Bungalow on Pelican Way

by Lilly Mirren

  “Merry Christmas, Nan.”

  “Eggnog?” asked Reeda, coming up behind her.

  Kate laughed. “It’s a bit early for me, but thanks anyway.”

  “Are you joining us in the kitchen?”

  “Yep. On my way.”

  Mima, Jack, and Bindi were waiting for them in the kitchen. Bindi sat on the bench, a cup of coffee held tight between her hands and close to her lips. Her sandy blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail. She wore shorts and a T-shirt, and had her legs crossed at the ankles.

  “Merry Christmas, Katie,” she said with a smile.

  Kate nodded. “Merry Christmas everyone.” She kissed cheeks all around, then poured herself a cup of coffee.

  Mima stirred a batch of pancake batter and hummed along to Harry Connick, Jr. Jack took a seat at the table, spread open a newspaper and buried his nose in it, one leg crossed over the other. His grey hair was mussed on top so it looked as though he’d just crawled out of bed.

  There was a tap on the back door. Kate opened it, her heart thudding. Every time she saw Alex the same thing happened. Her heart raced, her stomach tightened, and excitement pumped through her veins. Was this how it was supposed to be?

  She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. His still-damp hair smelled like coconut.

  “Merry Christmas,” he whispered against her ear.

  “Merry Christmas yourself. I hope you’re hungry, Mima thinks she’s feeding breakfast to a small army.”

  He laughed. “I’m starved.”

  They ate pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast while they sat around the brand-new, hewn timber dining table Reeda had picked up from a local craftsman somewhere in Pottsville.

  The air smelled of coffee, syrup, and fried bacon, and they shared good conversation and plenty of laughter. When they were done, they all helped clean up and made their way into the sitting room to open gifts.

  Kate carried the coffee pot into the room to refill everyone’s cups, then settled herself in front of Alex’s armchair, his feet resting on either side of her. She tilted her head back and he kissed her lips in an upside-down smooch that had her skin tingling.

  Alex gave her a new watch, which she badly needed. She hadn’t worn a watch in a month since her last one died, and she felt lost without it. She gave him a new wetsuit. She’d found him trying to sew his old one up where a seam had split along one leg weeks earlier.

  He kissed her again. “I love it, thank you.”

  She grinned and spun her watch around in place on her wrist. “Me too, thanks.”

  She’d been dreading what Christmas might look like with no Nan or Pop, no parents, and no fiancé, but the day was relaxed and filled with warmth, and she found herself happy.

  After breakfast, they all sat in the breakfast nook. Reeda and Bindi played chequers with Mima, a pedestal fan buzzing back and forth, lifting Reeda’s hair as it went. Jack snoozed in an armchair, his Akubra hat tilted forward over his face, his soft snoring a soothing backdrop to the women’s laughter. Alex sat on a long, wicker sofa, a book in his hands, legs draped along the sofa’s length.

  Kate perched with her feet looped over his legs, reading a book as well. She fanned her face every now and then with the open book. Alex rested one palm gently on her bare feet. And she felt as much peace as she imagined was humanly possible. Every now and then she stopped reading to take it all in with a smile.

  Jack sat in an armchair in the sitting room, in view of the kitchen. He held a magazine between his hands, his chin rested on his chest and a light snore emitted from his gently gaping mouth.

  Kate chuckled as she finished scraping the scales from a fish Alex had caught an hour earlier and brought up from the beach for her to include in their Christmas seafood lunch banquet.

  “So, how are we going to cook this snapper?” asked Bindi, eying it with a curious and somewhat worried expression.

  “We’ll fillet it, then we’ll stuff it with garlic cloves, slices of onion and lemon, and marinate it for a few minutes in lemon juice, butter, salt and pepper. It’ll be great on the BBQ. I’ve got a smoker box in there, and I’ll set it to a low heat, it’ll come out fresh, tender, and moist.” Kate’s stomach growled at the thought, though she’d barely had a chance to digest breakfast.

  “Mmmm… sounds delicious. I have this prawn salad ready… anything else I should do with it?”

  Kate shook her head. “It goes in the fridge. Then, you can help me fillet this fish. Ever done it before?”

  “Nope. But I’ve already learned how to take the heads off prawns, and pull the meat out of a crab’s claw, so I guess filleting a fish is the next lesson.”

  Kate winked. “You’ll be a chef in no time.”

  “And what’s for dessert?” asked Jack from his perch in the sitting room. He smacked his lips together and wiped the corner of his mouth with one finger.

  Kate laughed. “Well, look who’s awake. We’re having lemon meringue pie with fresh lemons from Nan’s garden, and pavlova with whipped cream and fresh slices of peach, nectarine, kiwi, and figs.”

  Jack hobbled over and rubbed his hands together. “Ah… dessert’s my favourite part. Although of course I don’t usually get a feast like this. Half of the time I spend Christmas on my own and find a pie shop or something to eat at.”

  Kate sliced the fish, taking a thick fillet off one side. “A pie shop? Why is that?”

  “Well, I liked to let Edie and Paul have Christmas with all of you… you didn’t need me hanging around during family time. And then, once Paul died, it was you girls and Edie.”

  “You don’t have family nearby?” asked Bindi.

  He shook his head. “I do, but they’re not always around at Christmas.”

  He didn’t offer more, and Kate didn’t want to pry. She’d never thought much about Jack’s family, although she’d assumed he had some, somewhere. It was sad to think that during all those joyous Christmas celebrations they’d had at the inn, he was at a lonely pie shop somewhere, biting into over-cooked pastry.

  “Well, not anymore. You’re always welcome at the Waratah Inn for Christmas from now on, Jack. This is your home and we’re your family.”

  His eyes gleamed. “Thanks, Katie.”

  “Of course you are,” added Bindi. “I hate to think of you all alone, I didn’t realise…” Her voice faded away. Kate knew how she felt.

  Mima was seated at the dining table. She’d complained of knee pain earlier, and Kate had sent her to sit down. She had one foot propped up on another of the chairs and a crossword puzzle book open in front of her, pen poised above the page. She smiled without raising her eyes from her crossword puzzle, and Kate bit back tears. Mima and Jack were the only family the three of them had left, besides each other. And they’d make sure to include them both in every family activity from now on.

  “You too, Mima,” she stated.

  Mima met her gaze. “You’re my family too, sweetheart. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  * * *

  After a light lunch, seafood and salad, they all decided to take their party down to the beach. The heat of the day had set in, and they were all bathed in sweat. The new air-conditioning unit for the inn wouldn’t arrive for weeks yet, so they’d made do by opening all the windows and setting pedestal fans in strategic locations to blow the humid air around the space. But finally, it’d become more than they could bear.

  Kate and Alex set up two umbrellas and some short beach chairs for Mima and Jack, who took their places immediately. Bindi carried down a picnic rug, and Reeda brought a jug full of freshly made lemonade and a handful of plastic cups.

  Kate stripped down to her bikini and strode to the water. Alex followed, and when they reached the waves, he sprayed her with a handful of the salty water.

  She laughed and splashed him, then he dove for her, pushing her beneath an oncoming wave. When she breached the surface, she was laughing and coughing all at the same time. His arms wrapped around her and
pulled her close, then his lips found hers and she revelled in the salty taste of his mouth, and the strength of his arms around her waist.

  After their swim, they took turns showering in the only bathroom that hadn’t been completely pulled apart by the construction crew. The one in Nan’s room was still entirely as it had been. It wouldn’t be long before it was redone, but they’d needed it to remain functional while the upstairs bathrooms were being worked on.

  While Alex was taking his shower, Kate retrieved the journal she’d been reading from the wooden box in her room and carried it down to where Reeda and Bindi were sitting. They were reminiscing about past Christmases when she took a seat on the long sofa. Mima was taking a nap and Jack had gone back to his cottage.

  She set the journal on her lap. Her heart raced and her palms were bathed in sweat. How would they react when they found out she’d been keeping this from them all this time? Worse still, that she’d read Nan’s personal diaries?

  After she’d sat in silence for several long minutes, Reeda finally glanced her way. “You’re very quiet.”

  Kate pursed her lips. “I want to show you both something before Alex joins us again.”

  Reeda shifted in her seat toward Kate. Bindi’s brow furrowed.

  “You’re worrying me,” said Bindi.

  “It’s nothing to worry about, but it is something… it’s a big deal and I’m not really sure how to tell you.”

  Bindi bit down on her lower lip.

  “Okay,” replied Reeda.

  “When we were looking for photos for Nan’s funeral, I found this.” She held up the journal, then returned it to her lap.

  “That looks old, what is it?” asked Reeda.

  “It’s a journal, Nan’s diary actually. And, there are more of them.”

  “Wow,” said Bindi.

  “Have you read it?” asked Reeda, gesturing toward the journal she held.

  Kate nodded. “Most of it.”

  “What does it say?” asked Bindi, leaning forward.

  Kate swallowed. “I’m sure you’ll want to read it yourselves, but there is something in this one we should discuss.”

  “Go ahead,” encouraged Reeda.

  “It says that Pop wasn’t our real grandfather.”

  “What?” asked Bindi, hurrying to sit by Kate. “It says that? Where?”

  Kate shrugged. “It’s all through the diary. This one is from when Nan was a teenager. She was in love with a boy called Charlie Jackson, and she got pregnant right before he went off to fight in the war. He was a pilot with the RAAF. It says he was shot down in 1943.”

  Reeda’s mouth gaped. “But that doesn’t mean he was our grandfather…”

  Kate inhaled a slow breath. “Nan wrote that he was Keith’s father. And when Dad was born, Pop wasn’t in the picture from what I can tell. Nan was still living at home with her parents on the farm outside Bathurst.”

  “Are you sure Nan wrote that?”

  “Who else could it’ve been?” asked Kate. “It talks all about her life in Bathurst, her parents, her horse Eliza… Mima is in there too.”

  “Mima?”

  “Wow,” repeated Bindi.

  “I wonder if Dad knew,” mused Reeda, staring at her hands.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Surely, we would’ve heard about it if he and Mum knew,” Kate said.

  Bindi shook her head. “This is crazy. I can’t understand why Nan wouldn’t have told us. It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “So, all this time, Pop knew he wasn’t Dad’s father, or our grandfather, and yet he didn’t ever let on. I’d never have guessed. He loved us so much, he was always happy, full of life… and he and Nan were so much in love,” said Reeda, a wobble in her voice.

  “I know,” replied Kate. “He was our grandfather, but not our biological one.”

  “So, did you find out anything about this Charlie fellow?” asked Bindi. “Did you look him up or anything?”

  Kate shook her head. “I haven’t been game to. It says in the diary he was shot down over The Bay of Tunis, but I don’t know anything else. Well, other than the fact that he grew up in Bathurst, his mother was apparently really pretty, and his father was a solicitor. Also, he wanted to be an engineer and asked Nan to marry him. But he left for the war before they could get married.”

  “Sounds like an amazing guy,” said Reeda.

  “Oh, and Nan’s parents didn’t like him for some reason. They wouldn’t agree to her marrying him. So, when Dad was born, Nan’s mother told everyone they’d adopted him when a friend of hers died during childbirth.”

  Bindi gasped and Reeda covered her mouth with one hand. “Really? Poor Dad.”

  “Poor Nan,” added Bindi.

  “I can’t believe you found all of that in an old diary.” Reeda hugged herself, her eyes wide. “I wonder what we’ll find in the others.”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t want to keep reading after I found out what happened to Charlie.” Kate’s throat tightened. Even now, she hated thinking about what Nan must’ve been through, the grief and pain she must’ve suffered. And the fact that Kate would never get to meet him. “So, you guys aren’t mad that I read it? I was worried you’d think I was invading Nan’s privacy or something,” Kate blinked back tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks.

  “Well, of course you’re invading her privacy,” began Reeda, rubbing a comforting circle on Kate’s back, “but I would’ve done the exact same thing. I wish Nan was here to tell us about it herself, then we could ask her our questions.”

  “So, he was killed in the war?” asked Bindi. “You’re sure?”

  Kate shrugged. “I’m not sure… but Nan’s diary says he was missing, shot down over the ocean. And he never came home, as far as I know, so I guess he must’ve been killed.”

  Reeda slumped to sit on the desk by Kate’s hand. Bindi leaned against the wall behind them with a sigh. Kate’s throat closed over. They sat that way, silent, processing, for several long minutes.

  “Well, I guess that’s that.” Reeda broke the silence, then stood to her feet, brushing her palms together.

  “I guess so,” replied Bindi.

  “It’s sad,” said Kate, her voice breaking.

  “What’re you all talking about?” asked Alex, poking his head through the sitting room doorway.

  Kate shook off the sadness and stood to her feet with a smile. “Nothing, we were talking about the past.”

  He laughed. “Ah, I see.” Alex lay his arm on her shoulders and kissed the side of her head.

  Kate shot a sympathetic backwards glance at her sisters.

  Reeda nodded and Bindi blew her a kiss. She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced cheer into her voice. “So, who wants eggnog?”

  26

  January 1996

  Cabarita Beach

  The Waratah Inn stood tall and proud, gleaming like new beneath the blazing summer sun with its pale-yellow paint, white trim, and shiny new windows with matching white shutters.

  The wide verandahs were also painted white with a natural timber stain on the floorboards and brand-new wicker furniture scattered about with the kind of decorative flair Kate imagined Better Homes and Gardens would envy.

  She stood at the bottom of the steps, hands pressed to her hips, and surveyed the structure from top to bottom. It’d turned out better than she’d hoped it would. It’d been difficult for her to picture in her head when they’d been arguing over whether it should be pale blue, sea-glass green, or yellow, but in the end Reeda had been right. Yellow perfectly suited the eucalyptus grove where the inn sat between reaching branches and beneath scattered leafy shadows that cast dancing patterns across its surface as the sun drifted slowly down the pale blue sky toward the horizon.

  “It’s perfect,” she breathed.

  Reeda grinned. “Do you think so?”

  Kate faced her, a lump in her throat making it difficult to speak. “I really think so.” She threw her arms around Reeda
and hugged her tight. “You did a great job.”

  “You did too.” Reeda’s voice was muffled by Kate’s shirt.

  “We make quite the team,” added Kate, pulling back to study her sister’s face.

  “Who would’ve thought?” quipped Reeda, wiping a stray tear from her eye with one finger.

  “And it’s done… finally,” declared Kate with a sharp exhale.

  “Yes, it’s done. And I can go home… to my husband and my life.” Reeda didn’t sound nearly as excited as Kate thought she should.

  Her sister hadn’t said much after her last visit to Sydney, though when she got back from the airport, she looked a little like a balloon that had lost some of its air.

  Bindi skipped down the stairs and turned to peer up at the inn as well. “Wow.”

  “Do you like it?” asked Reeda.

  Kate looped an arm around Bindi’s shoulder and leaned her head toward her sister’s. Bindi smelled of lavender and fresh baked bread. Mima was inside baking up a storm in her new oven. When Kate had left her, she’d been exclaiming over the buttons and dials, declaring she’d never seen anything so lovely nor confounding.

  Bindi shook her head slowly. “I love it. It looks how I remember it… you know, from when we were kids. Different colour of course, but full of life again.”

  Kate nodded. It did, although better than before, since Nan had never decorated in anything other than an eclectic, beach style mixed with garage sale chic.

  She smiled at the memory of Nan bringing home a secondhand sofa in the back of the truck from one of the many garage sales she’d attended on a Sunday. Pop had slipped his hat from his head and scratched his balding pate as he watched her back up to the inn’s side door.

  “Now, who in tarnation does she think is gonna carry that thing inside?” he’d asked, his white moustache twitching.