Molly had decided to be daring. If adults could tell teenagers what to do, then she could tell adults what to do occasionally, she’d decided. She badgered Austin to give her a driving lesson – she’d got her learner’s permit three days after she’d turned sixteen – and cornered him on the subject while they were driving up and down the back roads behind the town. She casually said she thought Nina was really lovely and she thought that her and Austin made a good match. To her surprise, Austin had nodded.
‘I do too, Moll. But unfortunately Nina isn’t quite as perceptive as you. She’s playing with my emotions. Keeping me dangling.’
‘Are you in love with her?’
‘I think I am, yes.’
‘And she’s not in love with you?’
‘She nearly is. But not yet. I’m still working on her.’
‘Do you want me to have a word with her? As your concerned niece? Press your case?’ She’d heard the phrase on an American law program the night before and decided it was very apt here.
‘No thanks, Molly.’
She’d done it anyway. The night before, when Nina arrived she had just happened to say that she thought Austin was really nice and it certainly seemed that he was very keen on her. ‘I think you’d only need to say the word.’
Nina had winked. ‘Thanks, Molly.’
She looked over now. Yep, Austin was definitely smitten. She could see the way he looked at Nina all the time. She saw them both talking to Gloria. Gloria was all smiles, too. Molly knew she also really liked Nina. Gloria had told Molly that. It was just as well. Molly had a feeling it was very important to Austin that Gloria liked anyone he ended up with.
Her mum went past carrying a tray of drinks. She whispered, just that bit too loudly as usual, ‘Molly, would you please check if Kevin needs anything?’
Whoops. Molly had forgotten she was supposed to be keeping an eye on Kevin. She went straight over to him. He was sitting on a chair at the edge of the room talking to Mr Fidock. Molly crouched beside him. ‘Sorry, Kev, I should have asked you before. Do you want me to get you another drink or anything else to eat?’
‘No thanks, Molly love.’ He patted the chair beside him. ‘Sit here for a second and tell me what it all looks like.’
She sat down, a bit amazed that he had known the chair was empty. ‘It’s getting really crowded. About eighty people now, I’d say, but there’s still more coming in. Gloria is in the corner talking to Austin and Nina. She’s been talking to heaps of people all night. She looks really happy. She’s wearing a sort of blue dress, by the way. She looks very nice.’ Molly liked giving Kev these reports. It made her feel like a football commentator. ‘Not long now till you’re off on your driving trip,’ she said. ‘Are you looking forward to it?’
He gave her a big smile. ‘Can’t wait, Miss Molly, by golly.’
Kev had become her sort of surrogate grandfather the past few months. She’d walked home with Gloria one night, helping her to carry some files back that she was going to sort through over the weekend. She’d been amazed to come in and find Kev cooking. She’d just blurted it out. ‘How can you cook? You can’t see anything.’
He’d explained that he still had four other senses and that he could cook simple things, as long as everything was where he could get his hands on it easily. And he said he cooked a lot with herbs because it was easy to tell from the smell how much he was using. She’d tasted the tomato casserole he was making and it was delicious. After that she hadn’t been so amazed to see him doing things like gardening, even a sort of Braille jigsaw puzzle. She dropped in and out on the way back from swimming training these days, even if Gloria wasn’t there. Sometimes she helped him do his cooking, or helped out in the garden, but lots of times they just talked away to each other.
Molly felt the mobile in her pocket vibrate. At last. She read the text. Am outside.
She did it as they’d discussed. She went to Harriet first and whispered. Harriet gave her a big smile then whispered something to Patrick. Molly saw Patrick smile and look pleased too. Next she went up to her dad and whispered in his ear. He looked really surprised and then gave her a big grin. ‘No worries, Moll.’ Then she went over to her uncle Austin. ‘Are you serious?’ he said. He was really happy too. He agreed to do what she asked. She saw him tell Nina. She looked surprised and then really happy as well.
Molly looked over at Harriet again and nodded, as quickly as she could so no one would see. They had hatched this up between the two of them. It had been good fun keeping it a secret from everyone. Now it was all about to be revealed.
Harriet went close to the microphone and stood there, waiting for the right moment.
Molly ran outside. There she was, leaning against her hire car just down the main street. She was smiling. Really smiling. Molly felt a big smile come over her own face.
‘Hi, Mollusc.’
Molly didn’t bother with hellos. She just gave Lara a great big hug. ‘You’re only just in time.’
‘I like a dramatic ending. Are you ready for me?’
‘I’ve been waiting for you to come home for nearly a year. Of course I’m ready.’
As Molly took her by the hand, she noticed Lara’s bracelet. A really pretty one, made from opals. Molly thought it looked familiar. Then she remembered. Harriet used to have one just like it. She led Lara back towards Turner Travel. ‘Wait here,’ she said.
She peeked in through the door first to check it was all ready. It was. Austin and James were on either side of Gloria with their hands over her eyes. Molly gave Harriet the thumbs up. As she and Lara came in, Harriet leaned in to the microphone and told Gloria to turn around and say hello to a special surprise guest here all the way from England.
Molly couldn’t believe it. First Gloria started crying and then so did Harriet. Even her mum and dad and Austin looked like they had tears in their eyes. Molly looked up at Lara. She was crying too. What had got into everyone?
Molly didn’t think it was sad. She thought it was brilliant. The whole family was together again. Now they could really have a party.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My love and thanks to my (baggage-free) families in two hemispheres – the McInerneys, Lemms, Johnsons, Gallifords, Meaneys and Careys in Australia and the Drislanes in Ireland and Germany. A special thank you to my sister Maura for her help just when I needed it.
Thank you to Angela Harman, Max and Jean Fatchen, Hugh Ponnuthurai, Aoife and Imacus Ling, Maeve O’Meara, John Allen, Jill Kirby, Danny Coholan, Karen O’Connor, Bart Meldau, Eveleen Coyle, Helen Peakin, Jean Grimes, Kristin Gill, Noelle Harrison, Melanie Scaife, Simon Lawlor, Laura Cochrane, Karen Wilson, Kylie Tyack, Ben Redden, Kathryn Black and Nicola Black. A big thank you to Col Cooley and Greg Cooley for the Mr Douglas-isms. My special thanks to Eileen in Dublin for sharing her insights and memories.
Thanks to my publishers: everyone at Penguin Australia, especially Clare Forster, Ali Watts, Anne Rogan, Cathy Larsen, Bridie Riordan, Tali Borowski, Sally Bateman and Daniel Ruffino; Imogen Taylor, Trisha Jackson, Daniel Watts and all at Pan Macmillan in the UK, and Alison Walsh, Michael Gill and the Tivoli team in Ireland. Thank you to my agents: Fiona Inglis and everyone at Curtis Brown Australia, Jonathan Lloyd and Kate Cooper at Curtis Brown in London, Christy Fletcher in New York and Anoukh Foerg in Munich.
And, once more, all my love and thanks to my husband John.
Family Baggage Page 44
