Chanel Sweethearts (25 page)

It had been a week since the funeral. Carrying a cup of tea, Jessica walked out to the deck to watch the sun's pale rays flood the valley. This had been Richard's favourite time of the morning. She was choked with sadness. ‘I can't believe he's gone,' she whispered for the thousandth time. She had spent the weekend locked up in the house with the blinds down, caught in a fog of introspection and old photos.

It was frightening how permanent the pain felt. Logic and experience told her it would wane. But at that moment it felt as if it would have her in its tight grip forever. The only small consolation was the clear sense of purpose she felt about her own life, and her drive to put things in order since his death.

She'd spent a day packing up her Prahran flat, leaving it furnished for the tenants she hoped to attract, but now she sat in quiet contemplation for a couple of hours, unable to summon the motivation to move.

When she heard a car driving down the driveway, she stood up to see who it was. She opened the front door and looked out. It couldn't be. Genevieve's Mercedes? Surely not. That woman had more balls than a bull run. What on earth could she want?

Then a ute pulled up in the driveway behind the Mercedes. Eugene's haughty face looked over the cab at Jessica. Songbird and Rainbow got out.

‘Hello, Genevieve,' Jessica said.

‘Hello, Jessica darling. How are you?'

‘What do you want?' Jessica said coldly, with her arms folded. Rainbow and Songbird hung back and watched.

‘Now, Jess, dear, why are you being like that? What's wrong? I thought we were friends.'

‘We were friends, until I found out you were a cheat and a liar.'

‘What on earth are you talking about?' Genevieve laughed as if it were all a silly misunderstanding.

‘The ring, Genevieve.'

‘Oh, for heaven's sake. That ring has caused nothing but scandal and gossip. Yes, your dad bought it for me, okay? Happy?'

‘Why lie about it?' Jessica asked.

‘You saw how ridiculous Caro was getting with the whole thing. I couldn't eat a bloody Tim Tam without her screeching “Gold-digger”. I had to lie to stop her from ripping the thing straight off my finger. Besides, Jess, it's really nobody's business where I get my jewellery. If Caro thinks that's bad, she'd be thrilled to find out where my diamond bellybutton ring came from.' She put her hands on her hips defiantly.

‘But the development, the subdivision, the plans.' Jess waved her hands angrily in the air. ‘You'd been in touch with council, you had the entire property drawn up as an estate, and all behind my dad's back. That's pretty deceitful, Genevieve.'

‘Jessica, you don't understand at all. Your dad knew all about the plans.'

‘What?' Jessica scoffed, stamping her foot angrily. ‘That's a lie.'

‘Okay, he didn't know the exact plans.' Genevieve leaned against her Mercedes. ‘We spoke about it in broad brushstrokes. I didn't want to frighten him off the idea until I was sure that it would work.' She held her hand up to admire the glint of her ruby in the weak sunlight. ‘The plans were actually going to be a surprise for his birthday. He'd been talking for months about developing the property, about going into partnership with someone, about a whole new frontier for land down here. I knew he meant real estate. There is absolutely nothing else more profitable. You'll all be multimillionaires when I've finished. You'll be thanking me by this time next year, trust me.' She wiped a tiny smudge off the car's spotless paintwork.

‘When Richard spoke to me about his dreams for re developing the property I just knew I could help him out – and considering I am now the owner of it...' She let her voice trail off as Jess swapped angry looks with Rainbow and Songbird. ‘That was the meeting Richard and I had just before he died. He wanted to be sure that I got my fair share so we met with his lawyer in the hospital room and he bequeathed the land to me.'

Jess couldn't speak. Her face was hot with rage.

‘You're getting the penthouse,' Genevieve continued, ignoring Jess's reaction. ‘Your dad was so relieved you were happy being a city girl, and Angus is getting the homestead. And I'm getting–' she turned with arms outstretched to indicate the two hundred hectares that fell below them– ‘the rest.'

‘Don't ever talk to me about how my father felt,' Jess said in a low, threatening voice. ‘How dare you come here and tell such outrageous lies, you complete and utter bitch?'

Songbird and Rainbow came over to stand beside Jess, their arms around her as she trembled with rage. ‘Dad would never, ever have agreed to split up this land.'

Genevieve looked smug and relaxed as she flicked her hand in the air. ‘I may not have mentioned my exact plans to him, but he knew I always wanted rural acreage, and there's something you need to know about me, my dear: I always get what I want.' She smiled slyly, then held out her right hand to admire the Bulgari piece once again. ‘Oh, look, a matching one.' She fluttered her left hand and a solitaire diamond engagement ring glinted in the morning sun.

‘We were engaged to be married, dear, so the will was altered. It recognises me as his betrothed.'

‘But you didn't actually get married,' Rainbow said.

‘It doesn't matter: it's whatever the will says,' said Genevieve. ‘Anyway, you grotty little hippie, what business is it of yours?'

Songbird couldn't stay silent anymore. ‘It's our business because Richard gave the land to us.'

‘What?' Genevieve and Jessica both turned to look at Rainbow and Songbird.

‘Sorry, Jess, he swore us to secrecy until it was finalised,' Rainbow said.

‘He was our investor the entire time,' Songbird explained. ‘And rather than investing one hundred per cent capital, he's actually given us a fifty-year lease on the property so we can make our terra preta on a grand scale.'

‘You're kidding! Girls, that's wonderful, I'm so happy for you,' Jessica clapped her hands and laughed. ‘I can't believe it. He said he wanted to develop the land and had launched into a new agricultural scheme, but I had no idea it was you.'

Genevieve scoffed. ‘There's no way Richard would turn his precious Springforth into a compost-producing tip.'

‘That just shows how little you knew him, Genevieve,' Jessica said, shaking a finger at the woman. ‘This is exactly the kind of thing he would have done.

‘But I was there in the meeting.' Genevieve's voice was starting to sound panicky. ‘I signed the document; the solicitor was instructed to draw up the will to leave the land to me. Richard would have signed on Friday but ... well, he wasn't around anymore. Nonetheless, it's still legally binding.' She ran her hands through her hair.

‘You have to understand, I loved him, Jess, and he loved me too. We were going to be unstoppable together. Property moguls.'

‘Oh, thank God, here's Angus,' Jess said as her brother's car came up the driveway.

‘Hello all,' Angus said, leaping out of his car to join the impromptu meeting. ‘I'm the executor of Dad's will and I've just had a phone conference with the solicitor who drew up the will. Look, Genevieve, I'm sorry but it seems you have been the target of one of Dad's pranks.'

‘What? No, I think you've got that wrong.' Genevieve folded her arms. ‘He wanted to develop the land.'

Angus just shook his head.

‘But,' Genevieve said weakly, ‘surely he wouldn't do that. It's too big a deal to just muck around with like he's playing Monopoly.'

‘He did, Genevieve,' Angus said flicking through the document in his hand. ‘He had his own plans for this land, but he was obviously keeping them from you for the time being. He was committed to a green energy plant and to that end he has in fact given the land to Rainbow and Songbird.' He turned to them. ‘Well done,' he said, grinning. ‘I guess we're business partners.' He shook their hands.

‘I'd been discussing with him for over a year how I wanted to get out of the city scene; change careers and spend more time with the family. He'd intimated that he had something on the back burner I might be interested in. It was only over the weekend that I read the documents regarding his business partnership with you ladies. I must say I'm impressed and very excited to be involved. In fact, here–' Angus passed across an overflowing folder to Songbird – ‘are the engineer's drawings for a large working power plant based on your design. There is a marketing and engineering plan outlining the creation and capture of energy produced by the fumes from the terra preta, which can then fuel a generator or be stored in a battery or fuel cell.'

Songbird and Rainbow grabbed the document and eagerly pored over it.

‘You can't do this, Angus, you're completely wrong,' Genevieve said. ‘You don't know about the updated will. This land is mine: as of last week darling Richard said so.' Genevieve was confused.

‘This is for you, Genevieve,' Angus said, passing her a sealed envelope. ‘Dad's solicitor gave it to me late last night. It's why I'm here. I was warned you might come down today.'

Genevieve ripped open the letter. Jessica could see the handwriting on the front was Richard's. It was eerie to see his unique script on the paper, as if he were still with them.

Genevieve quickly scanned the missive. ‘Oh, bugger,' she yelled. She screwed the letter into a tight ball and threw it on the ground. She looked from person to person, her face white with shock, then turned to get into her car. She spun her wheels in the dirt, creating a cloud of dust, and drove away.

Angus picked up the crumpled letter and handed it to Jessica. They read it together.

Angus and Jessica finished reading at the same time and looked at each other, their eyes wide. He'd been onto her the entire time. To think Jessica had been so sad that at the end of his life her dear Dad had been duped by a con-woman.

The siblings threw back their heads and laughed. Songbird couldn't stand it a minute longer and snatched the letter so she and Rainbow could join in the joke too. Soon all four of them were cracking up, standing halfway up the hill in a paddock in the sun.

Nick pulled up in front of the old homestead. He turned off the engine and looked at the house, then past it to the fields beyond. He loved working here.

He missed Richard Wainwright a lot. He had been a fantastic boss. But more than that, he'd been a good friend. He'd listened to Nick's suggestions and allowed him to be the true manager of the place. It hadn't run better in years, the old bloke had said. But that was over now. Nick had heard of the new plans for the property. He laughed as he remembered Caro relating the tale to him that afternoon in the supermarket.

What a joke. That Richard: in control to the very end.

Angus and Caro were at the helm of the property now. He knew they'd do well. They didn't need Nick. And even if they did, it wasn't his place anymore. There was nothing here for him. Jessica had obviously moved on. He couldn't believe she'd been sucked in by that loser in town.

His heart had broken that night. He'd phoned, admittedly a bit drunk after a session at The Stump, to tell her his innermost thoughts. That was stupid of him, really, to try to have such a deep conversation over the phone, but he'd missed her so much. He'd needed to tell her the truth behind the love letters.

He'd been in love with her ever since they met at school. But she'd always had somebody else, or he had, and then when they were both single, a best friend pall had shadowed the relationship. It would have been possible to spark it up by showing romantic interest in her, by pursuing her as a suitor, but he'd been terrified of destroying the beauty of what they had. He'd been so close to doing it, to sweeping her off her feet, when Jimmy came to town. His chance had passed. All he had left was the role of friend, but he lost that too by being overly open, baring his heart on the phone that night. How stupid of him. Of course there was another bloke in her flat. Why wouldn't there be? She was gorgeous.

So here he was once more at her house, as a friend; a companion. Tonight, though, he'd come to say goodbye. It was Nick's turn for a change: he was well overdue for his own adventures. He was off to visit Pete in Port Hedland, where he would be a miner for a while. There was some good money to be made up there and his old mate Pete was happy to have the company.

He walked around to the back door. Jess was on the deck. Her wild, crazy curls fluffed about her head. She must have just washed her hair. Nick could imagine how she'd smell, just like freshly picked strawberries. Maybe she'd like one of his neck rubs. She'd always said they were the best. She was sitting on Richard's favourite Adirondack chair, staring up at the stars. She hadn't seen him yet and he took the moment to look at her.

Her knees were drawn up under her Dad's old jumper. She didn't look sad, though. She looked peaceful. She leaned down to scratch her ankle. There was something so fragile in that action that made Nick's heart ache: it was a movement so real and touching.

‘Hello there,' he said.

She turned and saw him. ‘Hi, Nick,' she said brightly and stood to greet him. He kissed her – just a soft, gentle kiss on the mouth. A kiss that meant nothing more than ‘hello, dear friend'.

She leaned forward and poured them both a glass of Montalto Pinot Noir. A cheese platter sat untouched, awaiting his arrival.

‘Nice tucker,' he said, helping himself to a slab of blue.

‘It's chilly out, but so lovely,' she said looking at the view. ‘Caro tells me she filled you in on this week's antics.'

‘Yes, she did,' Nick laughed. ‘What a great bloke that Richard is ... sorry, was.'

‘That's okay. It'll be months before we get the right tense, I expect.'

They both sipped their drinks and chatted about the property's future. Jess seemed sure there would be a job for him. ‘You'll be invaluable, Nick,' she told him. ‘I'm sure Angus will have you working your arse off here.'

‘I don't know, maybe,' he said. ‘He hasn't mentioned it.'

‘I'll tell him,' she said.

‘Don't – just leave it. I've got some stuff on anyway.' He looked at his hands.

‘Like what?' she asked, reaching for a handful of biscuits.

‘Just stuff. Look, thanks for the drink, I should go.'

‘Nick, wait, we haven't talked about the other night.' She brushed her hand over his knee.

‘Oh, Jessica, must we? I am so embarrassed about that. I was a bit under the weather, I shouldn't have called. It's none of my business who you're seeing. I have to go.'

He stood to leave when she called after him, ‘It's over with Jimmy, Nick.'

He turned back and looked at her. ‘Really?' he asked.

‘Yes, really.' She stood to take his hand. ‘It was a mistake getting involved with him and it didn't take long for me to see through his bullshit and realise what a tosser he was. I am the one who should be embarrassed: I can't believe I fell for it for as long as I did.'

Nick reverted to his gruff blokey manner. ‘Doesn't matter, Jess, it's your life. You don't have to explain anything to me. We've always just been about bad timing. Anyway I'm off, stuff to do.'

She pulled him into a hug. ‘See you soon,' she said.

‘See you round,' he replied and walked down the steps until his workboots crunched on the gravel.

‘Nick,' she called.

‘Yeah?' he said and looked up. She was washed in moonlight, her face pale in its glow.

‘Did you keep the letters?'

‘Yeah,' he said and looked at the ground.

‘Can I see them one day?'

‘Maybe,' he said looking up at her, ‘if you're very good.'

She grinned.

He left. That night he got as far as Bordertown, South Australia, before he was able to pull over and sleep.