Thirty-one
It was three days since Freya had opened up to Gill, but since then, she hadn’t revealed anything more about her relationship. Gill couldn’t understand how she could manage to uncover the source of her clients’ problems, but when it came to her daughter, all her skills deserted her.
‘What are you doing today?’ she asked. ‘It’s my monthly lunch with the gang, but I could stay home.’
‘You’re still doing those lunches?’ How long has it been?’
‘Since you were a baby.’ Gill remembered how inadequate she’d felt when she brought Freya home. Neither she nor Max had known what to do with this tiny person. The Mums and Bubs group had been a godsend, and from it, her friendship with Poppy, Liz and Rachel, a friendship which had endured.
‘Wow! Well, I guess you all stayed around. No need to stay home for me. I thought I might call Amber, see if I can drop in. I can’t avoid babies for ever, much as I’d like to, and it’d be good to chat with her again, Jess and Tara, too. I need to check how to contact them.’
‘Tara is a high-flying career woman these days. She’s in recruitment. I’m not sure what Jess does, but I do know she has three little ones.’ Gill realised she often blanked out when the topic of children and grandchildren came up in the group. ‘It will be nice for you to catch up with your old friends again.’ The four girls had been inseparable all through school… until Freya left to attend university. Then the other three had married and Freya had gone overseas.
Freya took a sip of the coffee with which she liked to begin each day. ‘I had a text from Dad.’
Gill’s heart plummeted. ‘What did he want?’
‘For me to meet Mercedes. Honestly, who calls their daughter Mercedes? It sounds like a car.’
Gill couldn’t keep the smile off her face, glad Freya’s opinion matched hers. ‘So, will you?’
‘No way. But…’ she twisted her fingers, ‘… he’s talking about bringing her here.’
‘What?’ Gill’s voice was shrill.
‘Oh, I don’t think he meant it. It was just his way of trying to force me to visit him… them. I can’t see him coming back here.’
But the image of him appearing in Pelican Crossing, walking along Main Street, entering Books and Coffee where they used to go together, was the stuff of Gill’s nightmares. ‘I hope not,’ she said, annoyed Max could disturb her, even from a distance.
Gill cleared the breakfast dishes while Freya went off to call Amber, but the thought Max might decide to come to Pelican Crossing refused to leave her. She wished she was going to the office today, where she could spend her time helping other women with their problem marriages and forget about her own. Having the day to herself, lunching with her old friends, would give her too much time to worry about what Max might do next, if Freya continued to refuse to visit him.
*
Gill was last to arrive at Liz’s apartment, and when she walked into the kitchen, the others were already drinking wine. Today, the apartment felt different than it had on her previous visits, and at first she couldn’t work it out. It was only when the others started teasing Liz about Finn moving in, that Gill realised what it was.
Until now, the place had had a very feminine atmosphere, the home of a woman who lived alone, not as spartan as Gill’s but with a distinct character. Now there were signs of a male presence. They were subtle, but they were there – the sweater thrown across the back of a chair, the pair of dark-rimmed glasses lying on the coffee table alongside a bundle of newspapers, the pair of running shoes she’d noticed lying in the hallway. It made Gill think of Max again and remember how he used to scatter his belongings around their apartment.
‘Thanks,’ she said, as Liz handed her a glass of wine, and she banished the memories into the past where they belonged.
Lunch was delightful as usual. Liz served roasted pumpkin soup with homemade bread and a variety of cheeses, perfect for the cool day. It was followed by a tarte tatin which she claimed to have made from a Donna Hay recipe book her newly discovered daughter had given her.
The conversation over lunch was general, allowing Gill to relax somewhat, until Liz said, ‘Mandy tells me you had dinner with our mayor, Gill.’
Gill blushed. She could feel three pairs of eyes on her. ‘He was being friendly. I’m advising his sister.’ It was too much information. She knew that as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Client information was sacrosanct, not to be divulged to anyone. ‘I mean…’ she stammered.
‘We’ll pretend we didn’t hear that,’ Rachel said, always the one to smooth things over. ‘Did I hear Freya’s home?’
‘You did. She arrived on Saturday. She’s actually hoping to see your Amber today,’ Gill said to Poppy.
‘Is she back home for good?’ Poppy asked. ‘I saw her with Gill on Sunday,’ she told the others. ‘I thought she was looking well.’
‘I don’t know.’ Gill sighed, more comfortable now they were talking about Freya, not her, but it was still a minefield. ‘Once they’re grown, they have minds of their own. I’m just enjoying her company while I can. She’s been coming swimming with me in the mornings.’
‘I don’t know how you do it. A few days was enough for me,’ Liz said, referring to her own attempt at wild swimming the previous year. ‘But we all know what you mean about minds of their own.’ She gave an exaggerated sigh, and the others nodded.
‘It’s good she’s back,’ Poppy said. ‘Amber was looking forward to catching up. It’ll be good for her to have company. I think she’s finding the twins hard work.’
‘Twice the work, but twice the love and twice the fun,’ Rachel said, familiar with her own twin granddaughters. ‘How’s Mandy going?’ she asked Liz, whose daughter was pregnant.
As the conversation about grandchildren and pregnancies continued, Gill relaxed, heaved a sigh of relief and let their talk flow over her, but as soon as she did, the memory of Freya’s text from Max forced itself into her mind again. He wouldn’t come here, would he? And then there was Joe. What had possessed her to agree to have dinner with him again? Though she had to admit a small part of her was looking forward to it.
*
It was a few days since Joe had met Freya on the beach and arranged to have dinner with Gill. Suggesting Addisons had been inspired. It had been Finn who’d given him the heads up on the restaurant, telling Joe it was a good idea to head out of town. He didn’t know why Gill had seemed so hesitant about agreeing to see him again, but at least she hadn’t declined.
She’d said tonight was her book club. He wondered what they were reading this month. He missed sharing Barb’s monthly book club reads. Now he had to choose his own reading matter from the library, he stuck to the Australian crime authors he was familiar with, but he sometimes yearned for the eclectic mix he’d read in the past. Maybe Olivia would persuade Erica to join the book club, and he could widen his choice of books again.
Coco stirred under Joe’s desk, reminding him it was time for her walk. He shut down his computer and picked up the dog’s leash. ‘Off for a walk,’ he said to Debbie as he passed her desk. ‘Back in half an hour.’
As always, it was good to get out into the fresh air. Coco wasn’t the only one to feel claustrophobic shut up in the office. Sometimes he longed for the days before he became mayor, when he was a land surveyor and spent his days outside. It had been Barb who’d encouraged him to go into local government telling him he was a born leader. He sighed, as he always did at the memory of his wife. Maybe if she’d lived, he wouldn’t mind his enforced office life.
He was heading for the marina, planning to catch up with Cam, see if he had time to join him for a quick beer, when someone calling his name caused him to pause and turn towards the harbour. Coco started pulling on her leash, excited at the sight of two pelicans perched on bollards at the edge of the water.
‘Joe,’ Jamie called again. ‘I thought it was you.’
‘Jamie, how are you?’ Jamie Whittaker was another of Joe’s old mates. He had taken over his father’s fishing boat, then had sold up and now ran fishing charters for tourists, very successfully, Joe had heard.
‘I’m good. I’ve been wanting to speak with you. I heard Erica’s back in town.’
‘Erica, yes.’ For a moment Joe was puzzled, then he remembered. When they were all teenagers, hadn’t Erica and Jamie had a thing? Back then, he hadn’t paid much attention to his younger sister’s boyfriends, but Jamie had been one of his own group of friends, and he seemed to recall him being upset when Erica left to study nursing in Sydney. Joe had already been dating Barb by then and had other things on his mind.
‘How is she? Husband not here?’
Joe stared at his old mate, sure Erica wouldn’t want her marital problems broadcast. But Jamie was a mate. ‘She’s here on her own.’
‘Well, if there’s anything I can do, if she wants someone to talk to…’ Jamie’s voice trailed off as he clearly saw Joe’s shuttered expression.
Surely Jamie wasn’t interested in Erica after all this time? But he’d been divorced for a number of years, and Joe knew how lonely it could be when you’d been accustomed to being part of a couple.
He didn’t reply. It was all too complicated.