Hannah nodded. ‘For once we’re in total agreement.’ She reached up around her neck and unclasped the necklace holding her mother’s heart-shaped pendant. She held it out to Nat. ‘I want you to have this. It’s brought me closer to Mum every day. You won’t have the house anymore, but this might help.’
Nat’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Really? Are you sure?’
Hannah nodded and pushed the necklace into Nat’s hand. ‘Completely sure. I’ve had its comfort for the last eighteen years and now it’s your turn. Put it on, it will look great on you.’
Nat did as she suggested, then met Hannah’s gaze. ‘Thank you. This means a lot.’ Her fingers stroked the pendant.
‘You mean a lot, Nat. I hope you know that.’
‘You do too.’ Nat laughed. ‘Geez, Phyllie would fall out of her chair if she could hear us being so nice to each other. She’d probably think we were up to something.’
Hannah gave a wry smile. ‘I’m sure she’d have something to say about it.’
The two women sat in silence for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Nat was the first to speak. ‘Damien mentioned you’ve been struggling to get out of bed most days, and you haven’t been back to work.’
Hannah sighed. ‘I just need time, that’s all.’
Nat nodded. ‘I’ve been the same. I took this week off, but have spent most of my time at Shared. Digging is therapeutic, I’ve discovered.’
‘She’d be proud of you, Nat. You’re setting a good example, one I need to follow. I know I have to get my head together, it’s just so scrambled. How are you even getting up in the mornings?’
‘Honestly, I’ve just decided to adopt the Phyllie policy.’
Hannah raised an eyebrow.
‘From now on, in every situation, I think to myself, what would Phyllie do? And then I do it. She was so kind, supportive, fun, tough and wise. We learned so much from her, Han, we now need to carry it through.’
Nat was right, it was exactly what she needed to do. She squeezed Nat’s hand before standing and moving towards the fridge. ‘I know exactly what Phyllie would say we need to do right now.’ She opened the door, took out a bottle of Prosecco and held it up.
Nat grinned and pushed off her stool. ‘Yep, you’ve got the hang of the Phyllie policy already. I’ll get the glasses.’
Following her morning of drinking Prosecco with Nat and crying, laughing and reminiscing about Phyllie, Hannah felt her strength returning as each day passed. She brought Nat’s Phyllie policy into action every day, finding it comforting to have her grandmother’s voice playing in her head when she was making decisions. It had been especially helpful when Damien tentatively told her that his biological mother wanted to meet him, and would she prefer he postpone it until she was feeling up to it. Phyllie would have thrown her arms around Damien and supported him every step of the way as his own doubts and worries plagued him about meeting his mother. And this is exactly what Hannah had done for the last five days since Damien had told her.
Now, she slipped her arms around her husband as he stared at his reflection in their bedroom mirror.
‘Do you think I look okay?’
Hannah smiled. ‘Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to ask that question?’
He turned and faced her. ‘No, really. Is this appropriate?’
She kissed him softly on the lips. ‘You look gorgeous. The shirt brings out the grey in your eyes, and your haircut is incredible. Did they cut every piece of hair individually?’
Damien blushed. ‘I know I’m being overly sensitive, but this is a big deal.’
‘I know it is. It’s not every day you get to meet your mother.’
‘Are you sure the timing is right? With everything that’s happened? I can still postpone seeing Janine.’
‘Phyllie would be the first to say go and meet her, you know that.’
Damien smiled. ‘I know, I just thought I should double-check. I think Amy’s a bit put out that she can’t come today.’
‘If all goes well and Janine wants to, then I’m sure you can introduce Amy to her next time. Don’t forget, as nervous as you are, Janine is equally nervous right now, if not more so.’
‘Do you think so?’
‘Definitely. Imagine going through what she did, then carrying a baby for nine months and having to give it up as soon as it was born. It’s something that would live with you forever. Her age makes no difference to that. I bet she’s thought of you every day since.’
Damien pulled down his shirtsleeves. ‘Do you think I should wear my cufflinks? You know, the ones I wore when we got married.’
Hannah leaned forward again and kissed him on the nose. ‘No, I don’t. We’re only meeting at a cafe, not a fine-dining restaurant. You don’t want her to think you’re some rich, vain guy who wears fancy accessories the whole time. Particularly when you don’t. You’ve googled her enough times and the photos we’ve found always show her in very casual clothes. I can’t imagine she’ll be turning up in a ball gown!’
Damien smiled. ‘Point taken.’ He inhaled a lungful of air. ‘Okay, let’s go. If we leave now, we should be there a little early. That way she won’t be waiting for us. I want to get a good table where we can watch the door and wait until she comes in.’
Hannah bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything. He was nervous. So was she. Her thoughts drifted to Trish. She wondered how Damien’s adoptive mother was. She was probably a mess wondering how this was going to play out.
‘I sent Mum some flowers this morning.’ It was as if he could read her mind. ‘Hope you don’t mind me splashing out, but I know she’ll be in a funny mood today. Wanted her to know that I was thinking of her and that I love her.’
Hannah blinked back tears. This was precisely why she loved her husband. He was going through something difficult but still had the empathy to think of others.
Unable to speak, she took his hand and squeezed it before leading him down the stairs, through the internal access to the garage.
She hoped that after the last two overwhelming weeks things would settle down again soon. Plans being put in place to meet Damien’s biological mother had been a pleasant distraction from the situation with Eliza and Jacob and then the shock of Phyllie’s death. At least they’d had confirmation the previous day that their father and Sue would be receiving their full investment back. The Federal Police had managed to trace all the funds Eliza and Jacob had stolen and were working to retrieve them. Hannah shuddered when she thought of how different the circumstances could have been for her father and Sue if those two con artists hadn’t been stopped. She wondered briefly what their fate would be. Prison for many years she hoped.
The scenery along the Eastern Freeway sped past in a blur, and thirty minutes later Hannah and Damien sat across from each other at Thirst, a small cafe on Collins Street in the heart of the city. Hannah pushed all thoughts of Eliza and Jacob from her mind and imagined how Damien must be feeling right now. Janine had come down from Tallangetti by train the previous evening, and they’d arranged to meet for morning tea.
Damien drummed his fingers on the table and kept checking the door. ‘What if she doesn’t come?’