Truly Madly Guilty

Clementine pretended to smooth her hair. 'Yes, that's right.'

'What was your pick-up line?' Tiffany asked Sam.

Bet you wish you chose the flute, thought Erika gloomily as she drained her glass. She and Oliver might as well go back home and leave these four to it. They were all so busy flirting and finding each other fascinating.

'I waited until they'd finished playing and they were packing away their instruments and, you know, Clementine's not tall, the cello is nearly as big as her, so I said, which I thought was pretty brilliant, "Bet you wish you chose the flute." '

'Genius!' Vid slapped his leg.

'Not really,' said Sam. 'People say it to cellists all the time. It's like the worst possible cliche I could have chosen.'

'Of course it was!' said Vid. 'I would never have said that!'

'But she took pity on me anyway,' said Sam.

'Mummy, I'm cold.' Ruby appeared at Clementine's side, Whisk under her arm like a teddy bear.

'Do you want to wear your special new coat Grandma got you?' said Clementine.

Clementine's mother had bought the girls beautiful little winter coats she'd seen on special in David Jones. Erika knew this because she'd been shopping with Pam when she found them. Erika liked going shopping with Pam because she rarely, if ever, actually bought anything. This drove Clementine nuts, whereas Erika loved watching Pam frown while she turned a garment inside out to study the quality of the lining, then slowly take her reading glasses out of her handbag so she could confirm the price tag, then hum and haw and finally say, 'Nope!'

The cute little woollen coats, with their black toggles and hoods, however, had been impossible for Pam to resist, and Erika had agreed, even though they probably wouldn't get that much wear in Sydney's climate.

As Clementine removed Ruby's fairy wings and helped her into her pink coat (Holly's was green) Erika didn't say anything about being there when the coats were purchased. She had learned over the years that although Clementine didn't want to go shopping with her mother, she didn't seem especially pleased to hear that Erika had gone shopping with her. She never said anything. It was just a flicker. A Clementine flicker that said, Stop stealing my mother. You've got your own.

The pink coat, Erika saw with satisfaction, fit Ruby perfectly. She'd told Pam to get the bigger size.

'You look like Little Pink Riding Hood,' said Oliver as Ruby twirled around in her coat.

Ruby chuckled. She got the joke, the clever little thing. She climbed onto her mother's lap and snuggled up contentedly as if Clementine were a favourite couch, and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

'So does Whisk ever actually ... whisk?' Tiffany asked Clementine.

'No, when Whisk became Whisk she wasn't allowed to do anything so menial,' said Clementine. 'Her whisking days were over.'

Ruby took her thumb out of her mouth. 'Shh. Whisk is sleepy.' She caressed Whisk as if it were a baby and everyone laughed, as she knew they would. Ruby stuck her thumb back in her mouth with a satisfied smirk.

'I think Ruby and Whisk must be getting tired,' said Clementine. 'We should be going soon.'

'But first you must have dessert,' said Vid firmly. 'I made cremeschnitte. It's another old family recipe I got off the internet.'

'It's a vanilla and custard cream cake,' said Tiffany. 'To die for.'

'Well, then,' said Clementine. 'We'd better not miss that.'

'We've got those nice chocolate almonds you brought too, Erika,' said Tiffany. 'I love them. My grandfather used to have them every Christmas. Brings back memories.'

Erika smiled thinly back at her. Yeah, sure they bring back memories. Chocolate nuts were really going to stand up well against to-die-for creme-bloody-schnitte.

'Hey, look!' said Oliver, suddenly animated. 'Kids!' He pointed up at a tree towards the back of the garden. 'Is that a possum I spy?'

chapter thirty-nine The freaking rain had got louder again. It was starting to do Tiffany's head in. Vid and Tiffany, who had both cancelled appointments so they could stay home for the rest of the day, were having coffee in the kitchen while Dakota watched TV in the adjoining room with Barney curled up on the couch next to her. They were keeping her home from school, of course. 'Give the other kids a chance to catch up,' said Vid.

Tiffany was still reeling from Dakota's sobbing confession in the back of the car on the side of the road.

It was tiny. It was huge. Blind Freddy could have seen it and yet Tiffany might have missed it forever. If Vid hadn't made his remark about Clementine teaching her the cello, Dakota might never have broken down, and they might never have learned the truth.

Tiffany and Vid had both been prepared to sit on either side of Dakota for the whole day, letting her talk, or just being there for her, but Dakota had finally said, 'Uh, guys? Don't take this the wrong way but can I get a bit of space?' And she'd made a circular motion with her hands to indicate the space she required around her. She already seemed more like herself, as if that glass bubble she'd encased herself in was already thinning and cracking.