“I’m trying to help Dad out.”
It’s only then that I remember that Joe Ross suffered a heart attack a few weeks ago, and he’s currently in hospital following a quadruple heart bypass operation. “Shit, I’m sorry, I forgot. How is he?”
She steers the wheelbarrow off the main path toward the shed. “He’s had a few complications. Something called Post-Pericardiotomy Syndrome. He has a fever and chest pain. They’re giving him drugs, but he’s developed an infection in the surgical wound, and…”
She stops by the shed, takes the tools over to an outdoor tap, and starts rinsing them off. I join her, cleaning the spade free of mud with my hands. I glance at her, wondering why she hasn’t finished her sentence. Her lips are pressed tightly together. I think she’s trying not to cry.
I don’t say anything, pretending I haven’t noticed, but I take the bucket from her and clean it, rinse the tools, wipe down the wheelbarrow, and place all the tools in their right places inside, leaving her to wash her hands and gather herself. When I’m done, I take the key from her and lock up the shed, then hand it back to her.
My jacket and shirt are filthy. I take both off, then run a cleanish part of the shirt sleeve under the tap. Straightening, I turn to her and wipe the cloth across her cheek, removing the streak of mud.
“Kinda pointless,” she whispers, her eyes turning glassy. “But thank you.”
I smile. “I think a change of clothes, a hot coffee, and one of our special double chocolate muffins is necessary right now.”
“Oh, that sounds like heaven.”
“Come on. I smell like a farmyard. I really, really need a shower.”
Chapter Two
Chessie
We walk around the side of the resort, back to the car park, and I stop and retrieve my bag with a set of clean clothes and sandals from my car.
“Jesus.” Kingi looks at my beaten-up old Volkswagen Beetle. “How is that thing still running?”
“It’s held together with Sellotape and bits of string.”
“You’re not kidding. You’ve had that thing for as long as I can remember.”
I close the door and lock it. “Dennis is the love of my life. We’ll be together forever.”
“Dennis?”
I gesture at the number plate that bears the car’s name.
Kingi grins. “I forgot you christened him. Why Dennis? I can’t remember.”
“It’s the name of Cordelia’s ghost inAngel. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
“Wow, I’d never have remembered that.”
My smile fades a little. Most of the time when we were kids, we’d spend our time outdoors, swimming or playing rugby, cricket, or tennis, but of course sometimes the weather was bad and we couldn’t go out. Dad still had to work though, so when it rained, Kingi’s dad would open up the sleepout next to their house, which they sometimes used for guests who came to visit, and we’d make popcorn and hot chocolate and watch TV together. One particularly bad autumn where it rained non-stop for about three weeks, we watched all the seasons of the paranormal showBuffy the Vampire Slayerand its spinoff,Angel, with his sister and my brother. I have such fondmemories of those times, and the programs and their characters are etched on my soul… but not on Kingi’s apparently.
“Poor Dennis,” Kingi says as we begin walking toward the resort. “He must get lonely all the way over there.” I always park at the edge of the car park—ostensibly so I’m near the shed, but also because I’m too self-conscious to park near the fleet of new cars close to Midnight. Dennis would never forgive me.
“There’s a significant amount of money here,” I comment, spotting a Bugatti, a Maserati, and an Aston Martin amongst the Range Rovers, Bentleys, and Teslas. “What are you driving at the moment?”
“That’s mine.” He gestures at a black Porsche Taycan parked in the VIP section.
My eyes nearly fall out of my head. It’s plugged into the charging point so it’s obviously electric. It’s cutting-edge, eco-conscious, and powerful. I’m betting it cost over three hundred thousand dollars.
“Wow.” I’m tempted to cover my eyes to stop them from falling out of my head. I’d forgotten how rich he was.
When the two of us fell over and we were covered in mud, it transported me right back to my childhood, to the days when we used to play together. But of course he’s grown up into a wealthy, successful businessman. He’s around six-three now, I guess, with hair down to his collar and a big black beard, and he’s incredibly handsome.
I blink. Where was I?