Sunday, unlike on any other weekend, was just another day for Maddie without the usual relief of being away from Romania. After a leisurely shower she wandered down to breakfast close to nine o’clock. Plenty of time before cooking Sunday lunch. Olivia, son-in-law Brian and the grandchildren were coming, which made, including Freya, eight at the table.
Weekends were usually busy for Wayne, as all the other members of his group worked at day jobs and were only free to be at the studio weekends. Given the dirty crockery still on the table Maddie knew he’d breakfasted on cereal and toast and was long gone off to his shared studio.
No sign of the girls. Freya’s parents said they’d be returning Sunday afternoon. Maybe Freya would be there for Sunday lunch, maybe not. Maddie was cooking a large joint, which should be enough for several dinners through the coming week even with eight to feed today.
Freya had been an easy guest. The girls were at an age when constraints probably should be lifted, but Maddie found it difficult. Jade was young for her age, as was Freya. And she didn’t trust them to make sensible decisions. Even as the thoughts were passing through her head, she realised she was being over-protective. She also felt the usual burden of having another child in the house under her care.
She rang her older daughter.
“Hi Olivia,” she asked. “All okay for Sunday lunch?”
“Absolutely. See you later,” Olivia said. “I’m just off to take Robbie to his baby swimming lesson.”
“So you did decide to enrol him, after all.”
Olivia prattled on about what a good idea it was, the safety aspects of teaching a child early on how to swim and then rang off when she realised the time. Maddie came from the phone call reassured life was progressing as it should in some parts of her world, at least.
An hour or so later, the two teenaged girls appeared in the kitchen, eyes still heavy with sleep. As they grabbed breakfast food, Maddie asked them about the film they’d seen the night before.
“Not so great,” Jade said. “But we got ice cream sundaes afterwards. Worth the evening out, weren’t they, Freya?”
“Yeah, great,” she said, her eyes on the cereal she was eating.
Maddie inwardly sighed. So, they didn’t go to the flicks. But they did come home on time as she well knew. No harm done. But she’d have to figure out a way to indicate they didn’t have to lie. Somehow.
“I gather you know this Brody fellow,” she said to Freya. “What do you think of him?”
“Not much,” Freya said with a quick glance at Jade. “Not my type.”
“He’s not so bad,” Jade said. “I like tall boys. And he has nice eyes.”
Maddie frowned. Jade was vulnerable. She’d had a romance during the winter, which, when it broke apart, had left her silent and more stroppy than usual for several weeks. First loves. Always a problem. But a short problem. Jade was now back to her usual awkward Goth-type self.
“He’s working now. In his brother’s gardening business.” Jade kept her head down, concentrating on slicing cheese for a grilled sandwich. “I think he’s over Linsey. We saw him in town last night, didn’t we, Freya.”
“You talked to him, not me,” she muttered.
“Jade, I told you….” Maddie glared at her daughter.
“Hold on, Mum. If I’d been rude to him, that would have alerted him that something was up, okay? I chatted to him and now you’ve got something you can follow up.” She shoved her sandwich under the grill. “Man, I can’t do anything right around here.”
Maddie inwardly rolled her eyes. Teenagers. She straightened and lightened her tone. “You’re absolutely right. An easy chat is exactly what was appropriate given Freya knows the boy.”
“And is it important you know where he’s working?”
“I imagine it’s very important.”
Maddie went upstairs to collect washing from the bedrooms. At the top of the stairs, she realised she could hear the girls talking in the kitchen. Talking about somebody. Still discussing Brody? She paused.
“Do you believe him?” Freya asked.
“Why would he lie about it?” Jade’s voice was scornful.
“Because people lie about sex all the time, that’s why.”
“Yeah. Okay. But her stepfather? That’s beyond gross.”
Maddie took a deep breath. Stepfather? The only stepfather in the picture was Linsey Benton’s.
“Sort of makes it more real,” Freya said. “Because nobody, like nobody, would make up a story about having sex with a total munter like him.”
“Ugly. Old. And sort of a father. Way past yuck.”
Later, the girls went off for a swim – in a rainstorm – in the heated outdoor pool in Hampton on the edge of Bushy Park. Once alone, Maddie searched the local equivalent of the yellow pages and found three gardening firms advertising their services. Old Mr McGurk’s small advertisement was there plus ‘Kingston Gardening Services, est. 1993’ and ‘Frederickson Lawns and Gardens’. She hesitated about ringing Ethan on a Sunday. Tomorrow would do. She concentrated on cleaning up the kitchen as she put on the roast and vegetables. They could have ice cream for a sweet. Easy.
Olivia and her family arrived in time and the girls followed shortly. Maddie looked at her watch. No sign of Wayne. She briefly considered texting him that everyone was already there, but dismissed the thought. He’d only rant about her smothering him. One of his favourite complaints over the years.
She had just called everyone to the table when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” yelled Olivia’s older child, Bonita, who saw herself as a four-year-old society hostess.
“Come on in,” she said loudly at the front door. “We’re going to have Sunday lunch. You can have some too. We have loads.”
The Dymocks came in with apologies for their awkward timing but Maddie insisted Bonita was right – they had a big Sunday lunch with plenty for two more. After a bit of social fiddle-faddle, Donald and Sharon joined the overflowing table.
As she was clearing the lunch things from the table before bringing out the sweet, Wayne sauntered in with charming – to the others, at least – apologies. Ice cream was served with a spoonful or two of Drambuie for the adults and chocolate sauce for the children including an unprotesting Freya and a protesting Jade. The meal became even noisier than before with children’s squeals dominating, egged on by the teenagers. Still, Wayne managed to hold forth about his new sound to Donald and Brian while Maddie, Olivia and Sharon had a constantly interrupted conversation about New York. By three-thirty, Freya and her parents had left, with an invitation to their house next weekend for an ‘Aussie Barbie’.
A barbecue at the Dymocks. Nice to be invited. Very nice.