CHAPTER THREE
Jade gave Max directions to Rhy's house and Max left the café feeling more cheered. He couldn't wait to see his uncle.
He frowned as he remembered painful memoires from his childhood. When he was twelve, his aunt and uncle got a divorce after his auntie Shelly learned Rhys had slept with another woman and as a result, found out he had a teenaged son named Dylan (who would be in his late thirties by now).
Then about a year later, Rhys discovered he wasn't the real father of Dylan. Due to humiliation and getting kicked out of Summer Bay High, Rhy's former love Angie Russell left the bay.
Max pulled a stop outside a small, but neat cottage that came complete with a veranda and a few rose bushes.
Rhys is a single man; he doesn't need a big house. Max reminded himself sadly. But Rhys could have a girlfriend…you never know.
Max quickly gout of his car and hurried up to the front door and knocked. After awhile, the door opened and his uncle peered outside, looking very sleepy. His dark blonde hair was now streaked with grey; he had gotten taller and managed to keep fit, tanned and healthy.
" Uncle Rhys?" Max grinned, " How are you?"
" Maximus?" Rhy's mouth dropped open, " My God. It's been so long. How are you?"
" Great."
" Come in," Rhys stepped to aside to let his nephew in. He studied Max carefully. Max had gotten tall with dark hair, brown eyes and obviously kept fit. He wore a pair of white shorts with a fancy looking gold polo shirt and there was a pair of very expensive sunglasses on top of his head.
" Do you want a cuppa?" Rhys led Max through the hallway and into a sunny kitchen.
" I just had one. I've been to the diner…I mean, café and met Alex."
" Ah yes Alex. Poor guy." Rhys clucked his tongue and opened the fridge, " How about something to eat then? It's past lunch time."
" Uncle Rhys, you haven't told me how you've been," Max told him, " It seems you're avoiding the issue."
" I'm not. I've been fine Max. There isn't much to say about me. I sleep, eat and work. In that order."
" Jade told me you were a carpenter."
" Yup." Rhys said as he rummaged through the pantry and pulled out his bread,
" A job's a job. It pays the bills."
" Do you see your grandkids often?"
" They come around every weekend." Rhys said, " Jade's boys and Kristy's lot are a bit of a handful but it gives their parents time to themselves you know?"
" I know that one of Kristy's kids is from her marriage to Seb." Max said, " then Seb died in that awful motorcycle crash and Kristy got married again a few years later."
" A terrible time that was." Rhys said. " Poor Don nearly went crazy with grief. First he lost Alf and then Seb not long after."
" Is the old man still alive? I was told Colleen died not that long ago." Max sighed, " I was very upset that nobody told me but Jade explained why. I'll be visiting Colleen's grave today."
" Don's still alive. He's eighty."
Eighty! Flathead Fisher was eighty? " How time flies." Max murmured to himself.
* * *
It was close to three o'clock in the afternoon as Don Fisher slowly made his way towards the café, gripping his walking stick tightly. He scowled at the entrance. There was a big, flashy sign that read Summer Bay Café on the wall and in smaller letters, Manager: Josh West.
The name should be Alf Stewart. Fisher thought, not Josh West. Oh Alf, when you died, the whole of Summer Bay changed. Not only that, lives has changed.
Fisher walked into the café and went over to the counter. Alex grinned at him but to Fisher, the grin looked forced. Fisher didn't blame him; Alex wasn't himself. Actually, Alex hadn't been himself since Leah moved away from the bay.
" Hi Don. What can I get you?"
" A cup of tea please."
" You'll never guess who I met earlier today." Alex began conversationally.
" Your sister?"
Alex shook his head, " Someone better. Max Sutherland."
" Max?"
" Yeah. He decided to pay us a long due visit. He's married now and has a daughter."
" He must around thirty or thirty two," Fisher mused, " I still remember him as a tall, gangly boy of eighteen. In his last year of high school. That was the last time I saw him before he left Summer Bay."
" I'll go get your coffee." Alex disappeared and Fisher went to sit down. As he did, his knee joints cracked painfully. His arthritics was getting worse by the day.
He massaged his left knee as he sat there, deep in thought. His thoughts turned to Seb. He died so young and everyone was devastated. Especially his young wife Kirsty. They had not been married very long either.
Don's eyes closed and the haunting memory came back to him…
Jade gave Max directions to Rhy's house and Max left the café feeling more cheered. He couldn't wait to see his uncle.
He frowned as he remembered painful memoires from his childhood. When he was twelve, his aunt and uncle got a divorce after his auntie Shelly learned Rhys had slept with another woman and as a result, found out he had a teenaged son named Dylan (who would be in his late thirties by now).
Then about a year later, Rhys discovered he wasn't the real father of Dylan. Due to humiliation and getting kicked out of Summer Bay High, Rhy's former love Angie Russell left the bay.
Max pulled a stop outside a small, but neat cottage that came complete with a veranda and a few rose bushes.
Rhys is a single man; he doesn't need a big house. Max reminded himself sadly. But Rhys could have a girlfriend…you never know.
Max quickly gout of his car and hurried up to the front door and knocked. After awhile, the door opened and his uncle peered outside, looking very sleepy. His dark blonde hair was now streaked with grey; he had gotten taller and managed to keep fit, tanned and healthy.
" Uncle Rhys?" Max grinned, " How are you?"
" Maximus?" Rhy's mouth dropped open, " My God. It's been so long. How are you?"
" Great."
" Come in," Rhys stepped to aside to let his nephew in. He studied Max carefully. Max had gotten tall with dark hair, brown eyes and obviously kept fit. He wore a pair of white shorts with a fancy looking gold polo shirt and there was a pair of very expensive sunglasses on top of his head.
" Do you want a cuppa?" Rhys led Max through the hallway and into a sunny kitchen.
" I just had one. I've been to the diner…I mean, café and met Alex."
" Ah yes Alex. Poor guy." Rhys clucked his tongue and opened the fridge, " How about something to eat then? It's past lunch time."
" Uncle Rhys, you haven't told me how you've been," Max told him, " It seems you're avoiding the issue."
" I'm not. I've been fine Max. There isn't much to say about me. I sleep, eat and work. In that order."
" Jade told me you were a carpenter."
" Yup." Rhys said as he rummaged through the pantry and pulled out his bread,
" A job's a job. It pays the bills."
" Do you see your grandkids often?"
" They come around every weekend." Rhys said, " Jade's boys and Kristy's lot are a bit of a handful but it gives their parents time to themselves you know?"
" I know that one of Kristy's kids is from her marriage to Seb." Max said, " then Seb died in that awful motorcycle crash and Kristy got married again a few years later."
" A terrible time that was." Rhys said. " Poor Don nearly went crazy with grief. First he lost Alf and then Seb not long after."
" Is the old man still alive? I was told Colleen died not that long ago." Max sighed, " I was very upset that nobody told me but Jade explained why. I'll be visiting Colleen's grave today."
" Don's still alive. He's eighty."
Eighty! Flathead Fisher was eighty? " How time flies." Max murmured to himself.
* * *
It was close to three o'clock in the afternoon as Don Fisher slowly made his way towards the café, gripping his walking stick tightly. He scowled at the entrance. There was a big, flashy sign that read Summer Bay Café on the wall and in smaller letters, Manager: Josh West.
The name should be Alf Stewart. Fisher thought, not Josh West. Oh Alf, when you died, the whole of Summer Bay changed. Not only that, lives has changed.
Fisher walked into the café and went over to the counter. Alex grinned at him but to Fisher, the grin looked forced. Fisher didn't blame him; Alex wasn't himself. Actually, Alex hadn't been himself since Leah moved away from the bay.
" Hi Don. What can I get you?"
" A cup of tea please."
" You'll never guess who I met earlier today." Alex began conversationally.
" Your sister?"
Alex shook his head, " Someone better. Max Sutherland."
" Max?"
" Yeah. He decided to pay us a long due visit. He's married now and has a daughter."
" He must around thirty or thirty two," Fisher mused, " I still remember him as a tall, gangly boy of eighteen. In his last year of high school. That was the last time I saw him before he left Summer Bay."
" I'll go get your coffee." Alex disappeared and Fisher went to sit down. As he did, his knee joints cracked painfully. His arthritics was getting worse by the day.
He massaged his left knee as he sat there, deep in thought. His thoughts turned to Seb. He died so young and everyone was devastated. Especially his young wife Kirsty. They had not been married very long either.
Don's eyes closed and the haunting memory came back to him…