In the paper, and in the photo in the window of Begg & Robertson, she was business-like and professional, whereas today she’d been all school-girl brown pigtails, dust on her shirt, a bit of cobweb stuck in her hair.
His plan about ‘not’ selling Irma’s house made more sense before he’d met Ella.
Now it left a sour taste in his mouth.
Jake glanced in the rear-view mirror and narrowed his eyes at the cockatiel. ‘You, Buster, are on notice. No more flying away and getting saved by pretty ladies. Especially pretty ladies who are selling Nanna Irma’s house.’
Percy whistled at him.
Jake picked up his phone and scanned through his contacts until he found Harvey Begg’s name. The Bluetooth kicked in as he pulled out from the kerb in front of Irma’s and did a U-turn in Chalk Hill Bridge Road, heading back to the highway.
‘Hey, Jake,’ Harvey greeted him.
‘Harvey. How are you, mate?’
‘Can’t complain. No one would listen if I did. We’re just about to sit down to Sunday roast. We’ve got the grandkids up with Molly and Luke for the day. What about you?’
‘Putting out fires, Harvey,’ Jake said.
‘Brigade Training Day, hey?’
‘Yep. Hey, I’ve just been around to Nanna’s house. I met your saleslady there.’
‘You met Ella?’ Harvey said. Jake could imagine the real estate licensee leaning back in his chair, patting at his pre-lunch stomach. ‘She’s keen, isn’t she, working on a Sunday?’
‘Too keen, Harvey. I coulda eaten dinner off the floor. I reckon she’s been sweeping and getting rid of cobwebs most of the day. She said something about getting in a professional photographer.’
Harvey chuckled. ‘All part of the package, Jake my boy.’
‘Harvey, I told you I would put the place up for sale but you know I’m just testing the waters. I didn’t want anyone to go to any trouble on my behalf. Ella said she’s got newspaper advertising planned—I don’t expect that. I don’t care if it’s marketed at all. I certainly don’t expect anyone to fork out money for professional photography.’
‘Don’t worry about it, Jake. It’s good practice for Ella; it’s her first listing. Let her go for it.’
‘She had her kid there, cleaning out the shed. I reckon she was about to start cleaning the oven.’ He hadn’t seen Nanna Irma’s house look like that in ten years. When he was a kid Nan’s house had always been spotless. It was only in the last few years that she said the dirt got harder to see and that was her excuse for letting a few marks and stains slip by the radar. What the family hadn’t known—because Nanna was so good at hiding it—was that her eyesight had deteriorated to the point where she really couldn’t see. She’d tripped on a branch in the backyard and fallen and broken her arm. That was when Jake’s mum and dad had to convince Irma to move into the nursing home in Mount Barker. Beginning of the end. Nanna hadn’t lasted long after that.
‘They didn’t throw out something you wanted, I hope?’
‘No. Nothing like that, Harve.’
‘Well, I’m not sure what you want me to do, Jake. It’s her first listing. Ella’s gonna want to do everything she can to sell it. Having the place spick and span can’t hurt a sale.’
I don’t want the damn house sold. ‘I don’t want her giving herself blisters over it, Harvey. Next thing she’ll be oiling the deck.’
‘Wouldn’t put it past her. Can’t say I’ve known her long but I can tell she’s a determined little thing. Look, I’ll have a word with her if you like. I hope she didn’t come on too strong.’
‘No. Not at all. Shit, Harve, I’m not trying to get her into trouble. I just don’t like the thought of her at the place on a Sunday with her kid, tying up her afternoon.’
There was a pause and on the other end of the line Jake heard Harvey’s wife calling the grandkids in. Harvey’s grandkids were only a bit younger than Ella’s boy. Sam must be ten or eleven. Same age his and Cassidy’s kid would have been.
Jake rubbed at his eyebrow. Every time he saw a kid that age … he couldn’t help it. He’d go through life thinking about what might have been.
‘Look, if I were you I wouldn’t worry. She’s just starting out. This is one of those career-change things for her I reckon, a move out of the city with her kid. If she wants to clean the house, let her clean the house. She’ll give that sale a red hot go and she’ll learn a lot from it. That’s what she told me when I offered her the listing. Bob wanted it. You should have seen his face.’ Harvey chuckled. ‘Fact, Bob said I should tell you when you’re serious, drop the price by about half and list it with him. He’ll sell it.’
‘Okay, Harvey. I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll let you get back to dinner, hey?’
‘Alright, mate. Catch you soon.’
Harvey ended the call and Jake dropped his phone on the passenger seat.
He had to slow for one of the forestry trucks moving through the highway intersection from the east road, and that’s when he saw Ella’s kid, standing on the pavement near the Post Office, throwing rocks into the red brick wall. There were rock shards all over the cement, spilling out onto the road.
Jake stopped his car and buzzed down the window. He called out just as Sam smashed another rock into the wall.
‘Hey!’
The kid jumped a mile before turning sullen eyes to Jake’s car. ‘What?’
‘You wanna give that a rest? It’s dangerous, mate. A little kid could walk through here in bare feet and they’ll get all cut up.’
Sam’s face reddened, but he didn’t throw the rock he held clenched in his fist. ‘So? I don’t care.’
‘Imagine if a kid came riding on a bike down the hill there and
