“The fattyú,” her dad spits. “I never trusted him. I felt it here.” He hits his chest.
She lets him rant, sees the tears swimming in her mum’s eyes. Maybe she was wrong to keep this from them for so long. She could have done with her dad’s righteous anger, her mum’s sympathy, long ago.
“I’m so sorry, Kim,” her mum whispers. “I should have pressed you. Asked about Chris more. But when he disappeared, you were doing everything you could. And then you told us he’d died, but you didn’t want to talk about it. And I respected that. But I should have come down, should have asked you?—”
“No.” She holds her hand out to the screen as if she could touch her mum’s face. “No, I really didn’t want to talk about it. Icouldn’ttalk about it because of Bella.”
“I understand,” her mother says softly. “But I think there’s more to this story.”
“A ló farát,” her father growls again. “The utter fucking bastard.”
Kim has never heard her dad swear in English before.
“I hired a private investigator,” Kim says. “He found out about Chris’s other family. He gave me all the details. And I turned up on Danika’s doorstep.” She flicks her plait over her shoulder. “In hindsight, that was a bad move. I should have gone about it differently. But eventually Danika listened to me, and although it took a while, now we’re…friends.”
“And Bella?” Her mum’s gaze never leaves Kim’s face.
“Bella has a sister. Danika’s daughter, Camille, is a few months younger.”
The silence is longer this time, the implications obvious.
“Bella found it difficult, but she had already met Cami at soccer. The girls were friends first, sisters later.”
Her parents have questions. Questions about how Chris got away with it for so long. About Bella. And then about Danika and Cami.
“So you pretend to be friends because of Bella,” her father says. “So she can have her sister?”
“No,” Kim says. “Wearefriends. It wasn’t easy, and yes, originally, it was for the girls’ sakes. But now, we have a good relationship in its own right.” Oops. Wrong word. Her mother’s ears are already pricking like a fruit bat’s at sunset. “We’re good friends.” She says to deflect her mother. She’s not ready to share whatever it is she has with Danika yet.
“We will come down,” her father says. “I want to hold you and Bella. I want to be angry at Chris.” He spits the name like abullet. “If he were not already dead, I would murder him. And I would like to meet this Danika and Camille.”
“That’s one reason I’m calling you,” Kim says. “Bella wants a funeral for Chris. It’s all been so open-ended, so muddled, she never got proper closure. It will be small. Us, you, and hopefully Suze and Jorie.”
“Danika and Cami?” her mum asks.
“I hope so. I haven’t asked them yet. Danika’s parents, too.”
“We will be there,” her mum says. “And for Bella’s sake, we will be nice about Chris. We will come because you are our daughter, and Bella is our grandchild, and we have failed you in this. You get your stoicism from your dad, but I should have realised you were holding it tight to your chest.” She draws a deep breath. “And I, too, would like to meet Bella’s sister and her mother.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Danika
“You look very nice,” Danika says. “Smart.”
Cami is wearing her best jeans and her turquoise-and-pink shirt. The shirt is too tight and too short and shows a strip of tummy, but Cami says it was her dad’s favourite shirt so she’s wearing it for him.
Danika can’t argue with that. She looks down at what she’s wearing. Kim said dress is casual and colourful, so she’s wearing a mid-length skirt in a sea-green pattern paired with a teal-coloured top with a scalloped neck. It clings in the right places without being tight.
The celebration of Chris’s life starts at ten, and they are meeting at the St Kilda breakwater. Danika isn’t sure she wants to revisit this, but there was no question they wouldn’t attend. It’s not for them. It’s not for Chris. It’s for Bella. Kim made that clear when she rang Danika to issue the invitation.
They find Kim and Bella easily enough. They’re standing at the end of the breakwater with Suze and Jorie. There’s a lidded clay pot at Kim’s feet.
The kids go into a huddle, and Danika joins the adults. She’s met Suze before, and while she’s welcoming on the surface,Danika senses she’s being scrutinised. Fair enough. That’s what best friends are for—Mirza has Danika’s back, too.
Kim kisses Danika on the cheek. Her lips barely graze the skin, but when she pulls away, Suze is staring at her.
“We’re just waiting for your parents, and mine,” Kim says. “Mum texted to say they’re on their way. They stayed at the Novotel last night. They aren’t comfortable on the sofa bed.”
