Those bright eyes looking into hers and Jodie could almost convince herself the woman was using the term ‘helping’ as a euphemism for ‘seducing my son’.
But maybe that was Jodie’s subconscious speaking. She had, indeed, been wondering what ‘helping’ Will would be like.
Carol finally appeared from her room. She’d dug out a little eye shadow and pink court shoes, and she was carrying a gold Glomesh purse.
Sweet, Jodie thought, and told herself not to get choked up.
‘We’ll have a cup of tea and a sandwich somewhere after the matinee,’ said Robbo, dropping Jodie a ghost of a wink. ‘So we won’t be back until after two o’clock.’
She nodded. Will had prepared his parents well for their role. She tucked her hand under Carol’s arm as they all took themselves off to the Mileses’ car, then stood in the front garden waving until they’d disappeared out of sight up Lillypilly Street.
‘Will?’ she said into her phone. ‘The coast is clear.’
Will’s parents had been the ones to suggest the genealogy records at the Historical Society. Carol had herself set up the family history records room, and encouraged families new and old to explore their ancestry and map where lives may have intersected. They just needed a clue, the end of a thread they could pull, and whatever secret Carol was holding so close could begin to unravel.
Jodie called her mum, Janelle.
‘Carol’s life? I only know the bare bones. Born during the war, earned herself a scholarship to All Hallow’s Girls School in Brisbane, first in the family to go to university, became a teacher, never married, loves a committee, needs to move into a home before she breaks her other hip.’
Jodie had never felt so out of charity with her mother.
‘What about her mother … your grandmother?’
‘She lived quietly like most war widows did, I suppose.’
‘Carol’s mum was a war widow?’
‘Oh, yes. My mother and Carol were sisters, but there was a big age gap, and they weren’t close. It was only after Mum died that Carol and I reconnected.’
Thethump thumpof a heavy tread on the front stairs told Jodie that Will had arrived. ‘Mum, I have to go.’
‘Why? What do you have to do? Have you finally stopped moping?’
She sighed and hit theEnd Callbutton. The idea of telling her mother she’d been right—Jodiehadneeded a distraction—rankled.
She met Will at the door. ‘Hello. I feel half naughty and half like I’m on an Indiana Jones quest.’
‘Why naughty?’
‘Oh, you know. Prying around in Carol’s past.’
‘She’s a retired history teacher. She made a living out of prying into the past.’
‘I guess.’
‘You ready to go?’
‘Almost. I’ve been thinking about the scrapbook she brought home. It might tell us everything we need to know.’
‘Why am I sensing a “but”?’
‘Carol’s not brought it out when I’ve been around, not once.’
‘You’d feel bad about poking around for it.’
She was relieved he understood.
A tall woman with a long ponytail, longer legs and dusty workboots was hopping off an aqua moped in front of the Historical Society building when Jodie and Will arrived on foot from Carol’s house. She gave Will a boisterous kiss on the cheek followed up by a hug and a hair ruffle. His sister-in-law, it seemed, was quite fond of him.