as anything other than a modern city, and Sydney was certainly more densely populated. But there was something about the sheer age of London that gave the place a grandeur and style that no Australian city could ever hope to achieve. According to my parents, anyway. I’d never actually been there.
I followed Belle across to our table and sat down. “I take it your mom is sleeping in?”
Belle nodded. “I told her to rest up for the day—she hates flying, and it always takes it out of her.”
“I hope you’re planning to take a few days off. The rest of us will cope just fine.”
Especially given the skies had opened up early this morning and, according to the forecasters, were going to remain that way for the next few days. Shitty weather generally made for slow days in the café.
“I was planning to—though it’s no fun touring around when it’s colder than a fucking freezer.”
I laughed. “You might want to cast your mind back and remember just how damn cold it got in Canberra in winter and spring.”
“Yeah, but we’ve been in a lot of warmer climes since then, and I’ve grown unaccustomed to it.”
“Then you’d better hope Castle Rock’s weather isn’t as horrendous as they’re predicting.”
“Indeed.” She scooped up a bit of bacon and munched on it. “So, what happened between you and Aiden? There’re all sorts of weird vibrations coming from you.”
I grimaced and updated her on Aiden’s ultimatum and party plans in between eating my meal.
“Whoa,” she said. “That’s big.”
“Yeah. You can imagine how momma wolf is going to take it all.”
Belle wrinkled her nose. “Anything she does will have repercussions. She can’t threaten you—or even this business, in truth—without being considered unreasonable by everyone else. I know that for a fact.”
Meaning she’d been skimming the thoughts of the council elders who occasionally came in here. “Do you think she cares?”
“Actually yeah, I do. A great deal.”
“But do you actually think it’ll stop her from threatening me?” Because I certainly didn’t.
“Words are one thing, actions another. I doubt she’ll do more than say her piece. Anything else would only harden Aiden’s resolve, and that’s the one thing she’ll be desperate to avoid.”
I hoped Belle was right, but I had a niggling suspicion Karleen was up in her den right now, brewing all sorts of retribution.
Belle chuckled. “She’s not a witch, and she certainly can’t brew anything that’ll threaten us.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that.” I mopped up the last bit of egg with a crust of toast, then sighed and picked up the plate and my coffee. “I’ll go finish the prep. You want to do the cakes and the coffee machine?”
A smile twitched her lips. “Anyone would think you don’t trust me to handle a knife after such a late night.”
“Your mom’s upstairs. If her baby girl gets all bloody, she’s going to blame me.”
Belle grinned. “No, she’d say it serves me right for consuming so much champagne when I knew I had to work the next day.”
“And she’d be right.”
Belle tossed a bit of toast at me. I laughed and ducked, then scooped it up off the floor and headed into the kitchen.
The day went from bad to worse weather wise, and customers were few and far between. Once the so-called lunchtime rush—all of a dozen people—was over, we left Penny in charge and headed upstairs.
The rest of the afternoon was spent reminiscing about old times and new over coffee, cake, many tears, and even more laughter.
It was, I thought happily, good to be back with family, even if it wasn’t blood family.
My phone rang at five, the tone telling me it was Monty. Which meant something was up, because if he was just being social, he’d have rung Belle.
“What’s happened?” I asked without preamble.
“Reports of another lost and crying kid.” His voice was grim. “Given what happened last time, we’re heading straight out. Can you be ready in five minutes?”
“Sure.”
He immediately hung up, and I pushed to my feet.
“Am I missing some vital piece of information?” Belle said, confusion evident. “Why is he suddenly ringing you when he’s the reservation witch?”
“You haven’t gleaned the info from my thoughts? I’m shocked.”
She lightly whacked my leg. “I’ve been otherwise occupied.”
I grinned and quickly updated her. “I’ll give you a mental shout if we happen to find a fresh death or a soul that needs help, but otherwise, enjoy your night.”
“Fresh death?” Ava glanced at the two of us. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
“Sadly, no.” Belle glanced up