‘You have to go, Wally,’ I say.
‘Why?’ he says, at the same time as there is a knock at the door. His eyebrows rise. ‘Are you expecting someone?’
‘It’s probably my neighbour. She likes to come over and read me the by-laws of our building.’
I locate my bathrobe and wrap it around myself and Wally heads toward the bathroom. Alfie is at my heels as I fling open the front door. I only have a second to register Rose before she catapults herself into my arms.
‘Rose!’ I choke. ‘What . . .?’ Normally, I don’t mind when Rose hugs me, but today there is something strangling about it. ‘What are you doing here?’
Rose lets me go and I notice she’d managed the hug while balancing a box in one hand. ‘I missed you!’
Rose pushes past me, into the flat.
‘Why are you home early?’ I ask, closing the door.
‘Aren’t you pleased to see me?’ Rose places the box on the table. ‘Don’t answer that. Just sit down. I brought donuts.’
Rose sets the box on the table and opens the lid, demonstrating that she has indeed brought donuts. It’s odd. Rose doesn’t eat donuts very often because of her diabetes. I, on the other hand, eat a lot of donuts. Often Gayle brings a box of them in to the library and while everyone else stands around deliberating whether or not to have one, I am happily helping myself to thirds.
‘Sit!’ Rose repeats.
I look at my watch hesitantly. ‘I have to go to work, Rose! I’m already late.’
‘What time do you have to be at work?’
‘Ten. And I haven’t done yoga yet.’
I expect Rose to ask me why, but she is obviously distracted. ‘It’s just after seven, Fern. You have time to catch up if I drive you to work.’
Reluctantly, I take a seat at the table. The moment I’m seated, the bathroom door opens, and Wally comes out.
‘Hi there,’ he says.
Rose looks at me. She looks so baffled I almost laugh.
‘Rose, this is Wally,’ I say instead. ‘Wally, this is my sister, Rose.’
Wally extends his hand. ‘Good to meet you,’ he says. ‘Though I must point out that my name is in fact Rocco.’ He shoots a reprimanding smile at me.
Rose continues to stare at him. It’s strange. Normally Rose is so poised, so polite. She always has the perfect response to everything. Today, she seems like the sister who doesn’t know how to behave.
‘Pleased to meet you too, Rocco,’ she says finally, taking his outstretched hand. She holds it for longer than appropriate (maximum of three seconds, she’d always told me) and stares at him in a manner I would have considered rude. ‘You look familiar. Have we met before?’
Wally picks up his shoes from beside the door where he’d lined them up neatly the night before. ‘Not that I recall, but you never know. This world is a small place. Anyway, I’ll leave you two to catch up. Fern, I’ll talk to you later?’
It is a statement, but he poses it like a question, rising in intonation at the end. In light of this, I decide to go out on a limb and answer it as one. ‘Sure. Talk to you later.’
Wally gives me a little salute and lets himself out with his shoes still in his hand. It’s so peculiar I find I can’t stop smiling.
I look back at Rose, who is gaping at me.
‘He slept here? Fern! You can’t just invite a strange man into your home!’
‘He’s not that strange.’ I wonder if she is referring to the salute.
‘He’s a stranger, Fern. We don’t know him. Is he the one who drove you home the other night after bowling?’
I nod. ‘In his van.’
‘That’s another thing,’ Rose says. ‘I saw Mrs Hazelbury on the way in and she’s not happy about that caravan outside.’
‘It’s not a caravan,’ I say. ‘It’s a kombi van–’
But Rose isn’t listening. ‘What did you say his name was again? Rocco?’
‘Yes. But I call him Wally.’
‘What’s his last name?’
‘Ryan.’
‘Rocco Ryan.’ Rose frowns frustratedly off into the distance, contemplating that.
‘You still didn’t tell me why you came back from your holiday early! Is everything all right with Owen?’
A tiny smile comes to her lips. ‘Everything is perfect with Owen. We’re back together!’
Rose is beaming. I get the feeling that I should be excited. But I’m confused.
‘Back together? But . . . did you break up?’
‘Well . . . no.’ Rose’s smile fades. ‘It’s complicated. Suffice to say, I have been worried about the state of our relationship these last few months. But not anymore.’ Her smile returns. ‘Now, I’m more confident about it than ever.’
I smile, still not totally understanding.
‘So, where is Owen?’ I ask. ‘Back at your place?’
She shakes her head. ‘He’s got to finish the project he’s working on. But he’ll be back as soon as he can. In the meantime, we need some serious sister time. Just you and me, and these donuts. What do you say?’
She dives into the box and pulls out a chocolate-iced donut for me. She has one too, after checking her blood sugar on her glucometer. When we are done, I shower and get ready, and then Rose drives me to the library. It’s not until much later that day that I realise that Rose never actually explained why she was home early.
JOURNAL OF ROSE INGRID CASTLE
It wasn’t easy leaving Owen. But if there was even a chance that Fern
