What Rosie Found Next Page 3

  ‘You’ve certainly landed on your feet with this one,’ said Adam as she swept the iPad across the view beyond the rear of the garden, showcasing the Dandenong Ranges beyond, highlighted beneath the strength of the Australian sun. The rockery was dotted with a spray of yellow and vibrant red flowers, and in the middle of the lawn were various beds of roses. Some were pale-lemon with petals streaked with pink, others were ruby red, some an innocent white.

  ‘You’ll be gardening the whole time, won’t you?’ Adam laughed.

  Rosie turned the camera back to her momentarily. ‘Other than keeping the grass short, watered frequently and the flowerbeds tidy, it should be easy enough to maintain.’

  She shifted the camera’s focus to the pool now. The outside space, like the interior of the Harrisons’ home, was beautifully cared for. Four pots stood at intervals beside the glass pool fence, and large creamy white Gardenias stood tall, nodding in the breeze as the sunlight caught their glossy green leaves. A leaf floated down from a tree above, into the crystal clear waters turned blue by the coloured tiles beneath. The solar heating showed off by disgorging its hot flush of water with a forceful glug, disturbing the surface, but it didn’t look any less idyllic.

  ‘Check out the gazebo.’ She focused now on the structure at the far end of the pool past the row of baby-blue agapanthus. ‘It’s even got a beer fridge!’ It would also be a great place to enjoy the shade and give her fair skin a much needed break from the summer sun.

  ‘Nice. Have you been in the water yet?’

  ‘No, but I will do, and soon.’

  After a brief tour of the inside of the house, Rosie came full circle and sat at the outside table.

  ‘How’s the wildlife treating you?’ Adam asked. ‘Are there many snakes, spiders?’ He’d never been one to step outside the city.

  ‘It’s not too bad, although I did meet Bertie.’ She told him all about the lizard who’d taken her by surprise, neglecting to tell him about the other unexpected visitor. Owen would be gone soon enough, so there was no need to give Adam cause for worry about another man hanging around.

  ‘Are you still planning on coming back for Christmas?’ she asked as George jumped onto her lap and settled down, purring.

  ‘I’ll do my best.’

  They’d discussed the possibility of her flying to Singapore for Christmas, but with the new job and now the house-sit, Rosie didn’t want to leave Magnolia Creek.

  ‘I wish you were here,’ said Rosie.

  Adam frowned. ‘We’ve been over this.’

  ‘I know, I know. You’re there for work. This is the way it is for now.’ She didn’t mean to sound quite so whiny, but she rarely nagged him about working away and for some reason, in this gorgeous setting with nobody to share it with, it just got to her.

  ‘I’d better go, Rosie. I love you.’

  ‘I love you too.’

  ‘It’s not forever, I promise.’

  Rosie’s smile was weak and her voice small as she said goodbye.

  She clicked out of FaceTime and reprimanded herself for sounding needy when she was perfectly able to look after herself.

  In the kitchen she took out the eggs from the pantry and set about making a late breakfast. But as the water in the saucepan came to the boil, she realised she wasn’t alone in the house any more when she heard footsteps in the hallway.

  She hadn’t heard Owen return.

  Owen leaned around the doorjamb of the kitchen.

  ‘Hey,’ she said, quashing the temptation to ask, ‘Have you found somewhere to go yet?’ He swanned in as though he hadn’t given it a moment’s thought.

  She carefully used a spoon to lower her eggs into the pan. She loaded two slices of bread into the toaster, but before she could ask him if he’d made alternative arrangements, he said, ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.’ He at least had the good grace to look sheepish now as he came over to inspect what she was doing. ‘I’m not trying to avoid you. Give me five minutes to have a shower and I’ll be back.’ He took a bag into the laundry and she heard the washing machine whoosh into action, then he headed upstairs.

  When the bread popped up, she buttered her toast soldiers and lifted out the soft-boiled eggs, placing one in the egg cup and the other on the plate. She sat at the kitchen bench to eat, and as she was tapping her spoon against the shell of the second egg to take the top off, Owen reappeared, hair glistening and still wet from the shower.

  He leaned close to her. ‘That looks awesome, I’m starving. Do you mind if I pinch a couple of eggs?’ He pressed his palms together in a prayer position and Rosie couldn’t say anything else but ‘yes’.

  As he moved around the kitchen preparing his own breakfast, she caught sight of the stem of his rose tattoo again and momentarily wondered whether he did have any others. She’d scanned his torso the other day when he’d answered the pager call wearing only a towel on his bottom half, but she hadn’t spotted any. The thought of his body gave her an unexpected tingle through her own.

  When his eggs were cooked and the toast buttered, Owen sat at the kitchen bench on the same side as Rosie. ‘I haven’t had this for years.’ He dipped a soldier into the egg and yolk burst out of the top of the shell and ran down the sides of the china egg cup.

  Rosie smiled and let him eat for a while before she said, ‘Owen, I did expect the house to be empty when I signed the house-sitting agreement.’

  ‘I know.’ He finished his mouthful. ‘And then I turn up, engines roaring, scaring the life out of you and stealing all your food.’

  He must’ve been starving because he finished the eggs and toast in record time and then he was up, scouring the pantry for something else. She wondered where he put it all. He looked fit enough, muscular and didn’t have an ounce of unwanted fat.

  He found a banana but it had gone all squidgy so he threw it in the bin. He leant against the kitchen bench, opposite Rosie this time. ‘I know this place works out well for you, Rosie, but the fact is I need to be here. Look, I’ll pay the cost for you to rent somewhere else. How does that sound?’

  She was too shocked to say what she really thought, which was that his suggestion was incredibly rude. ‘You want to pay for a rental for me? Here, in Magnolia Creek?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why? Why are you so desperate to be here? Why would you want to pay for me to leave?’

  ‘I don’t have to answer to you.’ He spoke matter-of-factly, but Rosie didn’t miss the muscle in his jaw twinge.

  ‘No, you don’t.’ She sipped from a glass of water. ‘But the fact is there aren’t any places to rent around here. I’m starting a new job at Magnolia House the day after tomorrow, and I don’t want to face a big commute until I really have to.’

  He puffed out his cheeks. Talk about stubborn.

  ‘And even if there was somewhere else to rent,’ she went on, ‘I have a contract, a contract with your parents. I’ve been house-sitting for a while and I’ve got excellent references, something I don’t want to jeopardise by abandoning this house. I have an obligation, Owen, to the house and to the pet-sitting part of the contract.’

  ‘Right.’

  She took her plate over to the sink. ‘I’m not trying to be awkward.’ Something in the way he looked at her made her feel sorry for him, but she wasn’t going to back down. ‘You can stay for a couple of nights until you’ve sorted something else out, but then you’ll have to move on or I’ll have no choice but to contact the agency.’

  He sighed.

  After she’d rinsed her plate and slotted it into the dishwasher she turned to him. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but don’t you have your own place?’

  ‘What you mean is, do I really still live at home and rely on my parents at the ripe old age of thirty-three?’

  ‘That wasn’t what I said exactly.’ She felt guilty. Despite his arrogance the night they’d first met, he didn’t seem all bad now. It wasn’t his fault he’d arrived not knowing about her arrangement with his mum.<
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  ‘I was reading between the lines.’ He grinned. ‘I don’t have my own place, at least not really. I’m what you might call nomadic. I’m only here on and off, and I pay for my keep when I am and help out around the place.’

  Rosie nodded towards the photo of three boys, Owen on the right-hand side. ‘Could you stay with either of your brothers?’

  Owen shrugged. ‘Ben is exploring Europe as we speak, but I guess Tom’s a possibility.’

  ‘Does he live nearby?’

  ‘Near the city.’

  She was relieved to hear he had possibilities and hoped he’d sort them out sooner rather than later. She looked over at the photograph again, the three siblings lined up to smile at the camera. As an only child she’d sometimes felt as though she was on the outside looking in when it came to the subject of sibling rivalry, the closeness of sisters and brothers, the adventures of childhood she suspected she’d missed out on. She scolded herself for feeling jealous of his intact family.

  Shopping list in hand, Rosie left Owen scrolling through contacts on his iPhone and set off for the supermarket. Driving down Lakeside Lane she smiled at the sight of the road stretched out before her lined with purple-blue jacaranda trees in full bloom. In autumn she bet this road would become a carpet of soft blue when the trumpet-shaped flowers began to fall. She skilfully avoided the pothole she’d clunked in and out of when she’d first driven up to the house to meet Jane and Michael Harrison.

  The sun shone brilliantly in the cloudless sky, highlighting the magic of spring in early November, and she couldn’t resist parking at the end of the main street to take a look around Magnolia Creek. She walked past a veterinary practice with a lady sitting in the window with a cross-breed dog sitting on her lap. At a guess it was a Cavoodle, but there were so many breeds these days. She carried on past a florist which doubled as a garden centre and then came to a café with hanging baskets out front holding vibrant purply-pink blooms. It reminded her of those whitewashed Greek houses with their splashes of Bougainvillea outside that she’d only ever seen in pictures on the internet or in brochures.

  Standing outside the café, she let the sun wash over her as she looked across the road at the white signpost pointing to bike trails, Clover Riding Stables, the lake and Magnolia House. She smiled. Her first job in the Public Relations industry started in two days, and she couldn’t be more excited.

  A voice came from the café behind her. ‘We’re open for coffee.’ The voice grew louder and a woman with glossy black hair in looping curls appeared in the doorway and said, ‘We’ve got scones and jam, homemade chutneys.’

  The tall, slender woman held out her hand. ‘I’m Bella, Bella Finnegan. My husband and I own the café.’

  She shook the woman’s hand. ‘I’m Rosie Stevens. It’s nice to meet you.’

  ‘I thought it might be you. Jane told me to expect to see you out and about.’

  Rosie smiled. She felt a part of the community already.

  ‘Jane and I go way back,’ explained Bella as she stacked coffee cups from a deserted table and deposited them on the far counter. ‘Well come in,’ she instructed as Rosie hovered in the doorway.

  Bella’s laugh was as welcoming as the smell of fresh baking in the café with its eight tables, small counter and cosy ambience. As Bella busied herself behind the counter, Rosie sat at a wooden table covered in a red and white gingham tablecloth topped with a holder stuffed full of serviettes and a small, laminated menu. Moments later a plate crammed with scones, jam and cream was put in front of her.

  ‘It’s quiet this afternoon so I’ve got time to chat.’ Bella sat opposite Rosie. ‘This is on the house, by the way. Call it a “Welcome to Magnolia Creek”.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Rosie wasn’t hungry after the eggs, but the scones smelled divine and she politely broke off a piece and spooned on some jam, then a dollop of cream.

  ‘They’re my speciality.’ Bella winked. ‘And getting you to sample them today is my little ploy to make sure you keep coming back for more.’

  Rosie liked how honest Bella was, and she liked her cooking just as much, devouring the scones despite a lack of appetite as they chatted about Magnolia Creek and what it was like to grow up here.

  ‘How do you know the Harrisons?’ Rosie asked.

  ‘We’ve known each other a long time now. Years ago, I was out on a hen night wearing crazy shoes—’ she eyed her sensible lace ups ‘—seven-inch heels from what I remember, and before I’d even had my first cocktail I fell over, landing awkwardly on my arm.’

  Rosie winced. ‘Ouch.’

  ‘I ended up in the emergency department for the rest of the evening, and Jane was the triage nurse. We got chatting, as you do when there are long waiting times, and we hit it off. I ended up telling her all about Magnolia Creek and how I’d grown up here and planned to one day open up a business with my boyfriend, Rodney – he’s now my husband – and I think she was sold on the place. We swapped phone numbers and stayed in touch ever since.’

  You could tell a lot about a woman by the friends she chose, and both Bella and Jane seemed down-to-earth women with genuine hearts.

  ‘I’d love to live somewhere as beautiful as this,’ said Rosie.

  ‘So why don’t you?’

  ‘I think my other half would be bored stiff.’

  ‘Nonsense. But then I’m biased.’ Her silky-red lips broke into a grin. ‘Are you planning on moving in together?’

  ‘We are.’

  ‘When’s it all happening?’

  That was the million dollar question.

  ‘He’s working overseas right now, but hopefully not too far in the future.’

  ‘Well, I admire you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘The long-distance-relationship thing. It must be hard.’

  ‘It’s not so bad. I know it won’t be forever.’ Rosie wondered whether she was trying to convince Bella or herself.

  ‘If you end up in Magnolia Creek, your other half can commute to the city. We’ve got a train station. Yes,’ Bella nodded, noting Rosie’s surprise, ‘it’s a small town and there are limited trains running, but nevertheless it’s there. You’ll find it past the fire station around the bend at the end of the street.’

  Rosie had passed the fire station yesterday. She wondered whether she’d ever reach the point where seeing those fire engines wouldn’t semi-paralyse her with sadness.

  ‘I saw Owen the other day,’ Bella went on. ‘I understand he took you by surprise when he turned up in town.’

  ‘I wasn’t exactly expecting him, or anyone else, to turn up in the middle of the night.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you were. But he’s harmless, a lovely guy with a heart of gold.’ Bella waved to a customer perusing the cakes. She patted Rosie’s hand. ‘More on him later, but for now I’d better get back to work before Rodney sees me slacking off. It’s been lovely to meet you.’

  Rosie thanked Bella for the welcome-to-Magnolia-Creek scones and went on her way, glancing at her watch. There was no time to explore Magnolia House now. It would have to wait or she’d never get to the supermarket. She hurried towards her car, aware that if Owen had sorted another place to stay then she’d need to get back soon in order to say goodbye. He didn’t seem the type of guy to leave an explanatory note.

  Two teenage girls sat on the bench at the side of the road. Sunglasses up on their heads, dolled up as though they were in the middle of the city on a night out, Rosie overheard one of them say, ‘I saw him in his leathers this morning. He’s gorgeous.’

  At the mention of a motorbike she took a little longer to find her keys from the bottom of her bag.

  ‘You wait till he’s next at the pub,’ said the other girl. ‘He’s all mine. He very nearly was last time.’ She sighed theatrically. ‘I love a man in uniform, especially one who plays hard to get.’

  What uniform did Owen wear besides jeans or tracksuit pants and scruffy T-shirts?

  Rosie shut the car door and pulled on
her seat belt, wondering how much truth was in the conversation she’d overheard. Those girls were barely teenagers beneath all that bling and make-up. Surely Owen couldn’t be interested in them.

  She drove on to the supermarket, reminded of how lucky she was to have Adam in her life. A man like Owen didn’t appear to have many plans beyond getting up each day and doing whatever he felt like, but her thoughts didn’t stop her from zipping around the supermarket and driving a little over the speed limit on the way back to the house, wondering whether she would see him one more time before he moved on.

  Chapter Five

  Owen puffed out his cheeks after Rosie said goodbye and headed to the supermarket. Finding somewhere to live at short notice was going to be tricky. He’d been determined to make Rosie leave, determined to find out what his parents were hiding, but for two reasons he had backed down and was in the process of sorting out alternative living accommodation. Firstly, he wasn’t a complete dickhead, and secondly, Rosie had signed a contract. It was the thought of the contract that worried him the most. If she had a formal agreement and he refused to leave, this could all blow up in his face. His parents could head back sooner than he’d planned and he’d never get to the bottom of what they were hiding. And now he knew there was a secret, he was hungry to find out more.

  He’d also seen the way Rosie had reacted to Bertie, and he’d seen she had no idea how to fix the pool cleaner. And he was going to use her femininity to his advantage. He’d let her stay and he’d find somewhere else, but he’d insist on visiting to clear out gutters, keep the gardens hosed down ready for bushfire season, and maintain the pool that had the potential to turn very expensive should the cleaner not do its job properly. He’d time his visits when she was working over at Magnolia House and that way he could search the place and do the manual labour.

  Owen dialled his brother Tom’s number. Tom lived closer to the city and was married to Sadie, his childhood sweetheart, and he was fully domesticated at the tender age of twenty-six. He was also father to Ryan, Owen’s ten-month-old nephew, and had bucked the trend by taking twelve month’s leave from his job as a pharmacist in the city. Tom was the epitome of a family man to whom Owen didn’t even try to measure up, but they were close and he knew his brother could help him out.