Dark Horse, page 2
“Come here, you silly bugger,” Elsie said, opening her arms.
Sadie fell gratefully into them. Her gran was only a few centimetres shorter than Sadie’s 175, and although a thin rake of a woman, she still had some considerable strength. Her hug was tight around Sadie’s body.
“Glad you got that all sorted?”
Sadie nodded and pulled away to look her grandmother in the face. “I’m sorry if you were worried about all that.” She waved vaguely down the hallway towards the kitchen.
Elsie chuckled. “No, I wasn’t. Never going to worry where you two are concerned. Been joined at the bloody hip ever since you met, and nothing’s going to change that.”
“I guess you’re right, Gran.” Sadie smiled. “Shame I couldn’t remember that last night.”
“Shit happens,” Elsie threw out, turning to walk back down the hallway to the kitchen.
“Gran!” Sadie said in shock. “Language!”
“Whatever.” Her gran wafted a hand in the air somewhere over her left ear. Sadie laughed, and followed her to the back of the house.
* * *
They spent the rest of the beautifully sunny day in the yard, finishing off painting the new raised beds they’d been installing over the last couple of weeks. They chatted intermittently—about the weather, about the ride Sadie took that morning, about work at the cafe. Mostly they just worked alongside each other, Elsie giving instructions and directions with Sadie doing the harder graft.
Finally, they sat back on the outdoor rattan chairs and admired their work, Sadie with a very cold stubbie in her hand, and Elsie with a glass of wine. They’d only taken a few sips each when the doorbell rang. Sadie opened the front door and was grabbed into a full-body hug by Tash. She let out a very girly squeak. Nicole stood behind Tash, laughing her face off. Sadie flipped her the finger behind Tash’s back.
“I would never take her away from you!” Tash exclaimed in Sadie’s ear. “Never! I can’t believe you would even think that.”
“Oh,” Sadie muttered, mortified. “She told you, then.”
“Yes!” Tash pulled back to glare at Sadie. “What the fuck?”
Tash rarely swore, unlike Nicole, so this just made Sadie giggle.
“Sorry,” Tash said, blushing. “But, really!”
Sadie held her hands up in surrender. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. Please, let’s just never speak of it again.”
Tash nodded. “Absolutely fine by me. Now, can we come in?”
Sadie laughed and stepped aside, making sure to pinch Nicole’s arm as she walked by.
“Ouch! No fair.” Nicole’s tone carried amused annoyance.
“Whatever,” Sadie murmured, grinning as Nicole reached up on her toes and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
Beers in hand, Nicole and Tash joined Elsie out in the yard.
Sadie watched as Nicole took Tash’s hand and smiled at her lovingly. Tash’s pale blonde hair was a shade lighter than Sadie’s golden crop, and shone in the late afternoon sun. Tash was slightly taller than Nicole, and slightly more solid in build. She looked good in a singlet over long denim shorts, so different from her daywear of full business suit with her hair normally pinned back.
Tash lifted Nicole’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles softly.
“Are you two going to get all gooey again?” Elsie rasped, but there was mirth in her eyes.
Sadie laughed as Tash blushed. Despite the number of times Tash had interacted with Elsie since she and Nicole had hooked up, Tash still was never totally sure when Elsie was joking or not. Elsie knew that and teased her mercilessly.
“Leave them alone, Gran,” Sadie chided. “They can’t help it. It’s pathetic, actually.”
“Gee, thanks, buddy!” Nicole reached across Elsie to slap Sadie’s bare knee.
“So, are you staying for dinner?” Elsie asked over the laughter. “I’ve some chicken breasts we could grill.”
“Aw, thanks Elsie, that’s really sweet. But we’ve got other plans,” Tash replied. “I’m taking this one out for a little one-on-one time. I’ve got a crazy week at work lined up and won’t be home until late most evenings.”
Elsie smiled widely. “Ah, bless you,” she said softly.
Tash blushed again, this time clearly from emotion rather than embarrassment.
Sadie smiled to herself. Sometimes her gran made her so proud it was like a physical sensation in her chest. Elsie hadn’t batted an eyelid when the newly out Sadie had been dumped on her doorstep, and had refused to see her granddaughter’s sexuality as anything other than just one more aspect of her personality, certainly nothing worth making a huge song and dance over.
Nicole noisily cleared her throat, and Sadie knew, without looking, that the emotion of the moment had affected her too.
“Right, well, I guess we’d better get going.” Nicole stood, placing her empty beer bottle onto the table. “Don’t get up, you two, we’ll let ourselves out. You’ve earned a rest.”
Sadie smiled at her friend and stood anyway to pull her into a quick hug. She turned to Tash and repeated the gesture, then watched fondly as they both bent down to give Elsie a kiss on the cheek before walking back into the house.
“They’re good girls, those two,” Elsie said, looking straight into Sadie’s eyes. “Good girls.”
Sadie beamed. “Yep, Gran. They are.”
CHAPTER 2
Sadie groaned when her alarm chirped at six the next morning. Although she should be used to getting up at this time, some days were just harder than others. Especially Mondays after the kind of weekend she’d just had. Sadie had—uncharacteristically for her—sunk four beers over the course of Sunday evening, and she was regretting that. The headache was one of those low-grade but persistent ones, just above her left eyebrow. She slapped the alarm clock into silence and pushed the sheets off her body. Stumbling into the bathroom, she stepped into the shower and sighed in gratitude as the warm water worked its magic.
She made herself walk at a sharp pace to the cafe, swinging her arms to get the blood flowing, rolling her head on her shoulders a few times to loosen up. After work she’d go for a run, really shake it all off. But first, she had to get through the day. With a sigh, she remembered the other reason she hadn’t been looking forward to this particular Monday. She had to seriously wear her manager hat and give Nathan a final warning about his timekeeping and general attitude. She prided herself on remaining calm in most situations—Saturday night with Nicole being a very rare exception—but Nathan had pushed all the wrong buttons lately. She knew she’d have to work hard to keep her annoyance in check.
Trixie had just opened up the cafe by the time Sadie strode in through the front door, and there was already a short line of customers queuing for their early morning caffeine fix. The Bike Rack Cafe was in Darley Road, just where it flattened out at the bottom of the hill that led up to the Sydney Harbour National Park. Sadie had started working there just after finishing high school. Within a couple of years, Bill and Marie had taken Sadie to one side and offered her the chance to train up to manage the place. They wanted to open a second cafe over in Mosman, and they needed someone they could trust to take over in Manly.
To her surprise, she’d discovered she was good at managing a cafe. She had a very organised brain, and she revelled in the decisions over shift patterns, orders with the wholesalers, and organising small events hosted at the cafe. She had a good team now—Nathan’s issues aside—and the atmosphere was usually pretty happy.
She waved at Trixie as she walked through to the back of the building where her small office was located. It was nothing more than a converted cupboard. However, it did have a small window, and she popped it open the moment she reached her desk. The cafe backed onto someone’s yard, and her window faced a line of gum trees. On just the right kind of day, with enough heat and breeze in the air, the scent of the gums wafting into her small room was heavenly.
She quickly changed out of her tee shirt into the plain white, cotton, short-sleeved shirt she liked all the staff to wear for work. Grabbing an apron and tying it around her waist, she left the office and headed behind the counter to help with the busy early shift.
The first two hours of the day sped by, as time usually did when serving a steady stream of commuters. When Nathan appeared at nine to start his shift, Sadie beckoned him into her office. She braced herself; better to get this over with.
“Hey, boss,” he said with his usual swagger. Nathan was a good-looking young man, and Sadie didn’t doubt that his appearance paid dividends for him in lots of situations. It just wasn’t going to cut any ice with her.
“Nathan,” she said, aware that her heart rate was already picking up. She breathed deeply to stave off her annoyance at his too-casual attitude. “Have a seat.” She gestured to the chair. She herself stood by the desk, not intending to intimidate by standing over him, but not being able to help it in the confined space.
He flopped into the chair, his long legs sticking out in front of him. “What’s up?” he said, and then he met her gaze. Suddenly, a little of the swagger was gone.
“On Friday you called in sick, yes?” Her voice was sharp.
He nodded warily.
“Right. So please explain to me how you were too sick to work but well enough to surf down at Bondi only two hours later?” She kept her tone firm but didn’t raise her voice.
“Who told you that?” He smirked, and Sadie’s hands clenched tight into fists against her thighs.
“Don’t even go there,” she snapped. “You were seen. By Bill. You know, the owner of this cafe?” She inhaled slowly, willing herself to keep it under control.
“Oh.” His eyes widened as he sat up straighter in his chair. He swallowed. “Look, I—”
“Don’t,” she said curtly, crossing her arms as the sudden urge to shake him almost overwhelmed her. “You know I’m pretty fair with everyone around here, yes?”
He nodded, his face a few shades paler than when he’d first walked in the room.
“So, hopefully, you can understand that I don’t really like it when someone abuses that, yes?”
He nodded again. Sadie noted the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was blinking rapidly.
“Good. So, this is your last warning. You want this job, you need to respect it and me and the rest of the team. No slacking off, understand? There’s plenty more kids out there would love a job like this. You told me yourself you want to save up for that big trip next year, so don’t do anything to jeopardise that, okay?”
He nodded vigorously, and some of the colour came back to his cheeks. “I will, I promise. I really do want to work here. I-I’m sorry,” he croaked. “It won’t happen again.”
“It better not. Now go help clear up after the morning rush.”
He scrambled out of the chair, and she could hear his steps beating out a rapid tattoo down the short hallway to the front of the cafe. She let out a deep breath and allowed a smile to spread across her face. That hadn’t gone too badly. At least she hadn’t strangled him. And in dealing with him, she’d given herself yet another reminder of just how…grown-up…she herself had become. She was only twenty-nine, but the responsibility of running this place sat well on her shoulders.
She liked it.
* * *
The air was still warm from the day, but Sadie didn’t mind a little perspiration. Her feet pounded the footpath in an easy, regular rhythm. She was just finishing up her five-kilometre run, a run that had, as usual, given her the time she needed to decompress from her day.
Slowing her pace, she turned the last corner onto her street and stopped to stretch against the side of the house. Once her breathing had evened out, she headed inside for a shower. Cleaned up and dressed in her favourite cut-off sweatpants and a sleeveless tee shirt, she went in search of Elsie.
She found her out in the backyard reading a magazine in the sunshine, and she paused for a moment to admire the older woman. Elsie still had her looks. Her hair, whilst a dark, platinum grey, was still quite lustrous, and her face retained its strong beauty, despite the ever-increasing creases and wrinkles.
“Hey, Gran.” Sadie stepped out onto the warm slabs. Elsie looked up, smiling warmly as Sadie bent to kiss her on the cheek. “How’s your day been?”
“Hello, love. It’s been very pleasant, thank you. I went shopping with Diane and then had lunch with the Wilsons. I’ve been out here since I got back. Beautiful day again.”
“Sure is. Just had a really good run.” Sadie turned back to the kitchen. “I’m getting some juice. Do you want anything?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
Sadie poured herself a tall glass of orange juice from the carton in the fridge and gulped down half of it in one go.
“So, Gran, what are your plans for tea? I’m meeting Nicole at that nice pub near her place, if you want to join us.”
Elsie often ate with her girls, as she called Sadie and Nicole. Other people may have found it odd, but Sadie couldn’t care less about that. Her quick-witted grandmother was great company, and as Nicole had spent a significant portion of her life hanging out with Sadie at Elsie’s house, she was considered an adopted granddaughter to Elsie too.
“Thanks, love, but no. I think these old bones need to stay home for the evening.”
Sadie smiled. “Cool. I’m just gonna watch some TV in my room before I head out to meet Nic.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.” Elsie smiled affectionately at her before returning to her magazine.
* * *
For a Monday night, the Park Hotel was busy, but Sadie and Nic arrived early enough to snag one of the small tables in the quietest corner. They ate well and were feeling very mellow in the sultry, warm evening air when they moved out to the garden with their second beers.
“So, how did apartment hunting go yesterday?”
Nicole sighed. “You know, apartment hunting is hard. I mean, never mind the prices, which are pretty fucking terrifying, let me tell you. And the condition of some places was just gross. I mean, seriously, don’t people get that they’re supposed to be tempting us through the door? I swear, one place, I couldn’t even get beyond the lounge room. There was no way I was going to even look in the bathroom.”
Sadie laughed. “Ew! I am so glad I am at Elsie’s and never have to worry about that.”
“Honey, you are so lucky it’s not funny. I kind of got a bit disheartened by it all, you know? Tash tried to talk me down from the ledge, because even after one day, I’d pretty much had enough. Patience isn’t exactly my fucking strong point, you know?”
Sadie patted Nicole’s hand across the table. “I know you, remember?”
Nicole gave her the finger.
“Hey, it will just take time, and at least you’re doing it together. Tash will see you right.”
“True,” Nicole murmured. “But…we did kind of come up with another idea too.”
Sadie raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, well.” Nicole paused, then cleared her throat. “Given that I’m still having fits over the whole let’s-be-grown-ups-and-live-together thing, we wondered if maybe the easiest solution in the first place was for me to move into hers. Kind of take it a bit slower than buying somewhere together straight away, yeah?”
“Yeah, that could work. Try-before-you-buy kind of thing.”
Nicole nodded vigorously. “Might be better for both of us. I’m freaking her out with my freaking out.”
Sadie laughed. “I’ll bet you are.”
They called it a night after two beers and hugged goodbye on the front steps of the bar.
“Catch up later in the week, yeah?” Nicole called as she walked away.
“Any time.”
The house was quiet when Sadie opened the front door a little after nine.
She walked through to the kitchen to get herself some water, and found her grandmother sitting out in the low-lit yard, seemingly staring at nothing. The house phone was on the table beside her, along with a glass of wine that looked like it hadn’t been touched.
“Gran,” Sadie said softly, stepping out of the open doorway. “Everything okay?”
Elsie turned to her then, and even in the semidarkness, Sadie could see such pain etched across her face it made her breath catch.
“Sit down, love.” Elsie’s voice was quiet and tremulous.
Sadie quickly did as she was told, her heart thumping. “What is it, Gran? You’re scaring me.”
Elsie cleared her throat, but her voice still croaked as it came out. “It’s not good news. Your sister called about a half hour ago. It’s…it’s your mum. Christine is…”
Sadie felt her heart and stomach clutch in unison. She was estranged from her entire family, had been since that awful day twelve years ago. But that didn’t mean somewhere, deep down, she didn’t still care what happened to them.
“Tell me.” She shakily reached for Elsie’s hand.
Elsie stared at her. “Christine’s dying,” she managed to gasp out before huge sobs racked her chest, and Sadie gathered her up into her arms.
CHAPTER 3
Sadie took Elsie’s hand and led her into the house.
“Sit down, Gran. I’m going to make you some tea, okay?”
Elsie nodded and didn’t resist as Sadie gently pushed her into a chair at the kitchen table.
Sadie moved quickly to the other side of the room and filled the kettle.
“Tell me what Izzy said. Please, Gran.” Sadie’s hands were clenched tight as she sat down next to her grandmother. “If it’s not too hard for you.”
Elsie shook her head slowly from side to side. “Izzy didn’t have too many details. It’s…it’s a brain tumour. They’ve found it late because her symptoms didn’t show for ages.” She dragged in a ragged breath. “And where it is and how big it is and how quickly it’s growing, it’s…it’s just too late for it to be operated on.” She stopped, her chest heaving.
“Stop, Gran. That’s enough. I’ll find out the rest later.” Sadie was deeply concerned for her grandmother’s own health right now—her breathing was too short, and her hands were shaking where she’d placed them on the table.
