Standing Strong (34 page)

Chapter Thirty-two

Jacqueline made her way swiftly up and down each aisle in the supermarket, perusing her list and looking for other items on the shelves she might need but hadn't realised. She quite enjoyed this sort of leisurely grocery shopping, not that she could dawdle – they closed at five-thirty, which was only twenty minutes away. She'd got used to doing her shopping Tuesdays and Thursdays to coincide with the two days fresh fruit and vegetables were delivered, but had missed yesterday and had spent way too long sorting through the limp lettuce. What she hadn't got used to was everything that was meant to be fresh looking like it had been sitting around for a week, and how much more expensive it all was so far from the Adelaide distribution centre.

She'd just thrown a pack of toilet paper into her trolley when she heard her name being called from behind her by a familiar voice.

‘Jacqueline Havelock, is that you I see?'

A smile was on her face when she turned to see Ethel striding towards her and a younger woman – around Jacqueline's age – pushing a trolley and clearly hurrying to catch up. Jacqueline hung onto Ethel tightly for a moment before they separated, shocked at just how pleased she was to see her friend and neighbour; she'd knocked on her door after work the day before to see if Ethel wanted to come across the road for a drink and she hadn't been in. Jacqueline had been far more disappointed than she should have been.

‘This is Lucy McAllister, Damien's sister,' Ethel said, stepping aside to introduce the younger woman.

‘Lovely to meet you,' they said simultaneously as they shook hands.

‘You're based in London, aren't you?' Jacqueline said.

‘Yes. I don't come back very often, but I decided I'd better see first-hand just what sort of a mess my mother has got herself into.' She looked around before carrying on in a lower voice, ‘I am so sorry to hear what's going on with you. I hope you don't mind, but Auntie Ethel's filled me in.'

‘Thanks. I'm sure it'll work itself out,' Jacqueline said quietly, smiling warmly at Lucy. She liked Damien's sister enormously already. Damien had never spoken of her much at all, so Jacqueline hadn't been sure what to expect and was a little ashamed to admit that she had thought Lucy might be stand-offish and a bit cold. This was partly based on the fact that Damien clearly didn't have a very close relationship with his sister – silence tended to speak volumes in Jacqueline's experience – and also on Tina being so cold and abrupt. Perhaps, like Damien, Lucy was more like her father. Jacqueline wished she'd had the chance to meet him, she had the feeling they'd have got along famously.

‘So you're staying in town with Ethel?'

‘Yes. Mum's not here, so I can get away with it,' Lucy said, linking an arm through Ethel's. ‘Mum would have a fit if I dared stay anywhere but with her. “Oh, what would people think?”' she mocked, rolling her eyes. ‘Small towns. I'm sure you're getting a feel. Lovely one minute, can be toxic the next. Sorry, listen to me going on. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this place, I'm afraid.'

‘Don't worry, we're all well aware of the wicked ways of Wattle Creek, aren't we, dear?' Ethel said. ‘But our new psychologist is far too polite to say what she really thinks – in public, that is.'

Jacqueline laughed, not quite sure how else to respond. She took her own covert look around. There was only one other shopper – out of hearing up the far end of the aisle by the clothes detergents. She coloured slightly and hoped their voices weren't carrying through or over the shelves into the other aisles.

‘We'd better get to the checkout before they lock us in,' Ethel said. ‘Pop over for a glass of wine and cheese and bikkies and then stay for dinner. I've got a roast in the slow cooker. It'll be good to catch up properly – it's been ages. Sorry I wasn't home last night when you called. Oh, Olive told me. Not much escapes her,' she added, noticing Jacqueline's bewildered expression.

‘Nosey old Mrs Caffey strikes again, eh?' Lucy said. ‘You can't sneeze without that woman telling the whole town you've got a cold.'

‘She's not that bad. And she has been known to be quite useful. Remember how she got to the bottom of that poison pen letter incident before Bill?'

‘Just saying,' Lucy said, a little sheepishly.

‘Right, so are we seeing you for dinner?'

‘Yes, thank you, it sounds lovely,' Jacqueline said, her mouth already watering. ‘But I'll bring the wine and nibbles.'

‘See you a bit later,' Lucy said, smiling warmly. ‘It really was lovely to meet you. I'm so looking forward to getting to know you better.'

‘Likewise,' Jacqueline said.

‘Cheerio,' Ethel called as she did an about-turn and headed to the front of the store.

*

‘How long are you staying for?' Jacqueline asked when they were settled in Ethel's lounge room with a glass of wine and a small cheese platter on the coffee table.

‘I haven't decided. A couple of weeks? I wanted to be here for Damien, with all that's going on and, well, Auntie Ethel thought there was something more practical I could help with.' She looked at Ethel, who gave a nod.

‘There isn't much Jacqueline doesn't know,' she said. ‘And anyway, she's practically family.'

Lucy looked down and fiddled with the stem of the champagne flute she held, as if arranging her thoughts before speaking.

Jacqueline sat, stunned and dismayed, as she listened to Lucy explain how her mother had dismissed her very real concerns over Geoff. God, what damage would that have done to Lucy, and her relationship with her mother? But at the same time, Jacqueline was wondering why it would bring Lucy back now. Before she could ask, Ethel took over, telling Jacqueline about Alice and how her mother had dumped Geoff as a result of her allegations; luckily the girl had a supportive mother who wasn't completely self-absorbed. While Lucy appeared reasonably lighthearted, Jacqueline just knew she was covering up a lot of pain. She felt guilty about being a little tense with her own parents at times over the years and being unappreciative, but deep down she knew – and had always known – that they loved her and would always support her, no matter what. Her heart ached for Damien's sister. And for Damien. Not only had these two lost their father at a young age, but it looked like their mother had all but cast them aside emotionally. While she knew people did strange things out of grief and insecurity and she was trained to keep an open mind and not judge, right now she wanted to slap Tina McAllister. The worse thing was it didn't seem that Tina had learnt anything nor had a clue she was letting her children down. No doubt she was blaming Lucy for their estrangement. She could almost hear Tina: ‘Oh, yes, that daughter of mine. So wrapped up in her own life I barely hear from her.'

Jacqueline had the startling thought that she wanted nothing to do with the woman, which was going to be very hard if Tina ended up being her mother-in-law. Not exactly something she needed to worry about happening in the near future, Jacqueline thought sardonically, taking a long sip of her sparkling wine in an effort to banish the negative thoughts threatening to swamp her.

‘Anyway, we managed to track down Alice and she's coming with us to the police station tomorrow. Thank goodness she and her mother hadn't left town yet.'

‘So are you having Geoff charged? And what with?'

‘No, unfortunately I don't think there's a law against being a creep.'

Jacqueline frowned.
So what am I missing?

‘We're hoping that Bill will go and speak to Geoff and he'll leave town and not make a fuss over the settlement rather than run the risk of the truth coming out,' Ethel explained.

‘We need Alice because otherwise it'll look like I'm making it up to help Mum or something,' Lucy added.

‘I know what you're thinking,' Ethel said.

Jacqueline raised her eyebrows.

‘You're thinking this sounds dodgy, that Bill will be doing something wrong. But Geoff's done the wrong thing and should pay for it.'

Jacqueline did think it all sounded a bit off, but conceded that perhaps this was another case of things being done differently out here. ‘It's not for me to say,' she offered. ‘I'm not involved. You have to do what you think is right.'

‘Right, enough of the serious talk,' Ethel said, ‘it's time we ate.'

Jacqueline enjoyed the evening and getting to know Lucy better. She seemed to have quite a dry sense of humour and was really fun to be with.

Later, as she crossed the road to go home, Jacqueline's thoughts returned to the conversation about Bill the policeman and Lucy, Alice, and Geoff. While it all still seemed a little off and she was concerned Ethel's meddling could well get her friend in trouble, Jacqueline couldn't help but marvel at Ethel's ingenuity. And her loyalty. There didn't seem to be any lengths she wouldn't go to to help her family or those she cared about. She really was a good one to have in your corner.
If only she could help me out of my situation,
she thought with a heavy sigh as she put her key in the door.

Chapter Thirty-three

Damien was pleased to see his aunt's car waiting beside the highway at the end of the dirt road with Ethel and Lucy standing beside it, clearly all ready to go. The cloud of pale limestone dust hanging behind his ute in the still morning was as good as a smoke signal – they'd have seen him coming from almost as far back as his boundary.

He looked along the seat, half expecting to see Squish, but he'd left the little dog at home, sulking in the run with Jemima. He couldn't risk leaving him roaming about and being run over by one of the building or fencing guys' utes. Squish had laid down on his belly with his chin on his paws and his nose pushed right up against the chicken wire with a pout so strong Damien nearly gave in and let him come along. But he'd stopped himself in time – he'd have to spend most of his time in the ute while they shopped, and all the extra traffic and people might terrify the little fellow. And the last thing they needed was Squish clambering all over them, making them hot and smelly and covering them in little white and brown hairs. As much as his sister had enjoyed meeting the little dog, she probably wouldn't welcome his slobber and hair all over her clothes.

He stopped and got out. ‘Morning,' he said.

‘Nice one, no wind for a change,' Ethel said, accepting the box of kittens and placing it carefully in her car. Damien realised he could have left Squish with Ethel too. He hadn't given it a thought.

‘Old blankets and towels, as requested,' Lucy said, and handed him her armful. It was amazing the things he kept realising he'd lost in the fire, things like padding for when he needed to carry something precious in the back of the ute. He had plenty of rope because that was kept in the toolbox on the ute's tray, along with a few other farm essentials, but there was a limit to what he could cart around.

‘Thanks for these,' he said, stuffing them into the toolbox so he could barely close the lid. ‘And for taking care of the kittens.'

‘No worries at all,' said Auntie Ethel.

‘Right, ready to go?'

‘Yep.'

They were silent as Damien turned onto the highway, both waving to Ethel, standing by her car. He went through the gears and got the vehicle quickly up to the one hundred kilometre per hour speed limit on the familiar bitumen road.

‘So, have we got a list or are we just aimlessly wandering around?' Lucy asked when they had settled into their journey.

Damien dragged the pad of paper from the dash in front of him and handed it to her without a word. He might not know the name of his sister's boyfriend or much about her life in London, but he knew she was organised. And he was becoming good at making lists, too, thanks to Jacqueline. Damn it, he wished she'd stay out of his thoughts.

‘Right. Okay. Um,' Lucy muttered, as she read down the page.

‘Okay?' What he really meant was,
Does it meet with your approval?
Not only was Lucy organised, but she was picky and had a tendency towards being bossy. Though, to be fair, he'd spent very little time with her in recent years. She could have changed. He had. Or she might not have changed, but how he saw her might have. Again, because of Jacqueline.
Damn it! Stop
.

‘Do you mind if I put it in order – like what to get in each shop?'

‘Go for it,' Damien said with a grin and plucked the pen from his top pocket. The old Lucy would have just done it, taken over without asking.

They'd barely got to the coast by the time she had finished reorganising his list, just fifteen minutes into the hour and twenty–minute journey, and she put the pad back on the dash and handed him the pen with barely a word. Damien was soon wishing he'd done this differently. If only Auntie Ethel was there, chattering away about random stuff. Anything to ease the awkwardness and lack of free-flowing conversation. It was going to be a long, slow day.

It wasn't like he hadn't tried, though: ‘So, have you heard from Mum again yet?'

‘Nope.'

Silence.

In the old days he'd had his endless to-do list to whinge about, and the sheep and the ancient gear he had to keep patching up to keep going. Now he didn't have a thing to complain about. He had a team doing his fencing, another building his house, and someone else to do his cropping when the time came. It felt pretty damned good to be able to live his dream. He felt really free. Sure, there were a few niggles with his new venture, but he didn't feel like he was drowning as he once had.

But he couldn't crow about how great his life was now to Lucy. He felt a little guilty that she'd been fending for herself all these years while he'd been given a job and a roof over his head.

‘Sing out if you need me to drive,' she said.