‘About ten years. I worked for the previous owner before that—did shifts here and at the pub. When Jack was killed, I got a good payout. Would rather have him, but I knew he’d want me to use it wisely. I put a lot in savings and invested some, but when the cafe came on the market, I bought it too.’

We talked for a little while longer but just before the cafe was due to close, there was an afternoon rush and Jedda had to get up and serve.

I took that as my cue to get back to my cleaning, waving as I left and promising to see her in the morning.

‘I’ll have your coffee waiting,’ she promised.

17

Early Sunday evening—my final full day in the Point—I had my first visitors.

‘Hello!’ Jedda called as she approached the shack and I hurried to the door to help her lift Bindi, pram and all, up onto the porch.

‘Hi, sweet pea.’ I dropped down to eye level with the little girl and tickled her toes. She squealed in delight. Since the Green Sheep day, she no longer clung to her mother when I dropped into Brewed Awakening for my morning coffee, and yesterday she’d even let me take her for a walk to the park when Jedda couldn’t take a break. Spending time with Bindi reminded me of when Saxon and Payton were little and had gone a tiny way towards easing the pain of not being with them.

Jedda pulled me into a quick hug. ‘I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with the place.’ It felt like we’d known each other much longer than six days, which was weird considering we’d only chatted when I visited the cafe.

‘Don’t get too excited. I’m not a miracle worker.’

She held out a bottle of white wine. ‘I don’t really care what it looks like as long as you’ve got glasses.’

I winced. ‘I’ve got mugs, but I don’t think old Xiang was a big fan of anything except tea and beer.’

‘Mugs will have to do then because I’m not walking back home, and old Mrs Fine believes drinking alcohol is a mortal sin, so we can’t ask her.’

I chuckled; that sounded exactly like the woman I’d met.

‘Let’s go sit out the back,’ I suggested. ‘The view’s better there, or would it be easier with Bindi inside? Thankfully she’ll no longer catch a disease if she crawls over the living room floor, but she might catch a cockroach.’

Jedda raised an eyebrow.

I held up my hands. ‘I’ve done my best. Sadly, the cockroaches and I are still in combat, but at least I’ve come to an agreement with the possum.’

‘Oh?’

I told her how I’d risked my life climbing up an old ladder to see if there was a way my furry nemesis could get out before I sealed up the hole properly. ‘I found a possum-sized hole rusted in the tin roof. Thank God. I didn’t want to board up the ceiling and then trap the thing there.’