Chapter 19
Along with the sunflowers and the summer sunshine, patronage at Sunny Cross finally turned a corner and on the first day of January, the cafe was buzzing with customers.
Clem whistled as they steadily emptied the display case, order by order, feeling pleased.
Tomorrow also promised to be a bumper day, with the town accommodation fully booked and the coffee van heading to the Saturday markets.
She popped cleaning supplies in a bucket, ready to whisk out to the van this arvo, and returned to the counter to see Sebastian pulling out chairs for Ian and Louisa Brealy.
The Christmas break from theatre rehearsals couldn’t have come at a better time; Clem had been ninety-nine per cent happy to avoid seeing Spencer Hawkins on a weekly basis.
And if Ian and Louisa had noticed she hadn’t personally waited on their table these last few weeks, like she used to, they didn’t comment.
From the deep conversations they were having each time she looked across the cafe, it seemed they had more on their minds than a slightly less-attentive waitress. Sale plans, perhaps?
Sebastian followed her into the kitchen after they’d shut the cafe. ‘We might need Selina back if business keeps picking up like this,’ he said, wiping sweat from his brow.
Clem almost dropped the armload of dirty dishes she was carrying. ‘I never thought I’d hear you say that. Did you make a new year’s resolution about second chances?’
He lifted an eyebrow at her teasing tone. ‘Nah, I just heard a few things about her at a New Year’s party last night. She’d been hanging around with Luka Grubb, a category-one douchebag.’
Clem’s ears pricked up at the familiar surname. ‘Related to our good friend Marco?’ It still stung that Brew Haven had somehow underquoted her on the school catering job at Narradarra.
‘Son from an earlier marriage, before Marco blessed Penwarra with his presence. The old man’s a pain, but the son’s toxic. After what I heard at the party, I’d say Selina’s done well to ditch him.’
With a lurch in her stomach, Clem studied Sebastian’s grave face.
‘Did he hurt her?’
Sebastian shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. ‘According to his previous girlfriend, control is more his thing, rather than physical violence, but still … That’s how it starts, isn’t it?’
Clem’s mind flew in a million different directions, none of them good. Did Fiona know? Or Jean?
‘I should have delved a little deeper,’ she said, feeling wretched. ‘Why didn’t she say anything? The poor thing, no wonder she was all over the place.’
‘You might not be as sympathetic when you hear the rest of it. Did you notice how the van and the coffee machine have run like a charm ever since she left? And did you wonder how she knew it was nails, not screws, puncturing your tyres—or how Brew Haven scored those school catering contracts, when our standard pricing is normally neck and neck?’
Clem would’ve laughed if it weren’t for Sebastian’s steely look.
‘You still think my cousin, my teenage cousin, was deliberately sabotaging Sunny Cross Cafe? That’s preposterous.’
Sebastian went to the office and collected his keys and phone from his locker.
‘I know, that’s why I didn’t press it at the time.
But Luka’s ex-girlfriend said charm, then coercion, then control are his signature moves.
He’d get a girl besotted with him, lead her astray, and by the time she realised what a dick he was and tried to leave, he’d have leverage. ’
‘So he cooked up a revenge plan?’ Clem shook her head in disbelief.
Sebastian shrugged. ‘Selina was furious at you, her new boyfriend encouraged her to stand up for herself, and all of a sudden dodgy stuff started happening at Sunny Cross. I heard her sneaking around after work, talking on the phone, all quiet. There was a weird vibe to the convo, then the next morning, your van’s tyres were flat again. ’
Clem folded her apron and set it on the stainless-steel benchtop.
Sabotage? Add secretly dating a murderer and she’d really had a doozy of a year.
Is Spencer really a murderer, though? The more she reflected on her initial reaction, the more her choice of words felt too heavy, too awful to equate with the man she’d fallen for.
‘No wonder my stress levels were off the Richter scale,’ Clem said. ‘And no wonder you didn’t like working with Selina, though I’d rather you told me everything. Beats me why we’d even consider inviting her back?’
Sebastian tugged a baseball cap over his short hair and gave her a smile.
‘I might be slower to this whole concept of second chances, but Jack sure knew when I needed one the most. You’re a lot like him.
Not many business owners would have taken me on after the shit I pulled as a teenager, or trusted Kev after his gig in the slammer, but you did.
Selina might’ve made some bad decisions, but haven’t we all? ’
Clem thought about this as she collected Harriet and Indi from the playground.
She called her grandfather once they were in the car.
‘Do you want to come with us to the Beachport markets tomorrow? The girls are keen to go swimming and you can get your hot donut fix while I run the coffee van.’
Arthur was delighted with the idea. ‘We can amble to the end of the jetty and Harriet can run her lines with the ocean roaring in the background and the salty air in her hair, getting in character for the pirate performance of a lifetime!’
Harriet’s smile faltered, and for the first time since the first auditions, Clem wondered whether her daughter was every bit as apprehensive about the dress rehearsal as she was.
‘Sounds great, I’ll collect you in the morning, Pop.’
‘Can we go to the beach now, Mum?’ Indi asked as Clem weaved her way through Penwarra’s backstreets.
‘The beach is tomorrow, honey. We’re off to Selina’s house now.’
‘Can we play with her guinea pigs?’
Clem nodded. At this point of the day, she was prepared to use any distraction necessary while she talked to Selina.
Spencer felt an ache in his chest as his laptop chimed with another email. He didn’t have to open it to know it was the real estate agent following up on the calls Spencer had avoided.
Was it pride, rather than common sense, keeping him from being happy for Ian and Louisa? The offer made by the family who were determined to purchase South Giddi Giddi had been ludicrous.
Dolly trotted into the study with a squeaky toy and proceeded to gnaw on the blasted thing until Spencer took his head out of his hands and eased out of the office chair.
‘Point taken, pooch. Let’s head out and check the bees.’
It was better than grouching around in his own company, which even Dolly was sick of now.
Spencer’s phone rang when he was checking the first of the hives.
‘A man could die of thirst waiting for you to invite him around for a beer,’ Jeff said when he answered. ‘Hope you weren’t partying without me on Thursday night?’
Spencer laughed. He’d gone to bed before the clock struck midnight, although he’d lain awake through the early hours of the New Year, sifting through the mistakes he’d made and vowing not to repeat them in the year ahead.
‘Just me and Dolly, pondering the big questions.’
‘Remind me never to invite myself around to your place for a new year’s bash, sounds depressing. I’m guessing it’s all go with the theatre production at the moment?’
Spencer tapped speaker and put his phone in his top pocket so he could keep working while he talked.
There was an easy rhythm to the hives in the summer holidays, when it was just him, the bees and his beagle, and the glorious sunshine.
‘Yeah, things will ease off when the play’s done.’
‘Thank God for that,’ Jeff said. ‘Every surface of our house is covered in fabric and seven million spools of cotton, and heaven forbid if I move the cut-out pieces and don’t notice if one slipped under the side table.’
Spencer laughed. ‘Probably a nice change from your wetsuits clogging up the laundry, dirt bike gear spread across the garage and water-skiing ropes commandeering the shed.’
‘Whose side are you on? At least it’s not as bad as last year, when Mia was sewing late into the night. Best thing she ever did was convince Leearna to lend her a hand. But seriously, man, how’s things?’
Jeff’s cautious tone made Spencer realise he’d probably jumped down his friend’s throat the last time the topic came up. He thought of the breadth of this question, how many things in his life were in turmoil.
‘Bit shit, actually,’ he said slowly, sitting on a log beside the hives. ‘Someone’s made an offer on the farm, and Ian and Louisa are thinking about heading back to Canada.’
‘Maaate,’ Jeff said, and Spencer heard the engine of the cray boat slow. ‘That’s some heavy shit right there. I never thought they’d throw you out like that. Unbelievable!’
Dolly trotted over, nose to the ground, and Spencer reached across to scratch her as she sniffed her way past. ‘They’re not exactly.
They want to give me Belle’s side of the property, but I can’t accept that.
Not when they’ve got a buyer offering well over market price for the whole place.
’ Spencer’s voice cracked and he swiped at his eyes angrily.
‘The bank’s not interested in loaning me enough to buy South Giddi Giddi at market rate, not in my current role.
I’m not going to screw them over with a piddly offer, and I’m not letting them give it to me, not when they could have enough money to travel business class for the rest of their retirement.
They’ve already done enough for me, I don’t deserve hand-outs. ’
Clem’s words rang in his ears, and he winced, recalling the horror on her face when she’d confronted him about Belle’s death. ‘Especially after I helped their daughter die.’