Time Will Tell (7 page)

‘Sounds like we're in for quite an afternoon.' Des laughed.

‘You better believe it!'

The small group made its way inside.

‘Something smells good,' Barbara said, as they entered the kitchen. ‘Anything I can help with?'

‘Nope, everything is under control,' Emily said. ‘I've decided to keep it all simple. You can make the place look festive if you like.'

‘Good plan.' Barbara gave her arm a pat. ‘Why don't you help since you're so organised?'

Emily raised an eyebrow, but reluctantly gave in. ‘Right, Jake and David can be in charge of drinks and Dad, you can take a seat.'

‘Sounds good to me,' Des said, beaming, as he settled onto one of the wooden kitchen chairs.

As Barbara and Emily set to work draping tinsel over everything that could be draped over, Emily found herself beginning to like the idea of Christmas.

They finished by constructing a simple but very lovely centrepiece out of crackers, strings of beads, bright shiny glass baubles and other assorted Christmas decorations. It was quite an impressive transformation, especially considering they'd only taken a few minutes.

Before long they were all seated at the huge wooden kitchen table with drinks in front of them. They toasted merry Christmas and clinked glasses. Then Emily got up to put the vegetables on whilst urging Barbara to remain seated.

‘So, Jake, what brings you over our way again?' David asked.

‘I've been consulting on a project for a friend of an old friend from uni who's the planning officer for the City of Whyalla. I suppose you've heard about the Civic Centre renovation they're doing – spending an absolute fortune on it.'

‘Yes, I think I saw something on the news the other week,' David said, nodding.

‘Well they want to keep the old buildings, add more space and tie it all together – blend the old and the new. Right up my alley. I'm designing it, drawing up the plans, and then continuing to consult on the project. It'll be something quite special when it's finished. Probably take a bit over six months to complete. So I might be needing to escape to the country for quite a while yet.'

‘So you're moving to Whyalla for six months?!'

Emily was aghast. Next to the sort of life she imagined he led in Melbourne, it seemed unbelievable that he'd choose to spend so much time in a place like Whyalla.

She'd always found Whyalla a bit grimy and drab. After all, the steelworks was its lifeblood. If Emily wanted to shop at one of the larger stores only available in a city, she preferred to drive down to Port Lincoln instead. The ocean views were much more prominent there, and the whole place had a cleaner, calmer feel to it.

‘Oh come now, it won't be that bad, surely?'

Emily responded with raised eyebrows. She exchanged a look with Barbara, who winked.

‘I'm teasing. No, I won't be staying for the whole six months; I'll be travelling back and forth a bit. I'm only consulting – not managing the whole project.'

Emily felt the slightest ache of disappointment seep into her heart.

The next few hours passed with loud chatter punctuated by clinking of cutlery, people moaning about eating too much, and then consuming yet more food and drink. Emily's meal was a hit and everyone was effusive with their praise.

‘You have no idea how good it's been to do absolutely nothing today after all the work around the funeral and having people to stay,' Barbara declared when the tea and coffee and chocolates Jake had brought had been consumed and the table cleared.

‘I'm sorry, have you lost someone recently?' Jake said, concern in his voice.

‘Sorry, I forgot to tell you,' Emily said.

‘David's dear old dad,' Barbara explained.

‘Oh, I'm so sorry. And right before Christmas too,' Jake said. ‘Golly, that's tough.'

‘Thanks mate,' David said. ‘But honestly, it's a bit of a blessing. He was heartbroken after losing Mum last year. They were married for forty-eight years.'

They fell silent.

‘Actually I'm exhausted,' Barbara said after a minute or so. ‘Would you mind terribly if we went home, darling?' she asked, laying a hand on David's arm. ‘Sorry to be a piker, Em, but I think it's all finally catching up with me.'

‘Not at all. You rest up for our barbeque tomorrow,' Emily replied.

‘Can I help do the dishes before I go?' Barbara said.

‘No way, they can wait.'

‘I'll do them later,' Jake chimed in.

‘Don't worry about the decorations either – I'll return them another day.'

They all got up and made their way out of the kitchen and down the hall.

‘Are you okay?' Emily asked, putting an arm around Barbara when they got outside and onto the verandah. Looking at her friend, she realised for the first time just how exhausted she looked.

‘Yeah, it's probably nothing a decent sleep and an empty house won't fix. I'm sure I'll be fine for tomorrow. Sorry to skip out on you like this.'

‘Oh don't be ridiculous! You've got nothing to apologise for. Thanks for coming,' Emily said, hugging her. ‘And it's really no problem if you do decide you don't feel up to heading out tomorrow.'

‘I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you for a lovely Christmas day,' Barbara said.

‘Yes, thanks, Em,' David said, giving Emily a quick hug. ‘See you tomorrow, eleven o'clock at the mailboxes. Right?'

‘Perfect,' Emily said.

‘And bring your camera, Jake. I've got a good spot in mind for your photography.'

‘Great, thanks mate,' Jake said.

‘Hopefully you'll get a nice day; I think they're forecasting rain,' Des said, and Emily wondered if she shouldn't have mentioned their plans in front of him. She hadn't invited her parents. But her father didn't seem at all perturbed.

Enid would have been very annoyed not to have been included, and would have sulked until Emily relented and invited her, which was what Emily used to do. These days she was getting better at ignoring the cold shoulder.

Why shouldn't she have her own friends and do things with them? Why did she have to always invite her mother or be made to feel guilty about it if she didn't? It was all very childish; behaviour more reminiscent of a school playground. She couldn't believe she'd put up with it for so long – pretty much her whole adult life until leaving John.

Barbara was right when she'd said that in leaving John she'd been essentially standing up to her mother as well. Emily could see that now; and she did feel stronger, and freer, for doing it.
Two birds with one stone
, she thought. She just had to stay strong.

Des and Jake exchanged handshakes with David and pecked Barbara on the cheek, and then Emily, Jake, and Des waved them off from the high verandah before heading back inside.

‘I'd probably better get going too,' Des said, hovering in the hall.

It looked to Emily like he didn't want to go, but was concerned about outstaying his welcome.

‘You can't go yet. You haven't given me the ladder,' she said, remembering her request from that morning. No one had mentioned the topic of her buying the house over lunch. She supposed everyone thought it was her place to bring it up.

‘I'll just get it now,' Des said, striding down the sweeping steps.

‘I'll help,' Jake said, moving after him.

A few moments later Jake was back beside her with the ladder under his arm. He leant it against the outside wall of the house. ‘So, is this for me to do a pre-purchase inspection or some minor repairs? I've been waiting all day for you to share your exciting news.'

‘You and me both,' Des said.

‘Come on back inside and I'll tell you all about it,' Emily said, leading the way. She darted into her room to retrieve the paperwork.

‘Hmm, very mysterious,' Des muttered as he and Jake made their way back down the hall to the kitchen.

When they were settled in their respective chairs again, Emily swallowed deeply, cleared her throat, and began speaking.

‘So, Donald and Trevor Baker have offered to sell me the house and approximately twenty acres of surrounding land. They want ten thousand dollars upfront – five to each of them – to fund a trip they want to make overseas. They're on the pension,' she explained to Jake, ‘so they have to be careful about earning too much.'

The men nodded.

‘Then I would have to pay another instalment of ten thousand dollars – again five thousand to each of them – each year for the next nineteen years. It's a total of two hundred thousand dollars. Oh, and I also have to pay all costs associated with the subdivision of the title.'

Jake and her father sat in silence.

Emily put the document on the huge timber table, as if to prove she wasn't making it all up. She frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember whether there was anything she'd forgotten.

‘Wow,' Jake said. ‘That sounds like a fantastic offer to me.'

‘It does indeed,' Des said, nodding.

‘Ordinarily it would almost be too good to be true,' Emily said.

‘But…?' Jake prompted.

‘I don't have much money,' Emily said, the words coming out more like a sigh.

‘Hmm,' Jake said.

‘I've got around forty thousand. So I can probably make the first two payments, depending on how much subdivision costs are – and providing the roof doesn't need replacing straight away and the wiring doesn't turn to poop.' ‘Right,' Jake said. He looked a little uncomfortable; probably from learning such intimate details about her finance.

‘So,' Emily went on, forcing herself not to dwell on the negative aspects, ‘I want to know what you both think, honestly. Dad, whether you think it's a good idea, generally; if I can find the money that is. Jake, how much I would need to do the place up – if it's even worth it – and if you know how much subdivision costs would be.'

Emily had spoken quickly and was now quite out of breath. She swallowed deeply a couple of times and then sat wringing her hands in her lap. She was eager to hear what they had to say, but also scared of what that might be.

Chapter Seven

‘Dad? Jake?' she asked, looking from one to the other.

Jake indicated for Des to speak first.

‘I think it's a great idea – depending on financing of course – and of course we'll help any way we can. Though I would have to do some careful work on your mother,' he added. ‘But Jake here's in a better position to give advice. What are your thoughts, mate, from a practical perspective?'

‘Well, I'd rather have a good look around the house before I commit to a professional opinion, but my initial thought is that it sounds like a fantastic opportunity. As to the question of subdivision costs – I'm afraid you're probably looking at around fifteen thousand. It's interesting you ask, actually. Anthony – my mate in Whyalla – and I were only discussing subdivision the other night. A lot of the farmers on the outskirts of the city are cashing in on the expansion of the steelworks, so there's land being carved up all over the place.'

‘Oh. I had no idea it would be that much,' Emily said, her shoulders slumping in response. ‘There's no way I can afford to do it then,' she said quietly. She wished she'd known that before getting her hopes up. She thought of the diamonds, but dismissed them. To part with something Gran had given her would be wrong, wouldn't it?

‘We've got a rainy-day account,' Des offered.

‘Thanks Dad, but there's no way Mum would agree to use it for this – you heard her when I moved in; she thinks the place is a dump. Anyway, it's not exactly raining.'

‘What's a rainy day if it's not helping to get our only child back on her feet and happy?' he said, reaching across the table and giving her hands a squeeze.

‘Thanks Dad,' she said, attempting a weak smile. Looking at him smiling warmly back at her, she felt her heart clamp. It was one of the nicest things he'd ever said to her.

‘There's always more than one way to skin a rabbit,' Jake said brightly. ‘We'll just have to put our heads together and come up with an outside-the-box plan.'

‘Or just rob a bank.' Emily groaned.

‘Or rob a bank,' Des said.

‘If they want their overseas trip within the next twelve months, you'll have to get cracking,' Jake said, poking at the paperwork lying on the table. ‘Anthony was saying it takes around six months to complete a subdivision. But if I were you, I wouldn't sign anything beyond a basic agreement of their terms before the subdivision is done and dusted.'

‘Six months! I had no idea it would take that long.'

‘Well I guess in one way it's good; it'll give you some breathing space to sort out the finance,' he added with a shrug.

‘What do Barbara and David think about it – I take it you have discussed it with them?' Des asked.

‘They said I should go for it and that they'd even loan me the money if necessary. But I couldn't; it wouldn't feel right to borrow from friends.'

‘I agree, but it's very good of them to offer.'

‘Pity they couldn't buy the whole farm and then sell off the bit to you. Not that I know anything about their circumstances or anything,' Jake said. ‘Just thinking aloud.'

‘The old brothers probably wouldn't want to sell everything because it would definitely muck up their pensions,' Des said.

‘Hmm,' Emily added.

‘But if they did, and invested wisely, they might not even need the pension,' Jake said.

‘Ah yes,' Des said, ‘but they're of the view that it's owed to them – their right for being lucky enough to be Australian. So they'll have it at all costs, thank you very much.'

‘That's crazy.'

‘I agree,' Des said, holding his hands up in surrender. ‘But it's how most people around here think.'