The Right Time (10 page)

‘I didn't plan a thing,' she declared. ‘It came as a total surprise, I was just telling Liz. I mean, let's not be coy here, everyone knows how much I wanted this, and apparently Blake noticed how many people at work were getting married, and it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't know what we were waiting for. And that if it meant so much to me, we should just do it.'

‘That's sweet,' Evie cooed. ‘Is that what he said when he proposed?'

‘Oh, no, that all came out afterwards.' She sighed dreamily. ‘It was the most romantic proposal ever.'

‘So tell us!' Evie insisted, with a little jump.

Ellen and Liz glanced at each other. It was the happiest they'd seen her all day.

‘Well, okay . . .' Emma took a breath, looking around at her sisters as though she was about to tell them a story. ‘First I knew of anything Blake rang me at work on Wednesday. “How about we eat out tonight?” he said. I replied sure, I could meet him straight after I finished up at the office.

‘But he said, “No, go home, get dressed up, let's do something nice,”' Emma added, becoming animated.

‘I said, “What's going on?” I suppose I should have twigged, but I didn't. Blake just fobbed me off anyway. “You get all dressed up for everyone else,” he said, “how about you get dressed up for me this time?”

‘Then, when I was at home, a text message arrived,' Emma went on. ‘Blake was sending a cab for me. Well, I told him not to be silly, I could get a cab myself. But he insisted it was already on its way.'

‘And you still didn't wonder what was going on?' Ellen asked.

‘No,' Emma shook her head, holding her hands up with an innocent shrug. ‘I said, “Where will I tell the driver to take me?” And he said, “Don't worry, he knows where to go.”'

Evie let out a little cry and clapped her hands together. ‘It's so exciting!'

‘So the taxi drives through the city streets, towards the harbour, and pulls up outside the Park Hyatt. Blake was standing there, waiting for me.' Emma sighed, as though she was seeing him again now. ‘He was dressed in a
tux
. Have you ever seen Blake in a tux? He wears it so well,' she swooned.

Liz's stomach was starting to turn ever so slightly.

‘I said to him, “What's going on?” I still hadn't twigged. Honestly after all this time, I never suspected what was coming, it didn't even cross my mind.'

Liz was beginning to find that hard to believe.

‘I thought maybe he got a promotion,' Emma went on, ‘or a big bonus, that he was going to surprise me with tickets for some exotic overseas holiday. Anyway, he took me up to a
suite
– it was gorgeous, three rooms, three balconies with views across the harbour to the Opera House. He really surpassed all my expectations.'

‘But you said you weren't expecting it,' said Ellen.

‘Well, no, of course, but you know what I mean,' she dismissed, and went on with her story. ‘There was champagne chilling in a bucket and Blake poured us both a glass. By then I was so excited, I just had to say, “What are we toasting to?”' Emma took a breath. ‘And he said, “To our future.”

‘And right at that precise moment, a waiter walked in carrying a tray covered with a sterling silver dome. I'm almost certain it was Georg Jensen.'

‘Who, the waiter?'

‘No, Evie,' Emma smiled. ‘The silver. Anyway, the waiter passed it to Blake and then he disappeared. I said, “What's this?” And Blake said, “Something special to start with.” And he lifted the lid . . .'

Evie squealed.

‘And there, on the tray, was a blue Tiffany box!'

‘What did you do?' Evie gasped.

‘My eyes filled with tears as Blake picked up the box and opened it to reveal my engagement ring.' She paused to gaze at it now. ‘And then he said – let me remember this right – “Emma, you're my best friend, my partner, and now I wonder if you'll take the next step and consent to be my wife.”'

That did it for Evie, she burst into tears.

‘That's beautiful, Em,' said Liz, though she thought it was a bit prosaic after all the build-up.

Evie was wailing now. ‘Evie, are you okay?' Ellen asked her, giving her back a gentle rub.

‘Yes, yes,' she sobbed, ‘it's just all the emotion. It's been a very emotional day,' she added, her voice barely a squeak.

‘Does this have anything to do with what you wanted to talk about before?' asked Emma.

But that just set her off again.

‘Hey guys.' It was Eddie coming around the perimeter of the tree. ‘What's wrong with Evie?'

‘Nothing, she'll be fine,' Liz assured him, her arm firmly around her sister.

‘Okay, well, people are starting to leave and Mum and Dad were wondering where you all got to.'

The house was finally empty of guests, the caterers had packed up and left, but Edward and Evelyn had asked the family to stay back a while longer. They put Sam and Kate in charge of the littlies and had sent them all to the lounge room to watch a DVD. The adults were gathered around the dining room table.

‘Dad and I have something important we need to tell you.'

‘What is it?' Evie looked fearful. ‘You're not sick?'

‘Of course not, darling, we're fine. This is nothing bad, okay? In fact, it's good news. We're actually pretty excited about it and we hope you will be too.' Evelyn glanced at her husband. ‘We wanted to let you know that we're selling the house.'

The announcement was met with complete silence as the shock reverberated around the table.

‘What?' Evie said weakly after a while.

Ellen felt shattered. ‘Why?'

‘For the same reasons anyone does it at our age,' said Edward. ‘The house is too big for us to maintain –'

‘We can help,' Liz volunteered. ‘We all should be helping out more anyway. We can work out a roster –'

Her father was shaking his head. ‘It's not just that, Liz. There's the expense involved in keeping a big house . . . The rates alone –'

‘If it's a matter of money,' she persisted, ‘you know I can help there too.'

Evelyn covered her daughter's hand. ‘That's very generous, darling, but it's not what we want.'

‘But surely you can't
want
to sell the house?' said Ellen.

‘Yes, actually, we do,' Evelyn nodded, with another glance at her husband.

‘It's time, girls,' he said. ‘This house has been a wonderful family home, and we'll miss it. But it's time for us to move on, for the house to take its place as part of our family's history.'

‘Not if some developer gets hold of it,' Liz declared, ‘and demolishes it.'

Blake shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Evie gasped, her eyes filling with tears again. ‘Oh no, could that actually happen?'

‘Things change, girls,' Edward reassured them. ‘And that's okay. Come on, you're all adults, you've all moved on with your own lives, you have to let your mother and I do the same thing. You can't expect us to stay put, be some kind of caretakers of your childhood memories.'

‘But why now?' said Ellen. ‘Aren't we going through enough change right now? Couldn't this wait?'

‘Not everything's about you, Ellen,' said Emma.

‘I'm not just talking about me.'

‘Well, who else is going through a big change?'

‘You are,' she countered. ‘You're getting married.'

‘So what?' said Emma. ‘This doesn't affect my wedding plans.'

‘Not everything's about you, either,' Ellen threw her words back at her.

‘I don't think this has anything to do with any of us,' Emma said archly. ‘It's Mum and Dad's house, it's their life, and therefore their decision. And I for one am right behind them.'

Ellen folded her arms. ‘Well I just think it's terribly sudden. Don't you think you should take more time to make such a huge decision as selling up the family home? I mean, it's such a big move.'

‘Absolutely,' Evie sniffed.

‘And now that it's out in the open we can all help you decide,' agreed Liz.

‘We can discuss all the alternatives,' Ellen added.

‘It's not our decision,' Emma maintained.

‘I think your parents are old enough to know what they want.'

‘Whose side are you on?' Evie glared at Craig.

The discussion, such as it was, rapidly descended into squabbling, with no one actually listening to what anyone else was saying, and Edward and Evelyn sitting dumbfounded at the end of the table.

A loud thump sounded from the other end of the table. All heads turned to look at Eddie.

‘Now that I have your attention,' he said. ‘The house is already listed with the realtor. The signs go up on Monday.'

‘How do you know that?' Ellen asked him accusingly. ‘Did he put you up to this?' she added, turning back to her parents.

‘No, we actually approached Eddie,' said Edward.

‘Why didn't you come to us as well?'

‘If you want to know the truth, we were trying to avoid this very scene,' said Evelyn.

‘So much for that plan,' said Liz.

‘And what does Eddie know about all this?' Ellen said indignantly. ‘He's just a kid.'

‘Girls,' Eddie interrupted, ‘I might be the baby of the family, but I'm not a kid any more. And I do have some experience, and contacts.'

‘Come on, Eddie,' Ellen rolled her eyes. ‘What experience do you have in real estate? You still live in a rented share house.'

‘Not real estate, but finances,' he explained. ‘I have been running a successful business for several years now, in case you forgot.'

‘You teach people to hang-glide,' Ellen said drolly.

Maybe it was being surrounded by so many nurturers that had made Eddie a tearaway from the time he took his first steps. He climbed trees and made billycarts, before progressing to dirt bikes and skateboards. He was attracted to anything that had an element of danger. When he discovered hang-gliding, he found his calling.

Ellen turned back to her parents. ‘He takes risks for a living and he's who you go to for financial advice?'

Eddie managed to keep his cool. ‘I have made a lot of contacts, Lenny, people who could give Mum and Dad the kind of advice they were looking for. They didn't need a realtor, they needed to secure their future. And we've figured things out so that they can live comfortably till they're a hundred and fifty.'

‘Well, what's the point of that?' said Ellen.

Her parents looked taken aback.

‘I mean, no offence, Mum and Dad,' she added quickly, ‘but you're not going to live that long, much as I wish you could.'

‘Me too,' Evie croaked.

‘The point is,' Eddie resumed, ‘we've worked out an investment portfolio that gives them a comfortable lifestyle, with security to cover all contingencies. They can travel –'

‘You want to travel?' asked Liz.

‘Of course.'

‘First I've heard of it,' Ellen muttered.

‘We've talked about travelling all of our lives,' Evelyn insisted.

‘Yeah,' said Liz, ‘but that's just like everyone talks about it.'

‘No,' said Edward, ‘we
really
want to travel, we always have, but it's a little hard to do with five kids,' he added rather bluntly.

‘On our existing government super we could have done a little travelling,' said Evelyn, ‘but we have so much equity tied up in this house, we were shocked when we realised how much, and what we could do with that money.'

‘Remember when we bought this house?' Edward said, squeezing his wife's hand and looking fondly at her. ‘Our parents
thought we were mad for buying in Annandale. It was little better than a slum back then. Of course, there were still some very grand houses around, but we weren't in the market for any of those. We bought the worst house in the worst street, according to our parents. But we couldn't afford anything else.'

‘Don't you see, girls,' said Evelyn, ‘we won't have to worry about money for the first time in our lives, and we'll have the freedom to go wherever we want for as long as we want.'

‘We're going to live like kings,' added their father.

‘But
where
will you live?' asked Liz.

‘We've been looking at studio apartments in the city,' said Evelyn.

‘What?' said Ellen. ‘But they're tiny.'

Evelyn shrugged. ‘Down the track we might buy something more substantial, maybe up or down the coast, or in the mountains, we don't know yet. But for now, we only need a base, somewhere we can lock up and leave when we're gone.'

Who are you people and what have you done with my parents? Ellen felt like saying. ‘So where are the grandchildren supposed to stay when they come to visit?' she put to them.

‘We'll visit them instead,' Evelyn smiled.

‘And family dinners?'

‘You kids already take turns,' said Edward.

‘Well, that's it,' Liz declared with a loud sigh. ‘Call the realtor tomorrow, Eddie, tell them not to bother with the signs. I'm going to buy the place.'

Now Eddie sighed, rubbing his forehead as if he was getting a headache. ‘Liz, we are going to get full market value for this house. I know you earn good money, but it's a very valuable piece of property.'

‘Of course I'll pay market value,' Liz said. ‘You think I'd rip off Mum and Dad?'

‘But you wouldn't get finance, Liz,' Blake chimed in. ‘A developer is going to pay premium because they'll earn on the investment.'

‘I knew it!' Liz declared. ‘You're selling out to developers. You can't think that's okay, Mum? Dad?'

‘We're not the devil incarnate,' Blake muttered.

‘Look, cards on the table,' said Edward. ‘We were approached sometime back by a developer. A proposal to rezone the street was about to be put to council, which would allow low-density development of large blocks. The offer they made, well, your mother and I have never seen that kind of money. And that wasn't the last offer we got. Don't you see, it's an opportunity too good not to take up.'