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  ‘Ooops, better not lose that.’ He scooped it up. ‘Tahlia’s mother gave me her phone number.’

  No way. Claudia looked over at Grandpa, ready to argue that it wasn’t true. Then changed her mind.

  ‘Woman’s a chronic giggler. And a bit slow. She’s the kind of person who’d trip over a cordless phone. But she likes burgers.’

  Grandpa was cheeky. But people said that about her sometimes.

  The two weeks of her holiday were passing quickly. She couldn’t really say she could swim. Not properly. But she could put her face underwater and splash her arms. She had never done that before.

  Grandpa had guessed her secret. And she didn’t mind. But now she wanted to know his. ‘Grandpa, why haven’t I seen you before?’

  ‘Well…’ Grandpa shifted in his chair. ‘Your mother was busy proving she was a big grown-up and could do things by herself. And I was trying to show that I didn’t need anyone. I thought she should phone me. She probably thought I should ring her. In the end we both waited too long. It was too hard to pick up the phone. ‘

  Claudia nodded but didn’t interrupt. If she did, he might stop talking.

  Grandpa wiped his mouth on his sleeve. ‘Every time I thought about phoning or visiting, I got this fluttery feeling in my stomach. Then it would go into tight knots. It was easier not to do anything. Not to get that feeling.’

  Surprised, she lowered her ice-cream cone. ‘I get that too. When I’m nervous, my stomach goes all…’ She wiggled her fingers to show how it felt.

  ‘How’s that?’ Grandpa chuckled. ‘We must be related.’

  She laughed with him.

  ‘So that thing I said about being scared of marshmallows? That was a joke. I am scared of something though.’

  ‘What?’ asked Claudia.

  ‘I’m scared of your mother.’

  Eighteen

  He gave a lop-sided smile. ‘I don’t think she’ll karate me or anything. I mean, I’m scared I’d embarrass her. I get silly when I’m nervous. And I don’t know what to say.’

  The smell of incense drifted on the night air.

  ‘You don’t seem nervous.’ Claudia licked ice-cream from her fingers.

  ‘Why do you think I talk all the time? If there’s a silence, I have to fill it. I didn’t visit your mum because I worried that she wouldn’t want me. And that would be worse than not knowing.’

  Claudia’s stomach fluttered right at that moment, but she ignored it. She was learning to do that more often. ‘Why don’t you come back home with me? I’ll look after you.’

  ‘I haven’t got anything to wear,’ said Grandpa.

  ‘You have too much to wear.’

  Grandpa sniffed. ‘But your mother would want to take me everywhere with her because I’m too ugly to kiss goodbye.’

  ‘She won’t care if you’re ugly. You’re her dad. Anyway, you’re not ugly. Just different.’

  ‘I don’t know, Claudia. It’s been a long time…’

  ‘If you come back with me, I’ll…’ She took a deep breath, not quite believing she was about to say her next words. ‘I’ll let you teach me how to swim. Properly. Not like a carrot.’

  ‘Considering your stomach, that’s a generous offer. Head underwater?’

  She nodded. ‘I’ll try. But you have to stay with us for two weeks.’

  ‘How do you know your mother will let me stay?’

  ‘She will if I ask her,’ said Claudia in a determined voice.

  ‘I believe you.’

  ‘One more thing. You have to stop taking your teeth out and licking them.’

  ‘You drive a hard bargain,’ said Grandpa.

  ‘That’s a yes, isn’t it?’

  Grandpa nodded.

  Claudia grinned. ‘Cool bananas. ‘

  About the Author

  Christine Harris has written over 45 books for young readers. She wrote her first book when she was nine, sitting in a tree in her nan’s back garden. It was never published, but it gave her a taste for writing stories, plus a few splinters.

  When she is not writing, Christine likes to read, bush walk, get her hands dirty in her garden, knit, watch movies, play loud music and mess up the entire kitchen with her cooking. She does not sing in the shower or wear high heels with shorts.

  www.christineharris.com

  About the Illustrator

  Bettina Guthridge loves drawing ‘cool dudes’ like grandpa though she wishes he’d consult someone about his clothes… they’re disgusting! It made her feel quite nauseous colouring them in!

  Often Bettina models her characters on people she meets, though she is not saying who grandpa looks like otherwise she might get sued! She loves illustrating books with wicked humour and lots of silliness as she feels we all need a big dose of laughter.

  Copyright

  The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the

  Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used

  under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia.

  First published in Australia in 2007

  This edition published in 2011

  by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  www.harpercollins.com.au

  Copyright ©text Christine Harris 2007

  Copyright ©illustrations Bettina Guthridge 2007

  The right of Christine Harris to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

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  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

  Christine Harris

  Cool Bananas / Christine Harris.

  ISBN: 978-0-7333-2110-8 (pbk.)

  ISBN: 978-0-7304-9541-3 (ePub)

  I. Guthridge, Bettina. II. Australian Broadcasting

  Corporation. III. Title.

  A823.3