“You know very well that I only see attention as a secondary perk—and sometimes not even a perk at all,” Caitlin said.

“Oh really. Please, ladies, do chime in and tell me whether the woman you saw reading in this very shop last Friday night was someone who doesn’t crave the spotlight?” Josephine’s tone intensified, making Jane wonder whether this was all still said in jest or whether they were duking out a previously started argument in public.

“How about I’m simply the right woman for the job?” Caitlin asked. “And speaking of craving the spotlight, a woman who has just moved in with me seems to have taken to it as well.”

Jane sipped from her coffee and let her gaze flick from one woman to the other. She might not have Caitlin’s finely-honed intuition, but she knew something was going on here.

She was glad when the door opened and a pair of men with two little children walked in. Mia looked relieved to be able to get up as well. She also appeared to know the men and greeted them abundantly.

“Could you point us to your children’s book section, please?” the guy with the beard asked. “We’re looking for something with lots of pictures.” He shot Jane a kind smile. “They don’t know how to read just yet.”

The girl child had hopped into Mia’s arms. The boy was tugging at her t-shirt. They seemed elated to see her.

Jane indicated the very small section of the shop where they stocked books for children. “I hope you can find something they like.” Jane addressed the fathers, because she never really knew how to speak to children. “It’s not really our specialty.”

“We’ve actually come to see Mia’s new habitat,” the other man—same style, no beard—said. “We’re neighbors of Kristin and Sheryl in Darlinghurst.”

“And friends of Lou’s,” the other one said and extended his hand. “You must be Annie. I’m Jared and this is Phil. The tiny monsters are Yasmine and Toby. We’re not sure why, but they seem to have taken to Mia.” Jane shook his hand.

“This is Annie’s wife, Jane,” Mia said.

“Oh, the writer,” Jared exclaimed. “Mia has told us all about you.”

“Only good things,” Mia was quick to say. Yasmine had thrown her arms around Mia’s neck and was trying to whisper something in her ear.

Jane wished Annie was here to deal with all this ruckus. It was Sunday, a day when they almost never had more than two people in the shop at the same time.

“Can we see the books now, Daddy,” the boy said in the plaintive voice of small children.

“Duty calls.” Jared took the boy by the hand.

Yasmine jumped out of Mia’s arms and followed them.