“How kind of you to say,” Kate snapped back and pulled her hands up inside her sleeves. She was grateful for the fire warming the kitchen but she still felt chilled after leaving the warmth of the bed. She reached for the jug of water and poured herself a glass, noticing everyone was on water tonight.

“Are you coming down with a cold?” Laura asked.

“No. It’s been a freezing day, that’s all. I couldn’t warm up.” Kate looked around, realising someone else was missing. “It’s Saturday. Where’s Granny?”

“I rang her,” Laura said. “She wanted to stay home in the warm.”

“Do you think she’s okay?” Bree’s question was directed at her dad.

“As far as I know,” he said. “I rang her Thursday and Laura spoke to her today.”

“She sounded fine,” Laura said. “She’s going to Aunty Connie’s for lunch tomorrow.”

Milt gave a soft snort and shifted in his chair. “This food will be going cold.”

“Help yourselves.” Laura waved a hand over the pizzas arranged down the table. “There’s one with chicken, one ham and pineapple, and the other two have a selection of meat and veg.” She took a slice from one of the plates. “What do you want, Dad?”

Milt lifted his gaze from the empty plate in front of him. “Any,” he said.

Kate knew her dad wasn’t a fan of pizza but he accepted a slice from the plate Laura offered him and began to eat.

“Have you heard from Mum today?”

He put his head to one side as if her question required deep thought. “Not yet.”

“She and Aunty Brenda will be talking non-stop,” Bree said.

“Can you imagine it?” Laura grinned. “They haven’t seen each other since Aunty Brenda sold the property.”

“They ring each other often,” Bree said.

“But it’s not the same as sitting down for a good chat.” Kate took a nibble of her slice of pizza.

Bree gave her an odd look.

“I agree,” Laura said. “There’s nothing like a face-to-face chat. I know I’d much prefer to sit and talk with my friends over a coffee than on the phone.”

Kate nodded and stared numbly at her plate. Right now she wished her mum was here so they could do just that, rather than be thousands of miles away with Brenda.

They lapsed into silence. Kate surprised herself by eating a whole slice of pizza, took a second piece and then wished she hadn’t as she remembered the reason for her feeling unwell in the first place.

“What are we going to do tonight?” Laura asked. “There’s nothing on TV.”

“Must be a footy game on.” It was Milt’s first contribution to the conversation.

Laura groaned. “If we had Netflix there’d be plenty of options.”

“We don’t need other options,” Milt grumbled.