As they start for the clubhouse, Kim puts out a hand. “Before we go over there, Bella’s been asking to see Cami. I’ve said nothing to her yet,” she adds. “Would it be okay if Cami came over one afternoon, maybe next Saturday? Bella has soccer in the morning; I’m sure Cami has too. She could come after that.”
Danika looks at her feet. It has a feeling of inevitability about it, that the two sisters become close. And she wants that forCami; she really does. With no other siblings, her cousins so much older than her, nearly adults, it would be good for Cami to have someone close. It’s she and Kim who are the problem.
“What about us?” she asks. “Are you expecting us to become friends?”
Kim bites her lip. “It would be easier. But I understand if that’s a step too far. I can give you time, Danika.”
She looks at Kim, at the hair falling out of her thick plait and hanging around her face. There’s a smear of mud on one cheekbone, and grass and dirt speckle her shiny black tights. Her legs… She jerks her gaze away from Kim’s thighs and looks up at the sky. It’s blue, but clouds are already blowing in. “It might rain.”
Kim’s face closes over, and she turns away.
Too late, Danika realises how her vague comment might have sounded. “Wait. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blow you off. Sometimes I just say random things that fly through my head. It’s a distraction mechanism, I think. A way of coping.”
Kim nods and waits.
“I’ll ask Cami before we leave. If she wants to, that’s okay with me. It would be wrong of me to deny her because I’m uncomfortable with it. But if she doesn’t want to continue seeing Bella, then that’s the end of it. I’m not going to tell her the truth yet, though.” She swallows hard as the thought of the words she has to say overwhelms her. “But soon.”
“If the kids are going to see each other, we should try to coordinate that,” Kim says. She tilts her head, and her soft gaze rests on Danika’s face. “You’re welcome to stay, too, when you bring Cami over. Maybe we could take the kids to the beach.”
“Thanks. Can I let you know?”
Kim nods again, and they resume walking to the clubhouse.
The line for the sausages snakes out the door. The smell of fried onions makes Danika’s stomach turn. Her stomach hasbeen jumpy for weeks now—no prizes for guessing why. Her mum grabs her arm as she walks in the door. “Dani, come and stop Camille eating her third sausage. She’ll be sick. Oh!” Shirley is staring at Kim, and there’s unabashed curiosity in her gaze.
Kim shuffles her feet. “I’d better rescue my daughter too.”
“Bella?” Shirley asks. At Kim’s nod, she holds out her hand. “I’m Danika’s mother, Shirley.” She holds Kim’s hand for a moment too long. “Dani, maybe you should rescue Camille.”
“And leave you two alone?” To Kim, she says, “She knows.”
“I guessed.” Kim’s eyes flash wariness, and the two of them share a moment of something that’s almost like understanding.
“No drama from me.” Shirley touches Kim’s arm. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for your loss, and that, if you’re comfortable with it, one day, I’d love to get to know Bella.”
Danika looks at her mother. In one sentence, Shirley has offered more than she has done in the weeks since she found out. She twitches uncomfortably. It’s different for her mum—she’s that step removed from all of this. She’s not the one dealing with betrayal and shame and the realisation her husband wasn’t who she thought he was. Anger twists in her stomach. It’s not her mother’s place to offer this outreach.
“Thank you,” Kim says. “I appreciate that. But I think it best that we hold that for now. First, I have to figure out with Danika what we’re going to do.” She glances at Danika, and Danika catches her breath. There’s understanding and compassion in those soft brown eyes. As if she knows the minefield they’re treading. And too, she’s protecting Bella. After all, she doesn’t know Danika’s mother, doesn’t know that despite her rather forceful manner, Shirley is kind and considerate.
That thought makes her take a mental step back. Her mother is caring and loving, and maybe she’s saying in her most tactful way yet that Danika should move forward with this. She licks her dry lips.
Shirley glances from one to the other. “I’d better wade in and be firm about Cami’s sausage-eating. She’s probably on her fifth by now. Bye, Kim. It was nice to meet you.” She heads toward the BBQ.
Danika looks around for her dad and sees him by the door chatting with a couple of blokes. She’s not even sure if her mum has told him about Kim and Bella, but from his lack of curiosity, she assumes not.
So that leaves her and Kim, an island in a sea of people. “Thanks for not leaping on my mother’s idea.”
“I’ve never liked to push in where I’m not wanted,” Kim says. “And while Shirley seemed totally genuine, you’re the important one here. You and Cami.”
Danika nods. “I’m getting there. Cami is everything to me, and I want what’s best for her. And I think that means you and Bella.”
“Talk of.” The breath leaves Kim’s body in a grunt as Bella flings herself at her.
Cami dances up. “I’m really full.”
“So I heard,” Danika says. “Four sausages.”
“Five,” Bella says, and they both giggle.
