Baxter had a lovely time with his mother and some of her old friends around town.
The night before she was due to head back to Sydney, Frances surprised her son with a question. ‘Aren’t you going to take me out in your boat?’
Baxter looked at her in amazement. His mother had always professed not to like being out on the water: she’d told him that it made her ill. ‘Sorry, Mum, I didn’t think of doing that—I thought you hated boats.’
‘Well, since you’ve got one, I might as well have a go. I’m not a coward, you know, and I don’t like the thought that there’s anything I can’t do.’
‘All right, but don’t you want to be on the road before noon?’ She’d told him that on Friday afternoon she needed to prepare for a group of VIPS, who were famous and wealthy enough to require her personal attention.
‘Greg, you know I’m used to getting up at the crack of dawn.’
‘Yes, but you’re on holiday. Look, I’ll organise everything, then come get you from the house around seven-thirty.’
•
It was a cool, bright morning, and Chief showed his usual pleasure at walking towards the water and his enemies, the ducks. However, as they drew closer to the river, for once the shepherd didn’t stay close to Baxter but instead ran about in wide circles and constantly sniffed the air.
Finally he ran down to the jetty, pointed his nose at Flora Jane—and growled.
Baxter ran over to stand beside his dog. ‘What is it, mate?’
The shepherd kept growling, clearly disturbed. Baxter looked down at the river, where Flora was bobbing gently on the run-in tide. She didn’t look any different, and as far as Baxter knew, nothing out of the ordinary had happened to her. After the trip to the Islands, Steve Lewis had run her home and Jane had gone to Riverview and picked him up. Flora had been at her mooring for the few days since then.
But if Chief thought something was amiss, then as sure as blazes it was.
Had the boat been tampered with, or had something incriminating been planted on her? Baxter decided to contact Ian Latham as soon as he could. In the meantime, he certainly wasn’t taking his mother anywhere near Flora, but he didn’t want to worry her—or to explain everything. As he hurried back, he came up with a white lie.
‘Sorry, Mum, I can’t oblige you this trip,’ he told her, sitting down across from her at the kitchen table. ‘Something’s gone funny with poor Flora’s engine. Must’ve happened when I took that fishing trip to the Islands over the weekend—she had a bit of a cough by the time I got back. I’ll have to get my mate Steve to take a look.’
Baxter knew his mother wouldn’t ask any questions, because she was even more hopeless with mechanical things than him.
‘What a pity,’ she said, ‘I was looking forward to a nice cruise on the river. It’s such a lovely, tranquil stretch of water.’ She was putting on a good show, but he could tell she was secretly relieved—a white lie to answer a white lie! ‘Oh well.’ She yawned and got up to make a cup of tea. ‘It’s quite old, isn’t it?’ she asked over her shoulder.
‘Do you mean the river or my Flora?’
‘The boat, Greg,’ she said, raising her eyes heavenward.
‘She’s not young, but she’s a decent enough runabout.’
‘Well, the boat obviously has a problem, and Julie says it’s a bit small for ocean fishing. Will you allow me to buy you a bigger one?’
Baxter’s eyebrows lifted—his mother’s generosity never failed to surprise him. Of course, he had his fingers crossed that his boat wasn’t permanently damaged, and he didn’t want her to waste her money. ‘What’s with this sudden interest you have for boats? I really thought you hated them.’
Frances nodded. ‘I did. Your father took me out when I was pregnant, and I was violently ill. I thought I might lose you. It was out near the Islands and there was a big swell running. That experience put me off the water for some time, but not long ago I was taken for a lunch cruise up Middle Harbour, and I had no trouble whatsoever. This is such a quiet river that I think I’d be right as rain. Perhaps the next time I come down we’ll take Julie for a cruise and have lunch somewhere?’
‘That sounds great, Mum, though I’m quite happy with Flora. She’s plenty good enough for river fishing, and we can use Steve’s boat for outside trips.’
‘No, I insist—for my own comfort! And we can call it a birthday present.’
Baxter sighed and gave her a fond smile. ‘All right, Mum. Thanks.’
‘You find the boat you like and let me know how much it is. I shall expect you to have it here next time I come down.’
‘When do you reckon that will be?’
‘Hopefully no more than a couple of months. In fact, how about I come down for your birthday? We’ll have a small party, although this house is hardly ideal for entertaining.’ She glanced around. ‘Honestly, though it’s much nicer than when we bought it, it is a tiny bit cramped, isn’t it?’
Baxter felt a prickle of annoyance. ‘This house suits me fine, Mum. I didn’t pick it with entertaining in mind—I came here to write. And if it’s a fine night, you couldn’t ask for a better outdoors site. I’ve had lights installed and it’s a magical place.’
‘Yes, dear, I’m sure it is.’
‘They’re not cheap, you know,’ he put in, not wanting to rehash their discussions about the house.
‘What aren’t?’
‘New boats.’
‘The one I was on was very nice,’ Frances said. ‘It had a kitchen and a bedroom and a shower.’
Baxter’s eyes widened. ‘Lord above! Were you on Packer’s yacht?’
‘No, nothing like that,’ she said, shrugging. ‘Just a nice comfortable little boat.’
‘I don’t need a boat like that. I’m not aiming to travel very far, or even stay out at night unless Steve and I go bream fishing.’
‘A boat with a kitchen and a bedroom could be very romantic,’ Frances said lightly. ‘I think it would offer definite possibilities.’
The extent to which his mother was prepared to go to get him married now became very clear to him.
‘You shock me, Mum. You really do.’
‘Sometimes you need to push things along, darling.’
‘Not with Julie Rankin, you don’t. She’s very much her own person.’
‘Well, whatever happens, I think a new boat would be an excellent investment in your future. You seem to be keen on fishing, and a boat and fishing go together.’ She paused and raised one eyebrow. ‘But if you should invite someone to go out on a boat with you, it would be helpful to have congenial surroundings.’
‘I’ve always recognised that you were a good businesswoman, but not that you were such a schemer.’ Baxter chuckled. ‘Oh well, it’s your money. I’ll talk to Steve and see what he has to say about what boats are on the market.’
‘Thank you, Greg,’ Frances said, a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes.
Baxter shook his head. His mother was the living embodiment of the fact that you never knew how a woman would behave. Just when you thought you had her sorted out, she would do something entirely contrary to your expectations. It was best not to try and out-think a woman, Baxter felt, but instead hang loose and wait for developments.