39
Rachel put the jug of iced tea and five glasses on a tray, and walked out to the verandah. Mum, Gran, Esther, and a Chinese woman were gathered in a quartet of rattan chairs in the shade, while someone Esther’s age perched on a stool.
The garden was in its full summer glory. Flowers spilled out of baskets, pots, and barrels, a profusion of colour, scent, and poetry. Bees wobbled drunkenly from flower to flower. Rachel allowed herself to be introduced to the newcomers—the Joy and Gina that Esther was forever talking about.
Once the introductions were done, Rachel mumbled excuses and escaped to her bedroom. She lay down and opened a book.
Mum now visited every week. They’d negotiated the dangerous shoals of emotion that threatened to shipwreck them and were through to the calmer water
