His Outback Nanny (Prickle Creek)(14)

"So what do you think? I guess it's a pretty unusual arrangement we've  made, and we don't want it to be any harder than it has to be."

"Let's go back a few years and work from there. After all, you've been  friends with Liam since you started primary school, so you probably met  me when I was toddling around." Jemima folded her arms.

Ned stared ahead at the straight road that stretched ahead of them. "The  only thing I remember is how you used to sit at the bottom of the tree  in your backyard where Liam had his treehouse." Ned laughed. "He used to  pull the ladder up so you couldn't climb up. But you were persistent.  You'd sit there for ages. Most of the time, you were still there when we  came back down."

"I loved his treehouse. That big old tree blew over in a storm just before I started high school."

"I didn't know that." Ned shook his head. "Once I started high school, I  didn't come back into town much. Dad needed me around the farm. If I  wasn't out helping him, I had my nose in the books because I was  determined I wasn't going to be a cattle and wheat farmer." He gave a  rueful smile. "And look at me now. Back on the land, trying to make it  work. Last thing I ever expected I'd be doing."

Jemima was torn. Ned seemed happy to talk, but she didn't want to  introduce a topic that would make him sad. "What sort of job did you do  in the city?" she finally asked.

He must have sensed her reticence. "It's okay. If we're going to be  natural around the kids, you need to know these things. I was a  construction manager for an international firm. We specialised in  refurbishing shopping centres in cities."         

     



 

"So you travelled a bit?"

"Yes, that went with the job. When the girls were little, I was away a lot."

Jemima noticed his hands tighten on the steering wheel, but he kept  talking. "I didn't realise how much I'd missed out on until"-he paused  and took a breath-"until I was a sole parent. Ryan was only three months  old then."

"I hated the travel in my job." Jemima deliberately changed the subject.  "Everyone thought it was such a glamorous career. But being in a hotel  room, and living out of a suitcase, then sitting for hours while makeup  was painted on your face, and then dealing with it being scrubbed off  because the look wasn't right for the clothes."

Ned laughed. "It sounds as exciting as deciding whether a shoe shop  should go next to a bookstore or a phone store. I learned a lot about  marketing in those days. And you know what, now that the loan's through,  and Billy's started work, I'm beginning to think that being a farmer's  not so bad."

"I know what you're saying." Jemima half turned in the seat and tucked  her legs beneath her. "I was so excited when Gran called us back to  Spring Downs last year. Not that I told anyone that. They all thought  I'd turned into a prima donna model. I wanted to see if home was as good  as I remembered before I committed myself to staying here. Or whether  it was just childhood memories."

"And was it? Good, I mean?"

"Oh yes." Jemima frowned as Ned slowed the four-wheel drive. She looked  ahead. They were entering the fifty-kilometre zone at the edge of town.  They drove past a few housing estates, through two sets of traffic  lights, and she smiled as Ned took a close look at the shopping plaza  close to the centre of town as they drove past.

He caught her looking and shrugged. "I can't help myself. It's funny,  you know. It's almost like living in a parallel dimension. When I'm in  the city, I almost forget I'm a farmer."

"I know exactly what you mean. When I went back to Sydney for a week  after Christmas, it was like being in an alien environment." She looked  across at Ned. "If you ever want to take the kids back to Sydney for a  visit, I've got a perfectly good apartment sitting empty on the  harbour."

"Thank you. I might take you up on that. They still have one set of  grandparents in the city, and we should go visit when I get on top of  things out here." Ned slowed the ute down. "Here we are. I'll park at  the back of the courthouse. I noticed a car park the last time we were  here."

Jemima sat up straight in the seat and surreptitiously wiped her hands  on the sides of her trousers. Ned had dressed casually, too, but he wore  a plain-coloured shirt, rather than a checked one, for a change, and  the shirt was tucked into his jeans. He wore a smart leather belt, and  his riding boots had been polished to a high shine. Not too casual, but  not overdressed.

Even though it was a business arrangement, it was still a wedding. It  was nice to see that Ned had made an effort to look nice. Jemima had  chosen a simple pair of linen trousers and a sleeveless silk shirt in a  pale green.

He pulled the ute into a parking space near the entrance, and Jemima took a deep breath as he walked around and opened the door.

"Ready?" He held out his hand, and she took it as she stepped from the car.

As ready as I'll ever be.

 …

Both Jemima and Ned had forgotten that they needed two witnesses for the  ceremony. While the celebrant waited, they looked at each other, eyes  wide.

Jemima put her hand to her mouth as embarrassment flooded her. "Oh,  we're so sorry. My family are minding the children"-heat rushed to her  face as the woman smiled-"and we never gave it another thought after you  mentioned it the other day."

Ned hurried across to the door. "Give me five minutes. I'll be back."

Jemima watched curiously as he slipped through the door and closed it behind him. Where was he going?

The celebrant stood. "Ring the buzzer when you're ready, and I'll come  back out." She glanced at her watch. "I don't have another ceremony for  forty-five minutes, so we have plenty of time."

Jemima wondered how many people came in to this impersonal government  building to get married, and what were their reasons? Was the business  arrangement that she and Ned made a common occurrence? Why else would  you get married here?

As a teenager, she'd dreamed of her wedding day, a white frothy wedding  dress, a diamond tiara, and all her family around her. Strangely, the  groom had never really entered her dreams. The closest she'd ever got to  a wedding dress were the dozens of designer wedding dresses she'd  modelled over the past five years. With a sad sigh, she looked around.  The smell of mouldy carpet and the bright light from florescent lighting  provided a very different setting to the one she'd dreamed. Nerves  tugged at her, and she swallowed, more nervous than she'd ever been when  she'd modeled in front of hundreds of people.         

     



 

Jemima jumped as the door creaked open, and a tiny old woman in a floral  dress and a straw hat with flowers round the crown stepped into the  waiting room, closely followed by Ned and an elderly gentleman in an  old-fashioned suit.

The woman held a small posy of flowers in one hand, and she held out her  free hand to Jemima as she hurried across the faded carpet.

"Oh, my dear. Look how much you've grown! And how beautiful you are!" She turned to the man in the suit. "Isn't she, Alfred?"

Jemima stood and accepted the hand that was held out to her. She towered  over the little lady. She looked to Ned with her eyebrows raised.

Who are these people?

"Jemmy, you remember Mrs. McGillicuddy?" Ned smiled, and Jemima's mouth  dropped open as she looked down at the elderly lady who was smiling up  at her.

"Mrs. McGillicuddy? I haven't seen you since you taught me in kindergarten!"

"Please call me Ethel." Her voice was as high-pitched as it always had  been in the classroom, and Jemima shook her head as she looked back at  Ned.

"I don't think I've seen either of you since you were little children."  The elderly woman's eyes sparkled as she looked around. "And now I get  to come to your wedding."

"I noticed Mr. and Mrs. M in the foyer when we came into the building,"  Ned explained. "And I thought it would be nice to have someone we both  knew to witness our wedding. Luckily, they had the time to help us out."

"Your grandmother told me you were coming home to Spring Downs the last  time I saw her at the CWA meeting," Mrs. McGillicuddy tutted. "But she  didn't tell me you were engaged to Ned McCormack. Wait till I talk to  her!"

Uh oh. Another quick phone call she'd have to make before the day was  up. Gran and Pops wouldn't be happy if they heard about the wedding on  the local grapevine. All Jemima could hope was that they were still out  of phone service. Last time she'd tried to call them, they'd been  incommunicado.

The door to the office opened, and the celebrant came back into the room.

"Good. All ready, then?"

Jemima's mouth dried. All of a sudden with the McGillicuddys in their  old-fashioned clothes and Ethel pressing the flower posy into her hand,  she felt as though she'd fallen down a rabbit hole.