‘Here,’ Kay answers me, stepping into the hall. My eyes widen in surprise, but I quickly recover as I sweep her into my arms. She’s grown so tall in the last two years! And so slim and beautiful! She’s no longer a little girl.
She pulls away, slightly embarrassed.
‘How was your flight?’ I ask.
‘Long,’ Kay replies with a wry grin, and a memory comes back to me of that question being asked of me time and time again when I first moved to Australia.
‘I watched five movies on the plane,’ Isabel butts in.
‘Five? Didn’t you get any sleep?’ I fake outrage.
‘Nope,’ she says happily.
‘Hello, Lily.’ It’s Lorraine.
‘Hey!’ I say, going to give her a hug.
‘I thought I’d better come out here as this is clearly where the action is.’ She laughs and indicates the tiny hallway.
‘Sorry, shall we come through?’ I point towards the living room.
‘Yes, come on in. What would you like to drink?’
‘Or should we go straight down to dinner?’ Dad interjects.
‘Dinner, dinner!’ Olivia cries. ‘I’m starving.’
‘Me, too,’ Isabel pipes up. Kay merely shrugs.
‘I’m easy,’ I say. ‘I’ll fall in with you guys.’
‘Listen to you, you’re sounding all Australian these days,’ Lorraine teases.
‘Am I?’
‘No,’ Dad says. ‘You still sound like Lily.’ He wraps his arm around my waist. ‘Go and get your shoes,’ he tells his other daughters. ‘Is it cold outside?’ he asks me.
‘A little. But aren’t we eating in the downstairs restaurant?’
‘Of course.’ He laughs and gives me a squeeze. ‘That’s my girl, always thinking outside the box.’
I blush. He’s still my doting dad and that, it seems, will never change.
*
The next morning, Richard and I rise early and say our goodbyes at the front door. He’s leaving early to hitch a ride with Nathan and Lucy, and I’m going into the city to have breakfast with my family.
‘Be careful,’ I urge. ‘Don’t catch any waves that are taller than me.’
He laughs. ‘I’ll be sitting on the beach sunbathing, then.’
‘That’s what I’d prefer,’ I say, trying not to think about him crashing into rocks or getting up close and personal with a shark.
‘I’ll be careful,’ he promises, giving me a kiss on the tip of my nose. ‘Love you.’
‘Love you, too.’
‘Have a good time with your family.’
