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‘He is? Wow!’ Hannah sat back and regarded her mother with something akin to respect. ‘My mum’s dating the great Will Rankin.’
Cleo blushed. ‘Hardly. We’re just friends. What about you, Han. Is there anything between you and Owen?’
‘Owen? No!’ But Hannah turned beetroot.
So, there was someone. ‘Then, who? Have you met someone at school?’ Cleo cast her mind over teachers Hannah had mentioned, but they were all female.
‘There’s no one. He doesn’t see me that way. He…’
The penny dropped. ‘Nate?’
Hanna took a gulp of her wine. ‘He doesn’t know that I exist. Apart from the fact we share a house, I’d only see him if I went to the surf club.’
‘Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.’ Cleo remembered what it was like to be young and suffering from unrequited love. ‘Maybe…’
‘Don’t, Mum.’ Hannah held up a hand. ‘I’m used to it. At least I get to see him every day. And he doesn’t have a steady girlfriend.’
Cleo took a sip of wine. There was nothing she could do. This was one situation where she couldn’t intervene and make things right for Hannah. It was a pity. Nate was a nice boy, one she’d be glad to see Hannah hooked up with. And he was Ailsa’s son, another connection.
‘When’s dinner?’ Hannah asked, clearly unwilling to continue this conversation.
‘Should be ready. We’ll eat in the kitchen. It’s cosier there. She led the way through and, taking the dishes out of the oven, set them on the table.
‘I plan to call your Aunt Pat,’ Cleo said, when they’d demolished the chicken and were starting on the lemon cheesecake which Will had rescued.
‘Mmm. Give her my love. I should really call her too.’
‘I want to ask her more about this Kerri-Ann.’
‘Mum! I told you I don’t want anything to do with her. Asking Aunt Pat about her will just keep the whole thing going. Why can’t you leave it alone?’
Cleo didn’t know why, but there was something there, and she had to find out for sure. ‘I need to know,’ she said. ‘I was too surprised last time. I didn’t ask enough questions.’
‘What is there to ask? This girl messages me from California claiming to be my sister. Neither of us have ever heard of her before. Dad probably hadn’t heard of her, either. Then Aunt Pat relates the local gossip about what Dad and this girl’s mothermighthave got up to when they were teenagers. Really, Mum, I didn’t think you were so gullible.’
‘But if she doesn’t believe she’s your dad’s daughter, what could she possibly hope to gain by contacting you?’ Cleo realised this is what had been bugging her.
‘What could she hope to gain if she is?’ Hannah countered. ‘It’s not as if we’re rich, as if Dad left us a fortune, as if…’ She ran out of ideas.
‘I don’t know.’ Cleo was at a loss.
‘Well, there you are.’ Seeming to believe she’d settled the matter, Hannah forked up the last piece of lemon cheesecake. ‘That was delicious,’ she sighed. ‘I wish I could bake things like that. Ruby’s a marvel.’ She checked her watch. ‘I need to go soon.’
‘I can give you a lift. I don’t want you out on your own at this time of night.’ Cleo’s anxiety for her daughter re-emerged, at the thought of her walking home alone in the dark.
‘It’s okay. Nate said he’d pick me up on his way back from his shift at the club. That’ll be him now,’ she said, as they heard a motorbike skid to a halt outside.
‘But…’ This didn’t match Hannah’s earlier comments about Nate.
‘He’s my housemate, Mum. That’s what housemates do. He’d do it for Owen, too.’
Cleo buttoned her lip. What did she know of the ways of young people these days? She was just glad Hannah had a ride home.
Twenty
Cleo watched as the motorbike roared off, then turned into the house. Hannah might think Nate didn’t notice her as a woman, but Cleo thought she’d glimpsed a tenderness in his eyes, though it was difficult to tell through the motorcycle helmet’s visor. Maybe it was wishful thinking. Hannah was still young. She had plenty of time to find love. But Cleo hated to think of her having her heart broken.
Back inside, she tidied up, then remembered what she’d told Hannah. It was almost midnight, not a good time to call Pat now. But if she stayed up for another hour, she could catch her in the morning, before she went to work. Pat owned her own accountancy practice in downtown Santa Barbara, and Cleo knew she was an early riser. She settled down with her book club book, secure in the knowledge that, tonight at least, Hannah was safe.
