Penelope tells Lara to take her time and finds herself moving to the hutch to look at one of Lara’s wedding photos. Lara wore an extravagant white dress, nothing like the one Penelope had chosen for herself almost a year ago, yet it still reminds her of the feeling she’d had when she’d tried it on. Absolutely beautiful, head over heels in love and ready for her wedding day. Penelope’s heart stings, causing her to gasp for air.

Lara comes back and sees Penelope looking at the photo. ‘Look how skinny I was!’ She picks up the frame. ‘What I’d give to be that size again.’

‘You look just as beautiful now.’

Lara laughs. ‘What nonsense—I’m about twenty kilos heavier. It’s a shock Nate hasn’t left me!’ she jokes.

‘You’ve had two kids. I think you should give yourself a break. Life’s too short to be obsessed with weight.’

Lara smiles, clearly appreciating the kind words, but Penelope imagines it’s a little tough to take from someone like herself who barely weighs sixty kilos.

‘Is that your mum?’ Penelope changes the subject, pointing to another photo.

Lara nods, a fondness sweeping over her face. ‘Yes. Taken at Christmas.’ Tears mist her eyes. ‘I had no idea that it was going to be our last Christmas with her.’

Penelope gives a sympathetic smile, remembering her last Christmas with her own mum. They’d gone to the beach, had a picnic and all got terribly sunburnt. It wasn’t long after that her mum got the diagnosis.

‘I ended up getting cranky with her because she kept sneaking Molly lollies even though I’d asked her not to. So now that’s my last Christmas memory of her.’ Lara’s voice shakes, her mouth sloping downwards.

‘What’s your favourite Christmas memory of her?’ Penelope asks.

Lara seems a bit taken aback. ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ She chews on the inside of her lip. ‘Maybe when we were little, and she and my dad surprised us with a dog on Christmas morning …’

‘Well, that’s the one you should think about,’ Penelope says, all too familiar with this. ‘When you want a Christmas memory, think of getting that dog, or how her face looked when she watched you open presents …’

‘Or how she’d hum along to Christmas music when she was putting up the decorations …’ Lara was getting it.

‘Surround yourself with the beautiful memories. Of course the other memories will come to you every now and again, but some days are hard. In my experience, you don’t want to make them harder on yourself.’

‘I’ll remember that.’ Lara smiles, then points to another face in a frame. ‘That’s my brother. Haven’t seen him in two years.’

‘What about your mother’s funeral?’ She immediately wants to stuff the words back into her mouth; it’s unlike her to ask prying questions.