An Endless Summer(51)

I stepped back from the car, glowering. “Coward!”

Sean laughed. “Say ‘hi’ to your mum for me.” And with that, he tore off out of the drive, churning up stones and leaving a trail of dust to settle behind.

“No wonder our fucking driveway needs re-stoning,” Chris bit out. He was obviously already pissed and I so wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, especially with an audience. I knew as soon as I turned around it would begin.

“When I said have a break, I didn’t mean an all-day expedition with— Where’re your shoes?” His eyes fell to my dirty, bare feet, confusion spreading across his brow.

“Chris, not now!” I said, cutting him off and padding inside. I felt like a defiant teenager acting out against my parents. It was not too far from the truth, seeing that Chris always treated me like a child.

I swung open the un-oiled hinges of the front bar door and stomped into the main bar. I managed to stub my toe on a bar stool that hadn’t been pushed in by some lazy customer.

“Son of a—!” I shouted, shoving the bar stool in as best I could, hopping on one foot. “Bloody, lazy, stupid—” I was cut off mid-rant by a voice from behind me.

“You better not let Melba hear that come out of your mouth; she’ll take to you with a bar of soap.”

I spun around to see a grinning Ellie Parker lingering in the doorway of the ladies’ room.

“Oh my God! Ellie?” I limped towards her wrapping my arms around her.

“Hey, Chook.” Ellie squeezed me hard before letting go and standing back to look at me. “Look at you! Bloody hell, what did they feed you at boarding school?”

I laughed, the full weight of Ellie’s words resonating as I realised I had actually grown taller than her.

The last time I had seen Ellie was, at a guess, two years ago. I ran into her and her mum shopping at Northland Plaza in the city. At the time it had taken me completely by surprise to see someone from Onslow – it had filled me with a familiar nostalgia for a place I had been banished from.

Ellie was as I remembered her: bright, perky and confident. Her straight, honey blonde hair fell over her shoulders, her skin was tanned a golden brown; she always looked like she belonged in a Sportsgirl catalogue. She was effortlessly beautiful.

My attention was momentarily swayed from her to the loud banging on the window. I turned to see Chris holding up two fingers in a peace sign. At first, I thought he was apologising until he yelled, “Two more beers.”

I sneered, almost tempted to hold up my version of two more beers but thought better of it.

“Didn’t he give you the afternoon off?” Ellie piped up. “That’s what I heard …”

I limped around behind the bar, grabbing two fresh pot glasses on my way. “Guess I will never live it down.”

Before Ellie could start a girl-power, feminism-infused rant, Tess pushed through the front bar door, dismissing the dilemma. “Oh, don’t worry about him; we have much more important things to discuss.” Tess delved into her bag, barely able to contain her excitement. Ellie looked on with less enthusiasm, like a child half expecting a B-grade magician to pull a stuffed bunny out of their hat.

Tess located a notepad and pen, placing them on the bar so she could delve back into the recess to grab her berry bliss lip smacker.

“Let’s talk working bee,” Tess beamed.



***



In typical Tess fashion we spent several hours discussing tactics for the fundraiser, and the best way to organise a working bee. Our in-depth conversations seemed to appease Chris. When he, Toby and Stan came in from outside due to the fading light, he dragged up a stool next to Ellie. He glanced over at Tess’s serial-killer-like handwriting and said, “Looks good.”

Coming from Chris, this was high praise indeed.

As the sun went down, the bar didn’t see much more action which was usual for a Sunday shift. Just a few drop-ins for takeaway slabs and a handful of disappointed tourists who had wandered in from the caravan park looking for a feed. It really bothered me that the restaurant was not operational at such a vital time. Luckily, Tess was full of ideas.

“Your parents would honestly do that?” My heart swelled.

“Not only would they, but they would be happy to help.”

“What have I missed?” Stan’s voice called as he entered the bar from the men’s room.

“Only the fact that Tess’s amazing parents are coming tomorrow to help work out a menu for the restaurant.”

Stan leaned against the bar, reaching for his beer. “Sa-weet! Go Mr and Mrs McGee – you should construct a giant golden M on a pole out front in their honour.”