Short and Sweet

by Anna Jacobs

  ‘Ah.’ The look he gave her was not friendly. ‘You’re the Pom who soft-soaped old Charles. He always was a sucker for a pretty face.’

  ‘And you must be Sam Carden. Thank you for keeping an eye on the house, but if you’re going to be rude to me, I think you’d better leave.’

  He shrugged and turned to go, tossing over his shoulder. ‘I’ve had everything switched on for you, as your lawyer asked.’ Before she could answer, he’d disappeared behind the trees.

  She fanned herself with the straw hat she’d bought. How dare he say that! She’d never soft-soaped anyone in her life. But he’d also said that she had a pretty face. It was a long time since anyone had complimented her, even in a left-handed, sarcastic way like this. Not since Donald.

  Then she forgot her rude welcome and stared around, sighing with happiness. Her own house and ten acres of land. What more could anyone want? The house was very old and in great need of renovation, but she didn’t care. It was hers.

  Not only were the phone and electricity switched on, but someone had thought to stock the fridge with a few necessities. Guilt washed through Julia. It must have been the bad-tempered man. She apologized to him mentally.

  She examined the loaf and the other foodstuffs, but could find no prices. She owed him money. And gratitude for his help. But he shouldn’t have said that to her, she thought, still indignant.

  The living room was large and square, the kitchen almost as large, with a table in one corner. Julia’s whole flat would have fitted into these two rooms. ‘Gingham curtains,’ she decided as she left the kitchen, ‘and white paintwork.’

  There were two more large rooms, one full of bookcases, then a long narrow corridor with bedrooms on either side. ‘Six!’ she gasped, after exploring them. ‘What on earth shall I do with six bedrooms and three bathrooms?’ How puzzling that Charles Finlay-Jamieson had chosen to return to England and live simply, when he had a huge house here. Even more puzzling that he had left it all to her.

  Dusk was falling as she finished unpacking. She decided to make do with cheese on toast. Bunbury had lots of restaurants. She’d seen them as she drove through, curious to see what her nearest town was like. But it was half an hour’s drive away and she was feeling tired now.

  As she pulled the loaf out of the fridge, a car drew up outside, a large four-wheel drive. A young woman in shorts and tee shirt jumped out, followed by a rather pregnant dog that was at least partly Labrador. She strode across to the door, carrying something wrapped in a tea towel.

  ‘Hi! You must be Julia Mincham. Sam said you’d arrived.’

  ‘Sam?’

  ‘I think you met him when you arrived.’

  ‘Oh, the bad-tempered man.’

  The young woman grinned. ‘Yes, that’s Sam. But his bark’s much worse than his bite. He’s an old softie, really. Just don’t let him bully you.’

  ‘I won’t.’ Julia didn’t intend to let anyone bully her from now on, not even her own family. It was wonderful the confidence a bank account full of money gave you.

  ‘I’m Penny Braide, one of your neighbours.’ She held out the bundle. ‘I thought you might like a casserole for tea.’

  ‘Oh, how kind! Do come in!’

  Ten minutes later, Julia watched wistfully as Penny drove off. She’d make a lovely heroine. Not shy and quiet, but full of life and vigour. Then she shook off her regrets and went to heat up some of the beef casserole.

  Three days later, guilt could no longer be denied. Julia owed Mr Carden money. However rude he was, she had to pay him back. Perhaps he had spoken so sharply because he was still missing his friend, though Mr Carden was nearer her own age than Mr Finlay-Jamieson’s.

  She rang up Penny, who had called round every day to check that she was all right and who was teaching her about living in Australia, not to mention how to find her way to the nearest shops. ‘Er – could you tell me where Sam lives?’

  ‘Are you in the mood for a quarrel, then?’

  Penny’s voice was teasing, but Julia’s heart sank. ‘I dislike quarrels, but I owe him some money.’

  ‘What on earth for?’

  ‘He stocked up my fridge with groceries.’

  ‘Oh, there’s no need to worry about that. He was just being neighbourly.’

  ‘I prefer to pay my debts.’

  Penny grinned. ‘Good luck.’

  Sam’s house was quite small, with a series of outbuildings made of tin and looking as if they were held together with sticky tape. Julia got out of the car and knocked on the front door before she lost her courage.

  ‘I didn’t expect to see you here,’ a voice said behind her.

  ‘Do you always creep up behind people and make them jump!’

  ‘I was working on the garden. Do you want me to go into the house and open the door before we talk?’

  ‘No. But it wouldn’t hurt you to be polite.’

  Sam’s brows rose, and he opened his mouth as if to shout at her, then he clamped his lips together and breathed deeply. ‘Right. What can I do for you?’

  ‘I owe you some money, Mr Carden.’

  ‘You owe me nothing.’

  ‘For the groceries.’

  ‘It was only a few dollars. Charles wouldn’t have wanted you to come to an empty kitchen.’

  She set her hands on her hips. ‘I prefer to pay my debts. That’s the way I was brought up.’

  He was looking at her sideways, with a calculating expression on his face. ‘Are you any good at sewing?’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘I need some sewing done. That’s the way we do things here in the country. We help each other out.’

  ‘Oh. I see. And yes, I can sew.’

  ‘Come inside.’ He took her agreement for granted and led the way indoors. He pointed to a piece of canvas. ‘That’s fraying in one corner. My mother made it. I can’t ask Penny to mend it. She just throws things away when they get holes in them, or wears the holes. Can you embroider?’

  Julia picked up the embroidered scene. ‘This is lovely. Yes, I can mend it for you.’

  And that was the start of their friendship. If you could call it friendship, because Sam spoke his mind on every topic and the new Julia gave him back as good as he dished out. Well, mostly. It took time to make such a big change to oneself. He mended her pump. She cooked him a meal. He fixed her side gate. She lent him a few books.

  Now that she’d given them her phone number, her family kept ringing her up from England and Robert in particular took it upon himself to harangue her about not wasting her money. After she’d mentioned Sam in a couple of her letters, he started adding warnings about not letting neighbours take advantage of her generosity. She should remember that a rich woman was prey for all sorts of scoundrels.

  Sam came round one day when her brother Robert was lecturing her and she was trying in vain to get in a word edgeways. He saw how upset she was, took the phone out of her hand, listened for a moment, then yelled into it, ‘Leave her alone, you bully. She’s a woman grown.’ He slammed it down.

  She should have been angry, but the thought of what Robert’s expression would be at this moment betrayed her into a giggle, then suddenly the two of them were roaring with laughter. When the phone rang again, they ignored it and went outside to argue amicably about the vegetable garden.

  ‘Don’t let them bully you,’ Sam said later, as he left. ‘You’re too soft with your family.’

  ‘It’s the way I’ve been brought up. Robert’s a few years older than me, you see.’

  ‘Then change it.’

  ‘I’m trying.’

  ‘Good.’

  That week Julia did something she’d been hesitating about, she asked Penny if she could have one of the pups.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Very sure. I’ve always wanted a dog, but no one else in my family did, so we never had one. Even when I left home, I lived in a flat, so it just wasn’t possible.

  Penny beamed at her. ‘That’s great. Two
of them placed now in good homes.’

  ‘I’ll try to make it a good home, but you’ll have to give me a few hints.’

  As the days passed, one thing led to another. Sam took her out for a barbecue near the beach and kissed her when he brought her back. Greatly daring, she took him out in return, choosing the most expensive restaurant in Bunbury. He was very stiff with her.

  ‘What did I do wrong?’ she asked, after a miserable evening.

  He looked at her, seeing the tears trembling in her eyes. ‘Oh, dammit, Julia, I didn’t mean to upset you.’

  The tears escaped and trickled down her cheeks.

  He pulled her into his arms. ‘Come here!’ He kissed her nose, then wiped the tears away with one rough fingertip. Suddenly he was kissing her again, very thoroughly, just like a hero in a novel. She flung her arms round his neck and kissed him right back. Those lively young heroines would have been proud of her.

  A little later, as they sat together on the veranda, she asked softly, ‘What made you so angry tonight, Sam?’

  ‘I can’t afford to take you to restaurants like that.’ His voice was gruff and she could sense the tension in him.

  ‘Oh, is that all?’

  ‘What do you mean, all?’

  ‘Who cares about expensive restaurants? I’ll cook you a meal myself next time.’

  But the money lay between them like a ghost. And he didn’t kiss her again.

  When the wedding anniversary of Charles and his wife came round, Sam took Julia to the cemetery. Actually, she took him in her lovely new car, because his was giving him a bit of trouble.

  She bought a beautiful white rose from a florist in Bunbury, the most beautiful one in the shop, plus a slender vase to put it in. On an impulse, she bought one for herself, too.

  They walked over to the grave in silence and stood looking down at it.

  ‘He loved her very much,’ Sam said softly. ‘He never really got over her death. The lawyer sent his ashes back to Australia with a request that I bury them here with her.’ He looked sideways. ‘Why the white rose, do you think? It’s usually red for love.’

  Julia smiled through the tears that misted her eyes. ‘He told me once how on their first anniversary the shop had run out of red roses, so he had to buy a white one. She loved it so much he always bought his wife a white one on their wedding anniversary from then on.’ She filled the little vase with water from a nearby tap and set it carefully on the grave. ‘For you both,’ she said aloud.

  ‘I’m still missing you, Charles,’ Sam said quietly.

  He took Julia’s hand as they walked back to the car and for once, they didn’t exchange a single cross word on their drive back.

  Three months after her arrival, Julia saw a taxi pull into the drive. Her brother Robert got out. ‘Oh, no!’ She thumped the table in frustration. Why could her family not leave her alone? She gritted her teeth and went to greet him. ‘What a surprise! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? How’s your leg?’

  ‘Better. We were worried about you, so I decided to see how you were going.’

  Before she knew it Robert had taken charge, telling her what to do as usual. She tried to stop him, but her new-found independence was still too fragile. He even took over the driving – after he had given her a lecture on how she had wasted her money buying an expensive convertible like this.

  Robert and Sam took an instant dislike to one another.

  ‘He’s a fortune hunter,’ said Robert scornfully.

  ‘He’s a bully,’ Sam hissed at her when Robert’s back was turned. ‘Why do you let him do this to you?’

  She didn’t know why. Habit, she supposed. She tried to stand up to Robert, but rarely succeeded.

  One day Penny called to deliver the puppy she’d promised Julia, which was now old enough to leave its mother.

  ‘She doesn’t want a mongrel like that! She can afford to buy a pedigree dog. Here! Take it back.’ Robert picked the little creature up by the scruff of its neck, making it yelp in pain.

  Penny glared at him, and cuddled the whimpering puppy.

  At that moment something snapped inside Julia. ‘Don’t you dare take her away!’ She snatched the pup from Penny and the feel of its warm wriggling body boosted her courage. ‘Thanks. She’s lovely. Um, would you mind me not inviting you in? My brother and I have something important to discuss.’

  ‘Don’t let him bully you,’ Penny whispered, and drove away.

  Julia turned to Robert, swallowed hard and said, ‘You’d better book your flight back.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I need to get on with my own life now, Robert. You can see that I’m very comfortable here. Just – just book your flight and I’ll drive you up to Perth. Or else go sightseeing somewhere.’ And she would do the driving herself this time, she vowed.

  When he started to argue, she snatched up the car keys and the pup, and fled.

  Sam was sitting on his veranda. He scowled as she got out of the car. ‘Isn’t your dear brother with you? Don’t you need protection from a fortune hunter like me?’

  ‘Go and put the kettle on and stop talking such rot!’ She pushed him into the house, and the puppy wriggled out of her arms and ran round exploring. They faced each other across the kitchen table.

  ‘You kept the pup, then?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Penny rang me. She said he told her to take it away again.’

  ‘It’s my pup. And I’ve told Robert to leave.’

  Sam turned to beam at her. ‘You have? That’s wonderful.’

  ‘It was about time I stood up to him.’

  She stared at Sam. She’d missed their times together. As she fingered the tablecloth, a daring idea started forming in her mind. A very daring idea, worthy of the most spirited of romantic heroines.

  And another idea followed: she was suddenly sure that this was what Charles had intended to happen when he left her the house. ‘Come and sit down for a minute, Sam. Never mind the tea. I have something to ask you.’

  He slouched over to a chair, looking at her warily. ‘If it’s to do with your brother . . .’

  ‘It’s not.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It’s to do with us, you and me.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Sam, will you – will you, please – um, will you marry me?’

  He goggled at her for a minute, then scowled down at the fists clenched in his lap. ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because I’m not a fortune hunter.’

  It took several deep breaths, but then she marched round the table, shoved him down on the couch and sat on his knee. ‘You will marry me, you know,’ she said, giving him a big hug.

  ‘Oh?’ But his voice was gentle and he was smiling now. ‘Why will I?’

  ‘Because I can be as much of a bully as my brother if I really want something – and I do want this, so very much. It’s the way we Minchams are.’

  ‘I’m terrified.’ He looked at her, a steady serious look, and when she smiled encouragingly, he began to kiss her.

  And she didn’t have to bully him into marrying her. In fact, Sam seemed quite taken with the idea.

  Time

  Anna’s Notes

  Relatives came to stay with us quite often when we first emigrated from England to Australia, but as in this story, it was sometimes for longer than was quite comfortable, however hard both sides tried, however much we loved one another.

  I was learning Italian when I wrote this, and had some Italian friends, so their background sort of crept into the story, too, though the characters are not based on real life in any way. I never use real people in my stories. They might not do what I tell them to.

  Jenny Reid picked up the phone and smiled when she heard her daughter’s voice. Australia was so far away, but they called each other once a month, at least.

  When they had chatted for a while, Sarah said firmly, ‘Mum, you promised to come out here for a nice, long visit once you’d got over Dad’s death. I
t’s been three years now. I think it’s time you kept that promise, don’t you? And it’s summer here, sunshine every day. I remember how cold Edinburgh winters can be.’

  ‘Well, all right. I’ll come for a week or two.’

  ‘When you’re travelling so far, you should come for longer, two or three months, at least. Get to know your grandchildren.’

  And that thought tipped the scales. Jenny had never even met Tim and Pete, though of course she’d seen plenty of photos of her grandsons. They were already five and seven. Where had the years gone?

  Three weeks later, she sat in the shade of a big gum tree, wincing as her two small grandsons raced round the garden, screeching at each other, followed by a yapping dog. No wonder the neighbours in the big two-storey house next door were not on good terms with her daughter!

  Sarah didn’t believe in disciplining children, but letting them grow up free and happy. It made them hard to live with sometimes, though they meant no harm. Jenny sighed. Oh, for the peace and quiet of her own flat! Why had she let them persuade her to come for three whole months? Two weeks would have been enough – more than enough!

  ‘You all right, Mum?’ Sarah peered out of the kitchen window. ‘You mustn’t get yourself sunburnt.’

  She said the same thing every day. Suddenly Jenny had had enough. Getting up, she marched into the house and confronted her daughter, hands on hips. ‘Do you remember how old I am, Sarah?’

  ‘Er – fifty-two, isn’t it?’

  ‘Correct. And do I seem to be getting senile?’

  Sarah blinked in shock. ‘What?’

  ‘Do – I – seem – senile?’

  ‘No. No, of course not, Mum.’

  ‘Then will you please stop treating me like a child! You’ve been doing it ever since I arrived!’ She made for the asylum of her bedroom, resisting the temptation to slam the door behind her.

  Once inside she plumped down on the bed and let out her breath in a whoosh, admitting to herself that she was bored! Sarah kept saying it was too hot to trail small children around sightseeing and making excuses to stay at home.

  Jenny groaned aloud. Another two and a half months to go. So much time on her hands! She would go mad!