Exiles (Aaron Falk #3)(60)

“No worries. Thanks, Kev.”

The bloke nodded smartly, then lifted a hand in farewell and headed off across the grass.

“So, wait a second.” Gemma laughed and leaned her elbows on the table as he left. “Does that mean you were the ‘intense bloke’ that he warned me was acting a bit strange?”

“Yeah, apparently so,” Falk said, but he was smiling, too. He watched the man disappear into the night.

“Kev’s words, not mine. He can be a little dramatic. The festival brings out some odd types occasionally, though, so he’s just watching out for me.”

“Fair enough. And look, maybe I was a bit intense.” Falk shrugged. “I was just conscious it was a pretty transparent attempt to see you.”

Gemma tilted her head. In the tree above, the lanterns swayed as the night air breathed through the branches. “Is that right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well.” They looked at each other for a moment. She seemed about to say something more, then changed her mind, reaching for the water to top up their still-full glasses. “You know, I thought I did see you last year, actually.” She put the bottle back on the table and checked her phone again.

“Near the ferris wheel?” Falk said.

“No, it was by Charlie’s stall. But I was quite far away, and by the time I got nearer you were gone.” She frowned a little. “I don’t think I saw you by the ferris wheel—”

“It was around the children’s fireworks. You were talking to Naomi. She looked kind of serious, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Oh.” Gemma smoothed a strand of hair off her face as she thought back. “Yeah. I remember that, actually. She’d walked in along the reservoir track and was worried the kids’ party in the bushland was already getting out of hand. She wanted me to get the officers on duty to go and check.”

“Did they?”

“I asked them to, but no, I found out later they didn’t go. Sergeant Dwyer normally stamps it out before too long, but he wasn’t around, and no one else did.”

“Sounds like Naomi’s pretty keen to see the party stopped altogether.”

“She is. She’ll get her way, too, just watch,” Gemma predicted. “You’ve met her, have you?”

“This morning. She’s Henry’s godmother.”

“That’s right, of course. She’s a great choice. A lot of fun, very smart, too.” Gemma sipped her water. “And you’ve met Shane as well?”

“Yeah. I knew who he was already, though. My dad and I followed the footy. We saw him play in a grand final years ago. Great day. Amazing game. He was incredible.”

Gemma nodded. “So I’ve heard. I was always at uni or in the States, but the others used to go and watch him when they could. Charlie and Kim, Naomi. My parents as well, they were big fans. They were at that grand final, too.”

“Oh yeah?” Falk said. “Are they still around?”

“They live in Stirling now, near my older sister and her three girls. So not too far. What about your dad?”

“No, he died a while ago. He would’ve loved to have met Shane, though.”

Gemma smiled. “Dads do love meeting Shane.”

“You know, he would’ve really liked all this as well.” Falk shifted in his chair to look back at the grounds. The sounds and the lights and the aroma of food and wine had sparked a memory Falk hadn’t known he’d had.

“The festival?” she asked.

“Yeah. We had sheep at our place back home, but once, when I was about fourteen, we had to transport some to Clyde, which was a couple of hours away.” He paused to let the memory rise to the surface and take shape. “They had this local produce festival on—nothing as good as this, much smaller—but we spent the rest of the day there and it was pretty fun. Then the whole drive home I remember Dad going on about how someone should set up something like that in Kiewarra. Diversify, attract visitors to the region. He reckoned people would love it. That it would breathe life back into the town.”

Falk couldn’t believe he’d forgotten this.

“It was funny,” he said. “He was so keen that for a minute I thought he was about to park in front of the council offices and roll up his sleeves and demand the permit forms or whatever. He didn’t, obviously. I mean, he had to work so hard at our place he didn’t have time for anything else, but he never stopped bringing it up, either. We only lived in Kiewarra for a couple of more years, and every autumn we’d make that trip out to Clyde and check out the festival and bring home some organic cheese or whatever. So, yeah.” Falk smiled to himself as he remembered. “He would have really enjoyed this. Maybe even more than Shane.”

“Well, that is high praise.” Gemma grinned. “It’s nice that you and your dad were close.”

“Oh.” Falk blinked, the memory suddenly blurring a little. “No. We weren’t, really. Unfortunately.”

“No? Oh.” Gemma seemed genuinely surprised. “Sorry. It just sounded like you were. Going together to the festivals and the footy or whatever. And you obviously got how Joel was feeling down there tonight with his dad’s plaque.”

“Anyone would understand that, though,” Falk said.