A Chance of Stormy Weather

by Tricia Stringer

  “We’ve got all sorts of things for you in the car, haven’t we, Rex.”

  “Yes, but I think I’ll leave you two to go through that. I want to stretch my legs before this weather takes a turn for the worse. How far does your land go in each direction from here, Paula?”

  Paula looked out the window at the gloomy day. She had no idea how many of those paddocks belonged to Dan. “I wouldn’t go far, Dad. It could rain at any moment. I’m sure Dan will take you for a tour when he’s got time.”

  “It sounds like Daniel works very hard, darling. I hope he’s not neglecting you.” Diane gathered up their plates.

  “Don’t be silly, Diane. A man has to work hard to get on. Paula will have to learn that lesson now that she’s married him. I’ll be back in a while.”

  Paula watched his departing figure in surprise. Her father was known to be curt at times with her mother, but not usually with her. His comment stung. She recalled he had thought her crazy to break up with Marco but his comment about work was a bit tough. She knew all about hard work. Her father had taught her that lesson well.

  “He’s tired from all that driving and you know how testy he gets when he’s away from work for too long, darling,” Diane soothed.

  Paula looked at her mother and wondered why she never stood up to her father. Alison was the same, always giving way and smoothing the path. Susan was the only one who snapped back and gave him some of his own medicine. Paula had rarely borne the brunt of his sharp tongue. Her sisters always called her the spoiled one. The few times in her life she could recall her father losing his temper with her, it had sent her into a hurt, brooding silence. Now she wondered why she just didn’t give him his own back like Susan did.

  “Come on, let’s get the rest of the things out of the car.” Her mother was cheerfully oblivious to Paula’s tension. “We have more gifts and there are all your wedding photos to look at. They’re just delightful, Paula. It was a lovely wedding, wasn’t it? You made a beautiful bride and Daniel looked so handsome in his suit.”

  “Dan,” Paula muttered underneath her breath as she followed her mother out to the car.

  “Oh and you’ll be pleased to to see your coffee machine. I called in and bought you a big supply of pods.”

  “Thanks, Mum.” Paula’s spirits lifted at the thought of saying goodbye to instant coffee. She often drank tea but when she drank coffee she preferred it from her machine.

  Despite her original misgivings, the afternoon was a lot of fun. Her sisters had sent some extra gifts. One was a beautiful gilt-edged mirror to hang over the mantel in the lounge. Alison had sent her a gorgeous soft blue chenille bathrobe with a note that read ‘Something to keep you warm when Dan’s not home!’ Paula laughed when she opened Susan’s gift. Inside the beautiful wrapping paper were two cookbooks by popular television chefs. She got her useless tablet out and stuck in the photographer’s USB. While they flipped through the wedding photos Paula told her mother all about her cooking fiasco of the previous day.

  “Darling, why don’t we go and buy you a new oven?”

  “It’s okay for now, Mum. Dan and I will buy a new one later.” Paula wished Dan could be here now. She flipped back through the photos. Her sisters looked gorgeous in their shell-pink satin. Even though the design of the dresses was slim-fitting, you could hardly see the bulge that was Susan’s baby.

  “The girls and I had this done for you.” Mrs Crawford handed over a flat parcel, delicately wrapped in layers of soft white tissue and tied with a pink ribbon.

  Paula opened up the layers to reveal a photo of Dan and Paula on their wedding day. It was a black-and-white photo, framed in gilt similar to the mirror. Paula smiled. “It’s lovely, Mum. Thank you.” She looked back at the photograph. She and Dan were holding hands as they walked across the lawn at her parents’ home. She was laughing up into Dan’s smiling face. Her mother was right, it had been a wonderful day.

  CHAPTER

  9

  “You’ve got such a lovely garden here, Paula.”

  Paula and her parents were sitting on the old wicker chairs she had placed on the side verandah. Her father had his nose buried in a business magazine. Yesterday’s threatening weather had cleared away and they were enjoying a coffee in the weak mid-morning sunshine.

  Paula looked out over the tangled bushes and weeds. “Do you think so?” She’d never been one for gardening. Unless you counted the potted palms she’d watered on the terrace of the apartment she’d shared with Marco – she hadn’t needed to do anything more. They were on hire and replaced regularly.

  “It needs work but there’s lots of potential. Would you like me to make a start while we’re here, darling? I’d like to do something useful for you.”

  “Mum, you’re on holiday, relax.”

  “I find gardening very relaxing.”

  “Yes, when you’re getting other people to do it for you.” Rex looked over the top of his reading glasses then went back to his magazine. The Crawfords had a beautiful garden. These days they paid a gardener to do all the heavy work but Paula knew her mother had established the garden and still made all the decisions and did a lot of the in-between things.

  “What do you think, darling?” Diane went on as if her husband hadn’t spoken. “Would you like me to give it a go?”

  Paula decided to follow her mother’s lead and ignore her father. “Why not? It will give you something to do.”

  Rex snorted from behind his magazine.

  “I mean, there’s not a lot else to do here,” Paula added quickly, not wanting to sound ungracious.

  “Good.” Her mother stood up. “I don’t suppose you have any gloves?”

  There was another snort from behind the magazine.

  “I’ve got rubber gloves in the kitchen.”

  “They’ll do.”

  Paula gathered the cups and went inside. She wanted to distance herself from her father before she lost her temper with him. Why was he being so negative?

  By the time she returned with the gloves her mother was prodding at things in the side garden.

  “There was probably a lawn here once.” She indicated the ground around her. “And there are some lovely old bush roses here. They just need some attention.”

  Paula handed her the gloves.

  Diane glanced around. “We’ll need some secateurs or something similar and a wheelbarrow.”

  “There might be something in the shed.”

  Paula made her way from the side garden to the car shed. It was an old stone building set apart from the house. Inside, along the front wall was a solid old workbench and hanging on the wall above it was an assortment of dust-covered tools. Among them, she found a pair of long-handled hedge clippers but nothing else that looked useful for gardening.

  She went across the bare yard to the big shed where Dan kept other machinery. This is where Tom had come for bits and pieces to fix the back door. She peered around warily. She had tamed the mouse population in the house but Dan said they were still causing some concern in the paddocks. In the corner, she found an ancient wheelbarrow with a metal front wheel. She dropped the shears into its rusty base and pushed it, the old wheel protesting loudly, back to the side garden.

  Her parents were both deep in the bushes, a pile of weeds on the ground behind them.

  “We took a couple of knives from the kitchen.” Diane waved a large chopping knife at Paula. “I hope that’s okay.”

  Rex took the old shears and began chopping under his wife’s supervision, his earlier grumpiness forgotten. Paula began to pick up the foliage they’d dumped on the ground and relaxed a little. Perhaps her mother was right. Gardening could be therapeutic for them all.

  * * *

  A few days later they were all outside when Rowena arrived.

  “You must come over for dinner while you are here.” Rowena was inspecting the garden with Diane while Paula watched, with her father, from the verandah.

  “That would be lovely. Thank you, Rowen
a.” Diane replied for all of them.

  “I’m on my way to Adelaide but I’ll be back on Sunday. How long are you staying for?”

  “We can’t stay too long. I have to be back for a meeting later next week.”

  “We will stay until Tuesday though, won’t we, Rex? You did say we could have a week.”

  Rex folded his arms over his rounded stomach. “Don’t forget the driving time.”

  “Shall we make it Sunday night?” Rowena suggested. “I’ll be back by then.”

  Paula smiled. There was still the weekend to fill and no sign of Dan being home for long. He had put in brief appearances for meals and had promised to take them on a tour of the property but so far it hadn’t eventuated. They had gardened for two days and Paula was amazed by the transformation of her garden under her mother’s careful supervision. The nights were quiet though. At least a meal at Rowena’s gave them something else to look forward to.

  “Do you drive to Adelaide often, Rowena? It’s quite a distance.” Diane’s prying was a match for Rowena.

  “Oh, it’s not far. I only go when I’m not needed to manage things here.” She looked at Paula, who bristled. What was Rowena implying?

  “It must be a relief to know Daniel has Paula to look after him now.”

  “Daniel?” Rowena frowned. “Oh, you mean Dan. Yes, although I brought him up to look after himself.”

  Yes, Paula thought murderously. That’s why you still run around after him. Out loud she asked, “What time would you like us on Sunday, Rowena? We don’t want to be a bother. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather come here?”

  “No, Paula. I’m not sure what we’ll have yet. I’ll probably pick up dessert at one of those cheesecake places. Come over about six pm. Tell Dan I’ll make a take-home pack for him, if he’s still on the tractor. Now I must get going. The Crows play tonight and even though we’ve got members’ tickets, you have to get there early to get a decent seat.”

  “It must be impressive to watch at the Adelaide Oval.” Rex fell into step beside Rowena.

  “It’s certainly wonderful for the game but parking’s a nightmare.”

  Paula trailed behind as her father and Rowena talked the pros and cons of the facilities.

  They all waved Rowena off. In the distance they could see a tractor moving around a paddock, turning the light brown soil a deeper shade of brown in its wake.

  “Is that Daniel?” Diane asked.

  “He’s called Dan, Mum…” Paula hesitated. She had no idea where Dan was working at the moment. Since her parents’ arrival she had hardly had a chance to talk with Dan alone. Last night she’d fallen into bed before he came in. “I’m not sure. Probably not.”

  “He said he was moving to a paddock closer to the house today.” Rex took a few steps in the direction of the tractor.

  Diane went back inside the yard to continue with the garden. Paula stayed with her father.

  “When did Dan say that?”

  “Last night. I was still reading by the fire when he came in. We had a good talk while he ate his meal. It’s a big business this farm, Paula. So much depends on things beyond Dan’s control, like the weather, grain prices, stock prices, governments…”

  “I know, Dad.”

  “Do you? It’s a large monetary commitment. You wouldn’t want to lose any more should things go wrong.”

  “I’m sure Dan knows what he’s doing.” Paula wasn’t going to talk about personal finances with her father when she hadn’t discussed it with Dan first. She started walking towards the front gate where her mother had tamed the lavender bushes on either side, creating a living frame for the path stretching up to the front steps.

  “Yes, but do you?”

  Paula kept walking and ignored her father’s last words. The strong scent of lavender filled the air as she brushed past the bushes. She hoped her father hadn’t been discussing their finances with Dan. She had lost money in the breakup with Marco. Even though she had some personal investments he had wrapped their shared assets up so well that she had walked away losing her share of the apartment altogether. She didn’t care in the end. She had simply wanted to be rid of him.

  But she and Dan were different. If things went wrong with the farm she was prepared to do what she could. Paula stopped and looked back over the lavender and the wire gate, to the tractor making its way around the distant paddock. Her father was looking that way as well. She had assumed he meant if things went wrong with the farm but maybe he had meant with her marriage. He hadn’t wanted her to marry Dan so quickly. Well, he was wrong if he thought she and Dan wouldn’t last. They loved each other. They would work out the rest as it came.

  The sound of an approaching vehicle brought Diane to the steps and they all watched as an old green car sailed past the front of the house and round the side, towards the back gate.

  “You don’t very often see a working EJ Holden these days.” Rex’s voice carried a hint of admiration and he walked off to follow the car.

  “Who’s that?” Diane asked.

  “Uncle Gerald,” Paula called over her shoulder as she went inside. “I suppose I’d better put the bloody kettle on again,” she muttered to herself. Rowena had arrived just as they were getting up from the breakfast table, so they had offered her a cup. Now Uncle Gerald would want a cup of tea. They would never make it into town this morning.

  An hour later they were standing in the middle of Dara’s shop. After Rex had admired Uncle Gerald’s car, the old man had had a quick conversation about the prospect of a storm and then been happy to drive off again without stopping for a drink. Rex had driven them into town, then left them to their own devices.

  “Dara, this place is just delightful.”

  “Thank you, Mrs Crawford.”

  “Do call me Diane. You have such a wonderful eye for display.” Diane picked up a small hand-knitted vest. “This is gorgeous. I could see Oscar in that.”

  “Do you have some of your delicious food we could buy?” Paula gave Dara a hopeful look.

  “I’m sorry, Paula, I haven’t started the baking today.”

  Paula detected a weary note in her voice. “No, I’m sorry, I should have phoned first.”

  “You don’t have to. Normally I bake every day but Sunday. I’m late starting today. I have some things in the freezer if you don’t mind taking home frozen food.”

  “Please don’t worry on our account, Dara.” Diane put the vest and an embroidered bib on the counter. “Rex and I did enjoy the pie that Paula bought from you on our first day but we can cook our own.”

  Paula would have laughed and said “Not in my oven”, but something was wrong. Dara’s dark hair flopped around her pale face and the fine wrinkles in her skin looked more pronounced. She wasn’t wearing her usual carefully applied make-up.

  “Would you like a cuppa?” Dara’s offer lacked her typical bubbliness.

  “No…”

  “Yes…”

  Paula and her mother answered at the same time.

  “We don’t want to hold you up,” Paula said.

  “If you don’t mind sitting in the kitchen while I work, I’d like you to stay. I wouldn’t mind some company.”

  “You show me where everything is, I’ll make the tea.” Diane bustled forward. “Paula can go without but I need my cups of tea to get me through the day.”

  Paula held her breath waiting for her mother to add the line about getting to know Paula’s friends but they followed Dara into the kitchen in silence.

  The normal clutter of jars and fresh food on the big old kitchen table had been replaced by neat stacks of papers, cheque books and ledgers. The benchtops were clear and gleaming and the assorted glass containers for flour and sugar were placed neatly along the open shelves above the sink. Paula looked around in amazement. The whole place sparkled and a delicious smell filled the room. A large pot simmered on the stove top.

  Dara looked up from the papers she was moving into bigger piles trying to make space on the tab
le. “Chris has been home.”

  Paula looked at her, not understanding.

  “He’s the tidy one. When he’s not busy on the farm he loves to cook, he’s responsible for the vegetable soup.” Dara nodded towards the stove. “But he’s even better at cleaning up.”

  “What a wonderful husband. I hope you appreciate him.” Diane’s smile turned to dismay and Paula looked on in concern as her friend slumped down on a chair and put her head in her hands.

  “I do. He’s a wonderful man and we are so lucky in many ways. But I don’t know what to do. He’s so unhappy on the farm.” A tear ran down each of Dara’s cheeks.

  “What do you mean, unhappy?” Paula sat down beside her.

  “Chris is the oldest of two boys. He’s travelled and worked at other things but he’s always come back to the farm. He’s the oldest son and it’s expected of him. Since we married he’s stuck at it but his brother’s children are getting old enough to help and they’re all keen to farm. We don’t have children. We both decided it was too late for us, when we married. Without someone of his own to follow on, Chris no longer has the heart for farming.”

  Diane brought steaming cups of tea to the table. “Can’t Chris sell his share and do something else?”

  “It’s all so complicated. They’ve had a few tough years and the property struggles to make enough for one family, yet it pays for three. His brother, us and his retired parents.”

  “What about your shop?” Paula asked.

  “It’s a sideline really. I’ve put money into stocking it but I just make enough to be able to buy more.”

  “Could you move somewhere else to find work?”

  “It might come to that. But we’ve put so much work into this place.”

  “It’s a pity you’re so far from the city,” Diane said. “Do you get any tourists out this way?”

  They were interrupted by the bell over the shop door.

  “Oh no!” Dara rubbed at her face. “I must look a sight.”

  “Let me go out,” Paula said. “You stay and finish your tea.”