‘Thanks for a wonderful night,’ I said, giving her a quick hug after helping her lift the pram off the porch.

‘No, thank you,’ she replied. ‘Now that I have this one, I don’t get out much. You’ll stop by in the morning on your way out of town, won’t you?’

I promised I would—‘I’ll need my coffee for the drive’—and then waved her and Bindi off into the night.

18

Perth

After giving Jedda and Bindi quick hugs goodbye, I hurried to my car. I’d dawdled on my morning walk—wanting to soak up my last bit of serenity—which meant by the time I’d packed the car and locked up the shack, it was midmorning. And then I’d lost over an hour sharing coffee and cake with Jedda, reluctant to say farewell to this beautiful town. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited about seeing the kids, but as I drove out of Ragged Point, I found myself a little despondent. In the end, my week’s escape had been both relaxing and invigorating. It had almost been like I was living someone else’s life. Hayley would be delighted and smug when I told her.

But did that mean she might be right about other things? Like me trying to get a job or signing up for Tinder?

No. I shuddered at the thought of the latter. Quite aside from the fact that the thought of hooking up with another man—and wasn’t that what Tinder was all about?—made my skin go all clammy, it would also mean admitting defeat on my marriage.

And, while I wasn’t ready to do any such thing, I had to concede Hayley might have a point about the job.

When the kids were little, Adrian and I had been on the same page about me staying at home. We’d agreed I’d get work when they got older, but the time had gone so quickly and there’d never been any urgent need until now. I’d always assumed Adrian and the podiatry clinic would support us and me being at home had been convenient because it meant I could help out there whenever needed, but now I could clearly see how naive I’d been.

It was time to stop relying on Adrian—even if I did manage to win him back—and think about looking for work.

Although the prospect was a little terrifying, I tried not to focus on the reason why I needed to get a job and instead started thinking about the kind of work I might get while mentally rewriting my resume. It would be severely lacking in paid work, but hopefully my involvement on school committees, my relief days at the clinic and the wisdom of age would have some credence.

By the time I got to Perth, I actually felt energised at the thought of entering the workforce again. I whipped around the supermarket in record time, buying enough for tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s school lunches, and pulled into Payton’s school just as the siren was going.