Page 36 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
Noah seemed aware of the atmosphere, although uncertain of its cause, looking from one to the other of the adults for clues. “Daddy, can we watch Supertato?” he asked quietly.
“Sure.” Ollie ruffled his son’s curly hair. “Come on.” Father and son disappeared into the sitting room.
“Well, Nanna seemed to enjoy this afternoon, anyway,” Cassie remarked.
“She did.” Lisa stroked baby Kyra’s head with a gentle finger. “How about you?”
“It was fun.” She managed a smile. “So many people I haven’t seen for so long. And little Robyn’s just gorgeous — like a little angel.” She finished peeling a potato and dropped it into a pan of water, then picked up another one. “She doesn’t take much after Liam.”
“No. She’s the image of her mum.”
Cassie carefully dug an eye out of the potato. Natalie . . . She had kept that photo that Lisa had sent her on her phone for along time, enlarging that small section of it and gazing at the pair of them — Liam with his arm around Natalie’s waist, glancing down at her, Natalie with her head resting against his shoulder, smiling happily at the camera.
A lovely smile, not at all self-conscious, as if she really wasn’t aware of how pretty she was. A heart-shaped face, bright eyes, soft blonde curls around her shoulders. Her sweet nature shone out through the photograph. Liam must have adored her.
She glanced down as Barney nudged her leg. In spite of having lost several teeth, he still loved a knob of raw potato to gnaw on. Silently thanking him for the distraction, she hunkered down and tickled his ear.
“There you are, baby. What a good boy you are.”
He took his trophy, trotted happily back to his basket beside the range cooker, and settled down contentedly.
She paused for a moment to ensure that her voice conveyed no more than casual interest. “It must have been so sad for her, to have lost her mother at such a young age.”
“Yes. But Liam’s a great dad — you can see how much he adores her.” She shifted Kyra to the other breast. “How do you feel about him now?”
“Liam? I . . .” She was going to deny everything completely, but she suspected that her sister knew her too well, even after all the years apart. “Well, he’s still very attractive, of course. But I don’t think it’s likely that anything will happen now. It’s been so long.”
“Ah, well.” Lisa smiled. “You never know.”
Cassie dropped the potato into the pan and picked up another one.Didshe want anything to happen with Liam? It was difficult. She couldn’t deny that those old feelings were still there, but she had no idea if he felt the same. He’d given no indication that he might.
And if he did . . . That would be even more difficult. Sooner or later she would face the same dilemma as she had faced ten years ago. Whether to stay or to leave.
“No, I think I do know.” She ran the peeler down the length of the potato. “He’s been friendly enough but . . . there’s definitelya barrier there.”
“Shame.”
Cassie glanced back over her shoulder, arching a quizzical eyebrow at her sister. “Because if I got together with him it might mean that I’d be staying?”
Lisa’s eyes glinted with enigmatic amusement. “That too.”
“Well, it’s nice to know that you want me to stay. Even though I did pinch your leather jacket and ruin it by falling into the sea at Kelly-Anne Wallis’s beach party.”
“Ah, yes. I’d forgotten that.” Lisa chuckled. “You can bugger off back to New Zealand then and never darken our door again.”
They both laughed, and Cassie felt a tug around her heart. She’d missed her sister while she’d been away. They’d always been close, though they’d often fought like cat and dog when they were kids.
She’d missed the rest of her family too. And Barney, with his cute little face and fur like a coir doormat, and a tail that wagged happily all the time, in spite of his arthritis. And this house overlooking the bay.
She glanced around the cosy kitchen. So many happy memories . . . The scales which had once tipped one way were now slowly tipping the other. She’d been afraid that would happen if she came home, which was why she’d put it off for so long.
There was a tear in her eye, even though she wasn’t chopping onions.
Lisa finished feeding the baby. “Time for a fresh nappy I think.” She dropped a kiss on the infant’s little button nose. “Come on, Munchkin.”
Cassie chopped the potatoes ready to make chips, then took the chicken portions out of the freezer and defrosted them in the microwave. She was laying them in a baking tray, slathering them with butter and tarragon, when her brother strolled into the kitchen.
“Mmm, that looks good.”
