Chapter Nineteen
Julia’s garden seems brighter than it was when I was last here. The hedges are neatly clipped and the scent of a newly mowed lawn fills the air. Jimmy, dressed in a reindeer-print shirt, has a beer in his hand and is talking to Cameron, who straightens and turns when I walk up the steps.
‘Amelie.’ Cameron doesn’t look me up and down, but I have a feeling he takes in everything.
The sleeveless white linen shirt, matching long skirt and strappy white sandals I bought yesterday.
My hair loose on my shoulders. A bowl of fruit salad in one hand, a bag full of gifts in the other.
As he reaches for the bowl, I check him out too.
Sage green short-sleeved shirt, black jeans, bare feet.
Damp hair like he’s just got out of the shower.
‘Happy Christmas,’ he says quietly.
‘Thank you.’ Wrenching my gaze away, I look around him. ‘Where is Julia?’
‘Out the back. She’ll be happy to see you.’
I’m following Cameron through the house when I see the spruce that was sitting on a pallet in his shed.
The pot has been covered with a pale green skirt appliqued with snowflakes and extra decorations have been added to the tree.
Cameron’s wooden ornaments are different from the other baubles and Santa Clauses.
The partridge sits on the top of the tree and below the partridge is a single dove (because I have the other one), and hens, parrots, golden rings, geese, swans, dairy cows and ballet shoes.
The stars that represent the lords are gold and the thistles that represent the pipers have tall lilac spikes.
‘What do you think?’ Cameron, rugged and handsome and now even more serious than he was when I saw his Twelve Days of Christmas the first time around, is still holding my bowl of fruit salad.
‘Where are the drummers?’
‘I didn’t have time.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Christmas won’t mind?’
An almost smile. ‘No.’
‘Does that mean Christmas is a feeling, but it doesn’t have feelings?’
‘It’s good to see you, Amelie.’
When I went to high school in Sydney, I shared Christmas lunch with my grandmother and her elderly friends, and when I was at university, my friends invited me to their homes.
I went to Alex’s parents’ holiday house and had Christmas lunch there.
Everyone was welcoming and kind, but I felt like an outsider.
It would make sense for me to feel like an outsider here too but …
Cameron, Julia, Anna and Miss Winters are people I thought I knew but didn’t really know at all.
I haven’t known Maggie, Jimmy and Audrey long, but would like to know them better.
Tara is impressed by my ‘angel dress’ and holds out her arms whenever she sees me.
Anna’s and Audrey’s husbands have taken over the barbecue and everyone looks out for Julia, sitting next to Cameron at the far end of the table, even though she tells them not to fuss.
CJ and Reuben, a friend from school, touch hands when they think no one is watching.
When Cameron presents the boys with tickets and asks if it’d be okay if he came with them to the Boxing Day cricket test, they cheer, grab his arms and spin him around.
Maggie and I sit at the opposite end of the table from Julia so that Rocket, flicking his tail like a metronome, can scowl in his cage between us.
‘I think Rocket would prefer to be on the roof.’
Maggie grins. ‘He’s hating every minute, but I’m having a better time than I thought I would.’
When I thread a piece of chicken through Rocket’s cage, he swipes it clear of the bars, bats it around the floor and pounces on it.
‘He’s doing well, Maggie.’
‘Thanks to you.’
I cut another piece of chicken from my kebab. ‘Audrey’s husband is doing a great job on the barbecue, isn’t he?’
‘I don’t know how he puts up with her.’
‘Maggie! Shhh.’
I suspect Audrey, sitting a few places down, knows we were talking about her because, careful not to get the heels of her patent red shoes stuck between the floorboards, she pushes back her chair and walks towards us.
‘Bloody hell,’ Maggie mutters, before loading a forkful of food into her mouth.
‘I see you’re enjoying Larry’s special marinade,’ Audrey says.
Maggie, chewing enthusiastically, gives Audrey a reluctant thumbs up.
‘The chicken was delicious.’ I put my knife and fork together. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’ve been meaning to ask, how are the works on the vet practice going?’
‘Frank says he’ll be done by the end of January.’
‘What a shame you won’t be here to enjoy the fruits of his labour.’
I fold my serviette. ‘The new kitchen will be lovely, and the bedroom upstairs now has an ensuite.’
‘It was beyond Julia’s means to renovate.’ Audrey lowers her voice. ‘According to Frank, Cam mortgaged his farm to cover the costs. He wanted the job done properly.’
‘Good lad,’ Maggie says appreciatively.
‘Who is ready for dessert?’ Julia calls out.
Milly and Benedict both stand. ‘Thank you, Julia,’ Benedict says, ‘but we’d better get back to our dear Belle. We could have been imagining it, but she was restless this afternoon.’
‘I put her in the pen before we left,’ Milly says.
‘If we need Amelie—’ Benedict sends me a smile, ‘—we’ll know where to find her.’
People appear to give gifts at any time of the evening, but the gift I have for Cameron isn’t in my bag, and I don’t want anyone to think I’ve excluded him, so I leave my gifts by the tree.
We’re all sitting down to White Christmas, Miss Winters’ ice-cream, meringue and frozen berry dessert, when my phone buzzes.
With an apologetic glance, I take it out of my pocket.
‘It’s Christmas Eve,’ Jimmy says. ‘Tell them you need a break.’
‘You did too good a job in handing out my cards.’ I’m smiling as I walk from the table to take the call. Keith Urban, tinsel around his neck, follows me out. ‘Amelie Peterson.’
Milly’s voice is panicked. ‘There’s something wrong! Please come!’
‘Tell me what’s happening.’
‘Belle is straining but we can’t see anything coming out.’
‘I’m on my way.’ Turning quickly, I bump into Cameron, then take a step back. ‘It’s Belle, Milly and Benedict’s cow.’
‘It’s her first calf, isn’t it? What’s the problem?’
‘The calf is possibly breech so I could be hours and Keith Urban would have to wait around. Can you ask Anna to have him overnight?’
He’s frowning in concern. ‘Sure.’
I’m at the bottom step of the verandah when I look back. ‘Can you also ask someone to drive Maggie and Rocket and Miss Winters home? Can you explain to everyone?’
‘No problem.’ Tall and supportive, hair now long enough to be very slightly scruffy, Cameron has one hand on the post and the other at his side. He’ll have more experience in breech births than I do, but if he offers to help, he might offend me. I know him better than I did; he knows me better too.
‘I might need your help, Cameron. Will you come with me?’
A flash of white teeth. ‘Two minutes.’
I’m still changing into the spare set of clothes I keep in the ute when Cameron throws a bag onto the back seat. He’s added boots to his shirt and jeans.
‘I haven’t got my boots on yet.’ Still doing up buttons on my shirt, I open the passenger door. ‘You drive.’