The Sunnyvale Girls (13 page)

Flick gave up. Jimmy was looking a little pale.

‘Last night really was a weird one,' she mumbled, feeling sickness swirl in her stomach as the image of Chad and Kel sprang up again.

‘You going to tell your mum and nan about Chad?'

‘No. And please don't say anything. I don't want them to worry.'

‘If that's what you want.'

‘It is. Thanks, Jimmy.' She sighed heavily as she picked up another scone. ‘Seriously, how much worse could things get around here?'

TONI
had tried her best to forget the night by the fire. She'd tried really hard to forget the taste of Jimmy's lips and the feel of his caress, but it seemed her mind had other ideas.

She chucked all the gear in the back of the ute. The trough was working again. Jimmy could have found the problem and fixed it faster than Toni had but she wasn't up to having him working alongside her alone. Not yet. She was still struggling with the endless playback reel in her mind of their kiss. Just the thought of it sent her body into a euphoric frenzy, then in the very next moment she felt almost sick and silly for behaving like that. She was nearly ten years older than him. The community would have a field day.

Toni drove back to the shed in the early afternoon, unloaded the tools and began tidying up. An electrical cord had been dumped on the floor so she picked it up and started rolling it up properly.

‘Did you get the trough sorted?'

Toni spun around. ‘Jimmy! I didn't hear you turn up.'

The corner of his lips twitched. Was he amused or was he as scared as she was right now?

‘Sorry, just walked over from the old place.'

Toni took a deep breath to settle her nerves. ‘Um, the trough is fixed. No problems.' She hung the cord back up on its hook. ‘So how's the new house?'

‘Yeah, fine. Heater is working so we have hot showers. Ten times better than the quarters. You should come over and check it out.'

Toni agreed. She'd moved back into the house for the comfort of her bed but truth be known it was to put some distance between herself and Jimmy. She still snuck out of the house early to avoid her mother. ‘Yeah, I will,' she said, walking to the workbench. With nervous hands she started stacking and putting away tools. Meanwhile her body felt Jimmy's presence. When the hairs went up on her neck, she knew he was too close.

‘Now that I have you cornered, are we going to clear the air?' he said softly.

Toni swallowed, her throat so tight it almost hurt.

‘Toni?'

She was scared but the way he said her name always had a way of winning her over. Like the time he'd broken the tailgate on the ute. ‘Um, Toni,' was all he'd said, and she'd found it impossible to be angry, or even just a little annoyed.

‘What are your thoughts on the kiss?'

She dropped what she was holding. Part of her rejoiced in knowing it must have been real but the other part was panicking and wanting to run like a mouse in rising floodwaters. She couldn't deal with this now.

‘You can't avoid me forever, Toni. I don't want that. I want us to talk about this. Get it out in the open.'

Toni almost snorted a laugh. ‘Everything is so easy for you, isn't it? I don't know how you go about life so easily and so optimistically.'

‘Someone has to balance you out. I think that's me,' he said teasingly.

She didn't know where to start. Talking had never really been her thing.

‘Toni, I need to know what you're thinking, how you feel. I don't want this to become a problem,' he said, touching her shoulder.

She would love to know how he was feeling inside. Was his heart racing like hers was? Did he feel as confused as she did or was he really this calm?

‘Why can't things just stay the same as they were?' she whispered, afraid of her own voice and the words she might accidentally speak.

Both his hands caressed her arms as he leant against her. ‘Is that really what you want?' he said softly against her ear.

She felt his heart thumping against her back.

‘Mum!' yelled Flick, followed by heavy footsteps. ‘
Mum!
'

Jimmy sprang back just in time to look busy doing something else.

‘Don't be mad,' Flick continued, coming into the shed, ‘but I just couldn't stand this thing between you and Nan. It's hell being stuck in the middle,' she said, slightly out of breath. She waved some pages in the air; her face unsure. ‘I went looking for Rocco.'

Toni felt as if she'd been punched in the gut. ‘What?' She sat down on the pile of tyres next to her.

Flick flinched. ‘I found his war records and paid for a copy. The files have just turned up. I hope you're not mad?'

‘I . . . I don't know what to think.'

Flick grabbed her hand. ‘Mum, if I had a chance to find my father, to know what he was like, I'd take it. Maybe you need to do this. Find out who he is and maybe you'll find a part of you. Then with a bit of luck you might forgive Nan and we can go back to normal.'

Her daughter's eyes portrayed just how much she hated the conflict. Toni steadied her breath. Curiosity got the better of her, and her eyes fell to the pages in Flick's hand. ‘What do they say?'

‘Mum, it's amazing.
We're
on there.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘Look here.' Flick shoved a sheet at her. ‘This one is his personal description and it even has a photo and fingerprints. And on this side it lists his registered employer – and it's us! See? John Fuller, Sunnyvale, Pingaring, and the dates Rocco was here.'

Toni held the page, saw her grandfather's name and the name of their farm. It was amazing: history in her hand. The photo of Rocco drew her gaze next. Just a simple head shot of a handsome young man. This was her biological father. A nervous tingle raced throughout her body. She realised she did want to know this man. She did want her questions answered and she did think it would help them all to find him.

Flick handed her another page. ‘What do you think, Mum? Is this okay?'

Toni finally smiled. ‘Yeah, Flick. I guess it's okay.'

Excitement lit up Flick's face, and Toni was pleased to see something giving her daughter this much enjoyment.

Flick rushed on with her explanation. ‘This one just has his name and the personal property he had, which was 20 lira.' She pulled out another sheet. ‘This is his dossier, listing his dad, place of birth, date of birth. He was born in Ancona in 1924. It also has the place and date he was captured: 9 December 1940 in Sidi Barrani, and the ship he was on to Australia. Mum, it has so much stuff. It's awesome.'

‘He was twenty-three when I was born,' Toni said, doing the maths. ‘And he'd be seventy-six now.'

‘See, he could easily be alive.'

It came so easily for Flick, the excitement. But Toni was scared of the unknown. If he was alive, would he want to meet her, or even get to know her? And what if he'd died? She'd have lost two fathers.

‘And on this page it says he left Australia for Naples on 30 November 1946 on the HT
Chitral
.'

Toni turned back to the black and white photo of Rocco. ‘It is pretty cool. Has Nan seen these?'

Flick shook her head. ‘No. I wanted to tell you first. Nan knew I was searching for him though.' Flick's face tinted pink. ‘What do you reckon, Jimmy?' she asked, changing the subject.

Jimmy picked up a sheet. ‘I think it's amazing. You'll be able to use all this to find him now.' He seemed generally interested and not at all put out about Flick's timing. ‘Character sketch. Worked splendidly for employer who regarded him and second POW as the best men he had ever had. Polite and reliable, conscientious, excellent workman, helped build a house and can be trusted alone. J. M. Tweedie Captain W17.' Jimmy glanced across to Flick. ‘Rave reviews, no wonder Maggie fell for him. You should get the records of the other bloke too.'

‘Giulio? Yeah, we should.' Flick did a little jig on the spot. ‘I'm going to google these dates now, see if I can find more on Rocco.'

‘Okay,' said Toni. She wasn't really sure if she was okay but there was no stopping Flick now.

Flick took off as fast as she'd come. Jimmy lingered by Toni's side. His eyes told her he was not finished with their conversation yet, and that scared the heck out of her. ‘How do you really feel about all this?' he asked.

Toni was relieved his question wasn't about their kiss. But this one was just as hard to answer. ‘Honestly? I have no idea. I'm glad that Flick seems happy.'

‘Yeah, she's really excited. I think it's good for her to have something to focus on.' Toni wasn't sure what he meant by that but he continued without pause. ‘It was kinda cool seeing all that information and history. Just think, Toni – your father fought in the war, was captured and spent years in prison camps. Coming to Sunnyvale would have been a ray of sunshine by comparison.'

‘It's hard to visualise it. I mean, I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that he's my father, but to go looking for him? I just can't figure out how I feel about all of this. Do I have to?'

Jimmy shrugged. ‘I guess not. Just as long as you take each day as it comes. What harm can come from knowing more of the truth?'

She shrugged.

He put his hand on her shoulder and guided her out of the shed. ‘Come on, let's go see if Flick can find anything else.'

They found Flick in the office, still searching on the computer.

‘Any luck?' Jimmy said.

Flick's eyes didn't leave the screen. ‘I can't find anything. One website says that in Italy they keep all birth and death records at the city council. Nothing is on the net.' Her shoulders slumped as she sighed.

‘Well, that's it then,' said Jimmy, giving Toni a wink. ‘Flick, you have your reason for a trip to Italy now. Why don't you both go, do some sightseeing and visit the place he grew up – Chiaravalle, or whatever it's called – and search the records there?'

‘Wasn't he born in An . . .' Toni gestured with her hand as she tried to remember the rest of the town's name.

‘Ancona,' said Flick. ‘I looked it up on a map. Chiaravalle is a place further inland, kind of like a distant suburb. Seeing as his father's address is listed at Chiaravalle we think this is where he actually lived.' Flick turned to Jimmy. ‘I totally agree, Jimmy. Mum, let's go find Rocco.'

Toni opened her mouth but nothing came out. Sweat broke out along her forehead.

‘Come on, Mum. If he's alive you actually get to meet your real dad. Or if he's not, you might be able to get a photo of his headstone, get some closure. It would be good for Nan too. Maybe she could come? Don't you want to see this out till the end? Get some answers?'

Toni's first thought was
no
. She felt as if her chance had long past, and to go away now would be impossible. Who would look after the farm?

‘Come on, Toni. You've always wanted to travel,' said Jimmy. He gave her that look, the one that dared her to disagree with him.

‘Really, Mum? You want to travel? I never knew that,' said Flick, turning around on her chair.

Toni shrugged. That dream had long ago faded. ‘When I was your age I wanted to see things, and Italy was near the top of my list.'

Flick chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. ‘Well, I do have Granddad's money sitting there. And it seems a shame to get this far and still not find out if Rocco is still alive.' She smiled up at Toni. ‘Let's use some of it to go to Italy, Mum. Please?'

They were words she'd always wanted to hear from her daughter. Jimmy had been right; Flick just needed the right reason to leave the farm. Flick was still waiting for her answer, hope making her eyes bright.

‘Oh, I don't know.'

‘I'll go and see if Nan wants to come too,' said Flick, racing off to find Maggie.

Toni started at the computer screen. ‘Me in Italy?' she mumbled.

Jimmy shook her shoulders. ‘Come on, of course you'll go. Now is your time too.' He smiled and gently touched her cheek, holding her in his gaze.

‘But the —'

‘The farm will be fine. I'm here. Nothing is happening until harvest, so now is perfect. And I know you still have your passport and you made Flick get hers too. You can't tell me you never planned on using it one day, otherwise why would you keep it up to date?' His thumb brushed just below her lips before he let her go.

‘But —'

‘No buts!' said Jimmy forcefully.

Toni screwed up her face.

‘Hey,' said Jimmy more gently, taking her hand. ‘Don't you shut down and try to get out of this trip. It's what you always wanted and right now I think it's what you, Flick and Maggie need. Finding Rocco would be a good thing.'

‘Since when were you promoted to the Sunnyvale Shrink?' said Toni.

He grinned, showing his perfect teeth. ‘I am a man of many talents,' he teased. In a split second his face became serious again. ‘Take this opportunity for yourself, Toni. Make up for what you missed out on. You can do what you want. Your dreams are still reachable. Should I keep going?'

Toni laughed and for the first time in ages, she felt a new and wonderful feeling. It was a lot like freedom. ‘No, please stop. I've got the gist of it.'

‘Mum, come and check this out!' shouted Flick from down the hall.

Jimmy let go of her hand and they walked to the lounge room to find Flick and Maggie looking at something.

‘How did that get in here?' shouted Toni, staring at the black slithery thing on the table. It wasn't until she got closer that she realised it was a fake snake. The fact that Maggie taking pot shots at it with the gun made it obvious.

‘Isn't it cool? Rocco made this and gave it to Nan for her seven­teenth birthday,' said Flick. She gently picked up the wooden snake in the middle and the whole thing moved and wiggled like a slithering snake. ‘It's made with wood stuck to a bit of canvas.'

‘I know,' said Toni. ‘I used to play with it, until I accidentally knocked off one of the bits and Nan had a pink fit and put it away.' Toni glanced at her mum, who was sitting there quietly. ‘Now I know why it was so special.' For the first time in a while Toni gazed at her mum without the pain. At that moment she realised what her mum must have gone through, and she felt a little remorse and sadness.