Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Kingscliff
Reeda loved taking a plain space and making it beautiful.
Her interior design business in Sydney had thrived with her at the helm, and from what she understood it was booming still even in her absence.
She’d loved decorating the Waratah Inn during its recent refurbishment.
And the final product was better than she’d imagined it could be, even if she was tooting her own horn to say it.
Now those things were behind her, and she was doing her best to establish herself as an interior designer on the Gold Coast. So far it’d been far more difficult than she’d hoped.
The market was significantly smaller, no one had heard of her, and even when she did manage to land a new account, her client’s tastes varied wildly from those held by her Sydney roster.
She was still adjusting to the expectations of the few clients she’d found since her fledgling business began.
She stepped into a bland room with high ceilings, raised the broken blinds and blinked as the bright sunshine invaded the space. “In here, we could do floor-length curtains in a sheer fabric to let in some of the the light, but not too much,” Reeda said.
She stood by the client and pointed at the wall. “I’d love to pick out a piece of art for this space. Something bright and colourful. What do you think?”
The woman nodded. “That sounds perfect. When can we start?”
Reeda gave her the information and waved goodbye. On her way back to the car, her mobile phone rang. The Nokia was clunky but fit in her purse. She’d purchased a lilac-coloured Xpress-On cover for the phone and liked the way it transformed the item into a cute accessory.
“Hello. This is Reeda.”
“Hi, Reeda. It’s Noreen here. I have good news.” Noreen’s voice was filled with promise.
Reeda’s heart stood still. “Oh? What is it?”
“There’s a family of three children who need an emergency placement. Are you up for it?”
Reeda held her breath for a moment, eyes wide. Was she? Could she do this? She cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m up for it.”
Noreen gave her the details as Reeda sat in her sweltering car.
She turned the keys in the ignition and dialled up the air-conditioning as she absorbed what Noreen was saying.
When she hung up the phone, she sat there a few minutes longer, staring unblinking at the gum trees in front of her vehicle as they swayed with the ocean breeze.
Three children. The youngest was six. It was more than she’d planned for.
But she’d agreed to do this. If they couldn’t have children of their own, they wanted to give that love to kids who needed it.
And these three clearly needed someone to love and care for them, even if it was only for a short while.
Noreen told her that the parents had moved to Australia from Burma after ongoing violence had forced them into homeless.
But that the children’s father had left home not long after their arrival in Australia, their mother had turned to drugs and alcohol to escape her own reality, and as a result, had lost the children repeatedly over the years to the foster system.
Every time she pulled herself back together and won custody again, she would inevitably return to her addiction within months and the cycle would repeat itself.
Reeda wanted to give these children a period of calm, however long it might last, within the stormy waters of their life.
With a new resolve, she drove to the shops and picked out items she thought they’d need.
Three toothbrushes, some toothpaste for kids, three soft toys, three brightly coloured towels.
She wasn’t sure what else to get at this stage, so she picked out some pyjamas that she thought might be about the right sizes and then bought groceries for a child-friendly dinner of sausages and mashed potatoes with peas and gravy.
She took it all home and got to work preparing the guest room and guest bathroom for the impending arrivals.
Before long, Duncan pulled into the garage and hurried to meet her in the kitchen where she had begun making dinner. He kissed her cheek. “When do they arrive?”
“In about an hour,” she replied, her stomach twisting into a knot. She was so nervous, she couldn’t think straight. “I’m worried I’ve forgotten something they’ll need.”
“Whatever it is, we can get it later. It’s going to be okay. No, it’s going to be great.” He cupped her cheek with one hand. “We can do this.”
“I know you’re right.” His encouragement calmed her anxiety.
As soon as dinner was made and set in the fridge on covered plates, the doorbell rang. Reeda exchanged an anxious look with Duncan, smoothed both palms down the front of her slacks, and they walked together to the front door to answer it.
When the door opened, Noreen shook their hands and ushered three children into the house.
She made introductions and then left before Reeda had a chance to thank her or process what was happening.
The door shut behind her and Reeda looked at the three kids, all sporting wary expressions on tired faces.
“Hi,” Reeda said.
Duncan added, “I’m Duncan, and this is Reeda. We’re going to take care of you.”
“Yeah, we know,” said the oldest child. Noreen had introduced her as Simone. She had a shock of straight black hair and dark brown eyes and a button nose. Noreen had told them she was twelve years old.
“You must be tired, so I’ll show you to your room. You’re sharing. I hope that’s okay. I thought you might like to be together.”
“Whatever,” Simone replied.
The other two children remained silent. A boy called Marc who was eight years old, and a six-year-old girl named Carly.
All three of them followed Reeda meekly to the bedroom.
She’d decorated it in bright colours and pushed a set of bunkbeds against one wall, with a double bed on the other.
There was a rug on the floor, and several sets of toy boxes.
She hadn’t known what age of children they’d get when she’d set up the space, but she was happy with how it’d come together.
“So, here’s your room. Simone, yours is the double bed.
Marc, would you mind taking the top bunk?
And Carly, you can have this bottom one.
There are towels on the end of the bed, and the bathroom is down the hall if you’d like to take a shower.
I’ve made tea, so as soon as you’re ready, wash your hands and come on out for a hot meal. ”
She waited for a response, but the children avoided eye contact and stood quietly.
Each held a plastic shopping bag clutched close to their bodies.
Reeda’s heart squeezed. She wanted so badly to tell them everything would be okay, that they were safe here, but she knew it wouldn’t mean anything to them in that moment.
It would take time for them to build trust.
“Okay, well, I’ll be in the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything.”
She left them alone, her thoughts in a jumble. Should she have said more? What could she do to make them feel at home?
Duncan stood in the kitchen, staring into the open refrigerator with a blank expression. She touched his arm, and he startled. “Oh, sorry. I was off with the fairies.”
“I’m going to heat up tea. Do you want some?”
“Yes, please. How did they go? I didn’t want to crowd them, so I stayed back. Do you think I should’ve come in there as well?”
She shook her head. “No, you did the right thing. They’re clearly struggling to come to terms with whatever they’ve been through. I don’t know what we should do, to be honest. But giving them some space is probably a good start.”
“This is so surreal,” Duncan said as he helped Reeda pull the plates out of the fridge.
“I know. I can’t believe there are three children in our house.”
They grinned at one another.
Ten minutes later, all of the children emerged from the bedroom to the kitchen. They stood quietly waiting. Reeda ushered them to the dining table and set plates of steaming food in front of them.
“I hope you all like sausages.”
There was no response, but before long, all three of them had devoured the food on their plates and drank their full glasses of fruit cordial. Reeda refilled the cordial and the food, and they ate that as well, finally slowing as their plates cleared.
All the while, Reeda and Duncan chatted to them and to one another without much to indicate the children had heard them.
It worried Reeda that they were so quiet and withdrawn.
What had they been through? She had no idea, and it wasn’t likely they’d tell her.
But she hoped they’d eventually open up at least a little bit.
By the end of the meal, she was glad it was over and they could all go to bed.
“You must’ve been hungry,” Reeda remarked as she cleared the plates. “Every single one has been cleaned. I have dessert, too! Ice cream with Ice Magic. Have you ever had Ice Magic before? It hardens when it lands on the ice cream.”
Simone shook her head. Carly grinned widely and kicked her feet under the table with excitement. Marc showed the first hint of interest she’d seen from him all evening. Ice cream, it seemed, was the magic. She spooned it into bowls and poured on the topping.
As they ate the ice cream, they finally started to engage in conversation with one another. They continued to ignore Reeda and Duncan, but at least they looked more relaxed. She was happy about that. After dinner, the three children cleared the dishes without being asked. Simone offered to wash up.
“Oh, sweetie, I’ll do that tonight. You must all be so tired. Get some rest, and maybe you can do the dishes for us tomorrow night. I’d really appreciate that.”
Simone dipped her head in acknowledgement and guided the smaller kids back to the bedroom. Reeda heard them turn on a shower.
“Should I go back there?” she asked, wringing her hands together. “Does a six-year-old need adult supervision with showering?”
Duncan raised both eyebrows. “No idea. But I guess they’ll ask if they need help… I’m sure Simone can handle it.”
“You’re probably right.”
“We’ll figure all of this out,” Duncan reassured her with one hand on her arm.
She shook her head. “There should be a book or something.”
“I’m sure there are thousands of parenting books. Not likely they’d help in this particular situation, though.”
Reeda rinsed off the plates and slipped them into the dishwasher.
By the time she and Duncan had cleaned up the kitchen, the shower had stopped.
Reeda returned to the bedroom and knocked on the door before opening it.
All three kids were wearing the pyjamas she’d bought for them.
They fit pretty well, although Simone’s were a little big on her. She was a petite twelve-year-old.
“Ready for bed?” Reeda asked, coming into the room and helping put away Carly and Marc’s clothes in the dirty clothes basket she’d tucked into the wardrobe. “How about a bedtime story first?”
“What do you mean?” Simone asked as she climbed onto her bed covers.
“I thought I could read to you from one of these books. Would that be okay?”
“You’re gonna read to us?” Carly asked as she scrambled over to the edge of her bed.
“If you like.”
“Yes, please,” Marc replied, while Carly nodded vigorously.
“Okay, here’s my favourite childhood book. It’s called The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. Have you ever heard of it?”
“Nope.” Simone pulled back her covers and climbed beneath the sheets.
“Everyone into bed, and I’ll read Chapter One,” Reeda said as she helped tuck in first Marc, and then Carly.
The children were fresh-faced and clean, with damp hair and eager expressions.
It made Reeda’s heart sing to see them so excited to hear a story.
Duncan sat with his back pressed up against Carly’s bed frame, knees bent.
Reeda lowered herself down beside him and opened the book.
As she read, she was transported back to a time when her own mother had read this very same dog-eared book to her and her sisters every night.
She’d loved imagining a fantastical place where there was a new world at the top of an enormous tree every time the children climbed it.
When she was a kid, she’d dreamed of stumbling into the land of goodies—with fences made of marshmallows, ice cream trees and lollypop bushes.
It seemed like the most wonderful place anyone could imagine at the time. It still made her mouth water even now.
As she finished reading the first chapter, she glanced over to see that Carly was sound asleep. Marc was close. Simone was on her side, staring at the wall. Reeda kissed Carly’s cheek, patted Marc’s hand, and then knelt beside Simone.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “Have a good night’s sleep. You can wake me if you need anything at all. Okay?”
Simone looked at her. “I won’t need anything.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Duncan whispered goodnight then stood at the doorway, with his hand on the light switch.
Reeda tiptoed out of the room and Duncan plunged the room into darkness.
Back in the kitchen, Duncan poured her a large glass of red wine.
They grabbed a bowl of popcorn Reeda had made earlier and carried it to the living room.
Duncan found cricket match on the enormous widescreen television he’d installed above the fireplace.
“That went well,” he said.
She nodded. “They seemed to like the story and they were very ready to fall asleep.”
“You’re already a beaut mother,” he replied as he pulled her to his side, one arm around her shoulders.
She leaned into him with an exhale, releasing the tension she’d been holding in her shoulders. “Thanks. It’s been an interesting day.”
“You’re happy?”
“Very happy. Although it’s strange, right?”
“So strange,” he replied. “But in a good way.”
“In a great way,” she said.