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"And does Daddy have lots of friends?" Laura asked, and then immediately wished she'd
bitten her tongue. She really didn't want to know the answer to that.
The girls must have sensed the loaded nature of the question. They didn't answer straight
away, and Laura was concentrating on driving so she didn't see their faces, but she knew there
was a short period of silent communication between them.
"Don't worry. I shouldn't have asked that," she said quickly.
"No," responded Kate just as quickly. "It's OK. Actually," she added in a solemn little voice,
"Daddy doesn't have many friends."
"He's very lonely," piped in Felicity.
"'Cos we're all he's got," Kate explained.
"And we're only little."
"He needs the companionship of a good woman," Kate added finally, with the air of a
politician announcing the solution to the nation's economic crisis.
"Good grief!" cried Laura, so shocked she almost missed a turn. ' 'Where on earth did that
idea come from."
"Everyone says so," intoned the little girl darkly.
Everyone except the man in question, thought Laura. "You girls wouldn't be trying your
hand at matchmaking, would you?"
Two pairs of eyes rounded with practised innocence. "What's matchmaking?" Kate asked.
"Never mind," sighed Laura. But the thought that the girls were like their father three
jumps ahead of her left her feeling jittery and confused as she pulled up outside the address
they had given.
She took a deep breath and cursed her headache, which was worse than ever now. Peering
through the windscreen, she inspected Nick Farrell's house. She might have guessed it would be
impressive. The contemporary timber and glass construction was set back in a beautiful natural
bush garden.
"It doesn't look as if Daddy is home," Kate announced.
Laura followed her gaze to the open garage door and saw the empty parking bay. "I guess
we'll just have to wait for him," she said with a sigh.
"Come and wait for him inside," Kate urged.
"You have a key?"
Kate reached beneath the neck of her T-shirt and with a triumphant cry of "Ta-da," produced
a key on a silver chain. "Come inside and I'll make you a cold drink." She sounded very grown
up, but spoiled it when her face broke into an impish grin.
A cold drink was just what Laura needed. She could down a couple of aspirin at the same
time. Without further question, she followed the girls as they led her through a slate-paved
entrance into a large, beautiful living room with polished hardwood floors and pristine white
walls.
At the far end of the room, floor to ceiling windows looked out into a lush green rainforest. It
was a surprisingly peaceful room spacious and airy and decorated in a minimalist style with
only a few pieces of casual, but expensive-looking furniture. The high-raked ceilings were lined
with honey-coloured timber and, through the far windows, a soft green light filtered through the
trees.
There was no traffic noise. All she could hear were the faint sounds of birds calling to one
another in the canopy outside.
Tasteful, relaxing...extremely expensive.
"You can sit here if you like," Kate said, pointing to a cane lounger lined with plump
cushions covered in a navy and white batik print.
She sank gratefully onto the lounger and, with excited giggles, Kate and Felicity left the
room. Laura let her head fall back against the cushions and realised that her neck and shoulders
were horribly tense.
No doubt the tension had been the cause of her headache. Tension in her shoulders tension
made worse by the fact that she still had to face a certain angry thirty-something daddy she was
trying desperately to avoid.
But surely no self-respecting headache would hang around in a room as restful as this.
The girls were back again very quickly. Kate carried a tray with three tumblers of bright red
cordial. Felicity followed with a jug holding more of the same gaudily coloured liquid.
Painkillers and red cordial? It sounded a touch dicey, Laura thought as she reached for her
handbag and sorted through the jumble of tissues, make-up, hairpins and keys till she found a
packet of aspirin. As she straightened again she felt a clunk as her head hit the tray Kate held and
she heard the girl's horrified cry.
Seconds later cold liquid was running through her hair, soaking into her shirt front and
trickling down the back of her neck.
"Sorry!"
Laura jumped to her feet as tumblers bounced onto the timber floor around her. Thank
heavens they were plastic. Kate stared at her in dismay while Felicity stood, looking worried and
clutching the jug tightly to her chest as if she was afraid it would suddenly spill as well.
"Oh, dear. Your shirt!" Kate cried.
Laura looked at her front. This couldn't be happening. Her white linen shirt was soaked pink
and red. The fabric clung to her chest in sticky wet patches. Her head throbbed. Kate wailed
dramatically.
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