The Three Miss Allens, page 40
‘You’re asking what’s in this for you?’
‘Well. Yes. I’m asking what’s my part in all of this?’
Keira looked confused. ‘Aren’t you providing all the free legal advice?’ Addy laughed. Blake chuckled.
Roma thought about it. ‘You’re my … boyfriend?’ Then she scowled. ‘That word is so wrong for us.’
Connor ran a hand through his hair. ‘I came over here this morning to ask you something, before the rest of Remarkable Bay arrived to freeload for breakfast.’
Roma sipped her coffee. ‘And what was that?’
Connor reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a yellowed handkerchief. ‘This was going to be so much more romantic. I had plans to drag you down to the beach and do this down there. But, no. Looks like this is going to happen here. In this Christmas wonderland.’ Everyone looked up to the lights strung above them. Blake leaned across to the switch and flicked it on.
Addy gasped. Keira clutched her hand to her chest.
Roma couldn’t breathe.
Connor looked to his son. ‘Will you give the old man permission, Angas?’
Angas shrugged. ‘As if I could stop you.’
Then Connor got down on one knee. Chairs scraped on the floor as Addy, Keira, Blake and Dylan positioned themselves to get a better view.
‘You’re kidding,’ Roma whispered.
He looked up at her, laughing. ‘Not kidding.’
‘Bloody hell.’ Roma covered her face with her hands. When she found her breath and peeked through her fingers, Connor was unwrapping the yellowed handkerchief. He presented it to her like an open flower. Resting in the middle was a thin, dull gold band.
‘I was wondering if you’d like a husband.’
‘Connor …’
‘Angas and I paid a visit to my parents yesterday. I told them all about you.’
‘You did?’
‘He was so embarrassing,’ Angas added.
‘I told them that I love you and I want to marry you. And then my mother goes to her china cabinet and pulls this out. Turns out it’s my great-great-grandmother’s wedding ring. She said I should give it to you. So I am.’
Roma picked it up and held it up to the light from the window. It wasn’t fancy. It was worn and simple, as if it had been waiting a long, long time to be slipped back on to a woman’s finger.
There wasn’t a sound in the room but her heartbeat.
‘C’mon, Roma,’ Connor pleaded jokingly, ‘You’d better make a decision. These knees have surfed too much to kneel like this any longer.’
Roma heard the word yes slip from her lips but it felt like the house had whispered it, not her.
‘Yes, Connor Stapleton. I choose you. I choose this life with you. I will marry you.’
And then she heard nothing else but a happy roar and they were both engulfed by the people who loved them the most in the world. Angas, as tall as the adults, managed to get in between them, and Connor kissed him loudly on the forehead.
‘You’re stuck with him now,’ Angas joked.
‘And I’m stuck with you, too,’ Roma replied, pulling him in for a hug.
‘Bad luck,’ he added with a smile.
And then Addy pushed into the middle of the huddle, cupped Roma’s cheeks in her hands. ‘I’ve decided. I’m staying, Roma. You and me and Keira here, in this house. Can you imagine what our great-grandmothers would think if they knew we were back here?’
And the house shifted and settled, creaked.
A family had found her.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
One again, I would like to thank my family. To my mum, Emma Purman, who would hold the official title of President of my fan club, if I had one. At home, aka The Land of the Giants, I thank Stephen for support, love and wine. To Ethan, for being my assistant in the kitchen so I have more time to write. To Ned, for the jazz guitar background music while I type. To Clancy, the rock god, for the drum solos which keep me writing fast. And to Charlie, for staring at me adoringly while I write. (To clarify, sons don’t stare adoringly at their mothers. Charlie’s the dog.)
To my wonderful friends, Linda Brown, Amy Matthews, Trish Morey and Bronwyn Stuart: you ladies kick butt in a thousand different ways. To Kate, who generously let me ask her about grief. To Sally, who answered my questions about the world of film production.
Thanks to Sonya Feldhoff from ABC 891 Adelaide who ran a competition during Adelaide Writers’ Week 2016 to give a listener the chance to name one of the characters in this book. Thank you, Amy Mann, who chose ‘Edith Robinson’. The name Edith runs through four generations of Amy’s family. I was so thrilled that the contest threw up something so absolutely fitting, not only to the 1930s when part of this book is set, but to the theme of great-grandmothers and great-granddaughters which is intrinsic to this book. You’ll find Edith Robinson within the storyline set in 1934.
I would like to thank 891 listeners who were so generous when I appeared on Sonya’s program asking for information about guest houses on South Australia’s south coast, and memories of holidays there in days gone by. People sent me letters, source material and tips on where to find information. A big thank you to the staff of the Victor Harbor Library, who were so helpful when I was researching this book. The recordings from the Victor Harbor Oral History Project and ‘Beside the Seaside’ by Rob Linn were particularly helpful.
To the amazing team of women at Harlequin Australia: Michelle Laforest, Cristina Lee, Sue Brockhoff and Jo Mackay. I’m down on bended knee to Annabel Blay, my stupendous editor. You’re stuck with me from now on, Ms Blay.
And finally, to my readers. Your messages, emails and reviews are such a reward. I’m so very grateful that I get to do what I do. When my ideas seem flat, when my blank screen stares back at me and when I think I’d rather go and eat chocolate instead of typing one more word, the idea that you are all waiting for my next book keeps me going.
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First Published 2016
ISBN 978 148921058 6
THE THREE MISS ALLENS
© 2016 by Victoria Purman
Australian Copyright 2016
New Zealand Copyright 2016
Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Victoria Purman, The Three Miss Allens
