LITMIR.BIZ

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of her cold drink before she continued.

      ‘Anyway, she broke her heel and I was there when the paramedics took her by ambulance to the hospital. Susy and I had both been strapped in the back of the car and didn’t suffer even a scratch. I visited her mother in hospital a few times with Susy, and I became curious and started asking the nurses questions. Then one day her podiatric surgeon came in. I asked him all about the operation and he went into great detail with me and that was it. I knew what I wanted to do with my life.’

      ‘I’m impressed that you knew at such a young age—’

      ‘I think that we should let poor Phoebe eat,’ Tilly cut in. ‘She’s been grilled and she’s passed with flying colours, Dad, so now she gets fed and watered.’

      They all smiled, and then chatted about themselves so Phoebe could enjoy the delicious dinner Tilly had prepared and also get to know the family.

      Everyone but Heath told her something about themselves and their lives. Heath stayed quiet, and Phoebe noticed his jaw clench more than a few times as they talked about Oscar as a baby. It was obvious to Phoebe that it had been a difficult time for him. But why exactly she wasn’t sure, and they all clearly avoided the topic of Oscar’s mother.

      ‘Do you want to look at the stars?’ Oscar suddenly asked Phoebe as she sat waiting for Heath to bring a drink out to the patio, where everyone had moved after dinner to enjoy the balmy evening.

      ‘Do you have a telescope?’

      ‘No, but we can lie on the grass and look up and see them. That’s one of my favourite things to do at night. Grandpa knows lots about stars.’

      Phoebe thought it was a lovely idea, and very sweet of Oscar to extend the invitation for her to join him. She stepped out of her shoes and followed him to a patch of lawn just near the patio, where they both lay down on the grass and looked up at the stars twinkling in the ebony sky. The cool ground beneath her bare skin felt wonderful.

      ‘That’s the saucepan. Can you see it? You have to draw a line between the big star—up there—and the others—just there—and it looks like a saucepan,’ he said, pointing his tiny finger straight up in the air. ‘And it has a handle too.’

      ‘I can see it,’ she responded as she looked to where he pointed.

      They both lay staring at the perfect night sky and Oscar talked with lightning speed about everything his grandfather had told him. Phoebe was impressed with all he had retained, and his interest in astronomy.

      ‘Perhaps you might grow up and study the stars,’ she said. ‘That would make you an astronomer.’

      ‘I think I might visit them instead.’

      ‘So you want to be an astronaut?’

      ‘Yes. That would be more fun than just looking at them.’ Heath stood in the doorway to the patio and looked out at the two of them, lying in the dark on the lawn, talking. He had no idea what they were saying but he could hear their animated chatter. He felt a tug at his heart, thinking that his wife had missed out on doing just that. And that Oscar had missed out on those important long talks with his mother.

      They had both been cheated. And even though his pain lessened with every passing year he wondered if Oscar’s would grow as he realised what he had lost.

      “You know, Phoebe’s nothing like I imagined,’ Ken said softly when he saw Heath in the doorway with Phoebe’s drink.

      Heath agreed with his father’s sentiments but he would not let him know. He wouldn’t let any family member know, for fear of them trying to make a spark ignite between them. He had found her to be sweet when they’d first met, sexy at the pool, and looking at her now, lying beside his son, he was discovering she was apparently maternal—but that wasn’t a combination he wanted. He preferred sexy with no strings attached, for one-night stands that could never break his heart. Or impact on his son.

      ‘I think we should probably get going,’ he said to his father. ‘I need to get Oscar to bed—and you as well, Dad.’

      ‘Don’t fuss about getting me to bed, son,’ Ken told him as he watched Oscar and Phoebe. ‘I’m quite enjoying the company and I’m not that old yet. But, having said that, I imagine young Oscar might be getting tired after a day out.’

      ‘Let him spend the night with us,’ Tilly offered as she stepped outside and was pleasantly surprised to see her nephew relaxing on the lawn with Phoebe. ‘Then we can get up early and have a swim before it gets hot. I think he’s a little lonely over at Dad’s. I can do some things with him that you—’

      ‘That I can’t do because they are things only a mother can do?’

      ‘No, Heath. Not even close,’ Tilly replied in a gentle tone. ‘You’re doing an amazing job with Oscar. He’s adorable and polite and I love him to bits—you know that. But it’s hard with you working long hours, and Dad can’t do anything while he’s laid up, so I thought I’d help out and do something fun while you’re stepping in for Dad. Stop being so hard on yourself.’

      ‘I’m not being hard—I’m a realist, and I think Oscar is out of his routine over here. He probably misses his nanny and preschool. Once he gets back to Sydney he’ll be fine again.’

      ‘I’m sure you’re right. But in the meantime let me have him for a day.’

      ‘Tilly’s enjoying having you both in Adelaide,’ Paul added. ‘And I’m sure she wants to make the most of it. It doesn’t happen often enough.’

      ‘Absolutely,’ Tilly agreed. ‘Check with Oscar and see if he’s up for it …’

      ‘Up for what?’ Oscar and Phoebe had left their observation spot on the lawn and walked up quietly without the others noticing.

      ‘A sleepover and a day with us tomorrow.’

      ‘Sure am—then I can go swimming with Aunty Tilly in the morning. Can I, Daddy, please?’

      ‘Well, I guess the decision has been made,’ Heath said, not having expected Oscar to jump at the idea of a sleepover so quickly. He’d thought they were joined at the hip, but perhaps that tie was loosening. And maybe he did need to let Tilly mother him now and then.

      ‘Do you want to sleep over too, Phoebe? And Daddy could too?’

      Heath’s eyes widened in surprise at Oscar’s invitation to both of them.

      Phoebe smiled. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I have to go home to my own bed and my pyjamas.’

      ‘I sleep in my T-shirt and jocks in summer,’ Oscar cut in, with a serious tone in his little voice. ‘You could do the same.’

      They all smiled at Oscar’s matter-of-fact response—well, everyone bar Heath. He was still thinking about the void in his son’s life that was becoming more and more obvious. It was one that he’d thought he had managed to fill.

      ‘Perhaps another time,’ Phoebe said politely, thinking that there was no way she would be stripping down to her underwear for a sleepover with Heath.

      Tilly tried not to laugh as she hugged her nephew and, looking at his food-stained T-shirt, she directed a request to Heath. ‘Could you drop off some fresh clothes tomorrow morning in case we want to go out?’

      Still deep in thought, he responded, ‘Sure—as long as you’re sure it’s not too much trouble for him to stay?’

      ‘Not at all,’ Tilly said as she picked up Oscar and put him on her lap. ‘Early-morning swim for you and me, Oscar—and, Phoebe, if you’re not doing anything please come over and join us for a swim.’

      Phoebe was surprised at how warm and welcoming the family was, and was very quickly feeling at home, but she declined, thinking that perhaps the offer was Tilly just being courteous.

      Heath looked at his sister and then back at Phoebe without saying a word,

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