The House On Jindalee Lane

by Jennie Jones

He leaned in and kissed her on the mouth—and she let him.

  Ryan waited while the men in the back workshop of the hardware store digested the news he’d given them.

  Ethan had the most ponderous look on his face. It was his daughter. His concern would be similar to Ryan’s. They both loved her.

  ‘So the big question,’ Dan Bradford said with a frown, ‘is why Buchanan has a connection with a man like Hanger in the first place.’

  Vince had discovered that Hanger went solo a couple of years back. His reputation grew, and these days he didn’t take a down-payment and wait until the job had been done to collect the rest. You had to pay him upfront, cash on demand.

  Nobody owns Hanger, Cameron had said. Hanger owns you.

  ‘I hope we don’t need to find out,’ Ryan advised.

  The plans were set. Each man would be on the lookout. Not only for Edie, and whoever might attempt to harm her, but also for their own families. Ryan didn’t want to take chances with anybody’s life. They’d discussed bringing the police in, but everybody in the room agreed that nothing had happened and might not. So far, the only villain of the piece was Buchanan and he was currently all talk. Ryan had told them he had something on Buchanan and was following through. The only person likely to be professionally hurt by this information was the man himself. Ryan didn’t want to advise the men in the room about the latest intel, since it involved the not quite legal actions of his mate, Vince. Cam had probably had a finger in the pie too. Instead, Ryan had told the guys he’d contact the police if and when he thought it absolutely necessary—already knowing that the police would be more than interested in what was about to come to light.

  ‘Simon,’ Josh said reflectively, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘He is an odd sort. I’ve noticed a few things going missing.’

  ‘Like what?’ Ryan asked.

  Josh shrugged. ‘Gear I don’t use. Expensive gear like saddles and bridles. I keep it because occasionally I sell it on. If it’s right for the horse and if the rider can afford it. I haven’t spoken up about the thefts because I wanted to catch whoever it is in the act. But I have my suspicions it’s Simon.’

  ‘I still don’t get more than an edgy feeling about him,’ Nick offered. ‘I say he’s not Buchanan’s man. Not Hanger, anyway.’

  ‘His references check out,’ Josh advised. ‘Although there are only three of them, and they could be fake. He’d have needed to persuade—or pay—these people to lie for him though because I spoke to each of them on the phone before he came down here.’

  Only Ethan hadn’t yet spoken. He had his head bowed, deep in thought.

  ‘Ethan?’ Ryan said quietly.

  Suddenly, the room was a little more energised as each man remembered that it was Ethan’s daughter they were discussing.

  Ryan wanted to offer some hope for the man he most admired and the father of the woman he loved, but Dan spoke first, breaking the tense atmosphere in the workshop.

  ‘That kid of yours sure brings a lot of pizzazz to town, Ethan. Not to mention unexpected excitement.’ He said it with a dark gleam of humour in his eye.

  Ethan lifted his focus, slowly smiled and nodded at Dan, acknowledging his friend’s support.

  ‘We’re all in this, Ethan,’ Dan said in a more serious tone.

  ‘I know, and I appreciate it.’

  ‘I want Edie calm,’ Ryan said, bringing the group back to the practicalities of what they needed to do. ‘Don’t tell your wives. The less they know, the less they worry, the less Edie panics.’

  Ethan unfolded his arms. ‘Is she coping?’

  Ryan nodded. ‘I’ve got her.’ He met Ethan’s eye, silently imparting the news that he loved his daughter, and would kill or die for her if necessary.

  Then the discussion turned to plans. Vince was going to move into one of the guest huts on Josh’s land and keep an eye on the farrier. Cam would take a room at Kookaburra’s, ostensibly visiting Ryan for a holiday. Ryan would stick by Edie’s side.

  He ignored the slightly awkward awareness from Nick, Josh and Dan when he added that he’d be at Edie’s side day—and night. Ethan didn’t bat an eye.

  ‘What?’ Edie froze, her messenger bag hanging on her arm as she held the phone to one ear and pressed a finger to the other to drown out of the noise of a tractor as it made its slow way down Main Street.

  ‘I said,’ Tony repeated in a louder voice, ‘everybody knows about your affair.’

  ‘Everybody?’ Her knees almost buckled under her. ‘It wasn’t an affair …’

  ‘Edie,’ Tony said firmly. ‘You have to tell Ryan about this latest news. You have to tell your parents about everything. The press will be onto you soon, if they’re not already.’

  ‘The press?’ She could hardly comprehend this. She’d just been thinking about a press release for the play, and now she was going to have to think up a press release defending her reputation.

  ‘It’s online already,’ Tony said. ‘It’s been up since late last night. Alana Buchanan is divorcing her husband because he had an affair with Australian theatre actress, Edie Granger.’

  ‘But I didn’t!’

  ‘I know that. But the press won’t give a toss.’

  Edie ran a hand over her eyes. She had to tell Ryan—who was still ensconced in Nick’s workshop with the major men in her life.

  ‘I’ve got to go,’ she said to Tony.

  ‘All right, but listen! I’m coming to Swallow’s Fall. I’ll stand by you, Edie.’

  ‘Thank you—oh, God, how could I forget! How’s Damien?’

  ‘I’ve been in Melbourne with him for the last couple of days and he’s in a fighting spirit. The wife of the man he thought was his boyfriend doesn’t give two flying ducks about what people will say. There are no children involved, so she’s giving the whole situation the finger.’

  It was all too much to take in with this new worry, but she did instantly feel relieved for Damien. ‘I’ll speak to him later. When can you get down here?’ She’d need all the friends she could get.

  ‘God bless, darling. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Keep that perky chin up.’

  ‘Thank you, Tony—for everything you’ve done.’ She cut the call and drew a breath.

  ‘It’s all here in black and white!’

  She looked up at Gary, who was standing in the doorway to the stock feeders with the local newspaper in his hands. He slapped it. ‘You had an affair! With a married man. You’ve broken up a marriage.’

  ‘That’s not true.’ How the heck did the little free paper get the news?

  ‘Well, it says so. Right here.’

  Edie marched up and snatched the newspaper off him, her heart hammering like the thrum of an engine.

  Local celebrity makes headlines for scandalous reasons

  Edie Granger, established theatre actor and a native of the tightknit community of Swallow’s Fall, has been cited in divorce proceedings between Hollywood mogul, Marcus Buchanan, and his wife, Alana Rodrigues-Buchanan, Hollywood actress and daughter of swimming-wear millionaire, the late Frederick Rodrigues.

  Buchanan is about to bring Australia its first newly built theatre, plus a film studio that will remain established for the use of others who long to bring their productions to our sundrenched shores and make use of the exceptional talent our country brings to the industry.

  Edie read fast, desperate to get to the bad part …

  And now on to the fun bits of this melodramatic, scandalous and intriguing tale …

  Buchanan will allege that Miss Granger has vilified his professional reputation with a farcical re-enacting of his life and by killing him off in the play Who Shot the Producer, which Miss Granger wrote and is producing in Swallow’s Fall this month. But will Miss Granger be around to play the part of the leading lady? It’s anyone’s guess as the stakes rise.

  Oh, lord.

  Buchanan’s affair with Miss Granger, which is believed to have happened nearly four months ago, was cut short by
Buchanan—enhancing Buchanan’s logic that Miss Granger wrote him into her play in order to kill him off. Further to the star-studded intrigue, Lola Loverman, a well-known rival of Miss Granger, is also cited as having had a more recent affair with Buchanan. No doubt both actresses will be spitting their best lines at each other during the coming weeks.

  ‘This is total rubbish!’ Edie said. ‘It’s not even well written …’

  Also coming to light this morning are a number of photographs portraying persons it is alleged that Marcus Buchanan has quietened in a bully-boy manner. We can’t publish any of these incriminating images due to legal reasons, but we can say that they are bare (pun intended) and bring to light some of the juicier and saucier scenarios that go on in theatre-land.

  ‘How dare they!’ Edie crumpled the newspaper and threw it back at Gary.

  ‘Gays!’

  Edie spun around at the sound of Mrs Ormond’s nasal disparagement.

  ‘We’ll probably have hundreds of them coming down here now,’ she said, glaring down her nose like a shocked bird who’d lost its beak. ‘Supporting their razzle-dazzle actress friend. Half of them are probably those trans-whatsit types—dressed in dresses!’

  ‘Mrs Ormond, please. That’s not fair—’ Edie inhaled, her mouth tasting like iron. The press weren’t even here yet, and already she was being hounded.

  ‘Oh, my dear Edie,’ Mrs Tam said, looking bewildered as she ran up behind Mrs Ormond, one hand on her chest and the other holding onto the bun on top of her head. ‘This is such a shock.’

  Ted drove up in his ice-cream van, came to a screeching halt and practically threw himself out of the cab. ‘I’ve just heard,’ he said, breathing hard, his shoulders heaving. ‘Flirty-pants told me. So is the play cancelled?’

  Edie was still numbed. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, stumbling over her words. ‘I suppose so …’

  Ted slapped the van so hard that the horns on top crashed against the plastic ice-cream cone. ‘I know all my lines. I hardly even breathe as the dead body, let alone move. And I’ve been told by Magdalena and Simon that I’m absolutely wonderful as the detective—and now it’s all ruined!’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Ted …’ Edie turned to Mrs Tam. ‘We need to cancel the play. I need to refund everybody’s ticket money.’

  ‘Oh, Edie,’ Mrs Tam said. ‘Can’t we wait and see what happens? I’ve put such a lot of effort into getting all those tickets sold. Seven hundred!’ she said to Ted.

  ‘Seven hundred bums on seats!’ Ted looked like he was going to explode. ‘This show must go on!’

  ‘Yes, okay, let’s wait.’ Edie couldn’t think straight, not until she was back at home and had time to get her head around everything that was happening, and everything that had gone wrong. Like ruining the endeavours of the people she’d coerced into accepting volunteer roles for her stupid damned play.

  ‘What a mucking nightmare,’ Ted said. ‘It’s enough to make a man curse. No curtain calls, no poster with my name on it.’

  ‘We’ll have men wandering around town wearing dresses next,’ Mrs Ormond said. ‘You mark my words.’

  ‘Oh, shut up, Ada!’ Mrs Tam said.

  ‘I don’t care about gay people,’ Gary said behind them.

  Edie turned. She’d forgotten he was there.

  ‘They can do what they like,’ he said. ‘Each to their own, is my viewpoint. But you,’ he said, pointing at Edie. ‘If I’d known what sort of woman I was falling for, I’d have looked the other way the minute I clapped eyes on you. How the heck am I going to get an assistant now, with all the gossip and rumours going on because of you?’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  She’d better get used to saying it. She was going to be doing a lot of apologising before she left town, her tail between her legs. How soon before it all died down? How soon before she could come home again? ‘I need to see Ryan.’ She turned and headed for the hardware store, heart thumping. She had no pride left, but she was determined to have this sorted by nightfall.

  When she climbed the walkway stairs, Ryan came out of the hardware store.

  ‘We know,’ he said, without preamble.

  She paused, hand on the rail.

  Josh and Dan Bradford walked out and both gave her a wink. ‘Your mum’s inside as well as your dad,’ Josh said. ‘Don’t worry, Edie.’

  Josh made his way to the toy shop, and Dan headed for the hotel. No doubt both men were about to inform their wives of the sordid news.

  ‘Come on,’ Ryan said, walking down the stairs to get her. ‘You can talk to your parents inside.’

  He took her hand and led her into the hardware store.

  Nick looked up from behind the counter and gave her a smile.

  Even with all the men’s support, her nerves were stretched thin.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ she said when she walked into the workshop. Ryan didn’t come in. He closed the door quietly behind her. She felt his loss instantly, but these were her parents, they couldn’t be too hard on her.

  ‘What for? You didn’t do anything wrong.’ Sammy walked straight over and hugged her hard. ‘Your father and Ryan have told me everything.’ She released Edie and smiled up at her, although her eyes showed sadness, and it made Edie’s heart lurch. ‘I was in the grocer’s waiting on your dad,’ Sammy explained. ‘So I was first to get the newspaper. I didn’t believe you were at fault in the first place, and now Ryan’s explained it all, I know for sure.’

  ‘But it’s all focused on Swallow’s Fall and I didn’t mean that to happen.’

  ‘That’s not your fault either,’ Ethan said, stepping forwards.

  ‘Do you want to move back home?’ Sammy said, and Edie almost found a weak smile as Olivia’s remark about Sammy locking Edie in her bedroom on Burra Burra Lane came immediately to mind.

  She shook her head. ‘I want to sort everything out.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I need to close the play and refund the ticket money.’

  ‘Close it?’ Sammy said, looking askance. ‘Whatever for?’

  ‘Because nobody will come. Ada Ormond’s got about fifty bees stuck in her bonnet. Ted’s about to have a heart attack in the ice-cream van, Mrs Tam looks like she’s been sent to sea in a row boat—and I think I’ve ruined Gary’s entire life.’

  Sammy let out an amazed laugh, and Ethan put his hand on Edie’s shoulder, a smile on his face.

  ‘We all love you, Edie. Every theatrical inch of you.’

  ‘But, Dad—’

  ‘This nonsense will be over soon,’ he said. ‘But what do you want to do? Now, and in the future.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He means,’ Sammy said, ‘that you need to concentrate on the positive while this nonsense is being sorted out.’

  ‘What positive?’ She paused. It’s what they’d always told her as she was growing up. You can deal with the bad, but you don’t let the bad take over your thoughts. You need to always think about the future, when all the bad will be over.

  ‘If you lose sight of the future now,’ Sammy said, catching on to Edie’s memory, ‘then you run the risk of losing the good in your future.’

  ‘Because I’ll forget to be brave and hopeful,’ Edie finished. She thought about this for a few moments. ‘But I don’t know what I’ll do with the rest of my life.’

  ‘We presumed you’d want to return to the theatre,’ her dad said.

  She shook her head, bewildered by everything. ‘Maybe.’ Would she be able to hold her head up? Did she even want that life anymore?

  ‘Well, if you don’t go back to acting, Sweetpea, there must be something else you’ve thought of doing.’

  ‘Writing?’ Sammy suggested. ‘You’ve been writing for years, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, but only for something to do when I’m on tour,’ Edie said. ‘Who Shot the Producer is the only one I’ve produced.’

  ‘Why did you put that one on?’

  ‘Because I thought it was good enough, and I was sick of touring but
I still wanted to entertain people.’

  ‘So continue writing your plays,’ her dad said.

  ‘It won’t make me any money.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ Sammy insisted. ‘You were meant for something artistic, Edie, but it has to involve people too. I know you, you can’t not be around people. You shine when you’re performing, or when you’re creating. You can’t give that up. No matter the hurts you’re dealing with now.’

  ‘I don’t care about my career,’ she stated. ‘I care about everyone here. My family and friends and the townspeople. I’ve hurt them.’ She hung her head. ‘I’m such a mess.’ And she wanted to go home.

  ‘You haven’t hurt anyone,’ her father said in a serious tone. ‘Marcus Buchanan has.’

  ‘Darling,’ Sammy stepped closer. ‘Please move back home. Ryan can come too. I can’t bear to see you so upset, let alone know you might be in danger.’

  ‘I’m not in danger now,’ Edie argued. ‘Not with Marcus’s bullying dirty tactics out in the open. He can’t sue me now. He can’t do anything.’

  Sammy looked at her husband. ‘We need to protect our daughter, Ethan.’

  He smiled at her. ‘We are. Everybody is. And I trust Ryan. Don’t you?’

  Sammy deliberated, then gave a reluctant nod. ‘I’m her mother though. I’d kill for her if need be.’

  ‘You think Ryan won’t?’ He brought his focus back to Edie. ‘I’m not ready to give up protecting you, Edie, and I never will be. But there’s another important man in your life now. I acknowledge that Ryan has to do what he needs to do. So I won’t step on his toes, but I will be here. You come to me anytime, Edie.’

  ‘I don’t know what I want, Dad.’

  ‘Then do nothing until you do know.’

  23

  The Show Must Go On

  Edie sat on the window seat in her bedroom, watching the goings-on outside.

  The spring sun had appeared like a big yellow ball in a pale blue setting. The poplar trees in her overgrown garden were dappled with light and she could even hear bees around the straggly pear trees.

  The day after the sordid intrigue was headlined in the local newspaper she’d refused to leave the house, and this morning she’d kept to her bedroom, even though Ryan had tried to persuade her to join him and welcome everyone but she still couldn’t believe it was happening.