‘Fine, fine here. Although we’re missing Melinda already.’
Dave noticed he wasn’t included in that statement.
‘Yeah, I bet you are,’ he answered. ‘I’m sure she’s missing you too, although she’s been pretty busy today.’ He left out the ‘so hopefully she hasn’t thought about you at all’ part. Dave hadn’t liked his father-in-law from the moment he’d met him. Mark came across as a pompous arse—having made his money from good investments, he was always dropping hints about how intelligent he was, how he didn’t need to work any more, he just did it for the enjoyment, and how his daughters had taken after him. After many hints about how Dave wasn’t good enough for Melinda, the final straw had been when he’d suggested to Dave that his policeman’s income wasn’t going to be enough to keep his daughter in the way she should be looked after and perhaps the kindest thing would be for Dave to break off the engagement.
‘Unpacked yet?’ Mark asked, returning Dave to his tiny, weatherboard house in Barrabine.
‘Well, Melinda seems to have done a great job already, but there’s still a bit to go. Rome wasn’t built in a day.’
‘You’re not helping her?’ Mark’s voice rose in surprise and Dave could hear the judgement.
‘I’ve started at work today.’
‘Ah. Yes, I understand. Some people have to work for a living.’
Choosing to ignore the implication that he wasn’t helping his wife enough and only failures had to work, Dave asked politely, ‘How is Ellen?’
‘She’s well. We had the grandchildren here this morning, so she’s a little tired, but she’s fine.’
‘Good to hear.’ An uncomfortable silence stretched out along the phone line before Dave said, ‘Well, I’ll just get Melinda for you.’ Without waiting for an answer, he put down the receiver and went back into the bathroom. ‘Your dad’s on the phone.’
Melinda’s face lit up and without a word she got up and jumped over the box and ran to phone.
Dave tried not to listen to their conversation, but he could hear her describing their arrival into town yesterday and the distaste in her voice. Her comments about the house were less than enthusiastic, and when he heard her say, ‘Oh, no, Dad, don’t even think about that. Dave would never accept it,’ he wondered what Mark was offering. To buy them a new house? To make a ‘donation’ to their bank account. Indignation as well as a little rush of fear ran through him. What if she didn’t settle here? Would their marriage be doomed form the start because he’d dragged her to the middle of Western Australia so he could become a top-notch detective and make it onto the stock squad? Would he have to put his aspirations aside again? Surely not—he’d already had his boyhood dream of becoming a farmer dashed by his father.
The little voice inside himself, which he was beginning to learn to listen to, told him no. They’d talked long and hard about the move to Barrabine, and Melinda understood why it was important to him, although naturally she’d had a lot of misgivings about giving up her own job. Especially after all her study. He hadn’t wanted to come here by himself, but he would have if she hadn’t agreed; eventually, after lots of thought and discussion, she’d told him she was up to the challenge. He’d been so relieved.
‘I’m a bit over all the political bullshit that goes on at Princess Margaret Hospital,’ she’d said. ‘You know, having to deal with second-class equipment because the money isn’t there to replace it and nurses being given jobs that doctors should do.’ She’d wrapped her arms around his neck and stared up at him. ‘Tash says country nursing is a lot more fun—loads of different things to try. She spent a year in Margaret River, remember? Having a couple of years in a country hospital will look good on my resume when we go back to the city. I don’t like the idea of going out there without a job, but I guess I’ll just have to hope something comes up.’ Reaching up, she’d given him a kiss before whispering, ‘So let’s do it.’
Her brave words seemed to have deserted her now and no matter how much explaining he did, Melinda still seemed to think that Dave had asked to be transferred here. In fact, it had been the powers that be who had told him he was coming. So, whether she’d agreed to come or not, Dave would still have been transferred to Barrabine.
‘You’re going to be a great detective, Dave,’ Terry O’Laughlin, his mentor, had told him. ‘That’s why I’m going to recommend you have a stint in Barrabine. You’ll learn a lot there and it’ll give you a lot of experience that you’ll need as a detective. I’m partnering you with Spencer Brown. He’s a good bloke, been there a few years and he’ll help you get to know the area.’
‘Barrabine, sir?’ Dave had paused. ‘That’s a long way away. I’m getting married in a couple of weeks.’
‘I know. We’ll make sure the house is comfortable for you and your new wife, and this posting, well, it’ll be your step up into the stock squad. I know you want to head there and we can use a bloke with your background as the lead detective. You know how to connect and talk with farmers and that’s important.’
‘The stock squad would be my ideal,’ Dave answered, a bubble of excitement starting in his stomach. It was what he’d been aiming for since his dad had kicked him off the farm.
‘Again, I know that. Barrabine for a year or two and then I’ll get you shifted over. All right?’ He’d nodded and then left the room. It had been a statement, not a question, and Dave hadn’t been able to stop grinning for the rest of the day. If
