Chapter 51
The following week, Tilly was on the tram.
She’d taken to riding the tram to Darlings a few mornings a week, with the main purpose being inhalation of the lovely coffee.
It was true to say that Tilly had sort of fallen in love with the tram and all that went with it.
There was just something about the old timber carriages rumbling up Darling Street, the ding-ding of the brass bell, the sliding windows letting in the smell of the sea and the polished seats that floated Tilly’s boat.
It was just a lovely, calming, old-school way to travel.
A far cry, it had to be said, from a five o'clock alarm in the staff quarters of a five-star hotel and a buggy ride down a service aisle to go and scrub other people's bathrooms.
This particular morning, she'd no sooner got on and turned to find a seat when she clocked Evie from Darlings halfway down the carriage with a wicker basket on her lap. Shelly, with her hair in a French plait and decked out in her conductor’s uniform, was standing chatting to Evie.
Shelly beamed. 'Morning, my lover. Come and sit yourself down here by Evie.'
'How are you, lovely?' Evie asked. 'Haven't seen you in Darlings for a few days. We were starting to think you'd forgotten about us.'
'Ahh, yes, I've been busy getting the shed ready and working on a few things. There's a lot to do.'
Evie nodded. 'Right, yes, busy with the Shed. That'll be it. I’ve got the day off today, and I’m making the most of it.'
'What have you been up to?' Shelly smiled and raised her eyebrows. 'How are you getting on with your neighbour?'
Tilly felt the heat go up her neck. She pretended she didn’t know what Shelly was talking about. ‘Neighbour?’
Evie chuckled. 'Otto. A little dickie bird said you’d been to China Darling.'
Tilly smiled. There’d been a lot, lot, lot more since China Darling.
Most of the time involving the most wondrous sex of Tilly’s life.
So much so that she couldn’t get enough of it.
She’d seen Otto every night since and enjoyed herself immensely.
Things had happened that had made the initial fireworks look like amateurs.
Tilly pretended it was nothing and brushed it off.
'Ahh, Mey mentioned we were in there, did she? '
Shelly cackled. 'Now, come on. You think we believe it was just the dinner. Out with it. By my count, there's been the oyster night, the dinner at Mey's, Mr Cooke swears blind he saw the pair of you walking the coastal path on Sunday with Stanley, and were you not in the pub together last night?'
Smiling, Tilly raised her eyebrows. The Darling interwebs were not wrong.
Since the dinner, Tilly and Otto had hardly been apart.
The Darling bush telegraph did not know how many times she had been in his bed.
At least, she hoped it didn’t. Brushing it off, she flicked her hand. ‘Yes, we’ve been out a few times.’
Shelly patted Tilly’s arm. ‘I’ve heard it’s more than a few! How’s it going with him?’
Fabulous as far as Tilly was concerned. However, she wasn’t sure how to answer the very loaded question.
From her side of the fence, it was going spectacularly.
She was now nearly constantly accompanied by fireworks as she went about her day.
Could have been worse. The women of Darling did not, however, need to know quite how deeply she’d already fallen.
‘He’s nice. Yes, it’s good to share a few dinners with someone here and there, you know? ’
Shelly coughed. ‘Word on the street is it’s more than a few dinners.’
Tilly giggled. ‘No can tell.’
Evie smiled. ‘Good on you. I must say we’re all very happy to see, well, Otto looking pleased as punch with himself. It’s a good thing to witness.’
Otto wasn’t even close to as pleased with the situation as Tilly was, but she’d keep that little nugget of information to herself, thank you very much. ‘Hmm.’
Shelly parked herself on the edge of the seat opposite, abandoning all pretence of work. 'So, has he cooked for you yet? I always think that’s an indicator.'
Tilly blinked. 'He made me a fry-up.' Tilly immediately wished she hadn't let on because Evie's eyes went wide and Shelly's eyebrows shot up so far they nearly touched her conductor's cap.
'A fry-up? At his place or yours?'
Tilly felt heat rush up her neck, and she joked. 'Ha, ladies, I can’t possibly divulge.'
Shelly nodded knowingly and giggled. 'Too funny. We already know, so…'
'I’m sure.' Tilly chuckled.
'My lover, just remember everyone on Darling knows everything.' Shelly patted Tilly’s hand. 'We're not judging, not in the slightest. We're celebrating. It's been a long time since that man's had anything to celebrate.'
Tilly felt a lump form in her throat and swallowed it down. ‘I’ve gathered.’
'He hasn't even set foot in China Darling for years,' Shelly added as the tram slowed, the bell ding-dinged, and a few passengers got off.
Tilly watched them go, grateful for the momentary distraction, but Shelly was not a woman to be deterred by a tram stop.
She leaned in, one hand on a brass rail, swaying with the rhythm of the carriage.
‘You go for it is what I say. Go for your life.’
The tram dinged its way past the bakery, and Tilly, scrabbling for higher ground, went for a change of subject. 'Nice day for it, isn't it? The weather’s been so lovely.'
Shelly rang the bell for the next stop, ding-ding, brisk and cheerful. 'Yes, it has been. Lovely weather for a new relationship. Ha! Remember the thing about Darling. Nothing's a secret around here and everyone has your back as long as you play your cards right.'
Funnily enough, Tilly had already worked that out for herself.
She continued to laugh and played the whole Otto situation down.
'It's not a secret. There's just nothing much to tell.
We've had a few dinners. It's early days.
' Tilly out and out lied. There had been more than a few dinners and a lot of time horizontal.
The tram rumbled up Darling Street as the lovely, kind banter continued.
Smiling from ear to ear, Tilly gave back as good as she got, attempting to sound breezy and as if she didn’t care that much about this new relationship that had knocked her sideways.
Her attitude said that similar things happened to her every day of the week and that she was completely carefree and unbothered by the whole thing.
That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
There was one thing Tilly most certainly did not mention to the two pairs of eager ears on the tram. That things were happening to her heart. Some things a girl kept for herself.