her the drugs,’ Matt said, pointing to the woman who was swaying, and looked like she was about to be sick.

‘She can say what she likes. The drugs aren’t mine.’

Matt fought back the urge to punch him. ‘Why, Hugo? You’re a bloody doctor! You should know better.’

I’m not saying another word,’ Hugo said, flicking his hair back and glaring at Matt.

‘Fine. But you’re both coming with me down to the station.’ Matt glanced at Isabelle. She was shaking. ‘Issie, here’s my keys. Run over to my place and bring back the police vehicle.’

She hesitated. ‘Am I allowed to drive it?’

‘Under the circumstances, absolutely yes.’

*

Half an hour later, Isabelle was home. Matt had called a cop from another district and he’d arrived straightaway to escort Hugo and the woman to a larger police station where they were currently being questioned. At the station, Matt hugged Isabelle briefly, but it was obvious he had more important things on his mind. She imagined he had a mountain of paperwork to tackle. She kissed him on the cheek and wished him ‘Merry Christmas’. The next time they’d see each other would be the day of the ball.

Isabelle woke on the morning of New Year’s Eve to the promise of another sweltering day. Since arriving back in South Australia from Geelong, they hadn’t had a day under thirty-five degrees. It was dry and dusty and there was the constant threat of fires sparking somewhere in the district, but today no one would be bothered by the heat. They were all focused on the ball.

Isabelle sat in the shade of her front veranda with her feet up, music playing softly on her iPod, new book in hand. It was quiet except for the buzzing of the cicadas. Mietta and Fletcher had left straight after breakfast and were out at Leah’s parents’ farm, checking out the new puppies. Isabelle was enjoying a slice of peace, until Rachel pulled up in her car.

Rachel climbed out, carrying a large white parcel.

‘Hi, Issie,’ she yelled out from the street. ‘It’s here.’ She held the package in the air as she let herself in the front gate. ‘I presume it’s your dress for the ball. It just arrived down at the shop and I figured you’d want it.’ She grinned and handed the package over.

Isabelle exhaled in relief. She had no idea what she would have done if the dress hadn’t arrived. ‘Thanks. You didn’t have to bring it over. I would have come down to the post box to collect it myself.’

Rachel waved it off and plonked down in the opposite chair. ‘It wasn’t a problem. I was down there when the mail was delivered and thought I’d bring it straight over.’

‘Thanks.’

Isabelle wished Rachel would leave. Her fingers itched to tear off the packaging, but there was no way she was going to open in front of Rachel. She was becoming more nosy than most of the old ladies in town combined. The polite thing would be to offer her a drink, but Isabelle kept her mouth closed. The house looked like a bomb had gone off and she didn’t want to have to apologise for the mess. She sat the package on the table beside her and curbed her curiosity.

She pasted on her happiest smile. ‘How was Christmas?’

‘It was lovely,’ Rachel said.

For the next few minutes she gave Isabelle a blow by blow account of her Christmas and Boxing Day celebrations, including every single present that had been given and received. When she’d finally exhausted her words, she collapsed back in the chair. ‘Of course we all ate too much. I’m sure I’ve put on five kilos.’ She patted her waist. ‘So how was yours? You went home didn’t you?’

Home? Isabelle licked her lips. No. Home wasn’t Torquay anymore, Stony Creek was. ‘It was okay,’ she replied cautiously.

Rachel clamped a hand over her mouth. ‘Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think.’

Isabelle offered a small smile. ‘It’s fine. Christmas was good. The kids coped better than I expected. Mietta was just happy Santa found her. She was so worried he wouldn’t know where she lived any more.’

On Christmas Eve Isabelle had sat on a picnic rug in Johnstone Park in Geelong on the outer edge of her group of friends. As she’d held her candle and tried to sing along to the Christmas carols, past the painful lump in her throat, it was evident that everyone had moved on with their lives and nothing was the way it used to be. Isabelle had watched Fletcher and Mietta closely and it was obvious they didn’t want to be there either – like her, they wanted to be with Matt and their new friends in Stony Creek.

Christmas day was harder than she’d anticipated as well, and staying with her parents in their tiny unit only made things harder. Her mother did nothing except complain about the untidy mess in the cramped space. The fact it rained all day only made things worse as no one could escape outside.

Three days after Christmas they made the long drive back to Stony Creek with a sense of purpose and excitement and a realisation they had all moved on too.

When Rachel finally cottoned on to the fact Isabelle wasn’t going to show her the dress, she left. The second she was out of sight Isabelle shot up and went inside, tearing open the parcel in the privacy of her bedroom. She pulled it out and was lost for words. It was even more stunning than its online image and quite simply was the most beautiful gown she’d ever owned. She hoped Leah wasn’t joking when she said people got dressed up, otherwise she was going to look ridiculously out of place.

She slipped into the dress and zipped it up, twirling a graceful pirouette in front of her bedroom mirror. Made of a matte white satin with a high halter neck, it fit like a glove. With no back, folds of soft white fabric hung loosely down her body. The long skirt was slim fitting without being too tight, split to mid-thigh on one side. Isabelle slipped her feet into the strappy silver sandals that had arrived the day earlier and sighed. She felt like a princess, even without a tiara.

Stepping out of the dress, she carefully hung it up on the back of her bedroom door. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Matt’s face when he picked her up later that night.

At ten thirty Isabelle went down the street to get her hair done and found the entire town buzzing with activity. Other than the weekend of the Peppercorn Project interviews, which felt like a lifetime ago, she’d never seen so many cars. As well as the usual dusty four-wheel drives, there were official vehicles of every shape and size, representing the various emergency services. Many of the emergency services personnel had arrived early to help set up.

An hour later when Isabelle left Kim Bailey’s lounge room, which had been converted into a bustling hair salon for the day, there were even more cars and people in the street. Kim had been booked solid since seven that morning, and her place was overflowing with champagne and women, all animated and excited about the ball. Kim had even brought in some hairdressing friends to help her out, and the atmosphere in the little house was electric – like a room full of nervous brides.

When Isabelle arrived home, she smiled as soon as she saw Matt’s car parked out the front. Her heart hammered in anticipation of seeing him again, even though he hadn’t left her place until very late the night before. They’d been inseparable since she’d arrived back in Stony Creek, but there was something about this day that had her stomach churning with expectation.

In the backyard, Mietta’s squeals of delight pierced the air as Matt encouraged her to bounce higher. He’d spoiled them all rotten for Christmas, giving Mietta a trampoline and Fletcher a new bike.

She’d returned from Geelong to find her entire front yard transformed. Her once weed-filled overgrown cottage garden had been given a complete makeover and was now a little oasis – the perfect place to sit and read. Matt had planted new plants, pruned the trees, and even painted the front fence. Red and white cushions, Leah’s Christmas present to her, sat on the new timber outdoor furniture setting Matt had given her. She’d felt so overcome by his unexpected thoughtfulness, and guilty she’d taken the easy way out and given him a gift voucher.

‘Don’t you look gorgeous?’ Matt greeted her when she walked around the side of the house.

‘Why, thank you.’ Isabelle fluffed the freshly made curls so they bounced around her face. She was glad Kim had insisted on using half a can of hairspray to hold them in place, but she could already feel them drooping in the intense heat. ‘I hope you’re going to be a little bit more dressed up tonight,’ she said, pointing to his shorts and T-shirt.

‘I thought you’d appreciate me wearing matching footwear to you,’ he said, wagging one thong-clad foot in her direction. She kept threatening to wear thongs, just to annoy Leah.

Isabelle laughed. ‘Uh uh, if I don’t wear heels, Leah will skin me alive. I have my killer heels ready to go.’

‘Watch me, Mummy,’ Mietta called.

Her high-pitched giggles danced across the backyard as she bounced and spun and twirled – happy to have an audience. She wore a pink tutu over her denim shorts – another gift from Matt which she refused to remove. She’d been upset when Isabelle said she wasn’t old enough to go the ball, but the tutu had made up for her disappointment. She was excited about joining the other kids at the school while the adults attended the ball. Isabelle watched Matt for a while, loving the way he enjoyed being around her kids. He appeared to be having as much fun as Mietta and any minute she expected to see him up on the trampoline, bouncing with her.

Mietta performed a wobbly handstand that ended with her knees splayed in an awkward position. Isabelle held her breath, but she was okay.

‘I didn’t expect to see you until tonight,’ she said to Matt. ‘Although I’m not complaining. What brings you over now?’

‘I wanted to see how Fletcher was going. Poor kid. The cast must be driving him nuts in this heat.’

‘Actually, he’s not complaining,’ Isabelle said. ‘He’s used to having restrictions on his screen time, but since the accident there’s not much else for him to do, so he’s in his element on the PlayStation. He got some new games for Christmas. Once the cast is off, he’ll be back outside and on that bike so fast you won’t be able to keep up with him. He’s already asked me when I’ll let him go back up Mount Remarkable.’

They stood side by side, watching Mietta bounce.

‘I also came over to give you this.’

The tone of Matt’s voice made her turn around. He pulled a small package from his pocket and handed it to her. At first the size and shape of it alarmed her, but when it didn’t look like he was about to drop to one knee and do anything crazy, her heart slowed down to a slightly more normal rhythm.

‘A little birdy told me it’s your birthday today.’

Isabelle looked down at the box in her hands and back up at him, raising her eyebrows. ‘Who? How?’ She hadn’t told a soul.

He smiled and her insides turned to mush. ‘Sorry, Issie, no secrets here. Fletcher told me ages ago. Are you going to open it?’

She carefully undid the wrapping paper and opened the small turquoise jewellery box. Inside were beautiful dangly earrings. She held one up and it sparkled in the afternoon sunlight. ‘They’ll look perfect with my dress tonight. Thank you, Matt.’ She stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

‘Mietta wanted me to get you a tiara,’ Matt said with a laugh. ‘I thought this was the next best thing.’

‘I’m glad you didn’t go with a tiara. It would have been overkill, I think. Anyway, thank you for the earrings. I love them.’

The sun went behind a cloud and she glanced at the sky. ‘What’s the word on the storms?’ It was all everyone had talked about while Kim did Isabelle’s hair. The forecast for later that night was a massive electrical storm, which meant the risk of fires starting was very high.

‘It’s not an issue unless the wind picks up. If it does and we get lightning strikes as predicted, then we’re bound to get fires. We can control grass ones easily, but once it starts in the ranges it can burn for weeks. Don’t worry’ he added quickly, seeing her worried expression, ‘it’ll be fine.’

Isabelle shuddered. ‘What time is the cool change expected?’

‘Not until tomorrow. The weather bureau isn’t predicting much rain, just electrical storms.’’

Isabelle shuddered again. She needed to change the subject away from fires and storms. The last thing she needed to do was alarm Mietta, who was terrified of lightning.

‘I’m parched. Do you want a drink?’ she asked.

‘Thanks.’

‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

As Isabelle emptied ice cubes into the glasses, there was a faint metallic ting as her rings touched the glass. She still wore her rings – the rings Dan had given her when they were still teenagers. Two simple white gold bands, one adorned with a tiny solitaire diamond. Over the years, he’d bought her other rings with bigger diamonds, but she’d never removed the simple set on her left hand.

She put down the glass and slowly slipped them off her left hand and held them in her palm. A long ago memory came flooding back – the words of the minister at their wedding as Dan slipped on the ring, declaring it to be a symbol of his eternal love. “A simple band, a circle without beginning or end,” he’d said.

Isabelle placed the rings reverently on the window ledge above the sink. The small diamond shone, a tiny reminder of a love that no longer sparkled the way it once had. Yet as she glanced out the window at Matt and Mietta, she recalled Hilary’s advice and a glimmer of hope flashed.

She rubbed the pale skin where the rings had been. It felt strange, but the pain she’d been expecting when she removed them wasn’t there. Perhaps this was something she needed to do to move on. Since visiting Hilary and then going back to Geelong, she’d thought of little else other than taking her relationship with Matt into the future. She knew he was just waiting for her.

Drinks forgotten, she stepped outside to tell Matt what she’d done. He turned around and grabbed her, surprising her, holding her in his arms briefly before slowly dipping her to the ground like a dancer performing an elaborate move.

She laughed with glee. ‘Are you getting into practice for tonight?’

‘I am,’ he replied, pulling her back into a standing position.

Isabelle stood perfectly still, breathing in his scent. He didn’t let go of her hands but gently rubbed her fingers with his thumbs, not taking his eyes off hers. He stopped when he noticed the missing rings. Neither of them said anything, but a small smile played at the corners of his lips. It made removing the rings worthwhile.

Behind her, Mietta bounced, cheering them on, urging them to dance again. Matt rested one hand on the warm skin at the back of her neck. As his other arm slipped around her waist, Isabelle waited for the kiss that was to come. She glanced sideways to check Mietta’s reaction, but her daughter was grinning from ear to ear.

Isabelle placed her hand on Matt’s chest and felt the steady beat of his heart drumming beneath her fingertips. Then something unexpectedly shifted inside her heart. She wanted him to kiss her.

‘Kiss, kiss, kiss!’ Mietta chanted in time with each bounce.

The springs on the trampoline squeaked in time with the voice in Isabelle’s head.
Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.
She felt fuzzy, like the earth was moving.

In slow motion, Matt lowered his head, drawing her closer, and their lips met in a soft, tender kiss. It was the barest of touches, so feather-light she questioned if their lips had even connected. His fingers gently traced her jaw, causing tingles to chase each other up her neck.