‘It took me a very long time to settle and make friends. I love it here now, but it certainly does take some getting used to. Policemen’s wives have to try hard with every new town. We need to settle, to make friends, to fit in. We are constantly being moved from town to town, and if we don’t make the effort to establish ourselves, we run the risk of always being on the outer. That’s a lonely place to be.’
Melinda nodded and sipped her tea. ‘Have you made good friends?’
‘Have I? Of course! I started off by volunteering for Meals on Wheels. Met some lovely like-minded people that way. Within time I found a job I love—only part-time, but enough to get me out and meeting people—and from then on I was away.’ She paused, reaching for her cup of tea, then changed direction, putting her hand on Melinda’s knee. ‘I know you’re unhappy, Melinda, but this is your lot for the next year or two. You can’t keep hating it and not trying. You’ve got to get out there and meet some people. How about volunteering for Meals on Wheels with me, or something similar? Get involved. Do you like sport? We’re always looking for new tennis players down at the club.’
Melinda grimaced. ‘No, I’m not a tennis player, I’m afraid.’
‘But you love working with children?’
‘I spent lots of years training to get the qualifications I have now.’
‘Then apply for that job, Mel.’
‘Melinda,’ she said automatically.
Kathy cocked her head and looked at her. ‘Then apply for that job, Mel,’ she repeated. ‘You’re in the country now.’ There was a silence between the two of them and Kathy reached for her cup and took a sip.
‘How are things between you and Dave, if you don’t mind me asking?’ Kathy finally asked.
Melinda thought about that. Dave was being as supportive as he could be. She was the one being the prize bitch. ‘He’s being the supportive, caring, gorgeous man I married, ignoring the fact that I’m be awful to him all the time.’
‘Have you ever thought he might be missing Perth?’
‘Ha! Not a chance. You should have seen his face light up when we first got to town. No, he wants to be here.’
‘Better than still pining for the farm,’ Kathy said gently.
That made Melinda pause. Dave didn’t talk about missing out on the farm to many people, so if he’d told Spencer and Spencer had told Kathy, Dave must think they were good people. ‘Yeah, that’s true.’
‘Here’s an idea for today—Saturday. How about getting up off that chair and coming out with me. I’ll take you on my Meals on Wheels round and you can meet a few people, then you can come home and cook a nice dinner for Dave. Talk to him. Tell him how you’re feeling without being angry. Be present in your new life, your marriage. Nothing will slip away if you do that.’
Chapter 9
‘Got a 3-3-8 at one of the brothels,’ Spencer said, walking into the office. ‘All the others are out, so it’s you and me.’
Dave had been staring at his new email program, waiting for responses to a couple of enquiries he’d sent out, but his inbox had remained empty. Not that he’d really been concentrating on it. He’d been thinking about the previous evening and Melinda. His fear of her leaving had only increased when she’d asked him to spend the day away from the house because she needed time to think. He’d started off with his run, but couldn’t settle so had decided to go into the office for the day. He’d been surprised to find Spencer there working on an old file.
His colleague had looked at him over the tops of his glasses but not commented on his appearance at the station.
Dave had a constant feeling of anxiety in the bottom of his stomach and half expected that when he went home tonight Melinda wouldn’t be there.
‘A 3-3-8?’ he asked. It was code for a sudden death. He pushed his chair back and grabbed his gun holster before shrugging into it and following Spencer out of the room.
‘Reckon we might have a stiff.’ Spencer laughed. ‘That’s what you go to a brothel for, hey. Jeez, I crack myself up!’ ‘A body?’
‘You’d be surprised at the number of people who die while having sex, Dave. Anyway, Madam Narla has called saying they have a body in one of their rooms. The girl is hysterical. Apparently they came back from the showers and he lay down. Next thing, he was dead.’
They climbed into the car and Spencer put his foot down, making a squealing noise as they left the parking lot.
Glancing over at Dave, Spencer finally asked, ‘What’s up with you? You look like shit.’
Dave stared out of the window, wishing Spencer hadn’t noticed. ‘I didn’t sleep too well last night.’
‘Woman trouble, huh?’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Can read it all over you. New copper in town. The place isn’t quite what the wife thought it would be. Left her family and friends…’ He shrugged one shoulder. ‘See it all the time, mate, and you’ve got that look.’
Dave clenched his teeth. ‘You ever have the same problems?’
‘Not when I shifted here but I did in our first posting. Kathy really struggled. New mum, away from her family. We were based in a tiny town—not even five hundred people—all the way back in South Australia. It was tough going for a while.’
‘What got you guys through?’
Spencer swung the car around the corner of Plenty Street and came to a halt in front of a bright red door. ‘Kathy had to get out and make friends. I made sure she met other policemen’s wives and knew she wasn’t the only one struggling.’ Spencer’s face became grim. ‘Come on, let’s check this out.’
Madam Narla met them at the front door full of apologies.
‘So sorry, Spencer,’ she said, putting
