Standing Strong (41 page)

‘So, I can … Damien and I can …?' she asked.

‘Yes, my dear, you are completely off the hook – your career and relationship are both safe.'

‘Oh, thank you, thank you so much.' Jacqueline wasn't sure how she'd got there so quickly, but suddenly she was embracing a startled Doctor Squire. He was momentarily stunned, but then held her firmly as she dissolved into tears. God, how embarrassing! But she couldn't help it.

Finally she pulled herself together. ‘Sorry about that,' she said meekly.

‘It's quite okay. It's been a very difficult time. But it's over now. And the result is better than we could have hoped for.'

‘Thank you so much for going in to bat for me and Damien. I didn't expect …'

‘Well, someone had to, dear. Blind Freddy can see you and Damien are good for each other. And I couldn't have you leaving and him following – the CFS, and the whole community for that matter, would have had my guts for garters.'

‘Well, again, thank you. It means so much to me,' she croaked.

‘I know we had a bit of a rocky start, you and me, but I hope we've put that behind us. I hope you'll stay on and learn to love the place and all of us, with our little quirks and quaint country ways.'

‘Oh, I already do.'

‘Okay, well, no rest for the wicked, as they say. I'd better get back to the grind. I'd like to celebrate properly. I'll speak to Nancy about what evening would suit for dinner and see what we can arrange.'

‘That would be lovely. I really can't thank you enough, for everything.'

‘It's my pleasure. And my motivations were not entirely selfless.'

He left the room with a wave of his hand.

Jacqueline collapsed back into her chair. Her heart pounded heavily but slowly. It was hard to believe it was over after all the weeks of angst. Just like that. Things were very different now. While she couldn't have hoped for a better outcome, it was a bit of an anticlimax, really. Though what else could she expect? It might have been nice to take the day off to celebrate, to draw an immediate, definite line in the sand. But Doctor Squire couldn't have dropped everything and taken her to the pub to celebrate – they both had patients to see to. Life went on. She itched to tell Ethel, but held back. Her friend was busy with whatever was going on – she had Damien's sister, Lucy, there, as well as whoever owned the Mercedes. And she had something going on involving Bill the policeman; Jacqueline had seen his divvy van outside her house, too.

Jacqueline also itched to phone Damien with the news. But he'd dumped her – yes, because of this, but still. Perhaps he'd moved on, wasn't interested in picking up where they'd left off. No, Damien had to be handled more delicately than picking up the phone. She'd loved to have driven out there right now, but she had a client arriving in around half an hour. And, anyway, it would be selfish of her to disturb his work without warning. She was fully aware that his world did not revolve around her and he certainly hadn't stopped his life to sit waiting to hear the outcome. Jacqueline thought about phoning Paul, but that didn't feel quite right either. She finally picked up the phone and dialled her parents' number.

‘Mum, Dad, it's me. Just calling to say hi,' she said, once the message had ended. She was surprised at how calm she sounded, but the click of the answering machine activating had taken the wind out of her sails. She almost didn't bother phoning her dad's mobile and was a little relieved when that too went to voicemail. She'd just hung up when there was a loud three-beat rap on the door.
Oh, well, back to work.

‘Come in.'

She was shocked to see Ethel enter.

‘I've heard the news. Well done. Just brilliant,' Ethel cried, bustling in with her arms open wide to accept Jacqueline, who leapt up and rushed into her friend's embrace.

‘Oh, Ethel, I'm so glad to see you. God, I've missed you,' she said, breathing in her dear friend's comforting scent of Lux soap and a faint hint of lavender.

‘News certainly travels fast around here,' Jacqueline said as they broke away.

‘You don't know the half of it,' Ethel said.

Jacqueline was surprised when Ethel made no move to sit. She clearly had somewhere else to get to.

‘Come on, grab your handbag, I'm kidnapping you. We need to celebrate.'

‘I'd love to, but I can't. I've got three clients still to see this afternoon.'

‘No, you don't. Doctor Squire's had one of the girls phone them to postpone. He called me.'

‘Oh,' was all Jacqueline could say, her head starting to spin again. She didn't like letting people down, but if this was Doctor Squire's doing, well, who was she to argue?

‘So, are you coming?'

‘Where are we going?' she asked, dragging her handbag out from under her desk and getting up.

‘You'll see.' Ethel hurried her out of the door and across the car park to her car. ‘Damien has decided to move Esperance over to his block – cut ties with his mother. It's a bit of a long story,' she said as they drove. ‘Anyway, there's an impromptu working bee. It's all happened very quickly, and not quite on the same scale as last time, but we need to get some food down to them. I need you to get changed and come over and help me put together a stack of sandwiches. They'll be starving, so we'll have to hurry. Okay?'

‘Okay.' Jacqueline's head swam. She hoped Damien was all right. Something pretty big must have happened for him to make such a decision.

‘You skedaddle,' Ethel urged when they pulled up in her driveway. Jacqueline leapt out of the vehicle while resisting the urge to put her hand to her head in a salute.

In less than five minutes, she had changed into jeans and a T-shirt and was entering Ethel's open door to make her way down the hall to the kitchen, calling, ‘Ethel, it's just me.'

And an hour after that she was feeling a little nervous, setting off to Damien's block with the boot of Ethel's car laden with food and beverages. She was quiet, the whirlwind that her day had turned into silencing her. She hoped Damien would be pleased to see her, but was wary of making assumptions. To do so was to set oneself up for disappointment.

Chapter Thirty-eight

Damien watched as a collection of fully laden utes, including some with trailers piled high, arrived. He could hardly believe what he was seeing and was still a little dazed and vague when he showed everyone his hand-drawn plan and what he needed to achieve that day in order to completely move himself and the animals down here. With so much help, it might just be possible.

‘Ah, we can do better than the mere basics, can't we fellas?' Keith Stevens said. Damien was pleased to have Keith involved; being CFS brigade captain meant he was a wiz with mobilising people and getting stuff organised. Keith was in his element, and was taking over.

‘Right, Stan, you and Bob finish the enclosures – all of them as shown here. Dave, how about you and your team do what you do best, and fence off the couple of small paddocks?'

Everyone scattered to get to work and Damien and James found themselves standing alone and with nothing to do.

‘Right, well, I don't ever want to hear anyone say country folk are slow,' James said, clearly both amused and impressed.

‘God, my head is spinning,' Damien replied. ‘I don't believe it. The community already built the enclosures back home and tidied everything up after the fire.'

‘Well, I'd say you deserve it. They obviously want to help you, so accept that it's karma.'

‘But twice?'

‘Why not? They believe in you and your venture. And never underestimate the buzz they'll be getting from being a part of it.'

Lucy appeared beside them. ‘God, can you believe this?' she cried.

‘Amazing isn't it, though nothing on the scale of last time. Thankfully we don't need all the heavy machinery cleaning up the mess,' Damien said. ‘Makes life a lot easier.'

‘It must be a bit weird for you – kind of like déjà vu; unsettling.'

‘A bit, yeah.' While she was right, there was one major ingredient missing: Jacqueline. He thought he'd give his right arm to have her standing beside him. And her parents, they'd been there last time. And Ethel, she'd been a huge part of it. Whenever something was going on, she was usually in the thick of things.

‘So, is there anything I can do?' Lucy asked.

‘I don't think so. There's not even anything left for
me
to do, by the looks of it,' he said with a laugh. They turned and cast their eyes around at the various groups of workers.

‘Maybe it's time you moved yourself, brought the van down,' James suggested.

‘And how about I borrow a ute and move the horses?' Lucy said. ‘They'll happily stand tied up at the float for a bit. And of course there's Sam. I'm sure he's smart enough to hang around them and stay out of the way. Best to get them down here and settled before dark. What do you think?'

‘Good idea. I'll bring Jemima too. By the time I make sure everything is safe in the van and get it here those enclosures will be finished and all the noise will have stopped.'

‘Right, sounds like a plan. Come on then,' Lucy said.

‘I'll just let Keith know,' Damien said. ‘He seems to have appointed himself foreman.'

*

Damien hooked the float to Keith's ute and then waited to help load the horses. Not that any was needed; they were perfectly behaved and seemed to have the routine down pat. They stood back as Sam strode up the tailgate first and settled himself on the floor in the front, out of the way.

‘Who would have thought?' Lucy said, chuckling as she sent Ben and then Toby up the ramp.

‘Are you sure you're right to drive? It's been years since you towed a float.'

‘No worries, I'll just take it very slowly.'

‘Righto then, see you soon,' Damien said with a wave before joining James, who was readying the caravan for transportation. Apparently his parents had had a van and he knew all about what to secure and how. Damien was grateful for his expertise, as he didn't have a clue and, if left to his own devices, might have ended up with a pile of smashed plates and glasses. And he certainly wouldn't have known to take the TV off the bracket and lay it face down on the bed.

In less than half an hour, James, Damien, Squish, Jemima and the box of kittens were ready to go. Damien had wanted to linger to silently say goodbye to his father's legacy and apologise for leaving. Thankfully, it wasn't as hard as it would have been if all was as it had been before the fire. As it was, it was barely recognisable. But Damien could picture all his dad's hard work, cobbling everything together out of scraps and what most people discarded as rubbish. Damien was grateful for having grown up with knowing how precious things were and having to save and strive for what you wanted. And yet for most of his life, he'd resented it. It was only recently he'd seen what a great lesson he'd been given, and just how clever and resourceful his father had been. At least he could take his memories and his father's teachings and wisdom wherever he went.

They drove part of the way in silence. It was as if James was giving Damien the peace to be with his memories and say goodbye. But coming over the rise and seeing the vehicles and activity spread out below them was too breathtaking not to comment on.

‘It's an amazing sight,' James said. ‘We need a photo of that for your Facebook page.'

‘Oh. I haven't even thought about photos,' Damien said, becoming disappointed with himself as he slowed the vehicle. ‘Bugger.'

‘Don't worry, I've taken heaps. I'll send them through to you.'

‘Thanks, that'd be great.' Damien halted the vehicle and waited while James took some shots.

‘Got a couple of good ones,' James said, leaping back in and shutting the door.

‘Thank you,' Damien said, as he put the vehicle back in gear and carried on.

He was glad everyone had parked close to the road as it left the space where he wanted to put the van clear. It didn't really matter where he parked it, but he wanted it where he thought his house should go. That way he could get a feel for the spot and know for sure.

As they arrived, they noticed the workers were wandering towards the parked vehicles. There in the centre of things was his Auntie Ethel – handing out sandwiches and drinks.

‘God, I'm starving now I've seen there's food on offer,' James said.

‘Well, you've certainly earnt it.'

‘What do you reckon about waiting until we've eaten to unhook this and set it up? We need to make sure it's fully level, which might take a bit of patience,' James said.

‘Good idea.' Damien pulled up where he thought he wanted the van and got out with the box of kittens. It was too warm to leave them in the vehicle, so he'd put them in a shady spot where he could keep an eye on them. He looked up from telling them where they were going and what he was doing, and froze. Standing beside Ethel was Jacqueline, head bent, pouring liquid from a water bottle into a cup. God, she was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen. Pity she couldn't be his. He'd love nothing more than to throw himself at her feet and beg for her forgiveness. It didn't really matter, he thought with a depressed sigh. Nothing had changed, they were still a no-go zone.

Just as he was about to look away, she looked up. They locked eyes. Her face lit up as a beaming smile overtook it. Damien smiled weakly in return. Luckily he had his hands full, or else he might have thrown his arms around her and totally embarrassed both of them, not to mention getting her into more trouble. What a fucking mess.

‘I'll just find somewhere to put this – it's the kittens. It's too hot in the ute and …'

‘Can I have a look?'

‘Sure. Just let me put them down – they're starting to get a bit heavy.'