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Was it really that obvious? How attracted she was to Nico?
She stared out the window as she considered Gabe’s words. Should she partake in a littlestress reliefwith Nico, as Gabe put it. A fling, a hookup, a quickie. Maybe that would put to rest the constant awareness she had of Nico whenever he was in the room. Maybe if she scratched that itch, she might be able to concentrate properly again.
Lacey drew in a quiet sigh of relief. It wasn’t like she’d never had a one night stand before. She’d already given in to temptation once while in Tasmania. She’d been down in Hobart and met a sexy sailor at a bar near Constitution Dock, got a little tipsy and when he’d asked if she wanted to check out his boat—a big maxi yacht, which it turned out he was only crewing, he didn’t own it—she’d taken him up on his offer.
Lacey turned to study Gabriel out of the corner of her eye as he drove. He was a nice guy. Extremely good-looking, smartly dressed, intelligent, had a job her mother would absolutely covet, and his slight French accent was to die for. But he didn’t interest Lacey in the slightest. Nico barely had any of his French accent left. He said he’d moved to Australia when he was only ten, and he’d been so desperate to fit in with the rest of the Aussie kids at school he’d purposefully lost his accent. Pity. Lacey was a sucker for that smooth, honey-like cadence. Hmmm, Nico with the imperfect scar on his face speaking French to her…
She pushed the thoughts of Nico aside and asked Gabriel, “What about Cradle Mountain? Have you been there? Now that is definitely on my bucket list.” The famous mountain wasn’t too far from here. Around two hours’ drive inland if Google Maps was to be believed.
“Yes, that’s one place I have managed to get to. Nico and I hiked part of the Overland Track two summers ago. It’s so beautiful up there. I hear it snowed on the peak yesterday. Now that’d be an amazing sight to see.”
“Oh, really? Perhaps I should head up that way once my van is fixed.” Now they were back on safer ground, Lacey let out a quiet breath. She’d been planning on continuing her trek to Stanley farther up the coast, and save the hiking for later on, but perhaps the sight of Cradle Mountain covered in snow shouldn’t be missed.
For the next twenty minutes they debated the pros and cons of taking her Kombi into a mountainous area where the roads might be blocked with snow against the chance of seeing a white-capped peak. Their conversation was easy and natural, but Lacey made sure to lead the topic onto other good places to see when she cruised around the island, while trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Rania’s death. She didn’t want to answer any more questions about the scene when she’d first arrived, or rehash it all over and over with Gabriel. And she could feel he wanted to talk about it, like most normal human beings, it was a natural response. But she was all talked out on that particular subject. Besides, she knew all the members on Nico’s team would be under strict orders to keep vital information under wraps. Not to leak it to the public or the media. Not that she was on Nico’s team, and not that she was even officially still on the force. But old habits die hard.
Gabe dropped her in Nico’s driveway and watched to see that she got safely up to her van before reversing back onto the road and giving her a wave goodbye. Smudge’s barking got her moving toward the back door. Poor dog had been tied up all day. She was welcomed by a tail-wagging fur-ball, who jumped up and licked her face as she tried to unclip his lead. He probably needed a walk, but she was too tired. Instead, she let him run around the back paddock—it was too big to be called a yard—for a few minutes. He was lifting his leg on everything in sight, as she went to check on her van. Everything was still in order and she looked longingly at her couch and the pop-top roof bed. Perhaps she should just return to her van and not stay in the house, as Nico had suggested. Surprisingly, she missed her tiny home. But she’d promised to cook something for dinner, then Nico could reheat it, no matter what time he finally arrived home. And she had to admit it was much warmer inside. With a lot more room to move around. Decision made, she whistled Smudge to come inside.
After flicking on all the lights as she went through the house, Lacey prioritized turning on the gas heater in the main living room and the little electric heater in the kitchen to warm the place. Nico had an open fireplace and plenty of chopped wood around the side, but she couldn’t be bothered to take the time to light it.
Then she moved around the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and checking in cupboards, until she found an assortment of ingredients with which she could make a meal. Nico kept his cupboards well stocked, which was a little surprising. Most men she knew lived on frozen meals and takeaway, but it seemed that Nico cooked when he had the time. Vaguely, she wondered what he would’ve done if she hadn’t been here to prepare the meal. There were plenty of tins of soup in the larder; maybe it would’ve been minestrone and toast for dinner. For a second, she imagined him sitting at the kitchen table alone, eating with only Smudge for company. The life of a detective could often be solitary and isolating. Well, she could do better than that.
Lacey had gathered together the makings of vegetarian pasta. Pumpkin, walnuts, and spinach—that looked like it might’ve come from Nico’s back garden—a tin of tomato puree and some nutmeg. Yum.
Smudge watched her moving about the kitchen with hungry eyes. It was funny just how at home she felt in here. Almost like she’d lived here all her life. Nico had told her the cottage had been renovated when he bought it, but he’d done a good job of decorating the place, and the kitchen had all the essential appliances but with an eclectic collection of pots and pans and crockery that suited the rustic style.
It was past seven when she sat down to eat. Smudge had a bowl of dog food and a little dollop of pasta to top it off. She ate in silence, only the sound of Smudge licking his lips and the branches of a shrub tapping against the windowpane to break the quietude. But that was okay, she was used to silence after all her time alone in her van.
Taking a mouthful, she thought about Nico, wondered what he was doing now. The random thought that it’d be nice to have him here, sitting at the table with her made her fork stall halfway to her mouth. Two nights. That’s all it’d taken. For her to become used to having him around. To enjoy his company. To miss him. Uh-oh, she might be in trouble here.
* * *
Lacey was just drying the final dish and putting it away in the cupboard when her phone buzzed on the countertop. She answered it without checking caller ID, thinking it might be Nico. Shit. Bad idea. Her mother’s voice echoed down the phone. “Lacey, is that you?”
“Of course it’s me, Mum.” Lacey held back a sigh. Who else would it be?
Her mother always chose the worst times to call. Admittedly, Lacey had been even more slack than normal; she hadn’t called home in over two weeks. But she had her reasons. And now she had the ultimate excuse; she was caught up in a murder investigation.
“Yes, well.” Her mother sniffed loudly. “I’m calling to find out how you are. Because, God forbid my daughter would ever phonemeand letmeknow.” Lacey held back a second sigh, this one a lot closer to escaping. And so it began. The guilt-tripping.
“Yep. Sorry, Mum. I’ve been busy…traveling. Not a lot of reception in these places, you know,” she replied, keeping her tone light. No point in putting her mother on the defensive straight away. Because once you annoyed Elora Carmichael, it took a lot of hard work and groveling to get her back onside again.
“Well, where are you? How have you been?” Elora asked, her words snippy.
“I’m in a little town called Boat Harbour Beach. It’s right on the coast, set amongst all these rolling, green hills. There isn’t even a grocery shop, that’s how small the community is. It’s a real pretty little place, I think you’d love it.”
“How on earth could you think I’d like a place without the convenience of a grocery shop?” her mother huffed, pouncing on the one thing she could complain about. “That sounds like the worst kind of backwater. Whatever do you see in these little two-bit towns, Lacey?”
This time, Lacey did let out the sigh, long and low, holding the phone away from her ear, so hopefully her mother didn’t hear it. How could she forget so quickly that nothing she did or said ever made her mother happy? Now she remembered why she hadn’t called in two weeks. It was to avoid this constant barrage of negativity.
“No, you’re right, you wouldn’t like this place,” Lacey agreed. Which was probably exactly why Lacey liked it so much. Time to change the subject. “But how have you been, Mum? What have you and Dad been up to?”
“If you called more often, then you might know. Your father and I have suffered through a bout of Covid. And it was terrible. I’ve never been so sick in all my life.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She winced as she spoke. Her mother always overplayed her illnesses, it was just one more way to garner attention. But she would expect that attention. Lacey tried to force the words past her lips, and not sound too trite while doing so. “I hope it didn’t last too long. Are you feeling better now?”
“No,” her mother snapped. “I’m still not myself. This disease takes away your very will to live. I’m exhausted all the time.” There was a slight pause and Lacey braced herself. “It would’ve been nice if you were here, so you could’ve helped take care of us. As it was, poor Sammy had to do everything. Run my errands for me. Everything. But I didn’t want her to catch it, too, so I made her stay down the other end of the house, and I got Greta to bring us our food and medication.”
“Yes, poor Sammy,” Lacey agreed, screwing up her nose with the effort of making it sound like she agreed with her mother and she wasn’t in fact being as cynical as hell. But really she should be saying poor Greta. Her mother’s full-time house cleaner was an absolute saint in Lacey’s eyes to put up with her mother’s demands. And Sammy. Lacey could just imagine what her little sister had done for their parents while they were sick. A big fat nothing. Sammy was the golden child as far as her mother was concerned. And she was becoming a spoiled little brat as far as Lacey was concerned. Still living at home and sponging off her parents, lolling about the mansion, pretending to be training to become a beauty therapist, but only going to classes when she felt like it.
