‘No, I’m not talking about a test to find out if Bill is your father, but one to try and find out where he came from. Who he was.’

Dan blinked. ‘I’m not following.’

‘Surely you’ve heard of amateur genealogists testing their DNA to research their family trees.’

‘Yeah, sure. The ads are always flashing up on Facebook when I’m trying to update the Factory’s social media.’

‘It could be a long shot, but maybe if you do one of those tests, you might find someone who is related to Bill?’

His eyes gaped at the possibility. ‘You think?’

‘Yes. One of Payton’s friend’s mums who was adopted as a baby found her biological family that way.’

‘You’re a fucking genius.’ He grinned at me. ‘I’m going online to order a kit tonight.’

I smiled at his enthusiasm, only hoping I hadn’t got his hopes up.

Sadly, eventually the evening came to an end, but even Sax had to admit he’d had a good time, although perhaps that was as much to do with the fact that Dan had offered his wi-fi anytime he wanted it over his last couple of days in the Point.

Everyone packed up their things, made sure the bonfire was thoroughly extinguished and then piled into the boats. The look on Payton’s face when Dan let her have a turn steering back to the shore made my heart swell.

Two days later I drove my children back to Perth feeling far more affectionate towards them than I had midweek. Yet I had to admit that things had changed. The thought of returning to the Point and not seeing them for another week didn’t bring quite the same pang to my heart it originally had.

For the first time I could remember, I had somewhere else that had also begun to feel like home.

Chapter 45

45

Perth

A week later, after another busy, productive and very enjoyable stint in Ragged Point, I left early, arriving in Perth just after 10 am. Despite the fact the weather had cooled over the last couple of weeks, I didn’t want to leave Charlie in the car while I did a grocery shop, so I swung by the house to drop him off first.

Dragging my suitcase behind me, I unlocked the front door and let him rush ahead to reacquaint himself with the lay of the land.