Set In Stone Read online

  ‘No wonder he and Skye get along so well.’

  As they exited the council chambers out onto the main street, Piper caught Lou’s arm like she wanted to say something. Lou turned to see the girl framed by the enormous jacaranda tree in front of the building. The purple blossom was the perfect backdrop for Piper’s regal beauty – adding colour to the dark palette that made her up. It seemed to make her eyes greener and her hair even darker. Lou’s breath caught as she imagined how Gage must feel every time he looked at this beautiful, unique young woman. Lou knew she would never be a mother – she had promised herself that twenty years ago – but she did know something about how parenting felt, and it was almost hard to look at Piper because of how sharply she felt the tug of old memories of love and belonging, and loss.

  ‘Why do you call her “Skye” sometimes, and “Mum” other times?’

  Lou stared out at the street, watching the residents of Stone Mountain amble, drive or cycle by. There was a comforting rhythm to life in the Mountain, and sometimes if she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, if she didn’t think about all the other stuff, she could imagine how it might feel to live here, like a normal person, with normal memories and a normal life.

  She looked back at Piper, lest the girl think she was ignoring her. ‘I dunno,’ she said, and it was true. ‘Why do you call your father “Gage” sometimes?’

  Piper coloured a little, her cheeks flushing pink. ‘You notice stuff, don’t you?’ she said, almost, but not quite, changing the subject.

  Lou nodded. ‘I guess so,’ she said, slipping her arm through Piper’s and heading for the street. ‘Part of my training, I suppose. As a lawyer.’

  The girl sniffed and guided them left. ‘I reckon you were always like that,’ she said quietly. ‘Even before you were a lawyer.’

  Lou smiled. ‘I reckon you’re probably right.’

  ‘Dad’s like that,’ she said, and her mouth turned down. ‘Except more of a bastard.’

  Uh-oh. Looked like things were still not fixed between those two. Lou supposed it was hard to forgive a man quickly if he’d run your honey from your home at gunpoint.

  Piper pointed to a garish purple building across the road. ‘I reckon we should eat there,’ Piper said, stopping and watching Lou as if to check that was okay. ‘I know the people who run it.’ She grinned. ‘It’s kind of different. Y’know, for the Mountain.’

  ‘Oh, I know,’ Lou said, eyeing the fresh purple paint and Tibetan prayer flags out the front. ‘Vego?’

  Piper’s eyes widened. ‘Oh my God, how did you know?’

  ‘Call it a hunch,’ Lou said, as Piper dragged her across the road.

  ‘I’m not vego,’ Piper said unnecessarily as they pushed through the curtained doorway to the sound of tinkling bells. Lou remembered the girl devouring barbecued lamb like it was the food of the gods. ‘But I like good food. And they do some cool stuff here.’

  ‘Great,’ Lou said, meaning it, and refraining from telling Piper that she had been vego herself until three days ago, or at least, that she’d been giving it a red hot go. She figured lapses didn’t count in Stone Mountain, like so much else.

  A redheaded boy in a purple apron stood behind a groovy hand-carved counter. He blushed as they entered. ‘Oh hey, Piper,’ he said, and Lou almost cringed at his effort to be cool with her.

  ‘Hey, Franklin.’ Piper beamed at him. She gestured at Lou. ‘This is Lou.’

  ‘Hey,’ Franklin said, smiling hugely and showing off his beautiful, dark brown eyes. He was incredibly tall, even for Stone Mountain, and sported square black glasses on a nose that looked like it had been broken more than once.

  ‘Hey,’ Lou echoed. ‘Great place.’ And she was being honest. The little cafe might have been garish from the outside, but inside it was tastefully original. The walls were washed a gentle turquoise that gave the place a vaguely underwater feel, and a handful of small tables competed with longer benches, but all were rough hewn and looked to have been hand carved with images of sprites and animals. Dotted around the big space were collectibles that spoke of interesting places explored. Against one wall, a hall stand displayed what looked to be fertility statues from various cultures. A collection of hand-painted plates were hung on another with artistic flair. In one corner, an old gramophone played Nina Simone.

  ‘Thanks.’ Franklin blushed again. ‘It’s my parents’ gig.’ He flapped his little notebook. ‘I’m just the help.’

  Piper laughed, and Lou noticed how relaxed she seemed. ‘Don’t listen to him, Lou,’ she said, swatting the boy on the shoulder, completely oblivious to the way her touch caused his blush to deepen further. ‘Franklin is the smartest person I ever met in real life.’ She paused, scrunching her face as though reluctant about what she was about to say. ‘Except maybe my dad, but he’s different smart.’

  Lou nodded, seeing it all so clearly, and remembering what Piper had said about how maybe one person at school had been nice. ‘You guys were at school together?’

  ‘Yep,’ Franklin confirmed, leading them over to a corner table with a view of Main Street. ‘Till she left.’ He was doing very badly at hiding his disappointment. He pulled out Piper’s chair, surprising her so she bumped into him, before he raced around to get Lou’s. ‘I’ll leave you two to work out what you want,’ he said, passing them menus as he scurried back to the counter.

  ‘What a nice guy,’ Lou said carefully, studying the menu to avoid meeting Piper’s eyes.

  Piper was also focused on the menu, but Lou suspected she was all about the food. It must take a lot of fuel to keep a body like that going, and Lou had seen firsthand over the last few days the fabulous relationship the girl had with food. ‘Hmmm? Oh yeah,’ Piper enthused. ‘He was always the nicest guy at school, hands down.’

  ‘They new to town?’

  Piper nodded, still looking at the menu like it held the secrets of the universe. ‘Yeah, a couple of years back,’ she said, putting the menu down decisively. ‘He made my last year at school bearable. He looks like kind of a pushover, right?’

  Lou glanced at Franklin then nodded.

  ‘Wrong,’ Piper said, smiling. ‘He can fight like a boss.’ She played with the salt and pepper shakers. ‘We were mates.’ Lou had no doubt Franklin might dispute that characterisation. ‘So he never let anyone mess with me.’

  Lou held her breath. ‘Did you get messed with a bit?’ She tried not to look as distressed. ‘Before that?’

  Piper flapped a hand and picked up the menu again, pulling it in front of her face, despite the fact Lou was sure she had already decided. ‘No more than anyone else,’ she muttered from behind the cardboard. ‘School just sucks, I guess.’

  Lou wanted to say, It doesn’t have to suck. But who was she to argue? School had sucked pretty badly for her too.

  ‘Anyway,’ Piper went on, dropping the menu and plastering a big smile on her face, ‘Franklin’s folks are kind of hippies. His mum cooks, his dad has a woodcarving business.’ She tapped the table they were sitting at, where a delicate line of carved wildflowers skipped across the surface. ‘Pretty, huh?’

  Lou nodded again.

  ‘They source good local ingredients,’ Piper said, flicking her hair over one shoulder and suddenly looking efficient and determined. ‘Including some of ours. So …’ She shrugged. ‘I like them, and I like their food. And it’s just good business, really, coming here.’

  Piper sounded like the girl who had shown Lou around the property once again, and Lou had no doubt, listening to that calm, business-like tone, that she would achieve whatever she set her mind to. Lou just hoped nothing would derail her. An image of the wild bushranger in the stables flickered across her brain.

  Lou was just settling on haloumi salad and dhal, and thinking about how to bring up the topic, when Franklin returned.

  ‘Ready to order?’ His smile was huge, genuine and engaging, and Lou considered his crooked nose in a whole new light after Piper’s words about how he could
fight like a boss. But his eyes were his best feature. Lou could well believe how intelligent he was – they were old, knowing and sensitive. This boy was going to grow into some man.

  ‘Yep.’ Piper smiled. ‘I’ll have the velvet vegie soup, then the mushroom risotto. And a green smoothie.’

  Franklin grasped his chest where his heart would be under all that raw, gangly teenage-ness. ‘What? No dessert? You’re breaking me.’

  Piper laughed. ‘Of course dessert,’ she said, swatting him with the menu. ‘But I can’t decide exactly what till I let the rest settle.’

  Lou observed the little exchange and felt warm. Piper did have at least one friend. There was nothing flirtatious or teasing in her interactions with Franklin, but she liked him, and she trusted him.

  ‘I mean, like, has your ma made pie today?’ Piper looked hopeful.

  Franklin raised his eyebrows. ‘Has the world ended?’

  Piper and Lou shook their heads.

  ‘Then of course she’s made pie,’ Franklin boomed. ‘Three kinds.’ He started to tick them off on his long, lovely fingers. ‘Banana and pecan …’

  Lou was riveted by Piper’s face, which was like a caricature of a drooling puppy.

  ‘Chocolate …’ Franklin continued. He winked at them both. ‘Bitter chocolate, of course. And Fairtrade. Mum wouldn’t let anything else in her kitchen. I mean, she’s not a barbarian.’

  ‘Of course,’ Lou and Piper murmured, amused by his showmanship and the effect of his words on their stomachs.

  ‘Now where was I?’ Franklin rubbed his chin and affected forgetting his place.

  ‘Third,’ Piper barked a little rudely, a junkie on the scent. ‘Third pie.’

  ‘Oh yes, that’s right,’ Franklin said, smiling to let them know he was teasing them. ‘Then, of course, wild cherry pie.’ He gestured at them both with one long finger. ‘You guys do know it’s cherry season, right?’

  ‘I think I forgot,’ Lou said.

  ‘Well,’ Franklin said, a man with a mission, ‘we’ll help you remember. For afters?’

  Lou nodded, totally transfixed by this lovely, charming boy. How could Piper resist him?

  ‘And for befores?’ Franklin prompted, eyes motioning to the menu she was clutching.

  ‘Oh,’ Lou said, remembering her focus. ‘Haloumi salad. And dhal. Please.’

  Franklin made a note and swaggered off.

  ‘Okay,’ Piper said, rubbing her hands together. ‘So.’

  Lou’s tummy clenched. So. So, what did she want to talk about?

  ‘You’re probably wondering why I asked you to lunch.’

  Lou studied the girl, her pretty face so open, so direct. Any other girl would have made a show of this being perfectly expected, an innocent outing. Not Piper. She had a plan, and she wasn’t going to hide it.

  ‘Not at all,’ Lou lied, unable to help delaying this a little longer. ‘I figured you just liked me.’ She picked up the little carved table number and ran her fingers across its smooth surface. ‘And maybe you were hungry.’

  ‘Hmm,’ Piper replied, like she didn’t believe Lou for a second. ‘Well, no. I mean, yes, both of those, but the fact of the matter is, I need your advice. Dad says you should always seek out three sources of advice on any important matter, then work out which one sits right in your gut.’

  Does he now? Clever Gage. Like he needed to get any more attractive.

  ‘’Course, he also says his is the one I should really listen to.’

  Lou sighed. Of course he did. ‘What number am I?’

  ‘Three.’ The girl didn’t blink.

  ‘Who else have you hit up?’

  Piper frowned. ‘Grandpa,’ she admitted. Sheesh, the world sure had turned if teenage girls were going to Bo Westin for advice on anything other than where to score booze without needing to show ID, and somehow Lou was pretty sure that wasn’t the problem here.

  ‘How did that go?’ She tried to keep her voice neutral.

  Piper rolled her eyes. ‘He sounded like Gage.’

  Wow, Bo really had grown up. Lou frowned. ‘Who else?’ Please don’t say –

  ‘Skye.’

  Inside Lou, a fairy died. In what universe would anyone – anyone – ask her mother for advice before Lou?

  Then Piper redeemed herself by adding, ‘Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have asked her. She doesn’t have what Dad would call a’ – she made quotation marks with her fingers – ‘“track record of good decisions”.’ She sighed. ‘But I need three. No offence to your mum,’ she added quickly.

  ‘None taken,’ Lou replied, glad the girl had so much common sense. She paused, knowing she shouldn’t ask but unable to resist, like some kind of scab that just begged to be picked. ‘How did it turn out?’

  Piper scrunched her nose again. ‘I think she just told me what I wanted to hear.’

  ‘Why do you think that?’ Lou couldn’t help herself; she just loved listening to this girl talk. And hearing how she thought. She was like a quirky Gage, at the same time as she was all her own creation.

  ‘Because what she said was what I did want to hear.’

  Piper was looking at Lou like she really wanted her to understand what this was all about without having to go through it all, so Lou took a breath and steeled herself.

  ‘Okay,’ she said, putting down the table number and facing Piper directly. ‘Here’s what I think. I think you want my advice on what you should do about the –’ She searched hard for the right word. ‘The stables. Maybe you want to know what you should do about the boy, now that you’re pretty clear your dad’s not thrilled.’ She looked for confirmation in Piper’s face. The girl wasn’t giving much away, so she ploughed on. ‘Or maybe you know in your heart what you should do about him, but you’re wondering how to make things right with your dad.’ Piper’s face remained impassive. Lou shrugged. ‘Or maybe a little of both.’

  Piper finally rewarded her with a small smile and a slight nod.

  Lou took a breath and prepared to press on, but as she did, Franklin arrived to place smoothies on the table. Piper remained quiet during, studying Lou carefully.

  When he left, she said, ‘I reckon your grandpa told you he was a no-good wastrel and that your father should have shot him.’

  Piper’s small smile widened a little.

  ‘Not much help really.’ Lou sniffed. ‘Although perfectly understandable.’

  Piper paused, then nodded. ‘I shouldn’t have gone behind Dad’s back,’ she said quietly.

  Well, now we’re getting somewhere. Lou waited to see if Piper had any more to say, then continued, ‘And I reckon Skye told you it was the most romantic thing she’d ever heard and you should do what you needed to do because …’ Lou paused, trying to imagine exactly what Skye would say. ‘Something like “because sometimes love has its own rhythm”.’

  Piper’s mouth swung open, and Lou nodded, bitterness welling in her. Damn you, Skye.

  ‘I’m really glad you discounted her advice.’

  Piper slammed her mouth shut and looked a little grim as she waited for whatever gentle way Lou was going to tell her to ditch her boyfriend and make good with her father.

  Lou thought hard, pulling on all she knew about doing deals.

  ‘Here’s what I think, for what it’s worth.’ She grinned and sucked at her green smoothie. It was incredibly good, despite its disconcerting colour. ‘I think you know exactly all the right things and wrong things, for you. I heard how you evaluated the advice you’d been given – you’re pretty shrewd. And you seem to me like someone who knows her mind. Maybe always has, since you’ve been a little girl, am I right?’

  Piper nodded, and a look came over her face so sweet and calm that Lou felt she was heading at least a little way in the right direction.

  ‘The only thing I reckon I could add is what I always tell my clients when they’re making a new acquisition.’ She drew in a breath and went carefully, hoping to hell she was going to get this right. ‘I tell th
em to ditch the emotion. Imagine they were giving advice to a friend. Draw on all the things they know, and all the things they’ve seen go right and wrong. And then go with their gut.’ She hesitated. ‘And I tell them – if something feels wrong – down in your tummy.’ She gestured to her belly button. ‘Even if it feels right in your heart, or’ – she waved a hand – ‘anywhere else.’ She smiled a little, then shrugged. ‘Then you know it’s wrong. That gut instinct is there to protect you.’

  Piper was listening as she sucked her smoothie, her head on the side. ‘Some things about Jack feel pretty right,’ she mused.

  Lou nodded, hoping she hadn’t cocked this up. ‘It sure seemed that way,’ she said quietly.

  ‘But I guess there’s also something a little … exciting about him.’

  ‘Exciting good?’ Lou’s heart was thumping in her chest as she thought about the boy with the bushranger beard.

  ‘Hmm … maybe edgy’s a better word.’

  Lou nodded, and waited.

  Piper frowned slightly and looked over Lou’s shoulder. ‘Like you never know exactly what he might do next.’

  ‘Spontaneity can be a good thing,’ Lou mused quietly, thinking how much she had hated it as a kid. ‘Long as you feel safe.’

  Piper nodded, her eyes on her smoothie, and then sucked hard on the straw. ‘Maybe safe’s overrated?’

  Lou looked at Piper until the girl met her eyes. ‘Nah,’ she said, making sure Piper could see how deadly serious she was. ‘Safe’s only overrated until you’re not safe, then it’s the most underrated thing in the world.’

  Piper kept watching Lou, who was amazed at how she never backed down. She had a poker face and a card sharp’s stare, like a forty-year-old cynic trapped inside a seventeen-year-old girl. ‘So what happened to you?’ The girl spoke quietly. ‘Who screwed you over?’ She paused, finally breaking the stare. ‘Was it my dad?’