‘Evelyn and Lou are coming. Change of scene. Are you sure you won’t?’
‘I’m good, thanks. Bring me a souvenir.’
The medication prohibited Eve from driving, so she sat in the back like a foreign dignitary, Lou beside her and Ruth the chauffeur. ‘Six months,’ Eve had said that morning, not griping but bewildered, the way she sounded about everything now. ‘I can’t drive for six whole months.’ The street was fresh with the feel of coming rain. Dorothy gave Ruth a jaunty wave and said, ‘Take ’em down memory lane, thanks, driver,’ in a silly voice. Ruth fired her the finger as she shifted the car into gear, and Dorothy burst out laughing. They drove off, Evelyn’s profile still and serious like a child’s, Lou snuggled into her shoulder.
Dot spun right into her mother who had been standing behind her in silence. Lee took her glasses off and clung to them, twisting the stems. It was odd to see tears appear in her eyes. Her mouth jerked and she said, ‘What if we’d lost her.’
‘Oh Mum.’ Dorothy leaned in and hugged her awkward, starchy body. ‘We didn’t,’ Dorothy said, and stroked Lee’s arm as she drew a shuddering breath. ‘She’s going to be fine. Come on. You ready to come inside?’
‘I’d like to head back to the hotel. Start packing.’
‘It’s great you’ve been here,’ Dorothy said. ‘We needed you.’
‘Really?’ She was wiping her nose with a white handkerchief, her eyes searching Dot’s face.
Dot hugged her again. ‘Yes, Mum.’
Upstairs, the tray with crumbs, the soup bowl with its tidemarks were evidence of Evelyn’s health. In the tangle of jewellery on the dresser were the earrings they’d both been given, all those years ago. Dorothy held them to her ears, looked in the mirror, her own pair lost to house moves, carelessness and time. Lee would be pleased to see those, if she remembered. There was a small crater in the pillow where Eve’s head had lain. What did she think about up here? Kneeling on the floor beside the bed, Dot leaned her forehead on the blue sheets. The pillow smelled of her sister’s perfume. Light came through the window and she was second base on the field at the commune, followed Michael’s gaze from the batter’s mound to see Eve and Daniel plough towards her through the long grass. Michael thwacked the bat into his palm. Gold lit the grasses. Daniel’s steady stride, Eve behind him, a shadow. She woke up to the front door slamming shut, the sound of voices. Dot’s knees cracked as she stood too quickly. Blood drained from her head, the corners of the room rocked.
‘Who made this?’ Evelyn was sitting at the table, eating dinner with Louisa. ‘It’s delicious.’ There was deep peace in the repetitive motion of her hand as it glided between the plate and her patient mouth. Dorothy touched her sister’s shoulder, settled the tray from her room on the bench, put the soup bowl in the sink and ran the tap on it. ‘How’s the old neighbourhood?’ she asked.
‘Smaller,’ Ruth said. ‘Eve got a bit antsy. Wanted to come home.’ The smile that followed this was meant to be relaxed, but a current ran between Ruth and Louisa, the discomfort they must have felt in the confined space of the car while Evelyn’s voice got louder.
Later Dorothy tucked Lou into bed and brought Evelyn a cup of camomile tea on the couch. She turned the music down and sat below her sister on the floor. ‘Has it been good having them here?’ she asked. ‘Mum and Dad?’
Eve nodded. ‘Mum’s hair looks nice. Dad’s older.’
‘Of course it took you nearly dying to get them back.’
‘Yeah,’ Eve laughed. ‘Should have done it sooner.’ Rain started, pattered the window. ‘Isn’t that lovely.’ She stroked Dorothy’s hair. ‘Did they come when Amy was sick?’
‘No. It was all over fast, and she’s so fine now.’
‘Mmm,’ Evelyn said. ‘But still.’ The rain came in earnest now, enveloping the house. ‘Where’s Nate?’
‘Upstairs. I think he’s on the phone.’ She and Nathan were allies now; he told her things. ‘You’ve got a good man there.’
Eve’s hand stopped stroking. Dorothy felt it leave her hair. ‘Has Daniel phoned?’
‘I don’t know.’ Breathing seemed to require thought, volition. ‘Not while I’ve been here.’
‘I just wondered.’ Eve’s voice was dreamy. ‘I thought someone might have told him, seeing as he’s family.’
‘Tania has spoken to him.’
‘Tania?’
‘Yes.’
Evelyn moved her arm. ‘Oh, OK.’
‘I don’t know how to get hold of him,’ Dorothy said. ‘Ask Tania.’