‘Not anymore. And anyway, isn’t this what you wanted all along?’

‘Well, I think so, but …’

‘I’m sorry, Adrian, this isn’t the place to discuss this and I don’t really want to say much more to you without consulting my lawyer.’

His mouth gaped open, but I didn’t wait around to see if he had anything to say.

My heart beat wildly as I turned away from the man who would soon be my ex-husband and walked over to join Tonia, Manish and some of the other parents. I might have sounded all bravado, but inside I felt anything but. I’d been a mess since Monday and if it wasn’t for my kids, I’d probably still be lying in bed. If Hayley hadn’t been flying today, I’d have begged her to take Payton to soccer for me.

‘Are you okay?’ Tonia whispered to me as I came up beside her.

I swallowed. ‘I will be.’

In reality I felt completely overwhelmed by everything that lay ahead.

Chapter 37

37

Ragged Point

Slipping off my fancy thongs and thinking I should probably buy a less extravagant pair now I’d made the decision to live half my life by the beach, I carried them as Charlie raced ahead of me to the water. He couldn’t be happier to be here once more and while I loved being in the Point as well, my previous stays had felt a little surreal—almost like a hiatus from my real life—but this time was different. This time I was here without any hope of rebuilding my marriage and that thought brought with it a darkness that tainted the beauty of the ocean.

My solution? Keeping very busy to try and stop from sinking into the gloom. I didn’t want heartbreak to take over my life. Whenever I started to feel too sad, I reminded myself that this pain was nothing compared to losing Leo and somehow I’d found the strength to survive that, so I would survive this too.

Two weeks after the cyclone the beach was clear again, except for the usual bits of washed-up seaweed, and the town had almost returned to normal as well. According to Jedda lots of people were still waiting for repairs to their properties, so I felt lucky that the ceiling replacement had gone ahead as planned last week while I was in Perth.