realise the drought was far more than just a news bulletin or a page in the newspaper. Times were really tough here.
‘G’day there, I’ll get these. You must be Sister Morrell,’ a friendly, sun-battered face greeted her, his eyes squinting in the setting sun. ‘Jeez, how many cases have you got?’
Olivia blushed. It did seem a bit excessive, yet most of her clothes were still back at home. Throwing caution to the wind, Olivia had sold the car Jeremy had bought her as an engagement present, freeing up some cash. Jeremy would be furious. Blowing some money on a wardrobe more suited to the bush than her designer Melbourne gear had been a good tonic, at least for an afternoon.
Olivia was slightly taken back by the warmth of the man’s welcome, having expected, from Miss Lever’s description, a far more aloof greeting. Judging him to be in his mid-fifties, wearing dirty jeans and faded checked shirt, with a battered akubra shielding his face, Dr Clemson certainly didn’t look the ogre Miss Lever had predicted. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr Clemson.’ She offered her hand, startled when he started to laugh.
‘Youse didn’t think I was the doctor? I can’t wait to tell the missus. I’m Dougie, Dougie Kendall. My wife Ruby is Clem’s housekeeper. I do a few odd jobs around the place, help out with the land.’ He started to laugh again.
Olivia seethed. Did he really find it so funny? It was an obvious mistake. ‘Well, Mr Kendall,’ she said evenly, ‘it’s a pleasure to meet you.’ It wouldn’t do to get the locals offside quite so early.
Climbing into his dusty ute, Olivia winced as Dougie carelessly threw her expensive suitcases in the back. All the windows were wound down, forcing her to shout responses to Dougie’s continual chatter. He pointed out the various residences as he hurtled the ute at breakneck speed along the dry, dusty road.
‘That there belongs to the Hunts, a beaut family. Just had a baby, a little fella, so no doubt youse’ll be seeing them soon. And the land from now till the crossroads belongs to the Rosses.’
Olivia looked at the vast acreage and huge brick residence, far more formal than the weatherboard homes they had passed.
‘They own a lot of land—mind, not as much as the doctor. Their daughter Charlotte is a model, well, that’s what she calls herself anyway, I could think of a few other things.’ He looked over at her, awaiting a response, but Olivia didn’t rise to the bait. She wasn’t interested in gossip. ‘Charlotte’s forever flitting in and out. One minute London the next Italy. She’s supposed to be living in Sydney, but manages to put in an appearance here often enough and grace us with her presence. She’s out with the doctor tonight—that’s why he couldn’t meet you.’
‘Really?’ Despite her earlier disinterest, Olivia sat up, suddenly intrigued. How rude. Surely he could have taken a night off from romancing someone young enough to be his daughter to welcome a new colleague.
‘It’s no business of mine, but she’s a bit touched.’ Dougie tapped his head and laughed. ‘Clem wanted to come and meet youse himself but Charlotte rang with yet another “emergency” and of course he ends up running off to sort her out. Charlotte’s a bit of a drama queen, if you know what I mean.’
Olivia knew what he meant all right. Wasn’t that Lydia’s game? Playing the helpless female, waiting for Jeremy to dash to her rescue. Olivia swallowed hard. While she had been bending over backwards to make their relationship work he had been rushing around comforting Lydia for every trivial hiccup or imagined problem that came her way.
‘We’re coming up to the surgery now.’
Night seemed to have fallen in a moment, with no dusk to ease it in. Through the darkness Olivia could make out a huge rambling federation-style house with an array of plants hanging from the turned veranda posts. Dougie drove slowly past, the ute crunching on the gravel driveway. ‘That’s the doctor’s house. The front of it is the surgery and he lives in the back part—it’s pretty big.’ He drove on for a couple more minutes and brought the truck to a halt. ‘This is you.’ He gestured to a pretty weatherboard with a huge veranda. The same array of hanging plants and terracotta pots adorned the entry and a wicker rocking chair sat idle in the front.
‘Just for me?’
‘Yep, all yours. My wife will be in through the week to take care of the cleaning and laundry. She’ll show youse the ropes better than I can.’
‘There’s really no need. I can manage my own cleaning. I’m quite capable—’
‘Sister,’ he interrupted, ‘youse’ll be busy enough without running around doing housework. Anyway, don’t be doing me missus out of a job.’ He spoke roughly but his eyes were smiling.
‘Oh, well, if you put it like that,’ Olivia replied.
Dougie brought in her luggage as Olivia inspected ‘home’, her shoes echoing on the gorgeous jarrah polished floorboards that ran the length of the house. The lounge was inviting with two soft cream sofas littered with scatter cushions and a huge cream rug adding warmth to the cold floor. Someone thoughtful had arranged a bowl of burgundy proteas on the heavy wooden coffee-table. A huge open fireplace caught her eye. Olivia doubted whether she’d need it for, though dark outside, the air still hung heavy and warm.
‘There’s some red gum chopped. Ruby will set a fire up for you tomorrow. It still being spring, we get the odd chilly evening, though not for much longer. There’s a fan heater in the kitchen cupboard, youse’ll need that in the morning to take the chill off.’
Olivia smiled. ‘It’s a lovely house, beautifully decorated.’
‘That was Kathy’s work.’
‘Kathy?’ Olivia questioned.
‘Yep, Kathy—Clem’s wife, or rather late wife. She loved decorating. Spent weeks on this place, painting, stencilling, finding bits of furniture here and there.’
He spoke in the same casual manner but Olivia could hear the emotion in his voice.
‘Anyway...’ he gestured to the kitchen ‘...there’s plenty in the fridge and cupboards to get you started. Ruby will be over in the morning to take you to the surgery. We don’t want you feeling awkward on your first day.’
‘Thank you, that’s very kind.’
Dougie waved his hand dismissively. ‘No worries. I’ll leave youse to get settled in but, mind, if you need anything there’s our number by the phone in the kitchen.’ With a cheery wave he was off.
Olivia noticed he didn’t even close the front door, just the flyscreen. This obviously wasn’t the city, but old habits died hard. Olivia closed the door and turned the catch. A pang of homesickness hit her but, determined not to feel sorry for herself, she set about unpacking, until finally, with every last thing put away, she put the suitcases into the study wardrobe. This was home for now.
Peering in the fridge, Olivia smiled. There was enough food to last a month—a dozen eggs, bacon as thick as steak, milk, cheese. The pantry was just as well stocked. Tackling the Aga, Olivia put the kettle on. She’d earned a cup of tea and then she’d go straight to bed. The day seemed to have caught up with her all of a sudden.
A sharp knock on the door made her jump. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was edging on ten. Tentatively she opened the heavy door. Leaving the flyscreen closed, she peered at the large figure outlined in the
