A stab of guilt made her draw a deep breath. She had her three daughters together under her roof and she’d hardly spoken to them. Seeing Kate had been a surprise. Natalie wondered what had brought her home. They hadn’t had a chance to talk yet but she’d been concerned by her eldest daughter’s pale complexion, a reflection of her own face she’d seen in the mirror.

And there was definitely something up with Laura – she was as skittish as a newborn lamb. The chaos she’d created in the kitchen had nearly been Natalie’s undoing. She’d held herself together and then, once they’d all gone, she’d sat at the table and sobbed. Finally she’d got stuck into the cleaning and, as was often the case in her life, it had been a distraction. Then she’d told Laura about Jack coming for dinner and her daughter had been full of questions. The Halbots had been kept off the family-friend radar for all of Laura’s life. Natalie could understand why she wondered about his imminent presence at their dinner table.

She took another deep breath, straightened her shoulders and went back to the kitchen. Kate and Bree were both headed to the door.

“You’re awake.” Kate grinned. “I stuck my head in earlier. You were snoozing.”

“I didn’t sleep well last night in a strange bed.”

“Kate’s going to use my shower.” Bree had come up behind her sister.

“Can you wait?” Natalie said. “I need to tell you all something.”

The three girls looked at her expectantly. Two sets of deep brown eyes and one set of pearly blue focused on her. Damn Milt. She drew herself up. “Mrs Halbot’s just been diagnosed with breast cancer.”

“Oh, that’s terrible.” Bree was the one to speak out; the other two murmured similar comments.

“She and Bob are in Adelaide until they find out more. Jack’s fairly upset about it. That’s why your dad invited him over…so he’s not eating alone tonight.”

“Of course.” Bree nodded. “His sisters were going overseas. I guess they’re still away travelling.”

“How bad is it?” Kate asked.

Natalie looked into the worried faces of her daughters. A few days ago she’d thought they’d be hearing this news about her. “I believe it’s aggressive but caught early.”

“Is that why you were in Adelaide?” Laura asked, her voice sounding so young all of a sudden.

“Why would Mum and Dad go to Adelaide to be with the Halbots?” Bree scoffed. “It’s not as if they’re good friends.”

“We happened to run into them…just after Veronica had received the news. She was…shocked as you can imagine and your dad…well, your dad and I stayed with her until Bob arrived.” Natalie felt no need to tell her daughters they’d stayed the night at the Halbots’ apartment.