The next morning Nell woke her sons at seven o’clock as she’d threatened, dragging the covers off, ignoring the fact that Steve was naked. Well, she’d seen it all before.
When he tried to get the covers back, she raised the spray bottle of iced water she’d brought with her and gave him a good squirt.
His yells echoed down the corridor.
‘I meant what I said, Steve. Get up now!’
Nick must have heard because he was up by the time she went into his bedroom. He was wearing a sagging pair of jocks and looked bog-eyed. He raised his hands in mock surrender. ‘No need to squirt me, Ma. I’m out of bed.’
She brandished the spray bottle. ‘See you stay up, then.’
‘That was cruel of you.’
She grinned. ‘Only way to get Steve going after a booze-up.’
They both came along to the kitchen shortly afterwards, expecting her to make them a cup of coffee before they started getting ready.
She stood guard in front of the kettle, arms folded. ‘You’re not getting anything to eat or drink till you’ve had your showers.’ She didn’t budge, staring them down.
It gradually dawned on them that she was deadly serious, so they fought their way to the bathroom they shared. Nick won by a short head.
When they came back, fresh-faced, with hair still damp, they reminded her for a moment of how they’d looked as little boys after their evening bath and her heart softened slightly. But her determination didn’t.
Steve announced, ‘As it happens, I can’t go out today. I need to do some stuff for work on my computer. They’re paying me overtime. But it’s OK, Ma. I’ll just sit quietly in my room. If anyone comes to look round, they’ll not even notice I’m here.’
She slapped their breakfasts down on the table. Scrambled eggs on toast. ‘You’ll be out of the house by nine at the latest if I have to drag you out by the hair. I want you and your cars gone. You can do the work tomorrow.’
He opened his mouth, caught her eye and gave an aggrieved sigh.
When they’d finished eating, she shooed them along to their rooms. ‘Tidy up now. Any mess you leave goes straight into the bin. Put every single thing away, including your clothes. I mean it.’
They rolled their eyes at each other and she left them to it. She smiled as she went back to the kitchen to clear up their mess. They didn’t think she meant it about the dustbin, but she did. Oh, yes. She was fed up to the teeth of their slobby ways.
When they came back, she thrust the newspaper into Nick’s hands. ‘There. The property pages. You need to start looking for a place to rent. I’ve marked some possibles. What if I sell the house today? I’ll have to be out in a month and I’ll be off to England straight after that. Where will you two live then?’
Steve let out a snort of laughter. ‘Sell it today! You may not realise it, Ma, but there’s been a downturn in the property market for a while and this is an old place. It’ll be months before you sell it and you’ll probably have to drop your price considerably. Minimalist is in fashion now in houses, not tumbledown colonial.’
He might be right. But even so, every time the house was open she intended to make sure it looked as attractive as possible.
When they’d left, she breathed a sigh of relief and went to do their rooms. She found dirty clothes tossed in heaps in the corners of both bedrooms, a worse mess than she’d expected after all her warnings.
She’d kept the lads moderately tidy as youngsters, but how did you force grown men to put things away? Heaven knew, she’d tried hard enough. The effort had driven her to this state of desperation.
Grimly she piled up the clothes and anything else lying around. She hadn’t really been going to toss them into the bin, in spite of her threat, but when she found remains of food going mouldy in takeaway wrappers under the beds, she changed her mind.
She didn’t even separate the clothes, just hurled everything into the big plastic rubbish bags, including the food scraps, then tossed them into the bin.
‘See how you like that!’ she muttered.
She wiped away a tear. They hadn’t even tried. That hurt.
The estate agent, Stacy, didn’t turn up until five minutes before opening time. By then, two cars were parked in the street. Nell kept peeping out of the living room window, checking them. No doubt about it, they were waiting to view her house.
Even as she watched, one couple got out of their car and came to study the front garden, pointing things out to one another.
Stacy came rushing into the house, after dumping a ‘House Open’ sign on the grass verge. ‘Didn’t expect anyone to come looking so early, Nell. That’s a good sign.’
She turned in a circle on the spot, staring. ‘Wow, it looks great in here! You must have worked really hard to declutter. Didn’t you have time to put some coffee on? And what about playing music, as I suggested?’
‘I don’t want to play tricks on people.’
‘It’s not tricking anybody, it just puts clients in a better mood.’
Nell shook her head, still unwilling to do this. She didn’t know why, just that it felt like cheating.
Stacy shrugged. ‘Well, I’ll do my best anyway. The house and garden are looking good, and that’s the main thing.’
Nell stopped at the door. ‘Just one thing. If my ex-husband turns up, don’t let him inside and don’t say anything to him about offers or anything else financial. He may tell you he’s handling the business side for me, but it isn’t true. I wouldn’t trust him to do my grocery shopping.’
‘Yes. You said that already. Several times.’
‘Just reminding you.’
Stacy patted her hand. ‘Calm down. It won’t be the end of the world if we don’t sell today.’
Nell took a deep breath. ‘Sorry.’
Stacy’s voice grew gentler. ‘I’ll do my best. I realise how important it is to you.’
As she went out to her car, Nell passed the couple who’d been studying the garden, so on impulse she stopped for a moment. ‘Lovely day, isn’t it?’
The woman, who was rather pregnant, smiled. ‘Yes. And you’ve got the garden looking beautiful.’
‘It’s a very rewarding hobby. Take a look at the veggie garden at the back while you’re here. I supply a lot of my own food, all organically grown. I had the soil checked.’
The woman’s face brightened. ‘I grow my own food too. You actually had the soil checked?’
‘Yes. My agent has a photocopy of the paperwork.’
Stacy’s voice floated across to them. ‘We’re open for viewing now, folks.’
Nell realised she was stopping them going inside, so smiled again and walked on.
She spent the next hour in a nearby park, sitting peacefully under some trees, not even bothering to read the magazine she’d bought. She’d worked brutally hard yesterday and this morning. Now, she just wanted to rest.
She felt as if time was suspended and she was waiting … hoping … Oh, she was so ready for a change!
When she got back to the house, the car of the couple she’d spoken to was still there, so she didn’t go inside. Surely that was a good sign?
She was so lost in thought, she jumped in shock when someone tapped on her car window.
Sighing, she wound it down fully. ‘What are you doing here, Craig?’
He looked at her scornfully, as if she’d said something stupid. ‘I do have an interest in selling the house, or had you forgotten?’
‘It’s you who’s forgetting something.’
He wrinkled his brow in the exaggerated way he had of showing puzzlement.
‘I meant what I said last time. You aren’t getting involved. I have the legal right to control the selling, as long as I don’t sell the house for a ridiculous price. Your only rights are either to sign the contract or veto the sale on the grounds of price. And, of course, you take fifty per cent of the money after costs.’
‘I know that. But—’
‘If there’s any news today, I’ll phone you.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Just tell me why you’re waiting outside. What’s gone wrong?’
That was where Steve got it from, the dismissive phrase that irritated her so much. She jabbed her forefinger towards the parked car. ‘Nothing has gone wrong! That car belongs to a couple who were here at the beginning of the opening and are still here. I’m waiting for them to come out. I don’t want to interrupt them in case they’re negotiating.’
‘Ah. Well, now that I’m here, I might as well stay and see how things go.’
‘Then wait in your own car and leave me in peace.’
‘Aren’t you ever going to call a truce between us?’
‘No. I still remember what it was like.’ She mimed punching something.
He glared at her and strode off down the street to his own vehicle, a brand-new one, all gleaming silver.
It was another ten minutes before her estate agent came out of the house with the young couple, waving them goodbye, then picking up the ‘House Open’ sign and putting it into her car boot.
Nell hurried across to Stacy before Craig could get out of his car again. ‘How did it go?’
‘Really well. These two have been here for the whole hour. Might have an offer for you later. We had a good turnout today, actually, and quite a lot of serious interest.’
There were footsteps behind them. Nell turned to glare at Craig and he stopped a few paces away.
‘Persistent, isn’t he?’ Stacy murmured.
‘Still wants to control my life and finances – especially the finances – even after we’ve been divorced for fifteen years.’
Stacy looked at her watch. ‘Look, I don’t want to be late for my next opening. I’ll phone you after five.’
‘On my mobile.’ If her sons picked up the house phone and found anything out, they’d share it with their father.
‘I’ll come back around five,’ Craig said at once.
‘I won’t be letting you in,’ Nell told him firmly.
‘But you might need my advice and—’
Stacy shot her a look of sympathy, wound up the car window and drove off.
Without saying a word, Nell walked past Craig towards the house. He followed her, of course, still trying to talk persuasively, but she slammed the door in his face. Hurrying to the back of the house, she did the same with the kitchen and laundry doors.
She smiled as she listened to the front doorbell ring … twice. Then he started hammering on the door, shouting, ‘For heaven’s sake, Nell, can’t we even talk?’
Even though it was a pleasantly warm day, she didn’t unlock any of the doors till he’d driven away.
She knew he’d obtained a copy of the new door key from one of her sons, though both denied it. She was also aware that he still came into the house sometimes. Never while she was here, of course.
She’d had a lock fitted to her bedroom door, a lock to which only she had the key so he couldn’t find out anything about her personal affairs.
Craig wasn’t going to get involved in the house sale, whether he enlisted the help of her sons or not. All he had to do was add his signature to the contract when it was all over.
‘Did you see any nice flats?’ she asked when Steve and Nick returned.
‘We saw a few from one agency, Ma. No point in going on looking, though. Have you any idea what rent they’re asking for anywhere half decent?’ Steve looked at her indignantly, as if that were her fault.
‘Of course I have. I’ve been keeping an eye on the rental market for a few months so that I could advise you.’
‘If we get a place as near the city as this, we’ll not have enough money left after living expenses to do anything at the weekend.’
‘You’ll have to get a place further out, then. They’re a lot cheaper.’
He shuddered at the mere thought. ‘I’m not living further out. It’d cost me a fortune in taxi fares.’
‘Or you could stop drinking so much and drive yourself home.’
‘What’s the point in going out if you don’t get smashed rotten?’ He folded his arms. ‘Dad says that we should refuse to move out. He says it’d make an excellent rental property, so why don’t you reconsider and let us rent it from you? Eh, Ma?’
‘If your father buys out my half, he can do what he wants with it, even rent it to you. You can suggest that next time you discuss my affairs with him – something I’ve asked you not to do, as you might remember. But I wouldn’t rent a place to you and I bet he wouldn’t either, for all his big talk.’
‘Why the hell not?’
‘Because if I wasn’t on your case, you’d be living like pigs. You don’t know how to look after a house and you’ve refused to learn. You won’t even let me teach you how to cook a few easy meals. My investment would go downhill quickly if you two were left here alone.’
Nick had the grace to look ashamed.
Steve shrugged it off. ‘We’d change. We’ve got time to learn to cook a few things before you go and you can leave us a freezer full of stuff.’
Nell lost it then, really lost it, as she hadn’t done for years. ‘I have had ee-bloody-nuff of running round after you two. You will move out as soon as I sell this place, even if I have to hire someone to throw you both out into the street physically.’
‘But, Ma—’
‘And don’t think I wouldn’t do it! You can plot with your father all you like but you won’t change my mind about selling the house. He’s only taking your side because he wants to take the easy way out. But I’m selling now. Get used to it.’
They looked surprised by her outburst.
She glanced at her watch. ‘There are still a couple of hours before closing time. I’ll ring Stacy’s property guy and see if there’s anywhere we can view today.’
She ignored their protests and made the call, smiling triumphantly at them as she put down the phone. ‘He has several places to rent in your price range and is happy to work late to show us round.’
‘Work late on a Saturday?’ Steve asked in outrage. ‘He’s a loony.’
Nick said nothing, just turned meekly to follow her out to her car.
Steve grabbed her arm before she got to the door. ‘Mum, I don’t have enough money for the deposit. And I’ve got a few … you know, debts.’
‘I’ll lend you the deposit. And unlike your father, I won’t charge interest, but you may need to get a weekend job to pay back the debts. I did warn you about living beyond your means.’
‘Everybody does it.’
‘Well let “everybody” help you pay your debts off, then. If you want my help, you’ll do it my way.’
Steve flung himself into the back seat of her car and took out his mobile phone. Nick got into the front with her.
As they set off, he asked quietly, ‘Why is it so urgent to do this today, Ma? Can’t it wait till you get an offer?’
‘I may have one already. It’s … um, not certain yet, though it’s looking hopeful.’ For some weird reason, she felt quite sure she’d get an offer from that nice couple. Just as the dream had said.
Their faces fell and they exchanged distinctly apprehensive glances.
Her heart went out to them, but she tried to hide that. It was always hard to be pushed out of the nest and be totally responsible for supporting yourself. In the past, men had simply been passed from mother to wife, and had always been looked after physically. Most of her sons’ generation had to fend for themselves and share the marital chores, as Robbie had found out.
She sighed. She was too efficient and could get the housework done more quickly on her own. It would have been better to have given them regular jobs around the place when they were younger and insisted on the jobs being done before she handed out spending money.
But would they have done the jobs even then? They had refused point-blank to learn how to cook, as their father had before them.
No, she had no alternative now but to give them tough love. For their sake as well as her own.
But it was so hard to actually do it.
It only took until six o’clock to find them somewhere to live. It was much further out from the city centre than they wanted and small, but at least it was on the side of the city nearest to where they worked.
When they tried to refuse it, she winked at the salesman. ‘We’ll think about it, Matt, but I can’t see us improving on this flat in their price range. I’ll be in touch on Monday morning. Give me first refusal until then.’
‘It’s yours.’
‘That place was horrible,’ Steve said urgently once they were outside. ‘Tiny and shabby, and it hasn’t got any furniture. It looked out onto a car park, too.’
‘It’s all you can afford and it’s clean. I told you I’d give you some of my furniture. You can have everything from your bedrooms plus the kitchen table and chairs. The flat won’t look as bad when it’s furnished.’
But they had to press for more. ‘What about the lounge suite?’
‘It’s nearly new and I have a buyer lined up.’
Steve scowled at her. ‘You didn’t waste any time, did you, Ma?’
‘Do I ever?’
She tried to drop some gentle advice in their ears. ‘You need to start small, save your money and work your way up to renting something better. That’s a good rule for life, too. You can’t get the best of everything straight away, you know.’
‘Yeah, yeah!’ Steve pulled out his smart phone again and began to text someone.
Nick had already slipped in some earbuds and was nodding in time to the music.
Once they got home, they tried to talk her into refusing the flat, then gave up and went to their rooms. The sulky expressions on their faces meant they hadn’t really taken what she’d said on board. Nick was usually more reasonable than this, but it was what she’d expected of Steve.
There was a yell of outrage from the boys’ end of the house and she braced herself as Steve came thundering down the stairs to confront her.
‘What’ve you done with my clothes and my other stuff, Ma?’
‘Exactly what I said I would do with anything left lying around in your bedrooms: I’ve thrown them into the dustbin. You know I always keep my word.’
He went to find them and came storming back a second time. ‘They’re all crumpled and smelly now, and I was going to wear those jeans tonight to go clubbing.’
‘Unless you want the smell to linger, you’d better wash them before you go out.’
‘Aren’t you doing any washing this weekend?’
‘Nope. I told you that, too. If you leave any dirty clothes lying around from now on, they’ll go straight into the rubbish bin – whether it’s due to be emptied that day or not.’
She wouldn’t actually have let their clothes be carted away, couldn’t have gone so far, but he wasn’t going to be sure about that, not after today.
He took a deep breath, glared at her again and stormed off to his room. Each of them was out of the house within ten minutes, picked up by friends, so Steve must have found something to wear. The stinking clothes were lying on the laundry floor, as if they still expected her to wash them. She took them up to their bedrooms again. Let them enjoy the pungent smell.
Only when the second car had pulled away did she call Stacy back. She’d felt the phone vibrate while the boys were getting ready to go out, but hadn’t answered it then because she didn’t want anyone listening in.
Stacy never wasted her time on polite chit-chat. ‘It’s looking very promising.’
‘What does that mean exactly?’
‘Well, we have two interested parties and a bidding war going on. That’s all I can tell you for the moment. I can’t stay on the phone because I’m expecting one of them to call.’
‘Have they actually made an offer?’
‘They’ve both made offers, and we’re now into counter-offers, so I haven’t nailed down a winner yet. Bye.’
Nell fumbled her way to the bed and sank down on it, her heart pounding. It was happening. It really was.
At nine o’clock that evening her mobile rang. She looked at the display. Stacy again. Taking a deep breath, she answered the call. ‘Yes?’
‘Took a while because both buyers were keen. It surprised me how keen.’ Stacy chuckled. ‘I got you $10,000 more than your asking price.’
‘What? But that sort of thing doesn’t happen with houses round here.’
‘It’s just happened for the first time, then. You do have a larger-than-average block of land, you know. One couple wanted to knock the house down and build a bigger one, while the others wanted to redo your place in full period style and enjoy a large organic garden. They won.’
‘Are they the ones who were leaving just as I got back?’
‘Yes. She’s a really keen gardener. My boss is delighted. He’s heard of one or two other bidding wars in the area recently, so it looks like this is going to be the next über-desirable suburb.’
‘I … can’t believe it.’
‘There are conditions.’
Her heart sank. ‘What?’
‘They want you out in two weeks. The wife is pregnant, as you no doubt noticed, and wants to do some of the renovating before she gets too big.’
‘Is it possible to settle so quickly?’
‘It is if the husband works for a big bank and can pay cash. He says he can also push through the inspection and other stuff more quickly than usual. They’ve just been transferred back to the city, apparently, and he doesn’t like staying with the in-laws but they’d be offended if he moved to a hotel.’
She waited, then added, ‘Are you all right with moving so quickly?’
Nell found her voice. ‘All right? I’m thrilled to pieces.’
‘Is it too late to come round and get your signature tonight? I do like to make a contract offer binding as soon as possible and the buyers are waiting up to hear from me.’
‘I’ll have to ring Craig, because you’ll need his signature as well. I’ll contact you if I can’t get hold of him.’
‘Craig?’ She could hear the sound of voices in the background. ‘Sorry to disturb your social life.’
‘Nell? Is something wrong?’
‘On the contrary. I’ve sold the house.’
Dead silence, then, ‘How much did you have to drop the price?’
‘I didn’t. We got $10,000 over the asking price.’
Another silence, then, ‘You must have a good agent.’
‘And I did a lot of work on the house. Remember, you agreed to pay half the bills for that. I have all the receipts for paint and so on. I won’t charge you for my time.’
‘How generous of you.’
‘Anyway, what I rang for is to ask if you can come round now to sign the contract. Stacy wants to tie the buyers down.’
His voice became heavily sarcastic. ‘You mean you’ll let me into my own house?’
‘On this occasion, yes. Don’t muck me around, Craig. Do you want to sell at this price or not?’
‘I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five.’
He was there even before Stacy. Nell let him in and gestured to a seat. ‘Sorry to drag you away from your friends.’
He grinned. ‘Selling the house is much more important. I put a bottle of good champagne in the fridge for when I get back.’
To her relief the doorbell rang and she didn’t have to sit and make conversation with him. ‘Stacy, come in. You’ve met Craig. He’s come to sign the contract to sell.’
Her agent got out the paperwork and handed them each a copy, then waited for them to check it through.
‘Two weeks is cutting it fine,’ Craig muttered. ‘Can it be done?’
‘With this client, yes,’ Stacy assured him.
He went back to the contract, nodded and looked up. ‘All right. I’ll sign it.’
When he’d done that, Nell wrote her signature neatly beneath his scrawl and stood up. ‘I’ll show you out, Craig.’
He glared at her but began moving. ‘We’ll need to discuss the boys.’
‘We can do that tomorrow over the phone.’
She returned to Stacy. ‘Thank you for being so efficient. I’ve got a particularly nice bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge. Would you like a glass to celebrate?’
‘I’m driving. Well, just half a glass, maybe. It is a good result, isn’t it?’
When her agent had gone, Nell sat on till nearly midnight, sipping a second glass of wine. She couldn’t stop smiling. Fate seemed to be on her side for once. She was moving, leaving this house and its unhappy memories. At last.
It suddenly occurred to her that her dream had come true, just as the voices had said. What a strange coincidence!
Then the efficient side of her kicked in and she got out a pad and started making lists. She’d need to give in her notice at work, book her plane ticket to England, start clearing out the house … and get the boys settled in their flat.
The pencil fell from her hand. Could she do all that in two weeks?
She most certainly could. She was famous for her efficiency. For her, the title ‘Office Manager’ wasn’t a fancy word for secretary. She managed a staff of five, servicing the administrative needs of four legal partners and their suite of offices. They’d miss her but she wouldn’t miss them.
She heard Nick arrive home at two o’clock. She was woken at three o’clock by the sound of a taxi pulling up and Steve’s slurred voice talking to the driver. Clearly the need to save money hadn’t stopped the boys from making a night of it and coming home in style.
She’d been feeling regretful about what she was doing to them, but now she was even more certain that it was necessary. They had to learn to handle themselves and their money if they were to become useful members of society.
She’d save the news about the sale for the morning, however. They’d be in no state to hear it now.