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said in amusement.
    ‘Indeed it is.’ He nodded.
    ‘So,’ she said, in her forthright way, ‘some more about your parents, please. I would like all the information possible before we arrive.’
    Davey sighed. They were his mum and dad. They were in their sixties. They’d lived an average life. They still loved each other. There wasn’t anything else to tell her, even though Camilla clearly felt there should be. Maybe she’ll think I’m as boring as them, he thought, as he fiddled with the air-con again. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring her along with me after all.

Chapter 5
    Steffie was hot and dusty, and she’d broken two nails trying to tack up the Happy Ruby Anniversary party banners. As she’d specifically varnished her nails bright red to go with the anniversary theme, she’d had to go in search of an old bottle to do a repair job after she’d filed the jagged edges. The colour she’d eventually found at the back of a drawer in her old bedroom didn’t exactly match, but it was the best she could come up with. After having spent more time than she wanted on beauty repairs, she blew up a selection of red balloons, wiped the glassware and then arranged the glasses neatly on the table she’d dragged, along with as many chairs as she could, on to the covered veranda. The veranda stretched across the entire back of the house and was accessed by folding doors from both the kitchen and living room. It looked over the gently sloping garden towards a small stream, and in Steffie’s opinion was the best part of Aranbeg. It reminded her of some of the lovely American houses she’d seen during her gap year, with their huge wooden decks furnished with cushioned chairs and ceiling fans.
    It would be nice to have a ceiling fan today, she thought longingly. There wasn’t a breath of a breeze. She kicked off her shoes, then strolled the length of the garden until she reached the stream that marked the rear boundary of the property. She’d spent many happy hours as a girl paddling in the stream, which was a tributary of the river Iske, a few kilometres away. Her dad had brought her fishing on the Iske once, and although she’d felt squeamish when she’d seen fish wriggling on the riverbank, she’d been intrigued by the fishermen who’d waded into the middle of the water to cast their lines. The following day she’d donned her bright yellow wellington boots, borrowed her mother’s green apron for an authentic fisherman look, found one of Davey’s old fishing nets on its bamboo pole and walked into the middle of the stream to fish herself. Even though the water wasn’t very deep, it was enough to come up over the boots. When she’d sloshed her way back to the house with sodden boots carrying a jar full of muddy water containing a tiny tiddler, Jenny had gone berserk.
    Steffie smiled to herself as she remembered the ticking-off she’d got from both her parents, for going down to the stream without permission and for ruining her boots. It hadn’t dampened her spirits, although she’d eventually given up on fishing when she failed miserably to catch anything else.
    Now she paddled happily in the clear water, balancing carefully on the stony riverbed so that she didn’t end up soaked again. She was beginning to feel cool and relaxed when the buzz of her mobile phone startled her. She made a face when she saw Roisin’s name on the screen.
    ‘What’s up?’ she asked.
    Roisin told her about the black dress and the diamonds and Steffie said that their mother was perfectly capable of getting her own dress out of the wardrobe.
    ‘I don’t want her to have to fuss,’ said Roisin.
    ‘She won’t,’ Steffie told her. ‘You’re the fusser, not her.’
    ‘I’m a planner, not a fusser,’ said Roisin. ‘Has the food arrived?’
    ‘Yes, and I’ve got everything ready. Except for the plates and cutlery, of course.’
    ‘I’m on the way with them now.’
    ‘Already? What happened? You’re all going to be way