Magpie's Bend Page 11

  ‘Kinda suits him, the daft bugger. In fact, now’s probably a good time to give me a heads-up on how much this is going to cost me. Hit me while I’m smiling,’ Lara said.

  The vet scratched her head, quietly doing the sums. The lengthy pause made Lara nervous.

  ‘Brace yourself, it’s not cheap.’

  Lara bit her lip as she waited. As disobedient as he was, at times Basil felt like her only friend. Whatever it cost, she would pay it. Still, it didn’t stop her cringing as she heard the figure.

  ‘That’s the ballpark, but if you budget between four and six grand, you’ll be about right,’ said Amy.

  Lara made a show of fanning her face. ‘There goes my next tropical holiday,’ she joked.

  Amy laughed. ‘You can pay in instalments, Lars. Plenty of people do.’

  Lara thought of the cutbacks at the Bush Nursing Centre and how her bank account was already stretched to capacity with the mortgage repayments. The extra funds she had invested into her cattle weren’t likely to pay dividends for at least another few seasons either.

  She patted Basil and pushed money to the back of her mind. She would find a way, she always did.

  Toby’s phone rang just as he cycled out of Bridgefield’s 80-kilo-metre zone. He kept pedalling and reached into his pocket, cursing when the phone slipped out of his sweaty hands and into the long grass.

  ‘Bugger!’

  He reefed on the brakes, his back wheel skidding in the loose dirt as he came to an abrupt stop on a sharp rock. He kept the bike upright, but before he had a chance to turn around, he heard a hiss.

  ‘Great. Just great,’ he said as he watched the back tyre deflate. He looked at his watch. Holly’s bus would be pulling into Hamilton shortly. He wheeled the bike back to the spot where he’d dropped the phone. A buzz and the tinny theme song made it easy to find. Toby scanned the grass before reaching in. The last thing he wanted to pull out was a handful of angry snake.

  ‘Mum,’ he said, pressing the redial button.

  ‘Hi darl, I wanted to see how you’re doing.’

  Toby pushed the bike in the direction of his house. ‘Good. At least, I was until I blew a tyre on my bike. Holly’s bus is due in half an hour.’

  ‘Want me to call and tell her you’ll be late?’

  Toby gratefully accepted her assistance, signed off and picked up his pace. It would take 30 minutes to walk home, two minutes to duck through the shower and another half an hour to drive to Hamilton. The idea of Holly waiting around the bus stop didn’t sit well, but he was hardly in a position to change it.

  A stock truck rumbled past, the exhaust brakes squealing as the driver slowed for Magpie’s Bend. The pungent aroma of cattle lingered long after, and instead of dwelling on how long his little girl would be stranded at the bus stop, Toby thought about tomorrow’s meat-packing day with the McIntyre family.

  Would he turn squeamish at the sight of hanging meat or big carcasses splayed across a chopping board? He hoped not. Would home-butchered meat taste different to the stuff he bought from the supermarket? He had a sneaking suspicion it would.

  Should be some great photo ops too. The thought put an extra spring in Toby’s step. Then he caught himself and laughed.

  Four months ago, he was filing stories on trade-union battles, court cases and city-council budget blowouts. Now he was in Bridgefield, where an exciting week involved sheep sales, butchering home-grown meat and avoiding snake bites. Somehow, he had a feeling none of his Ballarat colleagues would understand how refreshing it was.

  By the time Lara had flung her groceries into the back of the Subaru and torn across town to the bus stop, Evie was waiting under the shelter with a group of girls.

  Lara’s heart swelled at the sight of her daughter. She quickly swiped at her prickling eyes, taking in Evie’s thick hair and the legs and arms that still seemed too long for her scrawny body. Was it possible for hair and limbs to grow so much in such a short time?

  Lara lifted the handbrake, hoping she wasn’t about to embarrass herself and Evie by gushing all over her. To her delight, Evie broke away from the group and raced towards her as soon as she spotted the car.

  ‘Mum!’

  Lara wrapped her arms around Evie, hugging her tight, relishing the smell of her.

  ‘God, I missed you.’

  Everything felt right with the world again. She gave Evie another squeeze.

  ‘You too, Mum. How’s Basil, are we going to see him tonight?’

  Lara looked back at her watch. ‘No, Amy’s off on a date tonight, but she said we can call in tomorrow morning, before we head to the farm for the meat-packing day. Or Sunday morning. Sound good?’

  Evie beamed at her and glanced over her shoulder. ‘Hey, I almost forgot. I was sitting next to the girl over there on the bus, she said something about meat packing. Apparently she’s coming too?’

  Lara looked over at the group of teenagers standing by their luggage, recognising the dark-haired girl with glasses and an easy smile. It could only be Toby’s daughter, Holly.

  ‘She nice?’ Lara hoisted Evie’s suitcase into the back of the car.

  ‘Yeah, super nice. She goes to the all-girls school down the road from me. I’ll say bye and we’ll head off, yeah?’

  Lara watched her daughter join the other girls. She recognised a few from Evie’s primary school and pre-school years. They all had long, glossy hair, some with braces, others with acne, and an effervescence that seemed exclusive to teenage girls. Evie hugged two of the girls goodbye, then walked back with Holly.

  ‘Mum, this is Holly. Holly, this is Mum … ah, Lara.’

  Holly gave a little wave.

  ‘I know your Dad,’ Lara said with a smile.

  Holly lifted her phone, frowning at the screen. ‘He’s gone and blown a bicycle tyre on the way home from work. I’ve got to wait here for him to walk home and then drive in.’

  Evie piped up. ‘I told her we’ll give her a lift home.’

  ‘Righto. Let your dad know, then.’ Lara reopened the boot and Evie took the suitcase while Holly tapped out a message.

  Lara pushed the groceries to one side, curious to get a feel for Toby’s daughter. If she was a spoiled brat, it would be a major red flag, and could save Lara a hell of a lot of time. Evie took the front seat, twisting around as Lara navigated the car park.

  ‘It’ll be good to have more helpers for meat-packing day tomorrow. It’s all hands on deck, everyone gets roped into service,’ Evie told Holly.

  Though Lara was dying to pepper Evie with questions about her school, yesterday’s test, the other boarders and Mrs Neilson, the dragon-like house matron, she was interested to hear the conversation between the girls. It was like a whole other world, learning about the television shows they watched, the books they liked, the mutual links between their friendship circles.

  The conversation shifted so rapidly, Lara had trouble keeping up. She looked in the rearview mirror as Holly spoke about her grandmother. The teenager’s face lit up.

  ‘And she gets these letters from the royals. Not from Princess Mary herself, obviously, just her peeps, but it’s kinda awesome.’ Holly shrugged, then giggled. ‘In a daggy Granny-ish way, you know?’

  Lara glanced at her daughter before looking back at the road. Evie had never had the pleasure of a doting grandmother, although Lara felt that void more keenly than Evie. The chatter continued, jumping from princesses to pets to extra-curriculars. Holly seemed pretty similar to Evie, a bright, switched-on kid. Lara thought of the teenagers Evie used to play netball with, whose warm-up conversations had centred around Insta-influencers, make-up and You Tubers, and the boarding school mates who were crazy about reality TV shows. She much preferred this line of discussion.

  The half-hour drive between Hamilton and Bridgefield went quickly, and soon Lara was driving past McCluskey’s shearing shed and then turning into Toby’s driveway.

  ‘Is your house seriously right next door to us? Awesome,’ said Evie, spinn
ing in her seat again and pointing out their house to Holly. The Subaru shuddered along the driveway, stopping short of the rusty three-bar gate.

  ‘No wonder he got a flat tyre,’ said Lara as Evie climbed out to open it. ‘It’s lucky those pot holes haven’t swallowed him whole. And it’s not quite next door. Clyde’s property is in between.’

  There wasn’t anything fancy about the front yard, but it was neat and well-tended. Small garden beds flanked the front steps, weed-free and bursting with the same cheery flowers featured in the driveway roundabout.

  Another green thumb. Penny, Angie and Diana would be even more impressed.

  Lara glanced at the cottage, wondering what it was like inside. Was he the type of guy who kept every single appliance on the benchtop, along with a sink full of dishes, or was his living room clinically clean, bland like a random hotel suite instead of a home? At a guess, she imagined he sat somewhere in between. If his garden was anything to go by, it’d probably be tidy.

  Does it even matter? This weekend was about Evie.

  Lara and Evie helped Holly pull her luggage from the boot. The shed door creaked open. Music blared across the backyard as Toby stepped out.

  Lara scanned her memory to identify the music. Classical? What type of guy repairs bicycle tyres to Beethoven or Debussy? For reasons she couldn’t articulate, a smile crept across her lips.

  The sunny sky was bright after the dim shed, and Toby squinted across the lawn. He waved to Lara and the girls, catching a whiff of something nasty in the process. The smell stopped him in his tracks. Why did bicycle tyre inners always smell like rancid belly button lint?

  ‘Just a sec,’ Toby said, ducking down by the closest tap.

  The water spluttered, spraying his shoes and legs as well as his hands. Toby scrubbed his fingers and dried them on his shirt before greeting his guests.

  ‘How’s my girl?’ Holly bounded over, and he pulled her into a bear hug.

  ‘Great, Dad. I’m going to show Evie around, okay?’

  She bounded off without waiting for an answer.

  ‘Hi Holly’s dad, nice to meet you,’ said Evie with a wave, following Holly inside.

  Lara had one hand on the car door and the other lifted to block out the late-afternoon sun. She gestured to the teenagers disappearing inside the house.

  ‘I thought they only did that in primary school, springing playdates on you at the school gate so you look like a grump for saying no,’ she said.

  Toby laughed. ‘Apparently not. Coffee? Beer?’ He’d discovered a few local farmgate businesses the previous weekend, and there were plenty of nibbles he could pull together to go with drinks. Cashews, big juicy kalamatas from Mount Zero Olive Farm, quince paste from Pomonal and dukkah that’d go perfectly with a cold ale. Just thinking about it made his stomach rumble.

  He bent and picked up Holly’s suitcase, letting Lara make up her mind without pressure. He wasn’t surprised when she shook her head.

  ‘No, I’ve got some baking to do for tomorrow. Everyone always works up an appetite at meat-packing day. Holly sounded like she was looking forward to it too.’

  Toby smiled at the surprised expression on her face. ‘When in Rome, right? It was really nice of Diana to invite us. The old Farming Focus liftout has been a bit light on for content.’

  He pulled open the front door, called for the girls and turned back to see Lara looking down the hallway.

  ‘Nice place?’ she asked.

  He spread his hands and shrugged. ‘It’s not the Ritz, but it’s cosy enough. How’s Basil?’

  Footsteps clattered down the hallway.

  ‘Still touch and go. The vet’s flushing out the toxins with an IV so his organs don’t have to work as hard.’

  ‘He sounds like a tough dog,’ Toby said. ‘Thanks again for bringing Holly home.’

  Lara rounded up Evie and set off, giving the colourful roundabout a generous berth.

  Holly waved them off and leaned down to smell the bright geraniums.

  ‘Nice flowers,’ Holly said admiringly, walking around the circle to get the full effect. Toby had planted alternating colours and was pretty chuffed with the charm it added to the front entrance. She paused, then pointed to a stunted white geranium. ‘What happened here?’

  Toby grimaced at the odd-shaped bush. ‘McCluskey’s livestock paid me a visit the other day.’ Keen to avoid an encore performance, he’d started shutting the gate regularly. It was in dire need of re-hanging, and he was already sick of dragging the stubborn thing open and shut twice a day. His inner-city houses had never needed much maintenance, but a few months in this place and already he was noticing his lack of handyman skills. He skull-dragged the gate shut, then turned to Holly.

  ‘Ready for a full country weekend?’

  ‘Totally!’ Holly stretched and scanned the yard.

  ‘What’s new in the ’hood?’

  Toby led her to a new section of the garden, showing off the improvements he’d made since her last visit. They paused by the prolific tomato bushes, still producing long after their normal season. He plucked one off the bush, passed it to Holly and found himself glancing over the paddocks again.

  In the distance, he saw Lara had emerged from the car. She drew her daughter into the same type of hug he’d given Holly. The hug of a single parent, soaking up every missed moment. Holly popped another cherry tomato into her mouth and followed his gaze. ‘Neighbours seem nice.’

  Toby nodded his agreement. He liked seeing Holly and Evie hitting it off.

  Although he didn’t know Evie, Holly’s instant rapport with her was a good endorsement. And as for Lara … she was every bit as intriguing as she was attractive. Tomorrow couldn’t come quickly enough.

  Twelve

  ‘Don’t let me touch another piece,’ Lara said, sliding the tray of pizza towards Evie. ‘I’ll burst if I eat any more.’

  Evie shuffled across the couch, piling another slice of potato and rosemary pizza onto her plate. ‘Better than the greasy stuff they serve at the boarding house.’

  ‘Perhaps when you come home in the holidays we can have a pizza special at the shop—it could be Evie’s Pizza of the Day. You’d make a mint,’ said Lara, lowering the television volume.

  Anne of Green Gables had been Evie’s choice—the Megan Follows version of course—and they’d watched it enough times to know every scene, even with the volume turned down. Lara had introduced Evie to the books years ago, buying her the whole collection for her seventh birthday and reading them aloud each night before bed. The collection had been packed for boarding school. Knowing that Anne Shirley, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert and Diana Barry were sharing Evie’s dorm room made the transition a little easier for them both.

  ‘If the general store’s not sold by then,’ said Evie. ‘Any more offers? What’s your fundraising tally up to?’

  ‘Getting closer every day. And there’re a few fundraisers in the pipeline.’

  Evie wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. ‘Oh yep, Cameron told me. Apparently Aunty Diana and Aunty Pen are planning a singles ball.’

  ‘Like a B&S ball?’ Lara frowned. ‘First I’ve heard of it. I think we’re aiming for an older demographic.’ Her mind went straight to the rowdy B&S balls she’d attended in her teens. Rum cans, bottles of food colouring tossed across the room until everyone was a multi-coloured mess, and waking up in strange swags, horrified at what had seemed such a good idea the night before.

  ‘Might be fun? You could meet someone nice, Mum. Although …’ Evie wriggled across the couch, almost upsetting the glass of wine Lara had balanced on her thigh. She poked Lara’s leg playfully. ‘Holly did mention your name had cropped up in a few conversations when she’s phoned home. Are you sure there isn’t something between you and our new neighbour?’

  A rogue pizza crumb somehow materialised in the back of Lara’s throat. She gulped her wine to wash it down.

  ‘I barely know the guy.’

  ‘Only one way to fix
that, Mum. It’d be cool to have a step-sister. We could be bosom buddies, just like Anne and Diana,’ said Evie, affecting a Canadian accent as she gestured to the television, where the movie characters headed off to a concert in Avonlea, all braids and puff-sleeved dresses.

  Lara stood up with the pizza tray. ‘Righto, I’m cutting off your supply of pizza. Those carbs have gone straight to your head.’

  Evie clasped her hands to her heart dramatically.

  ‘Maybe there’ll be romance over the butcher’s block tomorrow. Nothing like a fresh carcass to inspire a little love story, right?’

  ‘This is the problem with boarding school, Evie. All that junk TV will rot your brain.’

  Lara filled a sink with soapy water and as she shoved the greasy trays in, she wondered what Toby had told Holly about her. And what on earth had made Evie think like that? It was the first time she’d ever mentioned romance and her mother in the same sentence. The Bachelor, Love Island and Married at First Sight had a lot to answer for.

  ‘You’ll never, never know if you never, never go, Mum,’ Evie chanted as Lara drained her wine glass and dunked it in the water. ‘You don’t want to be stuck out here by yourself for the rest of your life, do you?’

  Lara grabbed the tea towel from the oven door and flicked Evie on the backside.

  ‘Nick off, Cupid. I’ve got you, I’ve got Basil, I’ve got work.’

  ‘That’s pretty depressing, Mum. I’ll be off travelling the world in a few years and Basil isn’t going to keep you warm at night,’ said Evie, rubbing the spot where the tea towel had snapped against her.

  ‘I’ve got the nursing centre, all the patients rely on me. And then there’s the shop.’ Lara folded her arms across her chest, feeling deflated by Evie’s bleak summary of her life.

  ‘Mum, they’re coming into the centre to get their gross leg ulcers dressed, not for company, and everyone knows the shop’s all about the gossip and the pies.’

  Is that really how she sees things?

  ‘I’m perfectly fine out here by myself. One day …’