“Well, when you act like one—”
“What?”
“It’s true, Ally. What were you thinking? Staying up at that place on your own? It’s a building site, for crying out loud!”
“So? I wasn’t bothering anyone.”
“That’s not the point. It was dangerous. And you could have got a lot worse. What if I hadn’t come in early this morning?”
“Well, I guess I would have got a lot more work done today!”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
“Fine.” Matt pulled off the road and slammed on the brakes, dust and gravel flying up behind them.
“What are you doing?” Ally asked nervously.
“You want me to take you back?” he said through clenched teeth.
“I didn’t say that—”
“Do you want me to take you back?” This time he was almost shouting.
Ally swallowed hard. She could feel tears welling again. She didn’t want to go back there. “No.”
Matt took a deep breath and relaxed his hold on the steering wheel. He flicked on the indicator and looked around for a break in the traffic. A moment later he pulled out smoothly and they drove on toward Avoca.
“You’re a pain in the arse, Ally Tasker.”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
The next day
Ally opened her eyes and looked around the room. There were posters of horses and pop stars lining the walls. She remembered staring at them as she fell asleep yesterday. It reminded Ally of her bedroom, when she was growing up. It was the only nice room in the house, thanks to her own efforts. Ally had painted the furniture and sewn curtains, and put posters over the gaps in the walls. She remembered her grandfather shaking his head, in disapproval she’d assumed, but he didn’t stop her.
Matt had come in a couple of times during the night with her tablets, and Ally had a sudden, distinct recollection of her grandfather, doing the same thing. She must have been fourteen or fifteen. She remembered his face, frowning down at her. She thought he was annoyed, but she could see his expression again now, in her mind’s eye. He looked concerned, maybe even anxious.
Ally wondered what the time was. The house seemed quiet. She hoped Matt had gone to work, she didn’t feel like facing more of his self-righteous disapproval. She sat up and swung her legs off the bed. Alright so far. She still felt achey, but that was as much for being so long in bed.
She stood up and stretched, catching sight of herself in the mirror in her baggy, flannelette pajamas. She couldn’t go out there looking like this if Matt was still here. Though as he’d pretty much seen her at her worse now, it hardly mattered. She stuck her head out the door.
“Matt, are you there?… Matt?”
No reply. Ally tiptoed up the hallway into the main room. She looked out across the valley. It was gray and overcast, and Ally felt cold in her bare feet. Matt would have scolded her if he was here. She wondered if there was a clock on the oven. She walked into the kitchen, but something caught her eye on the bench. There was a note sitting propped against her packets of pills.
Ally
I hope you’re feeling better this morning. I’m working in Berrima today, you can reach me on my mobile if you need anything.
Don’t forget to take your tablets as soon as you get up. And make sure you eat, there’s plenty of food in the fridge. And keep warm, start the fire, or at least use the electric heater. I left it out for you.
So this was what it was like to have a mother, Ally thought.
Meg called, she asked if you could give her a ring when you’re feeling up to it.
See you around 5.
Matt
Ally glanced at the clock. It was after one already. She swallowed down her tablets and then took the telephone off its cradle on the wall. She really was feeling cold, so she picked up a throw rug off the sofa and wrapped it around herself. She sat down and dialed Meg’s number.
“Hi Meg, it’s Ally.”
“Ally!” she exclaimed. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, really. I feel a lot better.”
“Oh come on, you don’t get over a serious lung infection that quickly.”
“I don’t have a serious lung infection! Who told you that?”
“Matt said that the doctor had you on antibiotics, and that the infection had probably gone to your lungs.”
“That’s a worst-case scenario,” Ally dismissed. “Why did you call here anyway?”
“I rang your mobile, and Nic answered. Apparently you left it at the restaurant. She gave me Matt’s number.”
Ally was imagining the chain of fussing and clucking between the lot of them.
“You could have got really sick, Ally!” Meg continued. “I mean, it sounds like you are really sick.”
“I’ve got the flu, and now that I’ve had a good night’s sleep, and the antibiotics are kicking in, I’m feeling a lot better. Don’t carry on about it.”
“But why on earth were you sleeping on the floor at the restaurant? Ally, if you didn’t have enough money to rent somewhere, you only had to ask.”
“It’s not that! I just haven’t had the chance to look for a place.” She sighed. “We’ve been so flat out trying to get everything finished, it was just the easiest solution. I realize now, I didn’t really think it through.”
“You know, you always make fun of me, but a little forward planning is not such a bad idea.”
“Lesson learned.”
“Well, I’m glad Matt’s taking care of you.”
“He’s not taking care of me! I’m out of here as soon as I can find somewhere else.”
“Not until you’re all recovered, Ally. You shouldn’t be on your own. I was nearly going to come down there myself to look after you…”
“Matt has made a lot more out of this than it is,” Ally insisted. “I’m hardly on death’s door.”
“Just relax and let him take care of you if that’s what he wants to do.”
Ally didn’t respond, she didn’t want to encourage her.
“Are you sleeping in his bed?”
“Meg!”
“I realize he’d be on the couch or something. For the meantime,” she added, her voice dropping suggestively.
“Meg, you are so full of romantic shit,” said Ally, annoyed. “I’m sleeping in his daughter’s room.”
“What daughter?” Meg shrieked into the receiver.
Ally had forgotten she hadn’t told Meg the latest. “He’s divorced, and his daughter stays every second weekend.”
“Ooh, a man with a past,” Meg cooed. “Intriguing.”
“Oh give me a break!” Ally rolled her eyes.
“So what’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing!”
“I beg to differ,” said Meg. “Remember what I said about you being swept off your feet by a rugged man and taken away to his mountain cabin?”
“And remember what I said about you being full of shit?”
“Well, I just think he genuinely cares about you.”
Ally sighed. “Maybe, but as a friend. We’re just friends.”
“But isn’t there some attraction between you?”
“I doubt it. Especially now that he’s seen me in my daggiest tracksuit—”
“Not that horrible old faded maroon thing?”
“That’s the one. With no make-up, a runny nose, and a fever rash. I think any attraction has been well and truly extinguished.”
“Not necessarily…”
“And he said I was a pain in the arse.”
“Oh,” said Meg, the disappointment heavy in her voice.
* * *
“Ally.”
She opened her eyes. The room was dim. “What time is it?”
“It’s just after five,” said Matt. “What are you doing sleeping out here? And without even a heater on?”
He had tossed another blanket over her and was tucking it in close around her body. “Your feet are like blocks of ice.”
“I sat here to phone Meg after I woke up. I must have drifted off.”
“Did you eat anything?”
“No…”
He sighed one of those exasperated, parental sighs, and walked over to the fire. He must have lit it as soon as he came in—it was already burning steadily. He opened the door and moved the logs around with a poker.
“Did you take your tablets?”
“Yes Dad.”
He looked around at her, frowning. “Do you know what time that was?”
“Around one.”
Matt checked his watch. “So you can take the next dose now.” He walked across to the kitchen, flicking on the light switches on his way. “And Rob made you some soup. I’ll heat it up for you.”
“I’ll do it,” Ally said, struggling to sit up.
“Stay there, I’ve got it.”
Ally sat up, rearranging the rug around her shoulders and the blanket across her knees. “What kind of soup is it?”
“Chicken,” said Matt, ladling some into a bowl.
“Chicken soup. What a cliché.”
Matt placed the bowl in the microwave and then slammed the door, turning around to glare at her. “Do you always have to make some kind of smart-arse remark?”
Ally just looked at him.
“A cliché? Fuck, Ally! What is it with you? Why can’t you just say thanks if someone does something for you?”
Ally was stunned. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. She was just not comfortable being fussed over. No one had ever made her chicken soup before. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say.
“Sorry.”
The microwave oven beeped and Matt took out the bowl of soup. He carried a tray over and set it down on the coffee table in front of her. Next to the bowl were her tablets and a glass of water.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“I’m going to have a shower,” he said, and walked off up the stairs to the loft.
The next evening
Ally was showered and dressed and had lit the fire when Matt arrived home. Nic had phoned earlier to say that she and Rob were coming over tonight. They both had the night off, and they wanted to see how she was. Matt had invited them to stay for dinner.
He’d hardly spoken to her the night before, and he was gone before she was up in the morning. Ally felt like she was in the way. It was almost worse than staying at Circle’s End. Matt obviously didn’t feel comfortable with her around. He probably didn’t like sharing his space with anyone. This was the man, after all, who had walked out on his wife and child when it had all got too much for him.
Ally tried to ignore thoughts that kept coming into her head about her supposed ingratitude. She hadn’t asked for help, and while she didn’t mean to be rude, she didn’t want anyone to feel responsible for her either. She could look after herself. She was feeling much better today, she’d only needed a short nap this afternoon. Tomorrow she was going to find somewhere to live.
Matt didn’t ask her if she had taken her medication when he got home, in fact he barely acknowledged her.
“I spoke to Nic, you know they’re coming over?” he asked disinterestedly, not making eye contact.
“Yes.”
“I’m going to have a shower.”
Nic and Rob arrived about twenty minutes later, just as Matt came down the stairs, his hair still damp.
Nic walked through the door and hugged Ally. “You’re looking a lot better. Though you’re still pale.”
“Don’t fuss. I’m feeling a hundred percent better.”
Rob stooped to kiss her on the cheek. “You do look better, Ally,” he said kindly.
“It must have been the soup. Thanks Rob, it was wonderful.”
Matt offered them drinks and they sat down at the table. He stayed in the kitchen, preparing dinner.
“You know this changes things, at the restaurant,” Nic started. “We either have to open later, or wind back on what we first planned.”
“I think opening is the priority,” said Rob. “It has to be.”
Ally nodded. “I’ve stuffed everything, haven’t I?”
“No!” they chorused.
“Ally, we wouldn’t have come this far without all the work you’ve done,” Rob insisted gently. “But we’re not going to let you keep going at the same pace.”
“It’s out of the question,” Nic agreed. “I mean, you’re not even setting foot in there for at least another week.”
“A week?” Ally protested. “But I’ll be right in a couple of days—”
“No way, Ally!” Rob countered flatly.
“But I could just do a little…”
“We’ll lock you out if we have to!” Nic said sternly. “What is it with you? Were you an overachiever as a child, or something?”
“Hardly,” Ally denied. “What am I going to do in the meantime? It seems like such a waste of time.”
“Well, we have to get you your own place, for starters,” said Rob.
“I might have something.” Matt walked out from behind the kitchen bench and leaned against the front of it. “I’ve done some work for a bloke up on Mount Gib in the past. I remembered he had a granny flat. He stopped renting it out because he had trouble with tenants. So I gave him a call today, to see if he’d reconsider. He said to come and look at the place. I’ll take you up there tomorrow if you’re up to it.”
That was quick. Just as Ally suspected, Matt didn’t want her around a minute longer than was absolutely necessary. And she certainly didn’t want to stay where she wasn’t wanted. She’d spent enough of her life doing that.
“Thank you,” she said pointedly, to make sure he registered her gratitude. He just shrugged and walked back into the kitchen.
“So, that’s solved,” Ally mused. “What else am I going to do?”
“Here’s the fun part.” Nic jumped up from the table and went to her bag. She pulled out a bundle of what looked like magazines.
“What have you got there?” Ally asked, curious.
“Catalogues. Have you thought about everything we’re going to have to buy for a restaurant?”
Of course she had. Ally had daydreamed about it often, letting her imagination run wildly over budget.
“Plates, and glasses—”
“Flatware and stemware if you want to sound professional,” Rob corrected her.
“Linen, cutlery…”
“Candles, lamps, artworks, vases,” Ally chimed in.
Nic grinned widely, her face about to burst. “We are going to have the biggest legitimate shopping spree ever!”
Friday
“This isn’t fair, your place is bigger than ours, and there’s only one of you.”
Nic had come to help Ally move in. Not that Ally had much to move, and not that Nic was doing much to help.
Matt had dutifully brought Ally to meet Richard and Beverley Jones as promised. The granny flat turned out to be a charming former grounds-man’s cottage, with its own street access, set on a rather impressive estate. The Joneses obviously had serious money and, fortunately, they were happy to rent out the furnished cottage at a rate Ally knew was more than reasonable, probably as some kind of favor to Matt.
“I’ll put in a good word for you when I leave.”
“When are you leaving?” Nic frowned.
“Oh, not for a while, don’t worry.”
Nic threw herself down on the bed.
“I was just about to put my suitcase there.”
“Oh, sorry.” She edged across to make room. “So what’s your landlord like?”
“Nice enough. He’s a bit…” Ally shrugged. “I don’t know, a bit of a fuddy-duddy. He looks about the same age as Matt, but he seems older.”
“What does he do? He must make a few quid.”
Ally nodded. “He’s a gynecologist and obstetrician.”
/> “Oh, yuck!”
“What’s the problem?”
“You know what he looks at all day!”
“He hasn’t seen mine,” said Ally. “It doesn’t bother me.”
“Well, I won’t be shaking his hand if we’re ever introduced.” Nic shuddered at the thought.
“You’re a twit.”
Ally opened her suitcase and started sorting through her clothes, deciding what to put on hangers. It all had to be ironed anyway, everything had been crushed in her bag for so long. She needed to buy an iron, and an ironing board, unless there was one down at Circle’s End. She liked this feeling, of settling in. It would actually be fun to go and shop for groceries, she hadn’t done that for ages. She might even make a list.
“So anyway,” Nic was saying. She had the habit of returning to previous conversations without warning. “I told Rob that we have to take the trip up to Sydney, there’s no way we can order everything over the phone.”
“Have we got the time though?” Ally said dubiously.
“We need the R & R, especially you, Ally.”
“Well, I’ll call Meg, we can stay at her place.”
“The cost of a hotel would be counted as a business expense, you know.”
“Yes, but you still have to pay for it, and I’d rather we spent the money on other stuff.”
“But I need a girls’ night out.”
“We can still go out, Meg would love it.”
“Into the city?”
“Sure, she lives right on Watsons Bay. We can catch the ferry across.”
“Brilliant! I love the harbor. I love the whole city!” she swooned, her eyes shining.
“What, Sydney?”
“Mm. It’s what I miss most about living down here.”
“Then why are you living down here?”
“Why do you think?”
Ally raised an eyebrow.
“I love the city, but I love Rob more.”
“Shouldn’t you have compromised?”
“What’s your point?”
Ally shrugged, taking a pile of underwear over to the chest of drawers. “I don’t know, you seem too independent and feisty to be following a man around.”
“I am independent!” she insisted. “And I’m not following Rob around, this was my choice. Besides, we’re partners in the restaurant now.”
“And whose idea was the restaurant?”
Call Waiting Page 26
