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Back The Cottage at Rosella Cove Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-one
  25. Twenty-two
  26. Twenty-three
  27. Twenty-four
  28. Twenty-five
  29. Twenty-six
  30. Twenty-seven
  31. Twenty-eight
  32. Twenty-nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-one
  35. Thirty-two
  36. Thirty-three
  37. Thirty-four
  38. Thirty-five
  39. Thirty-six
  40. Thirty-seven
  41. Thirty-eight
  42. Thirty-nine
  43. Acknowledgements
  44. About the Author
  45. Also by Sandie Docker
  46. Book Club Questions
  47. Welcome to the Kookaburra Creek Café
  48. Prologue
  49. One
  50. Sign up to Read More and discover new favourites

Lucy and Fabricio looked terribly happy and any doubt I had about the two of them has been washed away. I do believe they are meant to be together. They will honeymoon in France and Spain and I will join them late in the northern summer in Florence. I fear this may be my last trip to Tuscany. I have no desire to play the role of desperate-widow-friend being accommodated out of a sense of pity.

Perhaps I should see some of Australia next year. Take The Ghan maybe, visit Ayers Rock, go to Perth. I will miss my annual art classes though. I have so enjoyed them. But they will not be the same now. Perhaps I can travel through Europe on my own instead. These days it is not as unacceptable as it once was for a woman to travel alone.

Can you see me as the eccentric old lady travelling the world with my beaten-up brown suitcase, sipping tea alone in a Parisian café, or wandering the Victoria and Albert babbling to myself?

I am so happy for Lucy. I truly am. To grow old alone is not an easy fate to endure. But, I must not dwell. These are happy days.

At next week’s match, Peggy is joining me on my stall with her baked offerings. Father Anthony is talking about retirement, though I doubt it will ever happen and I think she is worried she will cease to exist should he follow through and they are no longer our spiritual leaders. She is looking for another way to reach out to her flock, I suppose. I did not have the heart to tell her that her cakes and biscuits may just drive her flock away. In all these years the poor woman has not learned to cook.

It will be nice to have some company, though, and I owe Father Anthony for the kindness he has always shown. Father Anthony is well loved. Yes, her cakes will certainly sell, though I cannot say with any confidence they will be eaten.

For now that is all. Take care, my dearest.

Forever yours,

Ivy

PS I have included a photo of Lucy’s wedding. You can see how happy they are!

Nicole looked at the picture. Lucy and Fabricio were arm in arm, Fabricio wearing a simple grey suit and Lucy looking serene and beautiful in a soft blue kaftan. Beside Lucy stood Ivy in a bright floral dress that reached to her toes. Her bare toes. On the grass lay a pair of slippers, rejected.

Nicole couldn’t help grinning. At least someone was getting their happily ever after.

As she returned the envelope to the box, she noticed the next one was very thin. Really thin. She pulled it out and gasped.

23rd March, 1967

My Dearest Tom,