Leesa faced the bottle out towards the pool as the cork popped and it flew in an arc before landing on the surface of the water. Both girls made a dive for it.

‘All good,’ said Leesa as she poured their drinks and put the champagne away in the bar fridge. ‘Chloe can loan her some. Besides, it’ll alleviate my guilt. You’ve had the twins for several months now and I haven’t done a thing to help you out. Bad friend,’ she said, slapping her own wrist before picking up the two champagne flutes and handing Mimi one.

‘Nah, you’re good. Mums who are on their third and fourth kids aren’t meant to get help. It’s the new mums who need to be fawned over.’

‘Yeah, but the rules change for twins.’

‘Anyway, you brought me a casserole. Remember? And you sent flowers to the hospital. You’ve done plenty.’

‘Still, let me have Tara stay tonight. Chloe will be ecstatic.’

‘All right, well, I’ll take you up on the offer, but only because I’d be an idiot to turn you down, not because you’ve been a bad friend — you’re a great friend. Look, you’re giving me Friday drinks. Brilliant.’

‘Okay good, guilt alleviated.’ They fell quiet for a moment as they relaxed, sipped their drinks and watched their girls.

‘Did you hear about the fire in the mountains?’ Leesa asked eventually.

‘Ah, so there is a bushfire. I thought the air seemed hazy today.’

‘Yep. Apparently there was a storm out there, so it was started by lightning.’

‘That’s awful.’

‘I know. And it’s already spread from Blackheath down to Katoomba. They’re saying they’re expecting another bad fire season this summer. Although I don’t know if it could get any worse than last year.’

Mimi thought back to last Christmas and felt an involuntary shudder run through her body.

Leesa gasped. ‘I’m an idiot. I didn’t even think. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up.’

Mimi shook her head and placed a reassuring hand on Leesa’s arm. ‘Don’t be silly. You’re fine. I’m fine.’

‘Yeah but sometimes I really don’t think.’

‘Honestly, it’s okay.’

‘How is everyone since . . . you know?’

‘Yeah, not too bad, I suppose. Christmas will be hard, but you know how it is — it’s not like you can sit and wallow. Life keeps going on around you, so you have to get on with it too, otherwise you’ll get left behind. Jill’s insisting that we still go up to Robin’s Nest on Christmas Eve. I guess that’s a good sign.’

‘Robin’s Nest?’

‘Oh sorry, that’s the name of their holiday house up at Nords Wharf.’

‘Ah, I see.’

‘Anyway, I think the twins were a welcome distraction for pretty much everyone this year.’