Secrets, Lies and Promises
She rushed to her mother for comfort and, for once, Ava did not disappoint, delivering a hug tight enough to squeeze out the few remaining tears Nina hadn’t yet cried.
‘Nina, darling, we’ve all been worried sick. Miriam’s been on the phone wondering if I’d heard from you. She told me where you were.’
‘Oh, Mum, I was so scared.’
‘But you’re okay now.’
Nina wriggled free of her mother’s embrace to blow her nose. ‘Everyone is okay, Mum. The damage is mostly to the trees and infrastructure. Both houses need a good scrub, but not until water and electricity is restored and that could take days.’
‘Come inside.’ Ava urged at the sound of Mrs Hense’s screen door. She guided Nina with an arm around her waist. ‘You’re here now and safe.’
Yes, Nina thought, she was, and she had no time to collapse into a sobbing heap over a man. Blair had made it pretty clear that she was not his priority. Well, that was fine. She had important things to do, too. The mystery in the portrait was back to being her number-one priority. Once resolved, Nina would decide what to do about Blair and whether to call or write. She couldn’t let him go on thinking she’d deliberately deceived him. There was a perfectly good explanation, but he’d been too wound up to take anything on board. Leaving Candlebark Creek had been the best thing.
Dropping her keys and phone on the chair as she passed, Nina began her account of the storm. ‘Everyone was surprised at the intensity and how far inland the cyclone came. With the roads open, I could get out but it was a slow trip. I’m exhausted and hanging out for a shower.’
‘Property can be fixed and country people are especially resilient,’ Ava said. ‘They help each other in times of crisis. The best thing we can do is let them get on with it. Time to settle back into your own life and let the Tates do what they need to do. Coffee or tea?’
‘Things aren’t that simple, Mum. You have no idea what’s going on out there.’
‘And I don’t want to know the Tates’ business. I walked away from all that thirty years ago, and not by choice. Tea or coffee?’
‘Water,’ Nina said, ‘but you went back last month.’
‘Yes, that was my choice.’ Ava raised her voice over the sound of running water. ‘And not a good one. As it turns out, the portrait idea was a mistake. I don’t want you getting any more involved, darling.’
‘Well, like it or not, I’m more involved than I ever imagined.’ Nina drank the entire glass of water her mother handed her. ‘I want to head back out there to help with the clean-up.’ She really did, and she hoped once Blair was in a better state she’d be able to explain. She wanted to experience that resilience, that teamwork, to be a part of a community. She could contribute something worthwhile by helping out, even by feeding the workers. Nina refilled her glass from the kitchen tap. ‘Grandpa always said to travel far until you find where you fit. I might be finding my place in the world, Mum, and I think it might be with Blair.’
*
‘Oh, Nina.’
‘Seriously, Mum, Grandma Lenore was right when she said “this life” as if there’s another, because there is, Mum. It’s a totally different lifestyle in that part of the country and it seems to fit me just fine.’
‘If I recall correctly, Nina, “complicated” is how you described your relationship with Conrad, who works on the same floor as you and lives in the next suburb. Now, darling, I say we have complicated.’
‘But why does it have to be? Blair’s special and I really like him, and he likes me. At least he did until… Never mind. Besides all that, so what if he lives a six-hour drive away? I wouldn’t care if he lived in Timbuktu.’ Nina stuck her hands on her hips, the same defiant-daughter stance she’d adopted every time she asked the question: But why? ‘Where is the woman who wants me to settle down?’
‘You know my history with that place, so you must understand I don’t want you to be rejected and dismissed, like I was.’
‘But Blair’s grandmother is long since dead and what reason would his mother have to get rid of me?’
‘Nina, I don’t presume to know anything about Katie. I only know I don’t want to see you broken-hearted, like I was after I’d got involved with that family. There’s too much you don’t know, that you have no right to know because it’s my life and my business. Just trust that I know what’s best.’
*
Nina flopped into a leather recliner. ‘Never make a decision without having all the facts,’ she recited. ‘That’s the Team Marchette golden rule you’d tell Tony at the start of each boardroom meeting. And since I’m going back to Blair’s at some stage, because not being there for him and helping out is unthinkable, if there’s anything else I need to know, Mum – like some other dark secret from your past – now is a good time to tell me.’
‘You’re determined to go back?’
Nina hadn’t wanted to say as much, but there was no greater evidence of Blair’s feelings for her than his reaction to learning about Conrad from his mother when she’d called. It was only now, under Ava’s interrogation, that Nina wondered how Katie knew about Conrad. More perplexing was why she would choose that moment to mention him. ‘Look, Mum, Blair’s got a lot on his plate. Among other things, the cyclone has blown his income to pieces. The marquee will need replacing and those custom-made structures cost a small fortune.’ Nina didn’t hold back. Given she’d just invited Ava to confess everything, she saw no harm in sharing what Blair had told her. Her mother was not likely to be chatting to Katie any time soon so what did it matter? ‘… and that’s why, Mum. Blair won’t ask his mother and he says if he was to ask his father for help, John might sell the land around Ivy-May. Apparently he’s had offers before from the owner of a property that abuts an area they call the ridgeline.’
Ava gasped. ‘But the ridgeline is special to John.’
‘I got that impression, too, which is why I’m telling you, Mum, because all I see happening out there is nobody telling anybody the truth about anything. Blair’s in trouble, but John doesn’t want Katie to know he’s already mortgaged Ivy-May to help out. Blair’s wife spent a fortune on the place and Blair insisted on paying her back. Now his income is in shreds, much like the marquee, and there’s no money coming in and no time to wait for an insurance assessor to approve repairs or a replacement. An insurance company is also unlikely to pay out on the two thousand trees Blair brought in only last week. He was adding to the shelterbelt up on the ridgeline. Apparently that area is historically significant.’
‘It’s where his great-great-great-grandparents built the original homestead,’ Ava said.
Nina nodded. ‘Blair and I rode out there. Not only is the view incredible, there’s this feeling… It’s almost spiritual. I learned so much about how his family started on the land. He knows all about his ancestry. There are old photographs and family memorabilia everywhere.’
‘I’m aware of that, Nina. And I know all I want to about the Tate family.’
‘Mum, you have bad memories of the place, but Blair is not his grandmother, just like you’re not Lenore. If anything, he’s his father: passionate, caring, fun to be around.’
‘And it’s all very romantic until reality kicks in, darling. Marjorie Tate was my reality. She and Katie had their own plans for John and they did not include me. How do I know you won’t suffer the same fate?’
‘You think the woman’s going to take out a thirty-year-old grudge on me, and in the process hurt her son? I can handle Katie.’ No way was Nina going to tell her mother about Katie’s phone call. ‘What’s got into you, Mum? You’re usually so positive.’
‘I was positive that my weekend away with John, all those years ago, was the start of our wonderful life together. Fate can be cruel, darling.’
‘It can also be kind. Let me show you something.’ Nina picked up her phone and began sorting through photos. ‘I took so many pictures. Hang on while I find the one.’
‘I’m going to make that coffee. Are you sure you won’t have some?’
‘No, but I desperately need a shower. Then I’ll find the photo and maybe you’ll understand.’
*
‘Never,’ Ava muttered to her reflection in the window over the kitchen sink. She’d never understand how she could be so much in love one minute, so ready to be loved in return, then bargaining with Marjorie Tate for her very survival. How desperately Ava had wished she could stay. For the first time she’d found a place to call home. She was part of a whole family, rather than just her and her dad snatching time before Lenore came home and they had to be silent. That was, of course, before Marjorie Tate had labelled her a liar and a thief, accusing her of deliberately holding onto the precious family ring.
‘Mum. Mum!’ Her daughter grabbed the overflowing kettle, turned off the tap, and began soaking up water on the draining board. ‘Where were you just now?’
Ava stepped back. ‘I told you, Nina, this thing with the Tates, all this remembering, is taking its toll.’
‘You were muttering something about a ring, Mum.’
‘Was I? I was thinking about the time Marjorie Tate accused me of keeping a precious family heirloom. The news I was a thief reached town even before I did. If you can’t see why getting involved with the Tates is upsetting me, I don’t know what else to say.’
‘But, Mum, the ring in the portrait.’
‘I told you, I’ve never seen it before.’ And if you thought that storm at Ivy-May was fierce, my darling daughter, you have no idea what you’re walking into with Katie.
‘You said John made a dinner reservation in Brisbane and the venue was a secret. What if he really was going to pop the question that weekend?’
‘I had no reason to expect he’d do any such thing. He just had to get away for a few days until the commotion over the party died down. He wanted me to go with him.’
‘Then how do you explain him painting you with a pearl and diamond ring on your wedding finger? This ring.’ Nina turned the phone and Ava squinted at the screen and the old sepia-coloured photograph. ‘This is the photo I wanted to show you. The lady is Ivy May Tate, John’s great-great-grandmother. Let me zoom in and you’ll see she’s wearing the same ring as you are in the portrait.’
*
‘I’ve never seen that photo before or that ring.’
‘We at least know it exists, just not what happened to it.’ Nina swiped through several photos. ‘Was John the type to hide it in your belongings for you to find rather than putting himself out there in case you said no? Maybe he was going to propose and he chickened out.’
‘Anything’s possible, I suppose. He was kind of shy behind all the jokes. One day we were making scones and he fashioned a ring out of the mix. Told me it was the only dough he had.’ Ava seemed to drift.
‘Focus, Mum. You drove back to Ivy-May with Marjorie and that’s when she dismissed you. You threw all your belongings into the car. Where did you go after leaving that day?’
Ava pressed a palm to her chest, as she often did when taking a deep breath. Her sigh was long, as though she was tiring.
‘Do you need to sit down, Mum?’ Nina led her across the room to the chunky recliner with the mechanical lift that Ava had complained was ‘completely unnecessary and ridiculously premature’. Tony had bought it anyway.
‘Nina, darling, I wasn’t sure where I was going. It was late in the day and I was upset. I do remember tearing down the driveway and through the gate, screaming at the top of my lungs. I was devastated.’
Nina sat opposite, leaning forward, palms pressed together between her knees. ‘And you went straight to the pub where you stayed for a while?’
‘Yes, Nina, I went straight to the pub – the hard way.’
‘What’s that mean?’
‘I crashed my car.’
*
She told her daughter how she’d wanted to get away as fast as she could, and how the car had left the road. ‘I remember hoping I was dead, and when Rick Kingston came to my rescue I barked at him to leave and let me die. Instead, he squeezed into the back seat with my belongings and shared the latest town gossip.’ Ava had never forgotten what he’d said as he hooked his elbows under her arms to lift her. How many times have I wanted to get Ava Marchette in the back seat? ‘Rick promised I’d be safe with him. That was the day I let a man rescue me for the first and last time.’
‘And John never gave you a ring, so it’s not likely Rick Kingston found it in your bags back at the hotel?’
Ava was annoyed now. ‘I want you to stop all this. Just stop.’
‘But why, Mum?’
‘That’s something a child would say, Nina. With everything I’ve told you, surely you can appreciate I don’t want to be constantly reminded about the place.’ Ava clucked in disapproval as her daughter’s phone rang.
‘It’s Miriam, Mum. I’ve got to hurry.’
‘Hurry where? Shouldn’t you be resting after what you’ve been through? What’s so important?’
‘Miriam’s already made the arrangements. It’s a work thing. I’m checking out a new function centre for next year’s conference. I can tell you about it when I get back – and can we talk some more about Blair. That place is his dream and Ivy-May is his father’s sanctuary. I want to do what I can to help but I’m not sure how, or even if he’ll let me. There’s just something else I’ve got to do first.’ Nina twisted the still-damp hair into a knot at the back of her neck as she bent to kiss Ava’s cheek.
‘At least text me when you land so I know you’re okay, darling.’
‘I’ll be okay when I’m back with Blair and I’ve explained. Trust me, Mum,’ Nina called, as she reached the door. ‘Everything will work out. I love you.’
*
Ava collapsed back into the chair knowing she had only herself to blame. She could sit around lamenting foolish decisions, regret her truthfulness and do nothing, but had that been her attitude thirty years ago she wouldn’t be the woman she was today, able to support her children’s dreams and her own. If being with the man she’d always wanted wasn’t possible, at the very least she could help to save what he loved. ‘The strong can’t always save themselves, Papa.’
Ava picked up the phone to make an urgent lunch date with a long-time friend, the managing director of Bysmark Brokerage and Financial Services. As a finance investigator during the Bark Hut’s expansion phase, Paul had identified dishonest franchisees who’d lied or failed to disclose conflicts of interest. While she wanted to believe Blair had told Nina the truth about his debts, her daughter had reminded Ava of the boardroom golden rule. But fact-checking would be the easy part. With John unlikely to accept her help, financial or otherwise, Ava had to talk Katie into meeting with her again.