by Eva Scott
‘Maybe he’s so obese he can’t leave his house. Have you thought about that?’ Ed teased.
‘I find your comment offensive and anyway, I don’t care about those sorts of things.’ The shakier the ground felt beneath her feet, the more Annalisa took to the high road.
‘So, if he’s five foot one with Napoleonic tendencies that would be just fine?’
‘You’re being silly now,’ she sniffed, unwilling to admit how far down into her insecurities he’d managed to dig.
‘Admit it, Annalisa. You’re as shallow as the rest of us.’ He swung his feet up on a spare seat, no doubt settling in to enjoy himself at her expense. ‘I’ve got one for you. Ninety-four is the number of people who think he looks like Clive Palmer.’
The image made her laugh despite herself.
‘Ninety-four is the number of people who think he looks like Chris Hemsworth,’ she countered.
‘Ninety-four is the number of used car parts littering his front yard.’ He raised his cup to her as if to say beat that.
‘Or the number of award-winning gardens he’s designed.’
‘Or the number of marijuana plants growing in his basement.’
‘No! You think that could be true?’ She hadn’t considered such a thing and the idea made her heart thump painfully with anxiety.
‘Might be why he called himself GardenerGuy94. Makes sense.’
‘Being a drug dealer is a total deal-breaker.’
‘Ninety-four unpaid parking tickets?’ Ed teased.
‘Being married is also a deal-breaker.’ Why hadn’t she asked this question before?
‘I should think so,’ said Ed, pretending outrage. ‘Maybe he has ninety-four kids to a whole bunch of different wives.’
‘Do stop,’ said Annalisa with a groan. ‘I don’t think I can take any more.’
‘What other deal-breakers do you have?’ He settled back in his chair, clearly enjoying himself.
‘Giving it some thought, I don’t think I could ever be with someone who was a cyclist. Those lycra shorts are a total deal-breaker.’
‘Ninety-four pairs of cycling pants later.’ He laughed at his own joke. ‘Have I ever told you that I quite like cycling? Which means, of course, that we could never be together.’ He spoke so casually, as if they’d discussed the possibility and come to the mutual conclusion a relationship between them would never work.
‘I didn’t realise,’ she said, finding that her spirits had suddenly sunk to the bottom of her boots with a resounding thunk. ‘About the cycling thing I mean,’ she added quickly in case he had the uncanny ability to read her mind.
‘I’m happy I retain the capacity to surprise you. There will be more surprises. Wait and see.’
‘If you’re planning on bringing me another farewell gift does that mean you’re hanging about for a while yet?’
‘Are you fishing?’ He met her eyes with a serious look, sending her crashing with confusion.
‘I’m not … I mean, I was just asking …’
‘Don’t worry.’ He dismissed his own question as if he’d been joking all along. ‘To answer your question, not long. Speaking of which, why don’t we have brunch on Saturday at this café I found in Bendigo? I noticed all the flowers are blooming in the Botanic Gardens. We can take a stroll there afterwards with our coffee. What do you say?’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Saying no was never an option. If he were truly leaving her life for good, she wanted every moment she could get.
‘Good. I’ll meet you there.’ Ed checked his watch. ‘I have to get going.’ He stood and she stood with him. ‘Hey, have you heard back from GardenerGuy94?’
She checked her phone. ‘Nothing yet.’
‘Sorry if I’ve caused trouble with my questions,’ he said. ‘I’m only acting as a concerned friend.’
More’s the pity.
‘I understand,’ she said. Everyone’s concern had become annoying even if a part of her worried they were right about GardenerGuy94. Except for the bit about him being a catfish, of course.
‘See you Saturday.’ Ed sauntered down the drive to his waiting car.
She watched him leave, realising there were three whole days before she’d see him again. Ed had blown into her life, turned it upside down, turned her on and now seemed content to just be mates while she still struggled with a burning need to touch him. This whole friendship-only arrangement was taking a bit of getting used to.
GardenerGuy94 TUES @ 11:52 AM
You’re right. We should meet this Saturday, say 2pm. I’ll come up your way so meet me in Bendigo. How’s the Bendigo Botanic Gardens in the Garden for the Future sound? I’ll have Ripley and he’ll be wearing a red bandana so there will be no mistaking me. xx
Extract from The Goldfields Gazette, Thursday 26 November 1992:
A RAY OF LIGHT IN HARD TIMES FOR LOCAL COUPLE
Wongilly locals Al and Sharon Cappelli know a bit about hard times. The recession has taken its toll on their family hardware business, forcing them to close their plant hire division.
‘Things could be worse,’ says Al Cappelli. ‘All around us we see businesses shutting their doors, banks collapsing and people losing their houses to the high interest rates but we still have our heads above water.’
Even the looming Goods and Services Tax (GST) doesn’t faze Al and all for good reason. The Cappellis became proud first-time parents last Tuesday when Sharon gave birth to their baby girl, Annalisa Marie, at Ballarat Base Hospital.
While households and businesses across the nation have been battling the worst recession since the Great Depression, Sharon and Al have been staging their own private war against infertility. The couple underwent IVF treatment earlier this year resulting in a successful pregnancy.
Al’s not worried about the future. ‘We feel as if we’ve won the lottery and nothing else matters but Annalisa and our little family.’
Cappelli’s Hardware are having a sale this coming weekend to celebrate Annalisa’s birth. All power tools will be marked down by 30%. Make sure you call in and congratulate the happy couple.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
‘He said what?’ Joe poked at the new coffee machine with one arthritic finger as if he expected it to jump out and bite him.
‘Ed said it was a farewell gift.’ Annalisa longed to rub the fingerprints off the shiny chrome. ‘How about you come and sit down. I’ll make you a coffee.’
Joe took a seat at the new table. ‘You’ve come up in the world.’
‘More stable than the old card table.’ She went through the process Ed had shown her with the help of some notes she’d typed up and put in a plastic sleeve. ‘Do you think Terry and Dave will like the new arrangement?’
‘You want us to come back then?’
‘I’ve missed you guys.’ The place had felt empty without the three old men arguing in the corner every morning over cards and coffee. She hoped to lure them back with her new workshop pseudo-café.
Joe looked around as if assessing so he could report to Terry and Dave later. ‘We’ll talk about it. The Senior Citizens club is okay but it’s full of old people and all they do is whinge and talk about their bowels. Drives me nuts.’
‘You’re welcome here any time. I need the company while I work and you won’t have to bring your own coffee anymore.’
‘He must like you a lot.’
A frisson of delight shivered through her at the idea. ‘Who, Ed? Don’t be silly,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘He’s feeling guilty is all.’
‘Humph, that’s a lot of guilt.’
‘That’s what GardenerGuy94 said.’ The machine hissed to life, steam activating it like a robot from a sixties sci-fi movie.
‘What would that catfish character know?’
‘He’s not a catfish, Joe.’ Annalisa sighed as the espresso trickled into the cups.
‘How do you know? You haven’t seen him. You don’t know his name. He could be anyone.’ She placed a cup of black coffee in front
of Joe. ‘Thank you. Got any sugar?’
‘For you, of course,’ she said sweetly through gritted teeth.
‘I don’t care what any of you say, I’m meeting GardenerGuy94 and then I’ll make a decision on what happens next.’ She steamed the milk, enjoying the sound, before topping up her own cup.
‘And all this time you’ve got a real-life handsome millionaire who likes you. I don’t understand this new world.’
‘Have you been talking to Mel?’
Joe took a sip of his coffee. ‘Not bad.’
High praise indeed.
Annalisa slid into her seat. ‘I’m glad you like it. As for Ed, he doesn’t like me that way. He feels bad because of the whole Carpenter’s Warehouse thing, that’s all.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I just know,’ she said, exasperated because Joe had a point. She didn’t know for sure how Ed felt about her apart from the fact he considered her a friend he cared about.
So many times they’d come within inches, seconds, of kissing again. The kisses they’d shared had been dynamite, like nothing she’d experienced before, not even with Ben. Who, she realised, she had not thought about for several days. A wash of guilt sped through her and she shook it off. Pointless feeling that way when the past was most definitely the past.
‘Not good enough,’ said Joe, shaking his shaggy head. ‘That boy is a keeper. I’m telling you this so you don’t go and make a monumental mistake like your grandmother.’
Annalisa frowned. ‘What are you talking about? What mistake could Nonna have possibly made?’
‘She married your grandfather.’ Joe sat with his shoulders squared, his weathered hands resting on his lap, with an air of quiet certainty that rattled her.
‘Come on, Joe. They were happy. Everyone knows that.’ He appeared to be in quite the mood this morning.
‘Were they?’ Joe wasn’t letting go.
‘What exactly are you getting at?’ Annalisa leaned forward across the table. ‘What secret do you think you have, Joe? The key to Nonna’s heart?’
‘As it happens, I do.’
She didn’t know what to say to that. Used to having the same conversations every day, she’d lost her place in the script.
‘Okay, I give in,’ she sighed. ‘Spill the beans.’
‘Nope.’ He took a prim sip of his coffee. ‘You ask your nonna when she gets here.’
‘She’s coming this morning? She didn’t say anything to me about it.’
‘Because she has something to tell you.’ Joe reminded her of one of those annoying garden gnomes, the way he grinned at her mischievously, full of his secrets and enjoying every minute. He checked the oversized watch on his wrist. ‘I’d be making another coffee if I were you. She’ll be here any minute.’
‘What are you two conspiring about?’ Annalisa rose to brew another cup, confident Joe knew what he was talking about.
If they were intending to gang up on her about Ed or GardenerGuy94 she’d let them have it with both barrels. No way were they going to interfere in her love life.
Joe sat enjoying a patch of sunshine like an old cat while Annalisa worked in silence, the only sound being the coffee machine and a lone magpie warbling its liquid song somewhere in the distance.
Moments later, the sound of tyres could be heard crunching up the gravel drive way too fast.
‘Told you so,’ said Joe without opening his eyes.
Sure enough, Nonna’s little car came to a skidding halt on a crooked angle and Nonna, as elegant as ever, climbed out.
‘Should she be driving anymore?’ Annalisa said out of the side of her mouth.
‘And you’re gonna be the one to tell her?’ Joe raised his eyebrows as if in alarm for Annalisa’s impending safety.
‘Morning, mia cara.’ Nonna swept in on a cloud of Red Door perfume and planted a kiss on Annalisa’s cheek. ‘My goodness, what have you got there?’
‘Ed brought her a coffee machine. He’s leaving.’ Joe spoke.
‘What?’ Nonna turned from Joe back to Annalisa. ‘Tell me that’s not true. He’s such a nice boy.’
‘When did he stop being the devil?’ Annalisa frowned with surprise. ‘Nonna, he basically shut down our family business. What’s so nice about that?’ She nodded towards the table. ‘Now sit down and drink your coffee.’
‘New table too,’ said Joe.
‘Thank you, Captain Obvious,’ said Annalisa more crossly than she meant. ‘Yes, Nonna, the table and chair set was also a gift from Ed.’
‘He likes you.’ Nonna inspected her cup of coffee as Annalisa set it down. ‘Why else would he do these things?’
‘Because he’s guilty, that’s why.’ She resumed her seat, sorry she’d invited Joe over. Her doll houses sat out of reach, beckoning her to get back to work.
‘Oh, dear.’ Nonna addressed Joe. ‘She’s about to make a mistake, isn’t she?’
‘I’m afraid so.’ Joe shook his head sorrowfully. ‘Nothing we can do to stop her.’
‘I do wish you’d reconsider.’ Nonna turned to her. ‘I married your grandfather out of a sense of duty. I was too young and Lorenzo had looked so dashing in his army uniform, off to fight in Vietnam. So mature. I promised him I’d wait and well …’ She shrugged.
‘And you did,’ Annalisa finished for her.
‘I shouldn’t have.’ Nonna looked at Joe with such tenderness Annalisa’s heart stopped cold.
‘You mean …’ She pointed to Joe, unable to form the rest of her sentence.
Nonna nodded. ‘That’s what we’ve come to tell you. I fell in love with Joe decades ago while your grandfather was overseas. Neither of us could face betraying Lorenzo like that when he returned home a war hero.’
‘Let’s not forget that the whole community would have ostracised us,’ said Joe. ‘We faced paying a very high price. We’d have lost everything.’
‘And we both loved Lorenzo in our way. I cared deeply for your grandfather, but what I feel for Joe is different. Always has been. The problem was neither of us wanted to hurt him after he’d been through so much.’
‘He was my best friend,’ Joe said, nodding his shaggy head.
‘He was mine too,’ said Nonna. ‘That’s what made breaking his heart impossible for both of us.’
‘So, you married Grandpa and Joe stayed single all these years.’
Nonna sighed and reached for Joe’s hand. ‘That’s the story in a nutshell.’
‘So, your life with Grandpa was a lie?’ Her head began to ache.
‘Oh no, don’t misunderstand me,’ said Nonna. ‘My life with Lorenzo was lovely. He was a kind man, and so gentle. He didn’t deserve the demons he brought back from the war. Joe and I supported him as best we could and, over the years, our romance tamed to friendship.’ She looked at Joe who smiled in acknowledgement. ‘I thought Joe’s feelings had changed, that we’d waited too long.’
‘I thought Nancetta had more than she could handle with Lorenzo’s mental health, then his death and your dad’s death too. Because she was busy raising you and running the store, I figured she needed a friend more than another husband,’ said Joe.
‘What changed?’ Annalisa’s head swam with the news. How had she not sensed any of this earlier?
‘A conversation I had with Ed made me realise I’d wasted enough time for a set of principles that didn’t fit the situation anymore.’ Joe patted Nonna’s hand, with eyes only for her.
‘I realised Joe had never stopped loving me, nor I him.’ They got lost in each other for an embarrassingly long moment and Annalisa did not know where to look.
‘I’d pushed my feelings for Joe somewhere deep so I could get on with my life as Lorenzo’s wife, and while it was a good life, it’s in the past now. There’s no reason to hide my feelings anymore.’
Nonna finally turned to her. ‘Darling girl, don’t waste your time holding on to the past. Ben is gone and he’d have wanted you to be as happy as we are.’
‘Please don’t
worry about me, Nonna. I’m moving on and not looking back.’ At least Nonna hadn’t delivered a lecture about online dating.
‘Good. I’m glad to hear it.’ Nonna downed her coffee in one majestic gulp. ‘The coffee was okay. You need a little practice still, but it was okay.’
‘Hey, you’re stealing my lines,’ cried Joe.
‘Come on, old man. Let’s get out of here or I’ll be late for my mahjong.’
Joe dutifully struggled to his feet. ‘Thanks for the coffee, Annalisa, and think about what I said.’ He tapped one side of his nose.
‘I will,’ she promised, planning to sit still awhile and absorb the morning’s events.
Nonna and Joe. To say she was stunned would be a total understatement. All this time they could have been together. But then Annalisa wouldn’t be a Cappelli, and nor would she be in her current situation.
The sun fell in a dappled pattern across the paved courtyard, highlighting the tufts of grass springing up in the cracks between the stones. She watched as the wind orchestrated the shadows in a delicate dance, like a puppet master with their marionettes. All the while she let everything settle someplace deep inside her. Nothing in her world seemed to be as it appeared. When did that happen?
In need of peace, she put the used cups to one side and pulled down the roller door to the workshop. There was only one place to go.
The wildflowers bobbed in the gentle wind, their colours as bright as ever. Annalisa trailed her hand in the long grass, the stalks tickling her palm, until she reached the place where she picnicked with Ed. They’d spent several days sitting in the sunshine every lunch break talking about their lives. Not kissing. She regretted that now.
Annalisa lay down on the warm earth so the only thing in her vision was the arc of blue sky and the wild grasses. She watched the long strips of cloud stretched out by the high winds, waiting for them to transmit the knowledge she so desperately needed about what she should do next.
‘What are you going to do next?’ Virginia watched as Ed packed his clothes into a canvas duffle bag. ‘What if things don’t go as planned?’
He smiled at his mother, taking in how much happier she looked after only a few days of wrangling his half-siblings.