‘We’ll take one each,’ he said.

‘Okay. And where are we going?’

Danny pointed towards the grand old building that housed the post office. Nicole had noticed it the day she’d arrived with its brick and stone arched frontage and clock tower you could see from almost any point in the town centre. A heavily pregnant woman with blonde hair tied in a loose bun waved to Danny as she guided an old man outside and Danny put his box down and sprung up the three steps to help him navigate his descent.

‘Thanks, Danny,’ he whispered hoarsely and patted his shoulder. ‘You’re a good kid.’

The old man hobbled down the road and Danny watched him till he was sure he was steady on his feet.

‘That’s Bill Tucker. Ninety-four years old and still walks everywhere. They don’t make them tough like that anymore. Let’s get these inside.’ He picked up his box.

Once inside, Nicole saw that the building opened up into two distinct sections. The post office to the right and through another set of doors, the library.

The blonde lady greeted them as they entered.

‘Beautiful day, hey?’ she said. ‘Shame I’m stuck in here.’

‘Sure is. Nicole, this is Jacqui.’ He introduced the two women. ‘How’s the bump?’

Jacqui rubbed her protruding belly gently. ‘Heavy and in the way. Not long now, though.’ Her smile held little joy.

‘The wager at the pub on the baby’s name is heating up, you know? The sooner you put us all out of our misery, the better.’

Jacqui laughed. ‘The sooner I put myself out of this misery, the better. Have a good one.’ She waved as she headed into the post office.

Danny filled Nicole in on the bets the whole town were taking on what Jacqui and Jason would name their fifth child.

What had started out as a friendly bet one night between George Russo, the pub owner, and Trevor took on a life of its own and once the pool reached five hundred dollars, George suggested donating the money to the preschool refurbishment and the entire population of the town got behind the idea. Three thousand dollars had been raised so far.

Danny steered Nicole to the left as the glass doors to the library slid open. The delicious smell of the books hit her and for a moment she stopped, closed her eyes and drank it in. She hadn’t seen any sort of bookshop in town. Not that she could afford such luxuries. She wasn’t surprised Rosella Cove didn’t have one. Most small towns these days had lost theirs. She hadn’t even thought to ask anyone if there was a library. That didn’t surprise her, either. The not asking. She hadn’t exactly had too many coherent thoughts lately.