Mara's Choice

by Anna Jacobs

  When she got up, she found that once again she was the only one awake. Well, Rufus was living with Jenn now and Peggy was in hospital, so of course the house was going to be quieter. No one now had to rush to get to work.

  She had a nectarine as a breakfast starter, murmuring in pleasure as juice dripped down her chin. She was just wondering whether to scramble some eggs for breakfast when Aaron came down. He was looking bleary-eyed, as if he hadn’t slept well.

  ‘You need a cup of coffee. Sit down and I’ll make it.’

  ‘Would you mind bringing it to me in the office? Something cropped up overnight.’

  ‘Not Peggy?’

  ‘No, no. Emma’s just phoning the hospital now to check on her but they’d have contacted us if there were any problems. No, this is to do with my business. Things are getting rather complicated.’

  Looking worried, he walked away before she could ask what exactly had happened. It must be something serious, she decided as she waited for the kettle to boil.

  As she was making the coffee, Emma came down to join her, looking happier than yesterday.

  ‘Is Peggy all right?’

  ‘Yes. And they’ve managed to persuade her to eat several small snacks. Isn’t that wonderful?’

  Fancy having to be persuaded to eat, Mara thought, but didn’t say it. She knew she was lucky with her metabolism when so many people were fighting weight gain.

  She finished making the coffee. ‘Aaron asked me to take this into his office. Do you want to do that or shall I?’

  ‘I’d better do it. He’s trying to get out of flying over to Sydney, but I doubt he’ll manage it. That’s going to upset him, because he wanted to spend as much time as possible with you.’

  Oh dear! What would she do with herself if that happened? Mara wondered.

  She waited till Emma came back to ask if anyone else would like breakfast.

  ‘Good idea. Would you mind scrambling enough for all three of us? I’m sorry to tell you Aaron has no choice about going over there. One of his key workers had already resigned and now a guy has fallen down some steps yesterday and broken his leg and one wrist. Pete’s in hospital and there’s a possible buyer for the business on the horizon who needs showing round by someone who can give explanations and answer questions.’

  ‘Oh. I see.’

  ‘I hope you’ll forgive him. Aaron’s really upset at the thought of leaving you.’

  ‘I can entertain myself. I shall be out of your hair today anyway because I’ve arranged to help Hal with clearing out his mother’s clothes.’

  ‘He seems a nice guy. Quiet but not as reclusive as his mother.’

  ‘Yes. He’s good company, so don’t worry about me.’

  ‘I wouldn’t anyway. You’re a very easy and considerate guest.’ She turned to leave then swung round. ‘Have you heard from your father yet? The English one, I mean, of course.’

  ‘No. If I don’t catch Dad later today, I’m going to ring our neighbour.’

  Mike took his new potential girlfriend out for a meal, guiding her carefully to choose the lowest calorie dishes. Gina was a bit overweight, but he could soon help her to lose the flab.

  Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be guided as to the choices on the menu, and when a huge plateful of food was placed in front of her, she ate it with relish, clearing the whole plate.

  ‘Peggy wouldn’t have eaten that much,’ he said disapprovingly. ‘Women of your age have to be careful with their weight, you know. It can creep up on people.’

  Gina leant back in her chair, looking at him thoughtfully. ‘This is bizarre. After inviting me out to dinner, you’ve spent the whole time trying to persuade me not to eat. And to make sure I don’t enjoy it to the full, putting on weight is all you’ve talked about.’

  He stiffened. ‘I do know something about nutrition. It’s a particular interest of mine.’

  ‘Is that why you’re so scrawny?’

  He scowled at her. ‘I am not scrawny. I’m lean and toned.’

  ‘You are extremely scrawny. I didn’t realise how bad till I saw you in that outfit. And actually, I didn’t know when I accepted your invitation that you were Peggy Buchanan’s ex. Someone told me your attitude to food is why she’s in hospital at the moment.’

  That startled him. ‘She’s in hospital? Are you sure? Why?’

  ‘She’s been eating so little she fainted and didn’t regain consciousness properly.’

  ‘Rubbish. Peggy has been eating very healthily for the past few months.’

  ‘Nope. She was badly malnourished. They were afraid she’d lose the baby, she was so thin.’

  He stared at her, unable to form a word, so shocked was he at the word ‘baby’.

  Gina finished off the food on her plate and stood up. ‘Thank you for my meal but I’m ending our association now. You talk a good talk when you invite someone out for dinner. But you’re very boring, the way you go on and on about food. I’m surprised your ex stayed with you for so long.’

  ‘Wait!’ he said, grabbing her arm. ‘How did you know Peggy was in hospital?’

  ‘I work there, though I shouldn’t have said anything to you. It just slipped out, you being her ex. I hope you don’t get her back and then starve the baby as well.’ She shook his hand off. ‘Do not call me again!’

  Mike sat there, shocked to the core, as she walked out.

  ‘Have you finished, sir?’

  He looked at the waitress and nodded, even though his plate was still half full, then got up and paid for the meal.

  When he got outside he sat in his car for ages before he started it up and drove slowly home.

  He spent the rest of the evening in front of a muted television, though he normally watched the late-night news avidly. Could it be true about Peggy expecting a baby? It must be. Why else would Gina say it?

  How could that possibly have happened?

  He went up to bed at his usual time, but lay awake for ages. All he could think of was that he’d have to go to the hospital in the morning and see Peggy, persuade her to get rid of it. The last thing he wanted, the very last, was to be stuck for the next twenty years paying maintenance, or even worse living with a child.

  Surely she’d see sense? She’d always been very persuadable when they were together.

  He slept badly, tossing and turning, and the night seemed interminable.

  He should have had a vasectomy years ago, then he’d have been safe. But he didn’t like the risks associated with even minor operations. And he’d always been very careful to avoid hospitals. Such sources of infection!

  Peggy must have forgotten to take the pill, damn her. That was the only explanation. She must be very fertile.

  He could fix it, would fix it. This was not going to happen.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When Mara went next door at ten a.m. precisely, Hal greeted her with a quick peck on the cheek. He was looking apprehensive and making only a poor attempt at a smile. Clearly, sorting out his mother’s clothes was a big worry for him.

  She’d not have felt the same if she had to clear out her own mother’s things because Kath didn’t own much and had everything rigidly organised. She had complained several times about the amount of ‘rubbish’ Mara insisted on keeping when she came back home, and Mara had wisely kept her suitcase and trunk locked, because she knew her mother searched her bedroom regularly.

  She hadn’t realised what a relief it would be to come to Australia, not only because she was delighted to meet her birth father but also to escape the non-stop nagging, which had been getting her down since she moved back.

  She threaded her arm through Hal’s. ‘Show me her room, then if you want to leave me to it, tell me what sort of things you might wish to keep and I’ll set them aside for you to check later. You can get on with something else meanwhile.’

  ‘I think I’d better stay with you. As far as I can work out, I may have to decide about something specific at any moment because I know so little of what she
might have in there. It’s not that I don’t trust your judgement but I can’t think what sort of things I might like to keep yet. If anything. But getting the clothes and whatever else we find sorted out will give me a good start.’

  He gave her a wry look and added, ‘Frankly, the thought of sorting through my mother’s underwear and other intimate clothes creeps me out big time. I’m being unreasonable, I know, but there you are, that’s how I feel. I don’t want to touch them, even.’

  ‘That’s all right. It won’t worry me.’

  ‘When we’ve finished, I’ll leave it to you to tell me what’s worth sending to a charity shop and what needs throwing away.’

  She looked round with interest as they walked up the broad stairs. ‘This is a beautiful house, up here as well as downstairs, even with so little furniture in it. Why is that, do you know?’

  ‘I think she only bought what she would need to live here alone. She never liked to waste money.’

  Mara stopped and gestured with one hand. ‘I love that stained glass panel in the landing window. It throws jewel colours everywhere.’

  ‘I agree. I thought at first when the lawyer told me I’d inherited it that I’d sell the house, but even after such a short time, I’m wondering whether to make it my permanent home.’

  ‘Who wouldn’t want to do that? It has a lovely atmosphere. And I envy you living close to the water, with dolphins and pelicans calling to visit. Watching the sunsets reflected in the canal would be really hard to take, too. I should think your mother enjoyed her time here greatly.’ She was pleased to see him relax a little more at that thought.

  ‘Yes. You’re right. She wrote to me every Friday and regularly mentioned that sort of thing.’ He stopped and took a deep breath. ‘Here we are.’ He opened the door and stood aside to let Mara go in first.

  ‘Oh, what a lovely set of colours in those curtains! So subtle and yet they seem to tie in with the sunshine and water outside. Do you think she designed the décor herself?’

  ‘Probably. When I was a boy, she used to earn her living in a department store helping people choose their furnishings. Creating harmonious interiors remained a minor interest of hers. But at the same time as her poetry took off, a few of her investments from the money her parents had left her also hit the jackpot, and she stopped going out to work for others. You don’t think of poets being financially savvy, do you, but she was very shrewd.’

  ‘It’s going to be such a pity if someone redoes this beautiful room.’

  He looked round. ‘The someone who makes that decision will probably be me and I wouldn’t change a thing. You’re right. It is beautiful. Only I’ll feel better coming in here once I’ve cleared her personal stuff out. It always feels as though there’s a ghost lingering in the cupboards and drawers.’

  ‘If there is, it’d be a friendly one. No one who wrote poetry as beautiful as hers could possibly be nasty.’

  He gave her a slightly surprised look. ‘You’re very perceptive. I think she’d have liked you. You seem similar to her in that you’re not nasty-minded about anything. You have such an open, friendly expression most of the time that I bet people trust you instinctively.’

  That was the sort of compliment that pleased her most. Looks could fade but character could remain vibrant till you fell off your perch. She knew one or two older neighbours in their eighties who were wonderfully alive at heart, even though they’d slowed down physically.

  ‘Well, thanks to my birth father’s generosity, I’m getting the chance to live in this beautiful place even if it’s only temporarily. Having to go back and live with my mother again when I lost my job was … well, let’s be polite and call it difficult.’

  ‘That’s being polite?’

  ‘Yes. She has a personality disorder and sets rigid rules for living for everyone. She thought I’d obey them like Dad does but I wouldn’t … couldn’t. I choose my own path through life, and that includes my own possessions and clothes.’

  ‘Why did you stay with them, then?’

  ‘The usual reason: lack of money. I’d just invested most of my savings in the raw materials for a business I was going to start up when I was made redundant. I simply couldn’t afford the expense of living in London.’

  ‘You were going to start up a business? Past tense?’

  ‘Yes. Part-time at first. Only I need to support myself till it starts making money. I was going to ask if I could change to part-time work. I’m not greedy for clothes and all that ephemeral rubbish so I don’t need a big income, but I’m rather fond of eating every day, as well as paying my rent and buying the raw materials.’

  ‘May I ask what the business was, or is?’

  She usually told people she’d reveal all when her project got going, but somehow she trusted Hal not to ridicule her secret passion, so launched into a halting explanation of the possibilities of creating artistic collectible toys, or ornaments, or whatever you called them, handmade and one-offs. She knew she had a gift for making delightful little toy creatures, had been selling them to acquaintances and online for a while. But she hadn’t been able to create and make enough to live off, let alone get ahead of herself and build up stocks.

  ‘Do you have any of them with you?’

  ‘Just one small teddy bear. He was one of the first I made with top quality materials – the very best mohair fur.’ She had lost count of the number of people who’d offered to buy him, but she could never part with him.

  ‘May I see it?’

  ‘Him.’

  ‘Sorry, him.’

  ‘You can’t be interested in luxury collectible toys?’

  ‘I’d like to see your work. And actually, I’ve always been rather fond of teddy bears.’

  ‘OK. I’ll get Archibald out to show you later.’

  He chuckled. ‘Archibald?’

  She could feel herself flushing. ‘Yes. They all seem to have names already and he became Archibald as soon as I put his face together. He’s a lilac-coloured bear wearing full evening dress. I even managed to make a top hat, though I had to leave that behind. It was too fragile to survive being crammed into a suitcase.’

  She could see that he was about to ask more questions so said firmly, ‘Now, let’s get back to these beautiful clothes.’

  Not waiting for his agreement, she began to go through the clothes hanging in the wardrobe, checking each one as she slid the hangers to and fro, in order to see them more clearly.

  He started to speak as she came to the end of them but she held up one hand to stop him and went back to the beginning, studying some of them more carefully. Some of them were not ordinary chain-store clothes.

  After a few moments’ thought she began laying the better ones out on the bed and when she’d done that, she cleared her throat to get Hal’s attention because he had crossed to the window to stare out at the water.

  He turned round. ‘Finished?’

  ‘No. Just had a thought I need to run past you. Would you be prepared to put on an online auction of your mother’s better clothes in aid of some suitable charity? Trust me, Hal, these are too expensive and beautiful to sell for peanuts in a cheapie charity shop, and most are hardly worn. Would she have minded that idea, do you think?’

  He stood with his head on one side, considering that, then walked slowly along the clothes lying on the bed, staring at them, fingering a few. When he’d finished, he looked up and beamed at her. ‘I think she’d have absolutely loved it. She always dressed exquisitely. And she had a couple of charities she supported regularly so we could give the proceeds to them. How would we arrange an auction, though?’

  ‘I have connections who could help. They’re a start-up company and they’re in the UK, but they’d be working online. They’d need a percentage of the takings because obviously they have to eat too. But they’d make far more than you ever could so that wouldn’t matter too much. They’re not greedy and a good chunk of money would go to the charity or charities you nominate.’

 
She held her breath and waited for his answer.

  ‘That’s a wonderful idea. You seem full of them.’

  ‘Full of ideas?’

  ‘Yes. A lateral thinker.’

  She dropped him a mock curtsey. ‘I always do my best to please, sir!’

  That brought one of those warm smiles to his face.

  ‘You’d better go next door, tell her yourself and say goodbye properly,’ Emma told Aaron.

  He sighed. ‘I feel so guilty at leaving her when she’s only been here for a few days.’

  ‘You won’t be away for more than a day or two, a week at most. I can look after her. She’s an easy guest.’

  ‘And you’re an easy wife to live with. Thanks for that.’ He gave her a quick hug. ‘Here goes.’

  He went next door and called a hello, but got no answer, so hammered on the glass door, staying clear of the smashed section.

  He saw Hal hurry into the living area and come across to open the patio door. ‘Hi, Aaron. Did you want Mara?’

  ‘Yes, please.’

  Hal went back into the hall and called, ‘Your father’s here to see you.’

  Mara joined them downstairs and Hal tactfully moved into the kitchen, leaving them standing together outside.

  ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t get out of flying to Sydney now Pete’s out of commission for a while. There’s too much at stake and my whole retirement plan depends on it, so I want the highest price I can get for the business. I’m so sorry to do this to you, Mara. I’ll get back here as quickly as I can, I promise. It’ll only be for a few days, if that.’

  ‘Are you taking Emma with you?’

  ‘Not this time. She’ll need to keep an eye on Peggy.’

  ‘Oh yes, of course. Well, you really don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been thinking of hiring a car and if I do that I can go out exploring the area. The road rules don’t seem to be all that different here from the ones in the UK. I had a look online at the highway code to check it out. And I’ve found a place that hires out cheapie vehicles.’

  ‘Good idea, but let me hire one for you. Or rather, Emma will arrange it. My company gets good discounts on that sort of thing.’ When she didn’t answer, he added, ‘Really. I’d like to do that for you.’