Scattering Lilac Ashes

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-One

"D-Dad?" Lila baulked.

"What?" Asher looked around wildly before his face turned pale. "Why's your Dad here?"

Lila shook her head. It couldn't be her Dad, right? His PI office was over near the city – far from 'Beans & Biscuits' – and home was a good 20 to 30 minutes from here, too.

The man who looked awfully like her Dad – but couldn't be her Dad – was led over to the seat the antique dealer had sat in, his back to the window. Lila saw a flash of something in his hands – a bag; one that looked incredibly similar to one she'd seen in her Dad's home office the other day when she broke into the filing cabinet. So... maybe it was her Dad?

It was a public holiday today, so her Mum should also be here, if it was her Dad. Lila craned her neck, looking at the street and then back at the café to try and find her. No one fitting her Mum's description was remotely nearby. So... if it was her Dad, why was he here at some random local café without her Mum on a day off?

Her Dad had also known that Lila was heading this way, since she'd mentioned it last night when she came home and found her parents and Clare sitting in the living room watching some lame reality TV show. Surely, then, when Lila asked for a ride, he would've said yes if he was also planning on coming this way?

Her mind was reeling, though it wasn't catching any fish.

"Maybe... he's meeting my Dad?" Asher suggested quietly.

"I don't see your Dad at all."

"Wait... Dad's at another conference," Asher frowned, tapping the edge of his empty coffee cup. "Up north. He was annoyed that it was over the public holiday, but since Evelyn's, well, not available, he had to send himself."

"... Looks like we're staying until we figure out what he's up to," Lila murmured, rifling through the bag that was still on her thighs. She pulled out her laptop and placed it on their table, which seemed to summon their waitress.

"I'll just clear these plates," she said cheerily. Asher and Lila nodded in acknowledgement as Asher put a maths textbook and notebook onto the now-cleared table.

"I'll order some juice," Asher offered, his tone subdued with apparent worry.

"Yes, please," Lila replied automatically, signing in to her laptop. She left her screen on her desktop as she continued to observe the man who looked uncannily like her Dad. It simply seemed as though he was just taking a coffee break – but from what?

"And you're 100% sure your Dad is at a conference?" Lila asked Asher in a low voice.

"Entirely. He was complaining about it a lot when he said goodnight to me last night. Kinda felt like he forgot why he was in my rumpus room to begin with."

"And there's no chance he's lying?"

"Well, there's always a chance," Asher frowned again, "especially since he's not exactly above hiding things from me. But why would he hide meeting your Dad with a conference, if that was the case? He could just tell me he was at the hospital as usual, it's not like he works from home often since he's so busy. Plus, they'd have been meeting all the time for the case already." Asher paused before adding, "Perhaps he's got a new client this way and will be meeting them soon for coffee, or something."

"Surely meetings like that happen in his office."

"Probably, unless there needs to be some rapport built on an even playing field, like an unaffiliated coffee shop," he said carefully, his eyes looking down at the textbook that he'd opened.

Lila still wasn't exactly convinced by this theory, but she had nothing else to offer. With a small sound of dissatisfaction, she opened her English assignment. Maybe it wasn't her Dad. He... was fairly generic as a white guy – a dime a dozen in this particular suburb, too. Asher's family was probably the only splash of colour for kilometres, and even then they were slightly diluted, like Lila.