Page 40 of Hiding Nessie
‘How’s Meredith?’ Cam asked while they climbed the hill, hand in hand.
‘I think it took her a while to come to terms with everything. I told her all about my curse, seeing as it’s yours now. I hope that’s okay.’
‘It’s your story to tell.’
Lachlan fidgeted with his coat buttons. ‘She didn’t want to accept that Bryce was behind it all at first. But when she did…’
Cam raised a sympathetic eyebrow. ‘Is she okay?’
Lachlan gave a dark chuckle. ‘I think if she ever sees Bryce again, he has averypainful death in store.’
It lifted his spirits when Cam shared his laughter, and it became a real laugh. It felt good to laugh together after everything that had happened.
Lachlan slowed his pace as the remains of The Lucky Teapot came into view. There was a concerning amount of activity around it. Lachlan had thought all the emergency services people had wrapped up the day before.
Several things about the scene were jarringly odd. First was the rainbow striped umbrella, and the blue picnic table it was unfurled over. Next were the neat piles of clothes and blankets on the table, along with boxes of food. Lachlan spotted cereals, tinned soups and vegetables, and even some homemade cakes hiding beneath Tupperware lids.
Three large tarpaulins were laid out on the ground. They held a wide assortment of soot-covered objects from the café. A kind of washing station had been set up in between these, with an array of sponges and buckets of soapy water. Shona was knelt at one, carefully washing dishes from a stack of blackened crockery. Donald appeared behind her, carrying an armful of seat cushions out of the wreckage.
They spotted Lachlan and Cam at the same time. Shona gave a cheery wave, while Donald’s smile was on the sheepish side.
‘Good to see you both,’ Donald said first, then tactfully paused as he took in Cam’s Scorched face and eye. Lachlan had forgotten that no one else had seen it yet. But Donald drew his own conclusion with little prompting. ‘I see you’ve had more work done, Cam.’
Cam ran a hand through his hair, which Lachlan had noticed him do when he was uncomfortable. ‘Yeah. I, uh, decided to extend the tattoo.’
‘It looks…’ Donald was clearly grasping for something polite to say. ‘… unique.’
Helen appeared in the doorway. ‘I like the contact lens. Very spooky.’
‘What’s going on?’ Lachlan asked bluntly.
Despite three hundred years of practice masking his own emotions, the sudden decimation of his home, and now this unexpected invasion of his shattered personal space, had him decidedly off-kilter and struggling to hide the consternation in his voice. Even Cam’s eyes slid to him in surprise at the clipped tone.
Shona dropped her sponge with a splash. ‘Oh. We thought you’d like the help.’
‘Not wishing to intrude,’ Donald said hurriedly. He cast a worried glance at the tarpaulins. ‘Perhaps we should have asked. But you haven’t been very… approachable.’
‘Which we completely understand,’ Helen cut in quickly. ‘It’s an awful shock. We just want to help in any way we can.’
Lachlan was speechless. It wasn’t until Cam nudged him that he remembered what an appropriately polite expression should look like.
‘That’s very kind,’ he said, still not fully comprehending why they would be going to quite so much trouble. ‘But you really don’t have to feel obliged…’
‘Nonsense,’ Helen said. ‘We wouldn’t leave you to manage on your own at a time like this.’
‘You’ve given us so much,’ Shona added in her quiet voice. ‘It’s only right we give back.’
Donald cleared his throat gruffly. ‘Lot of us out here would have been very isolated without you. The Lucky Teapot’s been a home for all of us.’
Lachlan’s heart swelled. He knew the Teapot had always been welcoming; he’d designed it that way. But he hadn’t any grand intentions. Just a hope that he might provide a moment of bright and peaceful respite in a person’s day, fondly enjoyed, but also easily forgotten. With the transient nature of his life—where nothing ever truly lasted, despite himself being stuck in the same, enduring state—he hadn’t imagined it could ever be anything more. That it could mean so much more to the people he thought of as just passing through.
‘Thank you,’ Lachlan tried to say, but the words got caught in his throat and came out with an emotional stutter.
‘You just direct us where you want us,’ Helen said cheerfully. ‘We’ll soon have this place back in good shape.’
Donald gestured at the charred Teapot sign where it lay forlornly propped against a wall. ‘I took a look at your floors up top. I’ve some carpentry skills worth putting to use.’
‘And the Crawfords have offered to do you new curtains,’ Shona piped up. ‘Although between you and me I don’t think Mrs Crawford can see the needle on her sewing machine any more. There’s also the Wild Swimmers turning up later to start cleaning down all the walls.’
