AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You should have a talk to your father; he’s been worried about it,’ Honor urged gently. ‘Or your grandmother, if it’s something to do with—er—’
‘Sex? Nah, nothing like that,’ Sara responded with a frankness that put Honor’s waffling to shame. ‘If it was that I could come to you, couldn’t I?’ she added slyly. ‘Aunt Tania said that you’re the expert on sex around here.’
The shady spot suddenly seemed stiflingly hot. ‘You shouldn’t eavesdrop on people, Sara,’ said Honor in her best quelling voice.
‘It’s the only way to find the good stuff out when you’re a kid,’ said Sara, unquelled. ‘Besides, I wasn’t eavesdropping that time. Aunt Tania just said it kind of under her breath...only she was breathing pretty hard and it came out quite loud. Granny heard too.’
‘And what did Granny say?’ Honor couldn’t help asking.
‘She didn’t say anything.’ Sara frowned. ‘Granny doesn’t say much when Aunt Tania’s around. She’s afraid of getting things wrong in front of her. She forgets things sometimes, too...but just little things, not the important stuff. She likes being busy. She always used to cook when Dad and I came to visit, when Uncle Zach was alive, because Aunt Tania doesn’t like messing around in the kitchen. Granny’s been sick but she just had a cough and a bad cold. I don’t think she has that disease that they put you in a home for—the A one...’
‘Alzheimer’s?’
‘Yeah. Aunt Tania’s got a book on it. Stories about people forgetting what day it is and who their family is and where they live. Granny’s not like that. She still plays bowls and everything.’
‘No, she’s not like that,’ said Honor firmly, wondering whether anxiety over her grandmother was the source of Sara’s fears and annoyed with Tania for exposing her to that fear, however inadvertently. ‘She’s a warm, whimsical, spontaneous person,’ she emphasised. All the things that Tania wasn’t! ‘I’ve had lots of chats with her and never noticed anything wrong. In fact she’s always seemed as sharp as a tack under that fluffy smile...’ Except for their first encounter, perhaps, but those initial, almost pathetically eager misconceptions had been set in concrete by the Bedroom Incident and Adam’s subsequent irritating behaviour. But Honor didn’t want to dwell on that...
‘She only seems vague around your aunt, maybe because they don’t get on and your granny doesn’t like to get involved in arguments—’
‘You mean because Aunt Tania bullies her?’ said Sara bluntly.
Was Tania’s behaviour that calculated? Honor hoped not.
‘A lot of people like to think they know what’s best for everyone else,’ she said diplomatically. ‘Especially with other people who are not as assertive as themselves. But they’re not necessarily right just because they express themselves more forcefully. You couldn’t get two people with a more different outlook on life than your aunt and your granny; that’s probably why they have difficulty communicating. And then, too, maybe your aunt is afraid for your granny as she gets older—maybe she doesn’t want to feel responsible if something happens while she’s out.’
‘She’s always out...except when Dad’s around,’ Sara pointed out gruffly.
‘If you’re really concerned about it, why don’t you mention it to your father...?’ Honor said hopefully.
‘Oh, I already have, ages ago,’ said Sara, shooting that grand theory down in flames. ‘After Uncle Zach died. Dad said never, no way is he ever putting Granny in a home. And Aunt Tania doesn’t have to worry about being responsible because Granny’s coming to live with us...when Dad decides where we’re going to live, that is, because we might be staying here...’
‘Would you like that?’ Honor asked, her heart misgiving at the thought of Adam living permanently near by. She’d be forever in dre
ad of running into him, having to smile and pretend polite disinterest in his affairs...
Sara shrugged and smiled very cryptically for a girl who probably didn’t know what the word meant. ‘Maybe. It depends on how things work out...’
Honor opened her mouth to ask what things, but Sara beat her to it.
‘Are you sure you won’t come back to the house for lunch? After Aunt Tania left, Granny made a pizza and scones and apple muffins...’
Honor’s mouth watered. She looked sadly down at her apple core. So much for will-power. ‘Well...I’ll have to have a swim afterwards.’ If it hadn’t been for the pool she would have put on kilos from the delicious meals she was eating.
‘Great, I’ll give you a race. Oh, look...I told you Dad was looking for you!’ She jumped up and bounded out to meet the four-wheeled farm-bike that roared up from the bottom of the orchard, skidding to a stop at the nearest row of apple trees.
Honor couldn’t hear what Adam said to his daughter over the roar of the motorcycle engine but she could see its effect. Sara laughed and tossed a mischievous look over her shoulder at Honor and began running back towards the house, making little darting leaps and hops over tufts of grass as she did so. She certainly had a lot of energy, thought Honor, getting up slowly, feeling hot and messy as she eyed the man who, after gunning the engine aggressively once more, leaned over and turned it off.
In the resultant silence the faint sound of the engine ticking over seemed unnaturally loud. Like a time bomb, thought Honor nervously.
‘What are you doing out here?’
He and his daughter were definitely of like mind, only the same question from Sara hadn’t made Honor bristle.
‘Taking a break,’ she said crisply. ‘That’s the whole point about working for yourself; you don’t have to kowtow to a slave-driving boss.’
‘But the newspaper must have deadlines that you have to meet,’ he said mildly, unruffled by her challenge. ‘And your clients must ask for their work to be done by a certain date.’
‘I still work to my own schedule. I haven’t had any complaints up until now.’ She gave him a fierce look.
