She agreed, and he slipped the phone back in his pocket and sat back with a big grin.
Brilliant! He didn’t need to try to manufacture another date, or try to figure out what he’d done wrong and how to make sure he didn’t do it again. She’d reached out to him. Good times.
‘You look pleased with yourself,’ said Kate after she finished her conversation with the waitress.
‘Perhaps because I am,’ he said. ‘I’m with my Mum, and my sisters are just the other side of the counter creating something wickedly wonderful for their customers to eat, and I’m looking forward to starting my job.’ He looked outside, searching for anything else to add to the list of why happiness was spilling out of him. ‘And the sun is shining.’
‘Hm,’ grunted Kate thoughtfully, shooting the passing waitress a smile. She added some sugar to her coffee before responding. ‘Have you heard from Augi?’
Dan snapped his head around. What the hell? He cleared his throat. ‘Why do you ask?’
She shrugged. ‘No particular reason. Just wondered.’
‘As it happens, I have.’
‘Oh,’ said Kate, taking a casual sip of her coffee. ‘That’s nice.’ She sat forward, arms folded, as if awaiting further information.
Dan was saved by the entrance of Lucy who began a rapid conversation with Kate, asking her if she could introduce her to someone who was having problems with reading for their children. Kate looked at Dan.
‘You go, Mum, sounds like your expertise is needed. I don’t want to stand between a child and reading.’
‘Thank you darling. Breakfast was a lovely idea. But it sounds like this woman is quite upset and I think I can help.’
‘Then go, Mum.’
She rose and kissed him on the cheek. ‘See you at home later.’ She beamed broadly. ‘You know, I love saying that after you’ve been away for so long.’ She patted him on the arm as if to reinforce her words and was gone on a whiff of Chanel No 5 and a flick of her crimson silk scarf.
He was proud of his mother. Not only had she always been an inspiring and loving mother to her family, but now he could see that she was the same to her community.
He finished his coffee and got up. He hadn’t planned anything for his Saturday other than to spend time with his mother, but now he felt excited. Maybe this would be his second date.
With a wave to Lucy who was busy in the kitchen, he paid and walked out into the sunshine.
He walked past the library and glanced across at the house Augi had said she liked. The position was good, high on the hill, and he knew the views would be great. But it looked quite ordinary to him. As a boy he’d thought it looked cool and had even imagined living in it when he was grown up. But now he saw it through a different lens. It wasn’t as ornate and full of character as MacLeod’s Cottage. Nor was it as modern and impressive as Lucy’s friends — Megan and Ryan’s — house. It looked, well, simple in design but solid enough to weather any storm. He shrugged to himself. Maybe that was part of the attraction. It was a house to protect its inhabitants. But, he thought, it wasn’t one to hide them in, which surprised him. Maybe there was something in Augi, after all, that yearned to break out of the secret life she led. One thing he knew for sure, he wouldn’t find out by asking her directly.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he didn’t look at it. He was half-afraid that she might have come back with a different place and time. And he really wanted to see her now.
Within five minutes he was walking up her path. He knocked on the door and she immediately opened it.
‘Daniel! But I texted you to say we should meet later at the library.’
‘Sorry, I had my phone on silent.’ He couldn’t bring himself to lie exactly. ‘Are you busy?’
She shrugged and in that movement he knew that his ‘gut’ instinct was correct. She didn’t have anything on, but was trying to keep a distance between them, despite the fact she needed him for something.
‘So,’ he nodded toward the house. ‘OK if I come in?’
She opened the door wide. ‘Of course. I’ve just made a coffee, if you’d like one.’
‘No thanks. I’m all coffee-d out. Just come from breakfast with Mum at Lucy’s café. She’s a good cook, my sister.’
He walked inside. The curtains were open now it was daylight, revealing a tiny back garden that was in complete shade despite the sunny day. He glanced at Augi, wondering why she stayed in such a tiny, dark house when surely she could have found a sunnier spot. But then he remembered Kate saying that she didn’t have much money because she chose to work part-time and for the community and stay in the small village of MacLeod’s Cove. Hiding, he thought. But what from? The thought unsettled him.
‘We’ve heard back from the Michigan lawyers’, said Augi, indicating a chair for Dan. He sat down. ‘Lucy handed it all over to me to follow up as she wasn’t getting anywhere.’
‘They’ve contacted you about the trust?’ asked Dan, eyes wide.
‘Yes. Lucy was beginning to get concerned that it didn’t really exist, that it was a cover for something else. But it is real. It was established in 1946.’
