The Other Side of the World, page 12
“Are you sure?” Jasmine asked doubtfully.
“Sure! It's no problem. Marlo can go in the cot, Amy and Jacob can sleep together, and we can put Jack on a mattress in the same room as Marlo. You can have the spare room. It's all set up. Saves waking them and trying to get them back into the house and bed, by yourself.”
“But we've got no PJs or anything!”
“The kids can borrow from mine, and I'm sure you've slept in a t-shirt and undies before. But if you are really set on PJs, there might be some in the dresser in the spare room that belonged to Mum.”
“No, I was just kidding you. Of course I can sleep in a t-shirt. Can I borrow one of yours?”
“Sure. I’ll get my two settled first. Throw a blanket over your two and then we'll get them sorted after that.”
They worked as a team. Jasmine took the initiative in finding bedclothes for her children, while Tom put his two to bed. Then they worked together to get the next two down. When all four kids were finally asleep, Tom and Jasmine settled in the lounge with another drink.
Jasmine wandered around the room, picking up items of interest, then putting them down again. She looked at some of the framed photos on the mantel piece.
“Is this your mother?” she asked Tom.
“Yes. Coral. She died three years ago, from a massive stroke. This was her house.”
“I love this house,” Jasmine said. “It’s so well built and it has character. Not like my crappy little unit, that has mouldy walls and no insulation.”
“Well, this one needs the insulation and heating improved too. I’ll get around to it. That’s the problem with old houses.”
“Yeah. When I lived in Invercargill, we were always cold. Always trying to get the spot in front of the heater. The number of times I got chilblains on my toes,” she laughed.
“Are your family still in the South Island?”
“Yeah. But I don’t see them anymore. We fell out, as it were. My stepsister tries to keep in touch, but shit, I couldn’t give a toss. Better off by myself. Found that out with the deadbeat fathers of my children. That’s the only good thing I got from them, my kids. Love them to bits. But I’m off deadbeat wankers!”
“Never say never. You don’t know when you’re going to be lonely for adult company, and a warm body in your bed.’
“Nah, I can wait. It’s all about the kids for the next few years,” she said with bravado.
Tom laughed. “You’ll meet someone, and then those sentiments will be out the window. You’ll meet a really smooth guy who will love you and care for you and keep you barefoot and pregnant.”
“Bugger that! Two kids are enough. Anyway, look at me. I’m not exactly a Kardashian!”
“But you have a lovely heart,” Tom said to her.
“And look where it got me. Nope, off men.”
Jasmine picked up the photo again. “No photos of your father?” she asked.
“I never knew my father. Coral wouldn’t tell me anything about him. After she died, Lucy and I found a few clues in her effects. That’s why we went to the UK. England and Scotland. We had some clues about where he had come from, but we hit brick walls everywhere we went. No one wanted to talk to us. We did find my grandmother. Coral’s mother. But she didn’t want to know us either. Threw us out. So, we came home and tried to forget about it.”
“Can you?” Jasmine asked. “Forget about it? It’s one thing to know your parents and choose not to see them. But it must be much harder to never know who your father is?”
“It is. It’s like a hole in your life. But now Coral has gone I’ll probably never know.”
“What was it you said to me? Never say never?”
Tom smiled. “Slightly different, but thanks, I take your point.”
It was nearly midnight before they stopped talking and made moves to get ready for bed. Jasmine took their glasses into the kitchen, Tom locked doors and turned out lights. In the dark, Jasmine took a wrong turn, and bumped into a table. Tom went to rescue her, and giggling quietly they moved towards the stairs. Tom still had his hand on her arm, and in the dark, he turned her towards him and gently kissed her forehead. She turned her face up towards him, and as one, they put their arms around each other and kissed deeply and hungrily. Tom pulled back from her with a quiet groan, then moved quickly towards her again and pulled her upstairs to the spare bedroom.
With an urgency, they pulled at each other’s clothes until they were standing naked in the darkness, close to each other and barely touching. Then Jasmine reached over and took his hand and they moved to the bed, still a little unsure. But their great need overcame their shyness and with an explosion of affection and desire they came together in a deeply satisfying climax.
Afterwards they lay quietly together, falling asleep entwined. At some stage during the night, Jasmine was aware of Tom moving beside her, and when she woke in the morning he was gone.
Breakfast was a strained time. Neither wanted to broach the subject of what had happened.
But as Jasmine was leaving with the children, he said to her, “I just thought it would be better if the children didn't find us … you know. But I don't regret it. Not at all. I think you are lovely, Jasmine.”
She nodded, unable to say anything for fear of crying. As she drove away, the tears flowed freely, but quietly, as the two children bickered slightly in the back seat.
Chapter 20
Over the next year the two families spent frequent days, and nights, together. Sometimes at Tom's house and sometimes at Jasmine's house. But each time, Tom left the bed before morning. Mrs McKenzie came every weekday, and must have noticed the extra bedding to be washed, but said nothing. Tom felt that he should say something, to both women, but he felt conflicted about the whole situation. Jacob still mentioned his mummy, and each time he did it sent a bolt of emotion through Tom. During those months Jacob turned five and Amy turned three, but they just had a quiet family party for each of the children along with Jeremy and Sophia and Coral.
One day, in early January, Jasmine and the children were at Tom's place for lunch, and Jasmine said casually, “I'm thinking of going to see my sister. She’s offered for us to go and stay. We may be away for a few weeks. It's time the kids met their cousins.”
“Where does she live?” Tom asked.
“A long way away. All the way to the Catlins. It takes forever to get there, which is why we will be away so long. My sister and her husband have a farm down there.”
“What kind of farm do they have?” Even though Tom had no idea about farming, it felt like the right question to ask.
“It's mixed. Robert has sheep, some cattle, mostly grazing. But Trina is a bit of an alternative life-styler, and she milks a goat, has some chickens and ducks, and has an enormous vegetable garden, although it gets stupidly cold down there. With the wind off the Southern Ocean, I don't know how she grows anything.”
“She doesn't sound anything like you,” Tom joked. “You can't even keep a daisy plant alive.”
Tom had given her a potted daisy for Christmas, which she had planned to plant in her very sparse garden but it had died after two weeks of neglect.
“Yeah, thanks for that, mate – bloody thing was root bound when you gave it to me.”
Tom noticed that when Jasmine felt she was being criticised, she reverted to speaking the way she had when he and Lucy had first met her. Coarser, more sarcastic. He wondered if it had been a protective mechanism she had developed.
He smiled at her. “Sorry, mate. I'll know better next time. I'll even come and dig the hole and plant it and water it for you.”
She stood to pick up the plates from the table and swatted the back of his head as she passed. Without quite knowing why, he grabbed her hand as she moved away from him, causing her to drop the plates.
“Now look what you made me do ...”
“Shh – stand still,” he said urgently. Jasmine complied, thinking he was worried about the broken china on the floor. But he stood with his eyes closed, holding her hand tightly.
After a moment or two, he dropped her hand. “Okay,” he said. “That's okay. Let's clean this up.”
As he moved away from her, she saw his face turn white, and he staggered slightly into her.
“Sorry,” he said.
“Are you okay?” Jasmine asked urgently.
“No,” Tom croaked. “Headache. Really bad. Going up to lie down.”
He clutched his head and walked slowly and carefully towards the stairs, where he pulled himself up by the bannister until he was at the top.
Jasmine turned back towards the broken plates, just as Jacob came screaming in through the door, with Jack close behind.
“Stop right there!” she yelled. “Now turn around and go out again until I have cleaned all this up. And tell the girls to stay outside too, or someone will get hurt.”
“But Daddy …!” Jacob said. “What's wrong with Daddy?”
“He's got a headache. He's gone upstairs to lie down. Alright?”
Jacob nodded doubtfully. “If I go round the front door, can I go up and see him?”
“Alright, love. But Jack, you stay there to stop the girls coming in.”
Jacob raced around the side of the house and in through the front door, with Amy in his wake.
Jasmine went to call out to the girl, but closed her mouth as soon as she had opened it. The two children ran up the stairs. Jasmine shook her head. A feeling of disquiet overcame her, but she put it aside, as she found newspaper to wrap the large pieces of broken crockery, and a dustpan to sweep up the small pieces.
She tidied up all the lunch dishes, and put everything away. Jack and Marlo played outside, but after a while, they came to find her. Tom had not come down and neither had Jacob and Amy. Jasmine went quietly up to the bedroom, to find them all asleep together on the bed. She found a blanket and covered them all up. Then she went back down, packed the kids into the car and drove home.
Jasmine asked Tom, the next time they met, “How did Jacob know you weren't feeling well? I've never seen him move so fast.”
Tom smiled at her. “He saw me in the bedroom. He knows how bad they get.”
“Oh. Well. Have you been to the doctor about it? Are you sure it's not something worse?”
“You sound like Lucy. She was always going on about it too. Yes, I've been checked and scanned and poked and prodded and there's nothing wrong. Just something I have to live with.”
“That's a bugger, isn't it? Kind of spoils a day for you when it happens.”
“Yep. But it doesn't happen too often, and they seem to be reducing in the number of times they affect me.”
“Okay then. Mystery solved.”
“Was it a mystery for you?” Tom teased. “The only mystery here is why you're still with me, when I can't seem to commit.”
She looked at him from under her fall of hair. “I can wait,” she said.
But three days later Jasmine was gone. She texted Tom, saying she had her tickets for the ferry, and she wasn't sure how long she would be away for. Tom rang, but there was no reply. He texted back that he hoped the trip would go well, and that she and the kids would be okay.
Chapter 21
Jasmine was away for around two months. She looked different when Tom saw her next. There was a sadness in her eyes and a strain between them. No matter how Tom phrased his query as to how her holiday went, she was not forthcoming, except to say it was fine. The easy rapport they had enjoyed before the time apart had gone. One evening she wondered out loud if they should have a break from each other.
“Do you really think that? I know I've been enjoying our time together.”
“But it's not always enough, is it?” Jasmine asked. “Maybe I need more.”
Tom rang Jasmine the next night.
“Do you really want a break? If it helps you, we could, but I will miss you.”
“I know,” she said. He detected a catch in her voice. “Let's just see how we go,” she told him.
“Okay. I really will miss you. I'll be here if you need to talk.”
Jacob missed Jack and Marlo. Tom asked if Jack was still at school.
“It's not the same,” Jacob said. “He's in a different class to me, so he plays with different kids. He was like my brother before, and now he's not. I miss him.”
“I know, love. I do too. Sometimes people just need a break from each other. Like when you close the door to your room so that Amy can't get in.”
“Did you and Jasmine have a fight?”
Tom was startled. “No, love! Why would you think that?”
“Jamie at kindy said mothers and fathers fight and then they split up. Did that happen to you and Jasmine?”
“No, Jacob, we didn't have a fight. She just needed to do some other things and see some other people for a while.”
He phoned Jasmine that evening but the call went to voice mail. He left a message asking if she was okay, and to call to let him know. A couple of weeks later he still had not seen or heard from Jasmine. He was concerned but had no way of finding where she was. He guessed she was with her sister again.
One evening his rugby friend Simon phoned to ask him to a pre-season barbeque.
“Come on mate. Bring the kids. There will be lots of other kids for them to play with. It's at the club rooms. You might even decide to join the team again.”
“Okay,” he laughed. “But I will not be joining the team.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't think we won't try. It's not the old tackle game we used to play. It's a touch team now.”
“When did you get soft?” Tom teased. “Well … yeah... nah! But we'll see you Saturday. Anything we need to bring.”
“Nope, nothing. See ya'.”
The day of the barbecue was wet and windy. Simon rang to say it was still on, but they would cook up inside and the bar would be open, and to bring wet weather gear, including gum boots for the kids.
“And a change of clothes for everyone too!”
“What are you setting me up for? You don't have kids. How can you possibly know how muddy and wet they can get?”
“Exactly! That's why a change of clothes. Oh, and towels. They can have a shower in the changing rooms if necessary.”
Tom loaded the kids into the car at three thirty, and they headed to the sports grounds. The rain was sleeting down, the roads covered in surface water that spun off the tyres. As they parked, Tom could see enormous puddles on the fields and a joyous stream of children racing towards the nearest puddle. A couple of adults, well protected from the rain, ran across with them. Tom turned to the children in the backseat. Jacob's face reflected everything he was thinking.
“Dad! Dad! Can I go? Please Dad?”
Tom grinned, got out to open the back door, and Jacob was off. Amy, who didn't like getting dirty, shrank back against her car seat.
“It's okay, Amy,” Tom laughed. “Come here, darling, we're going inside out of the rain. Up you come.”
He lifted Amy to his shoulder, picked up the tote bag from the floor, took a large golf umbrella from the back of the car, and they made their way to the club rooms. As they went through the door, the steam from wet clothes, the noise from people talking and laughing, and the smell of food cooking, took him right back to high school days in the cafeteria.
“Hey, Tom!” Simon stood off to his right, with a couple of other mates. “Come on over. Where's the little dude?”
“He's already out there. Last I saw, he was planing across the half way line.”
He put Amy on the ground, and she immediately grabbed him around his leg, thumb in her mouth. One of the women in the group crouched down beside her. She spoke to Amy but over the noise, Tom couldn't hear what she said. The woman stood.
“Hi,” she said. “I'm Sandy. I was just asking your little girl if she would like to come and get an ice cream. The kids are all having one over there.” She pointed to the far side of the room.
Tom looked down. Amy still had her thumb in her mouth, but was putting her hand up to Sandy's hand.
“Sure. I'm Tom and this is Amy. She loves ice cream.”
“Okay, come on then Amy. I hope they've got your favourite. See you soon,” she said to Tom.
Tom turned back to his mates. “Nice lady,” he said. “Who does she belong to?”
A sly look came over their faces, and Tom realised he'd been set up.
“Listen you guys, I'm not looking for any complications right now. My kids have been through enough. Jasmine and I were pals, but we're having a break.”
Simon put his arm around him. “No sweat, mate! We just thought you might like a bit of feminine company. That's okay, you go your way, she goes hers.”
“Does she know? Did you tell her I was coming and I was single and available, and with a bit of baggage?”
“Ah, well … I might have said something.”
“And now she's going to think I'm a right wanker, turning her down, when I didn't even know about it! Thanks, Simon, great mate you turned out to be!”
“No! It's not like that. And anyway, you must admit she's a looker. Jasmine was more like one of the boys, but this one is one of the girls.”
With huge self-control, Tom refrained from knocking Simon to the ground. He was very close to leaving the event, but neither of his children were nearby. He moved away from his crowd of old friends, and went to see where the children were.
Outside in the easing rain, Jacob was running back to the clubrooms. Tom's tote bag with the towels and change of clothes was in a pile of other bags by the entrance. Torn between checking on Amy, and getting dry clothes for Jacob, he chose getting Jacob warm and dry. He pulled his tote out from the pile and ran downstairs to find a shivering Jacob standing by the front door.
“Come on, son, in here. There are showers through there. Strip off, clean up and warm up, and I'll wait here with your clean clothes.”
“It was so cool, Dad! I was practically sailing on the puddles.”
“I saw you! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Soon as you're ready, we'll get Amy and head for home.”
