Читать книгу Palmerstone Ridge - Kim Allen - Страница 6

Their week together went swiftly. So fast that Jeanette didn’t realise that a week had passed. She was happily working through the day at the cafe, and at the evening she would be greeted with a huge hug and a smile. She couldn’t remember being happier than she was around Richard. He made her giggle and smile and feel like the teenager that she missed out on being.

In the evenings, they made some games to play and shared stories. Richard would happily elaborate the tales as he told them to Jeanette. She listened, smiled and laughed at all his jokes.

Richard had never talked so much. He had not shared much of his personal life with anyone. It was something that he kept buried deep inside himself. There was a lot of pain and a lot of hurt dealing with not knowing his father. He had found that he connected with Jeanette and had talked through a lot more than he had for many years. With talking about it, it was confronting but he was finding that sharing it with someone who had gone through a similar situation helped him feel more stable than he had in years. Even though they were uncomfortable discussions, Jeanette’s warmth helped them both open up to each other.

It was Thursday evening as Richard and Jeanette were washing their dishes.

‘Ric,’ started Jeanette, ‘I’ve got something very important to ask you. I’m a little nervous about it, but I have to do it’

‘I’m not liking the sound of this, Button.’ Richard had started calling Jeanette Button, after she had sewn a new button onto his work shirt. It was a little thing, but it did make Jeanette feel special. ‘If it’s important are you sure you want to ask me?’

Jeanette put on her best serious face and glared at him. Richard finished washing the plate before handing it to her. Noticing that she hadn’t moved, he retorted, ‘Alright, Misses serious face. I’m listening.’

She took the plate and started drying. ‘We have had a great week together. I’ve really enjoyed it. But I would like you to meet Bill and Debbie before you go back to the sheds.’

‘You mean, Bill and Deb at the cafe,’ he said as he was scrubbing the cast iron fry pan.

‘Yes’

‘The same Bill and Debbie that you work for?’

‘Yes’

‘As in the Bill and Debbie who have taken you under their wing like Mum and Dad?’

‘Well ...’

“You’re asking me to meet your Mum and Dad?’

‘They’re not really my Mum and Dad’ Jeanette retorted.

‘But they are like your Mum and Dad, yeah?’

‘Well, yes.’

Richard scrubbed the fry pan a little more. ‘I’ve never been asked to meet anyone’s Mum and Dad before.’

‘It’s not a big deal. Debbie just asked to meet you because you have been all I’ve talked about all week.’

Passing the sparkling clean pan to Jeanette, he said with a self-confident smile, ‘Oh really?’ Richard puffs out his chest a little.

Jeanette sees his bravado, and gives him a quick slap in the belly, making him change his posture to something more relaxed. ‘Don’t be a galah.’ She takes the pan and starts wiping it dry. ‘If you’re too chicken, I’ll let them know you can’t do it.’

‘Now hold on there, Button,’ Richard crosses one leg in front of the other and puts a hand on his hip. Looking as serious as possible at Jeanette, he says ‘Who are you calling chicken?’

Jeanette broke into a cheeky smile, swinging the drying towel over her shoulder, she then mirrored Richards pose. ‘Well, I’ll be calling you Chicken from now on, until you show up at the cafe for lunch at 1pm tomorrow.’

‘And there is nothing I can do about that?’

‘No. Just be on time, Chicken.’

Richard stood on the footpath, two shops up from the cafe. He wore his clean shirt and pants that he wore the first time he met Jeanette. He didn’t own any other presentable clothes. Everything else he owned were his work clothes. You didn’t need many dress clothes when you were in the sheds. Jeanette had requested that he wear a tie. She had found one in the thrift shop before she went to work. It had cost her fifty cents, so he felt obliged to wear it though it felt odd.

The street was quiet. There were a few locals going about their business, but no one was paying any undue attention to Richard. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He hadn’t been this nervous in his life. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ he asked himself.

‘Ain’t nothing wrong,’ came his reply, ‘you just actually like the girl, that's all.’

‘Are you sure you want to go through with this.’

‘Well, I’ve never met anyone like Buttons before.’

‘Doesn’t mean we have to meet Bill and Debs’

‘Come on, can’t be any worse than dancing with Old Man Taggart’s grumpy old ram.’

‘That true,’ he muttered. ‘Let's do this, then,’ he said as he walked toward the front door of the cafe.

The cafe was empty as he entered. No one was behind the counter, but the bell on the top of the door announced his arrival.

‘Be with you in a mo,’ boomed a voice from the back room of the shop. Richard approached the counter. He was too nervous to relax. He clasped his hands together to stop them fidgeting. He felt a bead of sweat start to run down his temple. Raising a hand to wipe it away with the back of his sleeve, he knocks the display jar full of Jelly Beans over. Before he can grab it, it rolls across the counter spilling its contents everywhere, and then heads toward the edge. Richard gathers himself and quickly stops the jar before it gets to the edge. Sizing up the mess he’s made, he holds the open end of the jar underneath the lip of the counter and starts scooping the Jelly Beans off the counter and back into the jar. He quickly looks up, no one is there. He scoops the last handful into the jar and puts it back on the shelf

A large, burly gentleman with a wild bushy red beard comes in from the kitchen. He is barrel chested, with arms the size of tree trunks. He is wearing a white apron over top of a smart button-down shirt.

He leans on the counter with one elbow and looks Richard up and down. It feels like an eternity before he asks, ‘How can I help you, son?’

‘I’ve come to meet Jeanette,’ was all Richard could squeak out of his lips.

‘What was that son? You want to buy some bread?’

‘No, I...I’ve come to meet Jeanette’, Richard stammered a little louder. The man’s hard gaze was firmly fixed on Richard.

‘I can’t find my head?’

Richard paused and took a deep breath. He looked straight into the man’s eyes, ‘I’ve come to meet, Jeanette’

His stoney face was cold, and his eyes calculating every emotion on Richards face. Richard was not going to look away. The man then stood up and broke into a huge smile. ‘You must be Richard,’ he said in warm tone. ‘I’m Bill. You can put that pile of bricks you just shat back in your pants and come on through. The girls have been waiting for you,’ and he led the way toward the back of the cafe.

Richard let out a sigh of relief. Not sure what had just happened, he followed Bill to the back room. They went through the kitchen, past the store room and the office, and ended up on a small patio where a table with sandwiches and lemonade had been set up. Jeanette and a lady with black hair tied up in a bun were seated at the table.

‘I hope you weren’t too rough on the lad, Bill’, said the lady.

‘He made it back here, didn’t he?’

‘Bill, please,’ Jeanette stood up.

‘Richard, you’ve met Bill, and this is Debbie,’ Jeanette gave the introductions.

‘Nice to meet you, Richard,’ Debbie stood to shake his hand.

‘Nice to meet you too, Mrs ...’

‘Not the formalities with us, please. We are Bill and Debbie not Mr and Mrs.’

‘Alright, Richard. Sit down over there and let’s get this food happening,’ Bill motioned to the chair that was next to Jeanette, and he shuffled into the seat next to Debbie.

The chicken and lettuce sandwiches were shared, and between mouthfuls Bill said, ‘Alright, son. Joey has told us a lot about you. What’s your intention in this relationship?’

Jeanette gagged on the half mouthful she had, Debbie was caught a little off guard but quickly hit Bill with the back of her hand. “What? Women? We don’t have time to beat around the bush?’

‘There are more subtle ways to ask, and they have only known each other for a week’ Debbie said.

‘Well we knew after a week.’

‘Not everyone is like us, Bill.’

‘Oh, it’s alright, thanks Debbie,’ Richard starts, ‘I’m used to the team giving me the curry all the time. But I can’t tell you much more than Jeanette is a great girl and she has shown me nothing but respect, and I’m hoping that she is feeling that in return’

Jeanette beamed. ‘I am feeling respected.’ she said while looking at Richard. Richard feels all skittish and shy, breaks her gaze and looks down at his hands as they grab the next sandwich.

‘Joey tells us that you’ll be back at the sheds next week?’

‘Yeah. We have a couple of months work close to here. I’m going to keep working them and see if I can make it back here for weekends, and we’ll take it from there.’ Richard was feeling a little more comfortable and looked over to Jeanette. She caught his eye and started to blush. He was going to make it through.

The rest of the meal went without a hitch. They laughed and talked, making Richard feel comfortable around them. They ended up spending an hour talking. Bill had to attend to the shop for a couple of customers, but he was only gone for a few minutes at a time then he would be back.

When Richard left, it was the first time for a long time that he had felt like he was home.

For the next few weeks the sheds Richard was working in weren’t far from Cobar. On the Friday night he was eager to head back and spend the weekend with Jeanette. There was always a great roast family dinner with Bill and Debbie on Sunday. After that, he would pack up his gear and be off on Sunday evening to be onsite for the shearing on Monday. Jeanette was feeling special having him be there and spend time together.

As the weeks progressed though, the sheds Richard worked got further away. It wasn’t easy to travel the distance after work, and not having a car meant Richard was at mercy of someone in the team wanting to drive him to Cobar.

During one of these weeks, Jeanette was feeling very sick. She had a talk with Debbie about the situation. Debbie was a great comfort and gave her some advice. She recommended going to the doctor as you never know what a doctor may say. Jeanette made an appointment for the Thursday afternoon, and was told she needed to come back in after the weekend for the results.

The weekend came, and Richard arrived on the Saturday morning, because it was too late to drive on the Friday night. After they had lunch on Sunday with Bill and Debbie, they returned to Jeanette’s little unit.

‘Button, I’ve been thinking,’ Richard said as they sat on the back porch. ‘It’s not right for us to keep this up. I mean, you deserve someone who’s going be here for you.’

This caught Jeanette by surprise. ‘What do you mean? You are here for me now?’ Jeanette said, looking at him with concern.

Richard was looking at the ground, as he did so often when he was nervous. ‘Yeah, but I mean, you know. More like a man.’

Jeanette bit her lip, not sure where this was going.

‘I’ve been thinking. You’re a very special lady. Not someone that I’d run into that often. I think I’ve got a plan that’ll mean I get to living with you full time. Would you like that?’

Jeanette sprung out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Richard. ‘Oh Ric. That would make me so happy.’ She planted a kiss squarely on his lips. At first, Richard was a little surprised, but it didn’t take him long to settle in and enjoy the deep, intimate moment.

‘But your shearing, and the competition. Have you thought about them?’ Jeanette questioned as she sat on his leg with her arms still wrapped around his neck.

‘I was talking to Boofa about this, and he’s tee’d up with Mr Jarrot, the owner of the next shed, to get me some flying lessons. There are a number of stations close here that use pilots, and once I’ve got my license, I’ll be able to base up here and fly for some of the locals.’

Jeanette was bursting. She was so excited to hear that she would have Richard around all the time. She was a little giddy, and lost for words, but tears welled up in her eyes and she couldn’t hide them.

‘Oh, didn’t think I’d get tears, Button.’ Richard said with his cheeky smile. Jeanette just slapped him on his chest and laughed.

‘Don’t’ she said, ‘they are happy tears. I couldn’t be happier knowing that you are willing to come and live here with me.’

‘It’s been tough, just thinking about it,’ Richard said, ‘but I don’t have anywhere else to go, beyond the next shed. And you have been the magic thing that has happened to me. So, I just want more of what you got.’

‘Are you sure that you handle more of me?’ Jeanette taps him on the end of his nose with her finger.

‘Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t going to try.’ they laughed at each other, and kisses again.

Richard said that he would not be able to come back for the next three weekends because of the flight training. The next time he would be back, he would be back for good.