“Mum, can Bella come over tomorrow? We want to practice soccer,” Cami says.
“Not tomorrow. We’re going to Granny and Gramps’s for lunch. But Kim has invited you to go over next Saturday after soccer.”
“Yay!” Cami turns to Bella. “That’s awesome.”
“I guess that’s a yes then.” Danika rolls her eyes at her daughter and turns to Kim. “Yes, she’d love that, even though she’s not polite enough to tell you herself.”
“Thank you for inviting me, Kim,” Cami says. “I’d love to come.”
“Better.” Danika looks around for Sylvie, hoping she’s not being excluded, but she’s with Mirza and a group of other kids.
“I’ll text you our address,” Kim says. “We’re home from soccer around noon. “Does lunch at one o’clock work for you?”
Lunch. That’s a bit of a step up from before. But she needs to do this. It’s not all about her. “Sure.”
And that’s that. There will be no going back after this. She has a week to reconcile herself to the idea that soon, maybe not next week, but soon, Camille’s family will grow, and Danika can’t remain apart from that.
Chapter Ten
Kim
“No tomatoes,” Bella says. “Cami doesn’t like them.”
“I’ll add it to the list.” So far, Bella’s said that Cami doesn’t like tomatoes, spinach, radishes, or smelly cheese—all the things that Bella dislikes. Genetics, or maybe Bella’s pulling a fast one and making sure lunch is something she likes the most.
“And she loves ice cream and chicken nuggets and anything spicy. Like really spicy. We’re gonna have a spicy-food contest one day.”
“She does?” That was one for the genetics side of the argument. How many little kids liked hot food? Only Bella that she knew of—and now Cami.
“Yup,” Bella says. “So you could’ve made your spicy noodles, as long as there was no?—”
“Tomato, spinach, or radish. I get it. Next time.”
Kim wonders at Bella’s enthusiasm for Cami. Bella has lots of friends, but she’s got close to Cami quicker than anyone. All week, Bella’s chatter was all about Cami, and she hardly mentioned Jorie.
“I can’t wait for Cami to get here.” Bella pirouettes then twirls and narrowly avoids crashing into the shelving. “I’m gonna showher my bedroom, and Sam Kerr’s autograph, and then we’ll go down to the beach and practice.”
“What, no lunch?” Kim teases.
Bella gives her a ‘duh’ look. “After lunch.”
The doorbell rings, and Bella leaps into the air and races to answer it. Kim follows more sedately.
“Hi, Cami. Hi, Danika.” For someone so keen ten seconds ago, Bella has now gone shy.
“This is cool,” Cami says. “I like that you live on the top floor. Can we go on the roof?”
“Sure, if our mums come too. Kids can’t go alone.” Bella’s hesitation vanishes in a flash, and she takes Cami’s hand and tugs her down the hall. “I’m glad you’re here. Come see my room.”
The kids disappear, leaving Danika hovering at the door.
Kim smiles. “Please, come in and make yourself at home.”
“Thanks.” Danika offers a tentative smile in return and follows Kim down the hallway.
In the kitchen, she turns to offer tea, coffee, water, or wine, but Danika isn’t there. She’s still in the hallway, staring through the open door to Kim’s bedroom. For a second, Kim is puzzled, but then she gets it with a bang. Danika’s staring at the bed Kim shared with Chris. The king bed is the same; she can’t bring herself to change it. But the sheets—pale mint green—are new, as is all the bedding. But Danika doesn’t know that. She’s standing, her hand on the doorframe, taking in the bed, the bench with Kim’s costume jewellery spilling over the surface—and the photos of Chris, Kim, and Bella. Kim hasn’t removed them for Bella’s sake.
Too late, Kim realises she should have closed the door, especially so that Cami doesn’t see the photos. She’d asked Bella to remove photos of Chris from her room, saying that it might upset Cami whose own father had recently died. Bella hadnodded and let Kim take them. But she’d assumed no one would see in her room.
