It’s not like you told him about your dad either,a tiny voice reminded her.
Her hands shook so much she almost dropped the phone trying to dial Jack’s number.
‘What’s up?’
Clem tried to pull herself together, not wanting a repeat of the night last week when she’d arrived on Jack’s doorstep, tears streaming down her face and breathless, having run all the way from the hall to his house. Lauren had taken one look at her and ushered Indi out the other door for ice cream. She’d collected Harriet from theatre rehearsals too, and put them both to sleep in their own beds while Clem had raged and sobbed and spilled the whole sorry story to Jack. And like he’d done so many times in the last nine years, he listened. Just like she knew he’d do now, and tomorrow, and all the days after that.
‘Do you need me to swing by? Or Lauren’s at home, she can be there in five minutes.’
Clem shook her head. ‘I’m fine. Kind of. Nothing to worry about, I’ve set a timer on my phone and I’m giving myself three minutes max to snivel like a tired toddler.’
‘Sounds like the clock’s ticking then. Shoot.’
‘Do you think about Mum and Dad?’
‘Yep,’ he said. ‘Do you?’
‘As little as possible,’ she admitted. ‘But knowing what I know about Spencer, and even though Belle was terminal, I can’t help casting him as a murderer, someone who would have aided and abetted our father. What about the sanctity of life? I would give anything to have stopped Dad doing what he did, so how can I have feelings for a man who endorsed that type of decision? It’s eating me up.’
‘We were kids when Dad made that choice, we weren’t supposed to be the ones carrying that weight. This is a different set of circumstances. I mean, if Spencer was bragging about helping his wife die, I’d be worried, but it sounds like it was pretty hard on him too.’
‘But how could a grown adult, in their right mind, make that choice? And how can Spencer still love Belle after what she did? What she asked him to do?’
‘People do strange things for love. I don’t think we can judge him for it any more than we can judge Belle for taking her fate into her own hands.’
Clem’s alarm vibrated. She blew out a deep sigh. ‘That’s it, timer’s gone off, let’s shut up this tin-pot therapy clinic. Some of us have work to do.’
He laughed at her brisk, businesslike tone. ‘I’ve got appointments available all tonight and tomorrow too, so call if you need me,’ he said, hanging up.
Clem retied her apron, plastered a smile on her face and marched back into the cafe.
You’ve vented, now it’s time to get this show on the road.
‘Scones are looking good, Kev,’ she said as he passed her carrying plates laden with sky-high scones, fresh strawberry jam and fluffy clouds of cream from the Kongorong dairy farm.
‘Nice work, Sebastian.’ Clem collected lattes with sunflowers etched into the coffee art. She launched into cheerful chatter as soon as she got to the table, hoping her lovely regular, Janey—who’d brought her daughter as well as her sister—wouldn’t notice anything was amiss.
‘I bet you’re loving having the kids home from boarding school, Janey! Have a great Christmas if I don’t see you again beforehand.’
Clem bustled away without waiting for a reply, intent on filling orders, tallying up bills and keeping the cafe humming. The distraction worked, and an hour later, her smile felt like less of a grimace.
‘Travelling through for Christmas?’ She didn’t recognise any of the people sitting at the large table, but she suspected it was three generations of the same family. Their brunch order had been a pleasingly large one. ‘It’s a beautiful time of year to visit.’
The man nodded, taking his wife’s hand. ‘It sure is, but hopefully we’ll be doing more than visiting in the future. We’re down for Christmas visiting friends in Penwarra, then we’re looking at a property. We’ve been searching forever, but we think we might finally have found the perfect place.’
‘In Penwarra?’ Clem asked. Her mind was only half on the conversation, her questions automatic as she handed out cutlery and water glasses, but she stopped scanning the cafe when the man shook his head.
‘About twenty minutes from here, two residences, glorious garden. It’s had a bit of media attention recently—’
His wife elbowed him. ‘It’s not on the market, we really shouldn’t say.’
There’s more than one Limestone Coast property in the media at this very moment,Clem told herself.Surely Ian and Louisa aren’t selling?
Spencer glanced across to his sister, who was sitting beside him in the passenger seat.
As pleased as he was to see Addison and her family a few days earlier than planned, he wasn’t in the mood for one of his sister’s interrogations. What should have taken fifteen minutes at the shops blew out to two hours, and they’d only narrowly avoided a prang in the car park while they were trying to leave.
‘So, tell me more about the other ladies from the show. Have you been in touch to see if there’s anything to salvage? Have any local hotties tried to nab you since watching the program?’
