She dressed in a floaty, long summer dress in a rich green that complemented her hair. Grace wore a T-shirt and shorts as there had been a mention of a water fight.
Caitlin had made a fancy tray bake with toppers that spelled out the words Welcome Sophie. She had decorated the chewy, chocolate squares with edible glitter and tiny stars made from white chocolate.
Caitlin’s nerves had kicked in at the thought of her date. At five o’clock, there was a knock on the door and Caitlin glared at the clock. ‘Shit! I hope that’s not Bram! He’s way too early.’
Grace giggled. ‘Shall I answer the door, Mum? You look too scared.’
‘No, no, love, it’s okay. I’ll go.’ She took a deep, shaking breath and opened the door. ‘Oh! Cora!’ Grace’s friend stood there on the doorstep with puffy red eyes. Caitlin immediately panicked and wondered if the girl had run away. ‘Wh-where’s your dad?’
Cora sniffed. ‘He’s staying in the car. We’re on our way to the hotel by the airport. We fly out tomorrow, but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.’
Grace appeared behind Caitlin. ‘Cora?’ She rushed past her mum and flung her arms around her best friend. ‘You came!’
The two girls hugged tightly, both sobbing, and tears stung at Caitlin’s eyes. She was partly angry that Lyle had left things so late, in his usual way, but partly relieved that he had seen sense. At least she hoped that’s what had happened… she would need to speak to Dexter after their conversation earlier in the week.
Cora pulled away from Grace and handed her a wrapped gift. ‘I got you a present.’
Grace took the small package and ripped off the paper to reveal a small box. Inside was a pendant in the shape of half a heart. Caitlin lost it at that point, tears streamed down her face as she watched Cora fasten the necklace on Grace.
‘Look, Gracie, I have the other half,’ Cora said with a wide smile as she held the pendant around her own neck.
Grace sniffed. ‘I love it. I’ll never take it off. Wait there though, I have something for you.’ She dashed off up to her room and returned moments later with the scrapbook. ‘I haven’t had a chance to wrap it yet, but I made this for you.’
Cora wiped at the tears on her cheeks and took the book. She opened the first page to see a photo of the two of them when they first became friends. Her face lit up with a bright smile as she flipped the pages. ‘Oh, wow! This is brilliant, Gracie, thank you so much.’
‘Cora! C’mon, we need to go,’ came Lyle’s stern voice from the car with its engine still running.
Cora glanced back at the car and nodded. She turned her attention back to Grace. ‘I’ll email you all the time. And I’ll phone when I can too. I’m going to miss you so much.’ The two girls hugged again and then Cora pulled away. ‘Don’t forget about me, will you?’
Grace sobbed, ‘Never, you’ll always be my best friend. Forever, just like it says on the necklace.’
‘Forever,’ Cora repeated as she turned to jog back to the car.
Caitlin and Grace stepped outside and watched as Lyle turned the car around and drove away towards the bridge. Cora waved and Grace did so too until she was out of sight.
‘I’m so glad he brought her,’ Caitlin whispered as Grace flung her arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. ‘Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart, it’s okay.’ She kissed the top of her daughter’s head and led her back into the house.
* * *
Jules, Reid, Evin and Chewie called for Grace and Cleo at five forty-five in order that Caitlin could meet Bram by herself at six when he arrived.
‘Dex is already at Archie’s. I think he might be the one supplying the water pistols.’ Jules laughed. ‘He might live to regret that! Anyway, we’ll see you up there. Good luck,’ Jules said as she hugged Caitlin in the doorway.
‘Thanks. After Lyle, all I can think of is things going wrong.’
Jules chewed her lip and glanced over her shoulder. Grace, Evin and the dogs were standing over by the inlet, but she lowered her voice, nonetheless. ‘Speaking of the intense Mr Budge, I heard on the grapevine – and by that, I mean Evin – that they have packed up and gone. Cora and Lyle. They fly to Canada tomorrow, but they’re staying a hotel tonight. All their stuff was put in storage and the house is up for sale.’
Caitlin nodded. ‘He brought Cora by earlier to say goodbye to Grace before they headed off to the hotel. Thinking about it makes me want to cry again. They lost so much bloody time and I can’t help blaming myself.’
‘No! It’s his fault, not yours! You weren’t the one who went all stalkery. But I’m glad he saw sense after D— I mean after all,’ Jules said and swallowed hard, her expression startled.
Caitlin’s eyes widened. ‘I knew it! I’ll bloody throttle him!’
Jules cringed and shook her head. ‘Please don’t be mad with Dex. He just wanted to do the right thing. And it worked, didn’t it?’
Caitlin huffed. ‘I suppose so. But I want to know what he said.’
With a quick glance over her shoulder, Jules insisted, ‘Don’t worry, he was very calm and polite. Just told him that he was being selfish if he didn’t let the girls say goodbye. Apparently, Lyle was quite decent about it. Apologised and even said the break-up was all his fault but he couldn’t bring himself to visit you in case he made it worse. That’s why he was keeping Cora away – so he said anyway.’
