A Roast on Sunday by Tammy Robinson Page A

until she realised the other two were regarding her with interest.
    “What?” she asked defensively.
    “Anything you’d care to tell me?” Dot asked.
    “No.”
    “What did he mean by ‘damage to his truck’?”
    “It’s nothing, drop it.”
    “ Didn’t sound like nothing,” Dot said, but she let it go because Willow was watching them. She fully intended on raising the subject later with Maggie, but for now she sat in a deck chair and enjoyed her ice cream.
    “I’m going to the bathroom,” Maggie annouced heading out from behind the stall.  She didn’t add that she needed to splash some cold water on her still burning cheeks.
    “How very interesting,” Dot mused, watching her daughter make her way through the throngs of people enjoying the evening. “It’s fairly obvious what’s going to happen there, if you ask me.”
    “What?” asked Willow.
    “What’s what?” Dot jumped in her chair, she had forgotten that her granddaughter was listening.
    “You said it’s obvious what’s going to happen there - what’s going to happen?”
    “You shouldn’t sneak up on people. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
    Willow sighed. “I didn’t sneak up on anyone. I was standing right here the whole time. Maybe you should actually wear your glasses for a change.”
    “Wash your mouth out,” Dot reached out a hand to smack playfully at Willow. Aging and its bag of side effects was a touchy subject with Dot. She preferred to ignore it and pretend it wasn’t happening.
    “Hey,” said Nick, who had arrived at the stall and was standing there looking nonchalant, as if he hadn’t just turned up hours too late to help out. 
    “Where’ve you been?” Willow demanded.
    He shrugged. “Around. I came by earlier but you guys were packed. Didn’t seem to need me so I went and ate some food and watched the bands.”
    “Typical.”
    “So are you done?”
    Willow turned to her grandmother, smiling sweetly. “ Grandmother darling, you know how much I love you, right?”
    “Go,” Dot laughed. “ But be back in an hour. I’ll square it with your mother.”
    “Thanks Gran,” Willow kissed her quickly on the cheek, after making sure no one from school was around to notice, then she took off with Nick.
    Dot watched her go and her expression turned serious. The kid was growing up. She wouldn’t be as easy to fool anymore. If Dot had her way they would have come clean to her years ag o, but Maggie had stuck to her guns in a misguided effort to protect her daughter. Dot wondered if the arrival of Jack in their lives was going to change anything. He certainly didn’t seem the type to give up easily.
    Ah well, she thought. Only time would tell.

Chapter seven
     
    “So what’s for dinner tonight?”
    This innocent question was not typically a question most mothers would ask their young daughter on a Sunday morning. But then this had never claimed to be a typical household.
    “ Dunno, just on my way out to check now.”
    When Willow was out the front door and far enough out of earshot Ray, who was sitting at the kitchen table, lowered his newspaper and gave Maggie ‘a look’. He had finished his porridge and was loitering over coffee and the paper.
    “What?” she asked.
    “You know what. How much longer are you going to keep this up?”
    “ Now is not the time to discuss it dad.”
    “ Your mother and I think you need to be straight with her.”
    “ Seriously dad, leave it. So what’s it to be?” Maggie asked the last bit loudly as Willow re-entered the house. “Personally I’m hoping for chicken. We haven’t had one of those for awhile, have we dad?” Her tone warned her father to play along.
    “No,” Ray sighed. “We haven’t.” He lifted the paper back up in front of his face.
    “Sorry mum, looks like Lamb,” said Willow carrying the large cut of meat in a plastic bag gingerly in front of her. “Yuck, all the blood is dripping out of a hole in one corner.”
    “Quick pass it here