Hannah's mum said, "Hello, Jessica."
The woman replied, without changing her expression, "Hello, Charmaine."
The way they looked at each other made Hannah uneasy. Neither one of them made an attempt to hug or even to shake hands. The deep silence lingered.
Her Aunt Jessica moved her eyes away from her mum and then looked at Hannah with interest.
Her mum said, "This is Hannah," putting her hands on Hannah's shoulders.
Her aunt looked at her as if she could look right through her and said, "Yes," as if Hannah looked exactly like she expected her to look. She then smiled widely. "I bet you're hungry. I have a chicken roasting. Your cousin will be home from school soon. She is very excited to meet you."
Her mum seemed uncomfortable when her Aunt Jessica looked back at her.
Her aunt said, "Well, come in then. Into the dining room and make yourselves at home."
It was a big house with a long passage running right through to the back of the house. The staircase was to the right of the front door. The first room to the left was a sun-room with large windows overlooking the ocean. The second door, a little further, was on the right. It opened into a living room.
They walked past these doors, and then at a third door to the left they turned into a dining room area with a long rectangular table. A door led off the dining room into a large kitchen.
They sat down at the table and Hannah felt uneasy when her aunt gazed at her again. It made her feel ill at ease to be examined so closely.
After her aunt poured them each a cup of tea and offered them something to eat from a plate stacked with delectable chocolate covered biscuits, her aunt said to her mum, "Hannah has inherited your best features."
"Yes," her mum said. "Everyone says so."
Her aunt turned to her and asked her, "Hannah, are you a good student?"
"Yes, ma'am," Hannah replied.
"She's a very good student," her mum said. "All As"
Aunt Jessica sighed. "I am sorry about Chris, might as well tell you that before Paul comes in."
Hannah looked up at her mum and wondered why her uncle would not want to speak about her dad, even now after he is dead, but her mum looked as if she had no trouble understanding.
A man, who looked a lot like her dad, walked into the room and then said to Aunt Jessica, "She does not look as tall as I thought she would be."
Hannah felt as if somehow she had failed to grow up properly.