She drained the last of the water from her bottle then remembered it was Wednesday. She always called in on her mother-in-law on Wednesday. She glanced at the clock as she started the car. If she didn’t go, Olive would wonder why. Best to call in quickly.

Natalie turned into the unit driveway and was barely out of the car before the screen door opened and Olive waved to her from the doorway.

“I can’t come out. I’m in my slippers,” she called as Natalie approached. “I thought you were lost.”

“I had to do a tidy up at school.” Natalie bent to kiss her cheek. “How are you?”

“A bit weary.”

“Oh?” She swept a quick look over her mother-in-law. Olive wasn’t usually one to complain about her health. She’d been stoic since her husband’s death but it was only a year since he’d died, after all.

Olive stepped back to let Natalie through the door of the new unit she’d moved into only a few months after the funeral. It had an open-plan living area and two bedrooms and was spotless as always. Once a fortnight Natalie vacuumed, mopped the small kitchen and cleaned the bathroom. Apart from that Olive managed the rest herself. The kitchen bench was clear, no sign of the kettle and the two cups she would usually have ready for Natalie’s arrival.

“I haven’t put the kettle on,” Olive said. “I hope you don’t mind but I’m feeling a bit too tired to do the shopping. Would you pop down the street for me? I only need a few things.”

“Of course.” Natalie smiled while inside she was churning with a sudden desire to say no, but it wasn’t Olive’s fault Natalie was walking around with an anomaly in her breast. In some ways it was a relief. She wouldn’t have to make small talk for half an hour. She could drop back with the shopping and go home.

In the supermarket she couldn’t move fast enough; every aisle was stacked with boxes or crammed with other shoppers. She knew most of them but apart from stiff smiles she didn’t acknowledge them. She was almost finished when she spied Nancy Phelps ahead of her. Nancy was one of those women who made up the backbone of the community. Only a couple of years older than Natalie, she was on nearly every committee and it was joked in the district that if Nancy didn’t know about it, it didn’t happen. She brought her trolley to a stop in front of Natalie’s. No-one avoided Nancy.

“Hello, Natalie. Good to see you.”

Natalie smiled with one eye on the packet of washing powder she’d been about to lift down before Nancy had blocked her way.

“I haven’t seen you since the dawn service on Anzac Day.”