“I don’t suppose you’ve been to see Mum yet? Where’s Dad?”

“He’s snoozing in his chair and we haven’t been out yet.” Natalie closed the door between the kitchen and the lounge. “I told Dad we’d go before dinner but I’m not sure he should be out in this weather.”

“Good luck stopping him.”

“How is Mum?”

“I called in on my way here but she was sleeping so I didn’t disturb her. Brought some washing back.” She waggled a finger in the direction of the plastic bag. “This fall has knocked her a bit. Doc wants to run some tests so she could be there a few more days. Dad can manage but I’m worried he’s not back to his old self since the pneumonia.”

“I didn’t realise. I could have come earlier.”

“You’ve got the farm and teaching.”

“You’ve got a business and four kids.”

They eyed each other across the kitchen table. There was six years’ difference in age and two very different upbringings between them. Natalie had been raised with strict rules about what she could and couldn’t do, exact timelines for coming and going and warnings of what might befall a girl if she didn’t listen to her parents, all of which went out the window when Bronwyn came along, but they were sisters and they’d been close once. Crazy how life stretched relationships and changed them.

“I live nearer.” Bronwyn smiled, the brief tension between them dispersing once more. “Don’t beat yourself up. I’d honestly do anything to avoid going on another school camp but I’m committed. We’ve organised extra staff hours to cover me at the shop. And the twins would be disappointed. I’ve hardly been on an excursion let alone a camp since they started school. I used to do so much more for Marcus and Lina.” She waved a tea bag in the air. “Tea?”

“Thanks.” It would be Natalie’s fourth hot drink for the day but if it meant they could sit and chat for a few minutes before her sister dashed off she’d drink it. She took out the milk then recalled the invitation stuck to the fridge door. She waggled a finger at it. “Mum and Dad got an invite to Tony’s sixtieth.”

Bronwyn gave her an odd look. “They keep in touch.”

“With my first boyfriend?”

Bronwyn wrinkled her nose. “I caught Mum sending him a birthday card only last year.”

“You’re kidding!” Natalie sunk into a chair. “That’s odd, isn’t it?”

“I suppose in one way. But…well, they liked Tony and even after you were no longer going out he used to come over sometimes.”

“Did he?”

“Well, until Mum and Dad moved to New South Wales. After that I don’t know but they obviously kept in touch.”