by Diana Fraser
* * *
The Backpackers’ Lodge was closer than Maddy had imagined. It seemed nowhere was far from anywhere else in Akaroa.
The two-story colonial weatherboard house took up half a block between the road and the beach. Public access was through a side door while the front door appeared to open onto a large private garden which ran up to the road. Maddy knocked on the side door but when there was no answer, she followed the sound of voices around the back where a large veranda opened directly onto the beach, complete with comfy old chairs and rickety table whose varnish was chipped with the salt air.
It wasn’t peak holiday season yet, but even so, sandy jandals littered the porch, and towels hung limply over the railings. Early risers were already sitting out on the veranda, eating, drinking coffee and quietly talking. Maddy thought the crate of empty beer bottles at the bottom of the veranda steps probably accounted for the subdued manner.
“Hi!” said a woman, before taking a sip of coffee.
“Hi,” said Maddy, with a brief smile which faded as the woman’s companion eyed her up and down. Maddy was wearing her usual khaki shorts and faded checked shirt over a t-shirt. Feeling self-conscious, she eased her rucksack off her back. She nodded once more at the girl. “Is it okay to go on in? I’m looking for Floriana—I mean Flo.”
The girl laughed. “Floriana? Is that her name? No wonder she refused to tell us!”
Maddy groaned. She’d probably alienated Flo already.
“She’ll be in or around the office at this time of day.”
“Thanks,” said Maddy. She walked through the open French doors into a communal sitting room and went through to a wide hallway to find people everywhere with one calm, practical-looking woman in their midst. One by one people stopped talking and stared openly at her. Maddy tried to look shorter, more insignificant, to hide in her travel-worn clothes, but it made no difference. She addressed the woman at the center of the group, who she assumed to be Flo. “Hi, I’m Maddy. Are you Flo?”
“Yes, I am. Hi Maddy. Are you looking for a place to stay?”
“Yes, I met Amber at the café. She said you might have a bed free and that I might be able to help out.”
Flo didn’t look convinced. “And what kind of help can you give us?” Doubt was evident in every deliberate syllable.
Maddy was also used to that. “Anything you want. I can cook, make beds, keep house, do the accounts.”
“Accounts?” Flo’s look of skepticism turned to admiration. “You know about spreadsheets?”
Maddy’s mouth twitched. “Sure do. Love ’em. They’re my favorite software.”
Flo’s wary expression disappeared under a broad grin. “I’ve never heard anyone say that before. I’m afraid I can’t pay you. Is a free room okay instead? It’d only be a few hours a day, maybe more to begin with to get to grips with it all.”
Maddy was both relieved that she had somewhere to stay and amused that everyone she’d met in Akaroa so far had an aversion to spreadsheets. “That would be great. Amber’s arranged an interview for me with the doctor, to help him out. I’m hoping he’ll pay rather than give me free medical advice.”
Flo grinned. “He’ll probably give you both. Come on, I’ll show you your room. It’s a single, so you won’t have to put up with partying teenagers. Better give me a few phone numbers for references, to make sure you won’t run away with our paltry earnings.”
“Sure.”
“And maybe you could help me out around the hostel as well? My cleaner has gone AWOL. If you can lend me a hand this morning, I’ll show you the accounts tomorrow? How does that sound?”
Madeline grinned and shook her head in disbelief that everything was falling into place so smoothly. “Perfect!”
It was Flo’s turn to laugh. “See if you still think it’s perfect after a morning changing sheets and cleaning rooms!”
* * *
After a morning’s housework, Madeline did still feel the same. Working in the homely hostel was nowhere near as bad as working in hotels, as she’d been doing the past year. With everything in order, Maddy slipped outside into the garden and found Flo tending some herbs. The large, well-designed garden was full of color and was evidently something of an obsession with Flo. Flo looked up and thrust a bundle of tender leaves under Maddy’s nose.
“Don’t these smell amazing?”
The distinctive scent of coriander filled Maddy’s senses. “Wonderful!”
“I’ve been trying to grow it from seed for a while. This is the first season it’s taken off.”
“You’re a keen gardener, then?”
“I’m a keen gardener, cook, and decorator of houses—given the money, that is.” She indicated the house. “I guess you could call me a homemaker.”
Maddy was impressed. She couldn’t imagine being so happy in a home. She’d spent most of her life avoiding being tied down to one. “That’s cool.”
To her surprise, Flo grinned. “I doubt you believe that. Look at you. You look like you’ve just stepped out the pages of Vogue—albeit in a feature on how to dress to not stand out among the locals—and your resumé lists academic jobs, the titles of which I don’t even understand. I seriously doubt that you think homemaking is cool.”
“No!” Maddy was horrified that Flo would think she looked down on her. “No, really, I think being a homemaker is wonderful, and I envy you. And to know what makes you happy, well it doesn’t get any cooler than that.”
Flo put down her trowel and stood up, brushing the soil from her shorts. “Trouble with being a homemaker is that it doesn’t pay, so I turned the home into a business.” She glanced at Maddy. “And not a very profitable one at that, as I’m sure you’ve guessed from the state of the house. I only get the students because I keep the tariff so low. Too low.” She shook her head and looked around the garden. “I love this place and yet I don’t know how I can continue staying here. I haven’t the heart to sub-divide the section.”
Maddy followed Flo’s gaze around the parterre garden, which was sheltered by towering linden trees, their fresh green leaves flashing in the sea breeze. Low buxus hedges and gravel paths divided the different sections of the parterre which contained a profusion of flowers—white daisies, tall foxgloves, delicate wildflowers and robust annuals—and a weeping pear tree grew at its center. There was a formal herb and vegetable garden closer to the house, and white wrought-iron chairs and a table were grouped under the shade of a cherry tree.
Flo sighed as her gaze rested on the house itself, through whose open windows you could see, and hear, the sea.
“It’s too ramshackle for people wanting a weekend getaway, and too far from the action for the cheap and cheerful crowd,” she continued.
“There must be some in-between market which will pay to come here. I know I would.”
Flo looked at her thoughtfully. “And what kind of crowd are you a part of?”
Maddy shrugged. “The kind which isn’t impressed by luxury, but which values beauty and nature.”
“So, are there more of you out there?” Flo grinned.
“There’s got to be,” laughed Maddy. “I can’t be the only one!”
Flo rose and tapped her finger against her lips. “Then all we have to do is find them.” The sound of the side-door bell ringing made Flo push herself off the wall and peel off her gardening gloves. “That’ll be a few more waifs and strays looking for accommodation. The main backpackers must be full already.”
Maddy followed Flo into the house and looked around with an assessing eye. It wasn’t so much that it was falling down. The structure appeared pretty solid, but it needed paint and maybe wallpaper and some less shabby furniture to make the most of the house. It must have been grand once. There was a library at the rear, which opened into the garden. It was here that Flo lived and slept if the place got full. It was a beautifully proportioned room and still had the built-in bookshelves complete with columns whose plasterwork was coming away. Maddy shook her head. Th
ere was nothing that an investment of money wouldn’t solve. If only she could help, but how? Maddy hadn’t worked in her profession for years and had no family and few friends to call on after having cut ties with them a year earlier. As Maddy finished off her morning’s work by putting the laundry on the washing line, she felt frustrated that she couldn’t do something. But that wasn’t why she was here, was it?
By mid-day, Flo was back out in the garden again, and Maddy was ready to meet Dr. Gabriel Connelly.
“I’ll see you later, Flo!”
Flo looked up from trimming the lavender bushes. “So, you’re off to meet Gabe?”
“Yes. Amber said he goes to her café for lunch every day.”
“Yeah. Our Dr. Gabe is a creature of habit, loves his community and loves his family.”
Maddy tried not to show her surprise, but Flo’s wry arched eyebrow made her suspect that she’d failed. “He’s married then?”
“No. Not married, much to the frustration of half the population of the surrounding district. No, what I mean is that he loves his family. That’s why he goes to the café every lunchtime.”
Maddy frowned. “How is that connected?”
“Didn’t you know? Amber is Gabe’s sister.”
Maddy’s heart sank further. Fate wasn’t just taking a hand, it was scooping her up and dumping her in the middle of a Connelly spider’s web. She just hoped she’d be able to extricate herself after the six months was up.
* * *
Dr. Gabriel Connelly emerged from his house straight onto the pavement of the main road in Akaroa. As he passed the entrance to his surgery, which he’d had built as an extension to his house, he plucked the last remaining piece of card that had remained stuck to the door. It must have been Amber who’d put it there, and there would be words. Again. He loved his sister dearly but sometimes he wished she’d stop interfering in his life. Still, if this backpacker could tell an invoice from a statement, he’d hire her. At least it would get Amber and Rachel off his back.
With the morning’s surgery over he was free to enjoy fresh sea air—a definite improvement on the smell of disinfectant which lingered in his consulting rooms—and meet his sister, and whoever else of his family were around in the café where she worked. His family teased him about his routine. His big brother Max in particular. Max wasn’t happy unless he was doing something death-defying with his adventurous wife, Laura. The idea of leading a ‘small life’ as Max described it brought Max out in a sweat. But Gabe never rose to the bait. Max’s ‘big’ life didn’t hold any interest for him.
No, Gabe was more aware than most of the problems in the world, making him appreciate the quality of life he had in Akaroa. It was comfortable, it was easy, and it was useful—more than the majority of the world’s population could say.
But, on that sunny summer morning, Gabe stopped dead in the street as an apparition walked along the end of the road, looking out to sea. Correction, the apparition glided by. It was the young woman he’d seen earlier. She must have been all of six foot, as slender as a willow, and as blonde as something very blonde. Cars slowed as they passed by, a couple of road workers whistled, but she didn’t look around, didn’t seem to notice. But everyone else did. The apparition disappeared as she continued along the beach front. Gabe picked up his pace. Following beautiful women wasn’t something he’d ever done before but in this case it seemed that they were headed in the same direction, so he reckoned it was okay.
He frowned as the apparition stopped at Amber’s café and went inside where Amber greeted her warmly. She couldn’t be! Fate didn’t work out like this for him. He followed her into the café and watched as she went where Amber indicated, back outside through another door to a table on the pavement. It was his favorite table, the one Amber always kept free for him.
He raised an eyebrow in query at Amber, and she grinned and nodded. He followed the apparition—who now had a name—to the table and stopped in front of her.
“Hi!” he said. “You must be Madeleine.” He stuck out his hand.
She rose awkwardly, and the chair nearly fell back, but she caught it just in time. “Maddy, please. And you must be Dr. Connelly.” She took his hand in greeting and blushed. He liked that.
“Yes, I am. Amber said you were interested in a job, and that you have years of experience working as an accounts clerk.” Even as he said it, he wondered whether Amber was spinning him another line. Truth and Amber didn’t necessarily always go together. Sometimes a story, or an intention, won out over reality. She said in her defense that it made life just a bit nicer. Again, hard to argue with.
Maddy grimaced and shrugged apologetically. “That’s a little on the, well…”
It seemed this woman was a bit better acquainted with truth than Amber. “Untrue side?” he prompted.
“Yeah. But I do know spreadsheets.”
“I know spreadsheets. They’re those computer programs with lots of squares.”
“Yes, but I really know them, and really like them. I can do things with spreadsheets that you wouldn’t believe.”
“I bet you’re right.” She had his imagination in overdrive, and he wanted to see this in action.
“I am. So if you’ll give me a chance, say a few days, I’ll look at your accounts, and if you’re not happy with my work, I’ll leave.”
“Sounds fair enough. I guess you have some references?”
“Yes, of course.” Again that doubtful look.
“But not from accountants.”
She pulled an apologetic face. “No, more from universities.”
“Universities? Did you work in admin?”
Maddy shook her head. “Archaeology.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Archaeology? Amber didn’t say anything about that.”
She shrugged. “I don’t think I mentioned it.” She looked distinctly uncomfortable. It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about her work. “I’ve managed quite large grants, so I’m sure you’ll find I’m trustworthy.”
“I don’t doubt it. If Amber trusts you, then who am I not to?” He grinned.
“So, Dr. Connelly—”
“No! Not Dr. Connelly. Gabe. Please call me Gabe. And not Dr. Gabe. Especially not Dr. Gabe. It makes me feel like someone off a reality TV show.” His brows lowered in mock seriousness. “Dr. Gabe… family doctor, but can you trust him?” he said in a voice that the best voiceover actors would have envied.
Her lips tweaked into the beginnings of a smile. “I reckon I can trust you. Pleased to meet you, Gabe.”
He’d never heard his name sound so sexy on a woman’s lips. “And very pleased to meet you. I’m in need of someone organized and efficient.” He frowned. Could this wondrous beauty know her way around spreadsheets? “That is what you are, isn’t it?”
She seemed to shake herself mentally and did something next for which he was unprepared. She smiled, and the sun came out. Literally and figuratively. It was like a curtain had been swept away from a window, revealing a glorious day. He tried to rein in an answering smile but failed.
“That is what I am,” she agreed. “My mind seems to work differently to just about anyone else.”
“If it works differently to mine, then that’s a good thing.” Again that grin, and his heart melted. He hadn’t had such an instantaneous reaction to a woman in a long time. “You’re hired.”
Her soft sable brows shot up. “Hired? But you know nothing about me.”
“Your name is Maddy, your mind works differently to mine, and Amber trusts you. What else do I need to know?”
She shrugged. “Maybe you should check out my references to make sure I’m not some maniac?”
“Sure. You can do that for me.”
“You want me to check out my own references?”
“Yeah. If you get time after you’ve tried to sort out my paperwork.”
She laughed.
“But before that, we need to eat. You’ll need all your energy to sort out my inv
oicing system.”
“So you do have a system, then?”
He grimaced. “If you can call handwritten notes on a spike a system, then yes, I have a system.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Is everyone too busy, or too artistic to concern themselves with order and efficiency here?”
He nodded. “That’s the inhabitants of Akaroa in a nutshell. Just as well you’re here. You should stay. We need you.”
The smile disappeared. He’d said something wrong, but he’d no idea what. She turned away, and her curtain of hair swung with her, hiding her expression.
“Anyway,” he continued, looking over at Amber. “Let’s eat, and we can get to know each other before I open the doors and reveal my messy life.”
He continued talking as they waited for Amber, disappointed that the brief bright ease had gone, robbed by something he’d said, and determined to make it reveal itself again.
They sat at his usual table outside on the street. He liked to sit out on the sidewalk where people could see him, and ask him about their ailments if they couldn’t pay. Not that he’d have made them. The invoices for those who’d have struggled to pay would never have made it to the spike. But this lunchtime, he hoped that no one would stop and take his attention from the beautiful woman who sat opposite, looking a little uncomfortable and nervous. Not surprising considering most of the cafe was watching her. But she didn’t meet anyone’s eyes. No doubt some self-preservation instinct because she evidently didn’t like the attention. Beautiful and unaware, he liked that. Then she turned to look out at the bay, and he could admire her face with its high cheekbones, and well-defined jawline and nose. It was a strong face, a spare face, no surplus flesh to mar or soften its edges, but it was also a sad face. This woman had suffered. For all the beauty of her sunshine smile, she wasn’t happy. Damn. If there was anything more attractive to him than a beautiful woman, it was a sad and mysterious one.
“What will you have?” Amber asked, looking very pleased with herself.
“The usual, please.” His sister had every right to look pleased; she’d introduced him to the kind of woman he adored, and she knew it. But it was pretty galling to have your love life arranged for you by your kid sister.