I spruced up the dining-slash-kitchen area with a tablecloth and a vase of artificial flowers in the middle. Fresh would be better of course, but I didn’t think they’d have travelled well. After placing framed photos of my family on various surfaces—many of which I needed to re-dust—I packed Xiang’s books up into the cardboard boxes I’d brought. Wei said he had a friend who taught Chinese at TAFE and knowing we were going to donate rather than toss them made me feel much better about putting a few of my own novels on the shelves. The one good thing about this hiatus in my marriage was that I now had so much more time to read and I’d treated myself at the local bookshop before I left Perth.

Thank God I was going to Jedda’s for dinner because by the time I’d finished unloading and arranging everything I was knackered. I hadn’t seen Dan return from the island, but the canoe was once again resting on the shore.

Time for a cup of tea, but … I had just one more thing to do first.

Charlie, awake again, followed me outside, peeing against one of the gum trees and sniffing at smells in the dirt as I unloaded the final box from where I’d wedged it safely in the boot.

I whistled to him as I headed back to the shack and miraculously, albeit reluctantly, he schlepped after me inside and into the kitchen. I put the box on the table, lifted out my Thermomix and placed it on the kitchen bench. It looked completely out of place in the 1970s décor—faded orange countertops and warped wooden cupboards—and I might not even use it this week, but I couldn’t help grinning at the sight.

Take that, Adrian!

Chapter 22

22

Perth

My second week in Ragged Point flew by. I’d barely had time to breathe and hadn’t managed to finish even one novel, but by the time I drove to Perth early Sunday morning, I felt invigorated, despite the calluses on my hands and the ache between my shoulder blades.