She approached the house with legs of lead. She was tired from the weekend and in spite of falling into bed exhausted the night before, sleep had eluded her for some time. She’d woken with the first of the sun’s rays edging around the curtain and tried to keep busy by tidying the studio. Not a big job. Then she’d attempted to eat some toast and swallow a cup of tea. The knot that had formed in her stomach had made it difficult and now it threatened to force back up the small morsels she had managed to get down.

Keely sucked in a deep breath and pushed through the gate into the house yard. A little group of guinea fowl huddled together under the bougainvillea, the breeze ruffling their well-groomed feathers. Both Euan’s Volvo and Flynn’s LandCruiser were missing from the carport. She hoped that meant they were both out. She didn’t want to face them again after their argument the day before. Then she had a jolt of panic as she wondered how she was going to get to school. Next to the carport was the ute that Flynn sometimes drove but she wasn’t sure how reliable that was.

She slid back the door and stepped into the house. There were no lights on in the kitchen and no sounds came from the rest of the house. Keely had seen Maggie’s car still parked under the trees beside the carport. If she was like Keely she’d be avoiding her brother and his son. Who knew, she could be still sleeping after their hectic weekend.

A note had been written on the pad at the end of the table and a set of keys lay next to it. Keely read the message from Euan. It seemed Maggie would be heading home some time that day, Flynn was driving Kat to Perth and Euan had gone surfing, so he had left the keys of the ute for her to drive herself to school. Her heart sunk lower at that. He’d wished her a good day and said he’d cook dinner for her that night.

Keely slumped into a chair and clutched the keys in her hand. She hadn’t realised Euan’s sister would be leaving so soon. She’d come to like Maggie, who hadn’t turned out to be the formidable woman Keely had imagined.

The last few weeks were a blur and now everything was changing. She wondered if Maggie had been able to calm the waters between Euan and Flynn. Surely Flynn wouldn’t leave if Kat was going to live next door. Keely stood up. There was no point in worrying over the Levalliers’ problems; right now she had her own nemesis to face.