The Bay (35 page)

‘In a minute, dear.' Her mother sounded cross at being interrupted.

They slowly returned to the verandah, Celia leaning on her stick, Bonnie offering a helping hand as Celia came up the steps. If Amber had offered to help her like that she knew she'd be brushed aside with a curt, ‘I can manage. I'm not an invalid.'

‘Your mum says I must see the old orchard and the rainforest by the creek. Really, this place is magic,' bubbled Bonnie. ‘I think I'll have to come back with my secateurs and steal some plant cuttings.'

Amber was about to ask where she planned on putting them as Bonnie was living in a rented unit in town where she'd moved after the fire, but she bit her tongue. She poured the tea as Bonnie and Celia continued to talk gardening. ‘I'd love to know the history of the house. Whoever planned this garden originally knew a thing or two,' said Bonnie.

‘English, of course,' said Celia. ‘It's a traditional garden but we planted tropical things in the orchard. The remnant of rainforest shows you what it must have been like.'

‘It's full of amazing ferns and orchids and stunning trees,' said Amber. ‘It was a wonderful playground when I was a kid.' She sat back in the old rocking chair in the sun as the two women talked. She hadn't heard her mother talk at such length without getting breathless or complaining of feeling faint for a long time. She had colour in her face and was obviously enjoying Bonnie's company. How good of Bonnie to come and do this, thought Amber, but then Bonnie seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself too. Perhaps for a brief time both women could forget the pain, physical and emotional, that haunted them.

Finally it was her mother who announced they really should get going. ‘But do show Bonnie the back of the property, Amber. Be sure and point out the bird's-nests.'

As they wandered through the cool shadows of the lush two acres of rainforest, Bonnie linked her arm through Amber's. ‘What a magic place to grow up.'

‘It was, but I just find it so depressing being here now with Mum. I know I shouldn't feel like that. Anyway, thanks so much for making the effort, she's really enjoyed it. I gave up bringing my friends to see her as she was so mean and cranky, or seeming to be at death's door. She wouldn't stay in bed, of course. Had to get up and put on a nice dress and make-up for company. In the end I decided it was putting too much of a strain on her.'

‘Nonsense. I know she isn't easy with you. What you don't realise is that your mother is a great actress, all the makings of a drama queen. Missed her calling. She loves to perform. I can see it, and she won't pull with me what she does with you.'

‘Of course not, you're company and one always has to make an effort for visitors.'

‘I was just the same. See, she won't try it with me because she instinctively knows I won't buy it. I see through her because we're rather alike in that respect.'

Amber stared at Bonnie. ‘I can't believe what you're saying.'

‘I was a miserable bitch during my marriage, looking back. Mind you, I had good reason – a family that didn't communicate, a cold husband not interested in me as a person. I was wife and mother, not Bonnie a person. God, I didn't know who I was either.' She laughed. ‘I'm still finding out. I miss Erica dreadfully and I wish she could see who I am now. I'm getting to quite like myself,' said Bonnie. ‘No one in Melbourne would know me, or want to know me now!' And she burst out laughing.

Amber squeezed her arm. ‘I think Erica knows very well how you're doing. And she'd be very proud of you.'

Bonnie and Celia continued to chat while Amber washed up the tea things. Then she kissed her mother goodbye on the cheek and asked if she needed anything from town.

‘The community nurse will be out tomorrow, thank you, dear.'

‘I'll give you a ring before I come up in case you want anything,' Bonnie said, embracing Celia.

Amber was too shocked to say anything then wondered if Bonnie was being polite. What surprised her even more was the warmth of her mother's response to Bonnie. As they drove away Amber asked, ‘What did you mean about visiting again? I'll pick you up when I come up next.'

‘Oh now I know the way, I'll drive myself. I'm going to do some gardening for her. Well, for me really. Can't wait to get into those roses.'

She turned and looked at Amber's stunned profile. ‘It's good therapy. For all of us, Amber,' she said softly. ‘I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to. And by the way, I used your mother's bathroom. It's full of your products, very well used. Don't you believe she doesn't like them.'

Amber didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but as Bonnie chuckled she still felt angry. ‘Why can't she tell me!'

‘Stop expecting her to say and do what you want, because she won't. Just to spite you. You both spar all the time. Get out of the ring, Amber. Let her be. She's stronger than you think, even if she is fighting a disease. She's actually happy being miserable. So let her do things her way. Besides, you've got a referee now. Me.'

Holly sat on a well-worn leather sofa next to the plump and fatherly solicitor Paul Maynard. Shirt buttons strained over his portly belly, and his red polka-dot bow tie seemed too tight as flesh overflowed his collar. In his dark pants and dark shoes, a suit jacket on the back of his chair, he looked a formal and overdressed figure for The Bay. His office and desk were cluttered and messy, and she was pleased when he ushered her to the sofa and carefully arranged his files, pens, notebook and mobile phone on the coffee table. His secretary, who was also his wife – plump, friendly, a smart navy dress, grey hair that sprang free of combs – brought in two cups of coffee. They were warm and folksy people and initially Holly wondered whether her problem might be out of their league. Conveyancing and wills were probably their regular business. But Paul nodded and tutted sympathetically as he made notes on a yellow legal notepad on his lap.

‘You girls, too trusting, too nice. Cases like this have been common for years. Had my first back in the early eighties. Now, let me ask you some questions. Is the company account with the same bank as your personal accounts?'

‘I believe so. Andrew likes to deal with the same people he's known for some time.'

‘You don't have a separate bank of your own?'

‘Only recently. I opened an account here in The Bay for the business I'm setting up. I thought it more convenient for paying workmen and so on. It seems that account is all I have for the moment. I put my own money into the business and I'm responsible for its debts.'

‘Very wise. You are the sole recipient of the profits too, I take it?'

‘That might be a bit down the track, but I hope so,' sighed Holly.

‘Now, did your bank in Sydney ever contact you about these documents you were signing?'

Holly shook her head. ‘Andrew deals with the bank, not me.'

‘But the bank never rang or wrote to you independently to discuss the papers you were to sign?'

‘Never. Why would they speak to me? About what?'

‘To ask if you fully understood the implications of what you were being asked to sign. Or advising you to seek independent legal and financial advice.' He shifted his weight making the leather couch creak. ‘Because, Mrs Jamieson, you could have signed a document agreeing to be guarantor of company debts, for example.'

‘My God, I hope not! But Andrew's company is doing very well. I can't imagine why he's changed things.'

‘Without discussing it with you.'

Holly looked uncomfortable. ‘To tell you the truth, we never discussed financial matters in great detail. I never asked, and I guess Andrew figured I wasn't interested or wouldn't understand.'

‘So why are you here, my dear?'

‘I'm trying to run my own life, totally,' she said. ‘And so before I ask Andrew why he's done all these things and why I don't have access to our money to help our son, I want to understand where I stand. It's not that I don't trust my husband, of course –'

‘You are doing exactly the right thing. The fact is, we are looking at a clear case of unconscionable conduct by the bank in their failure to advise you of the impact of what you were entering into. A case of conflict of interest on the part of the bank and your family solicitor. Grounds to sue, actually.'

‘Oh, I don't want to do that!' Holly exclaimed in shock.

‘Very well. But be aware that you do have grounds.' He gave a wide smile. ‘If I may offer some friendly advice, it might be wise to acquaint your husband with this fact when you have a discussion with him. After all, you are running your life and business, just as he is, and it shouldn't impact on your happy marital relationship.'

‘No, of course not. I'm sure there's some explanation for what's happened. But I feel much better having talked it over with you. Thanks so much for the advice.'

Mr and Mrs Maynard watched Holly walk outside into the bright sunshine. ‘I would say that young lady is in for a few more unpleasant surprises,' said the solicitor.

‘At least she is taking appropriate steps,' his wife replied. ‘I like to see women wake up and take control of their own lives.'

Paul Maynard smiled at her. ‘Quite so, my dear. Now what have you arranged for the rest of my day?'

Holly tossed throughout the night. She had strange, half-awake visions like weird dreams. She kept seeing the face of a woman – a woman she didn't recognise. She was young, in her thirties maybe, dark hair pulled back from her head in a severe style like a ballet dancer. This woman made Holly fearful. Who was she? At the same time she kept seeing Andrew, laughing, looking carefree and youthful.

Why was he so happy while she was racked with worry over her finances, her future, which was bound up in Richmond House? She had to make a success of it because she knew very well now that Andrew was not going to bail her out if it foundered. He was wrapped up in his own business and he regarded Richmond House as her little hobby, of no consequence in the big scheme of things where he operated. And what exactly were his business activities? Nola's bombshell that he had been seen at some Asian man's apartment with a local businessman of dubious reputation worried her more than she had let on. A golf game was one thing, clandestine cocktails quite another. The yawning gap in their communication with each other, even on things like who he knew in what she now regarded as her town, made her realise how far apart they'd grown.

The information the solicitor had given her, although he'd cloaked it in fatherly tones, made her feel an utter fool. How could she have been so stupid? So trusting? But that was how she'd been brought up, even at the tail end of the baby boomers. She had no reason not to trust her clever, successful husband.

Holly had never felt so alone in her life. She leaned over and looked at the clock: 4.45 am. She got up. What was the point of tossing and turning? She made a cup of tea, and seeing the first pale streaks of dawn faintly lighten the sky, she wrapped her thick bathrobe around herself and walked upstairs, through the little bedroom out onto the widow's walk.

A balmy breath of air lifted her hair. It would be colder after sunrise, but at the moment it was calm. The stars were still out, the morning star bright. Below, the waters of Tiny Bay were placid, the lighthouse flicked its beam in its endless pirouette. Holly paced around the small deck. A fleeting thought made her look down expecting to see a worn path; some other woman had paced like this, concerned, fearful. How had she dealt with her fears?

Holly stopped, drew a breath, closed her eyes and stood very still. It was as if every nerve ending in her body was tuned, vibrating, waiting. And then suddenly she knew exactly what she had to do. She threw back her head, feeling the tension slip from her body. It wouldn't be pleasant but it had to be done. She felt strong and capable. As the dawn chorus began, she laughed at the sleepy birds. ‘Good morning, birdies, it's a new day. Is it ever.'

Holly queued for a taxi at Sydney Airport. A new experience. No hire car on Andrew's account this trip. She hadn't given him warning she was arriving. Her instinct told her not to let him be prepared. She wanted to catch him off guard so there'd be no smooth answers. She wondered if Thomas, the family solicitor, had told Andrew about her call.

How hectic the city seemed. Gazing at the traffic round her she couldn't help flinching as the cab darted between lanes. Holly decided she'd never be able to drive in the city like this again. She smiled as she thought of how she whinged when she couldn't find a parking spot at the supermarket in The Bay.

As the taxi nosed through Neutral Bay towards Mosman Holly reflected that she'd never felt a part of her Sydney suburb. The taxi braked suddenly, flinging her forward and the driver cursed. Holly decided she'd be glad to go back home. Then she caught herself, she now considered The Bay as ‘home'.

She felt strange as the taxi pulled up outside the large Mosman house. How formal and cold it looked. The garden was a bit neglected. Roger the handyman had cut the grass, swept the driveway and done some token weeding, but no one had dead-headed the flowers or done any pruning. She paid the driver, took the keys from her bag and wondered if Andrew was at work as it was barely 9 am. The doors of the double garage were closed. He normally left after a quick cup of coffee and a glance at the morning papers, leaving Holly to her solitary breakfast in the small sunroom. It was a ritual she'd always enjoyed.

She unlocked the front door, dropped her bag and heard the radio playing. Andrew must have left it on. The familiar smell of the house came to her, bringing with it so many memories. She walked down the carpeted hallway and then stopped, hearing Andrew's voice. Perhaps he was on the phone. She had been planning to see him at the office on less personal ground. Maybe she would suggest they could meet in town and have lunch together. She walked through the dining room towards the breakfast nook in the sunroom thinking she'd better call out so as not to alarm him, then she heard a second voice, a woman's voice. At the same instant she reached the doorway and the tableau before her burned into her mind.