by Loretta Hill
‘My father just wants to protect me.’
‘So do I!’
Relief mixed with doubt flew across her face. He could tell she wanted to believe him but was afraid to.
He cupped her face in his hands. ‘Phee, I love you. Please, trust me. Let’s forget about all this and just get married and be happy.’
She looked up into his eyes, her own brown ones flecked with specks of green – a mirror of his emotions. She was as desperate as he was to hold on to what they had and believe in its worth. ‘Okay,’ she said finally.
‘Okay.’ He nodded in relief and bent his head to kiss her. It was a sweet caress of acceptance and forgiveness. He felt the heavy burden of the last few days lift from his shoulders. It didn’t fix everything. But he could see the lightness back in her face again already. And that’s what counted most.
After that, they went scouting for staff for the wedding. They planned on approaching as many of Tawny Brooks’ ex-employees as possible. If they could assemble the old team together for just one night, it would be perfect. Most of their old staff had not migrated far and had, in fact, been absorbed by other local restaurants. So the balance of the day was an enjoyable roadtrip driving from winery to winery, restaurant to restaurant. It was like the ultimate scavenger hunt, surrounded by gorgeous sunshine, tall gum trees, and vineyard after splendid vineyard rolling over every hill they crested. Spider couldn’t help but slip in a little wine tasting along the way and a pop in at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory for some afternoon tea indulgence. He made sure they had fun together, and forgot the worries of that morning.
By five o’clock that evening, they’d signed up almost eighty per cent of their old staff to work on their wedding day. He threw the Tawny Brooks staff chart on the backseat of the car as they got in to drive home.
‘I think that’ll do, don’t you?’ he said. ‘We don’t need everyone for the function. It’s not going to be a full restaurant.’
‘Sure.’ Phoebe nodded and they drove home in companionable silence.
He was glad they’d taken this day and that he finally knew what had been going on in that head of hers. He would worry about her father later. When they pulled up in the car park at Tawny Brooks and got out of the car, he forgot to pull the manifest off the backseat.
‘Tash wanted to look at it,’ Phoebe said and opened the door to reach in and get it. Something on the floor of the car must have caught her eye because she reached further down for it instead. Pulling it out, horror streaked across her face.
‘Phee?’ He frowned. ‘What is it?’
She held up a satin dressing gown trimmed with lace that he had never seen before. A note dropped out of it, which he picked up.
‘Give me that.’ She snatched it off him and read it out loud. ‘When you’re ready, I’d also like my blanket back,’ she gasped. ‘How could you?’
The hair on his head stood on end. ‘Phee,’ he said slowly and carefully, ‘I’ve never seen that nightgown before in my life.’
‘You’re a liar!’ she cried, ignoring his remark. ‘You lied to me about Eve.’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘Then what the hell is this?’ She shoved it in his face.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Stop it! Spider, stop treating me like an idiot.’
‘Phee, I have no idea who that belongs to.’
‘Really?’ she demanded in an icy voice. ‘Then perhaps I know someone who does!’
On this ominous threat, she headed straight for the house. There was nothing to do but follow her.
Chapter 26
Eve had spent an easy day, hanging out with Tash and her mother. In the afternoon, they’d sat around the kitchen table sorting out the table arrangements for the wedding party – all one hundred and one of them, which turned out to be a more involved process than she had first supposed. In fact, if she had to liken it to anything, it was much like arranging the suspect board in a police investigation.
‘Okay,’ Tash held up a place setting card, ‘Howard Banks, what do we know about him?’
‘Wasn’t he one of Dad’s old friends from high school?’ Eve suggested.
Tash raised her eyebrows. ‘Seems like an odd person to invite.’
‘He’s family,’ Anita revealed. ‘Married my cousin Athena after I made the mistake of introducing them.’ She picked an apple out of the fruit bowl and began to peel it with a knife, an art in Eve’s opinion that had long since died out. She loved watching her mother create an endless curl of skin behind the blade. Sometimes she would peel the whole apple in this way without breaking the chain.
‘Oh,’ Eve nodded, tapping the large sheet of paper they had on the table in front of them. They’d drawn ten circles on the page, representing their ten tables of ten people, and were sorting place cards into each circle. She moved her finger across the page. ‘So we put him on this table with Athena.’
‘Er … no. They’re divorced. He had an affair with my other cousin Evadine.’
‘Nice guy.’ Tash picked up the stack of cards on Athena’s table, shuffling through them. ‘So I take it Athena won’t want her cousin Evadine on her table either.’ She removed Evadine’s card from the deck. ‘Should I put her with Howard?’
‘No, he dumped her.’ Anita finished peeling the apple and started chopping it up into quarters.
‘Okay, so we need to put Howard and Evadine on different tables. How about we put Howard with some of Spider’s relatives? He can make some new friends.’
‘Try to find a table without any single women on it,’ Anita grunted. ‘I know –’ she took the card from Tash’s hands – ‘put him next to Patricia’s brother, Alan.’ She shuffled Howard in with the cards on table six. ‘He’s a psychiatrist,’ she announced knowingly. ‘Might talk some sense into him.’
‘Right,’ Eve’s mouth twitched, ‘but we’ve still got a problem with Evadine. Shall we put her with a different group of Spider’s relatives?’
‘She’s such a shy woman,’ Anita sighed. ‘She doesn’t make new friends easily.’
‘Okay.’ Tash picked up all the cards on Athena’s table. ‘How about we allow her to take some cousins with her? Who didn’t take Athena’s side when she and Howard broke up?’
‘Well, I suppose you could move Jacinda and her husband Theodore with Evadine.’
‘Hey, look,’ Eve pointed, ‘there’re three places at Aunty Joan’s table. Why not put them there?’
‘Oh no,’ Anita shuddered. ‘Your cousin Isobel and Margaret are both pregnant. Worse than that! Isobel is having twins.’
‘So?’
‘Jacinda’s been trying for years. I don’t want to rub her nose in it.’ She held out some apple to each of her daughters. ‘Piece of fruit?’
‘No, thanks,’ Eve declined but Tash took a piece.
‘Eve,’ her mother said worriedly, ‘are you hungry? Do you want something else to eat?’
‘No thanks, Mum. I’m not hungry at all.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘All right,’ her mother nodded, ‘I’ll peel you an orange.’ And she removed one from the fruit bowl and took to it with her knife.
Eve sighed and Tash grinned at her across the table as they continued to work the board for a spot for Evadine. In the end, they had to shuffle around three more people before finding her a suitable place that would not cause a diplomatic incident. In any event, it was a very welcome distraction from Eve’s own troubles, which started with a capital ‘A’.
The kiss they’d shared the day before had been playing on her mind. Or rather shaking the ground she stood on. The kiss itself had been awesome, magical even. But essentially nothing had changed. He was still a jilted man uninterested in a meaningful relationship. And she, well, she was still the kind of girl that men like him ate for breakfast. The last thing she wanted was to end up as the rebound scrap on the side of his plate. Avoiding him seemed to be the best plan for the time being.
>
But Adonis had other ideas. He turned up around five, waltzing into the kitchen like he was used to having free rein in the house, which he probably was.
‘Can I fix you something to eat, Adam?’ her mother immediately enquired.
‘Sure, Anita.’ He gave her his most wolfish grin. ‘I’m feeling a little peckish.’
No wonder my mother loves him. He eats anything.
Eve looked down, hoping his visit was going to be a short one. Maybe he needed to check in with her father – ask his advice on whether they should take the cabernet off next.
‘Eve, can I speak to you for a minute?’
She glanced up, startled. ‘Huh?’
He pointed over his shoulder. ‘Alone?’
‘Er …’ She looked from her mother to Tash. They were both staring at her with raised eyebrows.
Great! Just what she needed, more queries into her private life. Her chair scraped on the tiles as she stood up. Better to get this over with. ‘Okay.’
She followed him to the sitting room. He gestured her in first before he cautiously shut the door behind him. She advanced as far into the room as possible, trying to keep the distance between them to a maximum.
‘So I thought we should talk about what happened yesterday,’ he began.
‘The harvest?’ she asked politely.
‘No, the fact that we kissed and how bloody fantastic it was.’
‘Oh that,’ she said, as though she had only just remembered. ‘Yeah, it wasn’t bad. Did you manage to get all the grapes pressed yesterday? It was such a big crop, wasn’t it? I hope you had enough space in the vats or are they all going in oak?’
‘Some barrels, some tanks. But who cares?’
‘Well, I’m sure my father would.’ She lifted her chin. ‘The oak-fermented juice tends to have a better flavour.’
‘If you like that woody texture. Some people don’t.’
‘So you’re branching out?’
‘No,’ he put both hands on either side of her arms, shaking her slightly, ‘I’m reaching out … to you.’
She pulled herself free and took a step back. ‘I don’t think that would be such a good idea.’
‘Why not?’
Before she could answer, the doors to the sitting room burst open and Phoebe came charging in. There was an expression on her face that Eve had never seen before and, to be honest, never wanted to see again.
‘Is this yours?’ Her sister thrust her hand forward.
Eve looked down in horror to see the dressing gown Adonis was supposed to have thrown in the bin in her sister’s hand.
Eve put a hand to her throat. ‘Where did you get that?’
‘In the back of my car, along with this note!’ She held up the piece of paper.
‘You have a Barina?’ Adonis asked Phoebe, startled.
‘We all have Barinas,’ Eve snapped at him.
He winced. ‘Whoops.’
‘This is nothing to do with you,’ Phoebe shot at him. ‘And I’d appreciate it if you’d just leave.’
Adonis, however, did not move and Eve didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed. Spider came in then, shutting the door behind him. ‘Eve, please explain to Phee that that dressing gown is not yours. She thinks we’re having an affair.’
Eve’s eyes widened. ‘What?’
‘Tell her she’s being ridiculous,’ Spider demanded.
‘Quiet,’ Phoebe threw over her shoulder. ‘This is between me and my sister. And this time I’m going to get the truth. Eve, speak to me!’ Phoebe’s face was an angry red. A blood vessel pulsed on the side of her neck, making her look rather hysterical, and a sinking feeling permeated Eve’s bones. This conversation was playing out exactly how she imagined it would in her nightmares.
Only worse.
The evidence of her treachery, however, was ironically off-key. Phoebe had discovered a different secret that Eve needed to keep quiet just as badly.
‘Is this yours?’ Phoebe’s voice sounded harsh to her ears – harsh and unhinged.
‘Not exactly.’ She winced. That, at least, was true.
‘It’s mine actually.’ Just at that moment, Tash stepped into the room carrying a plate with a sandwich on top. She held it up. ‘Mum wanted me to give this to Adam,’ she said by way of explanation as she also shut the door behind her. She passed the offering and tugged her dressing gown from Phoebe’s hands. ‘What are you doing with my lingerie?’
‘It’s yours?’ Phoebe seemed floored, her eyes growing even larger than before.
‘Yes,’ Tash blinked. ‘What are you doing with it?’
Phoebe gasped. ‘What am I doing with it?’ she repeated in disbelief. ‘What is he doing with it?’ She jabbed a finger at Spider.
‘Spider?’ Tash blanched. ‘I didn’t give it to him. I gave it to Eve. Why would I give it to him?’
‘I found it in my car,’ Phoebe announced, eyes still on Tash.
‘I gave it to Eve on Saturday night,’ her elder sister responded.
‘So what you’re saying is that you’re in on this too?’
‘In on what?’
Phoebe choked. ‘Eve’s affair with Spider.’
‘I’m not having an affair with Spider,’ Eve cried, losing her timidity and starting to get rather cross, especially because Phoebe thought she would do such a thing. Especially to her own sister. It made an absolute mockery of all the suffering she’d endured last year. All the respect she had paid her, in disregard for her own feelings. ‘I can’t believe you would think that.’
‘I didn’t want to believe it,’ Phoebe said quietly. ‘I haven’t wanted to believe it for days. But I can’t see how you can reasonably explain this.’
Eve swallowed. To be honest, neither did she. She racked her brain for a plausible lie.
‘Tell me, Eve,’ Phoebe’s eyes glittered dangerously, ‘did you go to Tash to ask for advice on how to seduce him? You’ve always been so incredibly gauche when it comes to men. I can see how you might have needed a few pointers.’
Eve reddened.
Adonis blinked. ‘Seriously?’
Everyone ignored him.
‘Seduction,’ Eve gasped, ‘was the last thing on my mind when I was forced to put on Tash’s lingerie in place of my own nightie. Yes!’ She raised her voice louder as Phoebe opened her mouth to protest. ‘Forced! She took my clothes.’
Adonis bit into his sandwich and watched, enthralled. ‘This just gets better and better.’
‘That’s insane.’ Phoebe threw up her hands. ‘Why would Tash do that?’
‘Ask her.’ Eve passed the buck to Tash, who was conspicuously silent. ‘She was the one acting all funny. Bringing me her clothes in the dead of night and begging me to take them.’
Both sisters turned angrily, hands on hips, to Tash, who seemed to shrink within herself. ‘All right, all right,’ she cried. ‘You got me. I didn’t want to wear it.’ She hesitated, her hands ringing at her waist. ‘I – I needed something more conservative. Heath and I have been having problems. We’ve separated, okay. Happy?’
There was a shocked silence.
Phoebe’s eyes widened. ‘Honey, why on earth would you think that news would make us happy?’
Tash’s face seemed to collapse. ‘I don’t know, maybe not happy exactly, but you might think I’ve got my just deserts.’ She looked directly at Eve. ‘Don’t you, Eve?’
Eve flinched as though slapped. She couldn’t understand what she had ever done to leave her sisters with so little faith in her.
Perhaps running away from the restaurant after taking all the family money to build it!
She winced.
Yeah, that’d do it.
‘Tash,’ she implored her, ‘I would never wish for your unhappiness. Ever. Why didn’t you tell us about this? We could have been more understanding.’
‘Oh shit.’ Phoebe ran her hand down her face. ‘I invited him to the wedding without you knowing, didn’t I? You never wanted him here, did you?�
�
‘It’s not entirely your fault,’ Tash groaned. ‘I never told you what was going on. Or Mum and Dad. I was just trying to pretend everything was okay.’ She rubbed her eyes.
‘Tash,’ Phoebe’s eyes watered, ‘you don’t need to pretend with us.’
‘Of course you don’t,’ Eve cried. ‘All we want to do is support you. I, for one, will take any more lingerie you want to give me. I’ve got t-shirts galore to exchange. In fact, why don’t you move into my room –’
‘Hang on,’ Phoebe busted her mid-sentence, ‘stop trying to change the subject. You wore that nightgown for my fiancé and took one of his blankets. I want an explanation.’
Eve clenched her hands into fists. ‘When on earth could I possibly have had a chance to do that? We’ve all been in each other’s pockets since we got here.’
‘I don’t know.’ Phoebe’s face took on an uncertain look. ‘But I do know how you feel about him. I found your note in the tea jar.’
Eve slumped. Her heart rate slowed right down to a languid beat that sounded uncomfortably loud in her ears. She had never been so mortified in her life. How embarrassing, to know that Phoebe had read her private confession. And, worse, that she thought she hadn’t let those feelings go. The silence stretched awkwardly. She didn’t know what to say, how to explain herself.
‘Oh,’ Adonis interrupted cheerfully, ‘so you found the note! We’ve been wondering where that went.’
‘That note you showed me was the one from the tea jar?’ Tash demanded of Phoebe. ‘But that’s years old. Dad told me all about it. He’s read it too.’
Eve’s eyes boggled and a groan erupted from her now very dry lips. ‘Please tell me, is there anyone living or working on this estate who has not read my letter?’
Spider raised his hand. ‘Er … I haven’t. Should I be taking a look at it?’
All three Maxwell sisters turned towards him and said, ‘No!’
‘Okay,’ he held up both hands, ‘just asking.’
Adonis stifled a chuckle with a polite cough.
