The End of Cuthbert Close

by Cassie Hamer

Absolutely. Got some hot new moves for you today!

  Can’t wait! See you soon.

  That dirty, lying cheating rat! Beth felt an urge to smash the device to the ground, but resisted. Chloe and Ethan would need it for homework and if it broke, they would ask questions and demand a replacement.

  ‘Hellooo. You there, Beth? It’s me, Cara.’ Her neighbour tapped on the glass at the back door and Beth, hands trembling, returned the iPad to its shelf before heading out of the kitchen.

  As she went to pull the door open, she glanced quickly at her fingers on the handle. It occurred to her the plain wedding band now looked quite different without its companion, the diamond solitaire. It looked lost, and lonely.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  ‘Got your make-up on?’ Cara hurried past her neighbour and into the kitchen where she deposited an esky full of ingredients on the floor.

  ‘No, no. I haven’t had time.’ Beth fidgeted with her fingers. ‘Maybe I could stay off camera? I’m not feeling so wonderful. My engagement ring seems to have gone walkabout.’

  Cara paused from unloading the food. She watched Beth, pressing her fingers into her cheekbones, as if trying to dissolve the large dark circles of fatigue under her eyes. She looked as exhausted as Cara felt. Not surprising. The past few days had been massive, with the launch, then the fire, and the rush to clean up and get cooking again in time for their first round of deliveries. At least Poppy was off her hands today at a friend’s house for a play date. Cara desperately needed a moment to catch her breath, and Poppy deserved some downtime after being dragged along for the delivery run. Still, this was the nature of starting a new business. It was tough and gruelling, but for both of their sakes – Cara’s and Beth’s – it had to succeed.

  She steered her neighbour towards the stairs. ‘Go upstairs. Put some foundation and blush on and you’ll feel a hundred times better.’ She checked her phone. ‘Alex will be here in five minutes.’

  Beth trudged up the stairs as if walking to her death. Cara watched her, feeling a prick of pity. When it came to cooking and delivering the meals, Beth was an absolute superstar. Completely in her element, chatting away about the nutritional benefits of the food to their customers, most of them frazzled young working mums who greeted Beth and Cara as if they were angels sent from heaven. ‘Thank you for this,’ most of them whispered, ferrying the food-filled styrofoam boxes inside as quietly as if they were smuggling drugs.

  ‘You’re doing something good for your family,’ Beth always assured them as they left. Cara had tried the same line, but it sounded better coming from Beth, because of her age and genuine sincerity.

  But where was that confidence today? Beth looked as if she’d seen a ghost. Probably something to do with Max. Whatever it was, Cara was sure that if Beth wanted to share it, she would.

  Cara pitched her esky onto the bench and continued to unload all the ingredients she’d need for the shoot. It had been Alex’s idea. A way to capitalise on the success of the launch and show people that Beth and Cara were exactly who they purported to be – two mums, preparing fresh and wholesome meals out of their own kitchens for other mums.

  She pulled out her phone and checked for the tenth time that morning for any messages from Will. He’d met with his brother and sister for dinner last night and promised to text her an answer.

  Nothing.

  She scrolled through the Instagram feed of pictures taken from the launch party. The wagyu pies had hit three thousand likes, and the chicken curry wasn’t far behind. She’d also loaded some shots of the neighbours eating. Soft-focus stuff, so that no one was recognisable. She started to read through the comments.

  FoodieBewdy Looks delicious!

  FranticMum Can’t wait to place an order!

  FamilyTree Amazing! Well done ladies.

  CarntCook What a beautiful party!

  TessHan Do you deliver to Melbourne?

  Cara worked her way through the list, liking and replying. Halfway down, she stopped.

  TruthTeller Don’t be fooled by the photos! I heard that one of the kids at the party got food poisoning. This backyard business is DODGY!

  Cara’s palms began to sweat. She scrolled further down.

  YourBestSelfee Thanks for the heads-up TruthTeller. Will avoid this sham at all costs.

  MumDoesRun Was just about to place an order. So glad I didn’t!

  FourMisses The last thing we need is food poisoning. All four had gastro last week. #neveragain

  PlantBaysedMumma Those pies look disgusting. No wonder everyone got sick.

  ‘Cara! Hey Cara! Open up!’

  Cara nearly dropped the phone. The banging at the front door was loud and insistent. Typical Alex. Cara opened the door, phone in hand.

  ‘Oh, shit.’ Alex had her hands on her hips. ‘I hate to say this, but you look about as crap as I feel. What’s the matter?’

  She held up the mobile. ‘Have you seen this?’

  ‘Seen what?’

  Cara passed her the phone and Alex’s eyes widened as she read through the feed. ‘What is this person even talking about? No one got sick, did they?’

  ‘I have no idea. A random hater, maybe?’

  ‘Delete and block, babe. That’s all you can do with trolls.’

  ‘What are you doing to a troll? Did I miss something?’ Beth brushed her hair as she walked down the stairs.

  ‘This.’ Cara held up the phone to Beth’s face.

  ‘Where are my reading glasses,’ she muttered.

  Cara started pacing around Beth’s living room. ‘I don’t think we can delete and block. Too many people have seen the comment.’

  ‘Come out fighting, then.’ Alex flopped onto the couch. ‘Who is this Truth Teller anyway?’

  Beth passed the phone back to Cara. ‘This is awful. Did we really make someone sick?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ said Cara. ‘We tasted everything ourselves. It was made fresh. We used gloves. Fresh chopping boards. Every food safety rule, we followed.’

  ‘Okay, so you need to deny, deny, deny. Get on the front foot against this person.’ Alex crossed her legs. ‘The best form of defence is attack. Question this person’s credibility.’

  Cara tapped away at her phone and spoke as she typed. ‘Nourish one hundred per cent denies any outbreak of food poisoning from our launch party and would like to know where your evidence is for this assertion.’

  Alex nodded approvingly. ‘Very good. Strong. Couldn’t have written it better myself.’

  Beth sat next to Alex. ‘Isn’t this illegal? To just put lies on the internet?’

  ‘A small business can sue for defamation, but it’s pretty unusual.’

  ‘Wait. Wait. They’ve responded.’ Cara held her hand in the air and started to read from the screen. ‘It says, Check out the Legally_Parenting feed.’

  Alex jumped up off the couch. ‘Shit, that’s me. I don’t get it …’ She pulled out her phone and stopped. ‘Oh crap, this is about Jasper. I posted something about him being sick and having to leave the party early, oh crap. Oh shit, shit, shit. No. I’ll delete it straight away.’

  Cara leant over her shoulder as Alex fiddled frantically with her phone.

  ‘Wait, please. I want to see it.’ Cara snatched the phone from her hands. ‘Brilliant launch party for my neighbours’ fab new catering business, Nourish. Shame our puking kid stopped us from sticking around for the mini bombe Alaskas, but we were dealing with explosions of a different kind at home. One too many wagyu pies, perhaps??!! Hashtag: Nourish. Hashtag: gastroparty. Hashtag: thejoyofparenting.’

  Cara lowered the phone. ‘How could you do this? It reads like we made him sick.’

  ‘Oh fuck, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.’ Alex’s eyes were wild. ‘Let me fix this. I’ll delete it. I’ll clarify. I’ll issue a retraction. He caught the bug from school, I have no doubt. The thing about the pies was only a joke.’ She held out her hand. ‘Please, give me the phone.’

  Beth placed her hand
gently on Cara’s arm. ‘Come on. Calm down. Alex is sorry. She made a mistake. Let her fix this.’

  Cara curled her hand tightly around the phone. ‘I know this is just a bit of fun to you, but for Beth and me, this business is our future. It has to work or we’ll lose everything.’

  ‘I do understand,’ said Alex.

  ‘How could you? You get a six-figure salary. You have a husband who would do anything for you. How could you really know what it’s like to face losing your own home?’

  ‘Believe me. I do know what it’s like to have money, and I know what it’s like to not have money.’ She spoke calmly and evenly. ‘I was the kid who always missed the excursions and had to say no to the parties because I didn’t want to turn up with a crappy gift.’ She paused. ‘I know what it’s like, as a kid, to worry about money, and I absolutely do not want that for my children, or your Poppy.’

  Alex’s eyes were reddening, and Beth looked from one woman to the other, unsure of who to comfort first. Slowly, and with one arm around Cara, she edged closer and managed to extend her other arm around Alex’s shoulder so that the three were now in a close huddle.

  Alex sighed tearily. ‘I’m fucking up everything. My kids, my job, my marriage, your business.’

  Beth squeezed her shoulder. ‘Shush now. Everything will be fine.’

  Cara felt her anger easing. She’d never seen Alex like this. So unsure of herself. She was always so strong and confident.

  She broke away from the trio. ‘Alex, what’s going on? I thought the partnership was what you wanted.’

  ‘It is. It was,’ sniffed Alex. ‘But the timing is all wrong. Look at me. Pregnant with baby number three and I can barely cope with the two I’ve already got.’

  Cara softened. ‘If anyone can do it, you can.’

  Alex gave her a teary smile. ‘But at what cost?’

  Beth ducked into the kitchen and returned with a steaming pot of tea and a plate of madeleine biscuits. Light as air, but also rich with buttery goodness. ‘You know, it seems to me, ladies, that who we should really be cross with is this Truth Teller person. Why would they want to cause such mischief?’ She set the plate down as Cara and Alex took up position on the couch next to each other.

  ‘Could be a random troll? I do occasionally get them. I’ve checked, and it seems to be a dummy account. No posts or followers.’ Cara shrugged. ‘Some people don’t need a reason to be horrible.’

  Alex reached forward for a biscuit and chewed thoughtfully. ‘It seems more pointed than that. Maybe someone who was at the party?’

  Beth looked aghast. ‘But it was all neighbours there. No one from Cuthbert Close would do this.’

  ‘Charlie Devine might,’ said Alex, collecting another madeleine. In unison, Cara and Beth looked at her inquiringly. She stopped and took the biscuit away from her mouth. ‘Think about it. She’s new to the area. She doesn’t seem to like us much, and her husband has a diet business which could be seen as direct competition for Nourish. Of course she wants you out of the way.’

  ‘But … but it’s just such a horrible thing to do,’ Beth burst out.

  ‘Not to mention the fact that their business is huge and ours is tiny. They have absolutely nothing to fear from us. Our market is completely different.’ Cara picked nervously at her fingernails.

  ‘Like you said, some people don’t need a reason to be awful.’ Alex wiped at a crumb on her lip. ‘And at the end of the day, we have no actual proof it’s her so it’s probably beside the point.’

  ‘Could we just delete the comments and forget it ever happened?’ said Beth.

  Alex shook her head. ‘Cara’s right. It’ll look like a cover-up and Truth Teller will just keep posting about it and become a real pest. I’ve had clients in similar situations and they always want to sue, but really the best thing you can do is to give your side of the story with good grace and humour. If you’ve got nothing to hide, then don’t hide anything.’

  ‘That sounds like the right approach. But how do we do that here?’ said Cara.

  Alex sat forward on the couch. ‘I’ll upload a photo of the note that the boys’ school sent home about the gastro bug going round and explain that Truth Teller simply misunderstood my post, and you guys can share it on your feed as a bit of an LOL moment, you know, hashtag instafail or something like that. And if we do put up this cooking video today, then people will see just how professional you guys are.’

  ‘You’re right. If we give them new content, they’ll move on from the kerfuffle about the launch,’ said Cara, trying to project more confidence than she felt. As she went to get up, her phone bleeped with another message. ‘Not another hater,’ she muttered to herself as she swiped up to read.

  They said no … We’re selling. Also, they want to do a cosmetic reno to bump up the value so I’m sorry but you’ll have to move out. I really am sorry. Will

  Cara swallowed heavily but the words stuck in her chest like a stone. Slumping back into the couch, she let the phone spill from her hands. She buried her face in her hands.

  ‘What is it? What’s wrong? Is it the video? We can do it another time?’

  Cara felt the couch dip as Beth took a seat by her side.

  ‘Will’s family said no,’ she croaked. ‘They’re going ahead with the sale and they’re going to renovate.’

  ‘Oh shit,’ muttered Alex.

  ‘Oh, Cara, I’m so sorry.’ Beth rubbed her back as Cara sat forward, elbows on knees, face still covered.

  ‘We’ll have to move,’ she said. ‘We won’t have the shed any more, which means no Nourish. Maybe the troll has just sped up what was going to happen anyway.’

  ‘Don’t say that,’ said Alex.

  ‘There must be something we can do,’ said Beth.

  ‘Unless you’ve got a spare eight hundred thousand dollars lying around, I don’t think there is.’

  ‘What do you mean eight hundred thousand?’ said Alex sharply. ‘Do you have the other eight hundred?’

  Cara took a breath. ‘With Pete’s super and life insurance, nearly, yes. Almost seven hundred thousand altogether.’

  ‘You’ve got seven hundred thousand dollars?’ squeaked Beth.

  ‘I know it sounds like a lot but it would only get me a two-bedroom shoebox about forty-five minutes away from here, and besides, the money is Poppy’s. I’ve been saving it for her.’

  ‘Forget that,’ said Alex. ‘This is for Poppy.’ She paced up and down the room. ‘So, what you’re saying is you need an investor to go halves with you.’

  ‘Please don’t suggest my parents again. They’ve just bought a place. There’s no way I can ask them.’

  Alex looked at her. ‘I get that.’ She nodded. ‘You need someone you know. Someone who’ll let you and Poppy stay in the house. Someone who doesn’t already have huge debts or responsibilities, like children or some other major expense. Do you know someone like that?’ She fixed Cara with a direct gaze.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Think again.’

  Cara looked up. Everyone she knew either worked in creative industries, which meant they had no money, or they were parents of Poppy’s friends, and they certainly weren’t the right kind of people to ask. There were no cousins. No aunts and uncles. All of them were back in Korea.

  Will Parry.

  The name dropped into her head like a pebble plopping into a pond. Ripples of thought began to spread.

  Will Parry.

  Yes. He was single. No children. And he’d mentioned something about renting as he waited for his divorce settlement to come through. But would he want to buy into Cuthbert Close? Would the investment potential be sufficient? Could he overcome his negative memories of the place? She wouldn’t know if she didn’t try.

  ‘Maybe I could ask the owner’s son,’ she began.

  ‘The one you kissed the other night at the party?’ said Alex.

  ‘I was thanking him,’ Cara protested.

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘Can’t wait to see you
show your appreciation if he goes halves in the house with you.’

  Cara brought her knees together primly. ‘I have no interest in Will Parry. Or anyone.’

  ‘I hate to hear you say that. You deserve to be happy.’ Beth wrung her hands.

  ‘I am happy. I’ve got Poppy, and my parents, and you guys, and if I get to stay in Cuthbert Close … That’s enough for me. Anything else is more than I deserve.’

  ‘You know, I do think that’s ridiculous,’ Alex began. ‘But in this case, with Will Parry, it’s probably sensible. A lovers’ tiff could take you back to square one and leave you out on the street again.’ She rose and started pacing the room. ‘Keep it businesslike. You want him to want the property, but not you. This is no package deal.’

  ‘I don’t think that will be a problem. I have zero interest in him in that way.’

  ‘Good then,’ said Alex. ‘Because you need to be on the same page. Now, ask him for lunch in the city …’ She paused. ‘You’re going to make a feast. A picnic feast. I’ll prepare the business case. By the end, you’ll have him eating out of your hand. Literally.’

  Cara cocked her head. ‘I thought you said I shouldn’t get too close.’

  ‘Ever heard of corporate hospitality? You wine and dine clients because you want their business, not their bodies, but it’s still a seduction.’

  An image slipped into Cara’s mind, of tanned and sinewy forearms.

  She shook her head and mentally kicked herself. ‘I have no interest in Will Parry’s body.’

  ‘But are you sure that he’s not interested in yours? He didn’t seem to exactly hate your show of gratitude at the party.’

  Cara’s stomach swooped and somersaulted as she thought back to the kiss, his lovely, musky scent. No. This wasn’t helpful. She snapped herself out of the memory. ‘He’s still getting over a messy divorce, so I think he’s about as interested in another property settlement as I am in his arms.’

  Beth and Alex looked at each other in confusion. ‘Arms?’ Alex inquired. ‘Who mentioned anything about arms.’ Her gaze narrowed. ‘Are you sure you can do this without getting attached?’