The Model Wife

by Tricia Stringer

  “It’s a nine-hour drive.”

  “You’ve checked?”

  “Of course. Mick owes the guy at the servo a favour. His mechanic wants to take some extended leave and he needs a replacement. Mick had promised to help him out but he’s not up to it any more. His shoulder has had it. He said if I went he’d make the deal sweeter for me to take over his business.”

  “How long will you be there?” Bree was practical. He’d be gone a while but he’d be coming back.

  “Six months.”

  “Six months!”

  “The offer Mick’s making me is a valuable one. I wouldn’t be in a position to take over his business for years otherwise but—”

  “I guess it’s not that long.” Bree tried to hide her disappointment in the face of his enthusiasm.

  “Here’s the thing.” He took her other hand in his and for a brief moment she thought he was going to get down on one knee. She was never one for the mushy love stories both her sisters wept over so she was surprised to feel her heart skip.

  “I wondered if…I hope you might come with me.”

  “To Marla?” She let out a sigh, not sure if she was relieved or sorry he hadn’t said something else. “What about the farm?”

  “You were only saying the other day how you think your dad would be better off with someone who wasn’t his daughter working for him.”

  “What would I do in Marla?”

  “There’s waitressing work at the servo.”

  She opened her mouth but he pressed his fingers to her lips. “It’s only short term and you said you waitressed when you were at uni.”

  Bree had worked in a cafe for two years part-time while she’d been a student. “It’s not the waitressing. I can’t just up and leave the property. We’ve got tailing coming up and—”

  “The farm will be here when you get back. This is a chance for us. We can live together. See how compatible we really are.”

  “In Marla?”

  “Won’t be anywhere else to go.” His eyes crinkled and he gave her that look, the one that made her toes curl inside her boots. “We’d have to make our own fun.”

  “I don’t know, Owen. I’ll have to think about it.”

  He picked up the glasses, handed one to her again and tapped his against hers. “Here’s to a new venture for the two of us.”

  “I said I had to think about it.”

  They both sipped. The slightly bitter taste reached her tongue first and then the bubbles of the sparkling ale slid a refreshing trail down her throat.

  “You haven’t got long. I’m leaving next week.”

  Bree took another sip and this time the fizz was from the excitement building in her stomach. Could she do this? She wouldn’t be able to go when Owen did but maybe after tailing. Her dad could employ someone and she could take a break, try life with Owen, test their relationship in a different space.

  “It’d only be for six months, Bree, nine at the most.”

  “Nine!” She almost choked on the beer.

  A few hundred kilometres away in Adelaide, Laura King sat in the middle of the little flat she shared with her friend Spritzi and looked at all her worldly goods stacked up around her in boxes and bags. Not a lot to show for six years of flatting but enough to cause some concern. Her car was a Hyundai hatch and while the boot was spacious for a small car, she wasn’t sure it would be spacious enough for the piles she was planning to pack into it.

  “Here you are, girlfriend.” Spritzi came out of the shoebox they called a kitchen and handed Laura a coffee. “Are you sure you don’t want to take the coffee machine with you?”

  “Mum and Dad have one.”

  “What about your bed?”

  “Mum and Dad have them too.”

  Spritzi gave an eye roll. “It’s your bed.”

  “It won’t fit in the car. With any luck your new flatmate will need it.”

  Spritzi shifted Laura’s stack of pillows and quilt along the battered couch they’d picked up from kerbside rubbish when they’d first got the flat and plonked herself down.

  “I’m sorry I can’t hold the space for you but you know I can’t afford the rent on my own. Bella’s coming Thursday to check the place out and with any luck she’ll move straight in.”

  “Of course. And I’m not sure when or if I’ll be back so you have to get someone else.”

  Laura wasn’t sad to be leaving the hairdressing job she’d grown to hate, nor did it bother her to leave Adelaide but she’d miss Spritzi. It wasn’t her real name. Laura had met Sally Pritzker when they’d both been taken on as new apprentices with a large hairdressing business in the city and they’d become instant friends. Gareth the salon owner liked his staff to have quirky names. He’d insisted on calling her Laurita, much to her irritation. But Sally had embraced the idea and made up the name Spritzi, instantly winning Gareth’s adoration. The name had stuck, even in her personal life.

  Spritzi frowned at her now. “But it’s only temporary, staying with them, isn’t it? Till you find something else? Please tell me you’re not going home to bury yourself in the country never to be seen again.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. You love coming with me to the farm.”

  “For weekend visits, yes, but I don’t want to live there.”

  “I can’t wait,” Laura said, a tad forcefully. She wasn’t sure how she was going to adapt to life at home again either but it was her only option at the moment.

  “And you’re not running because of that dickhead Kyle?”

  Laura’s stomach did a lurch at the mention of her old boyfriend’s name. “I’m not running from anyone, least of all Kyle.”

  “Good. ’Cause you know he’s not worth a second thought right?”

  “Yes.”

  Spritzi eyed her closely. “He hasn’t been back here again, has he?”

  “No.” Laura gave an emphatic shake of her head. Kyle had swept her off her feet six months ago on a night out at one of their favourite bars in the city. He was like no other guy she’d ever dated. He was a man. Seven years older than her, he’d made her feel like a princess. She’d been in love with Kyle, thought he’d loved her, until she’d caught him out with another girl in a little bar off Hindley Street a few weeks ago. She’d already had a few drinks under her belt, told him what she thought of him and gone on with her friends to another couple of bars. The next day had been the worst of her life, with both a hangover and a broken heart, and Kyle had come to the flat, saying it was all a big mistake. Thankfully Spritzi had been well enough to send him packing, threatening to call the police if he showed his face there again.

  Laura had blocked his number and unfriended him from her social media but he’d kept trying to contact her. He hadn’t come back to the flat but the next day he’d appeared outside her work. By then Laura had had the strength to send him on his way but yesterday he’d been waiting for her when she came out of the gym. He’d been angry, a side of him she’d never seen before, and it had frightened her. She’d firmly told him to stop harassing her, made it to her car, locked the doors and driven away. She hadn’t seen him since but it had shaken her up. Spritzi hadn’t been home when Laura had arrived so she’d rung her mum. She hadn’t mentioned Kyle of course. It had been enough to hear her mother’s reassuring voice and tell her she was coming home; she just hadn’t let on for how long.

  “What on earth will you do with yourself?” Spritzi’s question startled her back to the present. Since she’d quit at the salon almost a week ago, Laura had asked herself that same question several times.

  If working in the city for the last six years had taught her anything it was that she didn’t want to live there permanently. Trouble was, she wasn’t sure where she did want to live, or how she was going to earn an income for that matter.

  She stretched her arms above her head, drawing in a deep breath. “Sleep in, for starters. Let Mum spoil me. When I get sick of that I’ll think about the future.”

  Spritizi’s phone
let out its crazy ringtone. She picked it up. “That’s Jazz wondering where I am.” She unfurled herself from the couch and gently hooked her fingers around one of Laura’s rainbow locks. “Are you sure you won’t come out with us? You know Jazz was only trying to help when she coloured your hair.”

  Laura shook her head. “I don’t care about the hair. And we were out together on the weekend. I’ve got a bit more sorting to do before I head off on Thursday.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning?”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “Good. We’ll have breakfast together.” Spritzi bent down and air kissed Laura’s cheeks, stepped around the boxes and let herself out.

  Laura sat perfectly still and let the whirlwind her friend’s presence always created settle. Spritzi’s suggestion of breakfast together wouldn’t happen, of course. She’d sleep through her alarm as she always did after a night out. And when she eventually did get up she’d fly around the flat like a maniac getting ready and dash out the door with a piece of toast in one hand and a coffee in the other, as she always did. They often ran out of mugs because they would all end up rolling around in Spritzi’s car until she’d clean them out and the whole cycle started all over again. Laura was going to miss her.

  Outside, the car revved to life and burbled away, blending with the sounds of nearby traffic. That was something Laura was looking forward to, the absence of traffic noise and the blare of sirens and horns that were a regular occurrence outside their busy main road flat. There’d be nothing more than the odd roar of a motorbike, the caw of a crow or bleat of a sheep at home.

  She chewed her lip at the thought of home. Spritzi made her feel much braver than she was. After years of hairdressing Laura had settled on a style that tamed her blonde curls to straight. It had meant constant work with straighteners but she liked it and she’d add deeper honey or bronze highlights depending on her mood. Gareth had been on at her to update her look. He liked his staff to reflect current styles and the more out there the better. It had been Jazz who’d suggested something more vibrant for her hair. Trust me, she’d said, and after a few drinks and with Spritzi’s encouragement Laura had let Jazz loose.

  Now, she dragged herself to the tiny bathroom, took a breath and looked in the mirror. There was no avoiding the vibrant stripes of colour. Jazz and Gareth had loved it, even Spritzi had expressed enthusiasm, but Laura hated it and it had been the last straw. Gareth had gone on about her not embracing the ethos of his salon. The day after Jazz’s hair dying experiment a week ago, he’d raved on longer than usual, told her she needed to get with it or get out. Normally she’d remain silent in the face of his demands, swallow her annoyance and get on with her work, but not that time. Emboldened by anger, she’d given Gareth her notice and he hadn’t fought her on it. In fact, he’d said she could leave at the end of the week and she had. Spritzi had begged her not to and had offered to cut her hair short or dye it black, but it wouldn’t hide all the colour. It would wash out over the next few weeks but until then…

  Laura’s parents had been shocked when she’d gone gothic a few years ago. It had been another of Gareth’s ideas to have his staff dye their hair black, each with a splash of single colour. Hers had been purple and Spritzi’s green. They’d worn heavy make-up and black shirts and skirts to work, and she was sure they’d lost customers over it. Not that her mum had said much about her hair at the time but her dad had kept going on about how poorly it made her look. Deep down she’d agreed with him but she hadn’t let on.

  She sucked in a breath and turned away from the mirror. By this hour in two nights’ time they would have seen the rainbow look. That would be one hurdle down but it was far more than the colour of her hair that troubled her. For the last year she’d been dragging herself to work. She’d lost her passion for it. Gareth was always coming up with the latest, often outrageous styles and colours. She detested them but was expected to sell them to clients. She was fed-up with his over-the-top expectations, which were more about her appearance or upselling rather than the quality of her cutting and styling. She’d done a lot of extra courses in her own time and at her own expense and received excellent feedback from her tutors, but somehow her heart wasn’t in it any more and the ending of her relationship with Kyle had sealed it. She needed to make changes to her life.

  She just wasn’t sure how to tell her parents she’d quit her job. They’d probably be glad. She knew they’d wanted her to do something different to hairdressing after she left school. Her mum had been hoping the last of her daughters might be a teacher but her parents had supported her choice. Now they’d want to know what she was going to do next, which was something Laura herself didn’t know.

  She slumped into the space on the couch Spritzi had vacated. She was in need of some sisterly advice. Not Bree. Her older sister would say Laura was making a mountain out of a molehill and just to get on with it. Kate was the oldest of the three and the one who’d be a reliable listening ear, take her side. Laura took up her mobile and selected the number.

  The phone was about to go to voicemail when Kate answered.

  “Hi, baby sis.”

  “Hi. How’s your day been?”

  “Busy.” Kate sighed. “I’ve been at the office since six this morning and every morning for the last week. Sean has been on the road.”

  Laura had always envied her sister, marrying the gorgeous, rock-solid Sean Brock and moving to country Eyre Peninsula with him, but right now Kate sounded as jaded as Laura felt.

  “What have you been up to?” Kate’s question was the perfect opening for Laura to pour her heart out but she held back.

  “I’m heading home for the weekend.”

  “Mum and Dad will be glad to see you.”

  “Maybe not at first.”

  “What have you done now?”

  Laura had always tested anything she wanted to run by her parents on her oldest sister first but Kate’s tone had been sharp. Perhaps she’d start with the easiest thing first.

  “I let one of the girls at work have free rein on my hair.”

  “Oh no, Laura, what have you done? Please don’t tell me you’ve chopped off your beautiful hair again.”

  “No, it’s still way past my shoulders.”

  “That’s good. A bit of colour’s okay.”

  “It’s more than a bit.” Laura winced. “Think My Little Pony.”

  “Cack. Dad will have a pink fit.”

  “More like a rainbow-coloured one.”

  “Really?” Kate started to laugh. “I wish I could be there to see his reaction.”

  Normally Laura bristled when her sisters laughed at her expense but this time she was pleased to hear the sparkle in Kate’s voice.

  “I wish you were going to be there too,” she said. “Dad won’t see the funny side.”

  “Maybe not at first but it’s only colour. It’ll wash out eventually.”

  “Mmm.”

  “Perhaps you could put it up and wear a hat.”

  Laura groaned.

  “Sorry, Laura. I’ve gotta go. I can hear the ute. We’ve had a long day here. I said I’d put something on for dinner and I haven’t started yet.”

  There was a pause. Laura pressed the phone to her ear. “Kate?”

  “The folks will get over it.” Her sister laughed again. “Wish I was a fly on the wall though. Ring me and tell me how it goes. Love you.”

  “Say hi to Sean.” Laura sagged back onto the couch. Her sister hadn’t helped her to feel better at all.

  Kate stared at the phone in her hand. Talking to Laura was like taking a breath of fresh air. If only life’s problems were as simple as a change to your hair colour.

  She jumped as two strong arms came around her neck and the bristles on her husband’s chin brushed her cheek.

  “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “You were on the phone.”

  His lips skimmed hers and she tasted lanolin and dust. Her truck driver husband had just unloaded a mob o
f sheep at a nearby farm. She’d called in to see him on her way to their small acreage on the outskirts of town.

  “Done for the day?” she asked.

  “Yep.” His face was drawn and his eyes weary. He’d made three trips interstate this week. “I didn’t get back to the office with the paperwork.”

  “I’ll drop it in tomorrow.”

  Sean’s family owned a stock transport business and Kate worked a few days a week in the office and ran errands, which this week had been constant with Sean, his two brothers and their dad all on the road. Local farmers were worried about feed and in the last two weeks stock runs had doubled.

  Kate put down her phone. “I haven’t started on dinner yet.”

  “Who were you talking to?” Sean poured himself a long drink of cold water from the fridge and tipped it down. Drips dribbled from the stubble on his chin and rolled down his neck.

  “Laura.”

  “What’s happened this time?”

  “Nothing. Well, I don’t think there’s anything, other than her new hair colour’s a bit too bright by the sound of it.”

  “There’s always something with Laura.”

  “She’s going home for a few days.”

  He studied her. “Is that why you look so sad? You want to go too?”

  “No.”

  “What then?”

  Kate swept up a pile of mail that had been scattered on the table since yesterday. Sean had always been able to read her. She tried to swallow the big lump of…she wasn’t sure what…disappointment, perhaps sorrow, even unease that had been burning in the pit of her stomach since lunchtime. Laura’s call had been a distraction.

  “Come on, Katie-Q, what’s up?” His big brown eyes opened wide as he raised his eyebrows.

  “I had lunch with Sarah today.”

  “Usually that’s a good thing.” He tipped his head to one side, his eyes still locked on hers. “Isn’t it?”

  What could she say? She couldn’t explain the terrible resentment to herself let alone to Sean. “We argued.”

  He straightened. “What about?”

  Kate turned away and pretended to look through the envelopes in her hands. She couldn’t tell him what Sarah had actually said. “It was silly stuff but it blew out of proportion. I shouldn’t have let it get to me.”