Dan placed Rowena’s hand in Austin’s then came to stand beside Paula. Perspiration trickled down the side of his face. He looked handsome all dressed up, in spite of the heat. Paula was reminded of their own wedding day, which was the last time she’d seen him in a suit. On that day they had vowed to stand by each other in good times and bad. She didn’t think either of them had fully understood how difficult that might prove to be.

A small murmur from the guests drew her attention back to the ceremony. The minister was smiling and asking Austin to respond clearly. Paula looked at Austin’s heated face with a pang of guilt. He had knocked back the drink she’d made him fairly quickly and she’d probably put a little more Pimms in it than she should have.

After he’d banged the glass back on her table, he’d made a little speech about how special Dan and Paula were, not only to Rowena but to him as well. His first wife had been unable to have children and he hoped Paula would be happy for him to treat this baby as his own grandchild. He’d mentioned again how important she and Dan were to Rowena as well. Paula was worried he wasn’t going to stop. Finally, she’d hurried him out of the house and they’d arrived outside the church just ahead of Dan and Rowena.

Austin’s voice came out strong and clear as he repeated the minister’s words. Paula relaxed. He’d only had one drink. Perhaps he had been a bit nervous or the heat was bothering him. It was a shocking day outside. They had been listening to the radio on the way and a fire had broken out in a national park south of their property. It was a long way south but any fire in the general region made Paula nervous.

* * *

Rowena reapplied her lipstick and stepped back to look at herself in the mirror. It had turned out to be a wonderful day and now it was nearly over. She’d changed out of her suit into some casual travelling clothes. She and Austin were leaving for Adelaide soon. They planned to set off on their driving holiday from there tomorrow.

Not long after they’d arrived back from the church, the awful wind had dropped and, even though the temperature only lowered a little, it had been quite still most of the afternoon and they’d been able to use the outside pergola area as well as inside. In the south, murky grey clouds filled the horizon. No doubt a storm was brewing but, now that they’d managed to host the wedding luncheon without their guests being too hot or squashed, she didn’t mind what the weather did.