Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
‘S ee you later, my beautiful Lady,’ Nathan said as he walked out his front door on Wednesday, ready to head to South Haven to start preparing the space for the gazebo that would be delivered and constructed on Friday. His new cat, a one-year-old tortoiseshell tabby, eyed him with a suspicious glare. He’d spent yesterday evening curled up with Lady on the couch, and now she was having to get used to being at home by herself on weekdays. He’d picked her up from the shelter on Monday, after knowing instantly she was the one for him – his petmate. Pets were so much easier than humans. She would be exactly what he needed for some company at home without the drama. He’d also suggested to Gloria that she get one, after sending her a photo and asking her when would suit for him to do an interview about her memorial garden.
His steering wheel hot on his hands from the sun, he decided he’d have to start using the windscreen shade, as he tried to steer with only minimal grip on the wheel. The air con blasting, it soon cooled down, and when he got to South Haven he covered the windscreen and unloaded his supplies for the day. Before getting started, he’d be checking around the yard for any bee swarms that sometimes happened at this time of year, since he hadn’t been here for a while, he wanted to make sure.
After surveying the property and wondering if or when Martha would pop out to say hello, he noticed the step out the back where Ellie had sat, and had an idea. He gathered some small pebbles from around the firepit and took them to the step. He arranged them into a small heart shape and smiled. Next time she sat in her father’s thinking spot, she’d see it and it’d hopefully bring a smile to her face. It reminded him too that he would have to ask Penny’s permission to interview Jessie about her pebble family tree garden to add to his YouTube channel. There were so many fun things on his to-do list that he wouldn’t have time to feel down about his recent disappointments. Life was going to be even greater, starting now.
When he went to the small storage shed at the front of the house to get the mower, the crunch of pebbles sounded on the driveway and he peeked through the wrought-iron gate. A shiny black vehicle approached. The side panel said Bay Airport Transfers. It must be Ellie! Hopefully being away had helped her in some way.
Martha appeared as she stepped off the front steps, her arms outstretched. The driver, then Ellie, hopped out of the car. Ellie ran into her mother’s arms, and then Penny got out. Of course, they wouldn’t have let Ellie travel on her own after her recent hospital admission. She turned and leaned into the car, helping someone else out. Lacie. With a bulging belly that looked larger than before.
Nathan’s heart sank. Just when he’d got his head straight. He thought she would have returned home by now, but maybe they’d had a little interstate trip together and then she’d be heading back overseas before she got too far along.
Ellie noticed him peeking through the gate and she glanced briefly at Lacie before coming over. She must know what had happened between him and Lacie.
‘Nathan! Hey, dude.’ She opened the gate, high-fiving him, and he gave her a quick hug.
‘You’re looking so much better,’ he said.
‘Thanks. I’ll probably be feeling the jet lag later though, an international flight is no easy thing! But I’ve finished the book you gave me, it was awesome.’
‘Oh great. Did you say international flight?’
‘Yeah, was amazeballs. Chicago’s getting cold now so lucky we didn’t go in December.’
Chicago. So why did Lacie come back?
Lacie eyed him and gave a curt nod, and Martha waved to him and turned back to her daughter to help with her luggage.
‘Must’ve been a great experience for you.’ He kept eyeing the front of the house. Ellie turned around.
‘Oh, Lacie is moving back here. Permanently. So we went to help her sell her business and pack up her entire life and fit it into one suitcase. Was chaotic but we managed to do it in time.’
‘Wow, okay. It’ll be good for you to have her around.’
‘Yeah, can’t wait to have a sibling back in the house again. We’ll probably stay up way too late watching movies and eating ice cream. She has that effect on me!’
Nathan gave a small smile. He understood how that would be true, with Lacie’s playful nature. But… he wouldn’t allow himself to think of her like that, he wouldn’t let her climb back into his mind and heart. He felt like he’d just been an amusing way for her to pass the time while her baby grew. And he wouldn’t let himself get sucked into the uncertainties of romance again anytime soon.
Lacie had wanted to run over and wrap her arms around him (as best as she could with her cumbersome load). It was agonising to see him and not be able to touch him, talk to him, laugh with him. If she’d told him from the start, she could have been giving him a friendly hello and high five like Ellie had. She’d seen the surprise in his eyes, and sadly, the hurt. He probably thought she had flown back to Chicago by now.
Lacie flopped on the couch in the lounge room as her mum set down a tray of tea and biscuits. ‘Can I have a cold drink, please, Mum, I’m boiling.’ Lacie flapped the neckline of her top to fan her skin.
‘Of course.’ Martha brought her an orange juice.
‘Oh my God, it’s so good to lay back.’ Lacie leaned back into the corner of the couch and peeled off her circulation stockings. ‘So glad to get these things off. Ew!’ Her feet were hot and sweaty, slightly swollen from the flight though not as much as when she’d flown without them.
Martha grasped them. ‘Into the wash they go.’ She disappeared into the laundry then returned.
‘Sorry, Mum, I would have done that, but it might take me several hours to get up.’ She smiled. Being around her family would help take her mind off Nathan, except when she could see him outside.
Ellie flopped next to Lacie and Penny helped her mother wheel the luggage into the hallway to take to the rooms later. ‘Thanks, everyone, for the trip,’ Ellie said.
‘Did you have fun?’ asked Martha.
‘The best. I even tried putting on an American accent when I went into some of the stores downtown, it was hilarious.’
‘Especially when you forgot for a moment and went back to your Aussie accent and then to American again.’ Lacie laughed.
‘It’s good to see your sense of humour thriving.’ Martha sat on the armchair.
‘I wish I could pick up the kids from school and preschool now!’ Penny stood as though too excited to sit.
‘They missed you, let me tell you,’ Martha said. ‘But they had a ball here too. I’m going to miss having them around so much!’
‘Did you miss Steve too, Pen, or are you looking forward to a little… karaoke tonight?’ Ellie said in a sing-song voice, and Penny’s cheeks went pink.
‘Oh, stop,’ Penny said.
‘What are you two going on about?’
‘Nothing,’ they both said.
‘Anyway,’ Martha said, ‘your rooms are all clean and fresh, new sheets, and Lacie, I know you’ll probably want the baby in with you, but I also started clearing out the old office near your room. I thought it might make a good room for the baby? Once he or she is ready for a big cot, that is. No rush, but we might as well get it ready before the big day.’
‘Thanks, Mum, sounds like a plan. And I promise I won’t live here forever. Just when you thought you were close to an empty nest, and suddenly I’m back and bringing an extra human with me!’
Martha grinned. ‘I can’t think of anything better.’
‘I thought we might go shopping on the weekend for baby things,’ said Penny. ‘First things first, you’ll need a car seat.’
‘Oh yes.’ She looked at her mum. ‘I wasn’t sure whether to get my own car or…’
‘Use mine. No need to spend even more money just yet. Later on if you get a car we can transfer the car seat. At least living here, you can walk to most places. A good pram will be your best friend.’ Martha gave a knowing nod. ‘Do you want me to come, or mind the kids?’ She looked at Penny.
‘It’s okay, Steve is off on Saturday so we can go then. You probably need a break too.’
Martha shrugged. Lacie realised that her mum had been mothering for quite a number of years now, and babysitting grandchildren, and probably didn’t know how to really take a break. ‘Yeah, you should go get pampered at a nice salon. Hmm, speaking of which, I wonder if Tarrin’s Bay needs a new beauty therapist.’ Not that she’d be able to start anything up yet. She would think about options and make a plan to return to some kind of work part time when the right moment came once the baby was a bit older. She thought she could do some mobile wedding make-up on weekends at first, having the weekdays with her baby, before committing to anything more permanent.
As though reading her mind, Martha said, ‘Another thing I was thinking… yes, I’ve done a lot of thinking while you lot have been gallivanting overseas, is that perhaps the old guest cottage could be repurposed into a beauty salon? If you wanted to return to running a business eventually, that is.’
‘Wow, you are thinking ahead, Mum,’ said Penny. ‘But what a great idea!’
‘Mum, are you sure you don’t want to use it again as guest accommodation, for income?’
Martha shook her head. ‘Been there done that. I want all of South Haven to be for our family to enjoy and make use of. No point having an empty cottage. It would make a perfect and discreet little salon with its separate entrance on the side road. I could be your business partner. And I could look after the baby, or toddler by that stage possibly, right here while you work. I may be getting older but I’ve still got some oomph left in me yet.’ She raised her bicep muscle and they all laughed. ‘Give me a free facial every month and we’re even.’ She winked.
Excitement bubbled up inside Lacie. ‘I think that might be the best opportunity I could have wished for.’ She made herself get up off the couch and went over to her mum, wrapping her in a hug. ‘Thank you for welcoming me back. I feel like I never left.’
Relief swept through her body like a cooling ocean breeze. She wouldn’t have to worry about how she’d cope as a single mother alone in her Chicago apartment. She’d have her family with her every step of the way. So there was no father around for the baby, but maybe that was easier in some ways. She may have ruined her chance with Nathan, but she wouldn’t ruin the chance she’d been given to become a damn good mother.