Chapter 61
A warm breeze caressed Nel’s bare arms as she stood on Lauren’s veranda watching Leo and Archie in the garden below.
Behind them, the ocean looked like a painting.
She breathed in deeply, trying to place the sweet woody smell in the air.
It was triggering a memory, something to do with Maddie, but it lay just out of reach.
‘Ready?’ Leo’s voice carried on the breeze, followed by the crack of the ball on the bat.
They were playing Classic Catches, a game they’d invented that involved one of them jumping off the trampoline and diving to catch a ball hit by the other, who stood on the grass below with a cricket bat.
They’d convinced Steve to remove the safety net from around the trampoline.
Archie flew through the air and landed on the lawn.
Nel grimaced, thinking of potential broken bones, and held her breath until he rolled over and held the tennis ball aloft to claim the catch.
He tossed the ball to his brother and jumped back up ready for the next shot.
She decided she’d seen enough and sat down at the table that Lauren had set on the veranda.
The barbecue was a last-minute plan. Lauren had sent a text a few hours ago, and now Steve and Jimmy stood at the grill debating when to turn the steaks, while Lauren and Cath prepared salads in the kitchen. Poppy, who had been discharged last night, lay inside on the sofa.
Nel watched her sister through the window, wondering if she could interpret the invitation as a peace offering of sorts after their confrontation at the hospital.
She’d told Cath about the argument as they’d flipped pages and shuffled through photos, looking for the picture of Maddie wearing the ring.
Cath had listened quietly. When Nel finished recounting the details of the conversation, she’d said something that had floored Nel: ‘I think she’s always been a little jealous of you. ’
‘Jealous?’ Nel said. ‘Of me?’
Cath shrugged. ‘Your life has looked pretty exciting from back here,’ she said. ‘I think she probably wonders what she might have done if she didn’t have Poppy so young.’
As though sensing Nel’s gaze, Lauren looked up and gave her a quick smile. Nel smiled back. It felt like something had shifted between them.
Nel was shaken from her thoughts by Jimmy’s warm laugh. He had his head tipped back, still laughing at whatever it was that Steve had said. She felt herself joining in quietly even though she hadn’t heard the joke.
‘What’s so funny?’ Lauren asked. She was standing next to Nel, opening a bottle of champagne.
Nel shook her head. ‘Just Jimmy.’
Lauren looked back at her, one eyebrow raised.
‘What?’ Nel asked, confused.
Lauren lowered her voice. ‘I see the way you look at him.’
‘What?’ Nel’s cheeks felt hot. She glanced over to the barbecue where thankfully Jimmy and Steve were still engrossed in conversation, oblivious. She lowered her voice. ‘For god’s sake, Lauren, he’s like my brother.’
‘Yeah,’ a pause, ‘but he’s not your brother.’
‘We’re just friends,’ Nel said definitively.
‘Okay, okay.’ Lauren raised her hands in mock surrender. ‘Although you know what they say … The woman doth protest too much.’
‘It’s the lady,’ Nel corrected her. ‘And you’re being ridiculous.’
Lauren shrugged and turned her attention back to the champagne cork. Out of the corner of her eye, so that Lauren wouldn’t see, Nel looked back at Jimmy as he took a swig of his beer. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, his forearms tanned against the white linen.
She looked away quickly, feeling self-conscious.
The truth was, she had felt something that night at the Grand when he’d stroked her hand.
Even now when she thought of that moment again, a pleasant shiver rippled through her, but it was true what she’d told him that night.
She wasn’t good at relationships. It probably wouldn’t work out.
And it didn’t matter anyway. She was leaving, so what was the point?
Lauren popped the cork. ‘Bubbles?’ She was already filling Nel’s glass. Cath came outside and placed a salad bowl on the table.
‘Have a seat, Mum.’ Lauren passed her a glass.
‘Thanks, darling.’
Poppy wandered out and hovered next to Lauren.
‘Mum, Grace is having some … people … around to her place tomorrow night to watch movies. Can I go? Please? It’s only three doors down the road and I’ll just be, like, lying on the couch at her place instead of here. Please?’
Nel could tell how desperately Poppy wanted to go and she found herself willing Lauren to say yes.
Lauren quizzed her daughter. ‘People? Which people?’
‘Just friends,’ Poppy said vaguely. When Lauren frowned, she added, ‘Mainly girls … and a few boys.’ She reeled off some names.
‘How many people?’
‘I think about four or five.’
‘Will parents be there?’
‘Yes.’
Lauren narrowed her eyes. ‘Will Jack be there?’
‘No,’ Poppy said. ‘He’s playing at a festival in Victoria.’
Lauren sighed. ‘All right, if you’re feeling okay tomorrow. But you need a nice early night tonight.’
Poppy’s face broke into a wide smile. She kissed Lauren’s cheek. ‘Thanks, Mum, you’re the best!’ she said then disappeared back inside.
Lauren sipped her champagne, trying hard, Nel suspected, not to look excessively pleased by the uncharacteristic display of affection.
‘What if it’s really an orgy?’ Nel murmured.
Lauren burst out laughing, almost spitting out her champagne.
‘Nellie!’ Cath exclaimed as Lauren wiped her chin with a serviette.
Steve carried over a platter piled with steaks and sausages and placed it on the table. ‘I hope you’re hungry.’
‘Boys! Dinner’s ready!’ Lauren called over the railing to the boys below. ‘Poppy!’
As Jimmy sat down next to Nel, his arm brushed lightly against hers, sending a tingle up her spine. She expected him to move his arm away, but he didn’t.
Once everyone was seated, Steve dinged his glass with his knife and cleared his throat. Nel tried to focus on him rather than the warmth of Jimmy’s skin on hers.
‘Ah … I have some news.’ He spoke hesitantly, uncomfortable in the spotlight. ‘While some of you have been busy this week with arrests and hospital visits, Cath and I have been busy negotiating with the new owners of the clinic.’
‘What?’ Nel glanced from Steve to Cath and back again.
‘You’re kidding!’ Lauren looked at Steve with admiration.
‘We exchanged contracts on Wednesday morning,’ Cath said. ‘We settle in just over three weeks.’
Nel’s heart raced. Three weeks! She’d thought it would be a relief once they had a buyer, but now that they did, she wasn’t sure what she felt.
‘Congratulations!’ she said, but there was a false note in her voice. ‘Who are the new owners?’
‘They’re a lovely lesbian couple from Melbourne,’ Cath said. ‘Both doctors. They have two little girls. They remind me of you two actually.’ She gestured to Nel and Lauren. ‘The kids I mean, not the lesbians.’
‘Yeah, we get it, Mum,’ Lauren said.
Nel stifled a fit of the giggles. What was wrong with her? The champagne had gone to her head.
‘I’d like to make a toast to Nel,’ Cath said, holding up her glass. ‘Thank you for staying, darling. I don’t know what we would have done without you here to keep the clinic running.’
‘To Nel!’
They clinked their glasses.
‘And now you’re free to get home to your real life in Sydney!’ Cath said.
Nel nodded. Home to Sydney. She pictured her dingy flat. It didn’t feel like a home. She glanced at Jimmy, who looked back at her, his dark eyes shining.