Chapter 14 #2
“Rohan, this is our friend Aaron,” Rita had said, distracted as she’d peered into the stroller where a baby girl was asleep. “Oh, is this Zoe? She is so beautiful. Look at that hair. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. You, too.” Rohan had grinned approvingly at baby Henry. “He’s a fair size, isn’t he?”
“Definitely feels it when I pick him up.” Rita’s smile had fallen away as she glanced at the endless line for the women’s toilets. “Is Kim inside?”
“I’d really hope so, by now.”
“That slow, is it?” Rita had said, nodding at the melting ice cream.
“Yeah.” Rohan’s face had clouded as he scanned the queue. “I mean, it looks to be moving, but—” He’d shrugged. “If you see Kim in there chatting, tell her Zoe and I are about thirty seconds away from eating this ourselves.”
Rita had laughed. “I’ll—” She’d stopped, inhaling sharply as the door to a nearby portable toilet creaked open. An elderly woman with a stick stepped out. On the door that slammed shut behind her was both a wheelchair and a parent-and-baby sticker. There was no one else waiting.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry, this is a parental perk I can’t say no to.” Rita had spun the stroller around smartly. “Really lovely to catch you, Rohan. Tell Kim I’ll call her.”
“No worries.” Rohan had raised his wife’s dripping ice cream in farewell.
“I’ll see you back out here!” Rita had shouted over her shoulder to Falk as she’d peeled off, making a beeline for the empty cubicle.
Falk had said goodbye to the man who was now trying to stop melted vanilla trickling onto the stroller and had gone into the men’s toilets.
He’d been at the sinks when he’d heard a familiar voice through the open window. Raco, he’d thought immediately, but no. The pitch was deeper. Charlie.
“Hey,” Charlie was saying. “Before you head off, you said hi to your mum yet?”
“Dad. No—” Zara had sounded frustrated. “I’m supposed to be meeting Sophie right now. They’re all waiting for me.”
“Zara, mate, seriously. Come on, don’t make me do this. Rohan and Zoe are right there. Your mum won’t be far off. At least say hello to your sister.”
“She’s a few weeks old; she really doesn’t care.”
“Your mum will, though.”
“She won’t.”
“Of course she will. They’ve come all this way to see you.”
“Dad,” Zara had snapped. “Jesus, she won’t. Stop trying to force it.”
“Force what?”
“The family thing.”
“We are all family.”
“No, we’re not. Not like that. Whatever you do or don’t do. Why can’t you—”
“Hey. Watch it, thanks. Don’t speak to me like—”
“Okay, fine. Sorry. But you really need to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what. This. About Mum. Look, I’ve got to go. Okay? My friends are waiting for me.”
“Zara—”
“Tell Mum I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
Falk had washed and dried his hands and walked outside.
He’d half expected to see Charlie making conversation with Rohan, but neither man was there.
The spot where the stroller had been parked was empty, except for a splattering of ice cream drips in the dust. Falk had leaned against the wall and waited, and a minute later Rita came out of the parents’ cubicle.
“All good?” she’d said, and Falk had nodded and together they’d headed back to find Raco and Eva.
In the Racos’ kitchen a year on, Rita was fiddling with her coffee mug.
“And I knew she was upset about Charlie and Zara not being at home that night, and it still didn’t cross my mind to go in and talk to her. Just make that effort. I was so focused on myself and what was easiest—”
“You had a baby to cope with,” Naomi said.
“Yeah, but so did Kim. That’s even worse, because I knew how hard it was, and I still did nothing. And then afterward, you remember how the next day or so someone reported that they’d heard a woman crying in the toilets—”
“That was a lot later in the evening,” Raco interjected. “And it’s a wine festival. There’s always someone crying in the toilets.”
Naomi gave a small smile. “He’s right. And look, we all have our own guilt about this.
I’m not even talking about”—her eyes flicked up to Raco, then down again—“the reservoir stuff. I’m talking recently.
I mean, do you know how long it’d been since I’d spoken to Kim?
It was more than a year, I worked out later.
And I hadn’t seen her properly since her wedding.
I called a couple of times when the baby was born, didn’t get through.
I didn’t keep trying, though, just sent her a gift and left it at that.
” Naomi sighed. “So yeah, Rita, we all have things we wish we’d done differently. ”
“Like what?”
They all looked up at the voice from the doorway. Zara was watching them. Falk hadn’t heard her approach and could see from the others’ faces that they were also wondering how long she’d been listening.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Rita said, gathering herself. “Lunch isn’t far off, but do you want something now?”
“No, thanks.” Zara’s gaze was still fixed on Naomi. “What do you wish you’d done differently?”
Naomi met her eye. “I was saying I wish I’d been a better friend to your mum.”
Zara watched her for a long moment, then: “So are you here to see my dad again?”
“What? No. I’m here for—” A flicker of something crossed Naomi’s face and she waved a hand toward Raco and Rita.
“For the christening meeting,” Rita said, frowning.
“Oh.” Zara suddenly looked drained. “Is my dad around, though?”
“He’s outside somewhere,” Raco said. “What do you need?”
“Can someone please drive me to the festival site? I’m meeting Joel.”
“Sure, I’ll do it after we’ve fed the kids.”
“I’m going to be late, he’s already down there. And I want to drop off another box of flyers at the stall.”
“Well—”
“I’ll drive you,” Falk said.
Zara looked over in surprise. “Yeah? Thank you. I’ll get my stuff.”
“You don’t have to—” Raco started as she disappeared down the hall, but Falk shook his head.
“It’s fine. Happy to.”
“Yes,” Naomi said suddenly. She visibly brightened.
“He should.” She whipped her head around to Falk.
“It’s a great festival. You should definitely go, Aaron.
Check it out properly. It’s actually run by a very good friend of mine.
” She drained her coffee and stood, gathering her fleece as she shot another glance at him, coy now. “You know her, I think? Gemma Tozer?”
“Yes,” Falk said, carefully. “She was at the festival last night.”
“Of course. Of course.” Naomi pursed her lips thoughtfully and nodded. She leaned a toned hip casually against the table. “But you’ve met, I mean. Before last night. In Melbourne, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. How nice. And tell me, what did you and Gemma get up to out on the town in the big city? Few drinks, dinner?” Naomi glanced at Rita, who was doing her best not to appear wholly invested. They were enjoying this.
“That sounds about right.” Falk couldn’t help but smile himself.
“Fabulous,” Naomi enthused. “And I don’t know about you, but I always think Melbourne is so beautiful at night, all lit up.”
“It is.”
“Did you—I don’t know—get the chance to take a walk at all? Soak up the atmosphere?”
“A little. It was raining.”
“Ah. Yes.” Naomi managed to look practically misty-eyed. “Although, in the right circumstances, a little rain can be quite pleasant in itself.”
“It can.”
“Well, I have to say, it sounds like it was a really lovely evening.”
“Yes, thanks, Naomi.” Falk saw Zara reappear in the hall, ready to go. “It was.”
“Mmm.” Naomi zipped up her fleece, flipped her blond hair over one shoulder, and fixed him with a conspiratorial smile. “That’s what I heard, too.”