At the sound of her friend Abby’s voice, Jena felt her eyes tear up. Stupid. She blinked them away. She was so grateful for her neighbour. They’d hit it off the minute Jena had arrived in town. Abby was the sister Jena had always wanted.
“If you lock the main door, I’ll come out and tell you,” Jena said.
“Already done.”
Jena put Katy on her feet and unlocked the door. Katy held her hand tightly.
“Look, muma, I found her.”
Abby’s face melted as she smiled at her daughter. “Yes, you did. You’re super clever. Now let’s go next door and eat.” She held up a large bag and shook it at Jena. “Figured you’d be hungry by now.”
“You’re a saint.” Jena hugged her friend.
“Yeah, so I hear. Come on, let’s go have a picnic in the waiting area.”
“Picnic!” Katy rushed off into the other room.
The women followed, although with a lot less enthusiasm. Abby reached into her bag and produced a red tartan shawl. She spread it flat on the floor before emptying the contents of the bag onto it. It mainly contained pies and cakes from Morag’s bakery.
Abby winced as she looked at the spread. “We’ll have to live on vegetables for the rest of the week to make up for the lack of vitamins in this meal.”
Jena grinned at her before reaching for a meat pie and a can of Pepsi. She plonked into one of the old armchairs and sighed with contentment. Food made all things better. Just like Taylor.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Abby made sitting in a church restroom look elegant.
Her friend’s ability to ooze class and refinement no matter the situation made Jena smile. She cast a glance at Katy to make sure she was occupied before she spoke. Katy had emptied her Minnie Mouse handbag of soft toys. The Disney characters were arranged in a semicircle and were “eating” some of Morag’s cake. With a deep breath, Jena turned to her friend.
“Frank is in town and he brought a couple of the Rizzoni boys with him.”
Abby stopped eating, the pie halfway to her mouth. “You need to stay with us until he leaves.”
Jena’s heart melted. She reached over and gave Abby’s hand a squeeze. “I can’t, honey. You have the kiddo to think about. It’s best if I keep away from you two. It’s safer.”
“I don’t like this. Not one bit. You don’t owe that guy anything.”
“I did sell everything he owns and ran with the money,” Jena pointed out.
Abby’s eyes lit with fire. “You spent years helping to fund every cockamamie scheme that man came up with. You bailed him out of trouble time and again. He owes you.”
Jena actually managed a laugh. She grabbed her friend’s hand. “See? This is why I love you.”
Abby squeezed her back. “I don’t understand why he’s here. Surely he’s figured out by now that you’ve spent the money. He can’t think you’re going to return with him. That’s insane.”
“Frank isn’t known for his sharp mind. I should probably talk to him and find out what he wants, but I don’t like arguments. I have a tendency to cave when people shout at me. I think I’d rather stay here in the toilet until he goes back to the States. I mean, he can’t hang out in Scotland forever.”
Abby’s lips pursed and her eyes hardened with determination. “You can’t stay here. You’ll be all alone in a big building. There are too many ways to get into this place. It’s easy access. It isn’t safe.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” a deep voice said from the window.
The women’s heads snapped in the direction of the words. Jena’s heart calmed slightly when she found Matt staring in at her. As they watched, the local cop pulled himself up and effortlessly climbed into the room. Jena felt a little bit of drool escape at the sight of all that flexing muscle. She wiped her lip and hoped no one noticed.
“Matty!” Katy launched herself at the cop, wrapping her arms around his legs. He chuckled, picking her up to give her a cuddle.
Jena felt a pang of envy that she wasn’t the one in Matt’s arms. It made her question her sanity. Obviously she was feeling insecure and needed a hug. Any strong arms would do. It wasn’t just because it was the grumpy control-freak cop who was doing the cuddling.
Matt put Katy back on the floor and ruffled her hair, making her scowl at him. He nabbed a meat pie. “I spoke to Frank,” he said between mouthfuls. “I don’t like this situation. He won’t tell me why he’s here and I don’t trust him. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be alone while these guys are in town.”