by Anna Jacobs
‘See how you two are upsetting me, you mean. You’ll be buying me a shawl and a rocking chair next, and chaining me in a corner in case I lose my way round the house.’
‘Look, we—’
The front doorbell rang and she bounced to her feet to answer it. ‘Ah, Libby. Do come in. I was just telling Clo and Deb how much I’m looking forward to my trip to England.’
Libby hugged her and danced her round the kitchen–diner area. ‘So they persuaded you to go, did they? Well done, girls.’ She beamed at the two younger women.
Simone kept hold of her friend’s arm and gave it a hard squeeze. ‘On the contrary. They don’t think I could cope with it, me being such a timid, elderly moron.’
‘We know she’d be out of her depth going on her own,’ Clo said firmly. ‘Come on, Ma. I know it’s tempting but you really aren’t the sort to go gallivanting around a foreign country alone.’
‘Not all that foreign. I still have dual nationality.’
Libby gave Simone an understanding squeeze of the arm in return. ‘Good for you.’
‘I’ll be fine tottering round but maybe it’ll make you two happy if I buy a Zimmer frame to take with me.’
Though Simone had meant it as a sort of joke, she heard the sharp edge to her voice. ‘As soon as you girls have left I’m going to ring up Michael and Harriet and tell them I’d love to do the swap as soon as possible. I promised them I’d call with my answer this evening.’
‘Phone them now.’ Libby held out her mobile and gave Simone a challenging look. ‘This is Michael’s number.’ She tapped something on her phone and handed it over as it began ringing.
‘Ma, at least sleep on it. You don’t want to do something you’ll regret,’ Clo said urgently, reaching out as if to take the phone away.
Simone moved further away. ‘I’ve slept on it once. Do I keep sleeping on it till someone else takes up the offer? Ah, Michael. Simone here. I’d like to take up your in-laws’ offer of a house and car swap.’
She heard him call out to his wife, ‘Harriet, she’s going to do it!’
Excited distant squealing made her smile. It was good to make someone happy.
‘Look, Michael, I’ve got my daughters here. Can I ring you later to discuss the timing and the details?’
As she ended the call, her daughters picked up their shoulder bags, radiating outrage.
‘Well, it’s your own decision, Ma, and I just hope you don’t regret it,’ Clo said loudly and slowly.
‘We’d better get going.’ Deb did a kissy-kissy in mid-air as usual. Heaven forbid she should actually touch anyone and smudge her make-up. Even her children knew better than to do that to their mother, young as they were. You’d think she was going into battle and needed war paint the way she got ready for work each day.
Clo sniffed disapprovingly. ‘I still think you’re rushing into this without thinking it through properly, Ma. But on your own head be it.’
‘Of course it’s on my own head what I do with my life. Did you think you were in charge of it?’
She waited till she’d waved them goodbye to come back and collapse into her favourite armchair. Looking across at Libby, she asked faintly, ‘What have I done?’
‘Stood up for yourself. Go get ’em, girlfriend!’
‘I need another glass of wine. Join me?’ She wasn’t going to change her decision or she’d never hear the last of it, but oh, she was suddenly quite terrified.
‘Just give me half a glass. I’m driving.’ Libby grinned. ‘Bossy, aren’t they, your girls?’
‘Yes. And so are you.’ Then she giggled suddenly. ‘Did you see their faces?’
They both howled with laughter then raised their glasses in a toast.
‘To England!’
‘To a wonderful holiday!’
Chapter Three
Harriet came to see Simone the following morning to go through the basic arrangements, and they agreed to start the swap towards the end of May. This would be well into spring in Wiltshire and the countryside would be lovely by then.
Simone went to have a preliminary chat with a travel agent but decided not to make a booking until she got a firm date from the Dittons.
Harriet phoned three days later very early in the morning. ‘Are you free? Something interesting has come up that I’d like to discuss.’
‘Sure. Why don’t you come round now?’
After the call ended, Simone hastily put the tins of food back into the kitchen cupboard she’d been cleaning out and tidied everything up. If she was going to let someone else live in her home for several months, she was determined that every corner of it would be immaculate.
When she heard a car pull up in the drive, she peeped out of the window, then went to open the front door before Harriet could get there. ‘Come in and sit down. Can I get you a cup of coffee or something?’
‘No, thanks. But I will sit down.’ She gestured towards the laptop she was carrying. ‘Could we sit at a table? I want to show you something.’
Puzzled, Simone did as her visitor had asked and waited while Harriet got online.
‘I’ll get straight to the point. My parents have found a super-special price for a business class flight and want to come sooner than we’d arranged. Any chance of you agreeing to that?’
‘How much sooner?’
‘This week.’
The silence was deafening. She couldn’t think what to say and managed only a feeble, ‘When this week?’
‘Saturday.’
‘That’s only four days from now and I still have to book a flight.’
‘That’s why I wanted to come round. I have the details of the website they found where there are super-specials on international flights, some of them due to last-minute cancellations. How about we look at it now and see if we can find you a cheaper flight too? If not, there’s no problem. They can still come early and stay with us till you’re ready to leave.’
Since she’d found out the prices, Simone had been hesitating as to whether to book business class or not, because she was tall enough to find economy class seats very uncomfortable. But the super-specials for flights available in the short term on this site made her gasp. Wow! They’d save her a big chunk of money and make business class seem far less eye-watering in cost.
Then she noticed a cancellation offer blink abruptly into place. It was for tonight at quarter to seven from Perth airport, arriving in London just after five the next morning. If she could leave then, she’d save $3,000 on her return fare and get a non-stop flight. ‘Look at that!’ She pointed to the screen.
Harriet whistled and looked at her.
Simone took a deep breath and clicked on the icon to say she was interested before anyone else could do it. ‘You’re right about bargains.’ Then she thought about the practicalities. ‘But how can I go so quickly when I haven’t done what’s needed to get the house ready?’
‘It looks immaculate to me. Leave the food in the fridge as is and they’ll do the same for you. You can both eat up whatever’s left. And if you don’t mind, Michael and I can move things out of your wardrobe and drawers and take notes about what we put where.’
‘I can do that part of it in an hour or so if I just dump my things in the empty drawers and wardrobes in the other bedrooms. I had a pretty good clear-out of my own things after my husband died a few years ago, you see. I don’t want anyone to have to clear out my years of rubbish, as I had to do for Harvey.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ll do it. Let me get my credit card.’
She grabbed her bag from the kitchen and was back in a minute, taking out her purse on the way. She completed the cancellation offer there and then, because she doubted she’d find another special as good as this one. The travel agent had already told her the non-stop flights were booked up months in advance and the Dittons would have to change planes midway. Her flight would arrive in the UK two days before they were due to leave, given the time differences.
‘Perfect!’ Harriet said. �
��My parents can pick you up from the airport and take you to their house, and you can drop them at my aunt’s house the day before their flight. She lives near Heathrow. If you don’t mind, I’m sure she’d like to come and stay with them here.’
‘I don’t mind at all.’
Harriet hesitated, then gave Simone a quick hug, looking suddenly tearful. ‘I can’t tell you how much this means to me, how grateful I am to you.’
Simone returned the younger woman’s hug. ‘I’m glad. And I do hope it’ll help your pregnancy go more smoothly to have your parents with you.’
‘Thanks. Look, if we go round the house now, you can explain how everything works and I’ll take notes.’
‘Good idea. Though it’s all very straightforward. I don’t go in for fancy gadgets.’
‘We can take you to the airport this afternoon. What time do you want to leave home?’
‘I’d like to get there about three hours before the flight leaves. And can Michael deal with my car, show them about driving it, I mean? My insurance covers any driver I nominate, but there will be road tax due in a couple of months.’
‘He’ll be on to that. And I’ll get Dad to cover your car insurance in England.’
They went round the reverse cycle air conditioning and other appliances, with Harriet taking notes but, as Simone had said, there was nothing fancy or difficult.
‘We’ll be able to get in touch easily if anything else crops up. And my parents will look after your house, I promise.’
‘Yes, of course. As I’ll look after theirs.’
‘I can see that. Yours is immaculate.’
Simone didn’t let herself smile. She could make her house look immaculate in a few minutes. Had perfected that when the kids were little.
Once Harriet had driven away Simone went along to her bedroom and proceeded to give her pillow a good pummelling, which was one of the best ways she knew to relieve severe stress.
She felt as if fate had grabbed her firmly by the scruff of the neck and was sending her to England ‘will-she, nill-she’ to paraphrase Shakespeare.
Then she pulled herself together and started on the practicalities, removing her sheets and putting them on to wash before returning to the bedroom to pack two suitcases and her backpack. Fortunately she’d already mentally sorted out the clothes she was taking. She’d need some of her winter stuff from here in Australia as well, because it could be cool in England, even in spring. And if she needed anything else she could buy it there.
Thank goodness there was an increased baggage weight allowance in business class, so she could fit quite a lot in. After she’d packed she’d clear out her wardrobe.
On a sudden thought, she sent a text to her daughters and Libby, saying it was very urgent she see them as she was leaving for the UK TONIGHT!!! (in capital letters and bold). Could they get off work a bit early?
By the time they were due, she’d dried the sheets and remade the bed, packed all her bits and pieces into the hand luggage, got her laptop and phone ready and was going round the house checking every room.
Clo was the first to arrive. ‘What’s up, Ma?’
‘I’ll tell you all at once.’
Clo looked at her watch and gave one of her aggrieved sighs. Fortunately Deb and Libby arrived soon afterwards.
‘Good thing I didn’t have a class,’ Libby said cheerfully. ‘I claimed a family emergency and left early.’
When Simone told them how quickly she was leaving, her daughters looked at one another in horror and Libby beamed at her.
‘I didn’t think you’d go through with it, Ma,’ Deb muttered.
Join the club. Neither did I, Simone thought, hoping her smile was convincingly confident.
Clo stared at her mother as if she’d never seen her before. ‘Aren’t you scared?’
She shrugged. ‘Somewhat nervous, I must admit, but the Dittons will be picking me up at Heathrow, so it’s just a matter of getting on the plane in Perth and getting off it again in England. Did I tell you I scored a non-stop flight in business class at an absolutely knock-down price because of a cancellation? That’s why it’s happening so quickly.’
Libby let out a low whistle. ‘Well done you.’
Her daughters left soon afterwards but her friend stayed.
‘Want me to take you to the airport?’
‘The Westings have offered.’
‘Let me do it, then I can hold your hand, so to speak, till it’s time to board. I don’t want you panicking and backing out.’
‘I won’t. I daren’t, now I’ve told the girls. But I’d like to have you there.’
‘We’ll see if we can get you a sim card at the airport so that you can still use the same mobile phone in the UK.’
‘I hadn’t thought of that. Um, I’m going to miss you, Libby.’
‘We’ll stay in touch and if you’re still there in the next school holidays, I may even come over to visit you.’
‘Oh, do! Now, just let me phone the Westings and tell them they’re off the hook for taking me to the airport. I’ve already given Harriet some house keys.’
As Libby gave her a farewell hug at the airport, she said, ‘I’m so excited for you, Simone.’
‘I’m excited too.’
It was clear from her grin that Libby was well aware that this was a lie, so Simone plonked a kiss on her cheek, took a deep breath and walked away from her. After going through customs she waited in the comfortable business class lounge for half an hour, then was called to board. Nervousness made her stomach lurch as she walked slowly down the narrow passage that led on to the plane.
When the flight took off, she let out a huge sigh and sagged back in her seat, glad this part was over and done with, and that she didn’t have to pretend to anyone. Talk about riding the whirlwind for the past few hours.
She was delighted with the amount of seating space she had and the little side table. The service provided by the cabin staff was excellent and she felt herself calm down still further. She didn’t expect to sleep a wink, but since she had a proper bed, when the cabin lights dimmed, she decided to lie down anyway.
Several hours had passed by the time she woke, but there were still eight more to go and they seemed to tick by very slowly. She watched a popular movie half-heartedly, read some of a book she’d been in the middle of, but couldn’t have given any details of what had happened next, and tried to tell herself that this really would be an exciting and life-changing experience.
But she still couldn’t convince herself that she’d really wanted an adventure of this magnitude.
Her biggest consolation was that for once she’d stood up for herself against her daughters’ smothering love – and increasing selfishness. The time she’d spend away might make them appreciate her more once she got back. But oh, she’d miss them and her grandchildren so much.
She’d miss her parents too, hadn’t even been able to phone them to say goodbye because they were out of touch electronically at the moment. They were enjoying being ‘grey nomads’ driving round Australia towing a small but luxurious caravan, though her father always insisted ‘bald nomad’ would be more appropriate for him these days. That had become a family joke. They were cheerful, enjoyed life and were lucky to still be in good health in their late seventies.
She’d only been able to send them an explanatory email telling them what she was doing. They’d approve when they read it, she was sure. They’d be surprised, too. Her father in particular teased her regularly about being a timid homebody. No one could accuse her of that now!
The flight seemed to go on for ever and she kept checking her watch. It just showed that time was relative. An hour passed quickly when you were enjoying yourself and very slowly indeed during this flight.
Chapter Four
Russ Carden walked slowly round with Molly Santiago as he did a final inspection of the interior of his newly finished home. She and her husband were the creators and owners of the Penny Lake Leisure Village but he had
other businesses so she was the one who handled all the sales of land and organised the building work. A capable and charming woman.
Everything seemed fine to him but she pointed out one area of wall that had missed its final coat of paint in the second bathroom and an insect screen that hadn’t been properly fitted into the window in one of the spare bedrooms.
‘I’ll send someone to fix them as soon as I can, Russ. Most builders here don’t install insect screens in the windows and doors of their houses so some of our tradesmen are still developing their skills in that area.’
He nodded. ‘Thanks. Once you’ve lived in countries where they’re standard, you appreciate the difference they can make. I don’t enjoy sharing my home with insects that bite or sting.’
‘Will you please try using the lift on your own now, Russ? I want you to be happy with it.’
He wasn’t happy to need a lift but the accident had left him with various slowly improving physical weaknesses that still had to be allowed for when carrying heavy things or going up and down stairs. That galled him.
As a tourist, the last thing you expected when travelling in Australia was to be caught up in a major bushfire crisis, but this fire had hit suddenly and spread rapidly. The authorities had handled it well and Russ would have been all right if it hadn’t been for a drunken idiot who hadn’t followed police instructions about how to drive out of danger.
Russ had been driving along sedately in the patient convoy of slow-moving motorists who were being escorted to safety when someone had tried to overtake them on a blind corner. The driver had killed himself and his passenger by this careless act but unfortunately he’d taken the nearest two cars with him as well as he spun out of control. They’d all crashed into a huge fallen, half-burnt tree that had been bulldozed to the side of the road.
Russ still had nightmares about the feeling of sickening helplessness and the way everything seemed to go into slow motion as his car spun towards that tree, which was still smouldering at one end.
