Um, like you’re having coffee with a friend.
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just turned up unannounced – you’re probably really busy,’ Nathan said, starting to shift his feet and look about awkwardly.
‘Not at all, come on in,’ Emily said, finally shaking off her hesitation. She stepped aside to let him in. ‘I do actually have a friend coming a little later – to stay for the weekend – and Mum and Dad and some friends are coming for lunch…’ Well, Mum isn’t, but… Shit, should I invite Nathan for lunch too? No, surely he’s having it with his parents.
‘Well, aren’t we the social butterfly,’ Nathan teased as he pecked her on the cheek and stepped past her into the dark hall.
She didn’t know what to make of his tone, but found herself bristling in response. ‘It’s not normally like this, believe me.’
‘Wow, lovely wide hall,’ he said, gazing about.
‘Yes, it’s what they call a cricket pitch hall, though I haven’t measured it.’
‘Great colour – you’ve just repainted haven’t you?’
‘Yes. But the colour wasn’t my choice. It was leftover from a friend – Barbara, who you met at the funeral. I do like it, but I probably would have gone more marigold than cream. I may as well give you the grand tour, since everything’s pretty much on the way to the kitchen at the back.’
‘It’s gorgeous. And these floorboards are beautiful.’
As she showed him through the house, the initial tension left Emily and she felt prouder with every bit of praise Nathan heaped on her. She offered him a coffee and they sat at the kitchen table.
‘I can’t believe you and Des did all this yourself,’ he said. ‘I’m not a bit handy with tools – I wouldn’t have known where to start.’
‘Actually, Nathan,’ Emily said, after they’d been sipping their drinks for a few moments, ‘there’s something I’ve been wondering about. Maybe you can help me. Do you have any idea how much it costs to subdivide a property?’
‘Not off the top of my head, but I could find out easily enough – this place you mean?’
Emily was suddenly unsure if she should be discussing it with him. Would it jinx things? Would he tell anyone? Could she really trust him?
‘Oh, just dreaming really,’ she said, blushing slightly, and peering down into her two-thirds full mug.
‘Come on Em, you can’t just leave it at that. Honestly, I’m the vault of discretion if you want someone to bounce ideas off. You’d have my absolute confidence. Trust me, I’m a banker,’ he said with a grin, before taking a long slug of coffee.
She took another sip while getting her thoughts in order. ‘All right – if you promise to keep this to yourself. Because it might not happen anyway.’
‘Scout’s honour,’ he said, saluting.
‘Well, my landlords have offered to sell me the house and surrounding land if I pay to have it surveyed and subdivided…’
‘Can you afford to buy? The place must be worth a couple of hundred thousand.’
‘They’re both on the pension, which they have to be careful not to jeopardise. So they’re offering the most amazingly generous terms.’
‘If it sounds too good to be true, Emily, chances are… Sorry, I don’t mean to sound negative – it’s the cautious banker in me. Sorry. Go on.’
‘The place looks quite tidy, but there’s a lot of work to be done – it was empty for years, so it’s not worth nearly what it once would have been. Anyway, they only want twenty annual payments of ten thousand – five to each of the brothers. No interest.’
‘Wow, well that really is a good deal then, and probably too good to pass up if you’ve got the first payment and can afford the subdividing costs. Maintenance might be your biggest problem. But I don’t suppose you’d be living here if the main structure was a total disaster.’
‘Yes, Dad had a pretty good look before I moved in and said it wasn’t bad, but the roof will need replacing fairly soon. So I’ll have to factor in the cost of that. I’ve told them I’m definitely interested but that I’ve got to do some sums.’
‘Do you think you’ll want a loan? You’d need a twenty percent deposit to avoid mortgage insurance, which is pretty hefty.’
‘No point – I don’t have a job, so I wouldn’t be able to pay anything back.’
‘Hmm, I wouldn’t be much use to you then,’ he said, thoughtfully.
‘I wasn’t expecting you to be,’ Emily said, beginning to wonder why he had come here.
‘No offence, but I thought you said you got a really rough deal – financially – from the ex. How are you planning to pay for all this?’
She felt a little taken aback. You turned up out of the blue on Christmas morning; I didn’t invite you to come out and discuss my finances! She wanted to say these things aloud, but didn’t.
She stared down into her mug, wondering if she’d done the right thing telling him she was unemployed. Thanks to her mother’s prolonged conditioning, unemployment was much the same as having ‘loser’ tattooed on her forehead.
‘So how did you find me, anyway?’ She asked as the thought suddenly struck her.
‘Your mum gave me directions the other day. Bumped into her in the street.’
‘Oh God, I’ll never hear the end of it. “That nice young Nathan, blah, blah, blah.” No offence.’
‘None taken. Anyway, I’ve already had plenty of subtle-as-asledgehammer hints from my own mother,’ he said, rolling his eyes.
‘So that’s why you’re here – because Mummy sent you. This was to shut her up, right?’
‘No, I’m here because I wanted to see where you live. And I needed to get out of the house for a while. It’s like a couple of tinsel and fairy light factories threw up in there.’
They both chuckled.
‘Seriously, I like you, Em, but that doesn’t mean I want to seduce you or anything,’ Nathan added.
‘Good. At least we’re clear on that,’ Emily said.
‘It’s not that I don’t find you attractive, but I really do think we’d drive each other nuts.’
‘Because we’re astrologically incompatible, right?’
‘Exactly,’ Nathan said, clearly missing her sarcastic tone. ‘Matching a Capricorn with a Cancer would be astrological hell. So why waste the time, energy and emotion and end up hating each other when we can just be friends and save all the palaver. You should be looking for a Taurus or a Virgo.’
‘If only our parents agreed,’ Emily said sardonically.
She’d almost forgotten all about their discussion of star signs the night they had met again at Emily’s parents’ house.
When they’d walked to the corner shop to get the cream Enid had forgotten – clearly another ruse in the matchmaking plan, because Enid Oliphant never forgot anything – he’d asked for her star sign and then straight out said they weren’t compatible. Just like that.
Emily still couldn’t believe anyone took star signs so seriously, especially someone like Nathan, who seemed the epitome of conservative.
She’d always dismissed astrology as ridiculous. There was no way all the people in the world could be classified into twelve categories. But now she found herself wondering for the briefest of moments what Jake Lonigan’s star sign was.
‘Now, back to your house-buying venture. My advice would be to get a good lawyer who’s had plenty of experience in the area of subdivisions. I did meet a guy at a networking function a while ago. I might still have his card back in Adelaide. I’ll have a look when I get back there next week. Can I borrow that pad?’ he asked, indicating past Emily.
She slid it across the table to him.
‘So I’ll try and hunt out the guy’s details and find out what I can,’ he said, writing on the pad. ‘Anything else I can do, do you think?’
‘I don’t want to put you to any trouble.’
‘It’s no trouble, honestly. Anyway, I’m most grateful for your company for an hour or so. Anything to get me away from my p
arents – you’ve no idea…’
‘Oh I think I do. Why you’d want to move back out here I wouldn’t know,’ Emily said, shaking her head.
At the same time it dawned on her that she could just as easily move away herself. But then where would she find somewhere to rent for just one hundred dollars a week? And the thought of not having Barbara a few minutes’ drive away made her feel almost queasy.
‘It will probably mean lots of travelling back to the city for weekends until the novelty wears off,’ he said, shrugging.
‘You sound like you’ve got it all planned.’
‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? I got the job. I start in the new year.’
‘Congratulations! We should have been drinking champagne!’
‘It’s a bit early for that.’
‘True. But, wow, you’re really going to be living here in Wattle Creek?’ Emily was interested to know why he’d actually chosen to live in this tin pot country town after the excitement of city life. ‘Your career must be really important to you.’
‘I guess so,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I don’t really think about it like that. I’m actually looking forward to life being a little quieter – the opportunity to save more with less to spend money on. It seemed the best, most obvious next step, too.’
‘Fair enough. At least you have a career and know what you want. I don’t have a clue.’
‘You will when you’re meant to,’ Nathan said, sagely.
‘Thanks. Very profound,’ Emily replied with a groan.
‘Who knows, I might only be doing this because of Dad’s influence. Maybe it’s not really what the universe had planned for me at all. Who knows?’
‘But you enjoy it, don’t you?’
‘Most of the time, yeah. I guess I’m lucky there.’
‘Another cuppa?’ Emily asked, getting up. ‘I couldn’t fit another one in but I’m happy to make you one.’
‘No thanks, but I’ll stay a little longer, only if I’m not holding you up.’
‘No, not at all.’ And Emily meant it. She was genuinely enjoying his company, and liked the idea that he’d be around more.
‘In that case, how ’bout you give me a quick tour of this kingdom you’re going to own.’
‘Well okay, come on.’
They were standing under the fruit trees up the gully, with a good bird’s-eye view of the house. Now that she was actually showing someone where the proposed boundary would be – give or take – it was becoming more real. Nathan showed genuine enthusiasm as he looked over the twenty or so acres surrounding the house.
No longer did Emily have the feeling she might jinx it. She would make this happen if it meant living on baked beans on toast for the next twenty years. Later, after she had run it by her dad, she’d phone the Baker brothers, wish them a merry Christmas and tell them she accepted their offer.
‘It’s great that the house is smack bang in the middle,’ Nathan said.
‘Yeah, it’s good, isn’t it?’
‘But if they ever sell the rest, how will you get in from the main road? The driveway’s part of the main farm isn’t it?’
‘Yes and no. It’s an easement, so no matter what happens, I’ll always have access.’
‘Ah, well, that’s good. I had visions of you having to have your supplies choppered in,’ he said, grinning.
‘Ha ha, very funny.’
‘I hate to say it, but the roof really does look a little the worse for wear from here.’
‘I know. That’ll probably be my first big expense. I’m hoping I’ll know soon how much a new roof will cost me – round about. My friend who is coming to stay used to be a builder.’
‘Well he, or she, will be a handy person to know, taking on a project like this.’
‘He,’ Emily confirmed, unsure why she felt the need to.
‘It’s a pretty big house for you to be living in all alone,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘You could rent out a couple of rooms and make a bit of money if you wanted to.’
‘Who, other than me, would put up with a bathroom being outside and pay for the privilege?’
‘Desperate people – like me…’
Emily stared at him and felt the realisation dawn on her. Nathan was looking elsewhere and didn’t notice her expression.
So that’s why you’re really here.
She’d been played. She’d fallen for his act of being friendly and wanting some company, and pretending to be interested in the house. But all along he was looking for somewhere to stay. Irritation started to bubble.
‘You know, there are absolutely no houses to rent in town. Plenty for sale, but I’m not ready to make that sort of commitment.’
‘I thought the bank had houses for their managers.’
‘Unfortunately, not for the assistant.’
‘There’s no way you’d want to live here though,’ Emily said, staring at him.
‘Why not?’
‘It’s a dump, for a start!’ And what would people say? she wanted to add, but stopped herself in time – doing so would sound just like her mother.
‘Em, if you’re not interested in having a boarder, you only have to say,’ he said, putting a hand on her arm.
Emily stared at his hand while going through the pros and cons. A bit of cash, some company; versus losing her solitude, the gossipmongers’ assumptions.
The money. She so badly needed money.
‘You don’t need to decide right away, but please Em, at least think about it. Seriously. My only other option at this point is living with my parents and I’d rather camp in a paddock than do that. As much as I love them, I just don’t want to move back in with them at my age. But there will be no hard feelings if you decide you want to be alone.’
‘Okay, I’ll think about it. I can’t promise anything though. How much rent do you think would be fair?’
‘There’s an allowance of one hundred and fifty a week on top of my salary, so you can have that.’
Wow, that’s great, Emily thought.
‘That’s way too much!’ she said.
‘We could say it includes utilities then.’
‘Hmm.’
‘Well, I’ll leave you to ponder it.’ Nathan suddenly glanced down at his watch. ‘I’d better get back!’
They headed back down the hill and Emily walked him to his car, a sporty-looking sedan.
‘Thanks for the hospitality. I think the house is great.’
‘Thanks for saying so, and for dropping by,’ she said, despite still feeling a bit irked.
‘Well, have a merry Christmas,’ he said.
‘And you too.’
She allowed him to peck her on the cheek, and then stood watching as he drove off.
Chapter Four
Emily prepared slivers of fresh garlic and tiny sprigs of rosemary and then poked them into the slits she’d made in the lamb. She did all this on autopilot while the pros and cons of Nathan’s proposal ran through her head. She kept coming back to the same point – she needed the money.
As she washed her hands and dried them on the hand towel from the bench, she decided that she was being ridiculous. The ball was in her court. She didn’t have to make a decision right now. And he’d said there would be no hard feelings if she declined. So why was she feeling so pressured?
No, she said to herself after taking a deep breath, she had to take the time to really think it through. No point making a quick decision and then living to regret it. No point deciding a couple of weeks in that she really didn’t want company and making Nathan move again just after he’d become settled. Or worse, not having the guts to tell him, and then living in silent angst and retreating to be alone at every opportunity.
Not unlike her marriage, really.
She suddenly realised all the parallels were there; a decision made for the wrong reasons, before all angles were considered and because of feeling pressured – by herself, yes, but also by her mother. The spoken and unspoken, the subtle and not so subtle.
All the references to so and so’s lovely wedding, the news that such and such’s daughter had just blessed them with their third grandchild and weren’t they lucky? The barely disguised comments about her age. In Wattle Creek, any woman not married by twenty-three was considered ‘on the shelf’, and would be for life. Still unmarried at twenty-eight was a definite cause for panic. And panic was what Enid had done, right up until Emily and John had said their vows. You could almost hear her exhaling in relief at the words, ‘And you may kiss your bride.’
A close second to getting your daughter married off was the particular match you’d managed. If it was a good one, mother would take the credit. If not, at least the girl was married.
In Emily’s case, Enid had been particularly chuffed: ‘And from such a good family; the Strattens are so community- and church-minded for such a wealthy family – you don’t often get that these days.’ The unspoken part being, ‘Now we’re a part of their world.’ But of course the Oliphants weren’t and never would be. Emily knew that, but it wasn’t worth bursting her mother’s bubble.
Emily had been as eager to marry ‘up’ as her mother – she’d been well and truly indoctrinated. But when she got into the fold she saw first-hand the truth of those well-worn phrases about the wealthy being wealthy because they were tight-fisted.
It was one of the things she’d liked about John – he was determined not to be like his parents and instead chose to splash his cash around.
But it had taken ages for her to see it for what it really was – boasting on a very superficial level. Rounds of beer at the pub, new mag wheels for his car, the odd trip to the city to get away – not to take her shopping or lavish her with jewellery or gifts, but to lose wads of cash on the chocolate wheel at the casino. Of all the games available, Emily had thought at the time, shaking her head while obediently standing beside him and waiting for him to get bored or run out of money.
Enid would never have believed her if Emily had told her; she was so smug about getting her daughter married into the wealthiest family in the district she wouldn’t have heard a bad word against any of them. And for a long time Emily hadn’t wanted to fully admit to herself what a huge mistake she’d made. What would have been the point? Marriage was for life; you had to take the good with the bad.
Time Will Tell Page 3
