Saving Grace

by Fiona McCallum

  ‘Dunno, but come on, let’s get you home. Are you sure you don’t want a hand with the dishes, Em?’

  ‘Absolutely. I’m not tired enough to go to bed yet so it’ll give me something to do.’

  Emily was still waving at their tail-lights when she heard the distinctive tone of her mobile phone echoing through the almost silent house. She saw her cousin Liz’s name on the display as she pressed the button to accept the call.

  ‘Hi Liz.’

  ‘How’s things? All settled into your ghastly house?’

  Emily smiled, picturing Liz using two fingers to indicate quotation marks. ‘Yep. As a matter of fact, I’ve just seen my first dinner guests off.’

  ‘Sounds like the B&B is open! So, do you have somewhere for me and my friend Jake to sleep yet?’

  ‘Depends if you mean together or separate.’

  ‘Separate, definitely separate. He’s lovely but really not my type – way too nice!’

  ‘Well, I’ve got a spare room with twin single beds and another empty room that I could put a swag in – if one of you could cope with that.’

  ‘That would be fine – he’s terribly easygoing. As I said, too nice.’

  Emily wondered how being easygoing made someone too nice.

  ‘So when can I expect you?’ She didn’t think for a second that her cousin would ever actually turn up. Elizabeth was strictly a funerals, weddings, christenings visitor, and usually only then because it was easier than dealing with her mother’s silent treatment.

  ‘We thought we’d try for a quick visit before Christmas. Saturday week – is that too soon?’

  Emily’s attention snapped back to her phone conversation. ‘Seriously?!’

  ‘Yep, is that okay?’

  ‘Absolutely. It’ll be great to see you. Are you driving or do I need to pick you up from Lincoln?’ As she said it, Emily hoped they’d make their own way. Now that she was settled, she was watching her pennies like a hawk. Forty thousand dollars wouldn’t last long if she was filling up on petrol every week.

  ‘Jake wants to do the whole road trip catastrophe. And don’t worry, we’re not coming to eat you out of house and home either. We’ll stock up in town on the way.’

  Emily didn’t realise she was holding her breath until she heard it escape as a sigh. She put her hand over the mike of the phone.

  ‘We’ll aim to get to Wattle Creek in time to catch the shops then we’ll call for directions. You know what I’m like with maps.’

  ‘Sounds perfect. Can’t wait.’

  ‘Okay, I’d better get going – heading out to dinner.’

  Emily checked her watch. It was just after nine o’clock – nine-thirty Melbourne time. The thought of waiting that late to go out – let alone eat – made her stomach grumble in sympathy. She hoped Liz and this Jake fellow would be happy to eat at six-ish while they stayed with her.

  ‘Okay, see you soon.’ As she hung up, Emily suddenly realised Liz hadn’t said how long they would be staying. ‘Stocking up’ sounded like they were planning for more than a couple of days.

  Standing at the sink, she found she was genuinely excited at the prospect of visitors. It was another thing to look forward to and to plan for.

  Thinking of which, she’d better have her parents around to dinner. She decided on Sunday night – while Liz and Jake were there to run interference. Liz was more than capable of holding her own with Enid, and her mother was sure to be on her best behaviour in Jake’s unfamiliar company.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Emily leapt up from the kitchen table at hearing a vehicle approaching. She’d been deep in her book.

  Even with the rest of the house done, she’d been spending most of her idle time in the kitchen instead of the lounge. The room was lighter and more airy, and it also had a better energy or something – it just felt more welcoming.

  Heading to the door, she suddenly felt a little nervous about greeting her first guests – even if they were her cousin Elizabeth and her friend Jake. She looked about her for signs the house wasn’t ready. Ridiculous, really – she’d spent days manically clearing, positioning and repositioning furniture and knick-knacks, being short of anything better to do.

  She’d sent out résumés and pestered a number of local businesses for a job by phone, but lingering caution from the global financial crisis and fears of a looming recession seemed to have a firm hold on the town. Emily had finally given up phoning when an old family friend jokingly suggested that if she didn’t stop he might have to take out a restraining order. Thank God the conversation had occurred on the phone because she’d turned tomato red with embarrassment.

  She was frantically rubbing her palms down her jeans as a four-door silver hatchback, covered in a layer of caramel-coloured dust, came to a stop just beyond the verandah.

  Liz opened the passenger’s door, and a man emerged from the driver’s side. He wore denim jeans that hugged his long legs, dark brown leather dress boots, and a plain navy rugby top with the R.M. Williams logo on it. His hair was dark with a sparse peppering of grey.

  Emily bounded down the steps to meet them while Grace whined at the gate, upset at being confined. She felt dreadful about it, but until she knew how this friend of Liz’s felt about dogs, it had to be done.

  ‘Brilliant to see you,’ Liz said, embracing her cousin in a tight, quick hug. ‘Love the new haircut,’ she added, giving Emily’s hair a flick with her finger.

  ‘Thanks,’ Emily said.

  ‘Hi, I’m Jake Lonigan.’

  ‘Emily Oliphant. Welcome,’ Emily said, accepting his smooth hand and allowing him to pump hers firmly but gently.

  ‘What a gorgeous dog,’ Jake said, wandering over to Grace. ‘What’s his name?’

  ‘He’s a she – Grace. She’s normally a house dog, but I locked her up in case you had a phobia or allergy, or something.’

  ‘I love dogs. Come on, girl, out you come,’ he said, opening the gate. ‘Aren’t you just lovely?’

  Having been freed, Grace now lay on her back in the hopes of having her belly scratched. After a few moments obliging, Jake stood up.

  ‘Come on, we’d better be sociable.’ He went to help unload the car and Grace followed at his heel.

  ‘Looks like you’ve found a new best friend.’

  Seeing everything on the verandah – suitcases, bags of groceries, a large esky and boxes of wine and beer – Emily found it hard to believe they’d managed to fit everything into the small car. How long are they staying? Christmas was only two weeks away.

  ‘Just leave everything here while I show you around,’ she said, standing aside at the threshold to let them in.

  ‘Em, it’s just perfect,’ Liz said as Emily led them into the house. ‘I don’t know what your mother is on about. Sure, it’s rustic and a bit old-fashioned, but it’s lovely: the setting, the house, everything.’

  ‘Well, don’t get too excited; there’s no air-conditioning, so you’d better hope this cool weather lasts,’ Emily warned.

  There had been a few really hot days in the last week, but the position of the house seemed to attract the cooling gully breezes at night. And just in case, she’d set up three old pedestal fans in the bedrooms.

  ‘Bags the room with the French doors,’ Liz suddenly yelled, pushing Jake aside to run down the hall to claim her room.

  ‘You’d swear she thinks she’s back at Brownie camp,’ Jake said, grinning.

  Emily smiled back. She noticed for the first time just how attractive he was. Not drop-dead gorgeous, but handsome in a warm, friendly sense. He had lovely, dark hazelnut-coloured eyes with very long lashes. What was his story? In her experience, nice guys over thirty were usually married, gay, or both. She couldn’t see a wedding ring, anyway.

  ‘Bathroom is out this way. Feel free to shower if you’re feeling grotty from your trip,’ Emily said as they continued down to the kitchen.

  ‘We’ve only driven from Whyalla – we stayed there last night – so it wasn
’t too arduous a journey. I’d love a coffee, though. I’m happy to get it; just point me in the right direction,’ he said, looking around him.

  ‘You plonk yourself down. I’ll do it. I was about to put the kettle on, anyway.’

  Emily filled the kettle and turned around to find Liz in the doorway.

  ‘We’re having coffee. Do you want one?’

  ‘Yes please,’ she replied. ‘Hey, are these Gran’s buttons? What happened to the jar?’

  Emily moved to the far end of the bench where Elizabeth stood staring at the mass of buttons spread out on a tea towel. She’d got them out the day before to clean them, having run out of things to do.

  ‘Yes. The jar broke a couple of weeks ago and I’m trying to make sure there are no more bits of glass. Figured I may as well give them a bit of a rinse while I was at it.’

  ‘What happened? I’ve never seen them out of the jar.’

  ‘Somehow it fell off the bench the first night I was here. It scared the living daylights out of me!’ Emily said with a laugh.

  ‘I can imagine,’ Jake said.

  ‘I still don’t know what happened. I doubt mice could have done it, not that I’ve seen any on the bench. I wondered for a moment if perhaps there was a ghost, but I haven’t seen any other signs,’ she added, shrugging.

  ‘So it belonged to your gran?’

  ‘Yes. She gave it to me the day before she died, so it’s pretty special to me. I’ve only had it a little while and I’m really annoyed that I let it get broken.’

  ‘Well, it’s not like you did it on purpose. I’m sure she would understand,’ Jake said, offering her a sympathetic smile.

  ‘Wow,’ Liz said. ‘There are all sorts of things in there: leather, fabric, bone. I had no idea.’

  ‘I need to find a replacement – it was an old Bushells Coffee jar from the thirties and I want another one the same.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Elizabeth said, running her hands through the buttons. ‘Are you going to take out the paperclips and other non-buttony bits and pieces?’

  ‘No. Call me sentimental, but I want to keep it all exactly how it was.’

  ‘What are these little pebbles? There are a few of them.’

  ‘What pebbles?’ Emily asked, appearing at Liz’s shoulder.

  ‘These.’ Liz held up a small, smoky blue-grey stone with an odd lustre to its surface.

  Emily took it from her and examined it. It was cold and smooth – definitely a stone. Most likely quartz, though the colour and texture seemed a little unusual. She frowned. Something stirred at the back of her mind.

  ‘No idea,’ she said, handing it back. ‘Probably something Gran collected near the end – she became quite the bowerbird. You remember her place. The drawers were full of all sorts of odd, irrelevant things.’ She turned to Jake to explain. ‘You know those little square plastic bread ties? There would have been dozens of them.’

  ‘Wow, look at the colour,’ Elizabeth said, holding it up to a beam of sun catching the edge of the kitchen window.

  ‘Hmm,’ Emily said, taking another look. There was that odd feeling of a memory, or something struggling to be known. But still she couldn’t grasp it.

  ‘I loved how sure of everything she was,’ Liz said absently, placing the stone back on the pile. ‘Well, you know, before …’

  ‘Yep, me too,’ Emily said, smiling. ‘It wasn’t that she was stubborn, was it? Just that she took the time to form an opinion, and once she had, it was final – end of story. I loved that about her; you always knew where you stood. God, I miss her’

  ‘Well, I didn’t spend as much time with her, but I think it’s great you’re going to keep all these together and in the same sort of jar,’ Elizabeth said wistfully, giving the pile one last caress.

  ‘You never used to be so sentimental,’ Emily said, looking at her cousin.

  ‘Must be a sign of age. Now I really do need that coffee,’ she said, moving to the kettle at the other end of the bench.

  ‘Okay, but I’ll do it – you sit,’ Emily instructed.

  ‘If you insist,’ Liz said, settling into a chair. ‘So, how are you, Em? Really?’

  ‘Pretty good.’ She wasn’t sure she wanted to be having this discussion with Jake in the room. While Emily and Elizabeth were discussing Granny Mayfair, he’d gone across to pat Grace, who was sitting on her bed in the corner. He was still over there now, but definitely within earshot.

  ‘I haven’t found a job yet, but Dad and I only finished here a couple of days before you rang.’

  ‘You could always come to Melbourne. The offer’s open.’

  ‘Thanks, but I don’t think I could leave here now I’ve got settled.’

  ‘Well, the house certainly has a good energy about it.’

  ‘It does indeed,’ Jake said, returning to the table.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  ‘Are you guys hungry at all?’ Emily asked as she put some bread into the toaster. ‘I was going to have some toast and apricot jam. I didn’t get around to having any lunch.’

  ‘We had lunch, but I’d love some if it’s your famous apricot jam,’ Elizabeth said.

  ‘Well, I don’t know about famous, but I did make it. It’s Gran’s recipe.’

  ‘Yum, my favourite,’ Jake said, licking his lips.

  ‘When did you ever have our gran’s apricot jam?’ Liz asked, looking puzzled.

  ‘I haven’t, silly. I mean apricot jam is my favourite. Honestly, Em, sometimes you’d swear this girl was blonde.’

  ‘Yes, well, we’re all allowed our ditsy moments, Mr Where-are-my-sunglasses-oh-they’re-on-my-head.’

  ‘Touché,’ Jake said. ‘Okay, thank you, Elizabeth. Truce?’

  They all started chuckling. It really was going to be fun having them here, Emily thought, spreading the first two slices. ‘Now, before you get too settled, you need to know I’ve invited Mum and Dad for dinner tomorrow night. So now’s your last chance to escape, otherwise I’ll assume you’re committed to helping me entertain them.’

  ‘She really means playing buffer – Auntie Enid can be a little scary,’ Elizabeth explained to Jake.

  ‘Oh, right.’

  Emily caught Liz’s eye. ‘She’s just a little, um, intense – that’s probably the best way to put it.’

  ‘Just the usual mother-daughter dramas, then,’ Jake said with a dismissive wave of his hand. ‘I do have a sister, remember,’ he said to Elizabeth. ‘I will be more than happy to serve as a distraction. I promise to be on my best behaviour and to be utterly charming,’ he added, batting his eyelashes at Emily.

  ‘Don’t do that. She’ll have you two married off before the week’s out,’ Elizabeth said with a laugh.

  ‘Hmm, could be fun,’ he said, flashing Emily a cheeky, boyish smile.

  Emily blushed and looked away.

  ‘I’ll give you a full briefing later,’ Elizabeth said to Jake.

  Emily felt a small stab of annoyance at her cousin speaking disrespectfully about her mother. It was fine for her to be annoyed with Enid, but Elizabeth was different. She returned her attention to the toaster, where the second lot of toast had just popped out.

  ‘God, this jam is amazing!’ Jake said, swallowing his first bite.

  ‘Yeah, Em. This is even better than what Gran used to make – even in her heyday.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Emily said, smiling coyly.

  ‘This would go down a treat at the South Melbourne markets,’ Jake said.

  ‘I’m glad you like it,’ she said.

  ‘Seriously, we should take some back and see if it sells,’ Jake said.

  Was he just flattering her?

  ‘So, Liz tells me you want to do some photography while you’re here …’ she said.

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘What of? Maybe I can help you find the right spots if I know what you’re looking for.’

  Jake shrugged. ‘Old buildings, farmland, anything really. I’m just dabbling. Still trying to figure out w
here my talent lies, and if I have any, for that matter.’

  ‘Oh, right, fair enough,’ Emily said, not quite sure what to say. She thought Liz had brought a professional photographer to stay, not some guy in the midst of a midlife crisis.

  ‘I think you should carry on with the series of Melbourne landmarks, since they’re selling so well,’ Liz said.

  So he really is a photographer, Emily thought, feeling relieved, before wondering why it really mattered, anyway. Who am I to judge? It wasn’t like she was anywhere near sorting out her own life. She pushed her empty plate aside and leaned back from the table.

  ‘I probably will,’ Jake said, ‘but I just want to see what else I’m good at.’

  ‘You know, I think I left my phone in the car. I’ll go take a look,’ Liz said, suddenly getting up. ‘Won’t be long.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll get the slow cooker organised. I hope lamb shanks are okay for dinner. Simple fare around here, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Sounds perfect,’ Liz said from the door.

  ‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Jake said, gathering up the plates and mugs and taking them over to the sink.

  ‘There’s really no need,’ Emily said. ‘Feel free to put your feet up in the lounge or take a nap or something.’

  ‘Can I at least stay and watch? Unless of course your recipe is secret. I’d hate for you to have to kill me,’ he added with a chuckle.

  Emily let out a nervous giggle. ‘Of course not. I’m just not used to having an audience – I get a bit flustered. I’m used to having a husband watching the footy on TV while I slave away over a hot stove …’ Shit, did I actually say that out loud? Emily reddened, wishing she could take back the words. God, she sounded like such a bloody victim. She was grateful for the cool rush of air as she gathered all the vegetables from the fridge’s crisper.

  She returned to the bench to find Jake with rubber gloves on, searching the cupboard underneath the sink for the bottle of bright green detergent.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said, smiling at him.

  ‘Least I can do. We’re not here to have you wait on us hand and foot.’

  So how long are you here? The words were on Emily’s lips but she couldn’t quite seem to push them any further.