“You’re on,” said Ally.
Nic took a deep breath and walked up the hallway.
The guests could choose from a fixed menu: traditional Christmas fare, with the kind of innovative touches people had come to expect from Rob Grady. The ham was baked with a mustard seed and apricot glaze, the turkey stuffing a mixture of fig, orange and ground macadamias, and the roast loin of pork was basted with mango chutney. The wines were preselected, because of the fixed price, but they were all top of the range. Rob would settle for nothing less. For dessert, handmade individual puddings were presented on a bed of cherry coulis and custard, with a pot of hard sauce on the side.
By the time coffee and liqueurs were served, they were exhausted but relieved, maybe even cautiously optimistic. Ally started clearing the tables as the last guests were being shown to the door. She pushed through the swing doors into the kitchen, her arms laden with dishes.
“Hi,” said Matt. He was leaning against the kitchen bench, talking to Rob.
“Oh, hello, when did you get here?”
“Just a few minutes ago. I timed it so there’d be nothing left to do,” he grinned.
“Where is everyone?” Ally frowned, realizing the staff had all disappeared.
“I let them go,” said Rob. “Early mark for working so hard tonight.”
“Oh well, Matt, looks like there’s plenty left for you to do after all,” she grinned. “There’s tables to be cleared, dishes to be washed—”
“Beer to be drunk…”
Nic stood at the front door until she saw the lights of the last car disappear down the drive.
“Robbie!” she shrieked as she turned and ran down the hall.
They all came out of the kitchen.
“What’s going on?”
“We did it, darling!”
She ran across the room and literally leaped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. Then they started to kiss, and kiss, seemingly oblivious of Matt and Ally, who both tried to look anywhere else in the room, except at them, or each other.
“I think I need a drink,” Ally announced eventually.
“A drink!” Nic exclaimed, finally coming up for air. That got her attention. “What a good idea.”
“Hold on just a minute, I didn’t come empty-handed,” said Matt, ducking back into the kitchen.
Nic slithered down off Rob. “And I’m starving. Let’s bring out the leftovers.”
Matt reappeared with a magnum of champagne.
“Congratulations,” he said, handing it to Nic. He also had a gift-wrapped box, but he slipped that onto one of the sideboards, out of the way.
“Oh, Matty! You shouldn’t have!” she squealed. “But I’m glad you did. Give us a kiss,” she said, offering him her cheek. He did as he was told. “Can we open it?”
“That’s what I bought it for.”
Ally collected glasses from the bar and some clean plates from the servery. Nic and Rob brought out platters of leftovers, while Matt opened the champagne. They sat around a table, picking at the food, and toasting everything that came to mind.
“To Rob’s superb food.”
“To Ally’s exquisite rooms.”
“And the beautiful tree.”
“To Matt’s exceptional carpentry.”
“What about me?” Nic pouted. “I feel like the unskilled laborer.”
Rob leaned forward and took her hand. “To my inspiration,” he said, raising his glass and kissing her hand.
“To this ham. My God, it’s amazing.”
“Have you tried the stuffing? It’s bloody fantastic. To the stuffing.”
It didn’t take them long to work their way down the bottle.
“To the guests!” Rob said, after refilling their glasses again.
“Speaking of guests, we had some celebrities here tonight, didn’t we, Ally?” said Nic. “Who was that journalist woman? You know, the one on the ABC, dead clever type.”
“Frances Callen,” Ally replied. “I’m a huge fan, what was she like?”
“Really friendly, full of compliments about the food, and the whole place actually. But what about that guy?” Nic said excitedly. “You know, at table seven? I’m sure I’ve seen him on the telly.”
“I know, he’s definitely been in something,” said Ally. “Do you know if he lives down here, Matt?”
“You’ll have to give me a bit more information,” he said, bemused.
“Um, he was in … What’s it called?” Ally looked at Nic.
“That’s right, he played thingame…”
“It was on Channel Nine, I think, or maybe it was Seven.”
“It was some kind of a cop show, you know.”
“Gee that narrows it down,” said Matt dryly.
“Well, anyway, it was him,” Nic said emphatically, folding her arms.
“Yes, I’m sure it was too,” Ally agreed.
“You two are spending too much time together, you’re even starting to sound alike,” said Rob, smiling indulgently. “Neither of you make any sense.”
Nic looked across the room. “Hey, Matt, what’s in the box?”
“Oh, I nearly forgot.” He got up from the table and walked over to pick it up.
“Someone’s been to the gift-wrappers,” Nic chanted.
“This is for you,” he said, putting the box down in front of Ally. Rob and Nic looked at her. Ally went red.
Matt had returned to his seat. “A little bird told me it was your birthday yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you say?” Nic squealed, jumping up.
Ally dropped her head in her hands. “Did the little bird have a great big mouth and answer to the name of Meg?”
Matt grinned. “She was trying to contact you all day yesterday, you must have left your phone off. So she ended up ringing me last night, when she couldn’t get you at home either.”
“Happy Birthday Ally!” said Rob, raising his glass to her.
Nic threw her arms around Ally’s neck, and kissed her on the cheek. “Tell you what, we’ll give you the day off tomorrow!”
“But we’re not opening tomorrow.”
“Sorry, it’s the best we can do at the moment! Now, open your present,” she said, plonking herself on the chair next to Ally.
“You shouldn’t have, Matt.”
He shrugged. Nic nudged Ally. “Go on.”
Everyone was watching her. She lifted the lid off the top of the box and moved aside the tissue paper. “Oh my God!” she squealed happily.
“Do you like it?”
Nic was frowning. “It looks like some kind of power tool.”
It was a drill. Ally lifted it carefully out of the box. “Matt, you really shouldn’t have.”
“I’ll second that,” said Nic, turning up her lip.
“It’s too much,” Ally continued.
“I get a tradesman’s discount,” Matt shrugged.
“But…”
“Look, I’ll write it off on my tax if it’ll make you happy.”
She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. Besides, it gave her a bit of a thrill, owning her own power tool.
“It’s cordless,” Matt explained. “But it’s lighter than mine, and easier to handle.”
“Does it have a keyless chuck?”
He nodded. “And variable speed.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Matt looked directly at her. “Thank you would do.”
She smiled sheepishly, standing up from the table. “Thank you, this is perfect.”
Ally walked around to where he sat, and bent to kiss him on the cheek. She could smell his aftershave. She could smell him. She should have had sex with him. Okay, that was enough champagne.
Nic stared at them, bemused. “See, Rob, it’s like I was telling you, we really should think about a gift register, for people just like Matt here, who have no idea.”
Ally frowned at her. “What did you just say?”
“We were discussing the other day, about whether to register
. And Matt’s little effort here has just convinced me it might be a good idea.”
“Do you mean…?” Ally’s voice started to rise.
“What?” Matt frowned.
Nic was grinning. She jumped up and threw her arms out to Ally. “I do! We are!”
Ally squealed and they hugged each other, laughing.
“What’s going on?” Matt repeated, looking more confused.
Rob stood up to top up Matt’s glass. “Nic and I are getting married.”
Two days later
“Two months to finish the renovations, organize a wedding and get your business up and running,” Ally frowned. “What’s the rush? Why don’t you just put the wedding off for a few months?”
“I told you,” Nic insisted. She was lying on her stomach across Ally’s bed, watching her iron her clothes. “My father can’t get away at any other time until well into next year. Chambers are closed, it’s our only chance.”
“I’m still finding it hard to believe that your father’s a judge, and you come from this upper-crust family.”
“You’d better get used to it. They’ll be descending on us before we know it.” Nic rested her chin on the heels of her hands. “You are going to help me, aren’t you?”
Ally smiled. “Of course I will. We’ll get the rest of the place tarted up in no time.”
“And what about being bridesmaid?” she said in a small voice.
Ally sighed, adjusting a blouse on a coathanger. Nic had asked her the other night, and Ally had been brushing it aside ever since, despite Nic’s assertions she was serious.
“Oh Ally, you have to. Rob’s got three brothers and I’ve only got the two sisters…”
“So I’m a gap filler?”
“No,” she insisted. “I need you, as a buffer between me and my sisters. You don’t know how mad they are!”
Ally could imagine.
“Deidre is a bitter old piece of work, with a failed marriage behind her and not a nice word to say about anyone. She is going to hate everything. And Sally, well, she’s a sweetheart, but she makes me look like a rocket scientist.”
Ally laughed. “You know I’ll be there for you, just preferably not in a pastel dress carrying a bouquet.”
“You have to do it, Ally!” Nic pleaded. “My parents think I’m crazy living out here in the ‘antipodes.’ I have to show them I’m established, I have friends…”
She smiled weakly. “Nic, it’ll be three times a bridesmaid for me if I do it…’
“Oh, you’re not superstitious? I don’t believe it.”
“What about dresses? Isn’t it easier if your sisters just buy something over there? How will we find something the same?”
“I’ve already thought of that.” Nic jumped up onto her knees. Ally could tell she was coming in for the kill. “I’ve sent them pictures of the style I like. They’re going to look, and once they’ve checked with me, they can buy one in your size, send it out here, and we’ll take it to a dressmaker for any alterations.”
“What kind of style?” Ally said dubiously.
Nic jumped off the bed and rooted around in her bag. “I’ve got more pictures. Here,” she said, passing a clipping to Ally.
She looked at it, relieved. It was a simple dress with a fitted bodice and an A-line skirt.
“It’s strapless,” she said, pulling a face.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Bare arms.”
“But it will be spring, it won’t be as cold as it is now, Ally.”
“It’s not the cold I’m worried about. It’s the flab.”
“You don’t have flab!” Nic exclaimed.
“Wait till you see my bare arms!”
Nic thought for a moment. “If it bothers you, you could all wear those nice sheer wraps—you know, across the shoulders, and then looped around your arms. It would look brilliant.”
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
Nic grinned, nodding. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you?”
Not waiting for an answer, she threw her arms around Ally and hugged her tight. “Oh, thank you. Everything will work out now. I know it.”
August
Meg battled the Saturday morning traffic and joined the queue into the carpark at Bondi Junction Plaza. She’d left Harrison and Chris at home, making cubbyhouses in the family room. It was a miserable wintry Saturday morning, and Harrison had been sniffling all week, so Meg wanted to keep him out of the cold.
She wandered along the shops, staring vacantly in the windows. She probably should have taken the opportunity to try on some clothes, without Harrison in tow, but she wasn’t in the mood. She paused outside a CD shop, wondering if there was something Chris’s niece would like, it was her birthday in a couple of weeks. As she stood there, Meg noticed a young woman browsing through the bargain stand. She seemed vaguely familiar. Then she remembered. Jamie’s mate’s little sister. What was her name again? It was a surname. Taylor, Tyler, Tinker?
Meg approached her tentatively. “Hello, it’s Taylor, isn’t it?”
The girl looked blankly at her. Just walk away, Meg, this is ridiculous. “I’m Meg. We met up here one day. You were with Jamie Carroll?”
“Oh,” she nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”
Taylor continued to flick through the CDs. Don’t do it, Meg. Say goodbye and walk away. Walk away.
“Look, you wouldn’t know how I could get in touch with him, would you?”
Taylor gave her a curdling look, as well she should.
“It’s just he’s done some work for our agency before, and we were interested in using him again.”
“He’s been staying with my brother since he got back,” she said.
So, he’d been away. That made Meg feel better about the fact that he hadn’t called.
“He could probably use some work then, if he’s been away?” Meg suggested.
Taylor shrugged. “I guess. I’ll give him a message if you like.”
Bugger. If he didn’t call, would it be because he didn’t get the message or because he didn’t want to contact her? She had to be sure.
“It might be just easier if I got his number. Do you mind?” Meg said, reaching into her bag for a pen and her diary. Taylor dictated the number while Meg wrote it down, her hand shaking just slightly.
“Thanks for that,” she said. “Have to fly.” She felt like she’d stolen something and if she hung around for too long someone might find her out and take it back.
All the way home she tried to tell herself that just because she had his number, it didn’t mean she was going to call him. And even if she did call him, it didn’t mean she would see him. Hearing his voice would be enough.
Yeah, right.
Meg parked the car in the garage and walked up the back steps into the family room. It was in complete chaos. All the furniture had been rearranged and draped with blankets to create a series of hiding places. Chris was on the floor and Harrison had disappeared inside one of the “caves” as Meg walked through the door.
“Hi Mummy!” Chris said in an exaggerated tone. “Do you know where Harrison is?”
“No, I haven’t seen him!” Meg said, playing along.
“He was here a minute ago.”
“Harry, where are you?”
An excited shriek came from under one of the blankets. Meg and Chris smiled at each other.
“Where could he be?”
Suddenly Harrison jumped out, revealing himself. “I here, Mama!” he cried happily, his eyes gleaming.
“Ah, hah! Now I’m going to get you,” said Chris, coming at him on all fours. Harrison squealed as Chris wrestled him to the ground. Meg watched them rolling around on the floor, Harrison giggling ecstatically.
She walked into the kitchen and lifted the grocery bags onto the bench. Then she took out her diary and opened to the page where she’d written Jamie’s number. She hesitated for only a second before she tore out the page and screwed it up, tossing i
t into the kitchen bin.
* * *
She had screwed it up so tiny that it took her ages to find it later that night, after Chris had gone to bed. She eventually had to transfer the contents of the bin into a plastic bag, bit by bit, until she spotted the crumpled ball mixed in with the scrapings from dinner. She smoothed it out, wiping it with a tea towel. Then she folded it carefully and tucked it into the zippered pocket inside her handbag.
Wednesday
Meg sat at her desk staring at the wrinkled, gravy-stained piece of paper in her hand for the ninety-seventh time that week. She knew the number off by heart now, though she didn’t trust herself to remember it. She had thrown the note out repeatedly, but searching for it later was becoming tedious.
She’d lost count of the times she had picked up the phone, and twice she had even dialed. But she always hung up when she heard the ring.
The moral debate that had raged in her head all week was getting too much for her. Meg had no one she could talk to about it. Simon and Ally had both made it clear which side they fell on, so what was the point in bringing it up with either of them? She would only get a lecture.
The thing was, if she called Jamie and, assuming he wanted to, they started seeing each other again, she was crossing the line. And she knew it.
Meg physically jumped as her phone started ringing. She reached for the receiver.
“Hello, Meg Lynch.”
“Why haven’t you called?”
She froze. Her heart leaped up into her throat and stuck there.
“Meg? It’s Jamie.”
“What makes you think I was going to call you?” She had recovered enough to squeeze the words out.
“Taylor told me.”
“Oh.”
“I thought I’d let you make the first move.”
“So why are you ringing now?”
“I got impatient.”
Meg felt giddy. Her heart was beating faster, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
“Meg?” He paused. “This isn’t about work, is it?”
“No,” she said, her voice so small it hardly made it out of her throat.
“When can I see you?”
“Well, um, I don’t know, when are you free?”
“Now.”
Meg swallowed. She looked at her watch. “I could go to lunch in about an hour.”
Call Waiting Page 30
