Outback Angel

“But I am talking too much.” Stacy suddenly flushed, blotching her apple-blossom skin.

“I really appreciate the fact you trust me,” Angelica told her with sincerity. The fact of the matter was she often received unsolicited confidences the moment people laid eyes on her. She supposed she must look kind, or they thought they’d never see her again. She’d even received off-the-cuff marriage proposals.

“I used to think if the portrait of Roxanne came down, Clive would start to forget.” Stacy pushed at her wispy fringe, a mannerism Angelica had remarked. “But he never did. He was absolutely faithful to her to the end. I suspect when he was dying alone out there in the desert he cried out her name. Maybe they’re together again at last.”

“Maybe they are,” Angelica said, with a kind of fascinated sadness. If she were a romance writer instead of a caterer she could have turned the whole thing into a block-buster. “I believe in an afterlife, but you have to let go, Stacy.”

Stacy nodded. Nodded again with great vehemence. “Oh, it’s so good to talk. Very few would be interested.”

“You’re still young.” Angelica intuited Stacy had been thinking along these lines. “There’s no reason why you can’t re-marry. Happily this time. Life goes by so fast you have to grab it on the wing.”

“Oh, God!” Stacy exclaimed almost despairingly. “That’s all very well for you. You’re young and so vibrant. I don’t believe I ever was. I was Little Miss Helpless. Only child syndrome. Older parents. Anyway, who’d have me?”

“A lot,” Angelica answered dryly.

“Aha, the money.” Stacy saw the irony.

“Don’t put yourself down. You’re a pretty woman.”

“Am I?” Stacy sounded pleased and even took a very human little peek into a well-positioned gilded mirror. “But how could I meet anyone out here?”

“Dive right in,” Angelica advised. “We have all these wonderful Christmas functions coming up. I absolutely love Christmas. We must have a great big tree. I know you’ve got one.”

“No we haven’t got one,” Stacy announced surprisingly. “Clive only died three years ago. He didn’t want any Christmas trees.”

“Why didn’t you get one yourself? Even afterwards?” Angelica was so amazed, her voice cracked.

“I think I expected Clive might come back to haunt me. Anyway if I put up a big Christmas tree you can count on its falling over.”

“It won’t fall over on me,” Angelica said. “Have we agreed on a Christmas tree? I know exactly where it should go. The bigger the better.”

“We’ve no pines here, dear, only desert oaks.” Stacy smiled.

“We’ll find something,” Angelica said. “But getting back to our functions, you know who’s coming. Surely there’s an eligible man or two? There must be, I can see you smiling.”

“Really just a friend.” Stacy’s voice softened. A dead give-away. “He’s a lovely man, but I can’t think he’d be all that interested in me. There are others.”

“Look on the positive side,” Angelica advised. “You can have what you want if you go after it. I’ve found it really doesn’t pay to be tentative and hold back. Why don’t we try to sort things out this week? I’m going to have to press you into service, if that’s okay? No need to worry. You’re going to enjoy it. Have fun. Offering hospitality to friends should be fun. You don’t have to perform miracles. Gillian has to do her bit, too. Is there a guy in her life?”

Stacy glanced over her shoulder as though Gillian was about to return. “Gilly’s got a crush on one of our jackeroos,” she confided.

Angelica’s jaw dropped. She thought jackeroos were supposed to keep their distance. “Really?”

“He’s a fine young man, but he’s English.”

Angelica, disconcerted, just stopped herself from snorting. “Is that a problem?” She stared at Stacy, wondering if Stacy had been hoping for a local.

“It is in this way…” Stacy started to clarify. “Charlie could go back home at any time. He’s here for the adventure. He read all about the Outback as a boy and fancied himself living the frontier life. They must have made it sound very glamorous. Anyway he loves it but his family will want him back home. Who could blame them? He’s the Honourable Charles Middleton by the way.”