Meant To Be (16 page)

‘I want to give Jake and his sister, Simone, somewhere to exhibit. She's so talented. And I want to thank her for bringing Jake and me back together, and for all she did with the jam. You should see her work – gorgeous huge paintings of flowers.'

‘Like the ones we have in our hall at home?'

‘Not really – though yours are lovely too. Simone's are very modern looking; bright, and unframed. She uses quite thick paint so they seem to almost stand off of the canvas. I think it's what they call impressionist – I'm really going to have to bone up on art terms. Anyway, I just hope she doesn't think it's like charity or something,' Emily added, sipping on her tea.

‘Have you told Jake? What did he say?'

‘He's not keen to exhibit. But I've got plenty of time to work on him. Anyway, if one or both of them don't want to show, I'm
sure there are plenty of good unknown artists out there. I don't think it'll be a problem.'

‘Careful, or else Enid will suddenly be an artist wanting representation,' Barbara said with a laugh.

‘Speaking of which,' Emily said, ‘we had a bit of a moment.'

‘Oh?'

‘She and Dad dropped in out of the blue the other day. Jake and I had all this spread out on the table…'

‘God, I can imagine she was none too impressed,' Barbara said, inclining her head slightly and raising her eyebrows.

‘She said it was a silly idea, blah, blah, blah. Jake, bless him, leapt in to say it was something he was working on, but something in me snapped and I let her have it.'

‘Really? What did you say?' Barbara asked cautiously.

‘Oh, not a lot in the general scheme of things. I just pointed out that it's none of her business how I spend my money or what I do with my life. You're absolutely right; I'll never win with her.'

‘And?'

‘And she stormed off, leaving poor Dad here with no ride home,' Emily said with a tight laugh.

‘Wow. Well, well done you. Naughty Emily.'

‘I know you've been saying it for ages, but I think I finally see what you mean about her being insecure. It's just so sad.'

‘Yep, sad but true.'

‘Anyway, Dad was really supportive – he's even offered to sit and chip old mortar off the rocks!'

‘Golly, that's dedication for you.'

‘Yeah, I told him to be careful what he offers,' Emily said with another laugh. ‘Speaking of offers,' she said, looking at her watch as they heard a number of vehicles drive in, ‘didn't you offer to help me cook? We'd better get on with it.'

*

They were just delivering the morning tea when Des Oliphant drove in waving and grinning at them from his open window.

‘I don't believe it,' Emily said, shaking her head and laughing. ‘He turned up at the same time yesterday. Just in time for the scones.'

Emily and Barbara enjoyed a cuppa and slice of jubilee cake with the guys. They were expecting to finish just before twelve – in time for Grant and Steve to get to their afternoon games of sport. Emily offered to pack up sandwiches for them to take, but they refused. She suspected a crispy meat pie with sauce or a hotdog might be their Saturday ritual.

She invited Des to stay, but much to Emily's surprise, he announced he'd been called up last night to fill in on the local men's bowls team.

‘But you've never even played bowls!' Emily cried, aghast.

‘Well, apparently I'm better than them forfeiting. And, for all I know, once you hit sixty you might be automatically programmed to be able to play – I've just never tried,' he added with a chuckle. ‘Who knows, I might uncover a hidden talent,' he said, miming an underarm throw.

The last few sheets of iron went up quickly, and then Emily, Barbara, Jake and David were tucking into sandwiches after saying goodbye to the guys.

‘Why don't we go for a drive this afternoon?' Barbara said to no one in particular. ‘Maybe look at a couple of antiques and second-hand shops for furniture for Em's study?'

‘No, thanks,' David said.

‘Ooh, yes please,' Emily said, and clapped her hands together a couple of times. ‘Jake?'

‘Er, sorry David,' he said, shooting David an apologetic glance, ‘but count me in.'

‘Jake Lonigan, you are a disappointment to the brotherhood.'

‘You don't have to come,' Barbara told him. ‘These guys could drive me home later,' she said, putting a hand on his.

‘That's okay. I know when I'm beaten,' David said with a sigh. ‘Anyway, it might be wise to have a less emotional participant. And I can keep hold of your spending, missy,' he said, tapping Barbara gently on the end of her nose.

‘Goody, it'll be fun!' Barbara said, clapping her hands.

‘I doubt it,' David muttered.

‘Come on, show me this freshly painted room.' Barbara got up and collected her handbag from the floor beside Grace. ‘I can't believe you didn't show me the other day.'

‘Too busy with the shed and cooking.'

‘Fancy a bit of antiquing, Gracie?' Barbara asked the dog.

The border collie cocked her head as if contemplating the question and then began flapping her tail against the floor.

‘Great, even the dog's ganging up on me,' David said. ‘Thanks a lot Gracie. I thought we were friends.'

‘Ah, stop your whining,' Emily said with a laugh, and threaded an arm through one of his. They all trooped down to her office and surveyed the room.

‘Wow, I love the colour!' Barbara said.

‘It's very pink,' said David.

‘Isn't it great?' Jake said. ‘It's quite a masculine shade of pink.'

‘You're kidding, right?' David looked incredulous. ‘There ain't nothin' masculine about that. Oh, what would I know?' he conceded, throwing up his hands.

‘You know lots, darling, just not about interior design,' Barbara said, wrapping an arm around her husband.

‘I'm keeping the bed – I'll decide what cover later – but I'm thinking of adding a desk and chair and an armchair and floor lamp. So that's our mission for today,' Emily said, beaming at the others.

‘What are you doing on the window?' Barbara asked.

‘I would love curtains and a roman blind made in the same fabric as whatever armchair I find, but after our trip to Port Lincoln the other day, I now know that will cost an absolute fortune. I think I'll have to deal with window coverings later.'

‘It doesn't all have to match, it just has to tie in and tell a story – isn't that what they say on all those TV shows?' Barbara said.

‘Hmm, just thinking about what would go with what makes my head spin,' Emily said with a sigh.

‘Best not to over-think it. Let's just go browsing and see what jumps out at you. Just pick pieces you love, rather than trying to follow rules,' Barbara added.

‘Hmm, you're probably right.'

‘Good advice,' Jake said. ‘I think that's how my sister, Simone, went about her decorating. She started with the big pieces first and worked everything else in around them.'

‘Emily told me how gorgeous her house is,' Barbara said. ‘It's such a pity she's not here to advise us.'

‘Right, so everyone take a mental picture of the room and keep that in mind while we're traipsing through the stores,' Emily said.

‘All I'm seeing is pink. And I think I'm scarred for life,' David said, with a laugh.

‘Is it
too
pink? Seriously?' Emily asked, looking from Barbara to Jake and back again.

‘No way, I love it,' Barbara said.

‘I'm only messing with you,' David said. ‘I'm sure it's lovely – if you like that sort of thing,' he added with a shrug.

‘
So
not helpful,' Emily said, laughing.

They walked outside to where David's dual cab ute was parked. ‘Perhaps I should drive since I'm the only sane one,' he said. ‘And it sounds like we might need a ute for transport.'

They chattered the whole way to their first port of call, around twenty minutes away. The sign swinging from a pole outside read ANTIQUES, but inside they only found flashy designer homewares – throw rugs, bedspreads, old-style French armchairs in beige fabric with grey cursive writing all over it.

‘Not really what we're looking for, huh?' Barbara said to Emily as they all made their way across the car park.

‘No. Bit of a nerve calling them antiques; isn't that false advertising?'

‘Probably.'

‘Hmm,' Jake agreed. ‘It's everywhere in Melbourne, this French provincial look,' he said. ‘I'm a bit sick of it.'

‘Can you believe they wanted three hundred dollars for that birdcage with the faded paint out the front?' David said incredulously, shaking his head.

‘Yep,' said the others at the same time, and then laughed at their synchronicity.

‘What would you do with it? Surely not use it for storing fancy cups and saucers like they were – they hardly need securing,' David said.

‘It's just decorative,' Jake explained.

David frowned.

Barbara laughed and put her hand on David's shoulder. ‘My darling, ever the practical one,' she cooed.

‘Right,' Jake said, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the directions. ‘I think we've got time to get to one more. The closest one is further south about another twenty minutes away.'

‘I hope it'll be worth it,' David said as he slumped into the driver's seat. ‘Should have brought something to read.'

‘Now this looks more promising,' Jake declared.

In front of them was a shed with undeniably genuine old wares spilling out of the wide open doors. Leaning up against the corrugated-iron wall was a stack of wrought-iron bed frames. Rickety-looking wooden chairs in all shapes and sizes, most with seats missing, were scattered about haphazardly.

It was like going from one extreme to the other. This shop, if you could call it that, looked like it specialised in gathering its
stock from the sides of roads on council clean-up day. If this was what people were using to decorate their homes with nowadays, Emily was way out of touch. It just looked like a lot of old junk.

David parked and they crunched their way across the gravel towards the entrance.
Perhaps all the nice stuff is tucked away in the back,
Emily told herself as she walked past the chairs and a collection of rusting watering cans.

‘Hey, these would be great for the other project,' Jake said, pointing to some timber fire surrounds on the other side of the doors.

‘What
other
project?' David asked.

‘We're going to rebuild the cottage across from Em's,' Jake explained. ‘Except, it won't really be a cottage; it'll be considerably bigger than it originally was. We just can't seem to stop calling it a cottage.'

‘To live in?' David said.

‘Maybe. But most likely to be an art gallery,' Emily said.

‘I thought you wanted to run a B&B,' David said.

‘Changed my mind – woman's prerogative.'

‘Indeed. Well, I look forward to hearing all about it.'

Emily and Barbara left David and Jake to examine the fireplaces, and stepped through the doors. Inside, the building was fully lined and painted. Apart from the ceiling, you wouldn't have known it was a shed.

‘Hi there,' called a woman from behind a glass counter in one corner of the space.

Emily glanced over and returned her greeting. Under the counter, the top shelf contained what looked like costume jewellery. On the bottom shelf, glassware was grouped in various shades. Now that she was looking more closely, Emily saw that everything in the shop was very carefully organised.

‘There are a few rooms,' the woman explained. ‘Feel free to go right through. Is there anything in particular you're looking for?'

‘Just having a wander, really,' Barbara said. ‘Although Emily here is looking for some office furniture.'

‘Through to the back room and to your left,' the lady said, smiling at Emily and indicating with her hand.

‘Okay, thanks,' Emily said. Whilst she was keen to see what office furniture was available, the main area was chock full of interesting stuff. In one corner was a range of vintage clothing, including a whole rack of fox furs in varying styles.

Another corner contained shelves full of books. Emily had only got back into reading since leaving John. How good would it be, not just to have somewhere special to read, but to dedicate a whole corner to floor-to-ceiling bookshelves?

As if bringing her fantasy to life, there was a comfy-looking armchair and an old floor lamp already set up. The items weren't quite to her taste – she had in mind a classic wingback-style chair rather than one from the nineteen sixties with curved wooden arms – but it gave her some great inspiration.

In the other corner of this main shed, there was a collection of old record players, gramophones and large and small valve radios in gorgeous restored timber cases.
How cool would one of those be?

Emily walked to the back of the shed and through a small covered walkway into another space even larger than the previous one. She looked around, taking it all in. Again the room was divided into four sections.

To the left was an array of dining furniture, and rows of chairs hanging on the wall right to the ceiling. Tables were stacked three high and timber sideboards were lined up with space to walk between them.

‘How great is this shop?' Jake said, appearing beside her. ‘I love how organised everything is.'

‘I was just having that very same thought,' Emily replied, smiling at him.

She looked to her right. The corner contained living-room furniture. Jacobean lounge suites with polished timber arms and cane sides were again carefully arranged next to more modern leather styles.

A couple of tub-style chairs caught Emily's eye, but they seemed all to go with three-seater couches. And there was no way she could fit that many pieces in the room.