05

“Thanks Olivia.” She grabbed her bag and Olivia called out.

“Will you be back tomorrow ?”

“Of course, I get the call for caffeine every day, and I must heed the call.”

Olivia laughed. “You’re so weird. Must be why I like you.”

“The weird do tend to flock together. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Norah, see you then !”

Norah stepped out and paused when she saw a man looking at her car. “Can I help you ?”

Turning around, the man grinned and Norah was surprised that he was actually kind of cute even if his clothes were dirty and old. “I know most of the cars in this town and I was just wondering who this one belonged to.”

“Don’t a lot of tourists go through here though ?”

The man took a step towards her, running a hand through his dirty blond hair. He had a five o’clock shadow, a grease stain smudged his chin and she guessed how he knew the local cars. “They do, but most tourists walk around Bellvale and park by the wharf to avoid getting parking fines. Only locals bother parking up along here because they know the police around here are pretty lenient when it comes to parking.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…”

He held out his hand. “Brad Smith. And you are ?”

“Norah Jacobs. I’m letting the Jones’ beach house for a month or so.” She shook his hand and noticed his brown eyes giving her the once over.

“If your car needs to be looked at, I’m more than happy to take a look under the hood. I’m the local mechanic, my place is just up the road.”

If Norah didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was flirting. “Thanks, Brad I’ll keep that in mind. At the moment it’s fine, it still does all the important stuff ; start, stop, brake, honk at people who annoy me.”

An eyebrow raised. “Do people still say honk ?”

He hadn’t let go of her hand. “I assume they do, if not I’m going to bring it back. Now, I’ve got some shopping to do so can I have my hand back please ?”

Momentarily confused, he looked down and laughed, withdrawing his hand. “Sorry about that. I’ll see you around, Norah.”

“If my car stops honking, I’ll let you know.” She felt his eyes on her as she headed up the street. He seemed cute, in a puppy dog kind of way. Norah had dated a guy like him before and it didn’t work out. They were all about pleasing you, which was nice at first, but it didn’t allow her to connect with them on a deeper level because they never opened up about themselves and were too scared to have an arguemnt. She wanted someone who, strangely enough, argued with her but was willing to stay by her side and work it out at the end of the day.

Some people thought she was weird, wanting someone she could fight with, but she felt it was important to fight for love, in all aspects of the term. A love that was filled with nothing but sunshine and happiness just seemed boring.

She reached the trees Olivia had mentioned and a motorbike came rumbling down the street. It drove slowly, Norah recognised it as the same bike from the night before and she glanced at the rider.

Broad shouldered, wearing black jeans and short sleeved grey shirt, the wind pressed the fabric against his body and she couldn’t stop herself from looking. His arms had two black circle tattoos around his biceps and she thought it was a strange tattoo set to have. He wore a black helmet, the visor down and she felt a stab of disappointment. She was curious to know who owned it.

The rider’s head turned as he passed and Norah didn’t know how, but she knew he was looking right at her. Flushing, she turned away and hurried down the small path. She had probably looked like an idiot, ogling at him. The sound of the bike faded and she made her way between trees, trying to forget she probably looked like she had just climbed out of bed, which she had.

The path was lined with apple trees, the red fruit beginning to ripen and she hoped they did something with them. It seemed like such a waste to let them fall on the ground and grow rotten. She loved to cook from time to time and if possible, she could use them to bake pies. The small lane ended and opened up to a small parking lot and the grocery store was at the other end. The only visible sign that it was a grocery store was a faded sign above the door, the ‘g’ and ‘c’ faded from age.

The doors slid open as she entered and she grabbed a basket, pulling out her list. Walking slowly around the store, her basket grew heavier with each aisle she went through and she regretted not grabbing a trolley. She always grabbed a basket and spent the last half of her shopping dragging the basket around on the floor because it was too heavy to carry.

Standing in the household cleaning section, she was trying to decide which window cleaner to get when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her spine stiffened. Glancing to her left, she saw a man leaning against the far wall, eyes fixated on her. He looked too large to be inside the store. He was of average height, but the bulk of his body consisted of muscle. Black scraggly hair hung in his brown eyes and he wore tight dark clothes.

As she met his gaze, a leer etched across his face and kicking off from the wall, he walked away. Filled with unease, she threw a random bottle of window cleaner into her basket and grabbing everything else in a rush, she dashed to the check out. As the teenage girl put everything in bags, Norah kept glancing around the store for the large man. He seemed to have disappeared but the damage was done. One day and already she was seeing creepy guys.

Grabbing her bags, she hurried back to her car. Walking down the lane, she felt as though she was being watched but there was no one around. Reaching her car, she fumbled with the keys and threw everything inside, once she managed to unlock the door. Sliding in, she locked the doors behind her and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

“I’m just imagining it,” she whispered. “Why would a creepy dark version of Thor be following me ?”

Turning on the engine, she decided to go and get the money off Jack now. One trip into town and she was already losing it. It was time to harness that crazy and put it into cleaning the house.

She found Jack’s place without needing directions and the garden looked slightly unkempt now. The night had hidden most of the weeds but it was still pretty to look at. Climbing out, she shut her car door and walked up the small path to the front door, hand hesitating as she raised it to knock. Olivia had said to wait until the afternoon…

The door opened and she stumbled back. “What are you hovering out here for ?” Jack growled. He was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, the smell of whiskey stronger and his eyes were bloodshot. “You’re early.”

“I’m sorry, I just thought…” she trailed off, not wanting to tell him about her freak out at the grocery store.

Jack’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. “You all right ? Look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, I’m fine,” she said faintly. “I can come back tomorrow for the money if you want ?”

“Nah, don’t want you bothering me again. Wait here a minute.” Leaning on the frame for support, he turned around and disappeared down the dark hallway into a side room. He returned a few moments later, an envelope in hand. “Went and got the money this morning. There’s an address there too, for second hand traders. They’ll give you a good deal, tell them I sent you.

“Okay.” The envelope felt thick and she wondered how much Ray had sent.

“Anything else ?” Jack glanced over his shoulder and she shook her head.

“No, thank you.”

“Bye then.”

Shutting the door in her face, Norah tried to take Olivia’s advice and brush it aside. Since she had cold items in the car, she wasted no time heading back to the house, following the main street and the trip back was a bit faster now that she had her bearings.