‘By the time I got back from filming at the beehives, there were only a few leftovers on a plate. It’s the quick or the dead around here when it comes to food,’ he said. She noticed him peering at the food longingly.
‘Nice place,’ she said, gesturing to the pond with its multilevel water feature and giant waterlily pads. She’d noticed the rotunda when she’d delivered yesterday’s catering, but today the outdoor dining table was set with candles, fresh flowers and pale blue crockery. ‘I can only imagine poor North Giddi Giddi has a lot to live up to?’
He laughed, shaking his head. ‘North Giddi Giddi is my mother-in-law’s family farm in Canada.’
‘Ah, Louisa and Ian. Two of my favourite regulars.’ She looked back at his home. It was big alright, but from what she could see, it was the only residence on the property.
‘Do you all live in the same house?’ Clem’s mind skipped ahead. Was that why he was still single? She grabbed a box of savouries, eager to do something with her hands. ‘Not that it’s any of my business.’
She started walking towards the rotunda before remembering it was set for two, and from yesterday’s catering brief, she knew the vegan catering was for the crew. She eyed the fairy lights, candles and fluffy throw cushions adorning the rotunda. Definitely a romantic dinner planned for that space.
‘Ian and Louisa’s place is on the western side of the property, three kilometres from here,’ said Spencer, leading the way to the deck.
‘Where’s everyone now, though? I thought the place would be crawling with camera crews and harried-looking minions, rushing to do the bidding of the director.’
‘They’re filming the ladies bake biscuits with Louisa and my sister, Addison. I couldn’t bear to watch, not after they got into a hearty debate about the best way to crack eggs. Way too many cooks in the kitchen for me, not to mention the cameras and crew. Thought I’d tackle a few outside jobs instead.’
‘I know where I’d rather be too. Though it beats me why they’re buying in food when you’ve obviously got some goodcooks among your ladies. I’ve seen you turn sausages too, and Mia said you were a handy chef.’
Spencer paused on the steps, resting an elbow against the deck’s timber rail. ‘Mia thinks anyone who can avoid burning meat pies in an oven is amazing. Jeff gives us blokes a bad name in the culinary department, so her standards aren’t especially high. Plus, the camera crew’s ultra-fussy. After a food poisoning incident a few seasons back, they steer clear of anything that wasn’t prepared in a commercial kitchen.’
Clem set down the food boxes on a wicker dining table, spotting three slender blonde women through the generous kitchen window.
It turned out Spencer Hawkins had a type, and it was the polar opposite of the curvaceous brunette staring back at her, reflected in the glass.
4
Clem wasn’t sure she’d ever had as many warm waves from other drivers as the day she drove her new coffee van across Penwarra’s bumpy back roads.
And while she was sure it was more to do with the pink-and-white van than her being behind the wheel, the extra waves gave her hope that she’d made the right decision, and that someday soon, when the van was rebranded to reflect the Sunny Cross Farm Gate Cafe, she’d build up a loyal following as her great aunt, Jean Dellacourte, had done.
She pulled up in her driveway beside Jack’s patrol ute, then started the process of manoeuvring the van into place.
A whistle came from the verandah and her brother Jack strode over in his navy-blue police uniform.
‘Did the van tow okay? Hope you checked the lights and brakes before you left, it’d be a bad look if I had to book my own sister for towing an unroadworthy vehicle. Especially when I’m the one who suggested it in the first place.’
Jack rubbed his knuckles on the top of Harriet’s head when she jumped out of the car, grinning as she prepared for the familiar tussle.
Clem dodged the good-natured horseplay and watched Harriet jump onto Jack’s broad back, in fits of silent giggles as she tried to reciprocate by mussing up Jack’s hair. Indi joined in, but it wasn’t long before a clash of heads sent Indi into a flood of tears.
‘Sorry, Indi. Are you okay?’ Harriet rubbed her forehead.
‘Shhh, Indi, you’re fine.’ Clem scooped up and soothed her youngest. ‘Indi was up all night with nightmares about that darn guinea pig again,’ she told Jack. ‘I still can’t believe you let her smuggle it home from Selina’s house. That furry little finger-munching devil is responsible for more than a month of sleepless nights.’
‘Are you still salty about that?’
‘Wait until Pop hears about my coffee van plan,’ Clem said, running a hand along the side of the van with Indi on one hip. Jean’s branding was still stretched across it; that would be the first thing she’d replace once the structural issues were sorted.
‘He’ll be chuffed,’ Jack agreed. ‘And you know he’ll send his mates in your direction too, once you’ve got your route nailed down.’
Their grandparents, Arthur and Shirley, had stepped in as carers when she and Jack were teenagers, and not only had Art encouraged them to come back at every opportunity, he’d moved into a retirement village and handed Clem and Jack joint ownership of Sunny Cross Farm several years earlier.
‘Hey Clem!’ Lauren Bickford, her brother’s girlfriend, joined them on the driveway, looking as sunny and perky as ever.
‘I’ve missed Jean’s roving coffee van. This is going to be so good for your cafe.’ She bounced up on her toes, kissed Jack’s cheek, then clamped her hands over his ears. ‘Don’t tell him I said so, but your brother’s a genius sometimes.’
‘Yeah yeah, you’ll keep,’ Jack grumbled, leaning in and giving Lauren the kind of silent, multi-layered look that Clem interpreted as ‘I love you, even when you’re being a smart-arse’.
