“Um… No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s harder than it looks.”
“I didn’t know you were into curries.”
“Damien loves curry. He’s learning how to cook samosas and really wanted a dal, but he’s busy grading papers, so I said I would make it for him. I’m making a red lentil one, but I’m not sure it’s the right consistency.”
Bea didn’t even want to address the fact that her daughter was waiting hand and foot on a man so much older than herself. She knew she was being irrationally touchy about Dani’s dating life, but there was something about the situation that irked her.
“Maybe you should let Damien figure out how to cook dal on his own.”
Dani didn’t reply right away, so Beatrice charged ahead, filling the silence with words. “I called to talk to you about something, actually.”
“What is it, Mum, because I’m about to burn this thing, so I don’t have long.”
“As you know, Aidan proposed.”
“I’m really happy for both of you,” Dani said, sounding partially distracted.
“Will you be my maid of honour.”
“Wow. Really?” Dani’s voice became animated, and she laughed. “I would love that, Mum.”
“We can pick out a dress together if you like, or you can buy one in Sydney before you come. I’m going to ask Aidan’s daughter, Grace, to be a bridesmaid as well, so the two of you will need something to wear, although it doesn’t have to match. We’re keeping things very casual.”
“How casual?” Dani asked. “Because I bought this sari the other day…”
“I’m not sure you could call a sari casual, honey,” Bea interrupted in a chirpy voice. “Let’s try a simple cocktail-style dress instead. We’re going to be on the beach for the ceremony, though, so nothing too floaty.”
“Can I bring Damien?” Dani asked.
And there it was. The question Bea had been dreading. The last person in the world she wanted at her small, intimate and very personal wedding on the beach was the lecturer who had convinced her twenty-one-year-old daughter to give up her sensible nature in order to date him. Surely there was a rule against that at the university. What if they broke up and he decided to fail Dani? There was a conflict of interest her daughter didn’t seem to see.
“I suppose there’s no reason why not…” Bea said, not wanting a fight.
“It’ll be good for you to meet him before we move in together. Did I tell you we’re thinking of getting a flat?”
Bea leaned both elbows on the café counter. “A flat?”
“He’s found this amazing two-bedroom flat we can rent. It’s right next to the university and has this gorgeous swimming pool and a gym downstairs. It would be perfect for us, but I can’t afford my share of the rent with my part-time café job so I might take a break from study to work full-time. I’m planning on switching to architecture anyway, and I’ll need some money saved to really focus on my studies when I do that.”
“What?” Anger flooded Bea’s body, and her head spun. “He wants you to withdraw from your degree so you can work full time at a café and pay his rent?”
Dani groaned. “Mum, you’ve become such a fuddy-duddy lately. We’re in love, and webothwant to be together. Surely you of all people understand that.”
Bea thought her head might explode. She didn’t even know where to start. There were so many issues with what her daughter had said that it gave her a pounding headache.
“Aidan and I are both mature adults who’ve been through a lot — we know who we are and what we want out of life. He’s not asking me to give up on my dreams to be with him. And you shouldn’t consider doing that for a man who could very well be out of your life by next week. I raised you better than that.”
Dani huffed. “Mum, where did your sense of romance go?”
“I think it ran away with your father’s mistress,” Bea replied, then clamped a hand over her mouth. What was she doing? Preston’s actions had nothing to do with their daughter. She shouldn’t be taking out her frustrations, pain and mistrust on Dani.
“That’s not fair, Mum,” Dani said. “I’m going to go before I burn this curry.”
She hung up the phone before Beatrice could protest. Bea closed her eyes and inhaled a slow breath through her nostrils. What was she thinking, talking to Dani that way? She’d been young and impulsive once. Since then, she’d endured a lot, and it had hardened her heart, given her a cynicism she’d never thought possible.
She wanted to protect Dani from heartbreak, but she didn’t want to shield her from life entirely. Life was often found in the absence of planning or common sense — instead, joy came from the unexpected, the connections and the love stories no one saw coming. What if she stepped in and prevented Dani from finding her own great love, like the one she shared with Aidan?
