Being in the hospitality industry for the last ten years and working in several high-profile restaurants in Melbourne meant Cruz had connections and he hadn’t hesitated in calling on them to fast-track his permits. Everything had come through, including the liquor licence, meaning it would be all systems go over the next few days.
But before he got caught up in more admin, he had to call his mum.
As usual, Ferne picked up on the second ring. ‘Cruz, everything okay?’
‘Why wouldn’t it be, Mum?’
‘You’re back on the farm for the first time in years and stuck there for the foreseeable future.’
‘Good point.’
‘I’ve been meaning to call you. How are you? Is everything okay?’
‘As good as can be expected.’
‘How’s Elora working out?’
Cruz didn’t want their conversation to get derailed, which would happen once his mother heard he’d fired El, so he reached for a little white lie. ‘Good. She helped me come up with an idea of running a farm-to-table restaurant here.’
‘Wow. That’s huge.’
‘Yeah, it’ll be a good way to highlight our produce and put the farm on the map, driving up the price for when we ultimately sell.’
‘Brilliant. What else has been happening?’
Cruz hadn’t envisaged having this conversation over the phone, but he couldn’t hold onto the secret about his father. If Roger had opened up to him, what would stop him from reaching out to Ferne and telling her? Cruz hated the thought of his mother learning about his father’s homosexuality from Mac’s lover rather than her own son, especially if Roger mentioned Cruz knowing. Ferne would think he’d deliberately kept her in the dark too.
‘Mum, I have to tell you something and it’s pretty shocking.’
‘At my age, not much shocks me.’
He heard her wry chuckle and wished there could be some way to soften the incoming blow. ‘It’s about Dad.’
Silence.
‘Mum?’
‘There’s not much I don’t know about your father, Cruz. I discovered quite a lot after he died.’
Hell. She knew?
‘Like what?’
She sighed. ‘Mac led a double life I knew nothing about.’
‘You know about Roger?’
‘Roger? As in Roger Oldfield?’
Tension built behind Cruz’s eyes. It sounded like his mum didn’t have a clue about Roger, which meant his revelation would blow up her world.
‘I bumped into Roger at Dad’s shed a little while ago.’ Cruz pressed a hand to his chest to settle his thumping heart. Yeah, like that would make any difference. He hated the thought of hurting his mum after she’d been through so much already.
‘What was he doing there?’
Pining.Trying to rekindle feelings he had for Mac.Being a sentimental old fool.
But Cruz couldn’t say any of that, so he settled for, ‘What did you mean about Dad leading a double life?’
