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‘Meredith, for heaven’s sake!’ said Deborah. ‘Let Robert start, at least, before you decide to fall to pieces!’

Robert leaned over and gave his younger sister’s shoulder a consoling squeeze. ‘It’s all right, Merry. Don’t worry.’ Meredith sniffled but managed a brave little smile.

‘Very well then. After I spoke to Vesna – after you rang us, James – she dropped in to Dad’s place.’

‘Oh,’ said Deborah, a statement of disapproval rather than an exclamation.

‘She was in the area, on her way to address a diabetes support group, Deb,’ said Robert defensively. His voice sharpened. ‘And as I understand it, you
did
request her input.’

‘Was he home?’ asked James quickly.

‘Yes. Yes, he was. And Vesna found him in a surprisingly agitated state. Some mix-up about a bill – his credit card statement, there was something on it he swore he hadn’t bought. Vesna had her kit with her, of course, so she took his blood pressure. You know how he’s been on medication for his high blood pressure for years?’

Deborah nodded; Meredith looked vague. ‘Has he?’ said James.

‘And she was alarmed to find how high it was.’

‘
How
high?’ asked Deborah.

‘Um, two hundred something over one-thirty. Through the roof, really. And there’s a further cause for concern: he had no idea when he’d last taken his medication, and Vesna says he doesn’t seem to know he was even supposed to be taking it. Dad told her he doesn’t take any pills, didn’t need them.’

His siblings all spoke at once.

‘Doesn’t
need
them?’

‘Uh-oh.’

‘Oh no! Daddy!’

‘Yes. It’s genuinely alarming. Vesna’s spoken to his GP about it.’

‘About what, though?’ asked James.

‘Is his blood pressure still high?’ asked Meredith.

‘Is it… ’ Deborah began, and closed her eyes momentarily. ‘Could it be Alzheimer’s?’

‘His blood pressure’s down for now, Vesna’s seen to that. As to the Alzheimer’s, it’s hard to say. Apparently we need to get a proper assessment done. But Vesna thinks he may have been suffering…’ Robert consulted his notes, ‘TIAs: Transient Ischaemic Attacks. Like tiny mini-strokes, apparently.’

James had a sudden bizarre image of his father’s head as a minigolf course, all the little obstacles and bridges, and little balls being tapped into the little holes. ‘Mini-
strokes
?’ he said.

‘
Could
be, that’s all. He needs this assessment. But apparently, yes, someone can be having these mini-strokes, TIAs, so tiny you could even be in the same room with the person at the time and not notice
anything. But each one does a bit more damage.’

‘Damage? To what?’ asked Meredith, looking bewildered.

‘To the brain.’

‘To the
brain
? Is Vesna saying Daddy has
brain damage
?’

‘It’s possible, Merry. I’m sorry. But it’s not definite. We won’t really know till we get this assessment done.’

‘Where? What does it involve, do you know, Robert?’ asked James.

‘And also, how long will it take to get an appointment, and how long does the assessment itself take?’ asked Deborah. ‘We need to know all that, and my schedule is just
insane
at the moment. No, not at the moment, for the foreseeable future.’

‘And I’m off overseas with Silver a couple of days after the party,’ added James. ‘For three weeks.’

‘You lucky thing, James!’ said Meredith. ‘You’re always going away.’

‘Okay, everybody, a little more shoosh please,’ Robert said, holding up one hand. ‘There are specific clinics, apparently, for aged care assessment. Dad’s GP is arranging a referral to the one for his area, and I’ll make sure it’s for a time I’m able to go with him.’

‘Well, that’s such a help, Robert, it really is,’ said Deborah, her thanks sounding only slightly forced. ‘And I
do
appreciate Vesna’s input; we all do.’

Robert looked pleased. ‘That’s all from me at this point, then,’ he said, putting his notepad back in his briefcase and sitting back down on the couch. James shifted in his chair a couple of times, stretching his arms, and Deborah looked across at him curiously.

‘James? Something?’

‘Yes, actually. Um, Silver asked me to say something to you all.’

They waited.

‘She just wants you to know that she’s, um, concerned for Dad – he is her father-in-law, after all – and she wants you – wants
us
– to know that whatever happens over the next few years, you
know, if Dad eventually has to move out of his own home or anything, that she’s, well, that she wants to offer her support. Financially. You know.’

Deborah looked away, the enquiring smile gone from her face. Robert and Meredith shifted slightly closer to each other.

‘How kind,’ said Deborah in a cool tone. James looked at her uneasily.

‘It
is,’
burst out Meredith. ‘It’s really,
really
kind of her. Because you know I would do anything for Daddy but I just haven’t got a cent.’

‘But we don’t need anyone else’s help, not like that,’ Deborah went on forcefully. ‘We all know Silver’s got plenty of money, James, but we’re not standing on the street corner with our hands out, you know.’

‘And, James, the thing is, Daddy couldn’t possibly leave his house. And especially his garden. He just couldn’t!’ Meredith’s eyes were full again, her mouth quivering.

‘Well. I know, I know. But Silver just wanted me to pass that on…’ James looked at his older sister unhappily. Deborah was stony-faced. Robert picked up his briefcase and fussed with the clasp.

‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,’ he said. ‘I’ll find out about the assessment and we’ll take it from there. Hopefully any changes in Dad’s domestic situation are a long way down the track. Hopefully there won’t be any need for any changes at all.’

After farewelling the group, Angus had headed purposefully to the car, swung his gym bag onto the back seat and backed out of the drive. As he turned onto the road he saw the faint shadow cast by Robert on the curtains of the bay window as he stood to address his siblings.
If there is something wrong with Alex’s health, that’ll make Deb even more
… But Angus didn’t allow himself to finish the thought, fixing his attention on the road, the busy intersection on Queens Parade. Once through that he turned into a side street, parked, and reached awkwardly under his seat. He pulled out a small bag with
a velcro closure, and from that a mobile phone. He had to turn it on and key in a PIN. There were only two phone numbers in its memory; he pressed one.

‘Hi,’ he said in a soft, warm voice when it answered. ‘I’ve just left, I’ll be there soon. Under ten minutes. Okay. Me too. Bye.’

He was smiling as he tucked the phone back into its hiding place. Then he drove on, pulling up, yes, just under ten minutes later outside a small block of flats in Heidelberg. He took the stairs two at a time up to a flat on the third and topmost floor.

Just on three hours later, he parked the car again back in the driveway at his home.

‘Hello-o!’ he called out.

‘I’m in the study,’ Deborah called back.

‘Hi,’ Angus said, standing in the doorway. His wife was peering intently at the computer screen. ‘How did it go?’

‘Oh, okay. Considering. I’ll tell you about it later. I’m just finishing the agenda for this meeting tomorrow, then I’m coming to bed. Won’t be long.’

‘Want anything?’

‘Nup.’

Deborah wasn’t long, maybe fifteen minutes. But by the time she climbed into bed beside Angus, he was already asleep.

‘Angus?’ she said, placing the palm of her hand on his shoulder blade. He was wearing a soft old T-shirt, and smelt of the shower gel he always took to the gym. She stroked his back several times. ‘Darling?’ But there was no response. She sighed, and leaned forward to kiss the nape of his neck gently. Then she lay quietly on her back, hands folded behind her head, looking into the darkness. They hardly ever seemed to coordinate their bedtimes any more. And how long was it since they’d had sex in the morning? God, she couldn’t even remember. It would have to be months. They used to do that often. She sighed again, a long, sad sigh.

CHAPTER 5

The phone rang in James’s studio, and he left off doodling in his sketchbook to answer it.

‘Hello, James, Robert here,’ his brother said heartily. ‘Just wanted to check a couple of things with you about the party. Is this a good time for you, or are you busy?’

‘No, fine, fire away,’ said James, wandering around the perimeter of his big work table with the phone to his ear. ‘Hey, thanks for that message, by the way, about Dad’s assessment. When is it, next Thursday?’

‘Correct. But I very much doubt I’ll have anything to report by the weekend; I expect it’ll take some time to get the results of whatever tests they do.’

‘Yeah, I suppose. But thanks for organising it so soon and everything.’

‘Well, having made the commitment, I felt I should attend to it promptly. The date actually works very neatly with my timetable. Obviously I’ll contact everyone once I have those results.’

‘Great.’

‘Now, Silver’s party. First, Vesna wants to make absolutely sure that she really doesn’t want presents.’

‘Yep, no presents, definitely. She says fifty’s way too old for presents.’

‘I’m with Silver, but our girls are shocked!’ Robert chuckled. ‘What’s a birthday party without presents! So, how about flowers, Vesna asked, can we bring her some flowers?’

‘Um, I think she’s actually having someone in to do flowers, so the place’ll be chocka with them anyway.’

‘Right-o.’ There was a little pause, probably, James thought, while Robert made a note on his list. ‘Now, the girls are thrilled about coming of course, but we don’t want them to have
too
late a night. If we bring their sleeping bags, would it be possible to bed them down there? In the upstairs guest room perhaps?’

‘Sure, not a problem,’ James said, idly turning his sketchbook upside down, and then back the right way again.

‘Thanks. And lastly, unfortunately Vesna has learned that she has to work that night – some supervisory thing she can’t get out of – so she’ll be coming later, probably about ten o’clock. Is that too late?’

‘Too late? No, not at all, this party’ll be going into the small hours. Whenever she gets here. Tell her we’re looking forward to seeing her. And the girls.’

‘That’s nice,’ Robert said. His voice relaxed. ‘Actually, James, Vesna and I were just saying that it’ll be quite fun to meet up with each other at a big party again,’ he said warmly. ‘Like the party at that mansion in Toorak where we first met.’

‘Oh yeah – nice. Kind of romantic.’

‘You were there that night, do you remember? I took you with me.’ Robert laughed. ‘Because I was so nervous about going to such a posh place by myself.’

‘Is that why? It’s funny, I was just thinking about that party the other day. Do you remember when it was?’

‘Yes indeed. I had just finished my teacher training, so it was
December 1980. Getting on for twenty-four years: amazing. It’ll be our twentieth wedding anniversary soon.’

‘I’d forgotten that’s where you and Vesna met. I was thinking about it because Silver just re-sold a painting I did of… something from that night. It was one of my first big water paintings. Maybe the very first.’

‘Is that so? Let’s see: those close-up paintings of swimmers’ bodies, their feet and so on, those were the first I saw.’

‘This is even earlier.’ James started ambling around the studio. He looked out the high wide window towards the lap pool.
Might go for a swim after this.
‘It’s of…Well, it shows two figures… um… ’
Oh, what the hell!
‘Two people making love, actually, in the water. In a swimming pool.’

‘Two people?’ asked Robert. There was an unusual tone in his voice. Mischievous. ‘Not three?’

James stopped dead. He felt like his brain had just gone on hold. ‘Hang on a second! How did you know?’

‘Vesna and I were on the terrace above the pool. We had perfect balcony seats, you might say.’ James heard the grin in his brother’s voice. ‘Not that we watched the whole show, I hasten to add! We went indoors when it started getting…’

‘A bit too hot and heavy? Wow! What did Vesna say? Was she shocked?’

‘Well, I think I was more shocked than she was, James, to tell you the truth.’ Robert laughed. ‘I was a bit of a prude in those days. And terribly… naive. Being married certainly changes things, doesn’t it?’

‘It sure does. It has for me, anyway,’ said James.

‘Yes, you’ve certainly left your wild ways behind now.’

‘Absolutely!’ said James. ‘You know, I was thinking about that night and thinking, “What the hell was that about? Was that
me
?”’

‘It certainly looked like you, my lad!’ said Robert, chuckling again. ‘Well, as I say, times have changed since then. For the better, wouldn’t you say, for both of us?’

‘Yes. Yes, that’s right,’ James hadn’t moved from the window. He caught sight of his face reflected in the glass.
Gobsmacked
, he thought, and closed his mouth. Usually he and Robert talked about sport, or current affairs.

‘Vesna and I both think it’s wonderful, you know, that you and Silver are so happy together. I really mean that.’

‘Thanks, Robert. Thanks! And we… you know, we’re both looking forward to seeing you guys at the party. Yeah. It’s great!’

‘Yes indeed.’

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Each brother stood for a long moment, pleasantly startled by what had been said, and remembering the events of that long-ago evening.

D
e
C
em
B
e
R
1980

As the afternoon drew closer to evening, Robert’s indecision was making him more and more unsettled. Should he go to Justin’s party or not? He tried to read a book on classroom management – next year he’d actually be there standing in front of a class, a qualified teacher – but found it impossible to concentrate. He went out to the backyard and asked his father if he needed a hand.