Where the Light Falls Read Online Free Page A

exhibition, but the truth was he didn’t want to risk bumping into Kirsten, not after he’d left Sydney without any explanation. He couldn’t bear facing the accusation in her eyes.
    ‘And how’s . . . your wife?’ He couldn’t believe it; as the sentence left his mouth, he couldn’t recall her name, although he’d known her since they were in their twenties.
    There was a part of him, some pocket deep inside, that envied people like Stewart—people who had fallen in love young and who’d given up other things in their lives in order to remain that way.
    ‘Louise is great. You know, we’ve been together forever, so nothing really changed for us, but we did buy a house in Stanmore.’
    This was what happened to people like Stewart and Louise: their lives followed a certain pattern and it never deviated from the path other people expected them to take. There was a feeling that often took hold of him when Stewart and he were together now, that their lives had veered too far apart and what they were doing with these dinners and drinks was trying to restore something they’d already lost.
    ‘Good for you. Property is expensive here. It’s muchcheaper in Berlin. I’m thinking of selling my apartment in Darlinghurst so we can buy something there.’
    ‘Really?’ Stewart’s eyes were alight at the mention of Berlin. ‘I loved Berlin, when we visited. You don’t find the language a barrier?’
    ‘Oh no, not really. I know enough to get by.’ He knew the names of things, but he had never learnt how to fit those words together into sentences and the truth was that being around Dom made him lazy about learning. When he was alone, he moved through the city, pointing to what he wanted in shops and speaking in nouns and he didn’t mind not understanding the things being said around him. It afforded him a quietness in which he could be alone with his thoughts.
    ‘Do you think you’d ever come back here to live?’ Stewart asked, his voice scooting higher suddenly, wanting some sort of reassurance from him.
    ‘I don’t know. There are a lot more opportunities for me to exhibit over there. Europe is a much bigger market. Also my work sells better there.’ He watched the disappointment trickle through Stewart’s expression.
    ‘Well, I guess it would be difficult with Dom, wouldn’t it?’
    He nodded an agreement and stroked the sweating glass with his finger.
    Stewart looked down and then back up again and there was a looseness to his expression, the face of a person who has information they are not quite sure how to share.
    ‘Have you heard any more about Kirsten since you came back?’ Stewart said softly, looking into his beer. There was a single line of bubbles floating to the surface.
    ‘No, I haven’t heard anything,’ he said. Weary now, in the fug of his jet lag, he was no longer sure that he actually wanted to hear more. He felt himself recoiling in anticipation of the details.
    Stewart leant forward, bent over his beer, as though the words he spoke were very heavy and had dragged him there. ‘They’ve stopped the search. For the body. I heard after I sent the email to you.’ He looked to be on the verge of tears. ‘Louise found out from Kirsten’s mother that there’ll be a service for her. Tomorrow, actually.’
    ‘The body?’
    Stewart nodded. ‘Your mum didn’t hear anything about it? It was reported on the news a few weeks back, as a suspected drowning in Lake George.’
    ‘Drowning?’ he said distantly. ‘My mum doesn’t watch much television anymore.’ And he hadn’t told her, reverting to the familiar instinct he’d always had to protect his mother from the things that might upset her. ‘Kirsten drowned?’ He could hardly fit his mouth around the word.
    Stewart nodded sadly. ‘They think so. Louise is going to the service. And I will if I can. It’s just there’s something on at work. I’m not sure if I can get out of it.’ He gestured vaguely, as if trying to offer