Page 32 of The Side Road (Love Chronicles #3)
That evening, Mia switched on the TV. She sat down with Holly and they watched an episode of Seinfeld together. It was Holly’s idea; she wanted to see if the company she kept influenced her sense of humour. Mia didn’t like where this was heading.
Holly picked up her knitting and settled into her chair.
She was making a cable-knit beanie. Intermediate level, it was beyond her ability, but Mia helped with the difficult details.
After fifteen minutes of watching the show, Holly turned to Mia and said, ‘I’ve just realised something – Seinfeld is funny.
I was watching it with the wrong person. What’s for dinner?’
‘Pumpkin soup. Why did you fall in love with Miles?’ Mia asked.
Holly rested her knitting in her lap. She didn’t move. ‘I don’t know, I mean, why does anyone love anyone?’
Mia didn’t answer; she could think of a dozen reasons someone might fall in love with Oliver.
Holly continued. ‘When he leaves for work before me, he pulls the blanket over my head before he turns on the light, so it doesn’t annoy me. Then he gets my mug ready for tea. Sometimes he leaves me little treats.’
‘What sort of little treats?’
‘You know that German chocolate l like.’
‘Schogetten?’
‘Yes. He holds me before I fall asleep.’ Holly paused.
‘I liked him from the moment I met him. Initially, it was his optimism. He was funny and he got things done. He had these grand plans for our future together. Country life and the vineyard. The timing was right for both of us. The sex was great. It fixed us together. I thought it would last and that would be enough, but…in the last six months, he’s changed.
’ Picking up her knitting, she frowned at the stitches – she had lost her place.
‘One of my biggest regrets was leaving that note for Alfie,’ Mia said.
‘He loved me and he didn’t get closure. He got a letter.
What if that wasn’t enough? He deserved a conversation and I didn’t give him one.
Heartbreak is terrible, but confusion will do your head in.
I think you should talk to Miles. You’re on round nineteen.
Knit twelve, knit two together, purl one, knit one.
Repeat. You should have eighty stitches. ’
Holly didn’t comment or check her stitches. She turned and looked out the window. There was nothing more Mia could say; her opinion was obvious. Holly had repeatedly ignored her advice.
Mia collected her laptop and walked into her bedroom. She wanted to send her brother Jamie an email. Seated on the chair by the window, she opened her computer and wrote. ‘Were you ever bullied at school?’
After she closed her laptop, she looked at her phone. How long would it take for him to call? It was Sunday evening, he might be out. He might be watching an addictive mini-series, or he might be having an early night to prepare for the busy week ahead.
When her phone rang, Mia smiled. It took him less than a minute. ‘I love it when that happens,’ she told Snood, who had followed her into the bedroom.
‘Funny, I was just thinking about you,’ she said, answering Jamie’s call .
‘Is someone bullying you, because if they…’
‘No, no. I’ve surrounded myself with kind people, mostly. But in high school…were you bullied?’
‘I went to an all-boys school. Everyone was bullied.’
‘Can I ask what happened?’
‘The usual. I was called names. Punched. Kicked. Shoved. Someone stole my bag, my hat, my sports uniform, and my shoes. There was no reason except that I wore glasses, and I was short for a while.’
‘Then you had that growth spurt. You grew a metre in four weeks.’
‘It was half a metre and it took a few months – I still have the stretch marks – but yes, the bullies moved on. They found a new victim.’
‘I’m sorry that happened to you. Do you think Richard was bullied?’
‘Probably. Mia, are you okay?’
‘I’m fine. I have another question. Have you ever had a panic attack?’
Jamie hesitated. ‘No, but they’re more common than you might think.
They can come on without warning. Stress is a trigger, but then so are a lot of things.
There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just your body’s fight-and-flight response working overtime.
Are you seeing a therapist? Because CBT is an effective treatment. ’
‘You know a lot about panic attacks.’
‘Someone I’m close to has had a few.’
‘Is it Richard? Is that who you’re talking about? Is he having panic attacks?’
‘No, it’s not Richard. It’s someone else. We’ve set the auction date for the sheep – end of September. The bidding is live. Tune in, you can watch the family jewels get sold off in front of your very eyes. ’
‘Sounds depressing. What sort of car do you drive?’
‘A Volkswagen. Why?’
‘No reason.’
After they ended the call, Mia stayed seated and listened to the wind. How did one woman get to be this lucky? She gave Snood a scratch under the chin. There were many beautiful males in her life.
With winter’s approach, the monthly Sit & Knit evenings grew in popularity.
Attendance had never been higher. Enthusiastic chatter intertwined with cheese platters, overfilled glasses of red wine and the rhythmic click of knitting needles.
Mia did her best to steer the communal conversations toward books, movies, and dogs. Josh never missed a meeting.
A month after their first lesson, the Men’s Shed crew were making just about everything Mia could imagine. Themed socks were especially popular, and the designs included beloved football motifs in team colours and Star Wars emblems. There was talk of a knitting camp before the cold weather ended.
In late June, Holly resigned from her Mill Family Olive Estate job and came to work at Hook & Knot.
While she understood the basics of knitting – needle sizes and yarn types – she was still a beginner working in a store with a legendary status.
Hook & Knot catered to some of the most accomplished knitters in the country.
Mia thought Oliver knew more about tension than Holly. He was a master sampler maker.
Holly put her marketing degree to good use handling online orders, shipping, and social media. She also managed the staff roster and made herself available Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings to accommodate Oliver and Mia’s dating routine, which also included a breakfast rendezvous.
Saige and Holly formed an unlikely friendship. When Saige asked if she could work a Saturday shift, Holly initially refused.
‘But the family have this big lunch planned,’ Saige pleaded. ‘I will literally die if I have to go.’
Holly pulled out her phone. With a single click on the roster, she had literally saved Saige’s life.
Later that same afternoon, while dressing Fiona, the shop’s display sheep that stood in the front window, Saige asked, ‘Do you think I might be autistic?’
‘I’m not a professional,’ Holly replied. ‘But no, I don’t think you’re autistic. Pass me that fluffy scarf.’
‘Then, what’s wrong with me?’ Saige held up two woollen scarves. ‘The pink or the blue?’
‘The blue,’ Holly said. ‘Nothing is wrong with you.’ She wrapped the scarf around Fiona’s neck. ‘You’re smart, but you hide it. You should study something.’
Saige looked at Holly like she had just told her to spend two years alone at the bottom of a Highland cliff.
‘Go to university,’ Holly continued. ‘Or not. Do a trade. Study online. But you can’t stay here.
You have to make a life for yourself, which means decisions – lots of decisions.
Every day. It’s tough, but don’t just let life happen.
’ Holly stood up and critiqued Fiona’s outfit.
She adjusted the scarf, but it wasn’t quite right.
‘No one goes to university anymore,’ Saige said. She handed Holly a pink hat, and Holly slipped it over the sheep’s head. Better. Fiona needed a hat.
‘That’s not true,’ Holly replied.
‘You don’t need a degree to sell wool.’
‘Mia studied textiles. She has a craft business. Go learn something.’
Later, when Mia and Holly were together in the tearoom, Holly said, ‘I’m starting to care about your junior shop assistant.’
‘You’ll change your mind when she calls in sick because it’s her birthday for the third time this year,’ Mia told her. ‘But you could consider a career as a guidance counsellor.’
‘Unlikely.’ Flicking through a glossy tourist brochure, Holly pointed to an advertisement for a local retreat. ‘What do you think about a week away in a wellness retreat?’
‘The one in Capertee is world-class. You deserve it.’