Billie ignored the understanding in her mother’s eyes. She didn’t need to feel any more vulnerable than she already did. They’d had too many discussions about her state of mind and she didn’t need another one this morning. Lucy had made it quite clear in the time they’d been here that she ‘understood’ Billie’s anxiety. Truthfully, she had no idea what went on in Billie’s head. She hadn’t understood her as a teenager and she certainly didn’t understand her now, regardless of what she might think.
“You’ll love it back here once you start making friends, I know you will.” She patted Billie’s hand then accepted a hug from Alex before she walked them to the door, her heels tapping out a tune on the black-and-white tiles.
“Yeah, I know. Believe me, I’m keen to fit in and make new contacts as soon as I can. I can’t thank you and Father enough for putting in a good word for me at the paper.” Without their input, it would have been almost impossible to get a second chance doing the job she loved. Heaven knows she had burned her bridges to a cinder and had no hope of landing another position at a reputable paper on her own. At least, not in America and certainly not in this century. She hoped Australians would be kinder to her. She was one of them after all.
“Go out and make us proud. We have faith in you.” Lucy’s smile was genuine and Billie knew it came from the heart. “And Alex, I know you’ll love the school when you get a chance to settle in. Your father would have been so proud to see you going to such a good college.” One hand reached up to grasp at the locket she wore on a gold chain around her throat, running it through her fingers as she did whenever she mentioned a delicate subject and her gaze flickered to the drooping petals on the large vase of flowers on the pedestal by the door. “I really must replace those today.”
“See ya, Gran.” Alex kissed her cheek then wrenched open the front door, letting in the crisp morning air. Billie pushed him out with a final smile for her mother, then hurried down the steps of the old Victorian terrace they now called home. Lucy waited at the dark-blue door until they gave her a final wave, then closed it behind them.
Hurrying down the remaining stairs, they fed into the pedestrian traffic and Billie was pleased to see they weren’t the only ones hitting the footpath at such an hour. Early-morning commuters bustled along the street their heads down, pushing towards the bus stop, a mass migration of brown-coated sparrows jostling for space.
The wind whistled down the street, sending leaves tumbling over the road and along the footpath making Billie shudder. “There’s something about the weather this side of the damned world.” It was so much cooler than San Francisco, where the fog kept a damp blanket over the city. Here the wind seemed more piercing than she could have imagined for this early in the year. It went right through her, like sharp needles stabbing at her very bones. She remembered Sydney as warm and inviting. The weather today was anything but. An early indication of what winter would bring or a mirror to her state of mind, she didn’t know.
“Morning.” Footsteps hurried to catch up with them, scuffing along on the cold concrete path.
Billie knew who it was. “Hamish. Hi.” Her neighbour, a psych professor at Sydney University and her father’s close friend, joined them his shoulders hunched to minimise the area of skin on his neck exposed to the biting breeze.
“So, today’s the big day for both of you, eh?” He dug his hands deeper into his coat pockets. The bright-red beanie he wore almost covered his bushy salt-and-pepper eyebrows. Strands of silver hair poked out of his hat to match the fine smattering of grey in his bushy sideburns. Billie pegged him to be in his early to mid-forties, although wasn’t sufficiently keen to find out more about him than she already knew.
“Yep. Alex starts school today and I have to attend my first meet and greet. Can’t wait to see what assignment they give me. Something I can sink my teeth into, I hope.” She looked at the road before stepping off the footpath and crossing over. They made their way to the corner and Billie jammed her finger on the street crossing button.
“What are you hoping for?” He rubbed his hands together as they waited for the green light to cross the street, then nodded his head for them to proceed, guiding them along safely as if they were newbies in town.
“My expertise is in crime. At least that was where I spent the last fourteen years.” She skipped over the last white stripe on the road, up onto the footpath, and continued on towards the bus stop, doing her best not to get separated from Alex in the increasing rush of determined bodies. Hamish stayed close to her side, matching her step for step, his long stride slowing to her shorter pace. “I’m hoping they won’t demote me too much. I mean, I guess I understand having to prove myself all over again being on the other side of the pond, so to speak with a whole new readership, but I’m
