The Lies We Tell (9 page)

Sia gasped. “They love him. He loves them.”

“That may be true, but you’re their real parent — Sienna too. Who was the one caring for her after she was hit last night? Who’s been protecting her from the world all her life?”

“He’s a good man, Todd.”

“Maybe he is, but right now the alcohol has hold of him. Now he’s hit Sienna. He could hit Brock and Ebonny.”

“No. No, he never would.”

“Can you risk that? Even if he doesn’t intend to, he could accidently hurt them.”

Sia reached for her wine with a shaky hand and all but drained it. She’d always been so confident that her father’s wrath would only ever be directed at her, but after last night…

Was she seriously considering leaving her father in jail?

“If he spent some time inside, he’d sober up,” Todd said. “He’d probably be able to access some counselling and start dealing with the past. It might be the best thing, for him and for the family.”

“How can jail be good for someone?”

“Being out here hasn’t done him much good.”

“I’ve tried.”

Todd slid across and wrapped his arms around her. For a moment Sia hesitated — it seemed somehow weak to have someone comfort and support her. Then she leant against him and it was good and right.

“You’ve done a wonderful job,” Todd whispered against her hair. “I personally don’t think your father deserves a daughter like you. For Sienna and Brock and Ebonny’s sake however, I’m glad he had you.”

“Thank you.” He was solid and warm and she was surprised how relaxed and safe she felt.

He smelt damn good too.

“So, how are you going to get the money to bail him out?”

Sia smiled. It seemed Todd had reached a pretty good understanding of her.

“We’ve got a fair bit of collateral in the house, so I was thinking of going to the bank Monday morning and getting a loan against that. Hopefully the exhibition in Sydney will go well and I’ll be able to pay it back quickly.”

“That money should go toward building your career, not bailing out your father.” Todd began to play with her hair, winding strands around his fingers.

“Hopefully there will be some left over for that.”

“I hope so. You’ve got the potential to do something amazing, Sia. That guy at the gallery was gushing over your paintings, and I got the impression when I first got there he was too cool to gush. He wasn’t happy he couldn’t buy my painting.”

Sia laughed. “He called me and tried to talk me around. Just the salve my ego needed.”

“You don’t doubt yourself, do you?” Todd’s fingertips brushed against her neck and a shiver ran over Sia’s body.

“The really good artists do,” she said, trying to ignore the growing warmth in her body from being so close to Todd’s. “They’re never satisfied, always wanting to do better.”

“Well, right now, you’re pretty bloody good.” His voice had deepened, become husky. Was he being similarly affected by their closeness?

The back of his finger moved softly down her cheek, along her jaw, stopping under her chin. She felt the pressure and answered his silent call to look up at him.

His eyes were blazing, but not with hatred. The stirrings within her started to smoulder.

“Sia.” Her name eased from his lips like a benediction. “So good. So beautiful.”

She tilted her head and their lips touched — tentatively, testing and then teasing. Her mouth moulded to his, matching the shape, the pressure.

Little flickers of flame danced along her nerves and she sighed and her body eased against his, softening and demanding.

Todd groaned and then his mouth was ravishing hers, tongue exploring, sucking, nipping with his teeth.

Sia wrapped her arms around his neck and responded with a blaze of passion. After all the years, those long ago fantasies, the reality of kissing Todd was refreshing and invigorating. Nothing had felt more real than this moment.

“Sia?” The little voice was like a bucket of ice water on her heated body. Sia pulled away with a gasp and swung around.

Ebonny stood in the hallway, rubbing her eyes. “I had a bad dream.”

“Oh, baby.” Sia rushed across the room and scooped Ebonny into her arms. She buried her face in the little girl’s neck, taking time to gather her scattered senses. “It’s all right. I’m here, and you’re safe.”

Ebonny softened against her. “Monster tried to eat me,” she murmured, her voice already slurring with sleepiness again.

“This house is a monster-free-zone, remember? We did all the spells and everything. Monster is just trying to scare you, but he can’t hurt you.”

“Hate monster.”

“Yeah, I hate monster too. Tomorrow, we’ll go around and make sure everything’s okay.”

“Good.”

“You ready for bed again?”

“Yes.”

Sia carried her sister into the room she shared with Brock. The little boy hadn’t been woken and was sleeping with only half the blanket on him. Sia tucked Ebonny into bed and sat until the soft, even breaths told her the little girl was asleep. Then she pulled the blankets back over her brother before she went out into the hall and gently closed the door.

Here, she bit her lip. Ebonny had managed to successfully ruin that first moment with Todd. The question was — did Sia want to start it again?

Her intellect said no — she had enough going on in her life without starting a romantic entanglement with a man who only days earlier had hated her. Her body did not listen and gave a resounding yes to the idea.

It was too late — she was too tired and stressed to think about this. She’d ask Todd to leave and consider it in the morning.

She walked into the lounge room to find it empty. She checked the kitchen — no Todd. Outside — the only car in the driveway was hers.

She sat down on the couch and then saw a note left on top of her financial papers.

Sia — your sister needs you, so I’ll clear out. But I’d like to take you on a proper date. Perhaps find somewhere to be alone together where we can’t be interrupted. In the meantime, I’ll pick you up early Monday morning to take you to Bathurst. I won’t let you face it alone. Todd
.

Sia smiled. Maybe she did have time for a bit of romance.

Todd was at her door at eight-thirty Monday morning. Sia kissed Brock, Ebonny and Sienna goodbye and then they started the twenty-minute drive to Bathurst.

Sia thought it might be awkward, after the aborted kiss on Saturday night, but then Todd said, “You look beautiful,” and she relaxed.

“Thank you.” She tugged on the hem of her skirt. The suit had been an investment made several years ago and though she rarely wore it, it was comforting to know she could look business-like if she needed.

“I like your hair up like that.” Todd’s eyes flicked from the road to her chignon. “Although I prefer it down.”

“And as a good little woman, I’m supposed to acquiesce to your preferences, right?”

Todd grinned. “Would make my life easier.”

“Shame I’m not here to make your life easier.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to do what I can to make your life easier and hope you’ll throw me a bone from time to time”

“That’s a role reversal I can live with.”

He shook his head. “You’re not easy, are you?”

“No,” Sia said. “But I’m worth it.”

For a moment, Todd’s focus was completely on her lips. “I’ll say.”

“Eyes. Road. Concentrate.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He turned back to face the front of the car.

“If you kill us, there will be no more kissing. Or anything else.”

“Is there going to be anything else?” She liked the catch in his voice, the sense of hope and need.

“Perhaps.” She smiled and looked out the side window, happy with how this encounter was developing.

They parked outside the bank just as the doors were unlocked. With trembling hands, Sia clasped the folder with her papers to her chest and walked in. This early in the morning, the home loan manager wasn’t in yet but the branch manager agreed to see her.

“Nice to meet you, Ms Collins.” The man was young, with a bright smile. He shook her hand firmly. “How can I help you?”

Sia explained that she wanted to use the collateral she’d built up in the home loan to draw money out. They didn’t have a redraw facility, but she showed the manager the flyer for her exhibition that was about to open in Sydney hoping that it would prove to the man she’d be able to repay the money.

“How much were you wanting?”

“Ten thousand dollars.”

Numbers were crunched and to Sia’s delight, the manager approved the loan. Such was the reward for working hard to never miss a payment, Sia thought as the paperwork was done.

It was close to ten o’clock when she emerged from the bank. Todd was sitting in his car, drinking a coffee and reading a paper.

“I got the money.” Sia got into the passengers seat and then, ignoring Todd’s paper and coffee, flung her arms around his neck. “I got the money.”

“Well done you.” He dropped the paper to put one arm around her waist and pull her closer. “I never doubted it.”

“Now, to go save my father.” She gave him a quick kiss but pulled away before he could get too involved. Now was not the time to be distracted by his exquisite taste and touch.

When they got to the court, Frank hadn’t been seen yet. So Sia and Todd sat in the public gallery and watched a couple of drug possessions and a speeding fine go through.

Then it was Frank’s turn. He was led to the dock, his face pale and clammy and his hands shaking. Sia leant forward.

“He’s sick.”

“Detoxing,” Todd said. “I wonder when was the last time he was sober.”

Sia gave him a quick glare, then tried to gain her father’s attention by waving at him. Either Frank didn’t see her or he was ignoring her because he didn’t respond.

The prosecutor put forward the case clearly and calmly. Arson. Damage caused to the Oberon Town Hall. Frank had been witnessed lighting the fires and had confessed.

The defence — a woman who looked barely out of university — stood.

“Your honour, my client was intoxicated and clearly not in command of his faculties. He cannot be held responsible for his actions.”

“He confessed to doing it, and why he did it,” the prosecutor responded. “He was well aware of what he was doing.”

“I want to explore that at trial,” the magistrate said.

“The prosecution requests remand until the trial.”

“Your honour, my client has a young family at home that he must care for.”

“Your honour, the accused regularly goes missing from home for days at a time. He has no employment and the housing, the feeding and education of his children is all taken care of by his oldest daughter, so he has no financial commitments. He can’t be trusted not to skip bail.”

“Very well, the accused is remanded until the trial, at a date to be set. Next case.”

“What?” Sia launched to her feet. Todd grabbed her arm.

“Sia, sit down,” he hissed.

Frank looked over his shoulder and Sia was stunned by the despair in her father’s gaze. Then his eyes flicked to Todd and when they returned to her, that despair had coalesced into a mix of terror and anger.

Frank’s lips drew back from his teeth and the last thing Sia saw before the police took him away was his hatred.

It was over. She was never going to turn her father around now.

Her chest tightened and air became difficult to draw into her lungs. Todd touched her again and she shook his hand away. She picked up her purse and stormed out of the building.

She stood on the footpath, in the bright sunshine, and closed her eyes. Her lungs fought to do more than take shallow breaths and her heart thudded loud and strong. Her hands clenched and her stomach roiled.

She hadn’t anticipated this. Of course it had been a possibility, but she hadn’t thought there would be any outcome other than her father coming back to Oberon with her today.

She was struck with the sudden sensation that the past ten years had been for nothing.

“Sia.”

She opened her eyes. Todd was standing in front of her. Close enough to give her a sense of comfort, but not so close that he crowded her.

“Do you want to see him?” She nodded. “Wait here.” He went back into the courthouse.

There was a seat by the kerb. Sia walked over on legs that threatened at any moment to collapse under her and sat on it. She put her purse down, pressed her hands between her knees and tried to regain control of herself.

She’d failed her father. How, she didn’t yet know but it was clear she had. Now she had to work out how to make it right.

Perhaps if she talked to the prosecutor, promised to ensure her father wouldn’t skip bail? Perhaps if she begged, showed him pictures of Brock and Ebonny, told him how important their father was to them? Or if she doubled the amount he wanted for bail? The bank had so easily agreed to ten thousand, would it be that hard to talk them up to twenty?

Todd came back and crouched down in front of her. “You can go see your father,” he said. “But he’s in a bad mood because of the lack of alcohol. Are you sure you want to?”

“Of course. He’s my dad.”

Todd led her to an office. He directed her to the seat in front of the desk then stood at the back of the room.

The door opened and the prosecutor came in, followed by her father already in handcuffs. A prison guard followed Frank and guided him to sit in the chair on the other side of the table.

Frank’s eyes flicked from Sia to Todd and back. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to see you, make sure you’re okay.”

Frank grunted. “Just dandy. No thanks to you.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” She looked at the prosecutor. “I’ve got ten thousand to pay for his bail. I can get more, if you need it.”

Frank’s eyes lit up. The prosecutor shook his head. “This isn’t about money, Ms Collins. This is about me not trusting your father to do the right thing.”

“But you can put conditions on it. That he has to go to the station twice a day, that sort of thing.”

“And when he doesn’t turn up?”

“He will. Right, Dad?”

“Of course.” Frank smiled at her. God almighty, he smiled at her. “I always do the right thing by my kids, don’t I, Sia?”