Grace and her mother exchanged a surprised look as Grace followed Lawrence out of the house. He and Daisy were singing loudly. Grace used to think this was sweet. Now she felt irritated, but she bit her tongue. She would not say a thing against Lawrence to Daisy. It wasn’t fair to drag little children into the issues between their parents. Daisy will figure him out as time goes on, she thought.

The restaurant near the water was surrounded by manicured lawns. It was clearly up-market and expensive. But the service was slow, and Daisy was soon bored with the small colouring sheet and two pencils she’d been given. Grace was not inclined to linger and wanted to order immediately, while Lawrence went through every dish on the menu with Daisy, describing it in detail.

‘Lawrence, she doesn’t want abalone. Just order something simple.’

‘Grace, she has to learn there’s more to food than hamburgers and chips.’

Grace bit her tongue, almost literally. He knew very well that she and her mother were healthy eaters. Lawrence was the one who opted for fast food. She recalled what he’d fed Daisy on their day at the zoo and fumed inwardly.

Lawrence and Daisy compromised on fish and chips.

‘My daughter will have the beer-battered barramundi fillets with the duck-fat wedges. Do you do hasselback potatoes? No? Okay, just the wedges, please.’ Lawrence smiled winningly at the waitress.

‘Why are we here, Lawrence?’ asked Grace tightly after she’d ordered and the waitress had left. She wondered if she should raise the issue of going to Bali or not, but she hadn’t yet spoken to Mr Judd so she decided to keep quiet for the moment.

‘I miss my beautiful daughter,’ said Lawrence lightly.

‘Tell Daddy about school,’ said Grace, to distract Daisy.

Daisy was immediately enthusiastic and began to talk about her new friends, Charlie the pet guinea pig in the classroom, and her teacher, but Lawrence cut her short.

‘How is your schoolwork, though? Reading and writing?’

‘Good,’ said Daisy in a bored tone.

‘When I come back, I think we should find you a new school. In the city. Much more convenient. And I’m going to find us a new house,’ he told her.

Daisy looked distressed. ‘But I like my school now, Daddy!’

Grace tried to suppress the flash of irritation and alarm she felt as she patted Daisy’s hand and suggested that she go and play on the grass while they were waiting for their meals to arrive. Daisy seemed happy to scramble off her chair and go to practise handstands on the lawn.

‘What are you saying?’ said Grace in a low voice, when Daisy was out of earshot. ‘There’s no new house. We’re separated, remember. And what do you mean by “when I come back”? Where are you going?’