When she returned to the kitchen Ava still sat at the table, though her shoulders were drooped and her head was resting in one cupped hand. Stella’s heart ached for the stubbornness her daughter had probably inherited from both her mother and grandmother. Ava had been determined to do the drive herself – to have the time with Zac – she understood that. But the girl was pale and needed a rest. She wasn’t glad her daughter had met Zac, but there was no doubt that Ava’s pain was real. And she deserved none of it. Unlike Stella herself, who still hadn’t told her children she’d left Noah and that their father had taken rash and reckless risks until it had killed him the week she’d left.

She’d lied to her children. Lied to everyone, though her mother had always known. Would Lorenzo still think she was an angel when she told him? Would she tell him or continue the lie forever?

No, she decided right then and there. When all this settled down, she would tell them all. Clear her conscience at least of subterfuge. Then she would see what Lorenzo said.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Ava

When Stella walked back into the kitchen, she pulled Ava into her arms, one hand reaching up to pull Ava’s head down onto her shoulder.

It felt so good. Ava let herself relax, could smell the soap her mum used, always jasmine, and the slight aroma of cooking that hung around her. She breathed in the scent of the calm her mother was known for but had struggled to find lately. When her mum spoke, the words brushed over Ava’s skin like a caress. ‘I imagine it was very tense. You must have been under enormous pressure. And then there was Amelia’s birthday. You need to walk along the riverbed and heal a bit. Recharge. No work for you today, either.’

Ava let her mum’s arms hold her for a moment longer and let the strain go. She felt the tension draining like water into sand. Stella had her own medicine. It was called love, and on the rare occasions when she brought it out, they were all blinded by the strength of it. ‘Thanks, Mum.’

Stella stepped back but held onto Ava’s upper arms. She gave her a little shake as she searched her face. ‘You need to look after you as well. You’re too precious to burn out doing too much.’

Ava nodded. ‘I will.’

‘That Zac might help her,’ Mim said slyly.

Stella glared at her mother. ‘Don’t go putting ideas in his head. Or hers.’

‘Ha! I’m thinking the ideas are already there in her head. And he sounded protective to me.’ She hummed the wedding march as she left the room, much to Stella’s disgust.

‘That woman drives me mad,’ Stella huffed.

Ava laughed. ‘You’d be lost without her.’