Page 34 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
‘Look, we’ve got no customers, so how about you come over here to the counter, sit down, and tell Auntie Ruby and Auntie Hazel all about your problems?’
Rubbing against Madeline’s leg, Hazel meowed, as though to suggest this was a good idea.
‘You can’t tell anyone,’ Madeline said.
‘Not even the cricket team?’
‘Of course not the cricket team!’
Ruby put up a hand. ‘All right, all right. We’ll keep your secrets between us, won’t we, Hazel?’
The little cat meowed again.
Ruby made coffees. Hazel climbed up into a hanging basket at the top of a cat tower inside the door. Madeline considered what she could say.
‘I’ve been getting closer to my ex,’ she said, climbing onto a stool. ‘He’s been showing up from time to time, usually late in the evening.’ Was that too much of an exaggeration? Twice. He had stopped by just twice. And nothing much had happened other than a brief chat about the past.
‘Is that so?’ Ruby said, nodding sagely, sounding wise beyond her years. ‘You know to knock that on the head right now, don’t you?’
‘He’s changed.’
Ruby leaned forward. ‘People. Don’t. Change.’ She shrugged. ‘Well, maybe clothes and hair colour. And if he was a clown before, he might not be acting like a clown now, but inside, he’s still a clown.’
‘That’s a bit of a generalisation.’
‘But it’s true. Like, when I go out to bat for the club, I act like some angry nutjob, smashing the other team’s bowlers all over the place, but the whole time I’m suppressing my inner nerd, refusing to allow myself to play the low risk shots, to just tap the ball into the gaps, the whole time while calculating what we need to win. Once the daughter of a mathematician, always the daughter of a mathematician.’
Madeline smiled. ‘So, while on the outside you’re Ruby, on the inside, you’re still Rubik.’
Ruby closed her eyes. ‘Please don’t say that name. It burns. It burns every time.’
‘I’m thinking of cutting my hair,’ Madeline said. ‘You know, shed the hippy look a bit. I kind of feel I’ve outgrown the braids a little. I might go for a neat bob or something.’
‘I have a mate,’ Ruby said. ‘And while I agree, those things might be a little ungainly, you can’t just hack them off. May I suggest a colourant?’
‘I hadn’t thought about it, but … maybe.’
‘You have lovely fair hair. It’ll take a dye so well.’
Madeline smiled. ‘I’ll think about it. Do you think Rory—’ She stopped, shaking her head. ‘Nothing.’
‘Rory? That’s his name?’ Ruby’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think you should do the exact opposite of what you think he would like.’
‘I told you, he’s different now. He’s more mature. He used to be kind of a free spirit, but he’s … smartened up.’
Ruby sighed. ‘It’s your life.’
Madeline grimaced. ‘There’s one more thing—’
Rory’s job was on the tip of her tongue, but at that moment the door opened and an older couple came in, bringing a terrier on a lead. It immediately starting barking at Hazel, who bolted up to the tower’s highest platform and sat cowering just out of sight, tail wrapped protectively around her.
‘Two lattes, please,’ the lady said, struggling with the dog. ‘But it might be quieter if we have them outside.’
Jonas let out a gasp as he came up the stairs in his slippers, carrying a cup of tea and a book. Madeline had left the bathroom door open, mostly to help get rid of the smell, and was staring at her new hair colour for the first time. Having used a local hairdresser to cut her hair into a tidy, shoulder-length bob, she had dyed it herself, and what had formerly been light brown was now a dark, rich auburn. Not quite as rebellious as Ruby’s vibrant changes, but nevertheless she thought it looked pretty good.
‘Wow. Is that really my daughter?’
‘What do you think, Dad?’
