Michaela was hungry. Famished, in fact. She looked down at Trisha still asleep among the rumpled sheets and trailed a hand over her soft skin, leaned down and kissed her awake. Trisha blinked and stared up at her.

‘Morning, glory,’ Michaela said. ‘I should be in bed ravishing you right now, but I’m starving. Honestly, I could eat a horse and chase its rider. Had hardly anything except at your Diner last night and if I don’t eat something soon I’m going to swoon like a pretty Victorian maiden.’

Trisha was sitting up now, the sheet in her lap, full breasts beautiful in the band of light showing through the curtains. She rubbed her face.

‘What on earth are you going on about, Michaela?’

Michaela knelt down beside the bed and wrapped her arms around Trisha’s waist, burying her face in those beautiful breasts. She took a nipple in her mouth and rolled her tongue over it until it hardened in her mouth. She kissed it and leaned her head back to look at Trisha.

‘I’m wide awake, babe. And as much as I think I’d like to get back into bed and do reunion night all over again, my stomachs rumbling fit to shake the whole building.’ She kissed Trisha on the lips. ‘Know anywhere good to eat?’ she asked.

Trisha laughed and looked at Michaela, fully clothed. ‘Okay, I get the picture. Can I have a shower first?’

Michaela grinned. ‘You can have anything your heart desires,’ she said and stood back to watch while Trisha climbed from bed and headed toward the bathroom, admiring the sway of female hips. She stretched and smiled. She hadn’t felt this good in how long? Months? The shower was running now and Michaela grinned again and pulled her tee shirt off and was undoing her jeans as she walked to the bathroom.

It wasn’t even eight in the morning when they emerged from the hotel, Michaela carrying her suitcase to stash in the car. The morning light was a fresh, cool wash upon the day and they walked down the road to the Diner. Trisha sighed.

‘What’s the matter?’ Michaela asked.

Trisha just shrugged. ‘Reality,’ she said. She took a breath and blew it out between pursed lips. ‘I feel way too good to deal with anything today.’ She looked up at Michaela. ‘Let’s just pack a lunch and blow this joint for the day, how about it?’

Michaela stopped walking. A blue and white pick-up drove past and pulled in at the diner the block ahead of them. There wasn’t any other traffic on the road. She laid a hand on Trisha’s shoulder, turning her to examine the expression on her face.

‘I don’t think you should put off telling me,’ she said after a moment. ‘Whatever it is, and you can’t tell me something isn’t going on, you’re jumpier than a kitten after string. You’re just going to stew and I’m just going to wonder, so you’d best just tell me, Trisha babe. You’d best just tell me why you called and told me you needed me here.’ She smiled and pushed a curl from Trisha’s cheek.

Trisha grimaced and sighed. ‘Yeah, I know. You’re right.’ She turned down the street. ‘Come on, I’ll introduce you to my mother. We’ll have something to eat and take it from there.’ She turned and looked back at Michaela and Michaela didn’t see even a ghost of a smile on her face. She looked pale and upset.

Michaela nodded and they walked together down the street.

Trisha’s mom greeted her matter-of-factly, wiping her hands on her apron first before sticking them under her arms.

‘So you’re the one Trisha reckons can help. Do you know what’s going on?’

Michaela cast a glance at Trisha.

‘I haven’t told her yet, Mom,’ Trisha said. ‘We’ll have some breakfast then go back to the house and I’ll fill her in, okay?’

Trisha’s mother looked from one to the other. ‘Where’ll she be staying?’ she asked.

‘With me, Mom,’ Trisha said, a warning tone in her voice. ‘She’s come all this way because I asked her to; we are not going to make her stay at the hotel. Besides, what use would that be? She’d never see anything.’

Michaela raised her eyebrows at this titbit, but Shirley Motton simply sniffed and turned back to her cooking.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want no funny business in front of Caro, you hear? She’s problems enough without having to deal with yours.’

Trisha stared at her mother, then grabbed Michaela’s hand and led her out of the kitchen. ‘Sorry about that,’ she whispered. They sat down in a booth and a girl in waitress uniform with a carafe of coffee came up.’

‘Hey Trisha,’ she said. ‘You two want coffee?’

Trisha nodded, pushed their cups forward. ‘Diane, this is my friend Michaela. She’s come all the way from New Zealand to stay a while.’

Diane nodded and poured coffee. ‘Nice to meet ya,’ she said. ‘You want something to eat too?’

They ordered the breakfast special and Diane wandered away. Trisha cast a glance around the diner and took Michaela’s hand.

‘Sorry about Mom,’ she said. ‘She’s better about it than she used to be, but mostly because I’ve been keeping it out of her face.’

Michaela shook her head. ‘Don’t worry about it. My mother dropped me off to live with my grandmother when she found me kissing my best friend. I was fourteen. So I know how it goes, for sure.’ she squeezed Trisha’s hand. ‘How’s Caro?’ she asked.

Trisha took her hand away and leaned her head on it. Caro was her sister. ‘Caro’s okay,’ she said. ‘She’s fifteen now and Mom thinks she’s some sort of angel child just ripe to be corrupted by her big sister.’ She shook her head.

Michaela laughed. ‘Is there any such thing as a fifteen year old angel?’

Trisha smiled. ‘Caro’s probably as close to one as you could get, actually. She’s really bright. I don’t know how Mom managed to produce her. She’s better than the rest of us put together, that’s for sure.’

Michaela looked at her. ‘Don’t underestimate yourself,’ she said.

Trisha just shrugged. ‘Here’s our food,’ she said.