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Tacey thought about it. "Maybe. We're all out of chili sauce, but there's a delivery due tomorrow. I'll see how they sell today, and if they do well, tomorrow I'll do half spicy, half mild."
"Keep one aside for me, please. Today and tomorrow," Rochelle said.
Tacey promised to do just that, as she headed into the kitchen. The sandwiches didn't take long, and once they were neatly stacked in the cabinet with the rest of today's lunch options, she figured she was due a break.
Of course, that's when the lunch rush started, and it was a couple of hours before she had a moment to find the name of a lawyer worth talking to, and another hour of going through all manner of reviews before she had one name: Dominic Lamont.
No time like the present, she told herself. If she waited, the mid afternoon coffee rush would start, and she wouldn't get another chance to call until tomorrow.
She dialled, and held her breath.
The receptionist answered on the second ring. "This is Lamont and Partners. How may I direct your call?"
Tacey opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I need a lawyer for a custody case, and I want to hire Dominic Lamont."
"Mr Lamont has a full case load at the moment, and he isn't taking any new clients, but perhaps one of our other partners..."
"It has to be him. My ex tried to kill us and now he's trying to get custody of our daughter. Please, he just got out of prison and this case will definitely get media coverage. I know Mr Lamont prefers to take high profile cases. My ex is Matthew Masters. He's been all over the news."
A pause that seemed to stretch forever. "Can I put you on hold, please?"
"Sure." Tacey wasn't even sure she'd gotten the whole word out before the dinky piano music blared out of her phone. Sixty-six seconds later, it ended.
"Mr Lamont's earliest appointment is next Thursday at ten."
Less than two days before Matt expected her to surrender Rory. Talk about leaving things to the last minute...
Tacey closed her eyes. "I'll take it."
The receptionist then went on to explain that Mr Lamont charged a consulting fee for his time, including initial consultations like this one, and that Tacey would be expected to pay it in full before the meeting could take place...
By the time Tacey got off the phone, she'd given the receptionist every detail the woman had asked for, plus paid more than a day's takings just to secure a meeting with the guy. If the reviews all over the internet were true – both bad and good, depending on whether they were written by his clients or the clients' pissed off partners – he'd be cheap at twice the price.
Anything for Rory.
"Uh, Tacey? Do we have any more almond milk? Oh, and can you tell me if the gingerbread is vegan?" Rochelle called.
Tacey peeked into the café. The afternoon rush had arrived. "No to the gingerbread, because I used eggs...but the shortbread is vegan. I used olive oil spread instead of butter. I'll go see if there's any more almond milk in the cool room."
After a brief trip to the cool room, she returned to the counter with an armload of almond milk and oat milk (just in case one of the vegans had a nut allergy), and didn't get another moment to think about anything other than coffee or food until a rosy sunset glow turned the building across the road pink. Then it was time to bundle Rory into the car, where Wystan was already waiting, before going home to make dinner and fall into bed, before starting all over again tomorrow.
TWENTY
"Once again, Miss Bell, I can't believe your luck. You must have the only pest-free building in the whole of Fremantle." The pest control guy held up his hands. "I don't just mean clean, either. Plenty of places are clean, and they still can't get rid of what's living in the walls. All these old buildings, and the port nearby...not to mention the backpackers down the road...the infestation got so bad over the summer that it overflowed into the police station. You're lucky you didn't get any of it here."
Tacey shuddered. She'd heard about the latest cockroach plague at the backpackers, which was why she always had regular inspections. How the backpackers remained in business when they had more rats than guests sometimes, she had no idea. But as long as the pests didn't come to the Shut Up Café, that was between the manager of the backpackers and the health inspector.
"What's your secret?" he asked.
His guess was as good as hers. Probably just luck, actually. But... "My housemate did a warding spell on the place when we first took over the café, because my sister found a dead cockroach upstairs and freaked out. We haven't seen another one since, so maybe the spell worked."
The guy snorted. "That's actually more believable than the story I heard from one of the backpackers. He's convinced the bugs were the Moth Man's familiars, and that to do anything to get rid of them would summon the Moth Man to curse the whole town with...was it zombies? I think it was zombies."
Tacey had to laugh at that. "Well, I won't deny that the Moth Man videos were taken from this very café, but I've never seen him, and if I saw him or any kind of bug army, you'd be the first person I'd call to get rid of them. I remember having pantry moths once at home when I was a kid. Those little maggoty caterpillars everywhere. Ugh, never again!"
He just shook his head. "Pantry moths are the hardest to prevent. They come in with your groceries, and unless you have time to freeze everything for a couple of weeks before you use it, every bag of flour is a risk." He tapped on his tablet screen. "When I get back to the office, I'll have one of our admin staff email you the final inspection report. Now, barring any unforeseen outbreak of pantry moths, I will see you again in six months." He waved as he headed out the door, only to have to stop to allow a guy with a loaded trolley to come in.
"Speak of the devil," Tacey heard him say as he walked away.
