A widow or a widower—it didn’t matter. The fact Spencer didn’t want to talk about Belle might be a red flag, and she knew all too well that unresolved grief made people unreliable,and flighty. Even if Spencer came through this reality TV show with an untarnished image, could things really work between them if the subject of his late wife was off limits?
When Clem returned to the lounge room, Harriet was sitting beside Indi, telling her sleepy sister about camp. Seeing the pair of them there, side-by-side, was worth every camp mishap, every favour she’d begged from Jack and Lauren, and every ounce of the tiredness that was consuming her body. These girls of hers weren’t just sisters, they were friends, and she was so proud to be their mum.
Indi shrieked with delight when she spotted Clem, and the feeling of her daughter’s tiny arms wrapping around her legs, and the bond that had strengthened between her and Harriet on the trip, was like nothing else. It was better than a few hot nights between the sheets, or beating Marco’s cafe in the school catering sphere, and it was certainly better than worrying about the things she couldn’t know for certain.
15
Clem looked through her presentation one last time. After the failed contract with Cockatoo Cove Area School, she wanted to make sure this quote, which was destined for Beachport Primary School, was tickety-boo.
She clicked through the pages of the digital slide show, making sure the right photographs were on the right pages, the nutritional breakdowns were mathematically correct and the costs were clearly set out alongside the retail price, so the parents and friends committee could easily work out the profit margin for each item.
And although Isobel West had tweaked the templates for her, Clem felt pretty proud of the overall product after spending much of the weekend finessing the quote.
The phone rang while Clem was fine-tuning the slide transitions.
‘Hey Mia, how’s things?’
The noisy line suggested Mia was in the car and sure enough, she was only halfway through her hushed explanation that she was driving around to keep baby Fred sleeping when a cry could be heard in the background.
‘Gah, he’s awake again. I wanted to call and see how the camp was. Was Spencer okay? Have you been watching the show?’
Fred’s cries amplified through the line. Clem held the phone away from her ear. ‘Sorry Mia, I can’t hear you.’
Her friend’s sigh was followed by the clicking of the car indicator. ‘I’ll try you again later when this little night owl plays ball.’
Clem hung up, and had just started on the power-point slide transitions when the phone lit up again.
‘How’s my favourite camper?’ Hazel asked. ‘Harriet said you nailed the highest ropes and showed the littlies how to rock the giant swing. I knew you’d love it.’
Clem laughed, stretching in her office chair. ‘For my one and only camp helper experience, it was alright. No one got lost in the bush on my watch, so that was something. And the air out there … Almost makes me want to buy a tent.’
Hazel laughed. ‘Almostbeing the operative word. I’m so excited about this sleeping through business that I can’t ever imagine volunteering for one of those things, knowing I’d be woken by homesick kids and students too scared to walk to the toilets alone. Did you get much sleep?’
Clem walked to the cafe’s big double fridges. She didn’t like lying, but she wasn’t ready to admit there’d been limited sleep for a whole different reason. Besides, she’d made Spencer a promise.
She cut a wedge of hummingbird cake and grabbed a fork. ‘Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. I almost wish I was back there now, instead of stuck in the office doing admin while the girls watch a movie.’
Between mouthfuls of cake, she told Hazel about the catering quote, and the presentation that had taken longer than planned.
‘I’m definitely better at cooking than marketing,’ she conceded. ‘I couldn’t have done it without the team you helped me gather. Your beautiful niece and her artistic flair, April Lacey’s fabulous photography skills, a few key suggestions from Lauren on the wording; they’re the real stars behind this presentation. It looks pretty darn professional, thanks to their help. Kev, Sebastian and Selina all thought it was pretty snazzy.’
Well, at least Kev and Sebastian had said so. Selina had studied it for a while, but getting a compliment from the teenager was like getting blood from a stone, so Clem took the lack of a snarky dismissal as a raving endorsement. She really needed to work out what to do there.
‘Your Aunty Jean might have the best black book when it comes to matchmaking,’ Hazel said, ‘but librarians keep a finger on the pulse of the wider community. It’s what we do when we’re not baby wrangling and pushing books on unsuspecting readers. Speaking of babies, now that Cormac is slightly more user-friendly, you wanna come for dinner tonight?’
Clem’s cheeks flushed just thinking of the rendezvous she had planned with Spencer. ‘Tonight doesn’t work.’
Hazel gave an exaggerated groan. ‘C’mon, you know you want to. We can watchLove on the Landand throw popcorn at the screen every time that idiot from Rockhampton pashes a different girl. See what mysterious charms Spencer’s been hiding under his hat all these years. We’re only a few weeks into the season, I’ll catch you up on the episodes you’ve missed.’
The hairs on Clem’s arms prickled. Cake finished, she loaded the plate and fork into the dishwasher. ‘I’m snowed under, sorry Hazel. Maybe next weekend?’
She hung up and returned to the office, working on the presentation until her vision swam.
One last read through before I hit send, she promised herself. A noise from the cafe kitchen drew her attention away from the computer screen and she saw her phone dancing on the stainless-steel benchtop. She hit ‘save’ on the presentation and smiled when she crossed the room to see Spencer’s name on the screen.
Just home, really looking forward to seeing you tonight. I’ve missed you. xx
Clem’s body hummed in anticipation. He’d had a beekeeping thing with the Brealys this weekend, and tonight would be the first time she’d seen him since camp. With a bit of luck and an early dinner, she’d have time to primp and preen after the girls were in bed.
