Faye glanced at him, surprised by his sanctimonious tone. He was generally loyal to Diane.

“Uh, nothing really. Just that Michelle wasn’t very happy about the decision. Initially, anyway.”

“Oh? And she’s happy now? Di said she’s happy?”

“Not in so many words, but I guessed so.”

“Geez, Faye, of course she’s not happy. How could she be?”

Derek tossed the last mouthful of beer into his mouth and left the room.

Faye leaned on her walking stick and looked into the reeds, watching as a long, slender stick insect blew its camouflage by creeping to the edge of a leaf and twitching its antennae.

The coinciding of Derek and Michelle’s sojourns from their marriages more than twenty years ago hadn’t occurred to her—until now. Was it possible? Had her husband and Michelle been together at that time? Was Clare the result? Or did Derek believe or hope that she was his daughter? That would explain his unusual interest in her. Had Derek returned to Faye all those years ago because Michelle had decided to forgive Geoffrey? Had Faye mistaken Derek’s heartbreak about Michelle for remorse about having left her? Had she been a fool even then?

Faye’s mind was still swirling as she forced herself to walk on. She thought fleetingly of the pair of duikers she’d seen disappearing into the bush earlier, how freely they’d run.

Derek was standing where he had been when she’d left the river earlier. He was once more bent at the hips, hands on his knees. But where was Geoffrey? Faye leaned forward and looked upriver. His red cap bobbed up and down as he jogged away towards the cabin. Her husband, chest heaving but quiet now, was also watching their friend leave.

Faye cupped her hands around her mouth.

“Derek!” she shouted.

He turned his head to look at her, his eyes registering neither surprise nor relief. Did he know she’d return?

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Two

It was Diane who told Derek that Michelle was pregnant. The fact that she had not called him herself with the news assured Derek that the baby was his. He drove to her office immediately and waited for her in the parking garage.

Michelle scowled when she saw him. “What are you doing here?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

“Of course not. I wasn’t sure—”

“You weren’t sure whether I would want to know I was going to have a kid?”

“What? Derek! No! This is not yours!” She gestured towards her flat belly. “My God! Is that why you’re here?”

“I’m not completely stupid, Mich. Neither is the maths that difficult.”

She flung her bag on the bonnet of her car and glared at him. “Maths? What are you talking about? Do you even know how far along I am?”

He hesitated.