If Jedda could take care of a baby, produce a newspaper and run what appeared to be a reasonably busy cafe, then maybe I shouldn’t let a possum and a few bumps in the night scare me away from achieving something of my own. Not that the shack was mine and not that I’d be able to do a great deal in six days, but it might be therapeutic to focus on something that had nothing to do with Adrian or the kids for once.

‘Good for you.’ Jedda grinned as I took a sip of my coffee and started out of the cafe.

16

By Thursday I’d formed a bit of a routine. Having not been murdered in my bed the first couple of nights, I was now sleeping much better and started each day with a walk along the beach, stopping in at Brewed Awakening for a coffee and a muffin before heading back to the shack to get stuck into the cleaning and detoxing.

Although it wasn’t a huge place, the extent of the clutter and grime meant that I’d only begun to put a dent in what needed to be done. But I was beginning to see that if this shack was renovated properly, it could be a really beautiful beachside escape. And I really welcomed the physical work. Occasionally I’d get so lost in the tasks of scrubbing mould from the tiles in the bathroom or trying to eradicate the dust and stains from other surfaces that I got a few moments’ peace in which I forgot about the fact Adrian had decided he’d wanted to sleep with other women.

The other good thing was that the exertion was helping to combat the effects of my morning muffin. Working on the shack gave me a workout just as good as, if not better than, any gym could, and I also found it more fun and rewarding.

On my umpteenth trip outside to deliver another big bag of rubbish to the council bin, I startled when someone called ‘Yoo-hoo!’

I looked up at the sound of the sing-songy voice to see an elderly woman hurrying towards me. Her rather large bosom heaved with the effort and she took a moment to catch her breath when she joined me at the edge of the road.

‘Hi.’ I smiled, hoping she wasn’t about to have a heart attack or anything. My first aid was rusty at best.

‘I’ve been meaning to come over and introduce myself.’ She thrust out a hand covered in paper-thin skin. ‘I’m Audrey Fine, and you are?’

‘Ashling Wood,’ I said, wiping my hand on my jeans before shaking hers, finding myself delighted by the interruption. Aside from the few people I passed on the beach and my brief chats with Jedda in the cafe, I’d barely interacted with anyone since being here. While on one hand I enjoyed the peace and quiet, another part of me had begun to crave a conversation longer than it took to order coffee and a muffin.