The Road Back by Di Morrissey Page B

there were still a couple of old booths at the back of the place, but the front of the shop was now gleaming in new chrome and shiny laminex. ‘A lot of gelato to choose from, Megan,’ he said.
    â€˜You can taste a couple of them first, isn’t that right, Travis?’ Susan suggested.
    â€˜Sure is, Mrs Baxter,’ replied the young man behind the counter. ‘Take your time.’
    Megan spent a long while considering the exotic combinations of fruit, coffee, chocolate, liqueur and nut flavours before settling on a macadamia, guava cream and mint combo to take home and a French vanilla honeycomb to eat straight away.
    As they left the gelato bar and turned to hurry home before the ice-cream melted, the sounds of a brass band suddenly flooded the main street.
    â€˜What’s that music, Bunny?’ asked Megan.
    â€˜It’s the local band practising. Your father used to belong to it, years ago.’
    â€˜Did you, Dad? You never told me.’
    â€˜I wasn’t very good. I think they were pleased when I left,’ said Chris with a smile.
    â€˜A lot of schoolchildren are in the band. Soon they’ll be playing Christmas carols in the hospital and the two nursing homes. There’s a big concert in the park on Christmas Eve performed by various groups and the band is one of those, too. We could come down if you like. It’s lovely to sit by the river with a picnic tea and when it gets dark we light candles and sing carols.’
    â€˜I’d like to do that,’ said Chris. ‘We always used to go, you, Dad, Kate and me. It would be nice to do it again this year. I know you’d love it, Megan.’
    â€˜You said you wanted to show me places you’ve never taken me to before and I’ve never been to carols by candlelight. This is going to be fun,’ said Megan, bubbling with enthusiasm.
    â€˜Let’s do it, then,’ said Chris.
    Susan smiled at them both. ‘It’s so nice to have you two here. Your visits have always been too short, but now we can really plan things to do.’
    They walked back into the house and as Susan put the ice-cream into the freezer, she turned to them both and said, ‘Now, I was meaning to ask you, would you mind if I invited some other people to Christmas lunch? I always celebrate Christmas with a few friends.’
    â€˜Of course, Mum, you should do what you want, it’s your house. What do you usually do?’ said Chris, taking a seat in a cosy armchair in the living room.
    â€˜You’d be surprised. My friends and I have had some crazy Christmases! Sometimes we go to the aged care homes and put on a bit of a show, give the people there a jolly good laugh. Last year we asked a couple of refugee families from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan who have settled in town to join us and we had an international food fest. It was a combined Christian, Buddhist and Muslim Christmas lunch. It broke down a lot of barriers. Sometimes we’ve taken a picnic down to the river or simply had it on someone’s verandah. I like to be a bit more formal and use the dining room, mainly because it’s got air conditioning if we need it. Since I got my solar panels installed, I don’t feel a bit guilty about using it.’
    â€˜Wow, sounds awesome,’ said Megan.
    â€˜I’m not sure that “awesome” is the word I would use, but I do have some rather fun friends. Anyway, Christmas is still a little way off, and there are quite a few things I need to do before then. Speaking of which, Chris, if you have a few hours free tomorrow afternoon, I have to go up to the plateau for some foodie things. Perhaps you two could drive up there with me. Do you like to cook, Megan?’
    â€˜I like to eat! And I have to help Mum with meals, but that’s not much fun. Ruby’s parents have an outdoor pizza oven, and we get to make our own pizzas. I like doing that.’
    That evening there was a lot of chatter and