Page 90 of The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill
‘You know I’ve been talking to the folks.’ Johnno shrugged off his backpack, which was almost the same size as he was. ‘Decided that I’d go over to help too.’ He puffed out his chest. ‘I used to be able to shear a sheep in less than two minutes. You don’t lose a talent like that, Soph.’
‘But it’s not even shearing season and the idea ofyouon a sheep farm…’
‘It’s more of a station than a farm, love,’ Johnno reminded her as he sat down and stretched out his legs.
Sophy prodded him with one finger, just to check he was real. ‘What are you going to do with the shop?’
Johnno shrugged again. ‘That’s what Freddy’s there for and you’ll be back in a few months, won’t you?’
‘But I might be emigrating. I just don’t know. What if Jean’s new hips don’t work?’
‘Let’s see where you are after six months,’ Johnno advised. ‘A lot can happen in six months. Look what’s happened in the last six months.’
Sophy rested her head on his shoulder and certainly six months ago she hadn’t felt this rush of affection for her dad. ‘We found each other, that’s been a real highlight.’
Then again, she hadn’t been in love this time six months ago.
‘Better than meeting Charles?’ Johnno asked slyly as if he could read her mind. Then he yelped when Sophy smacked him.
‘I thought you didn’t know about me and Charles.’
‘Soph, love,everyoneknows about you and Charles.’ Johnno put an arm round Sophy’s shoulders. ‘He’s a good bloke, you won’t find a better one.’
Sophy sniffed even though she’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry today. ‘I know.’
‘So you’ll come to Oz long enough to help out, take in some sights, spend time with the fam and then decide if you want to stay on or come home.’ It was Johnno’s turn to prod Sophy. ‘Why do you think I got you an open-ended return?’
‘You aresoannoying,’ Sophy said, straightening up so she could fold her arms. ‘An absolute pain in the arse.’
‘Ah, you wouldn’t have me any other way,’ Johnno said and he was right. ‘Now, do you reckon they’ll have the new James Bond film on the plane? I can never sleep on planes. There’s never enough room and it’s not like I’m the tallest bloke in the world either but…’
It was then that Sophy realised what she was in for. They weren’t even on the plane yet and Johnno was already manspreading. ‘You’re going to talk all the way to Adelaide, aren’t you?’
Johnno grinned. ‘You can count on it, love.’
Sophy grinned back. ‘I’m going to go and see if I can change seats,’ she said, though she made no move to get up and fling herself on the mercy of the boarding staff.
‘So, Soph, do you want the window or the aisle seat?’ Johnno asked, stretching out his legs just a little bit more. ‘I prefer the aisle seat but don’t you worry about your old man. I’ll let you choose.’
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Epilogue
One year later
It was almost a year to the day and Sophy was back at Heathrow Airport, about to walk through the nothing-to- declare channel this time.
What a twelve months it had been!
Sophy had a suntan for the first time in her life because it turned out that a warm Mediterranean climate was quite different to a cold British summer when it was only properly hot for a week. First she’d freckled. Then her freckles had joined up. Then she had a tan.
She’d tried shrimp and kangaroo meat but much preferred the shrimp. She was addicted to double-chocolate TimTams. And she’d been devastated to discover how hard it was to find pork sausage or a proper rasher of bacon in the whole of South Australia.
She’d done things that she’d never dreamed that she’d be capable of. Been bush-walking, even if only for a couple of hours. Had come face to face with a snake and hadn’t got bitten or, more importantly, wet herself. And, even though it hadn’t quite been shearing season, Sophy had only gone and bloody well sheared a sheep. Neither sheep nor Sophy had shed a single drop of blood.
While Jean was recovering from her operation, Sophy had taken over the guest cottage side of the business and cooked Sunday dinner for thirty people. She’d even learned to do hospital corners when she made up the beds because Jean used to be a nurseand she had quite exacting standards.
Maybe the best thing about Australia had been meeting Bob and Jean. After a couple of days to acclimatise and get over the jet lag, Sophy had felt as if she’d known both of them her whole life, and wished that she really had. The three of them had instantly fallen into an affectionate, gently teasing rapport that helped with her homesickness.
