A Chance of Stormy Weather

by Tricia Stringer

  “So tell me, mistress of the bath. Do your services run to back scrubs?”

  “They might.” She smiled as he scrunched his long legs up and turned around in the bath.

  Paula reached for the soap and face washer just as the room was illuminated by another flash of lightning. The accompanying clap of thunder drowned her scream as a little grey body whizzed out from underneath the cloth and slipped into the bath.

  CHAPTER

  3

  The next morning rain continued to fall.

  Dan turned back from the kitchen window where he’d been watching the weather for the last five minutes. “Looks like I get to take you to town. No way we can get into the paddocks for a day or so if this keeps up. We’d better try to fix this door and see what else needs doing before your folks get here. We don’t want them having any surprises in the bath.”

  Paula laughed and hugged him. The mouse in the bath seemed funny now but last night had been a nightmare. She’d jumped from the bath and it had taken Dan some time to work out what had driven his wife screaming from his arms. Eventually he’d managed to calm her down, wrap her in a towel and sit her by the fire while he dealt with the mouse.

  Much later, she had lain awake listening to Dan’s gentle breathing and the rain beating down overhead. It had seemed as if they were alone in the world, in their own little cocoon, safe and warm from the storm outside, but it had taken her a long time to go to sleep. There were still mice roaming freely in her house.

  Now in the light of day, with Dan beside her, it didn’t seem so bad.

  Paula kissed him and stepped back. “I’ll tidy myself up a bit.”

  “You look fine to me.” He reached for her but she slipped away.

  “Won’t be long.”

  * * *

  Dan watched her disappear through the door. Her fair hair swished around her face as she walked. She might look small but she was no pushover. He sensed a deeper resilience in Paula. He’d seen it in her eyes the day he’d asked her to be sure she could accept his way of life before she said yes to being his wife. Some might say she had an air of aloofness but beneath that Dan had discovered a loving warmth along with feisty determination. She was just what he needed.

  He still found it hard to believe that he’d been fortunate enough to find her. He’d never had much luck with women in the past. Rowena accused him of not trying hard enough to make a commitment. As if she could talk. She had male friends but no close relationships, as far as Dan knew.

  He switched on the kettle for a cuppa and smiled to himself. Rowena was a very determined woman. He wasn’t sure if there was a man who would be strong enough to take her on.

  Dan had been only three when his mother was killed in a car accident and Rowena had moved in to look after him and his father. His father, Daniel, had been a quiet, reserved man who never got over the loss of his wife. Rowena had stepped into the breach and cared for both of them. She had been the one to insist that Dan be sent to boarding school to broaden his outlook.

  Each holiday he had returned home to a father who was visibly fading. After his time away there had only been a few more years working together, back on the farm, before his father became too weak to work and finally died at fifty.

  Rowena had continued to manage the house and encouraged Dan to keep up with his friends, especially the girls who lived locally. Girls had been an enigma to him, perhaps because he had no sisters or because he had spent four years in an all-male boarding school. He didn’t really know why, he just didn’t know the right moves to make back then.

  There hadn’t been anyone he liked well enough to romance from his point of view, although his mate Bruce always teased him that the girls fancied him. There were a couple of local girls he’d had some fun with but they had gone off to uni and he only caught up with them at Christmas and parties and, gradually, they’d lost touch.

  There had been one other woman, who he’d thought could have been the one, but he didn’t want to remind himself of that relationship now. He frowned. Rowena had said he was a fool to marry Paula when he had unfinished business. It would be terrible if he jeopardised his future by not being honest but there was no need. He could sort things out.

  “That’s a serious face.” Paula had returned.

  He loved that she wore only scant makeup, a splash of lipstick and a hint of mascara. She was beautiful and looking huggable in snug jeans and a brown leather jacket.

  She picked up the notepad from the kitchen table and waved it under his nose playfully. “I’ve made a list of food we need. Your aunt has been very kind but I really should find out how to take myself to the shops and back. There are other things we need as well.”

  Dan took it and read the list. “This won’t be enough food.” He laughed. “You might not get a chance to go back into town for a while. We don’t have a corner store out here.”

  “I know.” Paula snatched back the note. “I am capable of shopping.”

  Dan wrapped her in his arms. “I’m just worried that you’ll dish up some of that cement or paint on the list if we run out of real food.” She struggled but he wouldn’t let her go. She relaxed against him. The top of her head only reached his shoulder but she nestled against him in a perfect fit. This was how life was meant to be. With Paula in his arms he felt like the luckiest bloke alive. His body began to respond to hers. Sadly there was no time to follow up on that right now. He kissed her head. “Time to go.”

  * * *

  Outside the air was chilly and Paula was grateful for the new jacket she’d bought before she left Sydney.

  Dan smiled at her across the top of the ute roof. It was a battered old vehicle that had seen better days. When they had flown in to Adelaide they had collected it from Dan’s friend Rob. Rob had commented on how clean it looked at the time. Now it was covered in mud. Paula struggled with the door handle and Dan pushed some oily rags off the seat before she sat down.

  “I have a surprise for you when we get to town.”

  Paula looked into his mischievous blue eyes. “What is it?” She wasn’t really fond of surprises.

  “If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

  “Oh, come on, Dan.” She poked him but he wouldn’t be drawn.

  He chuckled, started the motor then picked up the two-way handpiece. “Woodie, calling Croft. Are you on channel, Rowena?”

  Paula watched him in silence. It was like an old American truckie movie.

  “This is Woodie calling Croft. Rowena, are you there?”

  Dan looked at Paula. She raised an eyebrow.

  “We had to come up with a new call sign now that we’re in two houses,” he explained. “I kept the Woodie and Rowena took on Croft, get it?”

  “Yes Dan, I’m here.” Rowena’s reply saved Paula from having to answer.

  “Paula and I are off to town, do you need anything?”

  “No, thanks. I’ll be in over the weekend.” There was a crackle and the two-way went silent.

  Dan revved the engine. “Well, here we go. Mr and Mrs Woodcroft are off to town.” His face lit in a secretive smile as he manoeuvred the ute over the ramp and out onto the track that led to the road. Paula felt like she was no longer watching the movie, but had become a part of it.

  Rain fell intermittently on their trip to town. She wanted to talk to Dan about some of the things on her shopping list but she was trying to concentrate on the road. The surroundings all looked the same to her. They turned right from their property onto a dirt road, which crossed several other similar roads before Dan took a series of twists, turns and corners until they reached the bitumen, where he turned right again. All around them the land flowed for as far as the trees and the grey day would let her see. She glanced at her watch. She knew it took about thirty minutes to reach the town from Rowena’s so she assumed it was a similar distance from their place.

  “Don’t look so worried, Sweet Pea, we’ll find our way home again.”

  “I know you can, but this
country all looks the same to me.” She waved a hand towards the brown and grey paddocks, hemmed in by fences and straggling tree lines whizzing past her window.

  “Won’t be long and you’ll know your way as well as I do.”

  Paula studied her surroundings as Dan slowed to make another right turn. She couldn’t imagine how she would find her way home. At least the bitumen road had signposts directing them to town. The last sign had said fifteen kilometres. Now they were this close she could relax a little.

  “I thought I’d paint the small third bedroom for Mum and Dad,” she said.

  “I’m sorry I won’t be much help. I’ll get Tom to give me a hand to fix the back door then I’ve got some machinery repairs to do and as soon as the paddocks have dried out enough, I’ll be back on the tractor.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t mind. I’ve helped some friends redecorate before. The painting will give me a project and take my mind off Mum and Dad’s impending visit.”

  Dan reached across and put his hand on her knee. “Will it really be that bad? I thought you’d enjoy the company. You haven’t had a chance to meet anyone yet.”

  “I’m not lonely, Dan.” She squeezed his hand. “I know the mice rattled me a bit. I didn’t mean to cause a fuss but I couldn’t stop them.”

  “Rowena’s already given me a lecture about how inconsiderate I’ve been. You know she’s offered for us to move in with her until seeding’s finished and I can get some more work done on the place?”

  “I’m okay, Dan, really.”

  “Are you sure? At least you would have company at Rowena’s and there’s plenty of room for your mum and dad to stay there as well.”

  “I love our home.” Paula spoke firmly. She didn’t want to move in with Rowena. “My parents will have to take us as we are. I did warn them the house wasn’t ready for visitors. If I can paint the room and put in a few basics before they come, I’ll be happy and they will be fine.”

  “I love our home, too.” Dan leaned across and kissed her cheek then put on a phoney American accent. “And I love my little woman.”

  “Keep your eyes on the road.” She laughed, looked across at this wonderful man she had married and wanted to pinch herself. Side on he had angular features but they added character to his rugged good looks. He was so tall, a whole head higher than her. They were the long and the short of it, he’d joked early in their relationship.

  They’d never talked much about their lives before they met. There had always been more important things to talk about. It didn’t matter but she wondered briefly why he hadn’t been snapped up. Perhaps he’d been unlucky in love like her. Before she had met Dan she’d been in a long-term relationship with Marco who had also happened to be her boss. She’d been so happy at first, both in her job and her relationship, but the two had merged until she realised that their private life had become an extension of her day job. To Marco she was just another possession to be used as he pleased. After ending it with Marco she’d also left her job and had been caught up in the clutches of a deep-seated tiredness – she just wasn’t interested in meeting people. That was in the past now. Paula shifted in her seat and glanced at Dan concentrating on the road. It was incredible to think they could so easily have never met.

  She had nearly stayed home from the friend’s wedding that had brought them together, but her mother had insisted she go. For once she could be grateful for her mother’s interference. Dan was a good friend of the groom and his smile had been like a light switching on in her life. After meeting over the pre-reception drinks they had stayed together. She had found his jokes funny and his honesty refreshing. He had been quiet but not shy and before the day was over Paula knew she was in love with him.

  Dan had stayed a week in Sydney and they had spent as much of that time together as they could. In spite of her deep feelings for him she’d kept from falling into his bed until the last night before he left. That night, when they’d finally come together as lovers, had sealed their commitment. Two weeks later she’d flown to Adelaide to spend the weekend with him and before she returned to Sydney Dan had asked her to marry him. She would have said ‘yes’ immediately but he wanted her to come back again and visit his farm before she committed. She recalled his quiet, serious voice urging her to think carefully.

  She had made the trip. That’s when she’d stayed in Rowena’s house. Paula had been comfortable with the land. Dan had driven her around the property but she really didn’t care where they lived, as long as they were together. She recalled the mingled look of doubt and relief that had crossed his face when she’d told him.

  Their short engagement had caused problems for her mother who had wanted to plan the lavish style of wedding she had for Alison. Susan had avoided the fuss a year earlier by inviting close family and friends to Bali and holding her wedding there. Paula had stuck to her timeline despite her mother’s protests and the wedding had gone ahead in a small chapel with refreshments afterwards in her parents’ beautiful garden overlooking the harbour.

  “Ready for your surprise?” Dan’s question brought her back to the present. She smiled at him. There was no point in asking him again what it was. She could see it would get her nowhere. The outskirts of town appeared through the windscreen wipers. The heavy rain had eased but misting showers accompanied their journey. She shivered. The heater in the old ute didn’t work and it had become quite cold.

  She had seen the town in daylight once on her first visit to the farm. Dan said there were about three thousand people living here and another thousand in the nearest little towns and extended rural area. The community served the surrounding agricultural industry and catered for all basic needs. If you wanted more you had to travel to Adelaide several hours away. The main street was lined with assorted shops and businesses and one Foodland supermarket. On the other edge of town was a large car yard and it was here that Dan pulled in.

  “This old ute has had its day. I’ve bought us a new vehicle.” Dan beamed at her and Paula could see he was expecting a big reaction.

  “That’s wonderful, Dan.” She smiled back.

  “I’ve got some papers to sign and it’s all ours. Come and meet Jim.”

  Paula got out of the ute and followed him into the yard. She looked at the rows of cars lined up and wondered which one was going to be theirs. She’d left her sleek little Mazda hatch in Sydney and planned to get her father to sell it for her, not really thinking she’d need it here, although she had briefly wondered how she would manage with things like shopping with only the old ute.

  A short, plump man looking overdressed in a shirt and tie with a checked jacket came to meet them.

  “Hello, Jim.” Dan shook his hand then turned to Paula. “This is my wife, Paula. Jim McInerney is the best car man in the district.”

  “Hello, Paula. It helps when you are the only car dealer in town.”

  “You’re too modest, Jim. People can easily go elsewhere,” Dan said.

  Jim smiled and shook Paula’s hand firmly. “It’s nice to meet you.” The moustache over his top lip flopped as he spoke and his hair looked as if it had been plastered down with a layer of grease, but he had a warm sparkle in his voice and a genuine smile. Paula liked him straight away.

  “Come into my office. We can have a cuppa and finish the paperwork. I suppose you’ll be glad to have a decent vehicle. I told Dan he couldn’t expect his new bride to have the same love for that old ute that he has.”

  “It’s been a good vehicle.” Dan defended his ute. “It’s done a few kays, that’s all.”

  “Not much good for weekly shopping trips or offering rides to the neighbours though.” Jim winked at Paula. “You’ve got other priorities now, Dan. Please, help yourself to a cuppa, Paula. We shouldn’t take long here.” He indicated a table and Paula noticed a filter coffee pot and cups. Jim already had a cup on his side of the desk so Paula made a cup for Dan and herself and left them to it.

  The window in front of her looked over the sparkling v
ehicles in the showroom. They were arranged with strips of carpet between them and some lush plants carefully placed at intervals. In the back of the showroom, proudly raised on a dais, was a vintage car and the wall behind it was decorated with parts and accessories of early motoring days. She breathed in the fresh coffee aroma and decided Jim had style.

  “That’s it then. She’s out the back ready to go.” Paula turned to see Jim shaking Dan’s hand. They both grinned at her. “I’m sure you’ll be much happier with this vehicle. Come through and you can drive her away.”

  Their enthusiasm was infectious and Paula felt a little tingle of anticipation as she followed the two men through the office door and out into a huge garage. Jim led them past mechanics working on cars, finally stopping beside a large vehicle.

  “This is it.” Dan flung his arm out with a flourish. “Our new car.”

  Paula stared at the metallic grey vehicle, which looked like an overgrown cross between a four-wheel drive and a ute. It had a four-door cabin with a long back tray enclosed in a solid canopy.

  “Dual cabs are the way to go.” Jim opened the door for Paula. “A work vehicle but a family car when needed. Hop in, take a look.”

  Dan hovered beside her. “What do you think?”

  The new smell of the interior was very strong. She glanced back at the two of them beaming like they’d won the lottery and knew she had to appear delighted.

  “It’s great.” She glanced around madly for something to be excited about. “The seats are comfortable.”

  Dan got into the driver’s seat beside her and started the engine.

  “It was nice to meet you, Paula.” Jim shook her hand again. His eyes crinkled into a gentle smile and he lowered his voice. “I’ve known this lad all his life. He’s honest and hardworking. I think you’ve both made a good choice.” Paula didn’t know what to say. Did he mean their marriage or the car? “Oh Dan, we put the new two-way in this morning, so you’re all set.” Jim shut the door and waved.

  Dan drove out of the garage with a smile from ear to ear. Paula stared at the black box installed between them in the dash. A slightly smaller version than the one that perched on top of their fridge at home but it was a two-way radio none the less. At least there was a phone plug. She could play music. Which reminded her.