5 Peppermint Grove (32 page)

Ruth was speechless at first. She directed him to come in before she spoke, presuming that he had come to see Julia.

“Hi, Brian – gosh, Julia left for
Dublin a week ago.”

“Oh, I thought that she was going home yesterday?”

Ruth wondered why he had purposely called, knowing that Julia had left. “She had to go home early.”

“Is everything okay with Julia?”

Ruth shook her head solemnly. “She had some bad news unfortunately – her brother-in-law died tragically a few days ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Brian was genuinely concerned.

“Would you like a drink? A beer?”

“I’m driving but I’ll have a Coke if you have some?”

“Come on into the kitchen – to be honest, I’m happy to have some company – I’ve been feeling very sorry for myself since Julia went home.”

“I’ll bet. She was telling me what good mates you are.”

Ruth put ice in his glass and poured Coke on top. She then poured a glass for herself.

“So what happened to the brother-in-law?”

Ruth felt strange talking about something so delicate to Brian but she was pleased to be able to process it with someone. “He took his own life. Tragically.”

“Gruesome.”

“He jumped off a cliff. It must be the most horrible way to die. Sometimes the coast guards have problems finding the bodies but Craig’s washed up with the tide at a beach nearby. I can’t imagine what must have brought him to do such a thing. He had a beautiful home – his wife Odette is even more gorgeous than Julia and his kids are little pets.”

Brian took a sip from his Coke. He was slouched at the kitchen table and seemed to be pondering each word that Ruth was saying.

“I had a mate that killed himself. Hung himself in the garage of his home. No reason that anyone could figure out – a beautiful wife, home and little baby boy. I don’t think anyone can really know what’s going on inside the head of someone that does that.”

Ruth felt her eyes well up.

“What do you say we cheer you up?” he said.

“Huh?”

“I don’t know if you have any plans but maybe you’d like to come for a walk with me along Cottesloe? I know it’s getting late but we should squeeze a couple of hours out of the sunset.”

Ruth had never been so delighted at a suggestion in her life.

“I’m in a bit of a mess!” she said, looking down at her shorts and T-shirt. “Let me put on something else – I’ll only be a minute.”

Brian sat waiting while she frantically tore through the heaps of unsuitable clothes that had gathered on her bedroom floor. She pulled out the drawer and chucked top after top on to the bed. Finally she settled on a black top with beads around the cleavage and a pair of white three-quarter-length pants – she was relieved that she had showered when she got in from work. She ran a brush through her hair and touched up her eyeliner and mascara. She looked at herself in the mirror – the sunkissed freckles were joining up around her nose and she looked healthier than she had in months. Something was going right then and although Brian had never said why he had called she was truly delighted that he had.

Brian stood up as she entered the kitchen.

“You look good,” he said with a wide grin.

“Thanks.” Ruth grabbed her phone and keys and slipped them into a tiny bag. “Okay – ready.

Brian parked up under some massive pine trees where hundreds of crows dived and soared from tree to tree. They stepped out of his jeep and walked in the direction of the seafront. The rooftop of the famous Indiana Tearooms peeped up behind a creeper-covered pergola – two beautifully carved baby elephants sat at the inviting entrance.

“Have you been to
Cott Beach before?” Brian asked.

Ruth laughed, amused by the Aussie’s imperative shortening of words. “I drove by but I haven’t actually had a chance to inspect the Tearooms – I’m really curious after reading about Heath Ledger’s memorial service. That was held there, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, that was tragic. It really put Cott on the map though. The beach is nice for a walk and the doctor is here tonight.”

Ruth stopped walking for an instant and turned her head inquisitively. “What doctor?”

Brian laughed. “The Freo Doctor – the Fremantle Doctor. That’s what we call the southerly wind that comes in on warm summer evenings. When I was a kid we didn’t have air-con and my mum would open all the windows and doors in the house and the Freo Doctor would work his magic and cool us down.”

“Oh, that’s so cute! Does everyone call the wind ‘The Doctor’?”

“Sure – there’s even a beer named after him – they serve it in the tearooms!”

He nodded over at the Edwardian-style building that was in their clear view now. It was quintessentially English in design and wouldn’t have looked out of place in
Brighton or Eastbourne. It was made of a warm ochre stone with long windows and tall arched walkways down at the beach level. Ruth wondered what wonderful tales the walls could tell of the millions of holidaymakers who had passed through it since the start of the twentieth century.

They walked in synch along the green promenade until they came to steps that brought them down on to the beach.

“Look out there – kite-surfers!” Brian pointed.

“They are making good use of the Freo Doctor. And there are so many ships on the horizon – what are they? Tankers?”

“Yeah, all going to Freo.”

“Actually, when Julia and Michael were here we bumped into a friend of hers from
Dublin that she hadn’t seen for twenty years and he has a shipping company. He lives here now in Peppermint Grove.”

“He has plenty of money then!”

“How expensive are the houses there?”

“They average out about three million dollars but can go up to anything – I saw one advertised for twenty-seven million a few days ago but that is mental money. I can’t complain because it’s all good for me and my business. You must have noticed all the rebuilds in Peppy Grove and in the nice parts of the city.”

“Yes, and it reminds of what Ireland was like in the boom – I hope that it doesn’t go the same way here.”

“Nah, we’ve got the mines – and
China and India will keep us busy supplying them for the next ten years at least.”

They were walking on the sand now and Ruth decided to take off her shoes and feel the sand between her toes. The waves were beating heavily against the shore and the swimmers were battling with the tide. There was so much activity with young families having picnics and after-work people taking exercise that Ruth appreciated the good healthy lifestyle that she had on offer in her new home.

“This beach is lovely,” she said..

“You should come here in March when they have the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition,” Brian said, pointing along the strand.

“What’s that?”

“It’s an exhibition of pieces of art and you can touch it and climb around it – it’s great.”

“You must like art, having studied architecture?”

“Sure – I wanted to go to art college but my mother wanted me to get a real job!” He laughed as he spoke. “I’m not really a hard-hat type of guy – I like to look at the stars and wonder what the hell it’s all about.”

Ruth was melting with each word he spoke. He really was the perfect guy. It was too good be to true that he was single too and obviously available or he wouldn’t be here with her. She felt thrilled inside.

“Yes, I wonder what life is all about,” she said. “Where do we go when we die? Is there a heaven? Is there a god?”

“I’m not sure if there is one but there is definitely some spiritual presence that lives on after we die. I’ve always been fascinated by ghosts.”

Ruth laughed. “Me too – I’m not really sure what it is but I do get strange feelings about places – like when we were in Rotto.”

Brian’s face lit up. “Rotto is crawling with ghosts and spirits. Did you know that the antipodal point to Rotto on the earth’s surface is the Bermuda Triangle? I’m sure there’s something to that. You can draw a triangle out into the Indian Ocean from Rotto and that whole area is full of shipwrecks, just like at Bermuda.”

Ruth wasn’t sure what antipodal meant but figured it was the completely opposite point on the other side of the earth.

“What other antipodal points are there that are interesting?”

“Well,
Easter Island is antipodal to the Indus valley and they both have a strange type of hieroglyphics that are only found in those two places. And wait for it, the writing is all related to the constellations of the night sky – isn’t that crazy?”

Ruth was seeing a different Brian to the one she had seen before. He was so animated when talking about the stars and how crazy coincidences around the world fascinated him.

“It’s all probably just a coincidence!” she said.

“But don’t you think it’s maybe more than a coincidence that you came to the exact house on Peppermint Grove where I was working and then you were on the same island as I was a couple of days later?”

Ruth could see where this was going and his passion and belief in what he was saying was striking a chord inside her. She’d had strange feelings of her own on Rotto and since arriving in Australia. She’d had thoughts that she would never have considered before. How closed her life had been while she was in Ireland hankering after a married man who had kept her in a state of stagnation! Watching Brian explain about stars and ancient writings gave her a fresh outlook. He was even more handsome as he smiled and the sun started to slowly turn an orangey red and slip further down the sky.

“I don’t suppose you’re hungry?” Brian said suddenly.

“Well, I am a bit actually.”

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m taking you for dinner.”

They ran up the steps beside the Indian Tearooms and through the welcoming pergola and porch.

Brian bounded up to the maitre d’ who was looking though her list.

“Hi there, I was wondering if you have a table for two?”

She smiled courteously. “I’m sorry, sir, we’re fully booked tonight.” Suddenly her phone rang. “Excuse me,” she said, lifting it up. “I see . . . well, thank you for letting us know.” She wrote something into her book and looked up at Brian. “Well, you came at the right time – I’ve just had a cancellation.”

Brian grinned at Ruth. “Coincidence?”

“Come this way, please,” The maitre d’ led them over to the best table in the restaurant. They had an uninterrupted view of the
Indian Ocean and the last of the beachgoers who were packing up for the night.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” Ruth sighed.

It was easily the most picturesque place she had been.  The interior décor tastefully echoed the nautical theme with whitewashed cladding around the walls and blue-glass tea-lights on the tables. The furniture was a rich mahogany and the floors a lovely stained jarrah wood. In the corner was a seating area with dark leather couches and a glass table resting on the trunk of a tree. Books lined the shelves behind this space and wonderful maritime nicknacks dotted the walls. But it was the long windows that looked out onto the Indian Ocean that captured Ruth’s gaze.

She felt giddy and excited as the maitre d’ handed her the menu.

“So what will you have?” Brian asked.

The menu was bistro style with a selection of pizzas and seafood thrown in for good measure.

“I don’t mind – what do you recommend?”

“Oysters?” he suggested with an eyebrow raised.

“Yum – yes, I would like that and maybe a pizza?”

“Don’t forget to try the ‘Doctor’! The beer I told you about!”

And Ruth smiled – he had already arrived. Brian was her doctor.

Ruth wiped her lips with her white linen napkin.

“That was delicious and I have to say that ‘The Doctor’ did the trick!” she said.

“Nice beer then?”

She nodded. “It’s been a lovely evening. You called at the perfect time – I was feeling very sorry for myself.”

Brian beamed. “I’m glad that I called around too.” He looked at his watch. “I guess we’d better go – we both have work early tomorrow.”

Ruth nodded. She didn’t want to go even though they had been among the first to arrive and they were definitely among the last to leave.

Brian paid the bill and they stepped out into the balmy night air. The sky was filled with millions of brightly shining stars.

“There are your stars now!” Ruth said.

“Yep, and I like Orion best!”

“Which one is that?”

Brian pointed up to a diagonal line of three stars and explained they were Orion’s belt – he then showed where his hands, feet and head were. They were in no hurry to get back into the car as neither wanted to ruin the mood but it was time to end the evening.

As he pulled up outside her house she longed for him to come in and even spend the night but it would be too soon and she remembered how badly she had behaved all the times that she had met him before.