“They had a fantastic few days.” Danika angles her body toward Kim. “And so did I. Thank you so much for including us.”
“You made it better by being there,” Kim says. “You and Cami.”
“Youmade it for me.” Danika says the words softly over the sudden thundering of her heart. “Kisses.”
It’s the first time either of them has mentioned them aloud. It was as if, by tacit agreement, they pushed that part of the weekend aside—at least for their time away. How could they address it with Cami and Bella there? How could they see what they might be—if anything—when the trip was about the girls, and nature, and good fun times and making special memories?
They couldn’t.
Even now, Danika is aware of their daughters. But she wants to acknowledge what they shared before they get back to Melbourne. It’s as if once there, the city and their everyday liveswill engulf them, and they will push those kisses aside and never mention them again.
Danika doesn’t want that.
She doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but she’s not prepared to dismiss it.
Kim picks up her coffee again, removes the plastic lid, and blows on it.
Danika sees the movement for what it is—a way of buying time—and her heart sinks. “It’s okay if you don’t?—”
“No.” Kim takes a sip of coffee. “I want that. My heart is joyful that you do too. But we have to take this slowly.” She inclines her head to the sleeping girls.
“Yes. I want to say can we see where we go with this, but it’s not that simple. But Kim…” Danika takes a breath, and for a moment she’s lightheaded. The words she wants to say, words that sounded so right and easy in her head as she practiced them in the coffee shop, are now jammed in her throat like a dammed creek. She swallows, and the lump disappears. “I want to see this through. It wasn’t a kiss-and-run, not for me. I wantyouin my life, in every way. I don’t know where we go from here. There’s still so much entangled.”
The smile breaks over Kim’s face like the sunrise. “I don’t know either, but we can try. Together.” She puts the lid back on her coffee and replaces it in the holder. “But now, we’d better keep driving.”
Keep driving. Keep on keeping on. Her life, for as long as Danika can remember. Certainly since Chris died, yes, but before that. Keeping on. The routines, the predictability. Yes, there was love and happy times, but even those had a sameness to them.
But now… Now the future seems golden and glowing.
“So, you’re a camping convert now.” Her mum rolls her eyes. “When you were a kid, you refused to go. And now you love it.”
“We never went camping when I was a kid!” Danika stares at her mum across the kitchen bench. “We always rented a cabin somewhere.”
“Because you refused to camp. You were such a nervous little thing back then, we didn’t force you. And”—she leans forward confidingly, even though her dad is outside with Cami—“I hate camping. Your father, though, loves it. He would jump at the chance to go with you and Cami. I’ll have to work that weekend, though. Whenever it is.”
Danika laughs. “We’ll have to do that. Cami hasn’t stopped asking when she can go again.”
Her mum stands and gets the biccie tin from the cupboard, opens it and pushes it across to Danika. “And how did it go with Kim?”
Danika hesitates. Some things aren’t for sharing, and so her answer needs to be curated. “Good,” she says finally. “We got on well and had a lovely time.”
“And?” Her mum arches an eyebrow.
“We swam, bushwalked, saw kangaroos and?—”
“You sound like a tourist brochure. What aren’t you telling me? Did you and Kim have a falling out? Or”—her sharp eyes sweep over Danika’s face—“did you get on all too well?”
Danika concentrates on selecting a biscuit. “You’ve eaten all the macadamia shortbreads.”
“Don’t change the subject. And there’s some in there if you look.”
“It’s complicated. Kim and I are becoming…close.” She keeps her concentration on the biccie tin, finding a broken shortbread in the corner.
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” her mum says. “For Cami’s sake. And Bella’s. She seems like a lovely kid. Maybe we should invite her and Kim here for a barbecue one weekend.”
“That would be good. Maybe on a Saturday, after soccer. It starts again in a month.”
“Dani, I don’t just mean it’s good for the girls’ sake. I think it’s good that you and Kim are finding each other for your sakes. Whether you’re friends, or…something more.”
