Dave wanted to turn away, feeling uncomfortable, but instead he raised his own hand in a way of cheers and gave a nod. Those fellas wouldn’t get the best of the new bloke in town, Dave decided.
‘’Ere you go.’ The barmaid was back with the drinks.
‘Thanks,’ Dave answered and took out a fifty-dollar note, gave it to her and waited for his change. ‘I can take these through?’ he asked, indicating to the dining room.
‘Knock yerself out, love. I’ll be in to take your order in a mo.’ She smiled and walked off to another customer who was watching them curiously.
‘I think we’ve made an impression,’ Dave said as he set Melinda’s wine down in front of her.
‘I wish I’d worn a different shirt,’ she said, pulling at the non-existent sleeves.
‘You look beautiful.’
‘I feel like everyone is undressing me.’
‘They’re not,’ Dave said with a smile, wanting her to relax. ‘They’re actually looking at me. Wondering why a detective from the gold squad is in the pub. Apparently it’s not the place for me. I just met some of the boys Spencer likes to keep an eye on.’
Reaching across the table, Melinda smiled. ‘You always seem to know the right things to say.’
‘That’s my job,’ he answered, raising her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles.
This time she didn’t take her hand away. She kept it against his lips.
Chapter 3
After a week of bad coffee Dave had finally discovered the best place to go for his daily fix was at the Mug café. When he’d been told the name it had taken him a moment to work out whether his work colleagues were having a joke with him. Apparently not.
Now it was two weeks into his posting at Barrabine and the young girl behind the counter was already asking if he wanted his ‘usual’ and calling him by name. That made him feel good. Accepted. As if he belonged. He knew Melinda wasn’t feeling like that yet, but she hadn’t been out much. He hoped that’d change soon.
Last night, as they’d done most nights since arriving, they’d sat on the steps of their house, drinks in hand, and chatted about the day. Dave had asked what Melinda had done all day and her reply had been, ‘Stayed in the house. Too hot to go outside.’
‘Haven’t caught up with Kathy again?’ The one-word answer of ‘No’ had made him fall silent. He really wanted to ask her why she wasn’t interested in making a new friend—in Perth she would have jumped at the opportunity. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t want to do the same here.
‘What do you do all day?’ he wondered out loud.
She looked at him. ‘I phone my friends,’ she said. ‘Tash and my sisters. Mum. I do a lot of talking.’
But that’s not helping you fit in here, he wanted to say.
Instead, he’d told her Spencer had taken him around to all the pubs within a fifty k radius and he’d been introduced to the owners. She shrugged and said, ‘It’s all right for some. You get paid to be introduced to people.’
For the millionth time, Dave wondered if he’d done the right thing by accepting the posting which would advance his career. Not that he’d had much of a choice. It seemed a long time ago that she had walked down the aisle with anticipation and a smile on her face. In only two weeks, it seemed like she’d lost weight and the fresh glow had gone from her cheeks.
‘Here you go, Dave.’ Layla broke into his thoughts.
‘Thanks, Layla,’ he said as she handed over the flat white in a large mug.
‘Anything special on the go today?’ she asked, ringing up his purchase.
‘Not that I know of. I’m beginning to think all the stories I’ve heard about Barrabine and gold stealing are just tall tales!’ He grinned, holding his hand out for the change.
‘Uh-uh. No way,’ she said. ‘About three years ago there was a big police raid on the house next to where I lived.’ Her face lit up as she remembered. ‘It was really cool to watch—most exciting thing ever. I wasn’t supposed to see…’ she dropped her voice, confiding in him, ‘but I couldn’t help it. All the police car lights were flashing, making these funny shadows on my ceiling, so I had to go, didn’t I?’
Dave smiled and nodded his agreement.
‘So I snuck outside and peeped over the fence. The police were knocking the door in, and there was yelling and shouting. Then out comes the neighbour in only his shorts, with his hands handcuffed behind his back.’
‘Sounds pretty exciting,’ Dave said, taking a sip of his coffee and making a mental note to ask Spencer about it. ‘Do you know what happened?’
Layla shrugged. ‘Mum said he got charged with something, but I dunno what. I heard from one of my friends that he murdered someone who was on his mining lease, but another person told me that he only threatened to shoot them, so it wasn’t that bad.’
‘No, I guess not,’ Dave muttered, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. Civilians seemed to think there was a world of difference between threatening to shoot someone and actually doing it. Dave knew there wasn’t. There was only about two millimetres—what it took to squeeze the trigger. ‘Well, I’d better get on. Thanks for the coffee.’
‘See ya tomorrow.’ Layla flashed him a large smile, showing a set of perfect teeth.
‘You will,’ he promised and walked over to his normal booth at the front of the shop. He had seventeen minutes before he needed to be at the office, so he opened the newspaper that was sitting on the table. His day started at seven in the morning and yet he left
