Chapter 9
Ellie checked her phone, but there was nothing more, apart from that weird message before. “Got it. Thanks.”
Hmm. Was she overreacting because she’d expected more of an answer from Ethan? Maybe he was just busy. She’d give him the benefit of the doubt.
“So, how was work today?” Mum asked, as they ate their usual Monday night meal of spaghetti Bolognese.
Ellie shrugged. “It was okay. Nicola has a new client she’s rather chuffed about, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes.”
“Who is it?” Katie asked. “Or is that confidential?”
“I don’t think it is. It’s someone who apparently is related to some politician in the city but has a country property out here, so they want a local to do the work for that. To be honest, I can’t remember the name, but it was someone I’ve never heard of.”
“Oh well. At least there’s an opportunity there for you to display your skills.”
Ellie nodded. Mum meant well, even though doing the odd bit of design work for a landscape design business certainly wasn’t the pinnacle of her career aspirations.
It’d be nice to see her skills being used for something worthwhile, like Ethan’s youth group graphics.
If it helped teens see youth group was cool so they went and took their friends, who then got saved, then that was a great result for the kingdom of God, wasn’t it?
Designing gardens for bored rich people wasn’t quite the same.
Dad smiled at her. “And good to see city folk giving the country cousins a chance rather than just employing their usual city-based crew.”
“It should mean a few more plants survive anyway.”
Nicola often complained about the many times that Sydney garden design companies recommended plants that didn’t survive the winters here in the Southern Highlands.
It was far better to have local knowledge that ensured the purchase of locally grown plants that were frost hardy and could cope with the occasional bursts of snow these parts saw.
Too many people wanted the country lifestyle without realising they couldn’t always just plonk down their same expectations of city life.
People were different here. The temperature was cooler.
Things ran a little slower. And while part of her had long writhed against the slower pace of life, another part of her could appreciate the difference.
EJ—oops! Emma-Jane—was a lot nicer now that she’d spent more time in Wattle Vale.
She wasn’t as agitated as when she used to come back from the city.
Even while they’d been in England, Ellie could appreciate the difference between London and edge-of-Cotswold life.
There was less of the frantic need to push and prove oneself.
People had more time to stop and smell the roses—or the cow manure.
Whatever. People seemed more settled, grounded. Probably because they had more ground.
Of course, she wouldn’t say no if a job became available in the city and she could live in EJ’s spare room in the flat that overlooked Sydney Harbour. But as she couldn’t afford to do that until she had a permanent job, then she’d be waiting a little longer.
She tuned back into the conversation, conscious that Katie had been giving little smiles all evening. “What’s got you looking like the cat who ate the cream?”
“Nothing.” But Katie’s glance at her phone sure didn’t look like nothing.
“Who are you messaging?”
Katie shook her head. “I’m not telling you because you won’t like it.”
Uh-oh. “Are you still in contact with Jason?”
“Jason?” Mum peered at them. “Who’s that?”
“Oh, Mum! He’s just the most amazing guy!”
And the gushiness with which Katie had shared last night ignited again.
Ellie swapped glances with her dad and waited for Mum and Katie to conclude their mutual lovefest.
“You don’t look like you think this is a good idea, Ellie,” Dad said.
“Oh, how can it not be? He’s such a handsome man,” Katie interjected.
“I really think we’ve been sold a lie that someone’s external appearance automatically matches their inner qualities,” Ellie mused.
“What are you saying?” Katie challenged. “Don’t you trust him?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You kind of did on Saturday night.”
Ellie arched her brows. “Do you really want to talk about that now?”
Maybe Katie realised where that conversation could go, because she clamped her lips shut. Then huffed out a heavy breath. “Look, I’m just saying that you can be really judgy sometimes. And I don’t know why. Ethan is almost as good-looking, and you don’t hear me complaining about him.”
“Ethan?”
“Come on, Mum. We mentioned him last night too.” Katie grinned at Ellie. “So, have you heard from him yet?”
It suddenly seemed rather lame to admit a three-word response was all she’d received.
Especially when she’d thought they had really clicked.
If he was interested, wouldn’t he have messaged more?
And while Jason wasn’t exactly the kind of guy she wanted connecting with her sister, he had apparently contacted Katie three times in the last twenty-four hours.
Which suggested solid interest, at least.
“So, have you?” Katie persisted.
“We’ve been in touch about some youth group graphics I’d said I would do for him.”
Katie’s nose wrinkled. “Are you serious? That’s all?”
She shrugged. “It’s better to take it slow than to get carried away on false hope.”
Katie scoffed. “I’m not getting carried away. Besides, we’ve arranged to meet up in Sydney on Saturday.”
That’s right. Saturday. Her heart picked up. Ethan had virtually promised to be here on Saturday. So she didn’t need to worry. He would show up, she’d make him the best coffee of his life, they’d talk tea and all kinds of things, and all would be well. Her heart settled down.
She glanced at her parents. “I might have a bit of a date this Saturday too.”
“With this Ethan man?”
Her smile was shy. “He said he wanted to come visit the café, and I promised to teach him about different types of tea.”
“Oh, in that case, we’d love to meet him. And your Jason fellow too, Katie.”
Katie shrugged. “I don’t know if Jason plans to come here. We talked about meeting up in the city. I might stay with EJ that night.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet the men who have stolen your hearts.”
“My heart isn’t stolen, Mum,” Ellie protested. “There’s no need to get carried away.”
“Well, I’ll be glad to meet him, whenever he chooses to come.” Dad winked at her. “Stolen heart or not.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
He nodded, and she wondered if she should share with him some of the concerns she’d had about Jason.
Mum wouldn’t listen. She was so romance focused that it blinkered her to everything else.
But Dad’s former police career meant he had a healthy scepticism about people, so he was probably safe to talk to.
The meal finished, the seven o’clock news was put on, and Dad settled in front of the TV as he did most nights.
After stowing the items in the dishwasher and setting it to FAST WASH, Ellie joined him as a raft of various political stories floated by.
Apparently the state elections were coming up soon, and the latest opinion polls showed that the opposition leader, Neville someone, was trailing by double digits.
“It’s not surprising,” Dad said. “He’s a slippery fox, that one.”
She glanced back at the TV from where she’d been checking her phone for the umpteenth time in case Ethan had replied again. “Why do you say that?”
Her dad snorted. “He’s been known to have a finger in the pie of a dozen developer companies over the years. You can’t trust a thing that man says.”
“That sounds a little harsh, Dad.”
“Is it harsh when it’s the truth? Ellie, open your eyes. He’s been involved in a number of investigations in the parliament.”
“Then why is he the opposition leader?”
“Because apparently people think he gets things done. I’m guessing he’s the best of a bad load of candidates.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t really care about dodgy politicians. They weren’t part of her life. But Katie was. She peeked at her father. “Speaking of candidates, you know that man Katie was talking about before?”
“Jason someone?”
“Yeah. Look, I don’t want to sound like a gossip, but there’s something about him that just felt a little off.”
Her father shifted in his chair and looked at her. “What do you mean?” Gone was the man who mildly complained about politics, replaced by an ex-cop who was concerned about his daughter’s welfare. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing’s happened. It’s just that he seemed older, and we all know that Katie can be a little na?ve at times—”
“Oh, Ellie,” Mum said, coming into the room. “Are you bad-mouthing your sister again? I don’t like it. I really don’t.”
“Mum, I’m not bad-mouthing. Just expressing my opinion. And in my opinion, I don’t trust the man.”
Mum sniffed. “Well, it’s not your opinion that matters, is it? It’s what Katie thinks.”
“Yes, but we all know she can be prone to flinging herself headlong into any kind of romantic endeavour. It doesn’t mean it will work out.”
“Who’s to say any kind of romantic endeavour will work out? You saw what happened with EJ—Emma-Jane, I mean, and that awful billionaire’s son.”
“Exactly. We don’t want Katie to experience anything like that.”
“But that’s for her to learn. She will never learn if you insist on protecting her from every experience.”
Offence flared. She tamped it down. Mum cared, she knew that.
“I know I might look overprotective, and I don’t want to protect her from every experience.
Just the bad ones.” Oh, she was thankful to have a chance to talk about this with her parents.
If Katie were here, she’d kick up a stink and there’d be no talking sense to her.
“And I don’t think we need to mention this to her either.
You know how she gets. If she thinks we’re suspicious of Jason, she’ll get her back up and she’ll dig her heels in. ”
Her father grimaced, even as Mum murmured, “But I’m not suspicious of Jason.”
Yep. Said it all, really.