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They both looked over at Serena, who was still laughing. She wiped her tears as she tried to calm herself. “So, the other night on your date, did you, you know?” Serena finally managed as she wiggled her eyebrows.

“No. We did not.”

“There is absolutely no shame in wanting to go further, just so you know.” Serena cradled her glass of wine.

“I know. And to be honest, he wanted to, but we didn’t. He said he didn’t want to take advantage of me because I’d had a few drinks.”

“Aww,” Josie murmured.

“Oh, stop. That is too sweet.” Serena held her hands to her chest.

Hazel steered the conversation onto other random topics as they demolished the rest of the pizzas.

Serena begged once again to see the new bathroom.

Hazel led them around the house, showing off Sam’s work. She took them both up to Molly’s studio and revealed her mother’s new collection. Both Josie and Serena were in love with the vase and flowers Molly had made. Josie approached the easel sitting in the bay window.

Molly had finished the pink peony painting and had moved onto her next piece. Stacked against the window were two near finished pieces, with the third resting on the easel. Molly had painted a similar inky background on these three accompanying pieces. Each painting featured a small posy of delicate pansy flowers. The first was an explosion of bright orange and rich purple pansies. The second had a mixture of white, cream and shades of cornflower blue. The third, sitting on the easel, showed petals the colour of raspberries.

“They match the snapdragons,” Josie mused. She approached the canvas. “Can I touch it?”

Hazel nodded, and Josie traced her finger along the textured lines of the petals.

“I want this. Are they in a set or individual?”

“They are a set, but Mum has always sold them individually if someone asks. I would assume the same rules apply here. She’s showing the collection next month.”

“Can I come?” Josie queried as Hazel nodded in reply.

“What are you girls doing tomorrow?” Serena cut in as they made their way back to the lounge room.

“Nothing at all,” Hazel said with a laugh.

“I have a few things to do for work, but I’m flexible.” Josie pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“I thought we could go shopping in town? It’s school holidays. Perks of being a teacher!” Serena chuckled.

“I’m in. I can’t afford to buy much, though. I don’t have a job!” Hazel smoothed the skirt of her linen smock.

“We can window shop. I thought it would be something nice we could do together. We could get lunch at Bird & Book,” Serena suggested.

“Oh, I think I’ve seen that on social! It looks so nice,” Josie chirped.

Once again, Hazel caught herself thinking how lovely it was to see Josie open up. She was funny, smart and quite bubbly once she was comfortable. Perhaps she was shy around new people.

“Let me add you! What’s your username?” Serena took her phone out of her pocket and opened the social media app.

“I don’t have one,” Josie snapped quickly. A panicked look replaced the smile that had been plastered on her face for the previous hour.

Uh oh, Hazel thought. There’s got to be more to this than Josie being shy.

“But you just said,” Serena’s eyebrows knitted together as she trailed off.

“I said I don’t have one!” Josie repeated in a clipped tone. Clearly flustered, she pushed her chair away from the table and grabbed her bag. “Thanks for the lovely evening, Hazel. I better head off.” Josie practically scampered to the door.

Hazel and Serena stared at each other, stunned. They heard the front door slam shut, and seconds later a car started.

“Um, what was that about?” Serena asked, perplexed, her brow furrowed.