Augi shot Lucy a grateful smile. ‘Not at all. I was thinking how… lucky you are. To have each other.’
‘We’re not always this well-behaved,’ Lucy said. ‘We’re improving with age.’
Augi’s smile faded as memories cascaded in on her. Of helping her mother-in-law in the kitchen, of her father-in-law joking with her, and then later of their terrified faces and worse still, their disownment of her. ‘Sometimes families don’t improve,’ she said eventually. ‘Sometimes they drift apart, and they don’t come back. Sometimes families are complicated.’
‘Is that what happened with yours?’ Lucy asked, in her usual direct manner. ‘Did they drift apart?’
Lucy’s words sent a ripple through her gut of something like fear. It seemed the time had arrived to open up a little.
‘I was raised by my mother.’ Her voice sounded rusty and she cleared her throat. ‘She died. When I was nineteen.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Lucy in a hushed voice so unlike her usual tone. Augi shot her a grateful smile, encouraged to continue. Just a little. Just enough to explain her comment.
‘But it was my parents-in-law to whom I referred. Once I was close to them, a part of their family, but I am no longer.’
‘What happened?’ asked Lucy. ‘I’m sorry, I hope you don’t think I’m prying, but I’m curious.’
‘That’s OK. A lot of things happened. Some of them caused by economic conditions, social conditions and…’ She swallowed again. ‘Other things were more personal.’ She looked into the mid distance, determined to finish what she wanted to say. ‘These things were not understood sometimes, and other times, understood too well but not forgiven. As I say. Complicated.’ She hated how the last word broke a little.
‘Oh, Augi,’ said Lucy, reaching out to her. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up?—’
‘Augustini,’ said Dan in a gentle voice. ‘I apologise for my sister. She talks first and thinks second.’
Augi looked around, shocked. She hadn’t heard him return to the seat beside her. He must have heard every word. But it wasn’t only that which shocked her. So few people used her full name.
‘You used my full name,’ she said.
Dan rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Do you mind? I can call you Augi?—’
‘No,’ she said quickly. Then, softer, ‘I like hearing it. I haven’t heard it spoken like that in a long time.’
‘It’s too beautiful not to be used,’ Dan said, and then seemed horrified that the sentence had come out of his mouth.
Augi’s smile flickered again. ‘It sounds even better when you pronounce it the Greek way, like you did.’
Lucy stared at her brother. ‘Do you know Greek?’
‘God, no. It’s too hard. I tried it once after a holiday there, but gave up pretty quickly.’
‘Then how did you know how to pronounce Augi’s name?’
Dan looked mutinous. ‘YouTube,’ he muttered.
The thought of Dan practising pronouncing her name with the help of a YouTube video got to Augi like nothing else. It made her forget her warning to him to stay away, made her lose her thoughts altogether. Dan shot her an embarrassed smile which she responded to with a wide one of her own. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It felt such an intimate thing he’d done. A revelation as to his inner thoughts.
Dan cleared his throat, retreating to safer ground. ‘Anyway. Augustini was just telling me she has news. About the house.’
Lucy raised her hand to catch her mother’s attention. ‘Mum! Did you hear that? Augi has some news for us.’
Augi had been waiting until later to tell Kate. Because she wasn’t sure how Kate would react. But it seemed Dan’s diversionary tactics had landed her in it.
‘That’s exciting!’ said Kate. ‘What have you found out?’
‘I have a name,’ Augi said.
Lucy leaned forward. ‘Augi, don’t keep us in suspense.’
‘I believe the man in your photograph is a John Kowalski.’
