Cath tapped on the glass and gestured for the boys to come back inside, but Leo shook his head and kicked the ball into the goal while Archie was distracted.
Nel went to the door of the kitchen where Lauren was cutting toasted sandwiches.
‘Do you need a hand?’
‘Nearly done,’ Lauren said.
Nel watched as she arranged the golden triangles on a platter.Her sister was a younger version of their mother.She had a tightness about her though, which Nel had noticed was common in excessively fit people.Her blonde hair was styled in a sleek bob that got shorter and shorter with every passing year.Nel tried to remember if they’d ever been close.They were the best of friends when they were little, according to Cath, but it was hard to imagine now.They were sodifferent.It was as though their parents’ genes had been passed on entirely intact—Cath’s going to Lauren, Rob’s to Nel.
‘I’ll grab some plates,’ Nel said as Lauren carried the platter into the dining room and called the kids.
Once they’d eaten, Nel asked her mum to recount what had happened the day before, trying to make sense of it from a medical perspective.Cath was a little hazy on the details, understandably, but it seemed that the ambos had found Rob unconscious but still alive, slumped on his desk in a pool of vomit.They’d started CPR, attached a monitor and tried to shock him three times, but they were unable to bring him back.
While all this was happening, Cath had been wondering why he wasn’t home.When he didn’t answer her calls, she’d driven to the clinic and arrived to see the ambulance parked outside.The paramedics were wheeling him out on a stretcher when she reached the door.
‘God, poor Dad,’ Nel said eventually, wiping away tears as she imagined the panic of her father’s final moments.‘Do we know when the funeral will be?’
‘Probably Thursday, but it’s not confirmed yet,’ Lauren said, glassy-eyed, as the doorbell rang.‘We’re meeting with the undertaker tomorrow.’
Lauren went to answer the door, returning moments later with two bouquets of flowers that she laid across the table.She unpinned one of the cards.
‘From the staff of Carrinya High School,’ she read.She looked at the row of vases on the mantel, tapping a finger on her lips.‘We’re going to need more vases.I’ll get Steve to bring some of ours.’She reached for her phone and typed a message, then looked back at the flowers, frowning.‘We’ll need to send thankyou cards for these.I’ll start a list.’
Nel didn’t think that was necessary, but she didn’t say so.She reached for the other card on an oversized bunch of dark pink lilies.Sending our condolences at this very difficult time, all our love, Geoff and Faye.
Lauren looked over.‘Who are those from?’
After a moment, Nel said, ‘The Marshalls.’
There was a charged silence, then Cath said, ‘That’s nice of Faye.Lovely arrangement.’
Nel could feel them watching her.‘Do you see her much these days, Mum?’she asked, still looking at the florist’s childish handwriting.The i’s were dotted with little circles.
Cath shook her head.‘I think she spends most of her time painting.’
‘She’s never been the same since losing Maddie,’ Lauren added.Cath shot her a look, but she carried on.‘Geoff spends most of his time in Canberra these days, probably even more so, now that he’s taken over the leadership of the National Party.She’s basically alone, poor woman.’
Nel’s heart dropped as she realised she would have to see the Marshalls at the funeral.It was obvious—Geoff had been her father’s best friend since long before he’d been elected to federal parliament—she just hadn’t thought of it until now.
‘What other news is there around town?’she asked, keen to change the subject.
Cath and Lauren took turns updating her on events in Carrinya.Marriages and divorces, infidelities and bankruptcies.Nel leaned back and listened.She had no idea who half the people were, despite their insistence that she would remember so-and-so from such-and-such, but it was a relief to be talking about strangers.
‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I nearly forgot,’ Lauren said, sitting forward.‘Jimmy’s back!’
‘Jimmy Galatas?’
Lauren nodded.‘He got transferred back here a couple of months ago.’
Nel pictured her old schoolfriend’s dark curls and wide smile, wondering what had brought him back to town.Last she’d heard, he was married and living in Wollongong.She was about to ask more questions but there were footsteps in the hallway and Steve appeared, holding a wine box.Raindrops beaded on his glasses.
‘I brought vases and wine,’ he announced, then he saw Nel and smiled.‘Hello, Nel.’He put down the box and kissed her cheek.‘I’m so sorry about your dad.’He said this with such genuine feeling that Nel felt like she might cry and could only nod in response.
Lauren took a tall vase out of the box and began unwrapping the lilies.Cath reached for a bottle of red.
‘Is it too early for a glass?’she asked, holding up the bottle and glancing at the clock.
There was a surreal feel to the afternoon, as though they were in a bubble, where time was suspended and the real world outside the front door was on a different plane altogether.As it got dark, they turned on lights and the house was filled with a warm yellow glow.Leo and Archie returned from the garden, their lips blue.Lauren ran them a bath.
