Bridget and I lie by the fire that Abbie has just lit for us in the lounge room. It’s cool outside and has a distinct winter feel.
“Why haven’t we been having the fire going all week? It’s frigging freezing in this museum.” Abbie frowns as she flops down next to us.
“I don’t know if the boys even light it,” I reply. “They are not exactly domesticated.”
Bridget looks around at our surroundings. “I can’t believe this is your life now.” She gestures at the ridiculously high ceiling and we all stare up at it in silence as we lie on the floor in the huge room.
“What if you never come back to Australia, Tash?” Bridget whispers sadly.
My heart sinks. That thought had crossed my mind more than once too. I don’t know if I will ever get Joshua to leave LA and the bad thing is, the longer I am here… the further my dream of living in Australia seems—I’m starting to like LA. Bridget grabs my hand and Abbie flops her legs over ours.
“You guys going to be ok for the next couple of days here without me?” I ask.
“Are you going to be ok is the question?” Abbie asks. “Joshua seems to be on the edge.”
I nod. “He is on the edge, I’m worried about him.”
“How’s frigging Margaret’s form?” Bridget sighs.
“That’s my worst nightmare. I feel sorry for her,” Abbie replies.
“She’s a trollop,” Bridget sneers.
“Stop it,” I snap. “She’s Joshua’s mother; don’t speak about her that way.”
“Don’t defend the mole,” Bridget snaps. “She has put you and Joshua through hell for years.”
Cameron walks to the door and stands still as he watches us. “What are we doing?”
“Cooking pancakes, what does it look like?” I reply flatly.
He smirks and comes and lies down across me and puts his head on my stomach and joins us in our ceiling staring.
“Is your mum ok, Cam?” I ask.
“No, she’s messed up.”
“Can you go and stay with her after we leave?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Nope. She can go to hell.”
I frown. “But you were cuddling her the other day.”
He sighs. “I can’t stand women crying, that’s all.”
Bridget puts her hand over onto Cameron’s forehead and pats it. “You can be quite cute when you want to be, Cameron Stanton.”
Abbie laughs and he flicks Bridget’s hand off his face. “Fuck off, don’t touch me,” he groans.
The front door opens and closes and we hear Joshua’s voice. “Can you get Murray to get Natasha’s Lamborghini out of the garage please?”
“Yeah sure. Where are you going?” Ben replies.
“Natasha and I are going to Willowvale for a couple of days,” Joshua replies.
“And when were you going to tell me this?” Ben snaps.
“I’m telling you now,” Joshua answers angrily.