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  Rufus, however, came forward and shook her hand, then did one of those meaningless kissy-kissy gestures above each cheek in turn. ‘Welcome to Australia.’

  His voice and expression weren’t exactly warm but he was at least being polite, so she replied in a similar vein. ‘It’s nice to be here.’

  Aaron beckoned to her. ‘Come and sit next to me, Mara. Here’s your glass.’

  Peggy had been moving towards him but threw another scowl at the newcomer and changed course to plonk down next to her mother.

  Rufus stayed where he was, letting the others sit down before taking the seat next to Mara on her other side, so that the group was arranged in a semi-circle facing the water.

  Aaron was filling two more champagne flutes but Peggy said sharply, ‘Not for me, Dad. You know I don’t drink much nowadays.’

  ‘I thought that was when you were living with Mike.’

  ‘No, it’s my own healthy lifestyle choice.’

  ‘Grab some fizzy water, then.’ He handed his son the glass, staying on his feet and waiting till Peggy re-joined them. He lifted his glass, inclining his head towards the newcomer. ‘Welcome to Australia and to our family, Mara.’

  Everyone except Peggy clinked glasses with her and murmured a welcome. Peggy merely waved her bottle of water around without touching its contents to her lips.

  Mara took a sip and said, ‘Mmm,’ then leant back in the comfortable outdoor chair and tried to look relaxed. She doubted she’d succeeded. This felt like a fantasy world full of rich people and she felt uncomfortably out of place.

  ‘How was the flight?’ Rufus asked.

  ‘Wonderful. I slept for nearly half of it. I’ve never flown business class before.’

  ‘I mostly have to go cattle class now that I’m an independent adult,’ he said. ‘When I’ve made my first couple of million, I’ll switch to business class like our lord and master here.’ He gave his stepfather a cheeky grin.

  Peggy was staring blankly at the water, not attempting to join in. She looked unhappy underneath her sharpness and Mara remembered Aaron saying she’d split up from her boyfriend.

  ‘Do you good to live within your income like the rest of the world, Rufus my lad,’ Aaron said. ‘How did the meeting go today?’

  ‘It was interesting. I think the deal will go through OK. Though you can never be sure, of course, and I’m only one cog in the machinery.’

  ‘Rufus is working for a big international company, still gaining experience in various areas,’ Aaron explained to Mara. ‘I’m semi-retired, in the process of selling my company.’

  ‘I’m not sure what you do.’

  ‘We offer an international front for various smaller businesses, among other things, and help them sell their goods in Europe and North America.’

  ‘I see.’ She didn’t really but didn’t know what else to ask so kept quiet.

  Emma filled the awkward silence. ‘What do you do, Mara?’

  ‘I’ve been doing the software for a toy company, only I got made redundant a few weeks ago.’

  ‘Last in, first out, eh?’ the older woman asked in a sympathetic tone of voice.

  ‘Something like that.’ She wasn’t going to sound like a complaining sort by giving them any details.

  ‘What’s for tea, Ma?’ Rufus asked. ‘I’ve got a hot date tonight and don’t want to be late.’ He twirled an imaginary moustache.

  Peggy rolled her eyes. ‘Idiot. It’s only Jenn.’

  ‘Why do you say “only”?’ Emma asked. ‘He’s been out with her a few times now since he’s been back. I like her.’

  ‘Because he can do better than her. She’s way overweight, so she’ll be even fatter when she gets older. Must pig out a lot when she’s on her own.’

  Her brother glared at her. ‘Jenn does not pig out! She has an underactive thyroid and that can make it hard to keep her weight down. I’ve told you before to stop making judgements about other people’s bodies. Just because you’ve decided to get scrawny doesn’t mean everyone else has to walk around looking like a stick insect.’

  ‘I don’t think we want to spoil this occasion by bickering,’ Aaron said quietly.

  The two of them subsided but continued to scowl at one another.

  What was all that about? Mara wondered. She agreed with Rufus, though. Peggy was far too thin.

  Emma got up and went into the kitchen, coming back with a big platter, which she offered to Mara first. ‘Grab one of those small plates and try some of my crispy bites. If you’ll just fetch the vegetable kebabs, that’ll be a help, Peggy.’

  Her daughter continued to scowl as she moved slowly into the kitchen, coming back with another platter.

  Mara took a couple of the bites and waited for the others to serve themselves.

  Aaron joined in. ‘Before you sit down, Peggy, could you also bring the platter of cheese in, please? Save your mother a trip after she’s put the food together for us.’

  To her surprise Mara saw Peggy scowl and move back towards the kitchen at a deliberately slow pace. More childish behaviour. To hide her disapproval, she nibbled one of the pieces. ‘Mmm. These are delicious. I can’t quite figure what’s in them, though.’

  ‘Whatever veggies and leftover meat I have handy with a special spicy sauce I make myself, then all wrapped in filo pastry. I’ll give you the recipe if you like. It’s easy to make in advance. Thanks, Peggy.’

  Mara chewed another mouthful with relish. ‘I’d like the recipe very much. Dad and I love spicy food.’ She watched Peggy put the cheese platter down without offering it to her, then sit, pick up her glass of water and take a sip. She made no attempt to eat anything. More fool her. The food was delicious.

  Rufus’s voice brought her attention back to the group. ‘Is your mother a good cook, Mara?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. And she doesn’t even try at the moment because she’s not well. Recently we’ve been getting takeaways but Mum doesn’t like the smell of them, so Dad and I just have them occasionally and we take it in turns to rustle something else up. She’s very conservative in her ways.’ Actually, her mother called the takeaways ‘foreign muck’ quite openly but they ignored that.

  ‘She always went for plain food when I knew her,’ Aaron commented.

  Which was a good way of summing up her mother’s approach to eating, she thought as she turned to Emma. ‘I’ll help out in any way I can while I’m here, but I’m not the world’s best cook, not in your league if these are anything to judge by. I’d love to learn new dishes, though, if you have time. Curries are my best at the moment, because I used to share a flat with an Indian friend.’

  ‘Then we’ll look forward to an occasional curry night, as long as you keep them mild.’

  ‘That much cooking will put you way ahead of Peggy,’ Aaron commented. ‘Since she came back home, she seems to have forgotten how to cook and has yet to prepare a meal for the whole family. Even a mere male like me can manage a barbecue from time to time.’

  ‘Ma does it so much better than me.’ His stepdaughter’s voice was sharp.

  ‘But she shouldn’t always have to cook,’ Aaron said. ‘And you hardly eat anything. That’s not healthy.’

  Peggy glared at him.

  Was she always so touchy? Mara wondered. Surely at her age she should be taking a share of the household chores without being told?

  The atmosphere became easier once Rufus and Peggy had left to meet their friends. The three of them continued to sit outside near the canal, but no one forced conversation.

  As it grew dark, Emma advised Mara to put on some insect repellent when a mosquito came buzzing around to investigate her, whining past her ear.

  Aaron switched on a gadget on the wall which he said helped deter the little pests. ‘Nothing gets rid of them completely, though, and mozzies seem to enjoy nibbling newcomers. What blood type are you?’

  She was surprised at the question, which seemed like a non sequitur. ‘O positive.’

  ‘Like
me. Some people say mozzies prefer O type blood. Emma and her two have B positive and they don’t seem to get bitten as much, I must admit.’

  ‘I never knew that.’

  ‘If your bites swell, tell me. I have a great remedy. You dampen a chunk of rock salt and rub it on the bite every few minutes for the first hour or so. I’ll put a piece in your bathroom tomorrow.’ Emma waggled her glass at Aaron. ‘Is there any fizz left?’

  ‘No. I’ll open another bottle.’

  He’d poured more for Mara before she could stop him. She’d better keep count. It slipped down very easily.

  He turned to his wife. ‘Peggy doesn’t seem to be coping all that well with her break-up. I’ve never seen her so grumpy.’

  ‘No.’ Emma looked across at their guest. ‘She and her guy broke up recently. Turns out he’s commitment phobic and doesn’t want children. I think she was expecting wedding bells and she’d definitely been getting broody.’

  ‘Frankly, she can do better for herself than him, so I’m glad to see the back of him,’ Aaron said.

  Emma turned to Mara. ‘Do you have a steady guy? Tell me to mind my own business if you don’t want to talk about it.’

  Mara shook her head. ‘I don’t mind you asking. I don’t have anyone now. I was in a relationship for a while but it didn’t work out. It’s been a couple of months and I’m well over him. It wasn’t a great romance or anything, though he could be fun.’

  ‘Was he commitment phobic? So many guys seem to be these days.’

  ‘No, just delaying marriage till he’s climbed a bit higher up the managerial ladders. The trouble was he didn’t mind who he trod on to get the promotions, me included. I’m definitely not looking for a replacement guy. I need to sort my own life out first, get a new job and a new place to live.’

  Emma let out a sudden gurgle of laughter. ‘Be careful what you say. I’d given up men definitely for ever the day before I met Aaron. It didn’t take him long to make me change my mind.’

  It was as if a little of their marital happiness spilt out around them, making Mara smile. Once again she wished she’d grown up in a loving household like this.

  When a sudden yawn caught her out, she gave the other two a rueful smile and said, ‘I think my need for sleep is beginning to win over my enjoyment of sitting out here chatting to you and looking at the moon shining on the water. It gets dark more quickly here, considering you’re coming up to summer.’

  ‘We don’t have daylight saving like the UK,’ Aaron said.

  ‘Ah. That explains it. I’d have found out more about Western Australia if the trip hadn’t blown up so suddenly.’

  Emma waved one hand dismissively. ‘We usually shorten it to WA and you’ve done very well at fitting in with our time of day. If you wake up hungry during the night, just go and raid the fridge. There’s plenty of fruit and some biscuits on the surface next to the fridge in the tin marked with that same magic word. Well, there ought to be. I’ll check before I go to bed. Rufus does tend to raid them rather frequently.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  When she’d gone, Aaron looked at his wife. ‘She seems a nice lass.’

  ‘Bit old to be called a lass, but yes. Nice and with very good manners, but a bit shy or reserved, I don’t know which yet.’

  ‘I’m trying to tread carefully.’

  She hesitated then said gently, ‘Don’t forget that it takes time to build up a rapport with someone, Aaron love.’

  ‘It only took a few minutes with you.’

  ‘That was a once in a lifetime moment.’

  ‘Yes, wasn’t it? Come on. I’ll put a cap on the bottle. Time to go to bed, my darling.’

  ‘I hope my two come in quietly, especially Rufus. It is a working day tomorrow, after all. He’s been getting back rather late. You can only do without sleep for so long.’

  ‘I think he’s a bit taken with this Jenn.’ He grinned at her. ‘We must be getting old, watching the young ones start courting.’

  ‘I don’t mind. Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be,’ she quoted. ‘I adore Browning’s romantic poems. He certainly understood what it was to love someone.’

  ‘So did his wife. How do I love thee, let me count the ways. It must have been great for two poets to marry.’

  They exchanged affectionate glances then Emma stood up. ‘Come on. Peggy will probably say something scornful if she catches us being loving towards one another.’

  ‘She’s a bit hard to live with at the moment.’

  ‘She’s hurting about Mike and has gone into man-hating mode to hide it. I’m glad Rufus found Jenn. I think people were meant to live in pairs. Keep your fingers crossed it works out. I’d like to have grandchildren one day.’

  ‘So would I.’ Something else occurred to him: if Mara had indeed had children, they’d carry on his bloodline. That idea warmed something inside him that had been faintly sad for years.

  Chapter Nine

  Mara woke with a start the following morning, not knowing where she was for a few seconds then realising she was in Australia. Wow, she really was! She looked at a bedside clock and found it only just after five o’clock in the morning, getting light already. No need to rush getting up. Emma seemed very laid back about how the house functioned.

  She lay there for a few minutes thinking over her first encounter with her birth father. Aaron seemed very nice but he clearly didn’t know how to bridge the gap between them. Neither did she. It was such a yawning gap, thirty years. Where did you start catching up? What did you include or leave out?

  Deciding she’d had enough of lying in bed, she got up and went to stare out of the window, looking along the side of the house. It furnished a tantalising glimpse of the sparkling blue water and the blue sky above. How wonderful to live right next to water!

  She decided on another quick shower then donned a casual skirt and tee, with flat sandals, leaving her legs bare. That felt great after a cold autumn and early winter where she’d been bundled in layers of clothes. The bad weather of the approaching winter had seemed to echo her own unsatisfactory personal and professional life.

  What did you do when you were in the wrong type of job and couldn’t afford to change tracks? Let alone, you had a mother who would make your life a misery if you even hinted at doing something different. Mara hadn’t found working in IT fulfilling, though she was competent at what she did. She’d wanted to study art but her mother had hit the roof about that and after her mother’s two breakdowns she hadn’t liked to rock the boat.

  What would Aaron say if she told him the truth? No, she couldn’t. It might sound as if she was asking to be given financial support.

  There was no one in the kitchen so she made herself a cup of coffee and took it outside to drink. As the door to the patio was still locked, she assumed she was the first to get up. Outside it felt pleasantly warm already and she sat watching a few gulls squabbling over who knew what morsels further down the canal.

  She heard a door slide open and turned to look at the house, but there was no one around. A movement caught her eye next door and she saw that the sound had come from there. A tall guy of about her own age had just come out onto the patio, wearing shorts and a faded tee shirt. She felt like a voyeur because he hadn’t noticed her. He too was carrying a mug and took a sip, standing staring at the water as if the sight were new to him.

  Oh yes, she remembered now. Emma had said he’d inherited the house from his mother. He must have come from the northern hemisphere because he didn’t have that slightly tanned look her father and his family did.

  When he turned round, he noticed her. After a moment’s hesitation, he raised one hand in greeting, so she did the same. But he clearly wasn’t after any sort of conversation because he turned away from her again and moved towards the small table and chairs which were all his patio boasted by way of furnishings.

  She watched in appreciation the loose-limbed grace of his movements. A man at ease in his own body, this, and quite goo
d looking, with hair a dark brown, and a profile which would have sat well on a Greek statue.

  That thought made her smile. She didn’t usually stare at strange guys, but the two of them seemed to be the only ones up so early along this stretch of the canal and he couldn’t see her staring, could he? She continued to watch him until she’d finished the coffee, then her stomach growled so she went back into the house in search of food. Emma had said to help herself so she picked up a luscious-looking peach from a pile in a fruit bowl, sinking her teeth into it with a low hum of pleasure.

  She was disappointed to hear footsteps coming down the stairs, because she’d been enjoying the early morning peace. She was even more disappointed to see Peggy come into the kitchen.

  The other woman stopped to scowl at her. ‘Are you an early riser or just jetlagged?’

  ‘Early riser.’

  ‘So am I, but I don’t like to chat till I’ve woken up properly. Nothing personal but I’m going to make a cup of tea and sit outside on my own, I hope.’

  Like that, was it? Well, let Peggy keep her distance but Mara wasn’t going to stop sitting outside whenever she wanted to.

  More footsteps sounded soon afterwards and Rufus came into the kitchen. He nodded a greeting to Mara, then looked outside and added, ‘Don’t take it personally if she was grumpy. She’s always been like that in the mornings.’

  ‘Are you an early riser too?’

  ‘Only on working days. I have to be at the office by eight a.m. and it’s a forty-minute drive away.’

  ‘That’s an early start.’

  ‘This is Australia. Everything seems to start earlier here than in the UK. Did Aaron tell you I don’t usually live here? I’m just staying with them temporarily while I’m on a short posting to my company’s West Australian office.’

  He set about getting something to eat and Mara decided to let him go first in the kitchen. She went across to a bookcase and chose a thriller by an author she’d enjoyed before. When Rufus sat down to eat, she returned to the kitchen area and decided to grab a slice of toast to put her on until the others got up.