“That would be great! Thanks.”
Both girls climbed into the back seat of his ute and he drove the short distance to Mischa’s house. “Your mum is going to love you,” Mischa said as she climbed out. “And if she doesn’t, then she’s an idiot.” The door shut, punctuating her sentence, and Darcy felt a wave of love for the girl.
“You want to hop into the front seat?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Lara trundled around and strapped herself in.
“What’s bothering you?” He drove slowly, taking the long way around to the beach so she had time to talk.
“What if she doesn’t like me?”
“Then as Mischa said, she’s an idiot.”
“What if I don’t like her?”
“Then all you need to do is say you have homework to finish and come over to me. I’ll be in the café waiting for you.”
“Will you stay with me?”
Sofia had requested time alone with Lara, but, “If you need me to, I will.”
“We should have a secret signal,” Lara said. “Like they do in the movies. If I’m in trouble, I’ll bang my fist three times on the table and you can rescue me.”
He bit back his smile, pleased she was back to more of the Lara he knew. “I’ll keep my eye out,” he said. “And I’ll swoop in and save you.”
“Thanks, Dad. You’re the best.”
There weren’t many cars parked outside Ningaloo Café when they arrived, but he recognised Faith’s red Prius. He smiled. “I brought you a change of clothes in case you don’t want to wear your school uniform.”
She pursed her lips. “What did you bring?”
He reached over to the back seat and grabbed the bag he’d packed. It included bathers and her favourite horsey T-shirt.
“I’ll get changed.” She hurried across to the change rooms which faced the beach and only took a couple of minutes before she was back, thrusting her uniform into the back seat.
“Ready?”
She let out a deep breath and nodded.
On the way across the car park, she slipped her hand into his and he squeezed it.
Across on the sand, a lone photographer crouched, taking photos of something that had washed up on the shore. Darcy frowned. Was that Lee, a camp guest they’d had when his parents had died? He’d said he was going to Perth.
The man spotted Darcy and hesitated only a moment before he waved.
“Darcy! Lara!” Lee walked towards them. “Nice to see you again.”
The man had always been friendly, and Darcy had seen him walking miles to get the perfect photograph.
“What brings you back to town, Lee?”
Lee grinned. “I’ve been commissioned to take photos for a coffee-table book,” he said. “They specifically want shots from this area. I was going to call Amy and ask if there’s room at the Ridge for me.”
“There should be. If we don’t have a site, tell Amy you can stay in one of the shearers’ quarters until we get space.” Lee had been a long-term guest and they could do with the money.
“Thanks, mate. That’s nice of you.”
“No worries. We’ve got to get going.”
