No Place Like You

by Marnie St Clair

  ‘We don’t need your help. We can organise our own fundraiser, thank you very much,’ Katie added with such blatant animosity that Lily cringed.

  Hot red shame washed over her, flushing her cheeks and neck, prickling at her eyes and throat. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t done anything wrong, it didn’t matter that she’d already known they didn’t like her, it was rejection and it hurt. ‘Offer’s on the table. I’ll go stack the dishwasher. Unless there’s something else you’d prefer me to do, Maureen?’ She was pretty sure she’d managed to come across as coolly disinterested, and that was something to be grateful for.

  She started towards the kitchen.

  How stupid to even offer. The words had just popped out of her mouth, as if she’d been a part of the conversation. Clearly she wasn’t. Clearly she never would be.

  ‘Wait a minute, Lily.’

  Lily forced herself to stop and turn. Maureen was staring hard at Helen, but shifted her eyes to Lily. ‘It’s a generous offer. And a useful one. I think we have to consider it.’

  ‘No, we don’t, Maureen,’ Louise admonished from her side.

  ‘We’re a committee, aren’t we? Let’s vote on it.’ Maureen, at her implacable best. ‘All in favour of taking Lily up on her generosity, raise your hand,’ she said, hand already in the air.

  She knew Maureen was only trying to help, but this was only adding to her humiliation. It wasn’t like the voting was in any way unpredictable. Maureen might give her a go, but no one else would.

  Just as anticipated, no one stirred an inch.

  Lily crossed her arms, stared down at her boots. This was so stupid. It was just a spur of the moment offer. She shouldn’t care if they used Mirabook or not. But like it or not, she did.

  ‘Can I remind my fellow committee members that the purpose of the fundraiser is to build facilities for our town, and that they should put any personal feelings to the side and consider what is at stake here.’ Stern words from Maureen, which usually got results.

  Not this time though. Of course. Dislike for Lily would outweigh any broader principles.

  ‘It’s not like it’s our only option,’ Katie said in sudden heated defence. ‘We’ve barely started discussing ideas. Something better is bound to come up.’

  ‘Does anyone have a better idea?’

  Silence.

  ‘Does anyone really think something better will pop up?’

  Silence.

  ‘Helen, this was your idea. You thought it was a good one. Now we have a way of making it happen. Are you honestly going to sit there and allow the vote to go like this?’

  Of course she was.

  Honestly, if the committee wanted to cut off their nose to spite their face, she’d leave them to it. She was on the verge of continuing to the kitchen when Helen slowly raised her hand. She glared at Lily, obviously resenting the position she was in. ‘It’s in the best interest of the town,’ she said, as if Lily had somehow misunderstood and interpreted this as some kind of gesture of support. As if she hadn’t got how much Helen hated voting yes.

  ‘Thank you, Helen. Ladies?’ Maureen turned to Louise and Katie, but first Louise and then Katie shook their heads.

  ‘Tied. We’ll have to refer to our fifth member.’

  Chapter 8

  Josh took one look at the scene in front of him and wished like hell that retreat was an option. Given that he was being pinned in place by five pairs of eyes, sneaking out wasn’t going to be possible.

  The tension in the café was palpable. Lily was standing near the table where the other four were seated, arms wrapped across her chest, broom clutched within. He studiously avoided meeting her eyes. He wasn’t ready by half to meet those dark almond-shaped pools. Maureen looked like a stern schoolmarm; hand in the air, expression fierce. But not as fierce as his normally even-tempered mother. Helen—morose and cranky, but what was new—was staring fixedly at a little vase of flowers on the table in front of her, and Katie’s intense hazel gaze was beseeching him to ride to the rescue, though exactly how he was supposed to play the role of knight in shining armour was unclear.

  What the hell was going on?

  ‘Afternoon ladies,’ he said neutrally.

  ‘Speak of the devil,’ said Maureen.

  His hand went to the back of his neck in a gesture that was pure defence.

  ‘Yep, that’s you, bucko. The committee is voting on whether to proceed or not with a fundraising initiative, and it’s a tie. We need you to break it.’

  Hell no. The last thing he wanted was to be forced to weigh in. In fact, one of the conditions of his involvement in the committee was that he didn’t have to actually be involved. Why did he have the feeling bringing that up now would get him precisely nowhere? He expelled a breath and approached the table.

  ‘Either way I’m going to be the bad guy, aren’t I?’

  ‘Stop whinging. It’s unbecoming,’ Maureen said matter-of-factly. ‘The situation is this: Helen had the excellent idea of some kind of auction ball to raise money for the new hall. The problem being that, since the hall burnt down, we don’t have a sufficiently large space at the moment. Lily has suggested we use the ballroom at Mirabook …’

  Josh felt like he’d been whacked around the head with a two-by-four.

  Lily had suggested using Mirabook?

  He hated it. Right off the bat, he hated it. Mirabook was his. It belonged to him. Or near enough did. And now Lily wanted to play hostess? He shouldn’t have given her that extra month. What had he been thinking? He should have known that if he took his eye off the ball for a second, Lily’d find some way to weasel her way back in. He didn’t want her getting too cosy out there, and he didn’t want her getting too cosy in here.

  No. His answer was no.

  Maureen was still talking. He attempted to zone back in. ‘… raise a lot of money, obviously, both the auction and tickets for the dinner-dance. But two voted for, two voted against, and we need you to resolve the situation.’

  He could do that. Easy. No. Hell no. He just needed to work out a way to make it sound reasonable.

  ‘Who voted against it?’ he asked, buying more time to get his story straight.

  ‘Maureen and Helen voted in favour, Katie and I against,’ his mum said. Her message was clear—a good son would back his mother up. Well, no arguments there.

  He didn’t need to ask why his mum didn’t support the idea. They’d never talked about it, but he knew even before that afternoon, she’d always had reservations about Lily. And since that day … She must hate Lily—the Schofields—for the way they’d treated his father as much as Josh did.

  He turned to Katie. ‘Why did you vote against it?’

  ‘Well …’ she started, eyes wide and looking just the tiniest bit panicked at being put on the spot.

  As she scrambled to find an excuse, he wondered what she was going to come up with. He knew exactly why she’d voted the way she had, and it had nothing to do with the idea of the charity auction ball or Mirabook itself. As with his mum, it was all about Lily.

  ‘I suppose my biggest concern was drink driving. Mirabook is a little way from town,’ she extemporised.

  ‘That’s actually a good point,’ Lily agreed slowly.

  It was. But not insurmountable. They could always run a bus out and back, if required.

  He wasn’t really about to knock down a reasonable argument as to why they shouldn’t have the ball out there, was he?

  The initial shock was fading and rational thought was returning. Enough that he could acknowledge that if he owned Mirabook already, this would be exactly the kind of thing he would have suggested. Should it matter that Lily had been the one to offer?

  He looked at her then. She gave him a sad little half-smile, like she knew exactly how much he wanted to say no. It cut him to the quick, and he resented her all the more. He didn’t owe her anything.

  ‘Lily?’ he queried.

  She shrugged, as if it were nothing. ‘They need a big
space, I’ve got a big space.’

  Simple, direct answer, but there was no way her underlying motivation was anywhere near that simple or direct. For whatever reason, this was important to her.

  ‘It’s in the best interest of the town,’ Maureen jumped in. ‘It’s our best chance to raise money, but not just that. As Katie pointed out,’ Maureen paused to direct a stern glance at Katie, ‘we need a big shindig. We all agree on that. People who have no interest in the bidding can still come and have a great night out. It’ll bring our community together.’

  Josh suppressed a groan. Maureen was right. Every damn word. This was exactly what Yarrow needed. Things had been tough, farmers and their families were feeling it. He was doing what he could to get them through it, but some downtime among friends, a chance to have a few drinks and a laugh could provide something all the business advice in the world couldn’t. And if it was also a successful fundraiser so that they could start to rebuild the hall, all the more reason to say yes.

  His feelings versus what he knew to be the right decision for the town? No contest. He didn’t like it, and his mum was going to be incredibly peeved with him, but when considered like that, there was no question which way he’d go.

  His eyes found and held Lily’s. ‘It’s a yes from me.’

  Her shock at his yes vote was all over her face. Then she smiled at him, open and radiant, and he wished it didn’t punch him in the guts the way it did.

  ‘So long as it takes place within the month,’ he added.

  ‘A month?’ Helen queried sharply.

  Yes, because that’s how long Lily’s got at Mirabook.

  He turned his attention to the table, fleeting over his mother’s fury. ‘If we can get a deposit to Luke Horridge by the end of September, we can secure him as the builder to start in November.’ It was a lie, a total fabrication. Luke was a mate but he had no idea what his plans were for the next few months. But since he was everyone’s preferred builder, his availability would be a powerful factor.

  Part of him was shocked and appalled at what had just come out his mouth. He’d built a name for himself around honesty. It was a core part of who he was. Lily had been back in town for less than a week, and he was not only keeping things from her but lying to people he’d known all his life. She was messing with his head. Like always.

  ‘If that’s not going to be possible, we should focus on an idea that can generate some money faster. After all, the idea is to rebuild as soon as possible.’

  ‘I suppose that’s correct,’ agreed Maureen slowly. ‘Does that timing work for you, Lily?’

  She didn’t hesitate long. ‘Yes, but it’ll be tight. There’s a lot to do. The house needs a thorough clean, if nothing else. And a lot more, if we want it to look good on the night.’

  ‘I’ll help.’ The words were out his mouth before he’d thought them through.

  Great. Not only had he turned into a liar, but an impulsive liar.

  ‘You’re too busy,’ his mum retorted immediately.

  He shot a quick glance in her direction. True, he was busy. Between running his own properties and advising other farms in the area, his schedule was pretty full. But that wasn’t why his mum had said it.

  ‘One more thing won’t hurt,’ he countered.

  It was in his interests to be out there. That must have been why he said he’d help. At the end of the day, he’d have to live with anything Lily did to Mirabook. At least this way, he’d be part of the process. He could keep an eye on things, make sure everything was done right, and see that he didn’t inherit anything he didn’t want. He didn’t have too much to say about Lily painting one of the bedrooms white, but she might have other ideas. With Lily, who could know?

  ‘Okay. I have to get back to work. We done here?’

  ‘Yes. Thank you, Josh,’ said Maureen. She, at least, was well pleased by the way things had turned out.

  He raised his hand in farewell and headed towards the door.

  ‘You better take a seat, Lily. We have a lot to discuss,’ he heard Maureen say from behind him.

  And he thought he got why this was so important to Lily. This was much more to this than ‘They need a big space, I’ve got a big space’. She wanted a seat at that table.

  Out in the brisk afternoon, he turned that over in his head.

  It wasn’t good. It could only mean one thing—Lily thought she was staying. A possibility he’d not really considered. She’d had a shitty year, he couldn’t deny, and this was supposed to be a rest before she went back to her life in Sydney. But why else would she have asked all those questions about Helen and Katie yesterday? Why would she care if she didn’t intend to stay? And offering Mirabook? Volunteering to do all that work to raise money for a hall she was unlikely to ever use? That wasn’t the behaviour of someone who was planning to take off at any second.

  He’d only considered the situation from his own point of view. In his head, Lily was gone in a month—if not before. He would have thought she’d be lucky to last the month out here in the sticks. But he realised that he had no idea what Lily’s plans were. Last he’d heard, she didn’t have any. Clearly things had changed.

  She couldn’t really want to stay. There was nothing for her here. Probably this was just another of her caprices.

  In the end, it didn’t matter what her plans were, because she wasn’t the one holding the cards. But still, he better talk to her. Seemed like the time had come to tell her about her limited life at Mirabook.

  They could do a little more exorcising while he was at it.

  ***

  As soon as she got home, Lily raced up the hall to the ballroom.

  She didn’t know this room well—it wasn’t a place she’d visited much as a child. What five-year old wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the scale? It must be twenty metres long and at least ten metres wide. Ceilings that felt sky-high only added to the vastness. The room had been built a generation after the original house, she remembered hearing. The folly of one of her ancestors who’d had more money than sense.

  In contrast to the enormity of the space, the room was sparsely furnished; groupings of armchairs and side tables were clumped randomly throughout, as if no one had really known what to do with them. She couldn’t imagine anyone actually choosing to come in here for a cup of tea. Of course, that’s not what it had been designed for. It’d been designed for dancing.

  It was surreal to think that in a little over three weeks, the date they’d set for the ball, this room would be full. Tables of people eating, drinking, laughing and, hopefully, spending up big at whatever auction items were put up. And then, dancing!

  She turned about in a circle, letting herself feel the room, letting her designer’s eye imagine the way it could look. The icy mint-green on the walls would have to go. Too cold for any room, let alone one this size. She replaced it in her mind with a warm white. Perfect.

  But before painting, the walls would need washing and there were a couple of places where the plaster would need patching up. In a room this size, that would take time. By herself, working full-time, two weeks maybe. But Saxon would be here soon and he was pretty useful, and Josh had said he’d help. Tight, but doable, she decided.

  The parquet wooden floors could stay exactly as they were. It’d be a crime to do anything to these floors except maintain them in perfect condition.

  The curtains—yuck. She just couldn’t come at brocade. But with little time and next to no money, she’d be hard-pressed to find alternatives. Maybe she’d just remove them altogether.

  Walls and floors, but those were just the basics. She also needed to start thinking in terms of the specifics of the Spring Ball, as she’d already dubbed it. This was her event. An evening she was hosting in her own home. She wanted to make it special.

  Gosh, it was going to be a whole lot of work for one event.

  Unless … Unless it wasn’t just one event …

  She finally grasped the idea that had been floating around at the
edge of her consciousness. And it was perfect. Indulging in a Sound of Music moment, she flung her arms out, closed her eyes and spun around.

  ***

  An hour later, Lily was sitting at the kitchen table, in the early stages of a design frenzy. She mixed and stroked paints across the page, trying to get the colours just right, while this idea she’d had, this dream, swirled around and around in her mind.

  When she heard the knock, she knew exactly who it’d be. After the drama of the afternoon, she’d been expecting him. That’d been one intense moment back there, and Josh had been as caught up in it as the rest of them. He’d voted yes—she still couldn’t believe that—but she knew he had more to say.

  And of course, there were other reasons why he might be coming to see her.

  She walked down the hall, heart accelerating with every step, anticipation curling around and tugging at her belly as she let herself imagine what might happen tonight.

  More? God, she really hoped so. She’d been in a state of almost constant nervous elevation since she’d met him down at the fence. There was no denying he set her senses on fire, but at the same time … She wished she understood a bit more where he was coming from.

  For her it was stunningly simple—she wanted him. From the moment he’d kissed her, she’d just known he was it for her. Maybe she’d known it all along, and that kiss had just been the thing that had reawakened her, like Sleeping Beauty or something.

  But she had no idea what he wanted from her. She suspected it was nothing like the simplicity of her feelings.

  Last week, on her first day working at the Lemon Tree, she’d said to him that she thought he didn’t like her. It was still true. But then other times, he was so considerate and caring. Not to mention the way he kissed … And underneath it all, deep underneath, he was angry. So angry. She could feel it in him, buried deep and tightly controlled, but there just the same. He hadn’t always been like that.

  She wasn’t expecting any grand declarations—that was ridiculous, they’d only been … involved, if that’s what they were, for little over a week—but some acknowledgement that something had started between them, whatever it was, would be nice. Just so she was sure of that much at least. But hey, it was early days. No doubt this was all normal for this stage of a relationship.