Dates
‘Hi, Nina, it’s Blair – from Candlebark Creek calling.’
‘Oh, well, I’m glad you clarified.’ Nina wondered if the world outside her office window had always been tinged with industrial grey even though the sun was shining. ‘At least I know you’re not one of the other Blairs I’m already dating. Blair from out the back of Bourke, Blair from beyond the Black Stump, or Blair from Bullamakanka. Then there’s Blair at—’
‘Okay, okay! So you only know one. Message received.’
‘And how are you, Blair from Candlebark Creek? Has Keith asked you to go on tour as his lead act, or has Sony Records signed you up yet?’
‘You’re hilarious, Nina, but Mum’s back from her conference so Dad and I are on our best behaviour. She’s been on at me for a family pow-wow, which I’m avoiding for as long as I can.’
‘What’s on the agenda do you think?’
‘Could be anything. Most likely it’s about the Farmstay Retreat. Mum won’t let me run the place my way.’
Nina offered a hum of understanding. She and Blair shared more than a love of cooking. They had mothers who over-involved themselves in their children’s lives – both were loving and protective and keen to see their children settled and happy.
‘You got back to Noosa all right then?’
She snapped back into focus. ‘Oh, yes. And ever since I’ve been sitting behind my desk dreaming about being on a quad bike.’
‘How’s Ava?’
Conrad had never asked after her mother. ‘She’s fine. I’ll tell her you rang me to ask.’
‘That’s not my sole purpose for calling.’
‘You want to know how my goldfish are doing?’
‘I didn’t know you had goldfish. Come to think of it, Nina, there’s a lot I don’t know about you, which segues into why I’m calling. You said you were dating just one Blair. I like the sound of that.’
‘The sound of what?’
‘The dating thing – which brings me to a problem I’m hoping to overcome.’
Somewhere inside Nina a giggle was tugging loose. ‘Yes?’
‘Not sure how you city girls do this dating thing, but out here we like to follow tradition and said dating tends to mean the man and the woman are usually within a few hundred kilometres, at least.’
‘At least?’
‘Which leads me to ask, if I was to make a dinner reservation, let’s say here, how likely would you be to head out this way again for a weekend? I know it’s a bit of a drive but therapeutic.’
‘Quite likely, and I would definitely consider something akin to a dinner date, Mr Tate. As long as there are no prairie oysters on the menu.’
‘I was thinking something cheesy.’
‘You like cheese?’
‘I’m kinda fondue you,’ Blair said.
Nina laughed. ‘And I agree you and I would look Gouda together, so name the date and I’ll book my favourite local Farmstay Retreat.’
‘Wow, that’s terrific, although…’
‘What now?’
‘What if we’re booked out and I don’t have a room available? Might you consider a share arrangement?’
Nina pictured the grin and the way he fingered the cleft in his chin. ‘That would totally depend on how dinner goes.’
‘Good, then come up any day that suits you. Is tomorrow too soon?’
Her giggle must have made it all the way to Miriam’s desk because her friend sighed and rolled her eyes.
‘I promise not to make you work this time, Nina, just a relaxing break, and we can do that farm tour. Who knows? You might fall in love with the place and want to stay. Er, ah, when I say stay I mean for a… You know?’
Nina was laughing harder now. ‘I’ll start with a weekend. I can make it a long one.’
‘Great, and if I’m sounding too eager it’s only because I’m still making up for being a knob when you were here last time.’
‘Eager is good. It’s honest and I like my Blairs that way, but I do need to arrange for Miriam to look after things at work. And I may need to bring my goldfish.’
‘Tyson loves goldfish. Oh, there goes the potential bed-share plan. I forgot, he’ll be here for the next two weeks. On second thoughts, maybe you’d prefer to postpone—’
‘Three for dinner one night soon?’ Nina said. ‘An early sitting and a room down the hall to myself afterwards? That sounds great and I’d love to meet your son. Oh, and Blair?’ She lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘I can tiptoe.’
*
The gods seemed to be on her side. Ris and her brood were occupying Ava who, on grandma mode with the awesome foursome, was always too tired to think about much else, including what her daughter might be up to. There’d been another strained phone call, Ava insisting Nina drop by, but with the opportunity to go back to Candlebark Creek for a few days she invented a sore throat to push back the mother-daughter catch-up.
‘I could be infectious, Mum, and neither you nor Ris can afford to get sick. I’ll come over and see you next week and we can talk all you want,’ she told Ava. ‘Tell Ris I’m thinking of her and, yes, I’ll spend as much time in bed as I can.’
Nina hung up and laughed. Did you just say that to your mother?
*
To avoid the weekend traffic heading north, she’d taken Friday off, telling Tony the same lie about a sore throat and not to worry Mum. Only Miriam knew the real reason for her dash up the coast.
It was perhaps opportune that Tyson would be there. Her relationship with his father was moving quickly. The thing she’d least expected to come out of her trip to meet John Tate was that his son would come to occupy her head twenty-four-seven.