At the present time, Zoe was working days in a supermarket and taking night classes at a local high school. ‘She’s always been a high-achieving student, though I expect she’s not shared that with her new mates. Then last Tuesday, to my great surprise and pleasure, both of which I tried to hide, she mentioned the possibility of university study next year.’ A hesitant, hopeful smile slipped into his face. ‘And she put out feelers about coming home.’ He picked up the letter and slipped it inside his jacket. ‘That’s why this letter is so important. I’ve made some suggestions, the first time I’ve dared. I need to reread it before I send it, make sure I’ve said the right thing, struck the right tone.’ And with an ironic raising of his eyebrows, he added, ‘I suspect I’m still a couple of drafts from the final one.’

‘So,’ Sylvie said, ‘what do you have in mind?’

At the back of his house, he said, were old stables. The ground floor was currently filled with junk, and he used the upper floor as a study — he was an academic at the university. He could shift his study into the house, and the stables could be modified into a self-contained flat for Zoe. Close but separate. If, on the other hand, she’d prefer to live in college, he would be happy to provide any support she wanted. ‘I mean for next year, should she complete her HSC, should she pass, and should she decide on university. Not that I wrote any of that.’

He’d hardly touched his coffee. Now he reached for it, took a sip, grimaced, and pushed it away. ‘I have to be so careful. In an earlier version, I wrote I’d be happy to pay her college fees, but this was far too intrusive, far too controlling. In the next draft, I wrote something like, “I’m happy to pay your college fees should you fail to get a scholarship.”’ He was laughing. ‘Fail? What on earth was I thinking? I can’t be critical about her clothes or lifestyle, so to be critical, even conditionally critical about her studies, well, I’d find myself back at first base.’ He shook his head slowly. ‘I take more care over letters to my daughter than I do writing academic papers.’