Angie gave the place a few moments’ scrutiny. ‘Sure,’ she said, when I expected her to refuse. To say she didn’t have time. ‘I’d like that.’

  I rang Bryan. ‘Give me ten minutes,’ he said, and was there in nine. The three of us climbed the front stairs and crossed the wide verandah. The verandah extended across the front and along the sides of the house. You couldn’t walk right the way around, but each bedroom and the dining room had French doors opening out onto the verandah’s airy expanse. Ideal for the tropics.

  Angie and I waited while Bryan unlocked the front door. He was a shortish, compact man, mid-forties, with a weathered complexion and very little hair. Whenever I’d met with him he’d been wearing the requisite ‘uniform’ of the rural land agent: light-coloured moleskin trousers and a checked shirt. I’d bet he had an Akubra hat and a Driza-Bone coat in his four-wheel drive.

  The door opened and a blast of cool, musty-smelling air greeted us. ‘There’s a lot of mouse droppings and the likes,’ I said. ‘It’s been empty for several years.’

  ‘I put out baits every now and then,’ Bryan said. ‘But it’s like pushing the proverbial uphill.’

  The house had a roomy entrance hall. Bedrooms opened on either side. We walked through into the large living area at the centre of the house, with the kitchen and dining areas on one side, and the master bedroom and a generous two-way bathroom on the other. From the main living area, you walked through a sunroom to the back door. It opened onto a narrow landing for the rear stairs. The laundry, a small storeroom and second toilet could be found under the house, tucked away behind the stairs.

  Bryan made himself scarce while I showed Angie around, watching closely for her reactions. I’d meant what I’d said about being interested in her impression of the place. Gabby had given her opinion freely, but with Yvonne away there’d been no one else to ask.

  When we got to the bathroom, I couldn’t hold back any longer. ‘Well, what do you think?’

  ‘Obviously no expense was spared when it was built,’ she said, casting an eye over the bathroom fixtures and fittings. She turned on a tap. Nothing came out. There was a mouse carcass in the bathtub.

  ‘I know everything’s filthy, and there’s no power or water connected, but I think it’ll come up surprisingly well with a good scrub,’ I said.

  She turned to me. ‘Surely you’re not thinking of doing that all by yourself?’

  ‘Heavens, no! I’ve already asked Gabby—’

  ‘Gabby?’

  ‘The cleaner at the hotel, and she said she’d think about it. I’m sure if she can’t, there’ll be someone around who can.’

  I could see Angie wasn’t totally convinced. We wandered out into the living room and through the remaining rooms once more. ‘The floorboards need resurfacing,’ she said. ‘And a coat or two of paint, inside and out, would be a priority, I’d say. Have you had an electrician and a plumber take a look, in case the whole place needs rewiring, or the hot water service is kaput? What about termites? Restumping the place would cost a fortune.’

  ‘Bryan helped organise local trades people to inspect the place,’ I said, and I know I sounded defensive but I hadn’t gone into this with my eyes shut. ‘And when the time comes to replace the hot water service, I’ll have solar panels and solar hot water installed. The roof looks sound, and as far as white ants, the pest controller said he’d been treating the place every year up until the owner died. There’s no sign of wood rot and no risk of salt damp in an above-ground timber house.’

  Angie looked astounded. ‘You do sound as if you have a handle on it all.’

  ‘Comes with having a builder as a husband. Sam had his own business. I picked up a few things along the way.’

  ‘Did you work in the business?’

  ‘No, but I would have liked to. I suggested it when Olivia, our youngest, started high school. For some reason, Sam wouldn’t hear of it.’

  ‘Lucky you. I can’t imagine what it’d be like not to have at least one job, or be between jobs, or always looking for a second job just to make ends meet.’

  ‘I was always busy, nevertheless.’

  Angie laughed. ‘What with tuck shops and sports days, and when your kids grew up, book groups and long lunches …’

  ‘No,’ I said, her comment irritating me. ‘I’ve never had a long lunch or belonged to a book group in my life.’

  Bryan took that moment to reappear. ‘What do you think?’ he said to Angie.

  She gave me a sideways glance. ‘Impressive. I’ve always liked the Queenslander style, especially in Queensland,’ she said, and they walked off, chatting.

  I hung back and fumed. Having never been in the paid workforce didn’t mean I hadn’t worked hard all my life. A husband; three children birthed and brought up; two sets of aging parents cared for and then buried; both estates dealt with; grandchildren to babysit; a home and a huge garden to manage. Julian had moved back home when his marriage crashed and burned after barely a year, and Olivia hadn’t left at all until she’d finished uni. And Sam, although he’d never said it out loud, had expected a spotless home, his clothes laid out, and meals on the table when it suited him. Not to mention how I’d nursed him through a terminal illness, taking care of his wants and needs and holding his hand right up until he took his final breath.

  Bryan was laughing at something Angie had said. I glared resentfully at her back. The intensity of the feeling caught me off guard. But what did a person like Angie know about the commitments of a husband and family when she hadn’t visited her own mother in God knows how many years? And on her own admission, she preferred to be footloose and fancy free.

  ‘I’m done,’ I said loudly.

  Angie and Bryan stopped talking and turned my way.

  ‘Thanks for coming out with the key at such short notice, Bryan.’

  ‘Happy to oblige, Mrs Sinclair.’

  They followed me out. Bryan locked the door and pocketed the key. ‘I’ll give you a bell the minute I get confirmation from the vendor about renting. And I’m happy to let you in anytime you want to have a look around.’

  He zipped off down the stairs. Angie and I descended the stairs at a more sedate pace. I wrestled with the front gate until it closed and then stood beside Angie on what passed for a footpath.

  ‘A big project to take on,’ she said, without looking directly at me. Although she didn’t say, ‘At your age,’ I could hear her thinking it. ‘I hope you’re sure it’s the right thing to do. You don’t really know anyone in the town.’

  I folded my arms. ‘I have a friend, Yvonne, and her husband,’ I said. ‘They live nearby. They’re why I came to Cutlers Bay in the first place. They’ve had car trouble but they’ll be home from the Gold Coast at the end of the week.’ I didn’t disclose that when I’d told Yvonne I was buying the house, she’d been speechless.

  ‘What if it doesn’t work out, Ella? What will you do then?’ Angie said.

  ‘Try something else, until I find something that does work out,’ I said, without hesitating. ‘I’ve had plenty of time to think in the past weeks, and life’s short, and getting shorter by the day.’

  16

  Angie

  Standing on the footpath beside Ella, Angie found it hard to reconcile this assertive woman with the one she’d coaxed out of her car and into the Cutlers Arms only three weeks ago. Today Ella was wearing lipstick, her blouse had been ironed and the buttons weren’t straining as much. And she’d had a haircut.

  ‘Are you staying in town tonight?’ Ella asked.

  ‘I hadn’t planned to, but then I didn’t expect you to be here. Do you think Leon will have any vacancies?’

  ‘Oh, you might be lucky, unless he’s had an influx in the last couple of hours.’

  They smiled and the tension between them eased. Angie didn’t know where the tension had come from because when Ella had appeared around the side of the house and first clapped eyes on her, there’d been a flash of genuine pleasure. It had warmed Angie right through.

  ‘Why don’t we meet back at the hotel?’ Angie said. They made for their respective cars. ‘If you’re not doing anything, we could have dinner together.’

  ‘That would be lovely. But it’s Monday and there’ll only be basic counter meals.’

  ‘Basic suits me fine.’

  Angie let Ella drive off first. She could see the appeal of the Clifftop Drive property—it did have a certain charm about it. Ideal for the tropics and sub-tropics, but a seaside cliff in South Australia? Where the wind blew almost non-stop? Angie shook her head slowly.

  The journey to the Cutlers Arms took only minutes. And she’d had to wait for the school bus. When she’d been out at the house it’d felt quite isolated. But in a town this size, nothing was very far away.

  Angie parked alongside Reg Tilley’s Chrysler. Ella’s car was parked on the opposite side of the road. The main street was busy, but then school wouldn’t have been out long and mothers on the pick-up run often stopped by the supermarket for spur-of-the-moment supplies.

  When Angie had driven through the town earlier, before going in search of Ella, she’d had this weird feeling that she’d come home. Totally bizarre. She’d stay tonight, and perhaps tomorrow night, and then it’d be Perth, with no more distractions allowed. She needed to get to where she was going, and find a permanent job.

  Leon was leaning on the bar, talking to Reg and Tommy when she carried her suitcase inside. ‘You’re back. Thought you might be, after you found Ella.’ He dragged out the ancient guest register. ‘I suppose you’ll be wanting a bed for the night,’ he said, glancing pointedly at the suitcase on the floor beside her.

  ‘If you have any vacancies, of course,’ she said, and his eyes narrowed. He grunted, spun the book around on the bar and handed her a pen.

  ‘Two nights okay?’

  ‘Yep, but I’ve got a couple of regulars on Wednesday and Thursday nights so you and your mate’ll have company. Don’t hog the bathroom.’

  Angie wrote down her details and Leon held out his hand for her credit card, quoting her the total cost. ‘That’s gone up,’ she said, not releasing the Visa card. Leon tugged, and she held firm. ‘That’s ten dollars more a night.’

  ‘It’s a popular place,’ he said. ‘Take it or leave it.’

  Angie released her credit card. ‘Shame on you, Leon, for taking advantage of an old lady.’

  ‘Funny, she didn’t bat an eyelid when I told her the new rate.’

  ‘Yeah, she wouldn’t, would she? Ella’s too polite for that.’

  ‘Not like someone else we know, eh?’ He dealt with her credit card and then slapped a room key down on the bar.

  She picked it up. ‘You’re a man among men, Leon,’ she said, ‘and don’t ever let anyone convince you otherwise.’

  He looked totally befuddled, her sarcasm going straight over his head, and she wanted to laugh. She was still shaking her head when she reached the top of the stairs.

  The door to Ella’s room was closed and the corridor echoed with emptiness. Angie let herself into her room, different from where she’d stayed before. This room was directly opposite the kitchenette. She dumped her bag on the single chair, contemplated making herself a cup of tea for about a second, and then went back downstairs. A cold beer never went astray, and she could pump the two regulars at the bar for info about the house on Clifftop Drive while she was at it.

  By the time Angie was halfway through her second beer, she hadn’t learned much more than she’d already heard from Zach and Ella, and what she’d seen for herself.

  ‘Toby was a good bloke,’ Reg said, all the while gazing into his beer. ‘Some folks thought him odd, but he never did me any harm.’ Tommy said little, grunting and nodding at whatever Reg said. Several other customers wandered in and the chat moved in different directions.

  It was past five when Ella eventually appeared. Angie had been watching the door and when Ella saw her, she changed direction and came into the front bar, smiling widely. Ella climbed onto the vacant barstool beside Angie. Reg and Tommy both mumbled a greeting and a couple of the other patrons acknowledged her. Leon materialised from the other end of the bar. ‘The usual?’ he said, and Angie raised her eyebrows. Ella nodded and minutes later a glass of chilled house white was placed on the bar. Leon even smiled with it. Either that or he had wind.

  ‘I had an appointment at Cutlers Bay Financial Services,’ Ella said. She took a mouthful of the wine. ‘Mmm, interesting. I’ve learned that the more of it you drink, the better it gets.’

  ‘I’ll bet,’ Angie said.

  ‘I did try the house red one night,’ Ella confided. ‘My advice? Don’t go there.’

  ‘I can guarantee I won’t. Beer is about it for me.’

  Ella took another mouthful of wine and said, ‘Guess what? Bryan rang and I’ve got the okay to move in anytime I want. I can pick up the key and do the paperwork first thing in the morning.’

  ‘Wow,’ was all Angie could come up with.

  ‘Kitchen’s open,’ Leon said. ‘The cook got here early. Make the most of it.’

  ‘Let’s order our food,’ Ella said. ‘And we should have had bubbly because I feel like celebrating.’

  Angie held up her beer glass. ‘Beer has bubbles,’ she said. Ella laughed, and ordered a kids’ serve of chicken nuggets and chips. Angie ordered a beef schnitzel. When their meals arrived they moved to a table to eat.

  ‘I’d completely forgotten about that appointment,’ Ella said as they sat down. ‘The receptionist rang when I was on my way back from the house.’

  ‘At least she rang and reminded you.’

  ‘You forget how to think for yourself if other people do it for you, and you let them. You get out of practice.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘I was just thinking about myself. When my husband got sick, it threw me completely. There were so many appointments. Doctors, specialists, dieticians, scans, blood tests … You name it, he had it. And then when we knew he was dying, there was all of the business stuff to deal with as well. Anthony was wonderful. He made sure we didn’t miss any appointments. And during the last few weeks, when Sam was so very ill, my friends Yvonne and Marie stayed, and I did what they told me to. Julian flew in from New York and Olivia came from Darwin and between them they organised everything, so I could spend my time caring for Sam.’ Ella took a deep breath. They had forgotten the food cooling on the table in front of them.

  ‘After Sam died, the children didn’t stop telling me what to do and when to do it. And I let them, because honestly, I didn’t have the energy to think for myself. The first week or so it took everything I had just to get out of bed each morning.’ She put down her glass and picked up a fork to poke at the chicken nuggets. ‘Where do they get this stuff? And why am I eating it?’

  ‘Chicken mines,’ Angie said. ‘And because you’re hungry?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Well, they get gold nuggets from gold mines so I thought maybe chicken nuggets …’

  Ella gazed at her.

  ‘Forget it,’ Angie said and hacked into her schnitzel. Then she stilled and looked at Ella. ‘Hang on a minute, I thought Cutlers Bay Financials was closed on Mondays?’

  ‘They are normally but Graham, the financial adviser, is going on holidays on Wednesday. And when I left I saw Gabby. She was coming out of the IGA. She said no to my offer of a cleaning job … Doesn’t know how she’d fit it in. And that’s fair enough.’

  Angie popped a chip into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. ‘How long do you think it’ll take to clean up the place?’

  ‘A few days to do a bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom, enough for me to move in. Once I’m in there I can do more each day, at my own pace. I’ll ask Leon later. He might know of someone else.’

  ‘When will you start cleaning?’

  ‘I’ll have the key first thing tomorrow morning. I can start anytime after that. The sooner, the better.’

  ‘Why the hurry?’

  ‘So I can get out of here,’ Ella said. ‘It’s been an okay place to stay but I’ve had enough. I want to cook my own meals, sleep in my own bed, and make some kind of life for myself.’

  Angie glanced around the front bar. ‘This place is pretty old and tired. I’m surprised it’s the only pub in town. Most towns this size would have two hotels, at least.’

  Ella pushed the nuggets around the plate, not eating much. She stood up. ‘I don’t know how children can eat this stuff. I need something more to wash it down,’ she said, brandishing her empty wine glass. ‘Do you want another drink?’

  ‘A soft drink?’

  ‘Lemon squash?’

  ‘Yep.’

  Ella came back with two pint glasses of lemon squash. She put them on the table and sat down.

  Angie picked up the glass. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured and took a long sip. ‘From what I’ve seen, it’ll take several days to clean it up enough to make it habitable.’

  ‘Somewhere to sleep, prepare food, take a shower …’

  ‘In other words, most of the house,’ Angie said wryly.

  Ella flopped back in the chair. ‘You’re right. It’d take a good week. A month if I have to do it on my own.’

  ‘And what about furniture? You’ll need a bed and a fridge for starters.’

  ‘I’ve bought a bed base from the op shop, and I’ve ordered a new mattress, a fridge and washing machine from the furniture shop in Kadina. I have to let them both know when to deliver. And I’ve organised for the power to be put on. I haven’t told Bryan that.’

  ‘You have been busy.’

  ‘What else was I meant to do with my time?’ Ella said, with a hint of defiance.

  Angie pushed away her empty plate. ‘Go you,’ she said, and swallowed another draught of lemon squash. The ice rattled in the glass. ‘I’m all for people doing what they’ve gotta do.’

  Ella sat taller in her chair and began eyeing Angie thoughtfully.

  ‘What?’ Angie said.

  ‘You say you’re always looking for work. I’ll give you a week’s worth. Name your rate. What do you think?’

  Angie tapped her fingers against the side of the glass. Someone at the bar laughed loudly. The images on the wall-mounted television flashed brightly in her periphery. She’d been thinking of offering to do just that. Staying in Cutlers Bay for a while longer wouldn’t be hard to do. Then she thought about Zach Cooper and what he’d said to her, out at Rocky Point. She glanced at Ella, who watched her expectantly.

 

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