Tumble Creek by Louise Forster

one they fulfilled with love.
    Sofie walked into the kitchen and found Jennifer rolling out pastry. ‘Why aren’t they at school?’
    â€˜Teachers are having a meeting, so years eleven and twelve are having a free day. They are expected to study of course.’
    â€˜Why do I feel like I’m out of the loop?’
    â€˜You’re not, it just so happened I caught sight of her rear end as she was leaving, wearing civvies, so I asked. Otherwise neither of us would know.’
    Sofie pulled out her mobile and sent Claudia a text message: It would be nice to know your whereabouts BEFORE the fact!
    Seconds later: Oops. At Mich’s.
    No kidding!
    U OK I stay the night?
    Getting grumpier by the minute, Sofie turned to Jennifer. ‘She’s asking if she can stay the night.’
    Jennifer pulled a ‘whatever’ face and shrugged.
    Sofie narrowed her eyes, and questioned her sister, ‘Calum still away?’
    â€˜Yeah, but that’s not a problem. I was alone when we were here for Uncle Bob’s funeral and all that weird shit was happening.’
    â€˜That’s not my point. Claud said she would be here to keep you company and now that’s suddenly forgotten, because something better came up? No—’ Sofie shook her head, ‘—that’s not happening.’
    â€˜I know, but she’s a teenager. You’ve done the ground work, she’s a brilliant, sweet girl, the best. You can be very proud of who she is.’
    â€˜I can’t leave this, she needs to be reminded.’ Jennifer rolled her eyes and groaned. ‘Don’t worry I’ll be nice. I won’t yell.’ Sofie’s fingers tapped across the little screen. You were going to look after Aunt Jen.
    Shit! I’ll be there.
    Sofie turned the phone around so Jennifer could read the message.
    â€˜Why do I feel like a heel?’ Jennifer muttered unhappily.
    â€˜That’s okay, you’ve got company.’
    â€˜Text her back, tell her it’s okay, you’re staying with me.’
    Oh bugger, that would mean no time with Brock. The shoe was on the other foot now. What a fuck-up. But Jennifer was right. Sofie sent another text. I’ll stay with Jen.
    Cool. Be there for work tomorrow.
    Sofie sent kisses back and turned to Jennifer. ‘What time are they on tomorrow?’
    â€˜Lunch shift. The motels are booked out, so we should have quite a crowd.’
    â€˜I’ll be here to help Fiona and Ryan with the brekkie crowd and stay on until you don’t need me.’
    â€˜Thanks, Sis.’ Jennifer blew her a kiss.
    â€˜One great waitress down makes it so much harder. I’ll have to assume Britt isn’t coming back. I just don’t have the time to interview right now.’
    â€˜We’ll manage fine, Jen. We can put the word out after the long weekend.’ With all that was going on in her life, Sofie had made another decision. ‘Sis?’ she said, her tone suggesting she didn’t like what she was about to say next.
    Jennifer stopped rolling her pastry, eyes round, expression expectant. ‘Don’t think I’m going to like what you’re about to tell me,’ she said, hands squeezing into the dough, making it curl out between her fingers.
    Sofie took a deep breath, and went straight for it. ‘We need to talk about getting more staff. You said I should tell you the moment I want to stop the breakfast. Well, I want to stop breakfast.’
    Jennifer sagged with relief. ‘Shit, Sofe, thought you were going to tell me that you and Claud were heading back to Sydney, or something horrible like that.’ She pulled her hands out of the dough, rounded the kitchen table and hugged Sofie, then stepped back to study her face and asked, ‘Is that it?’
    â€˜Not quite. I’ve done a cost analysis on opening for breakfast. It’s making a profit, but I’m wondering if we really need to keep it going.