A Good Result
Marg McAlister
Contents
About this book
1. A Little Taste of Paradise
2. A Sad Tale
3. The Landlord
4. The Vibe
5. Old Jim
6. Kayaks and Crystal Balls
7. Shadows in the Night
8. Losing It
9. Talk of the Town
10. Maureen Asks for Help
11. Kayaking
12. The Grapevine
13. Crystal Ball Again
14. Calling Louise
15. Maureen’s Rebellion
16. Teeing Off
17. Go Team!
18. Linda
19. Coffee Class
20. Jim Fumes
21. A-Quilting We Will Go
22. Jim Blows His Top
23. Team Meeting
24. Maureen’s Reading
25. In the Wee Small Hours
26. Water, Water Everywhere…
27. End Play
28. Caught
29. A New Dawn
30. Sunshine
Glossary
From the Author
The Georgie B. Goode Series
A Good Result
Copyright 2016 Marg McAlister
All Rights Reserved
GeorgieBGoode.com
Book Design by Annie Moril
Illawarra ePublishing electronic publication
EBooks are not transferable. All Rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
About this book
Two women in crisis.
A saboteur in the shadows.
A town looking the other way…
Less than an hour after they arrive in the seaside paradise of Yamba, Georgie knows that Scott’s sisters Viv and Lissa are in trouble.
Month after month, their fledgling business Coffee, Cakes & Crepes has been plagued by problems. At first, Viv and Lissa think that they are just unlucky. An old building, growing pains, a run of bad luck…they are convinced that it will all blow over.
Finally they have no choice but to face facts: it just isn’t possible that all these mini-disasters can be a coincidence. But who wants them out so badly that they’ll stop at nothing?
Viv, Lissa, and Georgie find themselves looking suspiciously at anyone who walks through the door, but an attempt to find out who and why is sure to be a great way to alienate the townsfolk. They have to live in this town, after all.
But who is it? The town gossip who just happens to be there when things go wrong? The girl who cold-heartedly stole the man that Viv was in love with, and who would be happy to see her gone? The tetchy old-school cafe owner and his downtrodden wife across the road? Or is it someone else who is hiding in the shadows, taking every opportunity to destroy their livelihood?
Why?
This time, for Georgie and Scott, the stakes are high indeed.
This is family.
This is personal.
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Whether she wanted to believe it or not, from birth Georgie was destined to follow in her Great-Grandma Rosa’s footsteps—as well as inherit her crystal ball! Here’s your chance to find out more about the crabby old lady that Georgie sees as a kind of taciturn genie.
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1
A Little Taste of Paradise
Georgie might have been in Yamba for less than an hour, but after setting up camp with a prime view of the sun-kissed waters of Yamba Bay and wandering along the main street of the little seaside town, she had already come to the conclusion that Scott’s sisters lived in a close approximation of paradise.
Or so she thought until things suddenly changed. One minute things were fine; the next they were not.
Scott’s footsteps slowed and he pointed up the street and across the road. “See that window with the coffee cup design? That’s their place.”
Georgie’s gaze followed his finger, and saw the logo of the coffee cup with its curl of steam and the words Coffee, Cakes and Crepes, all in appropriate shades of latte and cream and brown.
Her pulse jumped, and a warning shiver ran up her spine.
She glanced at Scott, but he was waiting for a car to go past, and his face showed no concern.
This morning, when they’d left Scott’s parents’ house, she’d had a sudden feeling that his sisters would need them. Maybe she should have said something to him earlier, while they were driving here.
Too late now. She would just wait and see what they had to say.
They crossed the road and pushed at the door. It didn’t open.
Scott turned the handle and pushed again, but then Georgie, her heart sinking, pointed to the sign dangling from a suction cap on the other side of the glass. “They’re closed.”
“That’s odd.” Scott frowned. “They’re supposed to be open every day in summer.”
Georgie put her nose up against the door and peered in. A stack of chairs and tables were just inside the door, presumably ready to be moved outside when the cafe opened for business. The counter tops were clear, and the tall glass jars that stood on the counter were empty of cookies.
“It’s deserted,” she confirmed. “But didn’t Lissa tell you to call in for coffee as soon as we had set up?”
“That’s what she said. But I haven’t spoken with her since…last Wednesday?” Scott took out his phone. “I’ll see if I can raise her.”
Georgie leaned on the door and surveyed the street while she waited for him to make contact, her mind already racing. There were plenty of people strolling along the street, and two couples tucking into lunch outside the cafe across the road. From where she stood she could see four different eateries, all busy.
A glance at her watch showed that it was just before one o’clock. Lunch time. Viv had said their crepes were really popular for people wanting a light lunch. Why would they be closed?
Beside her, Scott spoke, keeping his tone light. “Hey! Where are you guys? We’re outside your cafe, starving!”
He listened for a moment, and his smile faded. “You’re kidding. OK then. We’ll come to the house, and you can fill us in.” He slid the phone back into his pocket, and met Georgie’s eyes. “Closed down by the authorities.”
“What?” Of all things, she hadn’t expected to hear that. For a moment she was speechless. “But why?”
“Hygiene concerns. Which is total rubbish; I know my sisters.” Scott was already moving, back down the street towards the caravan park. “Lissa sounds really upset.”
Georgie hurried along with him, matching his stride. “What did she say?”
“Too long a story for the phone, she said.”
Georgie put a hand on his arm, but didn’t let her footsteps slow. She needed to tell him what was going through her mind.
“Scott. You know this morning, when we were leaving, and you said I wonder who will need you n
ext? Or something like that?”
Scott shot her a quick glance. “You’re thinking that it’s Viv and Lissa.”
She nodded. “Yes—but here’s the thing: they came to mind as soon as you said it. This morning.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It was just a fleeting thought. And your mother had already mentioned she was concerned about them, so I thought I’d just wait and see what they said when we got here.” Georgie jerked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the coffee shop. “The moment I set eyes on the cafe…I got this cold feeling. Knew that things weren’t right.”
“Hmmm.” Scott was staring straight ahead, clearly turning things over in his mind. They strode past the gift shop that she had looked in just a short time before, and headed towards the entrance to the caravan park. “Well, whatever it is, we’ll be here to help.”
2
A Sad Tale
At his sisters’ house, they didn’t even have to knock. Lissa opened the front door before they were halfway up the walk.
She gave a twisted smile as her eyes met Scott’s. “Hey, bro.” Her eyes, exactly the same tawny shade as her brother’s, were somber, and the dark circles under them signalled a few nights without sleep. Her long straight hair, dyed an adventurous shade of orange, was caught up in a high, messy ponytail.
“Come in and join the wake.” Her eyes moved to Georgie. “Not much of a welcome to Yamba for you, Georgie. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be silly.” Georgie went up to her and gave her a hug. “Poor you. This sounds awful.”
“It is. To be honest, I don’t know how we can come back from this.” Lissa moved from Georgie to her brother, and submitted to a kiss on the forehead and an affectionate yank on her ponytail. “Ow,” she said without heat, and gave him an extra hug before stepping back to let them inside.
In the kitchen, her big sister Viv was sitting at the table littered with papers, folders, a calculator and a wafer-thin laptop. Like Lissa, she looked tired and beaten down. When she saw them, she ran a hand through her short dark hair and attempted a smile. “Scotty, Georgie. Glad you’re here.” She stood up to hug them both. “So, you’re starving, hey? Would a sandwich be okay?”
“I’ll make it,” Georgie said quickly. “Just tell me where to find everything.”
“No, no. Let me.” Viv waved a disgusted hand to encompass everything on the table. “I need a break from sitting down and looking at figures, trying to work out what to do.”
“Come into the family room.” Lissa walked into the small living area adjacent to the kitchen. “We might as well be comfortable while I fill you in.”
Georgie and Scott followed her, and sat together on a two-seater sofa.
“You start, Lissa,” Viv called from the kitchen. “I can listen in from here.”
Lissa sat sideways on a chunky armchair and kicked her legs up over the arms. She was wearing white shorts and a loose top, and her tanned legs showed that she didn’t spend all her time behind a coffee machine. While they looked at her, she blew out a breath, closed her eyes for a second, and then heaved a huge sigh. “Holy cow, where to start?”
“How about,” Scott suggested, “from wherever things started to go wrong? You didn’t say anything when you came up to visit a few weeks ago—and when I rang on your birthday, it sounded like everything was fine.”
“Back in September.” Lissa’s voice sounded pensive. “Yeah, it was. Then in early October, we had a power failure. Lost a freezer full of food, and the electrician turned up a whole bunch of other stuff that had to be fixed to meet code.” She made a face. “Expensive.”
“But you’re leasing,” Scott said. “Doesn’t the landlord have to fix stuff like that?”
“To a degree,” Lisa said. “But in the end, if we want to stay in the same premises—”
“Which we did,” Viv called out from the kitchen, “because we were getting regulars as well as the tourists. There was nothing else suitable, and we didn’t want to have to start again in some other town.”
“Anyway.” Lissa waved off that problem, and went on. “He made it clear when we took out the lease it was an old building, and he wouldn’t be doing too much more work on it. The location was great, so we took it.”
“He did offer us another rental,” Viv added. “But it wasn’t as central, and another old building. Could have been out of the frying pan into the fire.”
“So we stayed,” Lissa said. “Next thing: because I run barista courses in nearby towns, we’ve been using backpackers as casuals. The first girl we had, Svetlana, was fantastic. She moved on after a few months and the next girl was okay, but then Sean…” She grimaced. “He was a nightmare. Lazy, offhand with customers, and a thief, as it turned out. Our takings were down, and he was the cause.”
Georgie was beginning to get the picture. Extra expense for wiring, someone with a hand in the till—not what a fledgling business needed.
“That was at the end of October, so it was a bad month,” Lissa said. “But the money from the extra barista work helped keep us afloat.”
From the kitchen, Viv’s voice floated in. “I’m making tea for myself, coffee for Lissa. What would you guys like?”
Scott raised an eyebrow at his younger sister. “You’re letting Viv make your coffee?”
Lissa managed a tired smile. “I trained her. Now, it’s drinkable.”
“In that case,” Scott said, “Same for me. Georgie?”
“Yes, same, thanks.”
While listening to Lissa, Georgie had been studying her body language and listening for any clues that might tell her what was going on. There was more to come, obviously, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was more than just a cafe’s growing pains. While she spoke, Lissa’s fingers had been digging into the fabric on the end of the padded armrest, and now she was picking at a loose thread. “I’ll wait for Viv to come in before we go on,” she said. Her voice was heavy with both weariness and anger.
It seemed pointless to engage in small talk, so the three of them sat there silently until Viv brought in a tray loaded with a plate of sandwiches, a pot of tea and three cups of coffee.
They all helped themselves to a sandwich and settled in. All but Lissa, who shook her head at the offer of food and just locked her hands around her cup of coffee. She took a sip. “Not bad, Vivi. Eight out of ten.”
“Eight?” Viv narrowed her eyes at her sister threateningly. “I moved past an eight weeks ago. You want me to keep making your coffee, I want a better score.”
Lissa took another sip. She pretended to consider, staring at the ceiling. “Eight point two.”
Viv rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of tea. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll take the story from here, because the next thing happened while Lissa was running a barista course in Grafton. It was Melbourne Cup day, and I’m rushed off my feet, right?”
Georgie didn’t have a clue what Melbourne Cup day was, so she instinctively glanced at Scott. Used to having to interpret, he murmured, “Big horse race in Melbourne, first Tuesday in November. The whole country stops for it.”
“I managed to squeeze in a few extra tables,” Viv went on, “and I had two backpackers helping out. What happens? I get a phone call from the landlord that people have been complaining they haven’t got enough room to walk past on the footpath, and I need to do something about it.” She shook her head. “Like how? There are people sitting on those seats. What am I supposed to do? Say, ‘Excuse me ma’am, that seat was a mistake, would you mind standing up to finish your meal?’”
“Viv got through by moving one table back inside, which meant that people in there weren’t happy because they were crammed in,” explained Lissa. “Anyway, we got through the day, but the upshot of that was an official visit and measuring distances and explaining to us what naughty girls we’d been, and the number of tables was reduced. By one third, would you believe?”
“Just when the peak holiday season
was coming up in December,” said Viv. “Whoopee.”
“Fast forward to late December,” Lissa said. “Viv was doing the books and saw that our bills for water usage had gone through the roof. We called in a plumber and he tracked it down to a cracked water pipe. He sent the bill to the landlord, but we still had to pay for excess. We could manage it, because of the holiday crowd, but it was just more expense.”
Georgie and Scott exchanged a quick look. So far, Georgie thought, it sounded like just one bit of bad luck on top of another. But there was something niggling at the back of her mind. Something confirmed by the tense attitude of Scott’s two sisters.
Lissa swung her feet back to the floor and sat up straight, staring into her cup of coffee before taking another sip. “I’ll adjust that score upwards to an eight point five, Viv. I think you’re improving.”
“It’s all the stress,” Viv said with a weak attempt at humor. “The quality of the coffee is the only thing I can control.”
“It’s just not all the things that have gone wrong,” Lissa suddenly burst out. “It’s the way people are looking at us. The cafe has been closed several times while we fix this and fix that. It’s making us look incompetent, as though we don’t know what we’re doing. And now this.”
Scott nodded. “Closed down by the authorities? All the other stuff, that can be put down to pure bad luck and maybe the fact that you’ve moved into an older building. But this? Sounds wrong to me. What’s going on?”
There was a long silence while Lissa and Viv looked at each other. Finally, Viv said, “That’s what we’d like to know. We’re super careful about pests, about cleanliness. You have to be, in the food business. Yet suddenly, we’ve got customers walking out because there are cockroaches crawling around the floor?”
“And out the back, near the bins, they found rotting food.” Lissa’s voice was bleak. “I went off at Viv, but she’d been waiting until the place closed to yell at me.”
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