With a quick glance in the rear-view mirror, I slammed on the brakes and was about to turn back when the radio was interrupted by a phone call coming through the bluetooth. The screen flashed up Hayley’s name. Sometimes she had ESP where I was concerned—it was almost as if we were the twins, not she and Adrian.

My finger hovered on the button to reject the call, but at the last minute, I pressed accept and pulled over.

‘You were about to turn around, weren’t you?’ she said before I had the chance to even say hello.

‘Um …’ I looked at the road ahead and tried to come up with a reason she’d accept. If only she hadn’t arranged this, I could say my accommodation had fallen through.

‘Don’t even think about it,’ she roared. ‘The kids will be fine. You’re barely two hours away and I’m only flying at night this week, so if there’s an emergency during the day Adrian, me and Mum will be available to deal with it until you get back.’

‘But—’

‘No buts. I’m putting my foot down. This is your week to relax, take some time to think about your future. Do I have to come up there myself and lock you in the cottage?’

‘If you did that, then you wouldn’t be in Perth if there was an emergency.’

‘Exactly. And that would be your fault.’ She sighed. ‘Seriously, Ash, it’s only one week. Try and enjoy yourself.’

Easy for her to say—she didn’t have kids, so she didn’t understand how it felt to have your heart walking around outside your body—but, as I was closer to Ragged Point now than to Perth, I may as well at least take a look. I could always drive home in the morning.

‘Okay, okay,’ I promised her. ‘I’ll keep driving.’

‘That’s my girl. I’ll call you tonight.’

Half an hour later I turned off the highway, following the sign to ‘Ragged Point: Home of the Rock Lobsters’, which was only a kilometre off the highway. Almost immediately the sea appeared in front of me before the town and I opened my window to let in the fresh air. My lungs inhaled the salty aroma and some of the tension in my bones eased.

One night, that’s all I needed to commit to.

I drove down into the town—if you could call a place with a population of less than five hundred people a town—and took in the lay of the land. The cluster of buildings, which made up what I guess you’d call the main street, came first. I noted a service station with a small motel behind it; a general store, which included a post office and lottery outlet; a cafe called Brewed Awakening, which made me smile; a pub that looked as if it hadn’t had any TLC in years; a fishing tackle shack; and a town hall. There were a few people milling about on the path outside the general store and an elderly gentleman sat at a table outside reading a newspaper, a German Shepherd lazing at his feet.