‘Not everyone is who they say they are online, you know. Don’t get your hopes up.’
‘Nah, she’s legit. We’re already Facebook friends. I’ve checked her out.’
‘Ah, well if Facebook says so, then it must be,’ he said with a tone of sarcasm.
‘You should try Tinder as well. Go on, download the app. Might help you meet some new women down south, it’s not as populated as in the city, you know. You might not be able to rely on your usual good looks, charm, and kitchen skills.’ He gave his brother a light punch in the arm.
He’d never considered doing that before. Had never needed to, to be honest. His social life had always been as full as his stomach after a three-course meal.
Stefan took Luca’s phone and went to the app store. ‘Here. I’ll do it for you.’
Luca grabbed it. ‘No.’
‘C’mon, man.’
‘No.’ He sighed. Maybe he’d look into it later, once the restaurant was set up and he was in a routine. ‘Not right now.’
Not while he had a business to launch, a house to move into, and... a friend from the past he wanted to get to know all over again.
Stefan sighed too. ‘Okay, but you’re missing out. It’s so much fun. Except when you get the crazy weirdos who match and unmatch you, then the ones who start chatting and get all clingy, then the ones who ask you a billion questions like you’re going for some job interview, and then the ones who—’
‘Sounds delightful.’
Stefan laughed. ‘You’re even speaking like an old man.’ He put down his phone and looked at his brother. ‘You’re really doing this, aren’t you. The house and business. Settling down.’
He shrugged. ‘Don’t know if I’d call it settling down. But planting some roots, yes.’
‘Well, good for you then. I look forwards to seeing the place. You’re absolutely sure about it, this... chicken-farm place?’
‘Yep.’
‘And the premises, sounds like you’ve got the most sought-after location in the town.’
Luca nodded. ‘Thanks for investing, I do appreciate it.’
Stefan shrugged. ‘It was a no-brainer. Good location, gap in the market, experienced chef... I know you can do it.’
The slight irritation at his brother’s irresponsible ways (that reminded him of how he used to be before his mother’s death) dissolved, and a sense of gratitude washed over him. His parents may be gone, but his brother was still here. And he believed in him, unlike many others who didn’t think he could stick to anything. ‘Thanks.’ He patted him on the back. Then, leaned in closer...
‘No more kisses!’ Stefan held out his hands like a barrier and leaned back.
Luca laughed. ‘Ha-ha, scared you there for a minute, didn’t I?’
Stefan stood. ‘Next birthday I’ll be wearing a mask and full-body armour.’ He went to the kitchen. ‘Coffee?’
Luca stood too. ‘Let me shout you one somewhere. It is your birthday.’
Stefan smiled. ‘Let’s go.’
‘But no cake. Save your appetite for tonight, I have it on good authority there’ll be a cake to remember.’ He winked.
Stefan’s smile widened.
So did Luca’s. He had organised a cake to be made that looked like a stack of hundred-dollar notes. ‘Afterwards, do you mind if I drive over to Mum’s house?’ Luca said quietly, not wanting to dampen his brother’s joyful mood, but needing to ask. ‘You can come if you want, or stay here. Up to you.’
Luca had been wanting to clear the house and get it rented out, but Stefan kept putting things off, citing the excuse of not enough time yet to sort through everything. Even though they’d had plenty of time to prepare before her death, they hadn’t wanted to waste any of it, choosing to spend that time with their mother and deal with the consequences afterwards.
‘Today?’
‘I have to get back by dinner tomorrow, got a lot to organise for Monday. I’ll probably go round tomorrow too, but would like to get a good look at things while I’m here and see what needs to be done and what I can take with me to my new place. Once my restaurant opens in six weeks, I won’t have as many opportunities.’ Truth was, he also wanted to feel close to his mother again. Look at the mementos lying around, the photos on the wall, and inhale the scent that he could never quite decipher but that smelled like his mother and made him feel at peace. He hoped for some kind of sign from her that he was doing the right thing and that everything would work out well. He didn’t know how, or if that was even possible, though he believed in the afterlife... he just felt he needed to be there. Be in the family home, before he created his new home.
‘I’ll see how I feel after my coffee,’ Stefan said, and the brothers went off in search of the world’s best birthday mocha.
***
Just over ninety minutes later, Luca arrived at his mother’s house, on his own. He checked the letterbox and removed some junk mail, despite there being a no junk mail sign, then walked up the old concrete pathway to the front door. The warm, floaty, floral scent hit him as soon as he entered, and he had to steady himself with a hand against the doorframe. At first it was confronting, then comforting. He turned on lights, opened windows, and wandered from room to room.
‘Hi, Mum,’ he whispered. ‘Just checking up on things.’
He entered the home workroom, or joyroom as his mother had called it, where she drew her designs and sewed and created. ‘It’s not work,’ she would say. ‘It’s my joy.’
A dressmakers’ mannequin stood proudly in the corner, wearing one of her dresses, a simple and elegant ivory satin dress with an embellished V-shaped bodice and droplets of sparkling gems hanging from the A-line hem. Luca had grown used to dressmakers’ terminology almost as much as culinary terminology, his mother often discussing her dresses and asking for opinions. He slowly reached out his hand, touching the soft material to his fingers, knowing his mother’s hands had done the same thing at some point.
He could use one of the rooms at Iona to store his mother’s important belongings. He had the space. Maybe a memory room. But... as much as it would be nice, it would be heartbreaking too. It might be easier to keep a few small things around to honour her memory, as he’d done with his father, and keep the rest in storage somewhere. But his mother’s memories weren’t small things. Dresses took up a lot of room, and she had four one-off designs in this room that the new owners of Teadora were not allowed to take, the three others hanging from a rack near the mannequin. He was happy for others to buy and reuse her main designs, but not the special one-of-a-kind dresses she’d kept to herself for her own satisfaction. Luca knew deep inside that she’d hoped her sons would find partners and she could give the dresses to them and have them tailor-made to fit, when they finally tied the knot. A wave of sadness overwhelmed him as he realised she would never get to see that day, if it ever came, for him and for Stefan.
His hand trembled as he touched the other dresses, one by one, the fabric swaying gently after he removed his hand, as though a light breeze had entered the room. His legs weakened, and he let them soften and sat on the floor, his arms around his knees. He looked up at the photos on the wall of models wearing the dresses, the framed drawings of her trademark designs, and a photo of his mother accepting an award.
He covered his eyes with his hand as they warmed and stung with fresh tears. He let them fall softy, freely, quietly, down his cheeks.
After a few moments he stood and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, and grabbed a protective clothing bag from the rack. He placed a dress inside it, and did the same for the other two. When they were put away, he eyed the mannequin. He didn’t want to remove the display, but needed to protect the dress. Carefully, he unzipped the dress and helped it fall to the ground. He lifted the mannequin out and put it aside, then slid the dress inside the protective bag.
He took the dresses to his car and placed them in the boot, then came back inside for the mannequin which he had to disassemble to fit in
his car. He closed the boot with a muffled clunk. There. Done. Progress made.
It was something, at least. Something important. He would bring them to Tarrin’s Bay and keep them safely in his care. He went back inside to close windows and lock up. The rest would have to wait, he couldn’t handle anything more today. And he had a brother to spend time with, right here, now in the present.
Driving back to the city, Luca slowed when he rounded the corner into a street containing various shops and cafes. He pulled over quickly for a moment so he could get a look. He glanced to the left. His mother’s old bridal store. ‘Under New Management’ a sign near the door said. He chuckled, thinking that such a sign would probably reduce their business, as his mother and her designs had been the drawcard for many. Now that she wasn’t there, they would have to rely on her existing dresses and designs, and when fashion trends demanded new designs, someone else would have to create them, or they would have to order in dresses from other suppliers and designers. His mother’s business would go on in her memory, and he was glad for that, but it would never be the same without her.
A car horn beeped, and he returned abruptly to the present moment, turning his head to see a delivery van driver gesturing to where he was stopped. ‘Can’t you read the sign? No parking, delivery vehicles only. Move!’ the driver called out.
He waved an apology and drove forwards. It was only when he was parked again near his brother’s apartment block when he chuckled again. He had hoped for a sign, and had found two. ‘Under new management’, and ‘no parking’. Maybe that was his mother’s sense of humour coming through, telling him everything would work out.
Either way, it was nice to think it were true.
***
Luca strained to open his eyes the next morning, he rolled over, reached for his phone then realised he’d left it charging in Stefan’s kitchen. He checked his watch, then sat bolt upright. ‘Damn.’ He hadn’t expected to sleep in so late, but had lain awake for who knows how long the night before, after getting back from the party and ushering Stefan to his bed to sleep off the alcohol.
He got up and went to enter the bathroom, but the scent of toast and coffee caught his attention. ‘Up already?’ he called, eyeing Stefan in the kitchen at the end of the hallway. ‘I thought I’d have to tip a bucket of water over you, you were practically asleep before you hit the pillow. Feel okay?’
‘I feel great. And it’s a delightful day for food, fun, and an afternoon date.’ He grinned widely. ‘And that rhymed.’
‘Ah yes, something to look forwards to, eh?’ Luca rubbed at his eyes. ‘And now who’s speaking like an old man.’
‘Me, my brother, me indeed.’
He chuckled as he went to the bathroom and when he arrived in the kitchen, sat at the counter in front of a plate of vegemite toast. ‘You didn’t have to go to so much trouble. Especially as it’s your birthday,’ he joked, taking a bite of crispy toast.
‘It’s the least I could do, after the show you put on last night, and that cake, wow, how will you outdo that next year?’ He laughed.
He shrugged. ‘Good thing I have a year to think about it.’
‘Speaking of thinking... you got me thinking,’ Stefan said, taking a seat on the one other bar stool. ‘You’re right. We are getting older. I’m going to take life a bit more seriously now. Or try to.’
‘Yeah?’ Luca raised his eyebrows.
‘I figured I put so much effort into my career, what could happen if I paid as much attention to my personal life.’
‘Agreed.’
‘So tonight, I won’t even sleep with her. Even if she wants to. I’ll say “No, not on the first date, I’m not that kind of guy”.’
‘Good for you, bro. And what if there’s a second date?’
‘Second date is fine. One bit of progress at a time, man, sheesh.’ He sipped his coffee and gave a shake of his head.
A strange chime sounded. ‘Is that your phone?’ Luca glanced at Stefan, but then looked at his phone next to the kettle, plugged into the power point, where the sound had strangely come from.
‘Nope. Must be yours.’ Stefan seemed to be hiding behind his coffee mug.
Luca picked up his phone to find a stream of notifications displayed on the lock screen. All from Tinder. ‘What the?’ he glared at Stefan. ‘You didn’t.’
He nodded. ‘I did.’
‘Argh.’ Luca scrolled down through the messages, most saying ‘you have a new match!’ or ‘so-and-so sent you a message’.
‘You made a profile for me?’ he asked.
Stefan nodded. ‘It’s easy, it just links to your Facebook.’
‘But how...’
‘C’mon man, I know your password is Viaţamergeînainte7777.’ He shrugged. ‘What Dad used to always say, plus his favourite number, and one for each member of the family.’
Luca’s eyes widened; he wasn’t sure he was more taken aback by his brother setting up his dating profile or by him guessing his password.
‘I laughed when it worked. Because mine is similar, same phrase but different numbers at the end.’ He covered his mouth. ‘Oops. Now I’ll probably have to change it so you don’t guess mine and log into my profile in revenge.’
All Luca was concerned with right now was seeing what damage his brother had done. He swiped one of the notifications and the Tinder app opened. ‘Is this going to show on my Facebook?’
‘Nope, no one will know.’
‘Can the Tinder people see my Facebook stuff?’
‘Nope, only if you friend them.’
A screen appeared showing that he had three matches, and two messages.
Stefan laughed as he peered at Luca’s phone. ‘Looks like Sunday mornings are the perfect time for connecting with some new people online, I only did this an hour ago!’
‘I don’t want to chat with anyone I haven’t met.’ He pushed his phone away.
‘Luckily I took the liberty of doing it for you. Getting you started, at least.’ He hid behind his mug again.
‘Stefan!’ Luca reclaimed his phone and opened one of the messages.
Hi, nice profile. You’re a chef?
Sure am.
Cool. What’s your favourite food?
‘My favourite food?’ Luca furrowed his brow. ‘I don’t have time for this right now.’
‘Reply. It could be fun.’
‘Now if I don’t, she’s going to think I’m one of those arseholes who lead women on and then ignore them.’
‘Then reply.’
He sighed. ‘One reply, then I’m going to forget about it and get on with what I have to do today.’
He typed in: Meat pies.
Which wasn’t a complete lie, he really liked a good meat pie, but they were by no means his favourite food.
A reply came in pretty quickly: Hmm. I thought it would be something more fancy.
He replied again: Meat pies with gravy. He added a wink emoticon.
She replied with a ‘meh’ emoji, followed by: I’m a vegetarian.
Stefan burst out laughing. ‘This is awesome!’
‘No it’s not.’ Luca exited the message and went to the other one, a woman with dark brown glossy hair whose face was decorated digitally with one of those bizarre animal noses and whiskers. ‘What the hell?’
Hi. Are you looking for a serious relationship or just a hook-up?
‘Wow, straight into it.’ Luca shook his head. ‘I’m not going to answer that, and I’m not going to date someone who thinks they look cute with fake animal noses.’ He briefly glanced at the other match who had not yet sent a message. Her picture was without fake animal noses, but she was sporting an unattractive pout. He put his phone to the side. ‘So, moving on... would you like to come with me to the house today? I’m going to pick up a few more things of Mum’s to take back with me. I can store them at the new place.’
Stefan shrugged, took a deep breath. ‘Why not.’
‘Yeah? You’ll come?’
He nodd
ed. ‘I’d like to keep something of hers here too. Don’t know what yet, but something.’
‘Of course. Whatever you want.’ Luca stood and went to the fridge, withdrawing some eggs, which made him think of Hannah and the chooks. ‘And how about an omelette to accompany this delightful toast?’ he asked.
‘Thought you’d never ask.’ Stefan smiled.
Luca grinned, placing the eggs on the counter then grabbing some mushrooms and an onion. They were a bit on the way out, but still edible enough.
As the vegetables sautéed, he patted his brother’s back. ‘It’s going to be a good day. We can do this.’
Stefan nodded, his lips clamping together.
‘I’m glad you’re coming.’
Stefan downed the rest of his coffee then said, ‘Viaţa merge înainte.’
Luca nodded in agreement. He held out a fist and Stefan pushed against it with his own. ‘Indeed it does, my brother. Life goes on. Starting today.’
Chapter 14
By Sunday afternoon, Hannah had completed about half of what she intended to do, and spent the other half distracted by more photos and sentimental items. She’d already gone through one box of tissues.
It was time to let some things go.
She packed up some old toys from her childhood, but kept a doll her grandma had made, and a toy tractor that she had loved filling up with dirt and tipping all over things. She hoped that one day she’d have a child who would love it just as much... but would hopefully refrain from tipping dirt all over things.
She sighed, taking the bags to the car.
She also packed up old clothes she no longer wore, including some farm-esque clothing that she wouldn’t need in Sydney. Hannah drove to the nearest donation bin and pushed the bags inside the overflowing container. When that was done, she picked up a takeaway mocha and an almond friand just before the cafe closed. She’d only just finished the friand, realising she hadn’t eaten for hours, when the sound of a helicopter buzzed overhead. It flew in the direction of the lookout.
Her eyebrows drawing close together, she wandered up the street and towards Lookout Point. Maybe there was a shark sighting, although they weren’t common around this time of year, but anything was possible. When she realised several people were gathered around the side of the lookout, not taking photos of the view but peering and pointing, she knew something was up.
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