‘Now, you listen here, Dee. This is a fantastic opportunity! You need to take it. Think of your future. Need I remind you that you don’t have a husband’s income to fall back on?’
‘No, Dad, you don’t need to remind me. I am aware. I’m just not sure if that’s the way I want to go.’
‘Well, which other way would you go? Sounds like a no-brainer to me.’
Dee ran her fingers along her scalp. She never should have answered the phone. The truth was, of course she’d take the job. It was the right thing to do. It was her dream, all packaged up with a bow. All she had to do was reach out and accept it.
She just didn’t want her parents to bask in the glory of her success. Not when there was so much about her current situation they didn’t understand. That was the thing about her parents—they always wanted her to understand them, to heed their advice. They never cared about what was important to her. They never bothered to ask her what she thought, or how she felt.
‘It might sound like a no-brainer to you, Dad, but I’m going to need some time to think about it.’
She could hear her father’s blustering complaints coming down the line, but she didn’t care. She’d said what she had to say, so she hung up.
32
Annie, Travis and Dee joined Dianne in her kitchen. They had laid out the fish and chips on the table and opted not to use plates at Travis’s insistence. The food was stodgy and comforting, just what Dee needed to settle the emotions that had been raging around her body over the past few days.
‘I’m so glad you’re all here,’ Dianne said. ‘It’s been a busy few days, hasn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ said Annie. ‘I’ve been very busy at school. We’ve been learning about subtraction.’
‘Well,’ Dee said, ‘I think that means you’ve really earned these fish and chips.’
‘But don't even think about asking for ice cream,’ Travis added, brows raised.
‘But ice cream is perfect after fish and chips!’ Annie protested.
In Dee’s opinion, Annie had a point, but she didn’t want to argue with Travis.
‘You’re not eating much, Mum,’ Travis noted.
Dee had noticed the same thing. Dianne had been picking at her food. By Dee's reckoning, she’d only eaten two, maybe three, chips.
‘I had a big lunch,’ Dianne said.
Travis looked suspicious and Dee couldn’t blame him. There was something not quite right about Dianne’s colour, but Travis let the topic rest and the conversation turned to Vince.
‘Have you checked your phone?’ Travis asked. ‘Any news? Have they charged him yet? Have they picked up Dean?’
Dee pulled her phone from her handbag and glanced at it. ‘Oh, there is something.’
She used a napkin to wipe the grease from her hands and lifted the phone for a closer look. She had a message from Mr Rogers—Ethan, Maria had said, was his first name.
Vince, ex-manager Gary Holman, Dean and Peter all charged with commercial trafficking.
Dee looked up at Travis. ‘They’ve charged them.’
‘Oh dear,’ Dianne said.
‘I better go and call Chloe,’ Travis said, grabbing his phone and heading towards the hallway.
Annie, having eaten almost her body weight in fish and chips, declared, ‘And I better go and watch some TV.’
Her voice was so serious and cute, none of them could resist. ‘Off you go,’ Dianne said.
‘I’ll clean up,’ Dee stated.
Dianne smiled. ‘We’ll do it together.’
It only took a minute or two to gather the paper the fish and chips had been wrapped in and to wipe the table down.
‘You know,’ Dianne said, ‘I’ve always thought this place would make a wonderful bed and breakfast.’
Dee looked at her, frowning. Dianne had spoken as if they’d discussed the possibility before.
‘I’m sure it would,’ she replied, though she had no idea where the original comment had come from. She racked her brains, thinking of past conversations she’d shared with Dianne. Had they discussed a bed and breakfast? Dee remembered gushing about the beauty of the house a number of times, but she didn’t think she’d ever mentioned that it would make a good bed and breakfast. In fact, she’d never really thought of that as a possibility.
She looked around the kitchen and ran her eyes along the hallway, which was lined with several bedrooms. It was true; it wouldn’t take much to turn a beautiful old place like this into an attractive bed and breakfast.
Dee hadn’t known Dianne for long, but she knew enough of her to guess that perhaps she was trying to plant a seed. Dee figured she’d play along, why not?
‘Dianne, surely you’re not in any state to run a bed and breakfast by yourself.’
‘No, no. I have no intention of opening a bed and breakfast. I was only thinking that whoever ended up with this place might like to think about it as a possibility.’
‘Aren’t Travis and his brother going to end up with this place? Travis isn’t a bad cook. He makes a good spaghetti bolognaise and a decent tray of nachos, but I can’t really picture him running a bed and breakfast, can you?’
Dianne let out a wistful sigh. ‘Oh, not without help. He’d need someone who knew what they were doing to help him figure it out.’
Dee had to laugh. Dianne’s intention was overt. Dee had to give her points for that, and who could blame her? All the woman wanted, was to go to her grave with the peace of knowing what would become of her children and grandchild, and what would become of her house. Dee supposed if she were in the same position, she’d be doing the same thing. Looking for closure or at least some sense of certainty.
‘Well, who would be willing to help Travis run a bed and breakfast?’ Dee asked playfully.
Dianne could clearly tell Dee was on to her. She smiled widely. ‘That’s the thing, I don’t know. I was hoping you would be able to tell me.’
Dianne’s eyes were alive with hope and Dee didn’t have the nerve to string her along any longer.
‘Dianne, there is a really good chance I won’t be staying in Mason Valley.’
Dianne looked Dee right in the eye. ‘You can’t say that for sure. You might grow to love it. You just need to give it more time. Travis is a hard nut to crack but—’
‘Dianne, stop.’
Dee didn’t know how to tell Dianne that, in a way, she did already love the valley—at least, she loved some of the people who lived here—but she needed to be honest. A month living in a new town and falling for a guy and his little girl was not a realistic foundation on which to base a future. Dee had worked for the best part of twenty-five years, building a career of which she could be proud, that supported her and helped her grow as a businesswoman and a person. There was no way she would throw that away after spending a month in a town she barely knew—no matter how hot the guy, or how adorable his daughter. It wasn’t fair to expect her to do so, either.
Granted, she had shared amazing sex with Travis and there was an undeniable connection between them, but there’d been no declarations from either party. The time they’d spent together was on the back of an intense, future-altering situation. She didn’t even know how Travis felt about her. He could’ve been using her as sexual stress-relief.
She dismissed that thought from her mind as quickly as it entered. No, they hadn’t discussed the future or their feelings, but in her heart of hearts, Dee knew Travis would never use her. He just wasn’t that kind of person.
She longed to tell Dianne about the job offer she’d received from the Olsen’s, partly because she wanted to be honest with this woman who’d been nothing but warm and loving towards her, but also because she wanted her help. She needed advice on how to talk to Travis and Annie about the fact that she’d be moving on.
But Dee thought better of it. Dianne was not the right person to talk to in this situation. Besides, something was urging her to tell Travis before anyone else. It was weird, but she wanted to share her news wit
h him, even though it meant she’d be leaving.
Annie dominated the conversation on the way home. She chatted to them about school, her friends and the new trick she’d learned with her skipping rope.
‘I should really show you my trick when we get home,’ she said.
‘You should really go to bed when we get home,’ Travis replied.
‘Dad, you are seriously the fun police today.’
Dee chuckled. ‘Annie, it’s the middle of the week. You’ve had fish and chips, some time at Grandma’s house and you get to go to bed late. I wouldn’t push your luck,’ she warned.
True to his word, as soon as they arrived home, Travis got Annie ready for bed. Annie bid Dee good night and gave her one of her warm, strawberry-scented hugs.
‘See you in the morning, gorgeous girl,’ Dee told her.
‘Not if I see you first!’
While Travis tucked Annie into bed, Dee warmed herself by the lounge room heater. She was beyond exhausted. Her eyes felt heavy, her skin was grainy and dry and a headache was brewing behind her eyelids. She longed for sleep, but she needed to speak to Travis first.
She had neither the endurance nor the patience to beat around the bush, so when Travis entered the room, she told him straight out.
‘The company is moving me on. Next week will be my last week in Mason Valley.’
Travis remained silent. He rammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and inspected the lounge room floor.
Eventually, he shrugged. ‘Figures, you’re too good for this place.’
‘That’s not true, Trav. I’ve never felt like that, and I hope that I never made you or anyone else here think I was better than them, or the valley.’
‘I guess I thought you’d be here for longer. I mean, I knew you wouldn’t stay forever, that you’d move on eventually, I just didn’t think it would be so soon. You’ve only been here a month.’
‘It was never the plan to move me so soon,’ she confessed, ‘but with all the stuff with Vince and Pete and the others, I guess the company needs me to focus on other things.’
‘They’re shutting the factory down, aren’t they?’ Travis asked, a distinct edge to his voice. His eyes were glazed. He looked so distant.
It pained Dee to think of Travis losing his job. It felt as though someone were gouging at her chest with a sharp object.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It’s possible.’
Travis shifted his gaze from the floor to the ceiling and rolled his eyes.
‘This is been the worst week of my life,’ he said. ‘God, I’d love to smack Vince in the face right now.’
Like her, he looked tired, as though the events of the last few days had sucked the life from him. Perhaps, if he’d had the energy, he might have looked sad or angry. Instead, he looked resigned, as if her leaving town was just another inevitable punch in a long line of body blows.
‘No offence to you, of course,’ he said. ‘Some parts of the week were not so bad.’
‘None taken,’ she said. ‘But I do think we need to have a conversation about us.’
He shook his head, but his worn expression gave nothing away. ‘Dee, you don’t need to do that. You don’t need to explain anything to me. What we had … what we did was amazing. It was cool, but it was what it was. I didn’t ask for any guarantees and I didn’t give any to you. We have nothing to discuss.’
Dee didn’t know whether she loved his answer, or hated it. He was giving her permission to go, no strings attached, no guilt. On paper, Dee had hit the jackpot. She’d got to have amazing sex with a hot guy and every dream she had for her career had just come true. Why then, did she feel so lousy? She really was in love with Travis. She’d admitted as much to Maria and to herself this morning. But that was before. Before Christian Olsen had ridden in on his Norwegian horse and offered her the future of her dreams.
She pictured it, then, her future in the Mornington Peninsula and beyond. Working. Living a fun, prosperous life. It was the dream she’d imagined in high school, when she’d wanted to be Amanda from Melrose Place. She’d wanted to wear snappy, sexy skirt suits and boss people around. She wanted to live the life of a powerful, fulfilled, single woman. So, she had the hots for Travis and she fancied herself in love with him. Was that a good enough reason to second-guess her choice? The choice that really was—as much as she hated to use her father’s words—a no-brainer?
It was Annie. Her feelings of lousiness all stemmed from having to leave Annie. That had to be it. Her eyes welled at the thought of leaving her six-year-old friend. She’d spent every morning and many evenings with Annie, and it was fair to say, in the early stages of Dee’s stay in Mason Valley, Annie had been her only true friend.
‘Do you mind if I FaceTime Annie sometimes?’ she asked Travis.
Perhaps if she could foster some sort of long-distance relationship with Annie, leaving might not hurt so much.
Travis grimaced. ‘I don't know, Dee. Annie’s had a lot of upheaval in her life. A lot of inconsistencies. I’d need to think about it.’
Dee nodded. She would accept his decision, whatever it was. It would kill her not to see or speak to Annie, but Travis was her father and Dee had to respect his wishes.
‘I’ll miss you, too, Trav.’ It was out of her mouth before she could stop it.
He smiled, but it wasn’t one of his wide, smouldering smiles. It was sad and distant.
‘And I will miss you,’ he said.
33
The remainder of Dee’s week was filled with familiar routine, only now that she knew it was all going to end, she savoured it even more. She told Mrs Potts to take the rest of the week off and all of the following week. Mrs Potts had been extremely put out, but only until Dee offered to pay the weekly fee as usual.
‘I’ll still pay you,’ Dee explained. ‘You just won’t need to walk with Annie. I’m going to work a little later.’
The idea of getting something for nothing seemed to make the old woman suspicious and she eyed Dee with a great amount of curiosity.
‘Suit yourself,’ she croaked.
Annie was rapt with the idea. ‘Can you take me every single day for the rest of my life so I don’t have to walk with cranky Mrs Potts?’
‘I can’t. Just this week and next week.’
She didn’t have the courage to tell Annie she was leaving. Not yet. She figured she’d wait until the weekend or maybe a few days before she left. She didn’t want to cause Annie any distress, but she also wanted to allow her the opportunity to get used to the idea.
They sang the Frozen song on the way to school. Dee took great pride in her ability to hit the high notes, and according to Annie, she sounded “just like Elsa”.
When they finished the song, they strolled along, hand in hand.
‘Are you and Dad going to get married?’ Annie asked.
Dee nearly choked. ‘Um, Annie, what makes you ask that?’
‘I told Marley that I wanted you to be my mum, and she said that the only way you can be my mum is if you and Daddy get married. So, can you please get married to Dad?’
Dee stopped and turned to face Annie. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.
‘People can’t just get married, Annie.’
‘Can so. I know what you need to get. I can write a list for you, so you’ll know exactly. You need a white dress, a cake, a flower girl—that will be me. You can also get me to make the cake, but if you do, I’ll probably just ask Grandma to help me because sometimes I get eggshells in the batter, so she needs to do that part.’
Dee crouched down and looked Annie right in the eyes. ‘Annie, honey, people need to be in love before they can get married.’
‘Yes.’
‘And, your dad and I are … we are just friends.’
‘No, see, that’s now, but you and Dad are like Anna and Kristoff from Frozen. You think you’re just friends, but you’re actually supposed to get married. Me and Marley figured it out yesterday.’ Annie
tilted her head to the side. ‘Or maybe it was the day before.’
Dee worked hard to keep the smile from her face. Annie’s innocence and the simplicity of her logic was adorable. How could Dee explain things without bursting that perfect bubble Annie was living in?
‘What if we don’t get married, Annie? What if we just stayed friends?’
Annie shot Dee an incredulous look. ‘That would be so dumb.’
Dee asked Travis to gather the staff in the break room. The absence of both Vince. Dean and Pete had already caused rumours to circulate, and Dee knew she couldn’t hold off addressing the employees of Olsen Paper any longer. Not wanting to panic the staff, she’d decided not to mention anything about the factory closure until she had more details to offer.
She began by thanking everyone for coming and praising them for the hard work they put in each day.
‘I have worked with many teams and a range of employees across the course of my career, and I have to say, this is one of the most hard-working and committed teams I have seen.’
As she took in the faces of the workers, she became acutely aware of the possible difficulties they were about to face. For many of them, the factory was like a second home—the place where they spent the majority of their days—and it contained the core of their social group. More importantly, the factory provided their livelihood, and there was a good chance they were about to lose it all.
Dee took a deep breath. It seemed as though she’d spent half her week preparing herself for difficult conversations. Her insides still rolled about, a by-product of nerves. These conversations, despite their increasing frequency, weren’t getting any easier.
She couldn’t focus on the possible closure of the factory, not now. She needed to explain the circumstances that led to members of staff being arrested, and if she dropped in another piece of devastating news, it would diminish the seriousness of the situation. She didn’t want to cause panic without sound reason.
Winter in Mason Valley Page 20
