A Ripper of a Day

Jeff ran down the boarding house steps three at a time. He’d seen the postie deliver a sack of mail and just maybe today would be the day his ship came in.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to look casual as he walked up to the front desk where Millie was sorting through a large pile of post. Everything was delivered to the boarding house, as The Glen still hadn’t opened a post office, and every morning Millie was kept busy with her ‘postmistress’ hat on.

She was deep in concentration and didn’t notice Jeff until he cleared his throat quietly.

"Oh, good morning Jeff, can I do something for you?"

"G’Day, Luv. I was just wondering if there was any post for me, but I see you’re up to your eyes in it. Wanna hand sorting?"

"Oh, Jeff, that would be a great help," Millie smiled.

Jeff scooted round to her side of the counter and grabbed a pile of mail. He stood and watched how Millie was sorting it for a couple of seconds, and was soon into the swing of things.

About halfway through, Millie found a thick envelope addressed to Jeff. "Is this what you’re looking for, Jeffie?"

Jeff held out a shaking hand and gingerly took the letter from Millie, shoving it in his back pocket. "Thanks, Mil…I’ll read it later," he murmured, turning back to the task in hand.

Millie kept watching Jeff out of the corner of her eye and realised that he was itching to open his mail, but also seemed to be getting more nervous as they got close to finishing their sorting. When it was finally finished, she kissed him lightly on the cheek and thanked him for his help by inviting him to share breakfast with her.

When they were sitting in a quiet corner of the dining room, breakfast eaten and a steaming cuppa in front of each of them, she reached over and touched his hand.

"Aren’t you going to open your letter, Jeff?"

"Um…yeah…I guess…aw, Millie…I’m too nervous to. It’s from my solicitor in Sydney."

"Come on, Jeff. Let’s do it together if it makes it any easier."

Millie scooted round to Jeff’s side of the table and held out a clean knife. "Go on, slit it open, that’s the hardest part."

Jeff smiled as he took the knife in his shaking hand. After a couple of tries, he managed to slit the envelope open and, looking at Millie for support, took hold of one edge of the papers inside. Millie held the other end and they pulled together.

"Fuck it’s thick…oh, sorry Millie."

"Don’t worry, Jeff. I’ve heard worse than that in my life. Open it up and read it."

There was silence for a few minutes while Jeff worked his way through what seemed like a forest of papers, then dropped them all on the table and looked blankly across to Millie.

"Jeff…JEFF…are you okay?"

Jeff slowly got up and pulled Millie up with him. Suddenly he grabbed her and swung her around, whooping with joy. He kissed her soundly and put her back down again. After she got her breath back she smiled at him.

"I take it you got good news then…and by the way, you’re one hell of a kisser."

Jeff blushed, realising what she’d said and picked up the letter to show her.

"The realtor got in touch with my solicitor. The house sale went through. Mil, I can’t believe it, have a look see how much they say is now in dad’s estate."

Millie sat back down and read the letter carefully. She looked up at Jeff, who was dancing from foot to foot with pent up energy. Jeff, this is wonderful. You can start your new life wherever you want with this."

"I kinda thought I’d like to start it here, Mil. Everyone has been so friendly, and I’ve even been asked about a couple of jobs. I’m gonna speak with B and Ceri, see if they’ll let me have a bit of land to build a place on."

"Oh Jeff…welcome to The Glen for good."