The heat here is wet. It’s the heat I grew up with and it’s what I live with in Kuta. Sal grew up in Melbourne so she struggles with humidity. At KD, I tell her to do her running around early then to slow down in the afternoon if business slacks off, sit in the shade at the end of the day rather than throw herself straight into the clean-up. In this kind of heat you need to seek out shade, be around water, and stop when it’s too much.

I rest against the coarse brick wall by the front door. Abby’s car is parked nearby, mud-splattered, but unmarked by the accident. The rain will have washed away our tyre tracks and footprints. There’ll be nothing to show we were there, which is a relief but a hollow one. Something huge has happened but there’s no one I can talk to about it except my sister. And that’s the last thing I want to do right now.

Late afternoon, I sit in the white wicker chair next to Dad’s bed. I figure what I need to do is keep him company and listen.

Dad lies on his back with his hands by his sides. He’s black-eyed, and his skin has taken on a yellowy-grey colour, as though he’s the one heading for the funeral home. He snorts in disbelief. ‘She was here yesterday, wearing that dress I bought her in Montville, stringing beads into a necklace, taking a bath.’ He lifts his head up and looks at me. ‘We walked around the garden.’

‘I know, Dad.’

He drops his head back onto the pillow. ‘There isn’t much of her here,’ he says. ‘She left that place in a rush so whatever belongings she has are there, but I suspect she never had much. Only him.’

‘Him?’ I sit forward.

‘I would’ve judged Skye if I’d met her ten or twenty years ago. I didn’t know Adam from Eve when I was young. It’s true that you get wiser with age, Charlie, learn to forgive people their mistakes, their bad choices, learn to hear what they’re telling you.’ He faces me. ‘You should know that.’

‘Sure.’

‘I didn’t judge her. I could see she was an angel, couldn’t think about anything but her for days, weeks, jiggered around the house like a teenager, got a whole lot of nothing done. You wouldn’t understand.’

‘I’ve been in love, Dad.’

He ignores me. ‘When I was with her, I felt hopeful. I hadn’t felt that way in years. I used to laugh with joy when I’d see her, and she’d be hurt, and I couldn’t explain, so I’d say I couldn’t believe my luck she’d want to be with an old bloke. Fifty-four to her twenty-six. You may as well know.’ I resist the urge to tell him I had sex with my grade twelve geography teacher. ‘Some of the women in town didn’t approve. I don’t care much anymore what people think, but I didn’t want Skye to be uncomfortable.’ He pauses, frowns. ‘I was shocked when she told me what she’d done. I did ask a lot of questions.’