Chapter 47
47
Ruth
Elliot was up before me Monday morning. He complained of a headache. ‘I had such an awful sleep,’ he said. ‘At my age, that’s often explanation enough.’ He yawned and made tea, shuffling around the kitchen like an old man, which I suppose in a way he was. After my road to Damascus moment in the early hours, I’d gone out like a light and slept for six hours.
Perched at the breakfast bar, I pulled out my phone and tried for a doctor’s appointment, on the off-chance they could fit me in. The earliest non-urgent appointment was Thursday and not with my own GP. To see her, I’d have to wait three weeks. I made an appointment for then. Elliot raised his eyebrows. ‘Women’s business,’ I said and he visibly flinched. Definitely not an enlightened male.
The day was cool and there’d been a shower of rain in the night. We took our mugs of tea through to the sitting room instead of the patio. Elliot was uncharacteristically taciturn. When I asked if his headache had eased, he said, ‘I’m all right, just feel a bit fuzzy headed and tired.’
Later, I made us coffee and toast and he brightened up, reminiscing about Robert and all the things they’d done and those they’d planned together but now wouldn’t get to do.
‘When are you coming to stay with me?’ I said when I’d packed up and was preparing to leave. It was almost one and we were standing in the kitchen. ‘Hamish said you’d mentioned having a game of golf with him.’
‘Has he had a hit there yet?’
‘Several times. He likes it. The green fees are cheap, so he says.’
‘Will he join the golf club?’
‘No idea, but I’d doubt it. When he’s finished with the house and he sells it, he’ll be off.’ Said lightly but with a sinking feeling.
‘What about you, old chook, what’ll you do when you don’t have the cafe anymore?’
‘Yet to be determined,’ I said. ‘Would you like it if I was closer to you, to look out for you?’ Blunt, certainly, but it’d get any expectations out in the open.
He was aghast. ‘Of course I won’t need you to look out for me! Whatever made you think I would? That I’d even expect it? You have your own life—don’t sacrifice what’s left of it on me. I doubt I’d do the same for you.’
‘Yes, you would. And who else have either of us got? It takes Stacey a day to get here, if the flights are available and she can get away.’
He swallowed, bright splotches of colour on each cheek. ‘God knows why they had to move so far away. Just ridiculous when her mother and me are this end of the country.’
‘Chris’s family? They all live up there. Perhaps they wanted their kids to know both sides of the family?’
He huffed and puffed and blustered a bit more and then said, ‘I do have friends, believe it or not. And if you must know, I have made preliminary enquiries about alternative accommodation. It’ll be the stairs that eventually make this place unliveable, but that’s a way off yet. Since Robert’s death, I have updated my will, along with all the other required documentation. Copies are in the cupboard under the bookshelf. Satisfied?’
‘I suppose so. Have you told all this to Stacey?’
‘Not yet.’ He fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. ‘And if you insist we talk about such morbid a topic, what about you? Have you made a will? The odds are on me going well before you, but then look what happened with Robert.’
‘I have a will. Mum nagged at me until I made one. I’ll update it when the cafe sells.’ Another thing to add to the ever-increasing list of things to do. ‘No-one likes discussing this stuff, Elliot, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it, so thanks for having the conversation with me.’
He grunted with what could only be described as ambivalence. He carted my overnight bag to the car and dumped it onto the back seat. ‘Take care, old chook. Thanks for coming and we’ll talk soon,’ he said and pecked me on the cheek.
It hadn’t escaped me that there’d been no mention of when he might visit me. No point pushing; he’d come when he was ready. Or not.
I climbed in, buckled up, but when I turned the key in the ignition, nothing happened. Not a thing. Nada. I swore and tried again.
Elliot frowned and yanked open the door. ‘What’s happening?’
‘Nothing,’ I said, mentally crossed my fingers and tried again, with the same outcome.
Elliot frowned. ‘Didn’t you say you had it fixed?’
‘I thought I had. Five hundred and seventy-three dollars’ worth of fixing.’ The car had sat here in the driveway since I’d arrived yesterday. We’d cabbed it to lunch and in the evening I’d walked to the nearby strip of shops for bread and milk.
‘I’d say take my car, but as you can see—’
Yes, I could see clearly what the problem was: his car was parked in the single garage and I was parked in the driveway behind it. ‘I’ll ring roadside assistance.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on and think of something for lunch.’ He wandered inside.
I rummaged in my handbag for the phone. After the dead-battery experience with the car I’d added roadside assistance to contacts. I literally had my finger on the number when the phone rang. Hamish. Unbelievable.
‘Hello,’ he said and sounded as if was in a rush. ‘Are you on the road yet?’
‘No. Why? And hello to you.’
‘I need a few things from Bunnings. Would you mind? I can phone through the order and pay for it, you’d only have to pick it up on your way through.’
‘Ordinarily I’d say yes, be glad to, but guess what? My car won’t start. I was about to call roadside assistance. Sound familiar?’
‘Forget Bunnings. I’m down on Wednesday, I can pick the gear up then. Has Elliot got a car? Would he loan it to you?’
‘Yes and yes, only it’s parked in his shed and I’m parked behind him.’
‘Oh, I see. Did you swear?’
‘Several times and with gusto.’
His laugh was mellow, his smile easily imagined, and I felt instantly better. I wasn’t in this on my own, not if I didn’t want to be. And not only for the broken-down car, but for life in general. All a bit daunting, really.
‘Keep me posted.’
* * *
The mechanic was diligent but he could not coax the car to life. ‘Could be the electrics … the computer maybe …’ He shrugged, scratching his head with greasy fingers. I was astonished that a car as old as mine had a computer. ‘I can organise for the vehicle to be towed, just need an address.’
‘My usual mechanic is over two hundred kilometres away,’ I said.
He glanced down at the tablet in his hand. ‘Oh, yeah, you’re from the country.’ Said as if it were a disease. He squinted at the screen. ‘Know any mechanics in metro?’
‘Let me ask my brother. Give me a sec.’ I raced inside and yelled, ‘Elliot! Where do you get your car serviced?’
He came through from the sitting room, rubbing his eyes. ‘At the Audi dealership where I bought it,’ he said. ‘Where do you think?’
‘Argh! Why is nothing simple?’ Then I had a thought: Hamish used to live in Adelaide. He’d been a diesel mechanic. I whipped out my phone.
‘Where does Elliot live?’ Hamish said after I’d explained the situation.
‘Kensington Gardens.’
‘A mate of mine owns a garage at Parkside … I’ll give him a call, text you the address.’
‘Just give me the number and I’ll ring him,’ I said. Elliot’s eyes bulged at my impatient tone.
‘Ruth,’ Hamish said, patiently, ‘this isn’t me trying to rescue you, I know how incredibly well you manage on your own. This is me offering to help in what must be a frustrating situation for you. Now, do I ring Tony or not?’
I squeezed my eyes shut against an unexpected burn of tears. Why had I called him if not for his help? ‘Yes, thank you, and sorry. I might never completely break the habit of needing to solve my own problems.’
He laughed that delicious laugh and my tension all but ebbed away.
‘What’s happening?’ called the mechanic from the front door. ‘I’m on the clock here. And if you want that tow today …’
I held up my hand. ‘Almost there!’
‘Let me ring Tony and send through the address,’ Hamish said and disconnected.
Moments later my phone pinged with a message: Tony Gazzola, Auto Repairs, followed by an address. I took the details out to the mechanic.
‘Oh, yeah,’ he said, ‘I know Gazz. Good bloke.’ He tapped away on the tablet and a few minutes later said, ‘Tow’s organised. They’ll ring when they’re on their way. Mightn’t be for a couple of hours.’ He walked to his van and was gone.
I collected my overnight bag from the car and went inside. I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. Elliot was in the sitting room, flat out in his recliner, feet up, eyes closed, with a half-eaten sandwich on the table beside him. He looked haggard. Did he often nap in the afternoons? He wasn’t that old.
‘How am I supposed to get home?’ I mumbled, more to myself than anyone as the implications of being stranded in Adelaide sank in. A cafe to open tomorrow … the wholesaler’s order to phone through before nine tonight and the need to be there in the morning when they delivered it.
‘After they’ve taken your car you can borrow mine,’ Elliot offered, but not as blithely as when his year-old Audi had been safely parked in by my twenty-five-year-old wagon.
‘Then you won’t have a car.’ I dropped onto the couch and started googling car hire companies and then bus timetables. ‘Hire cars cost a fortune,’ I said.
Elliot murmured in agreement.
‘The bus leaves the depot at five, but will only get me as far as Ardrossan.’
‘Then you’ll need to make a move soon. It’s heading towards three.’
‘I’ll Uber it. You don’t mind dealing when they come for the car?’
‘Of course not.’
Would Hamish pick me up from Ardrossan? Or Allie? Mia had her L-plates and was always happy to drive. It would be dark though, around eight o’clock. I hated asking anyone but I was running out of options, not that I’d had many to begin with.
‘Hamish,’ I said when he picked up after the first ring. ‘I’ll get the bus home. Can you pick me up from Ardrossan? It’s not far. Bus gets in about eight.’
‘Weren’t you going to borrow Elliot’s car?’
‘I’d rather not … he needs it.’
‘Sure, I can pick you up from Ardrossan, or I can pick you up at Elliot’s.’
‘It’s a long way for you to come and Bunnings will be closed.’
‘Offer’s there. You decide.’
So tempting. No tedious bus trip and I’d be home in plenty of time to phone through the wholesaler’s order waiting on the kitchen table. And get a good night’s sleep before an early start.
‘Yes, please, that would be brilliant but only on the proviso that I pay for the fuel.’
‘Ruth, let’s discuss details later. See you in a couple of hours.’
‘He’s coming to get me,’ I said to Elliot.
He tipped his head towards me, opened one eye and said, ‘I thought he would. All you needed to do was accept his offer.’