Chapter 2
Ellie smothered a yawn as she concentrated on her work.
Maybe going back to work the day after returning from England hadn’t been the smartest idea.
Nicola Wellings had been adamant that she could take another day off, but given the deadlines of the numerous projects Wellings Landscaping and Associates was dealing with, Ellie knew Nicola needed her.
As Nicola’s right-hand woman, she couldn’t let her boss down.
“Ellie, I want you to look over these documents, then take them to the council for submission, okay?”
“Okay.”
Good thing Katie didn’t know about this new proposal to rescue the abandoned site and see it redeemed and used for good.
The new owners wanted to build residential care homes for the elderly, to use the site to benefit the ever-increasing population of older people in the area.
Ellie had used her design skills to draw up plans for the gardens and grounds surrounding Nicola’s homes.
And while Elinor could never lay claim to her cousin Abbey’s architecture expertise, she thought the plans looked pretty good.
She checked the measurements, running the calculations through the computer, then made one last tiny amendment. A quick check with Nicola, then the prints were signed off on, and she descended the office stairs to her car below, passing Jackson, another part-timer at Wellings Associates.
Thirty minutes later, having delivered the plans to the local council officer, and done a quick post office visit to check for mail as well, she returned, and was soon neck deep in work again.
Lunchtime saw a brief reprieve, when she chatted with the other staff while tweaking some of the posts for the church’s social media. Then she was back into it. Head down. Focused. Drawing the sketches Nicola requested, using computer programs to see them come to life.
Working at a landscape architect’s office wasn’t quite what she’d imagined when she’d graduated from the university with a high distinction average in her graphic design course.
She’d hoped her course results and projects and résumé would see one of her many, many job applications finally land a gig at an advertising firm in Sydney.
Once upon a time, she’d even foolishly dared to dream of getting a job in a place like London or New York.
But those days of endless possibility seemed to drift further away the longer she stayed here in Wattle Vale.
And while she was endlessly grateful for this opportunity to work with Nicola, and for pleasant coworkers and flexible hours, a part of her still hungered for a consistent job in her field with nine-to-five hours and all the employee perks granted to full-time employees.
Sure, she got paid a decent wage, and if she needed time off, Nicola was understanding.
But it would be really nice to feel like she was actually using her skills in the way she’d once dreamed.
Seeing her graphic designs used in advertising, on billboards, or on TV.
Not beavering away in the corner of an office in a town nobody knew, being a general dogsbody while rich people changed their minds about pedantic details in gardens that often were tributes to their lack of taste.
Oh, to be so rich you didn’t care about spending thousands on little tweaks.
“Stop being so ungrateful,” she muttered to herself. “Honestly, how can you complain?”
At least she had a job that was somewhat in her industry.
Katie was still looking. Since her recent graduation ceremony, she’d worked at the family café, as did Ellie two days a week, but Katie was forced to take what shifts she was offered at the local supermarket as a checkout chick, something she complained about constantly.
Such as the customers who were rude or impatient, or those who stole things, forcing her to make impossible decisions about whether or not to inform her supervisor, while the culprits ran away.
Ellie didn’t blame her for finding that difficult.
But then, finding a job where Katie could use her history degree wasn’t exactly easy either.
And unlike Liv, their eldest sister, Katie wasn’t exactly the calm, nurturing teacher type, so teaching wasn’t an option.
Still, that was something Katie would need to figure out.
Especially seeing as she wasn’t super receptive to others’ opinions.
A bustle at the door drew her attention to Nicola, who was busy checking her phone as usual. “Oh, Ellie, good, you’re still here. Could you do those posts for Insta?”
“Already done.” She’d scheduled three months’ worth of Instagram and Facebook posts before she’d left to go overseas.
“You’re such a hard worker. It’s amazing how you’ve slotted back into things the day after you got back. I don’t think I’d cope as well with my body readjusting to different time zones.”
“It might’ve helped to have that unexpected stop in Baku.”
Nicola glanced up from her screen, the permanent frown etched in her brow easing as she half smiled. “I can’t believe you got to stop there. Some of the architecture in that place is amazing. Did you get to see the art gallery?”
“I wish, but no. We were herded onto buses from the airport to the hotel, then back again. We barely had time to eat and sleep before we were back at the plane.”
“Such a shame. Oh well.”
Ellie shrugged. “I think I’ll sleep well again tonight.”
“I bet.” Nicola eyed her. “How about you go home now? I don’t want you burning out just because you’re overly committed to the cause.”
Nicola had always been a good boss in that way. Still, “Are you sure?”
“To be honest, there’s not a lot more for you to do. So go, get a good night’s sleep, and we’ll see you tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Nicola.” She didn’t need to be told again.
A good night’s sleep was followed by an early start the next day as Ellie’s body continued to struggle to readjust to the different time zones.
Working yesterday had been the right idea, and another day today would help her get back into the rhythms of life in Wattle Vale.
The very repetitive rhythms. The dull parameters of life that seemed to squish a little more of her creativity each day.
She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. Especially when she’d just had an epic adventure in England for two weeks.
But perhaps the peak enjoyment of that had only served to reiterate how dull Elinor’s life was in comparison.
Liv and EJ’s lives were not Ellie’s domain.
The joys of managing an English country estate or helping people find true love seemed incredibly important and worthwhile, blessing people with jobs and relationships, and even families, while she helped design gardens for rich people. Yeah, so not the same.
Ten hours later, she was again released early. The Silver Teapot was already closed for the day, so she drove home, wandering into the kitchen to see Mum and Katie talking with Liv and Gran on FaceTime. “Well, hello stranger,” Gran called.
“You two are up early.” It must be only a little past seven in the morning there. She switched on the kettle for her cup of tea. “You miss us already, huh?”
Liv laughed. “We’ve got someone coming to take photographs at the Hall, so we needed to get going earlier than normal. Plus, we missed you, of course.”
Ellie’s lips twitched. “Of course.”
“Sounds like you had quite a few adventures on your way home.”
She yawned. “It certainly wasn’t the smooth trip we imagined. But it was kind of cool to see Azerbaijan. I’ve never seen an airport in the middle of the desert like that before.”
“Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you?” Gran said with affection.
Well, she tried.
She offered her grandmother a smile as the conversation continued.
It had been nice to spend time with her, to know Gran really did love her, even though her words might sometimes seem a little harsh.
Previous video calls had made her wonder if her English grandmother was as judgy about Ellie’s coloured hair as Ellie could be about Katie’s boy madness.
Time in England had confirmed that as true.
“Why do you colour it?” Gran had complained. “You’d be such a pretty girl if you didn’t.”
Ouch. She’d tried—once again—to explain about creative expression, but Gran didn’t seem to understand.
And to be fair, part of the reason for her hair colour and style was to showcase a side of her that her personality seemed to lack the strength or energy for.
But by dyeing her hair and getting it cut in this asymmetrical style, people assessed Ellie differently.
They didn’t simply take her for granted, as her quieter voice and lack of demonstrative behaviour might suggest. In fact, she’d seemed to inspire EJ to get a sassy new bob last year.
It made a nice change to be the sister others were inspired by, rather than the one others felt they needed to drag along.
“Now, I know you’ve only just been here, but I realised that it’s somebody’s birthday, and I wanted to do something special.”
Ellie’s heart pricked. The only person with an upcoming birthday was herself. She’d be twenty-seven in a few weeks’ time.
“So, I thought to celebrate that, and to celebrate the fact that Katie has finally finished her university degree, it would be a nice opportunity to do something special for you both.”
“You don’t need to do that, Gran,” Ellie protested. “We had such a great time in England with you. You letting us stay with you and use your car to see places was more than enough.”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” Gran said. “You both spent so much money flying out here that it was the least I could do. Especially when you did all that work on Hartbury Hall’s website, Ellie. For free.”