‘Caitlin, haven’t you forgotten something?’ Chuck called over to Caitlin.
‘What?’ Caitlin turned around and looked our way.
‘Aren’t you supposed to introduce me to your friend?’
‘You both look perfectly well acquainted to me,’ she said and turned her head again.
‘Oh, Caity, come on, you sound a little jealous now,’ Chuck said, laughing at her. I was amazed by the audacity; I had never once dared to laugh at Caitlin.
Chuck looked at me. ‘I presume you are Sasha?’ He held out his hand, the one he had been feeding the hens with. I looked at it and laughed.
He looked down at it and snorted out a laugh. ‘Oh, sorry, mealworm remnants.’ He wiped his hand on his shorts. I laughed again, then panicked that I sounded like a silly giggly girl. I held my hand out too. He gave my hand a quick, light squeeze and let it go. The cool softness of his skin surprised me. I felt my cheeks redden again at our intimate moment.
‘Right, I’d better go and get to this tennis lesson, even though I’m poorly dressed for the occasion.’ Chuck ran his hand across his still damp hair. ‘Someone didn’t think to remind me to bring something sporty.’ He shouted the last sentence across the courtyard at Caitlin. He turned back to me. ‘It was nice to meet you, Sasha. Hopefully I’ll see you later.’
‘Yes, bye.’ I waved, and to my surprise, I found myself hoping that I would indeed see him again later.
I watched as Chuck trotted over to Caitlin and began saying something quietly to her, which made her raise her voice again to say, ‘I have to take this damn lesson, Chuck, Mama and Papa pay for it.’
Chuck said something else quietly again, and then Caitlin hollered over.
‘Come for a swim with us later, won’t you, Sasha?’
There was a strain in her voice, and I knew that Chuck had encouraged her to say it. But still, I felt that familiar swell of joy bubble up inside me, and I smiled and said, ‘Absolutely!’
I whiled away an hour or two back at the cottage, reading a few magazines and helping Mum ice a spiced honey cake for our afternoon snack. I didn’t want to admit to Mum that I had been dumped by Caitlin for Chuck, but her silence was entrenched with everything she wanted to say. A whole load of I-told-you-so’s, no doubt, if I had allowed her. But I also kept my mouth firmly shut. If the words weren’t spoken, then surely it wasn’t happening.
It was just before eleven when I wandered back across the driveway to the courtyard and saw Josephine a few feet in front of me, pulling out a few weeds from the flowerpots by the steps that led up to the back porch. Ava arrived at the bottom of the steps and something about the tone of her voice made me stop in my tracks. I was still close enough to the gate, so I sunk against the side of the metal, hoping I hadn’t been spotted. It took me a moment to realise that the tone of voice was coming from Josephine and not from Ava as I had suspected.
I watched as Ava, who was usually the one I avoided for fear of receiving a dressing down, physically shrank in front of Josephine. Josephine was holding a pair of secateurs and she raised them in front of her as she spoke. It was an action that looked threatening, and Ava stepped back, then turned to walk back up the steps, but not before she managed to clock me lurking at the gates. Josephine must have followed her gaze, because she turned, saw me, and dropped the secateurs back by her side. Her face erupted into a broad smile.
‘Ah, Sasha, come and tell me what you think of this verbena,’ she called over to me and then turned back to the pot, which was overflowing with pink and purple flowers. ‘I thought some for the dinner table might be nice. Do you agree?’
I walked over to Josephine, unsure of what to make of what I had just witnessed. A mother–daughter rift, perhaps? It had left an uncomfortable feeling in my tummy.
‘Very beautiful,’ I said as I approached, and Josephine seemed to look at me out of the corner of her eye.
‘I must thank you for letting the old girls out this morning.’ Josephine snipped a few sprigs of the verbena.
‘Yes. I saw they were still in their coop, so I let them out and fed them some mealworms.’
‘Yes, yes, you’re very good with them. A real natural. I’m afraid I slept in a while this morning, as I was a little worse for wear. Is that terrible of me?’ She stood up straight, perhaps too fast and stumbled slightly. I reached out and grabbed her arm, a reflex action. She looked at me with those kind eyes.
‘Oh dear, I’m quite delirious this morning. A good nap this afternoon will set me right. What a kind girl you are.’ The unsavoury feelings from moments ago were gone, as the Josephine I knew was back.
‘My dad sometimes feels like that after he’s been to the pub of an evening,’ I said, not knowing what else to say under the circumstances. It was rare that I would see an adult act out of sorts, and I had only seen Josephine together and competent.
Josephine laughed. ‘Yes, I don’t know why us adults do it to ourselves. I’ll maybe see you for afternoon tea, dear? You’ve met Chuck, haven’t you? There are a few cousins around too, I’m sure they’d like to meet you.’ And with that, Josephine headed up the steps to the porch and in through the back door. She crossed paths with Ava who was once more coming down the other way. I felt my gut tighten and the niceness of the conversation with Josephine began to wilt away.
‘The house is rather busy today, Sasha. I
