Five
It was so good to be back in the water. Erica couldn’t believe how she’d all but forgotten the exhilaration of being out in the ocean as the sun was rising.
Once out in the bay, Erica turned on her back to float, as she’d seen the others do, and watched the sun’s rays change the sky to pink and gold, a sense of peace enveloping her.
When, at dinner the previous evening, Gill had asked her if she intended to join the group again, she’d been quick to assure her she did, ignoring Joe’s negative comments. Erica had been back in Pelican Crossing for three days now and it was time to get back into good habits. She’d already contacted the hospital and was due to start the following Monday.
‘Glad you made it,’ Gill greeted her, as they picked up their towels together. ‘It’s such a great way to start the day. Pity I can’t persuade Joe.’
The two women laughed at the idea of Joe joining them. Although the group consisted mainly of women, there were a couple of men who sometimes made an appearance. But Joe was never one of them.
‘What are your plans for today?’ Gill asked, as they walked back to their cars – fortunately the second-hand Mazda Joe had purchased for Erica on her last visit had still been sitting in his garage. ‘Livvy’s still away, isn’t she?’
‘Yes.’ Olivia Grace, who had been one of Erica’s best friends throughout school, and who had been instrumental in her joining the wild swimmers, was on an extended visit to England. ‘But Rhana Black’s still here. The three of us did everything together as teenagers. It was good to catch up with them again last year. I’m having lunch with Rhana today.’
‘Enjoy!’
By this time, they had reached the car park, and Gill pressed the key to unlock her car. ‘See you soon,’ she called through the window as she drove off.
Erica watched her go before getting into her own car to drive back to Joe’s.
This morning, knowing Erica would be going out, Joe had taken Coco to the office as he often did, and the house seemed very quiet without the dog’s snuffling. It was a big house, too big for one person, Erica thought. She was glad Joe intended to sell it. She knew he had hung onto it because of all the memories it held of his late wife, Barb, but it was time for him to move on with his life, time for her to move on too. Perhaps Geoff had done her a favour in leaving everything to Kieren. She’d been angry at the time, but there was a sense of freedom in having to start over, and Pelican Crossing was a good place to do it.
Back at the house, Erica showered and changed before making breakfast. She took her coffee and two slices of sour dough toast topped with mashed banana out into the courtyard, along with a book she’d found on the bookshelf. It was by Sarah Morgan, an author she wasn’t familiar with, and she was enjoying it. She seemed to remember Barb had belonged to a book club, the same one Gill was a member of and which Livvy had urged her to join. Maybe this time she would. It would be good to meet another group of women, and she loved to read.
On her last trip to Pelican Crossing, Erica had been so worried about Geoff following her, so intent on setting up the apprehended violence order recommended by Gill, that she hadn’t been able to relax and enjoy all that Pelican Crossing had to offer. This time it was different. She was here to stay. There was no Geoff. She was free.
Engrossed in her book, time passed quickly, and it was soon time to leave for Rhana’s. Rhana, who’d always loved animals, had never married. She now lived out of town on a small acreage and bred spaniels, seeming to enjoy her solitary existence and preferring her dogs to people.
Erica smiled when she came to the gate on which there was a metal sign with a picture of a spaniel and the words Spaniels Live Here. She’d only visited once before, that time with Livvy, and had been surprised at how little her old friend had changed from the untidy teenager she remembered. Tall and heavily built, Rhana had never bothered with fashion or makeup, always saying people would have to take her as she was. Despite her sometimes abrupt manner, Rhana had been a good friend, and Erica was looking forward to renewing that friendship.
Once through the gate, Erica drove up the dirt driveway to where a house nestled among a mixture of palms and pandanus. A volley of barking greeted her as she stepped out of the car and, alerted by the noise, Rhana appeared in the doorway wearing jeans and a tee-shirt bearing a picture of a spaniel.
‘Welcome back!’
Erica found herself enveloped in a warm hug, while a wet tongue tickled the toes which were peeping out of her sandals. ‘Thanks, Rhana. It’s good to be here.’ By this time another two dogs had joined the one at Erica’s feet. She looked down at them and smiled. ‘Another litter?’
‘Yes, these are Bonnie’s and are all spoken for. They’ll be gone in another week. Then it’ll be more peaceful around here for a bit. Let me put these three back with their mum, and you can come inside.’
Erica followed her friend into the farmhouse kitchen which looked as if a bomb had hit it.
‘Sorry about the mess,’ Rhana said sweeping a pile of newspapers off the scrubbed wood table and moving a bag of dogfood to the floor. ‘It’s been a bit hectic these past few days.’
‘But you love it.’
‘I do. I like to keep busy. Tea or coffee?’
‘Coffee, thanks. I hope you haven’t gone to a lot of trouble…’ Erica could see a pot of soup on the stove and there was the aroma of freshly made bread.
‘It’s good to have someone to cook for. When I’m on my own I live on bread and cheese, though I do always bake my own bread. There’s nothing like it.’
‘Your mum did too.’ Erica remembered. Mrs Black had been a wonderful cook and the three teenagers had often enjoyed her freshly baked bread liberally spread with homemade jam… and her cakes.
Rhana paused for a moment, as if remembering her mother who had now passed away. ‘I’m nothing like Mum. I couldn’t take time for all the kneading and proving of dough. I let my bread maker do the work.’ She gestured to the white machine sitting on the kitchen bench beside the newly baked loaf.
‘It does smell delicious,’ Erica said.
Maybe she’d try making her own bread too. Geoff had always insisted she buy his favourite brand, but now she could experiment. It was a heady sensation to have no one to answer to. For so long she’d lived in fear, with the need to keep to the rigid guidelines her husband set for her, it was odd for all that to have changed. Even last year, when she’d left Geoff and come to stay with Joe, the thought of her husband was never far away, preventing her from living life to the full.
By the time Rhana served up the vegetable soup – made from vegetables she’d grown herself – and bread, liberally spread with her home-made hummus, she’d managed to elicit Erica’s reason’s for returning to Pelican Crossing.
‘It sounds as if your daughter-in-law might be in trouble,’ she said. ‘You say she feels okay about how your son treats her?’
‘I may be imagining it. She may be fine. But he’s so like his dad, I worry for her, and…’
‘There’s nothing you can do. Sounds as if you’ve already done what you could. You were wise to leave when you did. I can’t imagine what it could have been like for you if you’d stayed.’
‘Mmm.’
‘And you’re living with your brother again?’
‘For the moment. I want to find my own place. Joe has his own life, and now he and Gill are together he’s planning to sell. I don’t want him to delay his plans because of me.’ Erica picked at a crumb on the table. ‘I’ve never been totally independent, Rhana. It’s time.’
‘I can’t argue with that. I’ve lived alone since Mum died, if you can call living with a pack of dogs living alone,’ she chuckled.
‘I’ve been looking around but there doesn’t appear to be anything suitable available. I guess I’ll just have to keep looking.’ She sighed.
Rhana didn’t immediately reply then she said, ‘What about Livvy’s place?’
‘Livvy’s place? What do you mean?’
‘Well, as you know, when she left she only intended to be gone for a month She gave me a key in case anything went wrong – a flood in the kitchen or something. But now she’s still there, I wonder…’
‘You mean…?’ Erica felt a bubble of excitement. Was Rhana suggesting…?
‘Why don’t you email or WhatsApp her and ask if you can stay there till she gets back? I bet she’ll agree. It’s not good for the place to be sitting empty. A house needs someone to take care of it.’
Erica pictured Livvy’s home, the renovated fisherman’s cottage, one of a row on the other side of the harbour from the town. Like many such buildings in Pelican Crossing, the house had gone through several makeovers, the original small rooms opened up to make one large living/dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows which during the day let in lots of light. She visualised herself seated in one of Livvy’s deep armchairs, gazing out at the view of the beach. It would be perfect.
As soon as she got back to Joe’s, she’d email Livvy.