INTIMATE STRANGERS 11

'You can take the car if you like,’ Kate offered the next morning.

‘Gosh, thanks,’ Kerrien replied, surprised and pleased at the unusual offer. She had planned to take the bus to town and look round the Botanic Gardens. She had called Brett but his mother told her he had decided to go with some friends to Surfer’s Paradise for the weekend. Some festival or other was on and it had seemed like a chance he couldn’t miss.

‘Come and see us soon, love. Everything OK with you?’ Margaret had asked. How could Kerrien explain everything that had happened recently, in just a few words?

‘Fine,’ she answered simply. ‘Everything’s just fine.’ She hoped Margaret was easily convinced!

As soon as she could, Kerrien made her escape. For once, she left the children for the others to organize. She would have liked to have seen Martine coping with dressing and washing them, but the temptation to leave before the other woman emerged, was too great. After she’d changed into a simple cotton dress, she sa