Page 14 of An Accidental Flatmate

“Mamá loves weddings; she pays attention to the minutest details. You were front and centre in a few, so she asked your name and how you were connected to Hunter.”

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Mamá had tunnel visionwhere good-looking men in the vicinity of any of her daughters was concerned. Pity she hadn’t twigged that Bea avoided dating because the vaguest reference to her financial commitments to her family turned most of those charming, attentive men into affronted cockerels, lowering their heads and strutting in front of her declaring they were in no position to support her while she supported her family.

Not that she asked. Ever.

But the scars from those encounters were still raw. What did those would-be lovers see when they looked at her? What did her sisters see? A reliable bank? Certainly not a flesh-and-blood woman with wants and needs.

“My mum doesn’t talk about weddings. Maha sat on her and tickled her until Mum promised she’d never so much as say ‘Are you dating so and so?’”

“Wow. That’s unusual in your culture, isn’t it?”

“Mum and Dad emigrated after Maha was born. They wanted her to have the same opportunities and freedoms as a son would, and figured that would be harder in Saudi Arabia than here. They’re also non-believers, and being a non-believer is a crime.”

“You mean they’re not practising Muslims?” Bea hadn’t considered Casildo’s faith. Her own was shaky despite Catholic parents.

“Yeah, didn’t stop some people labelling us as terrorists when I was a kid.”

“What about grandparents? Did a granny ever live in that granny flat?” Bea had weathered taunts about her immigrant status at school, but attending a local Catholic school had muted the worst.

“Mum’s mum—Jaddatee—came with them. Her husband died about a year earlier. She was a devout Muslim. Mum was worried about how Jaddatee would be treated when her oldest daughter ran away from the country. Why did your parents come to Australia?”

That tattle-tale at work had emphasised Casildo was the only son and assumed he’d inherit the bulk of his family’s wealth. This was the first time she’d heard him talk in specifics about his family, and it didn’t sound like a traditional Arabic family where an only son might be treated like a minor deity.

“Opportunity, more for us kids than themselves. They both had to settle for jobs below their qualification level. ‘We sacrificed a lot so you could have this opportunity.’ And now I sound like I’m whining.” Bea was tired and, not for the first time, aware she was lonely.

“You are whining. They did sacrifice a lot. But you’re allowed to have other dreams. What are your dreams, Beatriz?”

His gentle rumble was seductive, irresistible bait to a sister who’d begun to hide in the shadows of her home, and to a professional who was overlooked for a slick newcomer at work. Reliable, but no one’s first choice.

“When I grow up”—she mocked herself—"I want to work for myself, have one or two clients I can focus on, provide the full gamut of services from branding to marketing and financial management.”

“Does your family know?” He pulled up in Anna’s car park and turned to face her.

“Does your family know your dreams?” She turned the question back on him.

“Dreams change when times change. But yes, I’ve talked about my dreams in the past.”

He’d carried a light inside him, a fanciful concept, but Bea had been drawn to that light, to the joy it represented when she’d first met him. His comment flicked a switch, and the light dimmed. “But you won’t tell me?”

His exclusion stung.

“For no good reason, I’m not telling anyone yet.” He paused, then sent her a rueful smile. “That’s not an answer. The truth is, I don’t want to jinx them. Sooo ... back to your dreams.”

“I’m supposed to share, but you won’t.”

“Seems unfair, I know.” He sounded genuinely sorry. “I’ll tell you when I can.”

“I need my head read because I believe you,” she said.

“To recap, you’re imposing on the generous hospitality of our mutual friends because you’re seriously peeved at your sisters and planning rebellion.”

“Moving here is the nature of guns across the bows.”

I will not be a doormat for my sisters.

Bea was laying the groundwork for a declaration that she’d continue with mortgage payments, but she was through providing her sisters with an allowance.

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