Rosa and Billy both turned. Rosa waved and changed direction, and then Billy smiled and followed.
"How was the spa?" Janka asked as they reached the table.
"Better than I expected, but this weather..." Rosa pointed out the window as the flurrying snow picked up and a wind blew thesurface snow up into the air. "Are you sure it's safe to be skiing in this?"
"It's what we live for," Robbie declared, laughing.
"Carl wouldn't let us do anything dangerous. Chill out, Mum," Imogen gently chided.
"So, where is Grandma?" Billy asked, looking around the room. "I thought she said she'd meet us for lunch?"
Imogen shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be here soon. Anyway, I am famished." She picked up the menu then put it back down. "I don't know why I'm looking…I'm having the burger."
"Me too," Janka said, adding her menu to the pile. They both turned and looked at Robbie.
"I'm going to have the wiener schnitzel."
"Okay..." Imogen teased.
"What? It sounds nice, and I like trying new things."
Rosa patted her arm. "Take no notice of them, you have whatever you want. In fact, I might have the same. You're right, it does look nice." She glanced up at Billy as she said it.
"Well, I'm going to have…Tyrolean Gröstl," Billy said, turning to find Rosa still looking at her. Billy smiled and Rosa's lips curved in response.
Imogen kicked her feet out, each one bumping into a friends’ foot. "See?" she whispered, "Tell me it's not."
Chapter fourteen
Meredith arrived just as Carl called to say he was returning to fetch the girls for their afternoon session. She smoothly swept into the room, before claiming an empty seat and ordering a 'quick glass of wine’.
"Honestly, I thought I'd never get out of there." Meredith grinned and continued her fabricated story, "Everything takes twice as long because Schultz needs to translate back and forth. I'm afraid my uptake of the language isn't yet up to scratch for full-on conversations."
"Surely someone speaks English well enough to help," Rosa said.
Meredith nodded. "They probably do, but I'll never learn if everyone just speaks to me in English."
Rosa tilted her head. "I guess so. They do say immersion is the best way to learn something new."
"I definitely found that helpful with therapy," Billy said. "There's nowhere to escape to. At first, your brain can'tunderstand it, but after a while, it begins to find a new way to think in order to begin understanding it."
The table fell quiet, everyone watching Billy.
"I'm glad it helped you," Imogen said.
"We had therapy, as a family and individually, when my parents died," Robbie said. "It was helpful."
Her eyes met Billy's as she smiled in understanding.
"It must have been such a shock for you all," Rosa said. "I can't imagine…"
"Yeah. Massive. I'm just glad that I had the chance to know them, though, you know? I have memories and lots of good times to think about, but I feel bad for Max. He was so young, his memories are limited and mostly need a photo or video to jog them."
"And Cassie?"
"For a while she was my shadow. I think she thought I'd be next," she chuckled, "but she's doing okay now. Pippa has become a great surrogate mum, I think. She's the glue. Aunt Georgia is…Aunt Georgia," she said, laughing. "Family is everything at the end of the day, isn't it? No matter how it fits together."
"Wise words, Robbie." Meredith winked at her before swallowing down the last of her wine. "So, who's for a wander around town this afternoon?"
