She does not force idle chatter, nor entertain salacious rumours, yet we manage to spend hours in conversation. She is quite the learned mind and we have had many a discussion on religion and philosophy.

We do not discuss the war, though the papers report on nothing else it seems. The Allies have the upper hand, but I fear the swift end is not as nigh as the press wish us to believe, though I wish it were for the wives sitting at home waiting for the day Lucy and I will never see.

I know I should cease these letters now you have left this world, but to do so would mean you are entirely lost to me forever. That the last piece of you I hold will disappear. And that is a burden I simply could not bear. It is silly, I know, my way to hold on to you a little longer. Yet hold on I must.

Happy birthday, my love. You are with me always.

Forever yours,

Ivy

Nicole’s heart ached. She returned the letter to its box and switched off the light allowing darkness to hide her sorrow.

Rolling over to her left side, she hugged the spare pillow and closed her eyes tightly. A picture of Mandy and Trevor dancing in the pub floated through her mind. They danced out the front doors and onto the footy field. They danced past her atop Danny Temple’s shoulders. His green eyes flashed a smile at her as they spun away. They danced around her new kitchen, through her half-finished garden that was littered with Ivy’s letters, and past the boatshed where Charlie watched on, a frown on his face. From beside the boatshed a figure shrouded in black walked towards her, sending a shiver up her spine.

August, Last Year

Nicky’s throat hurt. And her eyes wouldn’t open.

She could hear the quiet, repetitive beeping of a machine. She could feel something on her hand, pinching, uncomfortable, annoying. She could smell disinfectant.

She was in a hospital.

She blinked as she adjusted to the bright light.

Mark was sitting in the chair by the window staring out into the early morning. Nicky closed her eyes. Images flashed through her mind. An ambulance. A jolting ride. Strange faces above hers, studying her. Blackness. Blurred light. A friendly face then blackness once more.

She groaned.

‘Nicky?’ Mark’s familiar voice. ‘Are you awake?’

She opened her eyes and saw the concern across his face.

‘Oh, thank God. You gave us such a scare.’

She cleared her throat. ‘What happened?’

He sat on the bed beside her and explained that she’d ruptured her fallopian tube and was rushed to hospital.

‘How?’

‘Apparently you had an ectopic pregnancy. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?’

She shook her head. ‘I didn’t know.’