Always With You by Hannah Ellis

Author:Hannah Ellis [Ellis, Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

EVELYN – December 1994

The Christmas of 1994 was the first Christmas I’d spent away from home. I’d been invited to spend the day with Joe’s family at his parents’ house. He had ignored my concerns that I’d be gatecrashing a family event and insisted that I should come. Stan would be there too and Leslie – and Beth, of course. Cam was with family, and Kai had gone back to spend a couple of weeks in Broome.

Stan and I had breakfast together on Christmas morning. It was the first time I’d been inside his little cottage, which was hidden away at the far end of the grounds of the Croc. It was a cosy little place, and it was the first time I’d seen evidence of his late wife. There were pictures of both of them around the house, and her impression was left all around in the furnishings and ornaments. Stan clearly hadn’t made many changes to the place. He poured tea from a teapot with a delicate floral pattern and served up bacon and eggs. It was a quiet breakfast but I was content. As a gift, I’d bought him a huge corkboard. I wanted him to hang it in his office and pin photos to it. A photo guest book, always on display. He liked the idea.

When I unwrapped his gift to me, I had to laugh. A photo album. He wanted me to fill it with photos of my time in Kununurra. He’d already added the first few photos for me. I promised to fill it with memories and treasure it forever.

“It was that or a hedge trimmer,” he said, “but I thought you’d struggle to get that on the plane.”

“You’re talking a lot about me leaving,” I said. “Looking forward to getting rid of me, are you?”

He shook his head. “I’m actually very glad you came along when you did.”

Reaching over, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “We better get going. You need a drink, you’re getting all soppy on me!”

We drove to Mick and Claire’s house and the day was instantly rowdier. It was a stunning house in a wonderful setting. The lawn was perfectly kept and rolled at a gentle incline down to the river, which glistened below. There was a hot tub on the deck and a long sheet of thin plastic had been set up on the slope of the lawn with a hosepipe to create a makeshift water slide for the kids – although when I arrived, Joe was shoving a squealing Leslie down it while her young niece and nephew looked on in great amusement.

“Happy Christmas!” Mick called when he caught sight of me and Stan.

There was a round of hugs and greetings, the excitement of the whole Sullivan clan rubbing off on me.

“Hope you’ve got your bathers,” Joe said, wrapping me in a great big hug.

I pulled my T-shirt off my shoulder to reveal my bikini strap. “I’m all ready!”

“Great!” Leslie said. “You’ve got to have a go on the slide.

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