‘Maybe. But then there’s your own company some of the time – which is great, don’t get me wrong – but if it goes on for too long, it can be a bad thing. It really can affect you. You know, mentally.’
The waitress brought over their scones and mini pots of jam and cream. ‘Jam first?’ Margot asked.
Faye laughed. ‘Is there any other way?’
Margot smeared a generous helping of jam on top of one warm half of scone. ‘Howard would never have wanted Bonnie to close herself off from the world. Remember when Sarah lost her sister earlier this year and she came to the Midnight Book Club and admitted that she hadn’t left the house in three weeks?’ Sarah hadn’t told them for three weeks either; she’d just shown up at book club as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
‘It all burst out of her that day, didn’t it,’ said Faye.
‘I’ll never forget it.’ One minute they’d been talking about Arthur Miller’sDeath of a Salesmanand the next thing they knew the rectangle on the screen with Sarah’s face showed a woman in turmoil. Her sister had been a retail salesperson in her younger years and the title had been what set her off. Sarah told them all that she’d been holding it together because she wanted to feel normal again, but she’d asked how that was ever possible with such a devastating loss.
‘It will be hard for a while,’ Howard had said. ‘Youwillgo on,’ he’d told her. ‘Youwillfind a new sense of normality.’ He’d admitted then that he would be lost without his Bonnie and made them all laugh when he said she’d probably be fine without him as she was the organised one, paying the bills, sorting out what meals they ate, dealing with all the admin that came with a house.
Margot dolloped cream on top of the jam on her second half of scone with big juicy sultanas bursting out of its surface. ‘Do you ever hear from any of the members who dropped out of your book club so suddenly?’
‘No, never.’
‘It was like we’d had a hex put on us or something.’ Margot was laughing but Faye wasn’t.
Faye didn’t remark on the people she’d brought to the group, people she knew personally. ‘We’re a smaller group now than we were, but you and Howard were the two who were the most reliable.’
‘I feel I should get a gold star or something.’
Faye grinned. ‘I’ll think about it.’ And then she changed the topic. ‘Now, about Bonnie. Iris at the bookshop said it’s hard to get her to talk when she goes up there to the cottage to check on her. So it isn’t just me.’
‘That’s kind of reassuring to know.’
Faye picked up the last morsel of her scone smothered in jam and cream and, after she popped it into her mouth, got back to the pressing issue. ‘It’s one thing not being very welcoming to me, or to us – we are strangers after all – but Iris knows her.’
‘When you put it like that it does sound very odd.’
‘Maybe she’s not managing at all. I don’t want to poke my nose in, but…’
Margot paused thoughtfully. ‘Howard wouldn’t want her to hide away from the rest of the world.’
‘I don’t think he would either.’
‘What about you?’ Margot asked, because ever since Faye told her about the broken engagement, their focus had been on Bonnie, and she hadn’t asked how Faye was doing. ‘How are things?’
‘After being dumped, you mean?’
‘Sorry, should I have avoided bringing it up?’
‘No, don’t apologise. I’m actually doing all right. It helps being here, away from Queensland, away from my apartment and work, and the places we used to go together.’
‘I think you were right to come.’
‘Yeah.’
When you were with someone you were in a routine, even if it wasn’t an official routine. Your life revolved around them and if you were lucky theirs might revolve around you just a bit too. ‘It’s not very nice for you at the moment, but it’s far better to split up now than further down the line.’
Margot wanted to ask whether there was more to the story of the broken engagement than Faye had previously let on, but she didn’t feel it was her place. They didn’t know each other that well; they were linked by books and by the brief conversations they’d had, and she didn’t want to pry.
Rather than dwelling on relationship talk, which Margot had no desire to ignite either, Margot got Faye talking about Australia. Other countries fascinated her; they always had.
‘I’ve never been to Australia,’ said Margot. ‘I always wanted to travel. I almost did a degree that would’ve taken me to America for a year.’
‘That would’ve been an awesome experience.’
