The next morning Anna woke when Faith slid back the door of the van, the pale morning light dappling her pillow.
“Sorry,” Faith whispered. “ I have to pee.”
King came snuffling over, tail wagging with delight.
“Hello, beautiful boy.”
Anna could swear he was smiling as he settled down next to the door with a contented sigh.
The air was cool, fresh, like you only get in a small town. She burrowed into her bedding and lay thinking about what would need to be done when this trip was over. Going back to the house, packing up her things. She realised there was very little she missed. Photos of the kids, a favourite painting, a few knick-knacks. But the rest all felt so unimportant. All the nice clothes and the jewellery, shoes and handbags. She did want her kitchen things though. Her KitchenAid mixer, her chef’s knives that had been a gift for her twenty-first.
She thought about Faith and her doughnut breakfast and how much Mary’s shop reminded her of her gran. Her stomach rumbled and her bladder protested, so she got up, pulled on her sweater and shuffled to look out the van door where King sat up for a pat. It was still very early, and the only person around was a jogger, dressed in tight shorts and a long-sleeved top, his feet echoing on the footpath as he ran past. Faith emerged from over the road, scuttling furtively back in the gate in her striped pyjama pants, arms crossed to still her wayward boobs. Anna grinned. It felt like it might be a good day.
Duncan’s Doughnuts was open according to the sign, but Mary was nowhere to be seen inside the cafe. There was a fair bit of clattering and banging from the back though and after hovering for a beat, Anna decided to stick her head in.
“Mary?” she called out, “it’s Anna, from yesterday.” Mary was in a large industrial-looking kitchen, at odds with the front of the shop. Baked goods lined the stainless steel centre bench and Mary was awkwardly attempting to retrieve a tray of biscuits from a long floor oven, wincing and crouching oddly. Anna took a tea towel from the table and went to help.
“Oh, thank you, darlin’,” Mary said, straightening slowly and pointing at a gap on the bench. Anna set the tray down and looked around. There were unfilled doughnuts and a piping bag of custard cream, square sponges and coconut in bowls, and croissants ready to be filled with chicken and Brie. Mary’s hair had come loose from her bun and sat lopsided in her hairnet. She looked frazzled.
“Where shall I start?” Anna asked with a grin. Mary gave her an appraising look.
“I’m serious,” Anna told her. “Put me to work and pay me with breakfast.”
“You, my darling, are an angel,” Mary told her. “Make us all a coffee and I’ll give you a rundown.”
Anna finished off pastries, loaded pies into the warmer and whipped up a batch of cupcakes. Faith helped Mary make hot drinks and do the till and they made it through the breakfast rush. It was surprisingly busy for a small town, Anna noted, as she placed the cupcakes into the front cabinet. She hadn’t had this much fun in years, she realised. Mary had given them a running commentary on all the local gossip, and she was truly grateful for their help.
At one point Kurt came into the bakery for a takeaway coffee, looking surprised to see them there helping out and she gave him an awkward wave, her face heating when she thought of where her mind had gone last night. He gave her a funny look and then smiled. Later, she caught herself in the stainless fridge door and realised she had a big smear of chocolate icing across her cheekbone.
After they’d cleaned up the kitchen and cleared the tables, she and Faith sat and had bacon and egg rolls and hot drinks.
“Well, I suppose we’d better go and check on Rizzo,” Anna said, putting their cups into the dishwasher and setting it to go. Mary came up and gave her a long, warm hug, then did the same to Faith.
“I can’t thank you girls enough.”
“No, it was nothing. Honestly. We had nothing else to do.”
“It wasn’t nothing. It was everything, truly.”
Anna gave her another hug and they set off back to the garage.
Mike was working on a car in the garage and King came to greet them and led them back to Cliff who was on the phone in the office. Elvis crooned about heartache in the background. Anna knocked on the door frame and he looked up, gesturing for them to come in.
“All right, yep. No, fair enough. I know how it is, yep. Okay, see you this arvo.” He hung up and wrote some figures down on his desk blotter.
“How are you ladies this morning?” he asked.
“Good, thanks.”
“Sleep okay at Paradise?”
“Yes, yes, great. Thanks.” Anna avoided looking at Faith in case they looked guilty. Cliff gestured at the chairs in front of his desk and they sat. King placed his head on Anna’s lap and she stroked his velvety ears.
“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news,” he told them.
“Good news is I’ve located a part. A second, so it’s cheaper. Bad part is, it’s in Invercargill and I have to go get it myself.” He took a sip from a coffee cup with the words ‘STARTER FLUID’ printed on it and grimaced. “Green tea,” he said with disgust. “Supposed to be good for you, make you live longer, but I’m not sure I want to if this is all I get.”
Anna laughed. “It’s better with honey,” she told him.
“Anyhoo, I was planning to head down in any case this week to see my brother, so I can pick it up no prob, but I won’t be back till Sunday at the earliest.” He gave them an apologetic grimace. “ He’s in a home, and he’s not so good. I need to go, spend a little time — you know?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Faith said.
“Ah no, it is what it is. Old age sucks. But I’m afraid I don’t have a courtesy car or anything like that to offer you. So you’ll be stuck here for a bit.”
“Oh right. Actually, I wonder if we could get a ride with you?” Faith asked. “It’s just that I need to get to Invercargill for my brother’s birthday on Saturday.”
“Oh sure,” Cliff said, but he was frowning. “Not a problem, no, that’s fine. But I’ll be in my ute, so only room for one, I’m sorry.”
Faith looked worriedly at Anna who did a mental run through of her finances in her mind. If she put aside the repair money and stayed in the van and didn’t bother with lunch, she’d be okay.
“No, you should go,” she told Faith. “Absolutely. You need to. I can stay here. It’s not a problem.” Faith didn’t look convinced. “Honestly, I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll have to set off shortly though, if that works for you?”
Cliff took another sip of his drink and then pushed it away.
“Bugger it, I need a coffee. I might just pop into the cafe and get one for the road. Can I get you ladies anything?”
They declined and he called to King who paused to look at Anna before he eventually followed him down the road. Anna and Faith went over to the van to get Faith’s things.
“Are you sure it’s okay if I go?” Faith said. “I feel bad. What are you going to do till we get back?”
“Seriously, I’ll be fine. Go. Tell me all about it when you get back.”
Cliff came back with a drink tray in one hand and a bag with several doughnuts in the other. He had a smudge of flour on his collar.
“Mary tells me you earnt these,” he told them, handing over two iced teas. “She’s very thankful for the help with her back out an’ all.”
“Perhaps I’ll wander down and see if she needs any help with the lunch rush,” Anna said, and Cliff gave her a large smile.
“That would be good of you, lass.”
Faith put her bag and the wrapped artwork of Red’s she’d bought for Isaac in the cab of his ute and Cliff gave King the nod to get in the back. He looked back and forward from Cliff to Anna.
“What’s wrong with you?” Cliff said to him. “Get up.” King leapt onto the flat bed and lay down, giving Anna a sorrowful look. She kissed his nose and gave his head a rub.
“Just have to stop real quick and get my bag, and we’ll hit the road,” Cliff told Faith, who hugged Anna and got into the passenger side door.
“I want to hear all about the palace, and the corgis,” Anna told her with a smile. Cliff looked baffled.
“I’ll give you a rundown on the way,” Faith told him with a laugh.
Anna drank her tea as she wandered back towards the main shops. Maybe she’d splurge on a book, she thought, and laughed to herself at the idea that a book was now a luxury.
Her phone rang. It was Greg. Again. She’d been avoiding his calls while she and Faith had been driving, but she answered this time with a sigh.
“Hi.”
“What the hell is bloody well going on with you?” he started. “I’m trying to be patient, Anna, but enough’s enough. When the hell are you going to give up this strop and get home? I’ve got major clients coming Friday and a bloody wife in the middle of some ridiculous mid-life crisis.”
Anna laughed quietly to herself. She had no intention of working any longer on the marriage, but she was still a little stunned at how she’d managed to drag things out this long with a husband whose first thought when his wife left him was for his clients.
“Greg,” she said softly, “you need to listen to what I’m saying …”
“I am bloody listening but you don’t seem to realise that …”
“I wasn’t finished.” She wasn’t yelling really, just talking loud enough to stop him in his tracks for a minute. “I. Am. Not. Coming. Back,” she said firmly. “I’m done. We are done. This is the end of the road. I won’t make you sell the business, or the house if you don’t want, but I want a fair payout. I’m entitled to it. From now on, I’ll be talking to you through my lawyer.”
There was an eerie silence and then Greg was off — shouting and cursing. Anna waited patiently for him to finish, her phone away from her ear. When he ran out of steam, she said: “I’m sorry you feel that way, Greg. I wish you well.” And then she hung up the phone.