Looking for Love (17 page)

She glanced at Pauline in the mirror; her
friend politely kept her gaze averted. But of course, Pauline
didn’t really know how she felt about Ross. She only knew how Ross
felt about her. Her own feelings were a slushy blob of confusion
floating around in her head and heart.

“
I can’t have a relationship when
I can barely think straight.”

“
I know what you mean.” Andrea
picked up her loose hair and made it into a ponytail at the back
with
deft
fingers. She fiddled with the tufts on the end. “Just getting
through the day to day is hard enough.”

Ella sighed. So much for
The Album
helping her friends
find love. Seemed like the same old story. Even Pauline hadn’t
found Ross. She glanced at her friend quickly in the reflection and
wondered how disappointed she was about Ross and whether it had
actually broken her heart. Two heartbreaks in the space of a couple
of months couldn’t be easy to deal with. Finally, the only one of
the four who’d been protected from pain by not dating much at all
had experienced plenty. And part of it was her fault.

She
would permanently resign from
matchmaking. She’d facilitate
The Album
for now but never again would she instigate a
couple to come together by her own will.

“
Did you tell Ross about our
trip?” Carol questioned.

“
Nah, what for? We’re not talking so much anymore.”

“
He doesn’t really approve of
your business, does he?” Andrea asked.

Ella shrugged. She didn’t feel the freedom
to share the whole confusing mangle of Ross happenings and thoughts
with her friends. For once, she didn’t want them to know how she
felt about a man. Usually, she told them everything—she’d always
been a bit of a blabber-mouth, but this, she couldn’t. They would
tell her to go for it. Even Pauline would. And she couldn’t. As
much as a part of her really, really wanted to taste his lips again
and find out if it stirred something in her once more, she could
not have a relationship with Ross. She had to hang onto the tiny
thread of friendship she still had with him. It was better than
losing it all.

“
Tell me about your promotion, Carol.” She looked at her
friend, intent on the road. “You must be over the moon.”

The conversation promptly turned toward a
much more positive and less-stressful direction. After chatting for
half an hour and catching up on all their latest news, the girls
settled down into a lazy rhythm with the road. Ella picked up one
of the green books lying by her feet and began to read the tiny
print on the yellowed pages with much difficulty. Soon, it became
very easy to read and she got annoyed at any
interruptions.

Six long, leg-stiffening and bum-numbing
hours later, they arrived in Bethal, and with the help of the GPS,
found her Gran’s house. Ella went ahead to make sure Gran was in
and knocked on the door while the others cleaned up their chocolate
bar wrappers and crumbs in the car and gathered their belongings
together.

Gran opened the door with a big smile and
a sweeping gesture to come inside. “Lovely to see you again, Ella.
It’s been years.”

“
Gran, you look great. My friends are coming. They’re fetching
the suitcases.”

Twenty minutes
later, the five females gathered around the large, wooden kitchen
table complete with worn grain and stains and a vase of colourful
flowers and greenery picked from her garden. A bowl of fruit sent a
citrusy fragrance to them from the counter.

Ella opened up
The
Album
. “Gran,
this is
The
Album
.”

Gran looked at
it and smiled.

“
So you know about it?”

“
Very well.”

Ella stared at
her, trying to read her face to pick up how she felt about it.
Seemed like a positive response.

“
We’re all ears,” Andrea
said.

“
You all want to hear my boring family stories?” Gran filled a
teapot with teabags and set out some pretty china teacups and
saucers and a sponge cake with jam in the middle and cream on
top.

“
Of course we do,” Carol
added.

Once the kettle was boiled, the teapot
filled, and their plates made pretty with sponge cake, Gran
spoke.

“
The Album
belonged to my grandmother. She
passed it down to my dad and he passed it down to Uncle Stan. They
chose to give it to the oldest sibling each time, not very
selective on who would take it. I was a little peeved, to put it
lightly, that Uncle Stan inherited the antique instead of
me.”

Ella took a bite of the sponge and
savoured the coloured sugar crystals on top of the cream. The
contrast of textures and sweetness packed a punch. She took a sip
of tea to wash it down. Perfect combination. Perfect Gran. The
elderly lady still looked good—she had a healthy complexion and
wore the prettiest clothes. Even though she wasn’t the slimmest,
she held herself with strength and lots of spunk.

Her friends
watched the woman share her story with what seemed like full
focus.

“
It sat at the top of his wardrobe for years, never got used. I
used to ask him about it every time I went there to visit. Well,
almost every time. Started to forget over the years. He always told
me he intended to sell it one day and buy himself a famous oil
painting instead.”

“
Oh, that would have been terrible,” Carol said.

Ella tried to push out thoughts
that maybe it would have been better if she’d never inherited the
thing.
Maybe
then, the whole thing with Ross wouldn’t have happened, either. And
she’d be less confused, not so exhausted.

“
Well, one day
, he called me over. He told me
he’d taken the thing down and had read through the letter for the
first time. He wanted to try it but thought I should see it first.
He suggested I call your aunt because she was having problems
finding a man to marry. I refused to bring her with because I
didn’t really believe it was magic. The only reason I wanted
The Album
was because I liked
the way it looked. I wanted to set it in my display cabinet in the
dining room.”

“
Oh, so you didn’t know what it could do?”

Gran shook her head.
“Uncle Stan never
assumed ownership of it so I didn’t get to see it. When he passed
it on to me, I found my gran’s story about it and that convinced me
it may have some powers. I haven’t seen it at work but I eventually
read through the green books and have always dreamed of watching
the magic. Did you get it to work, Ella?”

Gran’s eyes shone with curiosity
and excitement
and she placed her teacup down, as if waiting for the
answer with great hope.

Ella nodded,
feeling almost like she wasn’t worthy of having used the magic.
“I’m helping people with it. We started a little business.”

“
Oh, my word. I’m
astounded.”

Ella smiled and tried to hide
the
emotional
roller-coaster inside her. “Why did Uncle Stan give it to me,
Gran?”

“
He didn’t. I did.”

“
Oh, that explains it,” Pauline
said.

“
Why me?”

“
Well, you’re the grandchild I’ve formed the closest bond
with.”

Ella’s heart
squeezed with love toward her granny. “But you know I’m not the
most talented or responsible.”

“
I’ve always known you to be
careful and gentle with people’s hearts. And doesn’t
The Album
need someone like
that to take over it? I’m so glad you actually assumed ownership of
the artefact. I would have been most disappointed if you’d stashed
it away in a cupboard or set it on display as I always stupidly
dreamed of doing.”

“
It works
wonders
.”
Carol sighed. “Many people have found true love. Well, it’s too
soon to see the full effect but we’ve had one happy customer write
about their story in the local newspaper in Richards
Bay.”

Ella cringed. Her friends still
saw all the positives and none of the concerns she had. Should she
share them now or wait until she had time alone with Gran? When
would she ever get time alone with her?
She truly appreciated her friends
accompanying her so she shouldn’t get all selfish on them. Maybe
she should just let it all out. Well, about
The Album
, not Ross.

“
The Album
is great.” Ella sucked in a
breath.

“
But?” Gran raised an eyebrow at
her.

“
It’s confusing. It’s like
playing god and I don’t like it. I liked matchmaking when I was
younger, but this is so real, it’s affecting people’s lives. It’s
like the one client—she matches with every single guy on file
except for Frankenstein.”

Her friends
laughed.

“
I call him that because his
name’s Frank and he’s a monster. Can’t match him with a single
woman. Anyway, Jane, my one client, she’s amazing. She seems to
have successful relationships with every single guy. How do I
choose which one? I’ve tried to study their lives and see which
life each guy would offer her would be the best. They all look
happy in different ways. Who am I to judge which is best for her?
And…” She looked down and moved cake crumbs around her plate with
the genuine silver cake fork. “What of the children? It’s like I’m
going to cause certain children to be born on this planet. What if
I orchestrate the next serial killer or instigator of World War
III?”

“
But you’re not the only one
choosing that kid,” Pauline said. “I mean, every man produces
millions of sperm. It’s the exact time that the couple choose to
have sex that decides what that child is going to turn out to
be.”

“
There are dozens of factors that
work towards it,” Carol added.

“
I suppose. But I’d be a big push toward one or the
other.”

“
You can’t think of it like
that,” Andrea added. “I mean, didn’t I tell you that you’re helping
these couples be happy? It’s a good thing.”

“
When you look at it that way,
how on Earth can
The Album
predict the future? There are thousands of choices made
each day and thousands of factors that affect what happen in a
person’s life. Is
The Album
seeing into the future, or is it just making a prediction?”
Ella looked at Gran.

The woman gave her a soft
smile.
“You
think too deeply about it. And besides, who said you have to
keep
The
Album
? You
can pass it on at any time.”

She nodded.
Was she ready to do that? Not quite yet.

“
And it promised good things to come to me. I haven’t really
seen that yet.”

“
It’s only been two months.”
Pauline cocked an eyebrow.

Gran got up to put the kettle on
again.
“Do
you know that my gran used it and she found love during that
time?”

Everyone
glanced at Gran. The way she spoke about the past made Ella yearn
to know more.

“
She worked from her parents’
farmhouse in the Transkei and the local people used to come to her.
They loved it—thought she was some type of
sangoma
—tribal witchdoctor. She found my grandpa
during that time. He came to work on the farm and they fell in
love. She never used
The Album
on herself or anyone close to her.”

Ella nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t
use it on Carol. Pauline, I’m sorry, we should
n’t have tried it with your
picture.”

“
Why? It was a good thing to be rid of the jerk.”

Carol shook her head vigorously. “Ella
could have seen my future, like when I would die or any difficult
times in my life. She didn’t want that.”

Andrea, Pauline, and her gran
gasped.

“
Of course.” Gran reached out and squeezed Ella’s hand. “A wise
decision.”

They continued to talk
about
The
Album
and
love, easing out of the topic into general things. Although her
questions hadn’t been addressed directly, Ella felt more at peace
about using the gift given to her. If her gran believed in it and
had given it to her, she must be the right person to use it. She
just had to let go and believe in herself. Yeah, she’d been unable
to find love for herself or her friends, but maybe
The Album
could teach her a
thing or two about life and people.

She
rested into the chair and delighted
in the easy conversation between her best friends and one of her
favourite relatives.

The small farm
her gran lived on had proven a perfect spot for everyone to unwind
from a stressful year. There wasn’t much to do in the town except
visit a museum and a couple of restaurants. The cosmos and
sunflowers that covered the grasslands and farms weren’t in season
in autumn so they stayed put most days.