by S R Silcox
Zoe rolled her eyes. So Georgia had gone from moping to a mess. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“Well you might not, but I do,” Molly said. “And you’re going to listen.”
Zoe knew it was pointless to argue, so she leaned out onto the window sill and prepared herself for Molly’s lecture. Once Molly was done, Zoe would agree to disagree and then go home and not think about it again.
“You need to get your head out of your backside, Zoe Jennings,” Molly said.
Zoe laughed in spite of herself.
Molly whacked Zoe lightly on the arm. “I’m serious. You had a good thing with Georgia. Why on earth would you throw that away?”
“She would’ve left eventually,” Zoe replied.
“You’re sure about that are you?”
Zoe didn’t reply.
“She said to you ‘Zoe, even though I like you a lot, I’m going to leave in a few months time and break your heart’, is that it?”
“No,” Zoe conceded.
“Or maybe it’s you who decided you’d get in first,” Molly said, her voice softening.
“Better for both of us,” Zoe grunted. “It wouldn’t have worked out anyway.”
“Oh, you know that, do you?”
“Yes.”
“How? Did you ask her?”
Zoe huffed out a breath. “Jack warned me this would happen.”
“Oh, Jack did. I see. Did you ever consider your brother could be wrong?”
Zoe turned her head to look at Molly.
“Zoe, I love your brother dearly, and he wants the best for you but what he thinks is best and what is actually best are two very different things,” Molly said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jack doesn’t want to lose you, Zoe. He thinks he can’t run that business without you, and it got worse when he had his accident.”
“But he’s the smart one,” Zoe replied.
Molly laughed. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” She took a drink from her bottle. “He’s got a great business brain but for some reason, maybe because he feels like he wants to protect you, I don’t know, but whatever the reason is, he’s afraid you’re going to leave and he’s going to lose you, just like you both lost your parents.”
Zoe shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You almost did, remember?” Molly said.
Zoe leaned back on the seat and looked up at the ceiling. “Elke.” Elke had come to town on a working tourist visa nearly eight years ago, and Zoe had fallen head over heels for her within weeks. They made plans to go travelling, and every time Zoe got close to booking tickets, Jack pleaded with Zoe to do just one more job. In the end, Elke got sick of waiting and left town without so much as a goodbye. She’d broken Zoe’s heart, and Zoe had thrown herself into the business to forget. “That makes much more sense now.”
Molly put her hand on Zoe’s shoulder. “So you can see why Jack wouldn’t want you starting anything with Georgia.”
Zoe nodded.
“You can’t keep putting your life off for his, Zoe,” Molly said. “He’s never going to do what he needs to do as long as you’re protecting him.”
“I’m protecting him now?” Zoe asked.
“You’re his crutch,” Molly said. “As long as you’re part of the business, he can say what he likes about going big, and never really do anything about it because he tells himself he needs to keep you employed.”
“I didn’t realise that,” Zoe said.
“Well, now you do,” Molly replied.
Zoe blew out a breath. “What a bloody mess.”
“Yes,” Molly agreed. “The question is, what are you going to do about it?”
Zoe took a long drink from her beer. “I guess I’m going to have to talk to Jack.”
FIFTY-ONE
Georgia threw her keys onto the hall table and dumped her bag onto the floor beside it on the way to the kitchen. She poured herself a scotch and carried it into the lounge room, where she kicked off her shoes and stood looking out the glass windows. She had an overwhelming sense of deja vu. She took a sip of her drink and let out a breath.
The last few weeks had been hell. She hadn’t realised just how much she didn’t like her job until she had to go back after her time off. She certainly hadn’t realised how much work she’d done to make her boss look good until she’d walked back into her office and found a mountain of work only half-completed. Was it stupid to miss sanding and painting as much as she did? She laughed at the absurdity of even thinking that.
There was a time that looking out across the river to the horizon would have made her relax, but the last few weeks that she’d been back, seeing the mountain range in the distance just made her miss the hills of Elizabeth Creek.
She knew it was stupid and she knew she should get over it, because the cottage was due to go to auction in a few days, but she’d wondered more than once what would have happened if she’d decided to keep the cottage instead of the apartment.
But that would mean walking away from her job and if she did that, what would she do? Ren had tried on more than one occasion to make her think seriously about keeping the cottage and making it a bed and breakfast, but what did she know about the accommodation industry?
And besides, going back to a small town like Elizabeth Creek, where everyone there probably knew what had happened between her and Zoe was the last thing she wanted to do. Zoe had made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with Georgia, and they hadn’t spoken to each other since the argument in the workshop. Georgia couldn’t blame her really.
She drained her glass and padded into the bedroom and sat cross-legged on the floor near the bed. She pulled a box from under it and opened it. Amy’s memory box.
Georgia had asked Amy once why she kept all the seemingly random stuff she did.
“To remember,” Amy had replied.
“That’s what memories are for,” Georgia had teased, but then Amy had told her the story about her grandmother, her mind and memories lost to dementia. Of how the smallest things could trigger a long lost memory for her, and it became clear to Georgia why Amy was determined to bring so many trinkets into their home.
In the end, it wasn’t dementia that had claimed Amy but cancer. And it had claimed her quickly, which was both cruel and a Godsend at the same time, and all Georgia had been left with was a broken heart and a box full of Amy’s memories.
While Amy had suffered, she hadn’t had to suffer long, but Georgia had felt like she’d suffered every day since.
“Small mercies,” Amy’s mother had said the day before Amy passed. She was referring to the cancer taking Amy so quickly and not letting her suffer for too long. Georgia was so angry with her for not being there until the very end and having no idea what Amy had gone through, that she’d had to walk out of the room, leaving Amy’s family to fawn all over her while she had no idea they were even there. And then to make matters worse, they’d fought Georgia through the courts for a piece of Amy’s estate.
Georgia shook those bad memories from her head as she dug through the box and discovered the ticket stubs and a signed CD case from when they saw Norah Jones in the concert hall at QPAC. It was their first concert together, their third date, and Georgia had pulled out all the stops to impress Amy back then, calling in some favours to get a backstage meeting with Norah after the concert. Georgia smiled at the memory of the joy on Amy’s face as Norah Jones signed her CD. Amy chattered on about that meeting for weeks after and they’d had to buy the same CD twice since thanks to Amy wearing it out and scratching it from overuse.
Thinking about Amy and her Norah Jones CD made Georgia think about Zoe and the connection she had to her dad’s cassettes and how sweet that was. Why did all her thoughts turn to Zoe lately?
She tossed the ticket stubs and CD case back into the box and after looking through the small stuff, Georgia pulled out a real estate brochure that was jammed in at the bottom. She unfolded it
and flipped through it, stopping at a page where the listing had been circled in black pen.
It was Carramar cottage, perched on the top of that hill, views of green rolling hills for miles. The place Georgia had let herself feel so free with Zoe. The place where none of what Amy had gone through had mattered anymore.
‘One day, a B&B’ Amy had scrawled in underlined capital letters at the top.
Georgia felt a twinge of sadness in the pit of her stomach. Tears pricked at her eyes and she looked at the framed photo of Amy on the bedside table.
“Is this your doing?” she asked.
As she looked around the room, she realised that it had never been the cottage that had reminded Georgia of Amy. It was the apartment. And she wasn’t so sure that was a good thing anymore. She closed the lid of Amy’s memory box and stood up. No matter what she was feeling, Elizabeth Creek was no longer an option. Zoe had made her feelings perfectly clear the last time they’d seen each other and Georgia wasn’t sure whether time apart might change things.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and when she pulled it out, she smiled. “Hey Ren, what’s up?”
Just as Ren began to speak, there was a knock on Georgia’s door.
“Sorry, Ren. Someone’s here. Can I call you back?”
She hung up the phone and hurried to the door. When she opened it, she had to step back in shock. “Zoe.”
FIFTY-TWO
Zoe had been over and over the things she wanted to say to Georgia for the entire drive to the city. Molly had made her realise that the hurt she thought she was over from her past relationships had never been resolved and that when she’d thought Georgia was going to walk out too, she’d ended it before they’d even had a chance to get going.
The realisation, too, that she could walk away from the family business and let Jack do his own thing had lifted a huge weight off Zoe’s shoulders. A few beers and an honest conversation had seen them both finally admit they wanted different things. The big question was whether Zoe had the guts to go out on her own and pursue her dream of using her half-finished social work degree and teaching troubled teens to make things out of timber. There was only one way to find out and that was to just suck it up and get stuck in.
Two weeks after she’d started the ball rolling on her new business, Zoe had realised something was missing. Or rather, someone. When she’d stood in the old shed at the cottage, arms crossed, visualising her new workshop, she’d realised it just wouldn’t be the same without Georgia. So, she’d thrown an overnight bag into the back of her Landcruiser and made the trip to the city, hoping to win Georgia back.
And now that she stood in Georgia’s doorway, seeing the shocked look on Georgia’s face, the only thing she could think of to do was to kiss her. So she did.
When she pulled away, she said, “Sorry, I—” but Georgia didn’t let her get anything else out. She grabbed Zoe by the shirt and pulled her into the apartment and kissed her back, hard.
When Georgia finally pulled away, Zoe leaned her head on Georgia’s forehead. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me too,” Georgia replied.
“I said some shitty things,” Zoe said.
“Me too,” Georgia replied. “You were right about me not letting Amy go.”
Zoe shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Georgia smiled. “Probably not, but I think I needed to hear it.”
“Well, you were right about me and Jack and the whole family business thing,” Zoe said.
“Really?”
“We’ve made some big changes, actually.”
“I heard,” Georgia replied, walking away into the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?”
“I’d love one,” Zoe replied, taking the beer Georgia handed her.
“So,” Georgia said, as she walked over to the lounge and sat down. “You’re working for Rick now. That must be a bit of a change.”
Zoe sat down beside her, relaxing back into the cushions. “Actually, Jack’s working for Rick. I’m going out on my own.”
“Oh? You found somewhere to hold your classes?” Georgia asked.
“I did,” Zoe replied. “I bought the cottage.”
Georgia looked surprised. “You bought it?”
“I did,” Zoe replied.
“Good for you,” Georgia said and she sounded genuinely happy for Zoe.
“Thanks,” Zoe replied. She twisted her drink in her hand. “That’s sort of why I’m here, actually.”
Zoe swallowed down the nerves that had started kicking around in her stomach and took a long drink from her bottle, some liquid courage, hoping she could remember what she wanted to say. “You know I’m not that good at business stuff, that’s Jack’s domain, and well, you know I’m much better with my hands.”
The corner of Georgia’s mouth turned up and she arched an eyebrow.
Zoe rolled her eyes, slightly embarrassed. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” Georgia replied, the grin not leaving her face.
“Well, anyway, now I have my own business, I have no idea what I’m doing really and I was hoping that maybe you might want to, you know, help me out?”
Georgia sucked in a breath and let it out. “You want me to be your business partner?”
Zoe shook her head. This wasn’t going the way she thought it would. “No, that’s not what I mean.” She rubbed the back of her head, trying to find the right words. Finally, she realised that she just needed to come out and say it. She took in a deep breath and let it out, and looked Georgia in the eyes. “Living in the cottage won’t be the same without you. I was hoping you’d come and live with me. In the cottage.”
Georgia shifted in the chair.
“I mean, it doesn’t have to be straight away, obviously, and you can think about it if you need to,” Zoe said, the words tumbling out. “But that cottage is as much yours as mine, and I know, I know it was meant to be for you and Amy, and that you probably need more time to get over that, and I’m prepared to wait, I really am, but—”
“Zoe,” Georgia said, placing her hand on Zoe’s knee.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want me to answer or not?”
Zoe nodded, swallowing hard.
A slow smile spread across Georgia’s face. “Are you sure?”
“Do you think I would’ve driven all the way here and braved the lunatic city drivers if I wasn’t sure?” Zoe asked.
Georgia smiled. “Jack isn’t going to want to burn me at the stake? I know what small towns are like.”
Zoe laughed. “We’re not that sort of town. Besides, it’s Molly you have to worry about. Maybe don’t eat anything she cooks for a while.”
Georgia grinned. “I’ll make sure I don’t.”
“So does that mean you’re saying yes?” Zoe asked. She held her breath, waiting for Georgia’s answer.
Georgia nodded and before she could get out the words, Zoe kissed her, and Georgia kissed her back. When they pulled apart, Georgia said, “Do you have a business plan I can look at?”
“A business plan?” Zoe asked.
“If I’m going to be helping you run your business, I need to see a business plan,” Georgia said.
Zoe poked Georgia’s chest lightly with her finger. “That’s what your job is now.”
“Oh? And what’s yours?” Georgia asked, grabbing Zoe’s finger and pulling her hand down to touch her thigh.
Zoe grinned mischievously and gently pushed Georgia down on the lounge. “Making you happy.”
Georgia lifted her head so their lips were barely touching. “I can run with that.”
FIFTY-THREE
Three months at the cottage and Georgia still had trouble waking up as early as Zoe. She’d never been an early riser if she could help it, but watching the sun rise on the deck with Zoe had become a morning ritual, so she was trying to make waking up early a new habit.
The bunkhouse renovations were in full swing, and Zoe had almost finished setting up her new workshop i
n the other shed. She was due to hold her first class at the end of the month, which she was excited about and had convinced Dallas to help out on weekends. Zoe would need the extra pair of hands since Nick and Tara had gone travelling overseas. Even the carpet python that Georgia had made homeless was back, finding a new home in the rafters of Zoe’s workshop.
With Jack and Rick working so closely together in Rick’s business now, Molly and Ren had become friends, with Ren even trying to convince Molly to move them all to Brisbane. They were all due out to Carramar over the coming weekend for the official house warming, and while Georgia was looking forward to seeing them all, she much preferred the quiet time she had at the cottage with Zoe.
She leaned back into the chair and sipped her coffee. It was hard to believe sometimes that she got to live in such a beautiful place. Amy certainly knew what she was doing when she bought this place.
“Hey,” Zoe said, kissing the top of Georgia’s head.
“Hey yourself,” Georgia replied as she turned her attention to the table. “An omelette today?”
“Thought I’d make something special,” Zoe said. “I have a surprise for you.” She handed Georgia a gift wrapped box. “Remember when we found the old name plate for the cottage?”
Georgia nodded.
“Well, I know we didn’t end up discussing a new name for the place, and I hope you don’t mind, but I sort of came up with one myself,” Zoe said.
“What did you call it?” Georgia asked.
“You’ll see,” Zoe winked.
She looked quite proud of herself, Georgia thought as she pulled the wrapping off and when she opened the box, she gasped. Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled the routed timber sign from the box and lay it on her lap. “Did you make this?” she asked, her voice a whisper.
“Do you like it?” Zoe asked.
“I love it,” Georgia replied. “But are you sure this is what you want to call our cottage?”
Zoe nodded. “Definitely. Amy’s as much a part of this place as we are.”
Georgia drew in a shaky breath and let it out, as she ran her fingers over the letters on the sign. “Amy’s Rest is perfect.”