Home For Christmas (12 page)

Ian’s face blanched even more. ‘But you promised your mother. And your father.’

‘No.’ Layla shook her head. ‘My mother warned me not to get involved with anyone from the military, based on her limited experience. She didn’t cope, but it doesn’t mean it will happen to me,’ she ground out through clenched teeth.

‘You don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for. He’ll leave you by yourself ninety percent of the time, and that’s if you’re lucky. The death toll in Afghanistan is about forty Aussies already, and I’m sure there’ll be more. You’ve already lost Ben.’

‘Thanks for pointing that out.’ The single tequila earlier in the night loosened her tongue. ‘I’ve changed my mind. Co-workers, yes. Friends, no longer. Look, I know you think you have my best interests at heart, but the way you’re acting right now, it’s like having another parent hovering over me, and God knows I had enough of that after Ben died.’ She took a big breath. ‘I don’t want your attention, your advice, or your opinion, unless it relates to your work here. I’m an adult, and quite capable of making my own decisions. Are we clear?’

‘But…’

‘Are we clear?’

The twitch above Ian’s eye fired. ‘We’re clear.’

‘Good, I’ll see you at work tomorrow then. I’ll check in at the office first, then I’ll be out to help with the pruning. You can let yourself out. Come on Whisky.’ Layla stomped through to the lounge room and stood in front of the heater, trying to ignore the scalding tears threatening to fall. How dare Ian try and resurrect the cotton-wool atmosphere her father had subjected her to after the death of Ben and her mother.

She flinched as the back door slammed violently behind her, the glass rattling in the frame. She pressed her fists to her eyes and let out an anguished moan.

At last, she’d stepped out of the comfort zone of Gibbs Bay and Bonsai Christmas and was on the way to finding happiness. And idiots like Ian had to complicate everything. She reached up and ran her finger over one of the sapphires brushing her neck and thought of the tall, sexy soldier who’d flown all this way to see her.

Layla smiled.

She knew where her future lay.

***

Hey Tate

Sorry it’s been so long between emails. Got myself a bit of a situation with work. Right when we’re ramping up for Christmas in July, my nurseryman demanded to take his owing holidays, and I haven’t seen him since. It’s busy but I’m coping
—
thank God this didn’t happen in December
.

I kind of knew this would happen. He turned up at the house on my birthday with flowers. I blew my stack. I’d had such a nice day up till then. He still wasn’t listening despite six months of me telling him the answer was no. I made him listen. He hasn’t resigned yet, but I guess that’s next on the cards. I won’t be sorry to see the grief he’s given me over the last year disappear, but I’ll miss him in the nursery
.

Off to pack up some silvers
—
silver-leafed firs in black pots. I dress them with this fine scarlet tinsel ribbon and a black and silver hand-painted star. They’re one of our premium lines, so I was happy to get the order. They’re heading up to Stanthorpe. One of the wineries does a weekend luxury camping Christmas in July function. Not old-fashioned tents. These guys bring in a heated tent city, complete with ensuites. Apparently it’s a sell-out every year
.

Whisky and I are delivering. I bought him a snazzy coat, and I’m letting him ride up front with me (a boy dog + ute full of small trees = recipe for disaster). We’re going to do the up trip in one day, then do some sight-seeing on the way back down. I’ll throw the swag in the back of the ute. I need a break. There’s nothing like looking up at the stars on a clear night in the bush. I’ll be back within the week though. Trees don’t water themselves
.

You’re probably sweating buckets right now, and I’ve just unearthed every warm thing I own. We’re hearing reports of increased insurgent activity
—
stay safe. Less than three months now!

Love always

Layla

Tate grimaced and sat back in his chair. Right from the start, he’d picked Layla’s unease over the nurseryman situation. Now the chump had ruined her birthday. Not only that, he’d left her in the lurch, right when she needed to make a critical delivery.

Three months. An eternity.

He cracked his knuckles. Maybe the best thing would be if the chump resigned. He hit reply.

Hey Layla

Sorry to hear the chump from the nursery has made life a pain. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. That’s not a nice situation to be in
.

I hope the first bit of your birthday is still making you smile. I printed that picture of you and Whisky
—
it cheers me up every time I see it. I hope he’s not a jealous kind of dog, or else I might end up in strife. Maybe I should buy him some dog treats. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!

Enjoy your trip to Stanthorpe. We did some training exercises out that way and it was freezing. Make sure you rug up. I’ve never been happier to see a hot chocolate as I was after a thirty kilometre march in the pouring rain out there. We stopped at this big Italian deli on the highway. Can’t remember the name of it, but the pies were great
.

Summer is well and truly here and we’re sweltering. When people say hellhole in relation to wars, it’s usually the conditions during wartime. But even the weather here goes out of its way to be inhospitable. I don’t know how anyone could live here and stay sane. I stopped and thought about that. Maybe that’s why there are so many insurgents?

Drive safe and enjoy your trip
.

Love from

Tate
.

Tate
,

Trees delivered in one piece. Whisky and I are having a ball. Tonight’s stop
—
Glen Innes, where the parks and the old buildings are spectacular. As is the hot chocolate. Visited the standing stones and standing in that circle I felt a real connection with nature and the environment. I’ll definitely visit again. Home by the weekend
.

Stay safe
.

Love Layla

Three weeks later, Layla’s postcard arrived.

Greetings from Glen Innes

Hey Tate
,

This place is awesome. They have a festival up north of here where they ‘dress’ the trees that lose their leaves in knitted winter woollies
—
it was spectacular. I’m inspired
—
can’t wait to get back and see what I can do with a naked tree (aka a stick in a pot)
.

We’re staying at a pet friendly tourist park and I’m sleeping in the tray of the ute. Whisky is not impressed with the weather, despite the coat. I bought a wool blanket at the second-hand shop and let him sleep in the cabin of the ute
.

He’s old
.

I’m a softie
.

Love

Layla xxxx

Tate carried the postcard with him every day for the next week. When he realised the stunning sunset shot of the standing stones was starting to wear around the edges, he tucked it into the growing collection on the underside of the bunk above his.

Layla gazed at the banana split with hot fudge sauce and extra waffle triangles the waitress set in front of her and announced, ‘My life is out of control.’

Carise nodded. ‘You keep eating like that and it will be. Shouldn’t you be on some sort of diet for the big homecoming or something?’

‘No.’ Layla straightened in her seat. ‘If Tate wanted a skinny blonde girl he’d be emailing Barbie dot com. He’s happy with me the way I am.’ She carved off a hunk of ice cream from the frozen mountain in front of her. ‘Besides, that’s ten weeks away yet.’

‘What, not counting it down in days yet?’

‘Not yet.’ She laid her spoon down on her plate. ‘I’ve got too much going on. It’s one step forward and two steps back. I’m back to the drawing board with splitting the business.’

‘What’d the accountant say?’

‘While the growth in the art sales is ‘promising’ he strongly recommends that I don’t split the two arms yet as the trees are still subsidising the sculptures and also providing free promotion from our regular website traffic. Small business suicide, I believe he called it.’

‘Oh, bum.’ Carise wrinkled her nose. ‘So you’re back where you were. No nurseryman to look after the trees, and no time to create the sculptures because you have no nurseryman.’

‘Exactly.’ Two weeks before Ian was due back from holidays, his hand-written resignation had appeared on her desk. She’d not seen him since. Layla spooned more chocolate covered banana into her mouth. ‘If I can’t sell the trees, I can’t move closer to where Tate is stationed when he comes back. Plan B, which I didn’t run past Mr Uptight from Schiffer, Schiffer, Monson and Sons was to put an on-site manager in, move to Brisbane and commute down to keep an eye on things and help with deliveries. I haven’t done the sums on that yet.’ She grimaced. ‘I’m desperate to be with Tate when he comes back. I want to get to know him.’

Carise tilted her head to one side. ‘Ever asked Tate if he likes gardening?’

‘Given there’s not even a blade of grass anywhere near that base, it hasn’t exactly come up in conversation. He’s not going to put his hand up to be my nurseryman. The pay’s probably half what he gets in the army.’

‘Hear me out. Your worst case scenario requires you to sell everything and move north, which you don’t want to do because you love it here, your family’s here and you love what you do. Maybe you plan to eventually end up back here, with both of you running the business. Once he’s not in the army anymore.’

Layla sighed. ‘I don’t know if it’s even an option. Tate might not like plants. See, there are all these things we don’t know about each other.’ She pushed the half-eaten sundae away and gnawed on her lip. ‘I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to leave my friends and my job but I want to be with Tate.’

Carise reached across the table and touched her hand. ‘I want what’s best for you, and until Tate’s plane touches down and you guys spend some time together, no one knows what that is. I think you’ve got two options. Either you keep doing what you’re doing and ditch the sculptures in the lead up to Christmas or you hire someone for the nursery and you sculpt. But, even if you find someone, it’s going to be six months before you’re going to feel confident leaving your baby in their hands. You’re stuck here until after Christmas.’

Layla put her head in her hands. ‘I know. My head knows I can’t be there full-time any time soon, but my heart wants it so bad.’

‘I know hon, but it’s not a lifetime. You get through to February, then you re-evaluate. That’s all you have to do.’

***

Twelve hours later, Layla dragged herself into the kitchen and dropped down in front of her laptop. She pulled the folded cuffs of her sweater down over her hands and tried to warm her numb fingers inside her sleeves as her laptop fired up.

Hi Tate

Hope you’re doing okay. We’re hearing reports on increased rebel activity as your summer wears on. It worries me. You must all be on a knife-edge waiting for the day you come home. I know I am
.

I’m juggling my work with the trees and the art so that when you’re back, we might be able to spend some regular time together. I can’t wait
.

I haven’t found anyone to replace the ‘chump’ yet. (Did I ever tell you how much I love that term for him?) I put an ad on the job board at the local TAFE. Fingers crossed. The sculptures are going nowhere until I get some help. Which sucks
.

Any news on a time or date yet?

Love always

Layla

Whisky parked himself on top of her foot as Layla heated some milk in the microwave, staring first at her, then at the fridge.

‘Some days Whisky, I swear you’re a human in a dog suit.’ She grabbed his kibble and shook some into his bowl. She piled a couple of spoonfuls of hot chocolate powder on top of her milk and stirred. It was too late to cook dinner. Was there any bread? The end of the weekend’s bakery loaf stared back at her from the bread bin.