Choices – Three Months Later
‘I need a frequent-flyer programme for you, Nina,’ Blair called across the restaurant deck. ‘Good trip now the roads are all fixed?’
‘Are you getting sick of me drifting back and forth? Do I look like a woman who can’t commit?’
‘You look like a woman who needs a hug.’ Gone were any concerns that the feelings behind the embrace weren’t mutual. ‘I understand you want to take some time and be close to Ava. It’s good you could take so much time off work. Nepotism comes in handy, eh?’
‘I guess.’
Blair pulled back. ‘Is there something wrong?’
‘I’m… I’m needing to…’
‘To sit down?’ he asked.
‘No, no, I have to stand. There are decisions to be made.’
‘And you can’t do that sitting down? You look like you need a drink.’
‘Absolutely not! I’m intoxicated enough without one. It’s a feeling I get whenever I hit the Candlebark Creek turn-off on the highway. I like how the corrugations rattle my bad mood away. And I like that I see complication in my life and a future that excites me. That’s what I’m talking about.’
Blair was smiling. ‘Funnily enough, all I see before me right this second is confusion. You obviously need to let me inside that head of yours.’
‘It’s Miriam,’ Nina said. ‘We’re like chalk and cheese but we’ve been friends for ever, you know?’
Bewilderment scrunched his face. ‘What’s Miriam got to do with this?’
‘She doesn’t hold back. She takes the bull by the horns and does whatever feels right. I’m here because I want to take the bull by the horns.’
‘You do realise that is just a saying. You don’t need to take an actual bull by its horns, although Pretty Boy wouldn’t mind, I’m sure. Where are you planning on taking this bull and his horns?’
‘I have a new project I need your help with.’ Nina knew she wasn’t making any sense, but for the entire trip in the car any planned speech had become mixed up with self-doubt. She mustn’t look at the teasing curve of his lips and the sultry sparkle in his eyes. She had to concentrate.
‘How concerned should I be about this project, Nina?’ Blair grinned.
‘It’s me. I’m worried that I’m a failure at forming attachments to avoid being hurt and that’s why I have goldfish as pets. Nobody cries when a goldfish dies, right? I mean, they’re not like dogs and cats that you mourn, set aside a spot in the garden or pay for a cremation and get their ashes in a hundred-dollar box to keep on the mantelpiece. I hate to admit it, but I think Miriam’s right. People have goldfish so they can flush them down the toilet.’
‘Slow down, Nina, is that why you’re upset? Your goldfish died?’
She pressed the heel of one hand on a cheek and found tears she didn’t know she’d cried. ‘Oh, ah, no, they’re in the car.’
At that moment a family of four appeared on the deck, with backpacks, bags and expressions that said they’d been driving for too many hours.
‘We made it,’ the father told Blair, shaking his hand.
‘Good, I’ll show you all to your rooms and let you get settled. You…’ He smiled and spoke firmly to Nina and pulled out a dining chair. ‘Sit and don’t move. I’ll be back.’
Nina plopped into a chair, remembering her friend’s face the day she broke the news about Project Nina.
‘You were right,’ Nina had said, after cornering Miriam in the staff room. ‘I’m working in the family business and doing a desk job I hate because it’s safe. My heart isn’t in it, like yours is.’
‘Der! I love making those freaking franchisees more successful. And I love that they don’t know I’m doing it.’
‘Then we both need to do what we love, starting now.’ Nina had slipped the phone from her pocket, ignoring several messages from Blair. What she was about to do was more important.
‘Nina,’ Miriam said, a note of warning in her tone, ‘whatever you’re thinking about doing I want you to stop and put the phone down. I said step away from the phone, Nina.’
‘Nope. I’m telling Tony before I chicken out. Besides, he’s working from home today.’ Nina opened a new message and started typing.
‘What are you telling him?’
‘That I’m taking more leave. Actually…’ Nina stopped to delete her last five words. ‘Make that… r-e-s-i-g-n-i-n-g.’
‘Are you crazy? This is your family’s business!’
‘I’m not crazy and I’m very aware it’s my family’s business, which means I can tell my brother to appoint you as my permanent replacement. There, sent.’ She looked up, enjoying Miriam’s stunned-mullet impersonation. ‘Next time Mr Pain-in-the-butt franchisee calls and wants to talk to the person in charge you can tell him you’re it.’
‘Oh, wow, Nina.’ The pair hugged. ‘That’s so not crazy. Thank you! I won’t let you down.’
‘I know you won’t. I really should have done this sooner.’ Nina sighed, feeling the weight of expectations fall away.
‘Why now, Neens, what are you going to do?’
‘Mum’s connection with John Tate made me see how much I want the same, but also how much I might lose if I don’t toughen up and make a few changes.’
‘We all want the same, Neens. That’s hardly a reason to resign.’
‘Bark Hut was taking over my life, Miriam. I don’t want to be Tony’s sister and Ava’s daughter. Time I made my own decisions and stood on my own two feet. I may be only twenty-five, but who knows what’s waiting around the corner? Look what happened out of the blue to John Tate and he was just twenty-one. I’m not rushing into anything but I’m not wasting another day doing something I don’t enjoy, or being with someone I don’t love. Besides, you’ll be heaps better at this job than me – but I’ll want regular updates and all the goss.’
Now Nina felt Blair’s hand on her shoulder, his finger slipping the fallen bra strap back up. She’d been too busy staring at her unadorned fingers knotted tight in her lap to notice him return.
She looked up and saw his smiling face above her. ‘Hello!’
‘Hi there.’
‘Guests settled?’ she asked.
‘Yep.’
‘So, do you reckon I can make that entrance again?’
He shrugged. ‘If you feel the need. Maybe I should help you get those goldfish out of the car.’
‘Yeah, and Mum should be here soon. She wanted to stop in town first.’
Blair stopped walking. ‘Ava’s coming?’
Nina sniffed and wiped her nose. ‘Your lucky day, Blair. You get me, my goldfish and my mother all at the same time. Is the cottage vacant?’
‘Yes, but it might be a bit small for you all.’
‘Oh, really? Well, maybe Mum can have the cottage and you can find me a comfy bed somewhere else.’
‘You and your goldfish?’
‘Yeah, but they don’t take up much room and they’re like me, simple needs – food, protection, a place to breathe.’
‘I was about to take the dogs for a run.’
‘Great! I’ll come with you.’
‘And then I’ll give your accommodation options some serious thought – for about a second.’ Blair gathered her up, kissing her in such a way that she wished the guests who’d arrived earlier were not loitering on the deck.