Winter in Mason Valley

by Eliza Bennetts

  ‘So, how are you enjoying it so far?’ Vince asked.

  ‘It’s a challenge, and that’s what I wanted.’

  ‘It sure is,’ he said. ‘The place will be lucky to make it through the next financial year, if you ask me.’

  ‘Really?’ She felt her muscles clench. ‘The distribution figures are an issue, I’ll give you that, but if we can fix it, there’s no reason the factory can’t be profitable. It could be a great success, and from what I’ve seen of the town, it needs to be. So many people in the community depend on the income the factory provides them. It’ll be a tragedy if we can’t manage to turn it around.’

  The waitress arrived with their glasses of water and Vince took a deep gulp from his. ‘You know, I really admire your fighting spirit and your commitment to the challenge of your role, but I need to honest with you, Dee. The factory is drowning. I have no idea why Olsen bought it. It’s just a matter of time.’

  Dee pondered this. She was absolutely up for a challenge, and that was what she’d been presented with. It bugged her that Vince seemed already so easily defeated, but she didn’t say so. Instead, she tried to steer the conversation down a more positive track.

  ‘I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do about sprucing up the front office, and I really need to get my brain into gear so that I can come up with an idea that’ll fix the distribution problem. There has to be a solution.’

  Vince nodded, but it was a kind, charitable nod, not a nod of genuine agreement. ‘Have you been to the valley before?’

  ‘Nope, the first time I entered the valley was two nights ago. I stayed at the hotel.’

  ‘That’s right,’ he said with a grimace. ‘Jeez, not exactly a fine welcome. But what do you think now that you’ve been able to see a little more of the place.’

  Dee took her time formulating an answer. She wanted to be honest, but she didn’t want to offend. She looked appreciatively around the restaurant. The place was modern and refined without being overdone or snobbish. It had clean lines and concrete floors, warmth from the fire. In fact, it reminded her a little of the lodge.

  At that moment, their meals arrived, and Dee looked down at hers. A wooden platter held an assortment of glossy, tender-looking morsels of beef. This star of the gastronomic show was surrounded by an array of sides—a baked potato, a cob of corn and a fresh crusty bread roll.

  ‘Well, I love this place!’

  ‘Yes, this place is a highlight. One of the few,’ Vince agreed, stabbing a piece of his meat with his fork. ‘What else, though? What about your … accommodation?’

  Dee shot him a look. She really would’ve preferred to keep talking about The Hill Above. ‘My accommodation?’

  Vince chuckled before loading his mouth with more food. ‘Yeah, how’s that going?’

  ‘Not great,’ she said, sipping on her water. ‘They were supposed to find me a place of my own. A little flat or a townhouse or something. Instead …’

  ‘Instead, you’re stuck with Travis Parker.’

  “Yes,” she said, not willing to share anything about how her current living situation was making her feel.

  ‘Did you live alone before?’

  ‘In Blaxland Falls, yes. For around fifteen years, and before that, I was with my parents.’

  Vince nodded. ‘I guess it’s difficult to live with someone if you’re not used to it.’

  ‘You’ve got that right,’ she said. Vince didn’t know the half of it.

  8

  The beef made Dee happy and fulfilled in way she hadn’t felt since leaving the falls. That place, those hills had given her a lift too. It was as though the hit of something wild, of the natural world, had helped her feel more settled, not so off keel. The decent food hadn’t hurt either. In fact, it was so good, Dee ordered takeaway—three serves of beef and some vegetables to bring home for Travis and Annie. She picked out a small chocolate cake for dessert, reconciling that whatever they didn’t eat, Annie might take to school in her lunch box.

  Dee smiled as she finished work and took the food from the staffroom fridge. The thought of seeing Annie made her happy. The thought of seeing Annie’s father triggered a less certain emotion.

  On the way home, she stopped and purchased some groceries. Some milk and muesli, as well as everything she’d need to make risotto the following night. When she pushed her way through the front door, she was met with silence. Balancing her bags, she ambled to the kitchen, dumped her load onto the dining table and turned on the oven. She placed the foil trays of food in and took her work bags to her room. When she walked into the lounge, she saw that the wall furnace was raging, so she knew Annie and Travis were home, or at least they had been recently. Her curiosity was quelled by the cacophony that burst through the back door. Dee went into the kitchen and found Annie and Travis, panting and mud-flecked.

  ‘Dad took me to the park,’ Annie puffed. ‘He let me jump in the puddles.’

  ‘I can see that.’

  Travis gave her a quick, ‘Hello,’ and she saw a spot of mud had landed on his cheekbone, just above the place where his stubble began. She tried not to let her gaze linger.

  ‘Something smells yummy, Dad. What are we having for dinner?’ Annie pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. ‘Can I have some milk? And a cookie?’

  Travis laughed and leaned his forearm against the back of her chair. ‘So many questions, Annie. Yes to the milk. No to the cookie, and I don’t know about dinner. You’re right, though. It smells good.’

  He glanced up at Dee and gave her half a smile. It was enough to send a jolt of electricity through her core.

  She swallowed, feeling acutely aware of the tightness in her throat. ‘I thought I’d pick something up for you,’ she said. Her neck grew warm in an instant and a full-on blush seemed to threaten her cheeks. ‘For us,’ she hurried to add.

  Travis smirked and pulled himself up to his full height. He had to be over six foot, maybe six foot three or four. He had navy work pants on as well as his signature white tank. He’d switched out of his high-vis polo into a blue, plaid flannel shirt that hung open.

  ‘I thought you said you’d cook three nights a week. Heating up food isn’t exactly cooking now, is it?’ He pulled open the fridge door, grabbed a can of Coke and leaned against the kitchen bench, eyeballing her critically.

  Just like that, Dee’s interest in what Travis wore faded, and any jolts or warmth she felt were no longer because of the way his shirt skimmed over his biceps. Now, she was hot and jolty because she was mad. How dare he!

  ‘Excuse me?’ she asked. She could feel that her cheeks were flaming, but she didn’t care.

  Travis lifted a finger from his can of drink and pointed it at her. ‘Last night, you stood there, in that very hallway, and you said, “I will cook three nights a week and I’ll buy groceries.” Did you not say that?’

  ‘I did buy groceries,’ Dee stammered, mad at herself for explaining to him. She’d done him a favour. She didn’t owe him anything. He was being paid by the company to rent her a room. All she needed to do was feed herself and put in for utilities.

  Travis looked suspicious. He turned, opened the fridge door and glanced inside.

  ‘Ah, so you did,’ he said, relinquishing his hold on the door, leaving it to swing back into its restful closed position.

  Dee didn’t know what to do with her hands, but she felt the intense need to control their movements. She feared that if she left them to their own devices, they’d end up firmly clasped around Travis’s neck. The imagined feeling of his pulsing neck beneath her fingertips led to a blooming arousal that made her core throb and her cheeks warm even further.

  In her desperation, Dee reached for the one thing that’d been her only source of redemption in the past few days. Annie.

  ‘I got you some chocolate cake, Annie. And some Tiny Teddy cookies for your lunch box.’

  Annie gasped and her face brightened.

  ‘Sugar,’ Travis scoffed.

&
nbsp; Dee shrugged. ‘I got fruit and rice crackers too. Little treat won’t hurt.’

  Travis’s eyes narrowed, and he took another swig of his Coke. Clearly unaware of the hypocrisy in that act, he continued his dressing-down of Dee. ‘That’s my decision to make. Not yours,’ he said. ‘I’m her father, not you.’

  Annie giggled. ‘Girls can’t be fathers! You’re silly, Dad, and can I please have my milk?’

  Travis returned to the fridge, pulled out the bottle of milk and rummaged in the cupboard for a plastic cup.

  ‘Annie,’ Dee said, ‘do you know what a party pooper is?’

  Annie screwed up her face. ‘Is it someone who does a poo at a party?’

  Dee mirrored her expression. ‘No!’ she cried. ‘That’s gross. A party pooper is someone who spoils people’s fun. I think your daddy might be a little bit of a party pooper.’

  Travis placed the milk on the table and glared at Dee. His look did little to scare her, though it was clear he hated her. She didn’t see the point in trying to get him to like her. Annie, on the other hand … Dee really wanted Annie to like her. There was something so special and cool about the kid. She made Dee’s insides smile.

  Annie looked thoughtful. ‘Weeeeelll. He does make me go to bed just when The Voice starts getting really good, and he makes me pack up my Barbies every single day.’

  ‘It’s called parenting.’

  ‘See?’ Dee spoke over the top of Travis’s comment. ‘Party pooper.’

  Annie nodded solemnly, as though she’d just been advised of something as trivial and undeniable as which day of the week it was. She took a sip of her milk.

  ‘I’m not getting the cookie, am I?’ She directed her question to Travis.

  He groaned. ‘No, because you won’t eat your dinner, Annie.’

  ‘I will!’ Annie looked utterly pissed off.

  Dee mustered all her strength, using it to keep her facial muscles still. She didn’t want to give away the fact that she was jumping for joy inside.

  ‘I’m going to get out of my work clothes,’ she announced, not daring to look at either Annie or her father. She walked out of the room and down the hall to her bedroom. It wasn’t until she was inside with the door firmly closed behind her that she allowed herself a slow and steady smile.

  9

  Travis hated winter mornings. They were always so dark and cold, and he always felt the distance between he and Annie more acutely when he was driving to work on those eerie, frosty mornings. He knew she’d be safe and warm in her bed, but by the time he got to see her again, light would’ve come and the heavy cloak of darkness would be on its way again.

  He hated to admit it, but he liked that Dee was home with her until Mrs Potts came. It wasn’t that Annie couldn’t manage without an adult; she could. She’d proven that time and time again, but still, Dee being there made him feel better. Better how, he didn’t know. Just better.

  It was Friday, and she’d been living with them all week. She’d “cooked” three times already, and if he were being honest, he’d admit he liked it, having someone else prepare food for him. Over the years, he’d extended his repertoire beyond scrambled eggs and spaghetti bolognese, but only marginally. Dee seemed to like it too, and the three of them had fallen into a distant but respectful routine.

  Travis knew he’d been a jerk to her on Tuesday night, but that was because she hadn’t been at the factory most of the day. According to the lads, she’d gone off and had lunch with bloody Vince of all people. He narrowed his eyes again at the slight. Day two on the job, and instead of coming out onto the floor to look at the great work they were doing, she was up on the hill schmoozing with boring, egotistical Vince.

  Travis let out a frustrated groan. He knew his thoughts were unreasonable. He didn’t have the right or the reason to judge her, or Vince for that matter, not really. What the shit was wrong with him? He was fair-minded and even-tempered most of the time. How had he let the arrival of a blonde in town, in his home, make him so crazy? When he saw her or spoke to her, or heard her speaking to Annie, he felt his anger spike. He didn’t know why. She hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, she’d tried to be nice, really nice, but he couldn’t seem to get past the fact he was attracted to her in an out-of-control kind of way. It set him off balance and made his blood boil.

  Travis had been living his life with one modus operandi—to care for his kid and his mum, in that order. That was what his life was built around, that was his purpose. Sure, he liked a cold beer with the boys on a Friday night, and he didn’t hate his job, but his sole reason for being was to care for those two people. Anything else—at least anything other than casual, drunken sex on a Friday night—was an unneeded and unwanted distraction. He didn’t have the time or desire to be truly attracted to anyone, least of all his boss.

  He’d tried not to take note of Dee at work, but he’d been into the office area a couple of times. She’d moved herself and lazy Vince out into the reception area, and she’d used a camera to take action shots of everyone at work in the factory, then had them blown-up, framed and hung on the walls. He’d heard on the grapevine that she was looking into the distribution issues, and that she was thinking of rebranding the place. This was all good news, changes he agreed with and acts he admired. But that was just it, he didn’t want to admire her. It was bad enough that she was drop-dead gorgeous and living in his house; he didn’t need to think of her as a smart and industrious person too. He wished she’d turned out to be another clueless suit from the city.

  That was reason he’d been rude to her and had kept her at arms-length. It wasn’t because she’d done anything to deserve it. It was because he needed to. Keeping her at a distance would help him sleep at night.

  When he got to the factory, he jumped from the car, locked it and strode towards the entrance. Just inside the door of the factory office was one of those coffee vending machines that served stuff that was only marginally better than what you could make for yourself at home. Trav always bought one, though, and for that express purpose, he stored change in the console of his car like a squirrel stores nuts.

  He filled the slot with coins and pushed the button for a flat white just as Pete appeared. Trav noted immediately that Pete had a noticeable spring in his step and was beaming widely, both attributes an anomaly so early on a workday.

  ‘What are you so flippin’ chipper about?’ Travis asked, glancing back at the heavenly, hot fluid filling his cup.

  ‘Chloe’s pregnant!’ Pete shot out, adding yet another wide smile.

  Travis lifted his head to face his friend. ‘You’re kidding!’

  ‘Not one bit. She took the test last night and again this morning. It’s happening, brother.’

  Travis’s dropped jaw soon transformed into a grin. He let his coffee be and made for his friend with arms outstretched.

  ‘That’s so awesome,’ he said, wrapping Pete in a mighty man-hug. ‘So then, when is she due to have the baby?’

  ‘February.’

  ‘Wow.’ Travis lowered his tone as other workers began to filter into the space. ‘So, I didn’t even know you guys were trying.’

  Pete shrugged. ‘We weren’t. Not seriously. A couple of months back, we decided to stop trying not to fall pregnant. Chloe wanted to leave it to fate, and I liked the idea of having lots of sex.’

  Travis laughed. ‘I’ll bet. Well, congratulations. Let me buy you a coffee. I’ll get you a beer at the pub tonight, too.’

  Pete nodded. ‘Good deal.’ He waited as Travis fossicked in his pocket for more change. ‘So, what’s it like?’

  Travis raised an eyebrow. ‘The coffee? It’s shit, but better than nothing, you know that.’

  ‘I mean, what’s it like being a dad?’

  ‘Oh,’ Travis said, handing Pete the first flat white. ‘It’s tough. You don’t get to choose … well, anything really for the first few years. It’s all about them. The kid, I mean. But you know, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You can’t repl
ace the love you feel for a child with anything else. There’s not a thing on earth that compares to it.’

  Pete took a sip of his coffee as he looked at Trav with solemn eyes. ‘I know I’m going to love the baby. It’s the hard work, the lack of sleep and the feeding and all of that. That’s the stuff that scares me.’

  ‘Like I said, it’s tough. But you and Chloe have each other. You can pick up the slack when she’s had enough and vice versa.’

  Pete’s gaze softened. ‘I know you never got to have that, mate.’

  Travis shrugged. ‘Kim was Kim. I had Mum to help, and now Annie is all grown-up. Almost.’

  Pete laughed. ‘Those six years flew by.’

  Travis nodded and gave Pete a closed-lipped smile. ‘Sure did.’

  Memories of baby Annie flooded his senses. His palm tingled as he remembered the imprint of her round, sweet-scented head resting perfectly in his hand. He had loved her toothless, milky yawns, and the way her pink toes had curled over the tops of her feet. His eyes stung as he recalled the endless, relentless sleep deprivation. Those early weeks had been hard, but at the end of each day, and sometimes in the middle of the night, Travis had been overwhelmed by his feelings for that perfect, precious little being. He still marvelled at if from time to time, especially when he thought about babies. He was happy that his oldest friend would soon get to experience these things.

  He knew Pete would be spared many of the hardships Travis had faced in the years after Annie’s birth. Life had been hard, made harder still by Kim’s inability to stay on track. Travis remembered those days as being filled with two sentiments—an obsession with survival, and the determination to ensure that Annie had the life she deserved, a life that was protected from Kim’s bull. Travis wasn’t too proud to admit that he’d failed in that task at times, but still he slept well at night knowing he’d done the best he could by his daughter.