Mara's Choice Page 9

  Her companion ate at breakneck speed, finishing before she could join him. He put his crockery in the dishwasher and vanished, presumably going up to his bedroom again.

  By the time she’d buttered her toast, he’d come down again, in what she thought of as ‘full office uniform’: white shirt with subtly patterned tie and dark trousers. He was carrying a briefcase and the matching suit jacket.

  He peered into the kitchen and called, ‘Enjoy your day!’ but left the house without attempting to say goodbye to his sister. There was the sound of his car outside then silence fell again.

  Peggy was still gazing morosely at the water but after finishing her coffee, she came inside, dumped her empty mug on the surface and went upstairs without a word.

  Mara was enjoying her second piece of toast and a banana as Peggy came back into the kitchen, also dressed for work.

  She stared at the plate and shuddered. ‘I don’t know how you can eat that much so early in the morning. You’re as bad as Aaron.’

  ‘Is there something wrong about having a good breakfast?’

  ‘It’s how people, especially women, get fat.’ Her sneering look said that she considered Mara to be overweight already.

  ‘Well, I’ll worry about that if I put any weight on. Mine hasn’t changed for years and I’m comfy with this size.’

  A disdainful curl of the lips said Peggy didn’t approve. It was mutual. Mara considered the younger woman dangerously thin and she was very pale, didn’t look at all well.

  Peggy got out a tiny container of yoghurt and carefully cut a peach in half. She ate quickly, leaving half of the peach and the nearly empty yoghurt container on the plate and not attempting to clear them away.

  She left the room with a mutter Mara couldn’t decipher. It might have been a farewell, probably wasn’t, though.

  Mara followed Rufus’s example and put her crockery in the dishwasher, then went to sit outside again with her book. She didn’t pick up after Peggy. Why should she?

  No one disturbed her for over an hour except for a pelican which flew down onto the canal then bobbed along majestically, looking at her expectantly. If it was expecting food, it’d not get any from her. Wild creatures needed to feed themselves, in her opinion.

  Emma came down and called a greeting from the kitchen. ‘Oh good, you found something to eat. Have you had enough or would you like something else?’

  ‘I ate a quick snack a while ago and was going to see if I could find something else when you got up. I’m a hearty morning eater, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Unlike my daughter.’ She looked at the small plate with its half peach turning slowly brown and the empty yoghurt pot lying on its side next to it, and frowned. ‘I presume that’s the remains of her breakfast?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’ve told her before to pick up after herself. And it’s not much food for someone who used to eat a proper breakfast. I blame that man she was living with. That’s when she began avoiding food. He’s scrawny too. Please don’t put things away for her. I’m keeping track of the situation.’

  Aaron joined them shortly afterwards, smiling at Mara. ‘Did you sleep well?’

  ‘Like a log.’

  He too stared at the plate and mug that had been left on the table. ‘Peggy’s?’

  Mara nodded.

  Emma made two mugs of coffee and dumped one in front of him, then scowled at her daughter’s dirty dishes. ‘No, I can’t leave them here all day for her to pick up tonight.’ She stacked them in the dishwasher then got some eggs out of the fridge and a big frying pan out of a cupboard. ‘Spanish omelette?’

  ‘Yes, please. I’m ravenous.’ He picked up a peach and bit into it with a loud sucking sound. ‘Mmm. These are lovely and juicy now. Do you like Chinese food, Mara?’

  ‘Love it.’

  ‘Let’s go out for a Chinese meal tonight then, eh?’

  ‘Good idea. Would you like some omelette, Mara?’ Emma asked.

  ‘If you don’t mind.’

  ‘Why should I mind? I’m making one anyway and we’ve plenty of leftover veggies. It’s no trouble to cater for all three of us. I forgot to ask last night whether you have any food problems.’

  ‘None. I’m lucky that way. I like anything and everything.’

  Aaron strolled over to the windows and pulled the fly screen across the open doorway, smiling at Mara. ‘We prefer to keep the insects outside, so we keep the movable flyscreens closed. You’ll have noticed the ones on the windows aren’t made to be moved out easily.’

  ‘I’ll remember that.’ She didn’t say that it was Peggy who’d come in last.

  ‘You weren’t to know.’ He glanced towards the left. ‘The young guy next door looks like his mother, doesn’t he, Emma? Should I go out and speak to him, do you think?’

  ‘He waved at me this morning but turned away,’ Mara volunteered. ‘He didn’t seem to want to chat.’

  ‘Better leave him to himself, then. We’ll invite him round for a drink once he’s had time to settle in.’

  He came back into the kitchen area just as Emma finished cooking the omelette.

  She’d already put some plates and a crusty loaf on the table, then brought the omelette across, so he gestured towards the table. ‘Come on, Mara. Let’s dig in. I’m always ravenous in the mornings.’

  ‘You’re not bad at eating the rest of the time, either,’ Emma teased, then smiled at Mara. ‘Enjoy! That’s home-made strawberry jam, by the way. Or there’s Vegemite. Though Poms usually prefer Marmite.’

  ‘I haven’t tried Vegemite, but I’m not fussy about anything.’ Mara took a forkful of omelette and murmured in appreciation. After she’d cleared her main plate, she followed Aaron’s example and cut another slice of the crusty bread, slathering it with butter and jam and enjoying every bite.

  ‘It’s a pleasure to see you eat,’ he said.

  ‘We ought to discuss what you’d like to do today,’ Emma said as they lingered over a second mug of coffee.

  ‘Go for a walk, get some sun on my face.’

  When they both shook their heads at this, Mara looked at them in surprise.

  Aaron grinned. ‘You’re straight out from England. You’ll get sunburnt if you spend too much time in the open. You need to acclimatise gradually. We regularly see recently arrived Poms who look like boiled lobsters.’

  She grimaced at her arm, comparing it mentally to their golden tans. ‘Instead of looking like pale ghosts!’

  ‘Don’t worry. In a couple of weeks’ time you’ll have a golden suntan, and without the skin damage.’

  ‘We can go out in the car and drive you round the town, then up and down the coast, so that you can get a feel for the area,’ Emma suggested. ‘There are some lovely beaches round here. We may even let you out of the car for five minutes now and then if you put some block-out on your bare skin.’

  ‘I shall enjoy looking round but please don’t think you have to entertain me all the time. I have my laptop and I have a personal project I’m working on.’

  ‘If you need to make any hard copies,’ Aaron said at once, ‘I’ve got a couple of printers in my home office. I’ll show you them later. Feel free to use them.’ He took Emma’s hand and gave it an exaggeratedly sloppy kiss. ‘I shan’t be there a lot because I prefer to get under my wife’s feet. Got to confess, I’ve never been into bashing little white balls around as you said your father does.’

  ‘Mum wouldn’t like Dad to be around in the house all the time. She’s very pernickety, has to have everything just so.’

  ‘Is she still like that? It must be hard to live with.’ He clapped one hand to his mouth. ‘Sorry. Rude of me to say that.’

  Mara took a sudden decision to be open with them about the situation back home, in case she had to rush back for an emergency. ‘Mum’s always had a few problems but they’ve been getting worse. I don’t know how Dad has put up with it lately, to be frank. He’s a saint. Unfortunately she’s refusing to seek help this time. I’m a b
it worried about how he’ll cope if she continues to get worse but he insisted it was more important that I come to meet you.’

  ‘It’s nice to hear you speak of him with such affection,’ Aaron said suddenly. ‘I only wish I’d been around for you some of the time, at least.’ He broke off and gave a slight shrug of the shoulders.

  Later they then took her out for a drive along the coast and allowed her one small paddle in the sea, stopping at a café with ocean views for lunch.

  They were so easy to be with, she thought when they got back. She had no hesitation in confessing that she was finding it hard to stay awake, sure now that they wouldn’t take offence.

  ‘Jet lag. Why don’t you take a nap?’ Emma suggested.

  ‘If you don’t mind, I will. I could fall asleep standing upright at the moment.’

  ‘Why should we mind? You’re doing brilliantly for your first day here.’

  ‘It’s been interesting seeing what the town is like. I’ll set my alarm for an hour, so that I stay close to local time.’

  She lay on the bed, thinking about Peggy, for some reason. Could she have anorexia? That would be so sad.

  There were few people who didn’t have some problem or other to cope with, Mara had found. She hadn’t realised how watchful she’d always been about her mother till she moved away from home. Phil had encouraged her to leave; her mother had sulked and been sharp with her for months.

  Any other man would have left Kath years ago. She suspected he’d stayed partly because of her. He couldn’t have been more her father in all the ways that mattered if he’d created her.

  That wouldn’t stop her getting to know Aaron, but if Phil ever needed her, she’d be there for him like a shot.

  Mara woke just before her alarm went off, went downstairs again and sat chatting to Aaron out by the canal. He asked her about all sorts of things: school, boyfriends, sport, university, the job. When he asked why she hadn’t travelled more, she explained that Kath didn’t like going away on holiday.

  Later, she thoroughly enjoyed the Chinese meal, which they’d decided to do as a takeaway, and chatting to Emma.

  Once the sun had gone down, they took her for a walk along to the foreshore, which wasn’t far away. There were lights, busy cafés and happy groups of people. And the calm water of the inlet to one side formed a lovely backdrop with the reflections of the town’s lights seeming to bob gently about in it.

  Back home she found that she and Emma shared a liking for the same TV series, so they watched it together. Mara had seen that episode before but enjoyed the older woman’s comments on it. Sometimes the differences between Australia and England seemed more marked.

  After it ended they said they’d watch the next programme, if she didn’t mind. She went to sit out by the water, couldn’t seem to get enough of the peaceful atmosphere there.

  A boat went past, carrying a group of noisy revellers, and she was glad it didn’t linger. The canal water settled down again, with gentle fractured reflection of lights from some of the houses and gardens along its sides. There were faint voices but no one was playing loud music or making a lot of noise.

  When she started to feel sleepy again, she went inside the kitchen and found her father there, getting a pan out. ‘Cocoa? Health warning: it’s the old-fashioned sort, made with full fat milk.’

  ‘I’d love some.’

  ‘I wanted to say how sorry I am that you’ve walked into the troubles with Peggy. It’s a recent thing and if she gets any thinner, we may have to deal with it and that will cause a few rows, I’m afraid.’

  ‘If things get bad and you want me to go into a hotel for a few days …’

  ‘No, of course I won’t want you to do that. Definitely not. I really do want to get to know you, Mara. I’m not trying to take your stepfather’s place or come between you and him. I just – you know, would like to make my own place in your life.’

  He was so obviously sincere, it made her feel good. ‘Phil says there’s no law against a person having two fathers.’

  ‘That was kind of him.’

  ‘He’s a very kind man. Did it upset you when Mum wouldn’t come to Australia with you?’

  ‘No. I knew she probably wouldn’t. But the more I found out about this country the more I wanted to come here. I had no idea she was expecting, though. I don’t know how that happened. She’d been on the pill. I suppose she missed taking one and didn’t realise it put her at risk.’

  Mara didn’t say it but it occurred to her that her mother might have thought a pregnancy would be the way to stop him going to Australia. If so, why hadn’t she told him she was expecting?

  ‘After a few years here I met Emma and that was it. I fell in love with both the country and the woman.’

  ‘I can see how together you are.’

  He poured the hot milk into two mugs and stirred the cocoa. ‘Let’s go mad and have marshmallows in them.’

  ‘I’ve read about that but never tried it.’

  ‘You’ll like it.’

  They didn’t say anything of great importance as they sipped the cocoa but it was the most comfortable she’d felt with him. And anyway, family life was made up of small moments and interactions, wasn’t it?

  When he’d finished, he yawned, stretched and stood up. ‘If you’d like to sit out a bit longer, would you please be careful to lock the sliding door when you come in? People can get burgled by boat here.’

  ‘You don’t mind if I stay out a little longer? It’s not bedtime yet in my head. I don’t need a lot of sleep. My mother needs ten hours a night, always has done.’

  ‘Stay out as long as you like.’ He chuckled. ‘This isn’t a boarding school with regimented hours, you know.’

  ‘I’m just trying to be a polite guest.’

  ‘You’re succeeding too.’

  ‘Good. I love sitting out by the water. I haven’t relaxed this much in weeks.’

  ‘Good.’ He hesitated then said simply, ‘I’m glad you came, Mara.’

  ‘Me, too.’

  She was still smiling after he’d gone up to bed. It’d be hard to go back to grey streets and houses sitting cheek by jowl with one another after this.

  Chapter Ten

  The following morning Mara was again the first to get up. She didn’t see any sign of Peggy but Rufus rushed down soon afterwards to grab a quick breakfast, looking tired but happy.

  ‘Peggy not around?’ he asked between mouthfuls.

  ‘No.’

  ‘What time did she get home last night?’

  ‘She wasn’t home by the time I went to bed and your parents had already gone up by then.’

  ‘Oh.’ His voice was flat.

  ‘Is that a problem?’

  ‘Could be. I saw her having a drink with her ex. If she didn’t come home, it’s my bet she slept with Mike.’

  ‘Getting back together, do you think?’

  ‘Hell, no. I told her what he’d done before but she wouldn’t listen. Someone had warned me, you see. They said he’d used other women he’d broken up with occasionally afterwards until he found another steady girlfriend. He must be brilliant in bed, that’s all I can say, or else the best actor on the planet.’

  He waited a minute and when she didn’t comment, he asked, ‘Would you go to bed again with someone who’d broken up with you for no real reason, except that things had “grown rather stale”?’

  ‘No way. But I did live with a cheat for a while without realising what he was like, so I can’t pretend to be particularly good at judging relationships, my own or other people’s.’

  ‘Who is a perfect judge? Dad’s been telling me for years that I’ll know for sure when I find the one I want to spend my life with. I haven’t gone for the live-in partners stuff before because my job had me moving around a lot as part of the management training process, to other countries as well as round Australia, and it didn’t seem fair. Plus I hadn’t met anyone that special. I’ve never cheated on anyone I was seeing regularly, t
hough, and never would.’

  He hesitated and added in a softer voice, ‘This time it is different, though, I will admit. I’m wondering whether I might try moving in with Jenn.’

  ‘You like her that much?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Very much indeed. I’ve never met a woman who’s so easy to be with.’ He coloured slightly. ‘And one who can put up with me. I’m nowhere near Mr Perfect but she just tells me if she doesn’t like something I do and then lets it drop. Says I have to tell her if she upsets me. Only she doesn’t.’

  ‘Then good luck to you.’

  ‘Thanks. I may—’

  A phone rang loudly and harshly somewhere in the house and he stopped abruptly. ‘That’s Dad’s business phone. It sure catches your attention, doesn’t it? Be warned. Sometimes he has to drop everything and fly off to sort out a problem. He may have semi-retired but he hasn’t yet managed to sell the business so he can’t afford to ignore trouble. Oh hell! Look at the time. I have an important meeting at 8.15 today.’

  He crammed the last of the toast into his mouth, shoved his crockery in the dishwasher and rushed out.

  Mara made herself another cup of tea, worrying that there was still no sign of Peggy. And what if Aaron was called away? Would she be able to stay here or what?

  Emma came down for breakfast shortly afterwards and looked round the surfaces. ‘Did a miracle happen and Peggy put her dishes away today, or didn’t she eat anything?’

  ‘I haven’t seen her this morning.’

  Aaron had finished his phone call and come into the kitchen in time to hear this. He and Emma exchanged glances, then she said, ‘I’d better nip up and check that she’s all right.’

  She came down the stairs a lot more slowly than she’d gone up, looking upset. ‘Peggy isn’t there and her bed hasn’t been slept in.’

  ‘Ah. Right. Well, she’s twenty-five, love. We can’t stop her doing what she wants, even if that includes sleeping around.’

  Mara hesitated then told them what Rufus had said about his sister’s ex.

  ‘Damnation! That’s all we need,’ Aaron muttered.

  Emma took Mara for a drive and a short walk on a sunny beach, complete with block-out and broad-brimmed sun hat, then they did some shopping. But she kept frowning and falling silent.