‘Do you have time for a cup of tea?’ her mother asked.

Checking her watch, Lily realized just how much time had passed. ‘Not really.’

‘That’s usually when we need it most, sweetheart.’

Lily looked up at her mother, the long swathe of white hair, thick and just as glorious as it had been when auburn. Her eyes, kind, the slight lines fanning from the corners, the only real signs of ageing in a youthful face. ‘But that’s OK. I’m on my way to see Selena and Noel Tayler.’

‘Going to the big house?’ Lily asked with a smile, thinking of the mansion clinging to the cliff face overlooking the town that Zoe grew up in. It hadn’t mattered that Lily had grown up in council housing while Zoe had been born into money. Not one bit. The girls had formed such a strong bond as children that money, continents and years couldn’t divide them.

The accident might have stolen the use of Zoe’s legs, but it hadn’t dampened her determination to get the hell out of the Cove as soon as she was able. Her parents had spent years worrying about their only child, cosseting her to the point of stifling her, fearing for her health. But then the worst thing they could imagine actually happened. And instead of holding her back, it had only made Zoe even more determined. She had left Hawke’s Cove to see the world, the blog she had written during those travels leading to a job as a journalist. Not once letting her wheelchair prevent her from doing what she wanted. And although she’d missed her friend so, so much, Lily had understood the need to embrace the freedom she’d found.

Lily couldn’t prevent the sigh that escaped her as she realized she’d never made good on her promise to visit her in Sydney. She’d never seemed to have the time. Not with culinary school, then Alistair, and rushing back to Hawke’s Cove to lick her wounds when it ended. And then the restaurant. Looking back, Lily realized she hadn’t had time for a holiday once in the last seven years and a tendril of sadness wound around her heart. When had she lost sight of the love and exuberance for life that, in Zoe, seemed almost irrepressible?

As Lily jiggled the key in the lock of the door to the restaurant, another large truck passed them heading out of town and a huge gust of misplaced air buffeted against the windows, making them rattle slightly in their frame.

‘They must be doing some pretty large renovations at Merrow’s Rest. Do you know who bought the property?’ she asked, finally pushing open the door and holding it open for her mum.