Pictures of Lily

on in. What would you like to drink?’
    ‘Or should we go straight down to dinner?’ Dad interjects.
    ‘Dinner, dinner!’ Olivia cries. ‘I’m starving.’
    ‘Me, too,’ Isabel pipes up. Kay merely shrugs.
    ‘I’m easy,’ I say. ‘I’ll fall in with you guys.’
    ‘Listen to you, you’re sounding all Australian these days,’ Lorraine teases.
    ‘Am I?’
    ‘No,’ Dad says. ‘You still sound like Lily.’ He wraps his arm around my waist. ‘Go and get your shoes,’ he tells his other daughters. ‘Is it cold outside?’ he asks me.
    ‘A little. But aren’t we eating in the downstairs restaurant?’
    ‘Of course.’ He laughs and gives me a squeeze. ‘That’s my girl, always thinking outside the box.’
    I blush. He’s still my doting dad and that, it seems, will never change.
    *
    The next morning, Richard and I rise early and say our goodbyes at the front door. He’s leaving early to hitch a ride with Nathan and Lucy, and I’m going into the city to have breakfast with my family.
    ‘Be careful,’ I urge. ‘Don’t catch any waves that are taller than me.’
    He laughs. ‘I’ll be sitting on the beach sunbathing, then.’
    ‘That’s what I’d prefer,’ I say, trying not to think about him crashing into rocks or getting up close and personal with a shark.
    ‘I’ll be careful,’ he promises, giving me a kiss on the tip of my nose. ‘Love you.’
    ‘Love you, too.’
    ‘Have a good time with your family.’
    ‘I will.’
    I go straight up to my dad’s flat when I arrive. Olivia answers the door to me.
    ‘At last. I’m starving, as usual.’ She drags me inside.
    ‘What time did you get up?’ I ask, surprised.
    ‘Six o’clock. AGES ago!’
    It’s only seven o’clock now.
    She leads me through to the living room, where Isabel is engrossed in some children’s programme on the telly. Lorraine is washing up coffee mugs in the small kitchen. My dad is sitting in an armchair, reading the paper.
    ‘Hello,’ he chirps, getting to his feet with a little effort.
    ‘Good morning,’ Lorraine calls through.
    ‘Can we go?’ Olivia pleads.
    ‘Where’s your sister?’ Lorraine asks.
    ‘Still getting ready.’
    ‘Retrieve her and we’ll be off.’ Lorraine nods towards what I assume is Kay’s bedroom, and Olivia hurries away. Dad gives me a kiss and points to the sofa. I sit down next to Isabel.
    ‘What are you watching?’ I ask.
    ‘I don’t know what it’s called,’ she murmurs, not dragging her attention away from the kangaroos on the screen. Dad casts his eyes heavenwards for my benefit. I get up and go to peer out of the window. The view reveals the city’s crystalline skyline, and the golden top of Sydney Tower is glinting in the sunshine.
    ‘She’s still not ready!’ Olivia storms back into the living room and flops down between Isabel and me.
    Out of my three sisters, Olivia, aged eleven, and Isabel, nine, look the most alike. Both have shoulder-length, wavy brown hair and slightly rounded features, and both have a little puppy fat. With Kay that’s long gone. Tall and lissom, with long blonde hair, at fifteen, she takes more after Lorraine than my dark-haired dad. Lorraine is a natural blonde – unlike my mum, to her annoyance – and her hair swings around her shoulders with innate straightness. It’s not the type of hair to go frizzy on the ferry either, but obviously I didn’t get my good genes from her.
    ‘How’s your mum?’ Dad asks me.
    ‘She’s good.’
    ‘Anyone on the scene?’
    ‘I think there might be someone, but she’s not saying anything yet.’
    My gaze is automatically drawn to Lorraine in the kitchen and I notice her purse her lips with disapproval. I find it irritating, even though it’s not entirely uncalled-for, but I don’t comment because I never do when it comes to my dad’s wife. Moments later, Kay drags herself from her bedroom dressed in leggings and a purple T-shirt with a rock-style emblem on it. I notice she’s started wearing make-up since I last saw her.
    ‘Finally!’ Olivia says bossily. ‘Can we go now?’ She jumps to her feet and the rest of us follow suit.
    ‘What are your plans for today?’ I ask later through a mouthful of French toast.
    Dad shrugs. ‘I don’t know. What do you girls want to do?’
    ‘I want to see some kangaroos,’ Isabel cries.
    ‘I wouldn’t mind going into the city to look for a swimming costume,’ Lorraine says, adding for my benefit, ‘I left mine in the laundry