Page 4 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
Madeline winced. It was starting already. Like an old car cranking back into life, the bickering that had defined them from childhood through young adulthood was about to begin. She opened her mouth to snap at him to call her Madeline, knowing that the words would be some kind of magic spell which would cause him to spend the rest of the evening calling her Madster or Madman, or Maddiloops, or Madelinifer, or one of a dozen other made up versions of her actual name. Then, with the words still on her tongue, she closed her mouth again, and smiled.
‘Hi, Rick. How are you? And this must be Amy?’
Rick was still staring at her, a look of disappointment in his eyes at her failure to rise to his challenge. Amy snapped up off of the sofa, brushed herself down—spending an overly long time adjusting the cuff of the shirt she wore—then gave a genial smile.
‘Hello, my name is Amy Clairmont,’ she said. ‘You must be Madeline? Rick’s sister? It’s lovely to meet you.’
She stuck out a hand. Madeline came forwards and gave it a little shake.
‘And you,’ she said, immediately feeling sorry for this poor girl who had a lifetime of living with her brother ahead of her. But perhaps one man’s trash was another’s gold, and all that.
‘I do hope we can be friends,’ Amy said, shaking Madeline’s hand a little too hard.
‘Sure,’ Madeline said. ‘I’d like that.’
‘I thought it would be nice for Rick and Amy to come over for dinner,’ Jonas said. Then, with a grin, added, ‘I’ve ordered some Indian from the takeaway on Fore Street.’
‘Sounds great.’
‘So, Father, this is the dram you ordered in from Japan?’ Rick said, turning the bottle of whisky around. ‘I can tell just from the feel of the bottle that it’s exotic.’
‘That’s right,’ Jonas said, catching Madeline’s look and giving her a smile. ‘Via the shop on the corner.’
Amy was still standing up, like a soldier waiting for orders. Madeline didn’t feel appropriate telling a woman she’d only just met to sit down, so in an attempt to change the topic, she wandered to the window, peered out at the BMW, then said to Rick, ‘Nice wheels. Is that yours or Amy’s?’
Rick put the bottle of whisky back in Jonas’s drink’s cabinet and turned to face Madeline, a smug grin on his face.
‘Mine,’ he said. ‘Of course. With the promotion I got a credit deal up at Jake’s Motors.’
‘So it’s not actually yours?’
‘It’s a new scheme,’ Rick said, adopting the condescending tone he’d been using with her since he’d first climbed out of his cradle. It wasn’t a new scheme at all, but it was easier to humour him than get into an argument. ‘Plus, I have a few more points in the bank with the promotion.’
She could see in his eyes how desperate he was for her to ask about this promotion. Jonas’s eyes were flicking back and forth between them with a grin on his face that suggested he was delighted to have his children back together, while Amy had finally sat back down and was now fiddling with the tassels along the bottom of the sofa cushions, trying to straighten them.
‘It’s quite a jump from a Ford Fiesta to a BMW,’ Madeline said.
Rick shrugged. ‘A car’s a car at the end of the day,’ he said. ‘I mean, automatic mirror tilting, parked car ventilation, home pathway lighting functions … they’re all just bells and whistles, aren’t they? I have to admit, there was probably a little vanity involved with the upgrade, but they really had to push it on me. I was happy enough with the last old thing, but with the promotion comes a certain expectation, you know? Such is this materialistic world we live in. I mean, in our shallow, shallow world, it’s the car that defines the man, isn’t it?’
It was best just to get it out of the way. ‘So, you got promoted, did you? Are there many promotions available for primary school teachers?’
Rick’s smile could have made birds fall from the sky. ‘Only to acting head,’ he said.
‘Acting head,’ Amy echoed her voice filled with pride.
‘Quite the achievement at your age,’ Jonas said, sipping his coffee. ‘A bit of experience in the role now and it might be yours permanently one day.’
‘I see the emphasis is on “acting”?’ Madeline said, trying so hard not to sound patronising.
Rick shrugged. ‘It’s admittedly short term,’ he said. ‘Mr. Downton, our current figurehead, got himself hooked up with the broad who owns the café up in Sycamore Park. He’s taking a sabbatical so they can go off travelling in India for three months.’
‘The broad?’
‘Her name’s Angela,’ Amy said. ‘I think they’re in love.’
‘Which means he might not come back,’ Rick said. ‘Or you know, there’s malaria. And tigers. So I think it’s best if I treated this position as though it could become permanent.’
‘How lucky for your staff to have you as a leader,’ Madeline said.
